Author’s Note – Sorry for the delay in posting. My hard drive ate the original. Santa brought a new one for Christmas so I’m back on track.

 Summary - Picks up directly from the end of "The Debt" (I-II) and follows Xena and Gabrielle as they deal with the after-effects of the adventure and prepare for an unusual journey home.

 The standard disclaimer: The characters of Xena and Gabrielle belong in their entirety to Universal and Renaissance, and to their writers and whoever else owns the property. No copyright infringement is intended, and this is all in fun and/or angst. The other characters in the story originated from my somewhat bored and workweek fried brain, and are not taken from any literary source or any other source whatsoever.

 Violence Warning: This is Xena so there will be violence. She is, after all, not Marge Simpson, but she's not Atilla the Hun either (at least not any more). I'd give to a PG.

 Spoilers: Makes direct reference to this season's The Debt (Parts I - II). Proceed at your own risk… heh, heh, heh…

 Subtext: Its there, you don't have to look for it, you'll find it anyway. If you can't deal with it, mouse clicks back are cheap and I'll give you your first four for free.

 This is my first try at this stuff...feel free to let me know if you liked it or disliked it...mail back at:

 gershwhen@aol.com

Xena listened to the rocking of the ship as she worked to estimate the time. It must have been just before dawn. She listened to the stirrings in other parts of the ship and debated about whether to awaken Gabrielle.

Pulling on her armor, Xena decided to allow Gabrielle a little more time before being forced to meet the morning. Xena raised an eyebrow as she heard small footsteps approach the door. There was a quick knock and before the warrior had time to answer, the door swung inward.

Talus barreled into the room, breakfast tray in hand. The cook set the tray down on the first available barrel, mumbled "Here’s your food" swung around and exited the room before Xena had a chance to raise her second eyebrow. She noted that Talus’ eyes never left the floor and that the youngster almost caught a shoulder on the hatchway during the quick exit. Xena’s eyes shifted to Gabrielle as the bard pushed herself up on her pallet.

Gabrielle caught the humorous smirk on Xena’s face and struggled to awaken enough to find out what was so amusing.

"I believe our food is served, " said Xena as she hopped lightly off the pallet and over toward the tray.

"What’s…," Gabrielle started and then turned toward the tray and her travelling companion.

"Food, Gabrielle, you should eat." Xena wiped the smile off her face as she cut off the bard’s question and picked up a slice of cheese.

Wiping the sleep from her eyes, Gabrielle moved toward the food. She pulled a slice of dried fig into her mouth and silently munched on it. They finished their breakfast in a companionable silence as Gabrielle came slowly back into the world around her. She had never been a morning person, and try as she might, she had not acquired the ability to be jarred awake and become fully cognizant all in the same instant.

Sighing, Gabrielle swept the hair from her eyes and looked over toward the cistern. There was still some water left in it. She walked over washed the final bits of sleep from her eyes and turned toward the warrior.

Gabrielle gathered the tray up and reached for the door. It swung inward just as she went to pull on the clasp. Talus grabbed the tray from her hands, nodded at the two women and spun back down hatchway toward the galley.

Gabrielle circled to look at Xena, "How did he know we were done ?"

"Listening at the door, would be my guess. There doesn’t seem to be too much he misses. Anyway, what are your plans for today ?" Xena asked.

The bard took a deep breath and asked the question she had been considering since last night.

"I need to get some practice in with my staff, would you work with me ?"

Xena tilted her head in thought. "I think I can find something here to use as a staff, so sure, I’ll practice with you."

The leather clad woman paused for a moment, and then said, "But first I have a question. You never told me how you found out about that third battle."

Gabrielle looked at her in surprise, "I don’t really think we need to go into that now, do we ?"

She squirmed under the warrior’s gaze and returned to her seat on the pallet.

Xena moved to sit beside her. "I know that you don’t want to do this Gabrielle, but I need to know how you found out and how much you really do know."

