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CHAPTER FOUR
Inn and Out
Gabrielle arrived at the inn approximately half a candle mark after Xena. She found the warrior sitting in the usual corner with the best view of all the patrons and the entrances, but her cerulean eyes were focused on the soaking wet bard.
Taking a deep breath, Gabrielle walked over to the object of her ire, her wet boots making little squeaking noises on the wooden floor of the inn, and held out her hand, signaling for the key. Xena glanced at the place next to her then back at the bard as she handed Gabrielle what she wanted.
"If you want to talk to me, then come with me upstairs so I can get a bath or at least dry off a little." With that, the blonde turned and walked away.
"Gabrielle, I'm s-"
"You heard me, Xena. Now do as you wish," she called back without turning around.
The warrior sighed. "I'll order food for when you come back down?"
"Don't bother," the bard replied as she disappeared up the stairs. The warrior sat back in her chair and pinched the bridge of her nose while signaling for the serving man with her other hand.
"Yes ma'am?" At least his voice didn't betray his fear of the woman in front of him...
"I want three orders of your best meal brought up to my room, along with some nutbread. You got that?" she asked, standing up.
"Yes ma'am. Will there be anything else?"
"A jug of cider and two mugs." Xena tossed enough dinars onto the man's tray to pay for the food and leave him with a good tip. He smiled at her as she, too, disappeared up the staircase.
*****
Gabrielle opened the door to their room and was surprised to find a bath already prepared for her. She set her things down in the corner to the left of the door and opened her bags to survey the damage: two scrolls-in-progress destroyed, all clothes wet, and her quill was looking a little worse for wear but would be okay once it dried. She thanked the gods that she packed her finished scrolls near the bottom of Xena's saddlebags as she undressed. Just as she was about to climb into the tub, Gabrielle heard a soft knock. She wrapped a towel around herself and approached the door. "Who is it?"
"It's me." The bard silently unlocked and opened the door, let the warrior in, then closed and locked it. Xena stood there, feeling a little uncomfortable, and watched Gabrielle.
The blonde scratched her nose. "Turn around please." The warrior gave her a puzzled look, then did as asked when Gabrielle arched an eyebrow and motioned towards the bath. She turned back around at the bard's soft "Thank you."
Xena sat down on the floor beside the bed, facing the tub, and stretched her legs out in front of her. "I'm having some food brought up for us...if you don't mind my eating with you."
Gabrielle looked at Xena. "It's fine so long as we talk about what's been happening lately."
Xena stiffened, but knew it had to be done. "After your bath, okay?"
Gabrielle nodded and dunked herself under the water, then slowly emerged and leaned back against the tub, her eyes closed. The warrior watched, enthralled.
*Manohmanohman...* she thought as her imagination put her in Gabrielle's embrace for a few precious moments until she heard the serving man's footsteps on the stairs. She was up and at the door before he reached the top of the landing and had unlocked and opened it just enough to take the tray from him.
"Have a good evening," Xena heard him say as she closed the door. She wasn't in the mood to be even a little social. Right now, all the warrior wanted was some time alone with her best friend to start mending their recent past.
"Dinner's here when you're ready, Gabrielle." The blonde didn't respond, but Xena knew she had heard.
"I'm getting out of the tub," she warned Xena, then grabbed a towel to wrap around herself. As the bard was climbing out a splinter dug its way into the flesh of her big toe.
"Ow!! Shit!"
Xena was by Gabrielle's side in a flash. "What's the matter?"
"Splinter. From the floor." The bard refused the warrior's help and hobbled over to a chair, trying to not make the splinter go any deeper. She sat down and before she could examine the wound herself, Xena was on her knees in front of her with a candle and their medicine bag.
Gabrielle began to protest the warrior's ministrations, but with a motion of her hand, Xena stopped her. "Let me do this."
A few silent moments passed until the warrior dug too deep into the bard's toe.
"Ow!"
"Sorry about that," apologized Xena, "but here's the splinter." She showed it to Gabrielle, then tossed it into a nearby wastebin. Without thinking, the warrior had started to massage the bard's foot, then moved up to the calf and shin.
Where it would normally tickle her, Gabrielle felt only heat and knew she was blushing. She closed her eyes. "Xena, we've gotta talk."
The warrior was caught by the softness of the bard's skin and she didn't hear when she was spoken to. Her hands moved up towards Gabrielle's knee, but were stopped by gentle hands.
"Xena," said the bard, breathless, before she regained her composure. "We need to talk."
The warrior looked up at Gabrielle and noticed that her cheeks were flushed. *I've embarrassed her...manohmanohman...she knows...she's gonna kill me...*
With her blue eyes guiltily on the floor, Xena moved to a chair behind her and sat. The bard cleared her throat, then leaned forward, resting her arms on the table.
"Xena...what's going on?"
The raven haired woman looked at Gabrielle, her eyes welling with tears. "I don't know, Gabrielle...it's just one of those things...I guess."
"It's just one of those things that made you throw me into the lake this morning? Why you wanted to leave me behind, again, while you went to that tavern?
"What is wrong between us? What has happened?"
