Part 5: Maybe a new hope

Gabrielle reopened her eyes slowly, still immersed in the memories of her time in the dream world. The weight of the spiritual journey seemed to throb in her mind, but as she focused her vision, she found a scene that made her hold her breath: Xena was there, lying on her lap, sleeping soundly, with an expression of rare serenity, that only someone truly at peace could have.

She reached out hesitantly, her fingers gliding gently through Xena’s hair, as if she feared a firmer touch might dispel the vision. It was almost unbelievable. It was here, after all the suffering, all the searching, to feel the warmth of her skin again, the real weight on her legs, and she smiled involuntarily.

Gabrielle whispered to herself, “So… it wasn’t a dream.”

Xena, still sleepy, gave a mischievous smile and, without opening her eyes, murmured: “I also expected you to be quieter, Gabrielle.”

The bard chuckled softly, fighting the urge to hug her, but Xena’s smile only grew wider.

“Let’s test whether or not it’s a dream…” She says in a velvety yet mischievous tone.

With a sudden movement, Xena opened her eyes and, before Gabrielle could react, attacked her with tickles on her knees, causing unexpected laughter. Gabrielle tried to dodge, laughing uncontrollably.

“By the Gods, Xena! Hahaha! Stop it!”

“Come on, come on, can’t you handle a little of this for me?” The warrior’s gaze exuded a mischievous tenderness, asking the bard to hold on a little longer.

Gabrielle, seeing this captivating look, lets out a sigh and nods her head, silently, receiving another wave of tickles on her knees, and from Xena, the smile so captivating and playful, discreet in its pure classical stoicism.

After a few moments Xena finally stopped tickling, recovering from her laughter, she sat down next to Gabrielle, both of them panting but radiant. They stared at each other for a moment, and Gabrielle felt that words would not be enough to express everything that this reunion meant. But the silence was welcoming, a language between them that needed no explanation.

“So, ‘it wasn’t a dream’?” Xena repeated, with a smile on her lips. Gabrielle returned it with an emotional look, and, after a sigh, joked:

“Yes… but now you owe me one more, you know?”

Xena raised an eyebrow in mock surprise. “Put it on the bill then,” she replied in that carefree, charming tone that was so hers. They both burst out laughing, and the room seemed to vibrate with the lightness that only the reunion of two souls so united could bring.

“You know, for a brief moment I thought I had lost you forever.”

Gabrielle interrupts the moment of relaxation, her voice cracking and faltering. A confused sigh follows and a new silence takes over the room for a few moments.
“I could see you, even though you weren’t around, and in the tavern, I saw you at the picnic we had in Amphipolis…” Her tone becomes velvety and nostalgic.

Xena watches her attentively, but worried inside, her face shows zeal and serenity, she sighs and holds her hand. For a brief moment she looks at the window and comments.

“I know, it wasn’t a memory, it was a vision, from your dream passage, when you saw the plate, your concentration was so strong, that it ended up waking me up in your dream passage, that really happened Gabrielle. I’m grateful that it happened.” She sighs as she finishes speaking, and remains introverted for a moment, remembering the scenes lived.

Gabrielle took a deep breath, feeling the weight of those words. It was as if, somehow, she and Xena were bound by something stronger than fate or circumstance. A silent, eternal force.

“Me too, it was special seeing you again after everything that happened.”

Gabrielle comments almost in a whisper, her sigh denoting the depth with which she enjoyed every second of that momentary reunion. They both look at the table, and notice the weapons resting there: Xena’s chakram and sword, and the Katana that Xena had given her.

“Yes, it is her Xena, I managed to rescue her body with her, her tormentor fell on the thread of her chakram, not for revenge, but for justice”

Gabrielle says in a funeral rhythm, remembering the scene of the rescue of her body, her vision becomes blurred, reliving the anxiety of the moment in which she was faced with the past reality.

Xena watches her with anguish and remorse, realizing the depth of what happened, being able to feel Gabrielle’s pulse quicken through her hand, colder now, her partner is pale and trembling.

“Hey, come here, it’s over, okay? Shhh… it’s over, I’m here, with you, nothing will separate us, I promise, okay?”