Gabrielle took a deep breath and primly folder her hands in her lap. She stared at her fingers for several candlemarks and then looked up into Xena’s pleading eyes. The warrior quickly controlled her features and reached over to lay her hand on Gabrielle’s arm.

"You already know, telling me can’t be any worse than what you heard," Xena said quietly.

"Saw, Xena, what I saw, not what I heard, " the bard whispered. She unclenched her hands and lay one quietly on top of Xena’s.

"It wasn’t a story. I saw the battle." Gabrielle sighed and turned toward her friend. She felt the warrior withdraw into herself as she locked up her emotions in preparation of what was about to come.

Xena’s face was quite pale and she swallowed loudly and struggled to find her voice. "You were there at the battle ? I thought you said you had never left the village before the slavers came. Were you trying to protect me ? When were you in Maltous ?"

"I’ve never been to Maltous, Xena." Gabrielle held up her hand to forestall the warrior’s questions.

"Let me start at the beginning. As you know, I chose to stay behind while you left to meet Lao Ma’s request. I booked passage as a worker on a ship to follow you. One of the sailors attacked me. Well, after the attack that seaman didn’t try to come near me again. He decided to try another way of getting retribution"

Xena interrupted, "Gabrielle, I don’t see what this has to do with a battle that happened several years ago. I want to know about Maltous. If you’ll just tell me…"

Gabrielle, set her hand back upon Xena’s and gave her a quick squeeze.

"Xena please, I promise this is all related and not some attempt at stalling. You’ll see where this is leading if you’ll just give me a minute. Anyway, the seaman began to make offerings to the Gods in order to get enough power to punish me for turning him in to the captain. One of the Gods listened and one of them showed up here."

" Ares." The bard raised her eyes for the first time and met the warrior’s. Gabrielle quickly dropped her gaze and resumed her story.

"Only the God didn’t come to see the sailor. He came to see me. He heard the man’s pleadings and realized I was alone here. Ares showed up in my cabin and told me that I wouldn’t continue to befriend you. He said that the only way I could truly understand what you are like is to experience a battle that you had waged. He put a kind of a ‘curse’ on me, I guess you could say."

Gabrielle felt Xena’s anger and tense muscles under her gently clasped hand. She gave her best friend a reassuring grip and then continued her tale.

"Every night for a third of a moon cycle when I slept I wouldn’t dream. I would become a part of one of your enemy’s in the battle at Maltous. It was like I took up residence in a small part of their heads. I could see what they saw, feel everything they felt. But I was still Gabrielle, separate and apart from the person."

She paused as the memories assaulted her again and then continued on, "I admit it was awful, what I experienced. After the first time, I went up on deck to tell Tiberius stories about you, just so I could see the person I knew, instead of the one Ares wanted me to remember. After a couple of nights, I even tried to stay awake, hoping I could break the pattern. But I always failed and fell asleep and then it would start again. I was so glad when it was over."

The bard offered her a small smile, "But it didn’t accomplish what Ares wanted. I knew what you were capable of. I knew how you changed. And I knew that I still needed to go after you. He failed Xena, and it didn’t work."

Gabrielle turned toward her friend. Xena pulled her arm out from under Gabrielle’s hand and gripped the bard’s shoulders. Her eyes flashed with anger as she made the storyteller meet her gaze.

"He made you live through that ? How could he be allowed to interfere in your life like that. You could have been hurt or killed. Who did he put you into ?"

Gabrielle reached up and placed her hand over the warrior’s on her shoulder. She slowly pried loose the fingers and pulled Xena’s hand down. Taking it gently in both of her own, her warm and open look worked to tamp the flames in Xena’s blood.

"The first night, I was Harot, a lieutenant in the warlord’s army." She stopped and waited for the thought to settle into Xena’s mind.

"But Herot was killed Gabrielle. He was a good swordsman and he was part of the flank that attacked me…" she trailed off. Her eyes were bright with unshed tears as she looked back up at Gabrielle. "No, I killed… Herot … I gutted him… because he had left my army and gone over to the enemy with information."