Xena sighed. *Maybe she doesn't know...maybe she only suspects.*
"You may not believe me, Gabrielle, but I am sorry that I decided to throw you into the lake-"
"Why'd you do it? What have I done to you?"
Nonchalantly wiping away her tears, the warrior replied, "What makes you think this is all about you?"
Gabrielle gestured broadly with her hands. "Zeus, Xena! Did you throw someone else into a lake today?!!"
"Gabrielle, please..."
"Don't 'please' me, Xena." The blonde choked back the lump that caught in her throat, but one tear escaped the corner of her eye. The warrior's blue shut in guilt. "Just answer my question."
There was silence as Xena fought with herself.
"You always do this...you get to be the unemotional, proud and stoic warrior while I am stuck trying to figure out what I've done to get you so pissed off."
Xena cleared her throat. "You haven't done anything..."
"Then, explain to me why we've been at each other's throats. It's not our time of the moon, it's not hot enough to cause us to be snippy, Joxer hasn't been around for a while...all I can come up with is that I've done SOMETHING-"
The warrior cut the bard off by kneeling in front of her and placing her fingers over her mouth. "No...you haven't done anything, Gabrielle...nothing to deserve being thrown into the lake."
The bard moved Xena's fingers away and leaned closer. If she didn't know any better, Gabrielle would have bet her last dinar that she saw fear in the warrior's eyes. "Then what's going on?"
Xena leaned in toward the bard, whose eyes fluttered shut, before she stood up and walked away from her. The warrior started pacing in front of Gabrielle, wringing her hands, her brow creased in consternation.
For Gabrielle's part, her heart was racing and her blush had darkened a little. She thought that Xena was going to kiss her and just the anticipation made her lightheaded, and when she instead stood up, the bard almost growled in frustration.
*Am I in love with Xena?* thought Gabrielle, confused by her body's reaction to the warrior. *Could she be in love with me?*
*What am I going to do?* Xena thought to herself. Then she said, "Umm...listen, Gabrielle...I, uh, think it'd be a good idea if maybe we separated for a little while." The warrior's own reaction to her words was sickness and real physical pain.
The bard felt like she had been kicked in the stomach. "What?"
"Just for a moon or two...just until we get things sorted out in our heads."
"That's why you threw me into the lake? You wanted to get rid of me?"
"No. Gabrielle, that's not it."
The bard stood up and threw her towel at Xena. She was so hurt and so angry that she didn't care about anything anymore.
"Well...you've got it, Xena. You want me gone? I am." Gabrielle dressed in her still-wet green top and brown wraparound skirt, but saved time by not tying the laces, the small top was tight enough that it wouldn't have come open, nor did she tie the laces to her boots.
"No, Gabrielle, wait-"
The blonde grabbed her staff and her few possessions, unlocked the door and stormed out of their room, running down the stairs. Xena tried to follow, but her legs wouldn't move. The only movement her body would let her make was to fall to her knees, holding herself.
"I love you," rasped the warrior through the sobs that wracked her body.
This time, she let the tears come, let her sorrow overtake her. She threw a chair at the door to close and block it.
*Maybe it's for the best...*
Xena collapsed into a ball on the floor and let her tears puddle where her head lay.
*****
Outside, the storm had become even more fierce, but the rain and thunder didn't faze the bard. She ran out of the inn and was almost hit by a wagon that was hurrying to get to some shelter. She wouldn't have cared one way or the other. She felt empty, like a part of her was ripped away with Xena's words.
Gabrielle wanted to go back up into the room and fight to be by Xena's side, felt like she should, but all that tension, all that anger that had been building for the past few days took its toll on the bard.
"Maybe it's for the best," she thought as she looked up towards their window...Xena's window. An older man approached Gabrielle from behind as the bard tied the laces to her top.
"Excuse me, miss?" The blonde turned around, her staff in the ready position.
The man raised his hands to show that he was unarmed. "I'm sorry...I didn't mean to frighten you. I should have known better than to sneak up on you, Gabrielle." As she relaxed, not sensing a threat from the man, he continued, "You looked so sad...I was wondering if I might be able to help."
The bard gave the man a small smile. "Only if you can give me a ride to Poteidaia."
"It so happens that I do have to leave right now for a village that is up that way," he said as he offered the bard his arm.
"Thank you," she said, her voice quiet, as she accepted the old man's generous offer.
"No thanks necessary, lass...you and your friend saved my village a few moons ago and this was the least I could do.
"Are you meeting Xena in Poteidaia?" he asked as they climbed up into his wagon.
Gabrielle looked at him. "Uh...yeah. Yes, she's waiting for me there. We were separated..."
The man smiled reassuringly. "Well, then...I had better get you there quickly. I know she needs you."
The bard said nothing. She glanced once more at the window, then turned and faced forward.
Gabrielle didn't speak much to the old man and when he tried to start a conversation with the bard, she gave him very short answers. When she declined the request for a story, the man knew something was wrong, but didn't want to press her.
Every spin of the wheels that took Gabrielle farther away from the warrior made her feel that much more empty inside.
Continued here.
Send mail for Magenta to the_AURYN@angelfire.com
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