Xena wraps her in a warm, almost maternal embrace, realizing how deeply the scene left an impression on her partner.

“Please, Xena. Don’t leave me, I can’t bear it if it happens again.” Gabrielle intones this in a whisper, between sobs, her voice breaking slightly hoarse.

The warrior deeply absorbs the weight of her words and feels as if something has struck her inside, her emotions have been deeply touched by such appreciation, her soul feels the shock contained in the bard’s words and a shiver runs down her spine.

For a moment, Xena didn’t answer, just wrapped her arms around her, as if trying, with her own silence, to calm Gabrielle’s fear. The world around her seemed to have disappeared, and in that moment, Gabrielle just wanted to believe that Xena’s words would be eternal.

“I promise Gabrielle, it will never happen again, I promise, I’m here, forever, okay?” Her tone is more velvety, despite being hoarse and whispered, also affected by the emotion she composes herself to strengthen herself, to calm herself.

Gabrielle nods, looks at her for a moment, and after taking a breath, whispers to her: “I love you.”

Xena smiles back. “Me too, Gabrielle. You’ve always been my light when everything was…dark,” Xena whispers, her voice low, almost as if she’s talking to herself.

Their eyes shine with emotion, and slowly they meet again in a long embrace, the world and time stopped, nothing existed anymore, only them, and their union, their pulses and tears became one with another due to the intensity of the emotion.

Their contact deepens further, completely enveloped by their hearts beating almost in sync, but reluctantly they break off, and Xena looks deeply into her eyes.

“We are together, forever” She says with a smile forming at the corner of her mouth as she supports Gabrielle’s jaw and receives a reassuring smile from her beloved in return.

Little by little, time and the world around them resume their original form, feeling the weight and proportion of the promise, they hold hands without saying anything else, just admiring each other, and the meaning of this new phase of their lives, the deepening of the relationship taking place.

However, the moment was discreetly interrupted by the sound of their stomachs growling in unison.

“I think it’s time to eat something,”

Xena comments, putting her hand to her stomach and stretching with an exaggerated yawn. “After all, it seems like I slept like a log.”

Gabrielle shook her head, smiling. “Only you would make fun of that, Xena. But yes, we need to eat, or we’ll be too weak for the next battle.”

They both laughed, and Xena, already standing, held out her hand to Gabrielle. “Come on, before I start thinking I’m still in some spiritual limbo, starving and hallucinating about food.”

Gabrielle took the hand and stood, noticing Xena’s warm, strong touch as a tangible reminder of the strength she had always carried. They walked down to the tavern together, where the buzz of conversation, laughter, and the aroma of food filled the place.

The closer they get, the louder the chaotic chatter of the place becomes, conversations, discussions, laughter, murmurs, the noise of plates and glasses, the smell of meals, but it immediately stops when everyone notices Xena stopping at the foot of the stairs, as if they saw an apparition.

“Wow, is it really her? It’s not possible, how incredible, but how?” Similar whispers could be heard amidst the whispered chatter.

She notices and raises one of her eyebrows, surprised but stoic, she approaches the attendant and says:

“2 hare stews please, and wine, we will be at that table, thank you.”

The waiter nods and warns the cook as they head towards the table where they find Lord Helton and Virgil.

“Welcome back Xena, please sit here with us.” Lord Helton says with his voice a little hoarse but velvety with admiration and joy.

Xena and Gabrielle nod and join them at the table. Lord Helton and Virgil look at each other in wonder as she smiles and crosses her arms.

“So you mean you led my rescue, hm?”

Xena looks at Helton as she smiles in admiration and rests her elbows on the table, leaning slightly towards him, anxiously awaiting his response.

“It was the least I could do as a thank you.”

The lord responds after a sigh of relief and also of zeal, remembering how she fulfilled the prophecy that made him return to the leadership of the order of Morpheus in the valley near Xena’s homeland.

Xena smiles and replies “Well, thank you” she smiles nodding her head.

“What do you intend to do now?”

Virgil breaks the momentary silence and gets everyone’s attention at the table. Xena glances at Gabrielle for a moment, who gives her a small smile.