"Gabrielle, you couldn’t have… he died… a horrible death." The whispered words were barely able to penetrate the silence in the cargo hold. Xena struggled to calm her thoughts and keep her control on the conversation.

 Gabrielle gently rubbed her thumb over the back of Xena’s hand. She drew in a deep breath and broke in on the warriors struggle.

 "Xena, I was Herot. I saw him fight, I felt him fall. I died with him. Dying was usually when the spell ended and I would awake in my room on the ship." She grimly smiled.

 "To be honest Xena, I looked forward to the dying, it meant that night’s experience would be over. I knew it wasn’t real and that it wasn’t me who was dying, so it was ok. But Xena listen to me. I also felt the jealously and hatred that Herot had for you. I felt how much he wanted you to fail, how much he wanted you to hurt. How much he wanted you to die. "

 "That was the problem with Ares’ plan. I always got to see both sides. I felt everything the opposing forces felt. And they were not just defending a territory. They all personally wanted to hurt you. Just like Ares wanted to hurt you by ending our friendship and turning me from you. It didn’t work and he was the one who failed."

 Xena looked at her friend, who was showing more strength than the warrior had the right to expect, let alone deserve. "Gabrielle, did Ares come back when it was over ? Did you see him again ?"

 To her surprise, Gabrielle’s eyes alit with a true smile that shown all the way down her face. "No, the night after all of it was over, I expected him to appear. Actually, I had a few things that I was going to say to him. I figured after everything I had gone through, he deserved to hear what I thought and the consequences to Hades. But luckily, for him and for me," she noted Xena’s raised eyebrow at the comment, " he didn’t show."

 Gabrielle shook her head ruefully and rolled her eyes at the warrior, " I believe you told me once that the Gods don’t deal well with failure. I think Ares realized he failed and didn’t want to have to face me and acknowledge that I was still standing up for you as your friend. And then, well, we landed in the land of Chin and I had other things to worry about."

 Gabrielle could feel the turmoil within Xena and wished she had the ability to settle woman’s concerns. But she knew that it would take a matter of time before the warrior could assimilate everything that she had been told. The bard also knew that she didn’t want to be around the first time Xena met up with Ares again. It was one thing for Ares to torment his "chosen one", but quite another to pick on Xena’s friend. Shrugging the concern off as something that she would worry about later, Gabrielle lifted her eyes back up to her friend.

 "Look, maybe you can work off some of this aggression by helping me spar. I’d like to knock a certain God’s head two or three times with my staff." She paused and grinned wickedly in her best "Xena" look and eyed the warrior. "And since I know I can’t and shouldn’t do that the best we can do is let me take my aggression out on you. What do you say ?"

 Xena smiled at the look Gabrielle was giving her and appreciated the woman’s attempt to lighten the situation. She felt a great deal of the guilt and anger lift and watched as it completely washed away in the shadow of Gabrielle’s exaggerated eyebrow wiggling.

 "Ok, ok, I’ll go look for something to use as a staff and meet you up on deck. Deal ?"

 Gabrielle, allowed her gentle smile to return and heaved a sigh of relief, "Deal."

 Xena walked from the cabin and started to look into the other cargo hold rooms on the ship. Coming upon a small storage cabin next to the galley she found a fighting staff and some other very familiar tribal items. Raising an eyebrow she fingered the heavily feathered mask and added the information to the growing idea in her head. She quietly closed the door to the cabin and proceeded to look in other rooms. She came across the emergency storage room and grinned as she saw the perfect solution to her quest.

 Gabrielle was working through her basic staff exercises on the far deck while awaiting her friend’s appearance. She heard a murmur from several of the sailors and raised her eyes to the path from the hatchway. She watched as Xena approached with something in her hands. As the warrior got closer, the bard noted that the item she carried was much bigger than a fighting staff.