“Excellent question, maybe home” and under the table he holds Gabrielle’s hand.

The meals arrive, Xena and Gabrielle are impressed by the beauty of the food and begin to attack the food, at the speed necessary to show how good this moment has come for them.

“Delicious, by the way,” Gabrielle comments, trying to make conversation between one bite and the next.

“Hm… uhum” Xena notices and complements Gabrielle but limits herself to just chanting this as she continues to feed.

“Yes, it’s a great place, with good food, and every now and then some good fights, worthy of epic tales.”

Virgil comments as he writes something on a long scroll, which catches Xena and Gabrielle’s attention.

“What is Virgil writing?”

Xena asks curiously, trying to decipher what is written there. Virgil notices and reads it to them, it is an epic version of this journey through dreams, describing how they found Gabrielle and the sudden materialization of Xena in the bed.

Both of them stop eating for a moment and look at each other in awe at the wealth of detail with which Virgil described the scenes, deeply touched by such dedication.

“You know… Your father is definitely very proud of you now Virgil, you did a great job narrating.”

Xena ponders, saying this more to herself than to the young man, who lifts his face in a humble sigh, but satisfied with her answer.

“We were flattered and honored to have enjoyed this beautiful dinner with you ladies, but we have to return to the Valley. I have to be there for a regional event where Virgil will tell some stories about you, and you know, whenever you want, you can feel free to return to the Valley.”

Lord Helton smiles as he comments before they stand up.

Xena and Gabrielle, as a noble gesture, stand up and thank them with a hug, and watch them leave to the northwest, in a wagon.

“Those two, who would have thought” Gabrielle comments in a rant, more to herself, but Xena hears and smiles a little while resting one of her arms on Gabrielle’s shoulders.

“Yes, they were very noble with us, they have my gratitude, for sure” Xena intones this reflectively, denoting how deep their gesture of care towards Gabrielle and herself is.

“Xena, look at that over there” Gabrielle points to the center of the port town, there are four armed men, they are holding up a merchant who was passing by, in broad daylight, the cornered man is visibly worried.

The four bandits are pointing daggers at him, saying something to scare him, despite whispering, Gabrielle and Xena have sharp ears and can hear what the leader is saying.

“Don’t move and hand over the bag of money, we know about the sale, and we want it, otherwise you will take a one-way trip to the Tartars.”

Xena and Gabrielle look at each other, and nod their heads, already planning how they will arrest these criminals, and immediately head in their direction, discreetly.

Xena walks normally along the right side of the street, while Gabrielle follows on the left, close to the walls of the houses on the small grass sidewalk, always keeping her eyes fixed on the bandits.

A few meters away, Xena nods and with the hilt of her swords, she both violently strikes a blow at the corner of the 2 bandits who were at the ends of the line that was cornering the victim, both immediately fall to the ground unconscious.

The other two who remained standing decided to engage in combat with them, but they were already expecting this, taking a defensive stance.

Both criminals deliver grossly violent but clumsy blows, Xena and Gabrielle realize that they rely solely on strength and not technique, making it easier to dodge the blows, which results in a beautiful acrobatic dance performed by them.

Between moves, sword blocks occasionally occur, Xena smiles, laughs and enjoys her opponent’s inexperience.

“Look how strong he is… come on, hit me, if you can” She sings, her eyes already thirsty for a fight, the bandit is surprised, he takes a trip and has Xena’s sword on his neck, and she looks at him smiling, with her eyebrows lowered, she breathes harder, forcing the impression that she is panting, to scare him, which was successful.

Meanwhile, Gabrielle repeats Xena’s gestures, but adopting a fighting stance closer to that of samurai, without overdoing her steps to dodge the blows. Although Xena is focused on her defeated bandit, she discreetly admires Gabrielle’s evolution, from a bard to a warrior with exquisite elegance and subtlety in her blows.

It didn’t take long for Gabrielle to make him fall with one last blow and immobilize him, hitting the bandit’s back a few times with the side of the katana, as if she were a mother correcting her own son.

“Let… this… serve… as… a… lesson… to… never… steal… from… anyone… again!” Gabrielle intersperses each word with her katana blow on his back, causing the bandit to scream in a trembling, almost ununderstandable apology.

“Promise me, you’ll never do that to anyone again!” Gabrielle takes on an authoritative tone, Xena is discreetly impressed.

“I promise, I promise! Stop, please, I beg you!” The bandit groans a little, still feeling the sting of the paddle.

“Good boy, now stay here and don’t disappear, otherwise the conversation will be worse.” Gabrielle snorts a little and looks at Xena who was already looking at her in amazement.

“Well, I didn’t expect that… good girl!” Xena said, laughing, as the bard gave the bandit the final blow. “I’ve never seen anyone receive such a good moral lesson.” Gabrielle smiled, giving Xena a small bow.

“So let’s get to the point, who hired you, what are you doing here, and why did you rob this merchant?” Xena holds her sword to the neck of the bandit she subdued.

“We were just going to get the money, nothing more, I swear!” The bandit is stunned by the scene, but Xena continues to give him a cold look.

Gabrielle and Xena look at each other and notice that the victim is there, paralyzed in front of them, stunned by the scene. He is an elderly man, his bag contains some medicinal herbs, clearly for personal use, in his treatment.

“Sir? Are you alright? The danger has passed, did they hurt you?” Gabrielle asks him, who nods that he is fine, but Xena notices that his hand has been injured by one of the criminals, and his face darkens.

“Who did this to him… kid?” His voice deepens, with a predatory look in his eyes. The young man looks away and says, “I don’t know.”

Xena raises an eyebrow, her face tilts to the side, she puts away her sword, her face gradually becoming more serious, deepening the feeling of anger coursing through her veins. With great precision she applies the pinch blow to the neck and the young man paralyzes catatonic.

Xena stands up, crosses her arms and turns around, looking around as she says, “I just cut off the blood supply to your brain. You’ll be dead in 30 seconds if you don’t start telling me who did this to him, and why they wanted this man’s medicine.”

She stops looking at him, now her gaze has changed to one of bloodlust and fear, she inquisitively looks at him with her arms crossed and hums “25 seconds.”

The bandit began to tremble, sweat dripping down his forehead as his eyes widened, searching for an escape he knew didn’t exist. “Please… I… I was just following orders…”

“20 seconds…” Xena said, her cold voice echoing velvety, yet velvety in a dark way.

Gabrielle watched the scene in silence, her gaze steady, but a shadow of concern crossed her face. Even though she had seen Xena use this move countless times, the intensity of the situation never failed to impress her.

The bandit looks at her, transfixed by what he heard, he begins to tremble, the world begins to disappear before him, only remaining there on the ground looking at Xena, who looks at him with an even more predatory look.

“We were on a mission, to collect these herbs, a potion to strengthen our army… our boss, Gaius, wants to control all of southern Greece, quickly…” The young man stammers quickly.

Xena, seeing this, slowly approaches and undoes the blow. He immediately returns to breathing normally and blushes to his original skin tone, but remains lying down, supported by his elbows on the floor, to keep his torso elevated and looking at her, panting.

“Very well, and where is this Gaius? Hm?” Xena raises one of her eyebrows, keeping the same look, which adds yet another sensation to the interrogation, her dark watchfulness haunting the young man, who is startled.

“On the eastern border, 1 day’s walk along the road that heads towards the Turks.” the young man stammered, his voice almost a whisper as he mentioned Gaius’ name, as if the simple act of pronouncing the name could bring him consequences.

Xena glanced at Gabrielle, and in a silent instant, they both understood the urgency of the new threat. Gabrielle nodded slightly, already anticipating the next stage of her journey.

She returns her gaze to the young bandit, and realizes that there is still something to clarify, and asks while still kneeling on one leg.

“How many soldiers are there in his camp?” She looks at him, and rests her elbow on her knee while rubbing her hands together, giving a new sense that she is ready to deepen the interrogation even further, her stoic face reveals her anxiety for him to stop cooperating and go further, she wants more, and gives it away with her gestures.

“I… I can’t, he’ll get rid of me if I tell…” He trembles a little more, fearful of the consequences he may have generated for his boss.