 Xena came to stand before Gabrielle with a glint in her eye. The bard’s own were as big as saucers. Gabrielle looked at the huge item in her friends hands.

 "You’ve got to be kidding right ? Xena, that was the best that you could find ? What is that, a tree ?"

 Xena kept the quietly bored expression on her face as she watched the concern of her friend and of those around her. "No, Gabrielle, its an oar. The ship keeps a small boat for emergencies or for docking where a great ship is too big. This oar is for the smaller boat. And I think it will work just fine for practice."

 "And," Xena added to herself, "this is just what I need. The added weight and the required concentration to give Gabrielle her workout, control the safety of the situation and control the oar will keep my mind and body occupied." Thoughts of Ares would be quickly erased as she worked to keep all of the points of concern in balance.

 "Just give me a few minutes to get the balance of this in mind, alright ? And then we’ll get started."

 Gabrielle backed up several paces and resumed her exercise warm-up. But she could not keep her mind on her practice as she was pulled to stare at Xena’s preparation for their work out.

 Xena took the oar and flipped it back in forth in her hands to get the feel of the balance of the piece. The oar stood about eight feet long and the weight of the paddle was almost perfectly counterbalanced by the heavily carved handle. Xena swung the oar out over her shoulder and then flipped it into mid air and caught it with her hand. She then began to swing, pull and flip the article as she would her sword. It only took a few moments to adjust and compensate for the added length and the weight felt good in her hands. She sliced the oar under her feet and jumped to pick the handle up with her left hand. Balancing it vertically, she flipped it into the air, spun her body and caught the handle with her right hand. She let the staff slide down a few feet and grabbed the neck with her left. Turning, she slid into the beginning pose for her sparring match with Gabrielle and cocked an eyebrow.

 "Ready ?" Xena asked the stunned girl.

 Gabrielle positioned her staff, offered a quick prayer to whatever god was listening, and hoped she didn’t end up flat on her butt with the first move. "Ready," she stated.

 The two circled and Xena raised her staff. With a mighty clash wood met wood and the practice began. Gabrielle was able to compensate for the height of her opponent’s staff and noted that the added weight of the staff was barely discernable. She knew she’d get a great workout and she also knew that Xena was fiercely controlling everything that happened. The oar could have weighed three times as much, but Xena was making the heavier item feel the same as the practice staves they used at home. The hits were hard, but not unbearable as the warrior pulled her attacks.

 Parry, strike. Counterstrike, parry. The wood continued to snap as the hits accelerated. Xena noted that most of the work on deck had come to a complete halt as they gained an audience. She also saw Talus hidden in the shadows of the hatch and noted how the tiny hands mimicked a great deal of the actions of the bard. Adding another item to her growing conviction, Xena returned her mind to the practice, lest it move out of control. She jumped just in time to miss a full underhanded sweep of Gabrielle’s staff. Swinging the oar up and over, Xena parried the sweep upwards and then back down. Gabrielle stooped down on one knee as she fought to maintain balance. The bard feigned left with her staff, Xena moved to follow the strike and the bard bounced backward to her feet.

 "Nice, Gabrielle," the warrior said.

 The practice continued for some time until Xena sensed her friend tiring. Knowing Gabrielle would never voluntarily admit the weakness, Xena entered into the familiar moves with which they always closed practices. The strikes slowed and at last the two faced each other above the crossed staves. Smiling, Gabrielle, nodded her sweat drenched brow in satisfaction.

 "Thanks, that felt really good. Although, I think I’ll be a bit sore in the shoulders tomorrow."

 Xena ferally grinned at her friend, "I’ve got some salve in my bag that should help with that. Remind me to put some on your shoulders tonight."

 The bard agreed and inquired if Xena was going to return to the cabin.

 "No, I still need to do some sword drills, so I’ll stay up here a while yet," Xena replied.

 Rolling her eyes at the amount of exertion they had already expanded and knowing that the warrior would only triple that before retiring, Gabrielle moved to the hatch.