“Ah, bravery and loyalty? I love it,” Xena murmured, a cold smile playing on her lips. “Always makes things… more interesting.”

Xena stops for a moment, adds a tone of silent indignation to her gaze and speech, and slowly approaches him, staring at him, opening a distinct smile, and a tangled tone.

The young man squirms slightly under the effect of her gaze, he cannot look away, he seems hypnotized by her unexpected movement, and he is speechless, astonished by her effect, and begins to turn pale with panic.

“Where’s your courage now, hm? Can’t you even stand a direct look? Fair enough? Keep it up, please (her voice gets more slurred), I’m anxious to make you talk, and you will talk, until you lose your voice…” She comes closer, now speaking in a more engaging, somewhat seductive way “You’re not even capable of imagining what I can… and I’m going to do to make you tell me everything, so keep going, I beg you.” Her gaze is coldly dark and laughing.

The young bandit tried to look away, but something about Xena held him captive. A drop of sweat ran down his forehead, and he swallowed hard, as if he were facing a wild beast about to attack him.

“Last chance,” she whispered, her voice low and piercing. “Either speak now…or we’ll find out together how long this bravery will last.” Her gaze added a new sense, one of dark pleading, subliminally asking him to keep resisting, to go further.

Gabrielle, despite having seen this before, cannot help but hide her concern, but in awe of the control that Xena demonstrates in this performance, she notices the interaction taking on a new form, a kind of emotional control, domination being exerted.

The young man is silent for a moment, and she adds a new facial expression to the context, ironic surprise, and with a sadistically twisted tone she says

“Aww, how cute… our little darling wants to show off like a man for us, doesn’t he? Very well… let’s begin…” Xena tilted her head slightly, a cold satisfaction dancing in her gaze, as if she enjoyed every second the bandit lost control.

She starts to get closer, her fingers replicate the position of the pinch strike, but they suddenly stop when he lets out a scream “No, I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you, please stop!!!”

“Oh, what a shame. And I was having fun,” Xena said coldly, letting her words be the last reminder of the threat that hung in the air.

Hearing the bandit’s cry of surrender, Xena met Gabrielle’s gaze. In silence, they shared a mutual understanding. There was no need to say anything; they both knew the weight of this moment.

“There are 80 soldiers, two combat platoons, and 2 more reconnaissance squads, 88 men in total, and Gaius” The young man says quickly.

Xena narrowed her eyes, absorbing each word. The threat seemed to grow in her mind, but her expression remained firm, revealing only a flash of grim determination.

“88 men, what a party, what’s all this for, it’s not just for mere looting, surely…” Xena murmured, a cold smile appearing on the corner of her lips.

“He is working in alliance with the Turks, preparing the ground for a possible invasion.” The young man adds, still out of breath.

Gabrielle let out a soft sigh, feeling the weight of the mission ahead. But as she looked at Xena, her own fears dissipated. With Xena by her side, she knew they would be ready for whatever came.

Xena narrows her gaze, feeling a shiver run down her spine, and shivers, the irises of her eyes dilate as she remains staring at the young man, and she remains still for a brief moment, looking at him penetratingly.

“That’s wonderful, you guys are really creative, you know that?” Her tone of voice is full of irony and disgust, knowing the gravity of the situation. She stands up, ties up each of the bandits, and makes them stand up.

“Alright, boys, you’re going to the prison… Gabrielle, tell the village messenger, ask him to warn Athens about the Turks, we’re going to need everyone this time.” She says after a sigh.

Gabrielle nods knowing the gravity of the situation, and after helping her arrest the thieves, she runs to the mailroom and notifies the messenger.

From where Xena is, she notices the air of urgency in the messenger, who immediately sets off in a brutal sprint towards the north, spreading a gigantic dust of earth wherever he goes, at full speed.

Gabrielle returns, nods that the message was sent, and they both lead the bandits to the village prison.

Gabrielle stepped closer, her gaze determined, and met Xena’s eyes. “We’re ready for this,” she murmured.

Xena nodded, a spark of pride shining in her eyes. “As always, Gabrielle.”

“We have little time before Gaius’s army and the Turks advance,” Gabrielle noted, looking toward the horizon. “We need to be prepared.”