 She saw Talus quickly back out of the shadows as she proceeded down the entryway. Turning, her head toward the boy, Gabrielle stopped.

 "You know, we don’t bite. You could have come up on deck. I saw you watching. If you want to learn the staff, I’m sure Xena would be happy to assist you. You only need to ask her."

 The curled head swayed from side to side. "No, staffs are for girls. I want to learn to fight with a real weapon, a sword. But I need to wait a little longer. Capt’n Rus will teach me soon. I’ll help to really defend the ship when the time comes."

 The fierce fire in the boy’s eyes took Gabrielle a step back. "A staff can be a very effective weapon, Talus. It just needs to be used properly. I wouldn’t underestimate its power."

 With a "huh", small shrug of tiny shoulders and shake of the head, Talus returned to the galley.

 Gabrielle proceeded down the corridor and entered the spice hold.

The days fell into a familiar pattern. Each morning Talus barreled into the hold to announce the beginning of the day with a breakfast tray. Staff practice took most of the morning and the afternoons were filled by scroll work and sword work for the appropriate traveler. Xena noted the interest that that crew exhibited to the bard at the evening meal. The nights were filled with Gabrielle’s stories and the time passed much more quickly.

The moon had gone almost a full cycle and the days were beginning to get closer for their arrival in Greece. Land was not visible yet, but it would only be a matter of days before it was sighted.

Gabrielle was sound asleep when she felt an unfamiliar thump and her pallet was jarred. She stirred to find the cause and saw Xena pulling on her armor. The warrior was just strapping on her sword, as a loud noise was heard from outside.

An angry yell echoed into the hold. Xena tossed the bard her staff and was almost to the door, as she turned to and uttered, "Sea Raiders," then she was gone.

Gabrielle sat for a moment to tighten the laces on her boots and then followed the warrior up the hatchway.

They entered into chaos. There was a smaller ship roped along side. The sleek lines indicated a much faster ride on the high seas and several men were climbing from the ropes onto the deck.

Captain Ididarus was surrounding by three of his men as they fought to protect their leader. Several other skirmishes were taking place between the sailors on the deck. Gabrielle counted about fifteen raiders before she saw a sword swing at her head. She raised her staff to deflect the blow and noted the startled look on the eye of the raider as his strike came to a dead halt against the staff’s strong wood. Taking advantage of the surprise, she dropped her staff to the man’s left side and sent him into unconsciousness with a strong "thud" to the head.

Xena had taken out several of the attackers as she vaulted from the hatchway onto deck. Wiping the blood from her sword onto the first available inert body, she looked around. The raiding ship was set for speed to overcome the larger heavier ship. The raiding crew was boarding ready for a fight. But, she noted, their ship was too small to allow the off-loading of all of the cargo. Therefore, she surmised, they meant to take over the larger ship, enslave the crew and force it to sail to their base. This gave the cargo ship an advantage, the raiders would not want to destroy the ship in battle, they’d lose any chance at profit.

In the quick moments it took to analyze the situation, Xena had been swinging her sword and moving toward the upper deck. Her attention was pulled to a man as he launched his body from the upper railing and headed straight for her. Jumping in to the air, the familiar battle cry blasted the deck, "Aiyiyiyiyiyiyiyi".

Somersaulting in the air, Xena landed on the man’s back as he crashed into the deck. Swiftly kicking up with one booted foot, she soundly knocked his head into the deck. Turning she caught another raider as he pulled his sword up to strike. Xena lunged sideways to escape the stream of his blood and focused her eyes on Gabrielle.

The bard was engaged with two of other raiders. Neither of the men were making much headway in trying to get closer to the woman. Gabrielle’s staff was flying quickly and she had a grip on the middle to be able to leverage the use of both ends of the staff to keep the attackers at bay.

Xena noted a small movement in the shadows and saw Talus coming out the dark with a large kitchen knife firmly in hand. The cook was aiming for the first of Gabrielle’s two attackers. Unfortunately, Talus was not watching the bard’s staff carefully enough and as Gabrielle turned to hit a raider, the opposite end of the staff caught the cook in the ribs. Feeling the unfamiliar weight on the opposite side of the staff, Gabrielle turned. The second raider took his opportunity and swung his sword up toward the bard’s head.

Gabrielle saw the blow coming and noted how all activity on the boat slowed in motion. She tried to free her staff from Talus’ shirt, but was suddenly knocked backward with a strong force. Xena’s chakram flew neatly into the sword blade severing it in two. The loss of weight shifted the attacker and he fell forward on top of the Amazon. Kicking up at the man, as he fell forward, Gabrielle moved him off balance before they hit the deck. Rolling, she grabbed her staff and pulled it to soundly smash the side of his ribcage.

Talus scrambled for the dropped knife and stabbed out at the arm of the leftover raider. It slowed the man, but did not stop him. Crying out in fury, the raider lunged at Talus and slid face first into the deck as Gabrielle swept his feet out from under him with her staff. Regaining her own feet, the bard looked over at the cook.

"Are you alright ?," she asked.

Nodding, the cook looked for the missing knife and watched as the raider stirred. Slapping her staff down on the back of the man’s head, Gabrielle flattened him into the deck. He didn’t move again.

"See I told you, a staff can be a powerful weapon. Never underestimate the weapon, it’s the user who counts." The bard repeated the phrase that Xena had told her so many times in practice.

The cook nodded and was about to reply, when Gabrielle swept aside the staff and back hit an on-coming attacker. The blow sent the man sailing over the railing and the force of the hit pulled the bard around on the deck. Gabrielle took in the view in high in front of her.

The waves were higher now and the ship was rolling with them. Ididarus continued to yell orders to his crew as the men around him struggled to hold off the strongest of the forces. One of the Captain’s three guards fell and a raider landed squarely on the upper deck in his place. Turning to the captain, he raised his sword and was knocked back soundly by a roundhouse kick as Xena flipped over the upper railing. Landing, she threw up a second powerful kick to the man’s chin and watched as he fell backward over the railing into the rough seas.

Smiling at the captain, Xena nodded her head. The battle was definitely turning in the defender’s favor. Keeping an eye on Gabrielle, Xena cleared the remaining raiders from in front of the bridge. Pulling her chakram up, she sliced it into the ropes holding the raiding ship to the cargo vessel. Retrieving the chakram, she replaced in on her belt and heard a yell as the raiders noted their ship drifting away from the scene of the fight.

Several of the attackers jumped in the waters and swam for ropes being lowered from the other vessel. Xena looked to see who was left on board. A few small skirmishes were taking place, but things were much more under control. Talus barreled out from under the hatchway and headed toward a fight between Tiberius and two raiders. The slight cook now held the staff that Xena had seen stored in the Galley cupboard. Swinging the staff was force, Talus aimed for an attacker’s head. The raider looked over in surprise and blocked the blow with his sword. The reverse momentum sent the younger cook backwards on the deck.

Looking down from the activity on the upper deck and around the mast, Gabrielle surveyed the scene. Talus had disappeared moments ago and the bard wanted to assure that the youngster was alright. She pulled to a halt as she came around the mast’s corner just as Talus hit the deck. Launching up on her staff she vaulted it onto the deck and used the energy to swing both legs up at the raiders head. Catching him squarely in the shoulders the bard heaved her legs with all her strength. Unfortunately, she overestimated the momentum required to move the man away from harming Talus. Her vault continued to swing her around another ninety degrees in the circle and as she dropped, Gabrielle realized the deck was no longer beneath her feet. Her body swung clear out over the deck railing and gravity began to take over. She had no choice but to let go of the staff as she fell toward the water. Angling for a dive position, Gabrielle’s turn became incomplete as her head connected with the ships railing. Everything went black as she continued to plummet toward the dark waters.

Continued in Part 4 (Conclusion)