*****

Chapter Two:
Taste of Love

It had been ten summers since Xena's army was attacked by surprise and her slave-lover Alia was raped and murdered. She feared that the same fate would befall the curious young bard who had started traveling with her last summer.

*Gabrielle.*

She caressed the name, the woman, in her mind, afraid that the blonde would leave her if her feelings were made known. Even if Gabrielle wanted the same thing, it would be difficult for the warrior. *What about Alia? I feel like I'm betraying her even thinking about Gabrielle that way...*

"Xena? Does this thing look alright on me?"

Confused, the warrior looked at her traveling companion as she stepped out of the store. "Huh?"

"This green thing...does it look alright on me?"

"Y-yeah, Gabrielle. It looks good on you," she replied distractedly. She continued, mumbling, "A little less of that green thing would be better...I'll take care of that later..."

The blonde fiddled with the lace on the front of her brand new green halter top and bent down to smooth out a wrinkle on her brown wrap-around skirt, giving Xena a clear view of her cleavage. "What did you say?"

*Damn that 'use all your senses' stuff that I just HAD to teach her...* thought Xena as she took a deep breath and averted her eyes. She covered her earlier mumblings with, "It's a nice green on you...sets off your hair...your skin...your eyes." She watched as the bard blushed cutely and turned away to head towards another street vendor.

Xena nonchalantly followed the blonde, keeping her within eyesight, yet looking like she wasn't. She didn't want to give any information away to potential enemies. Her mind kept drifting and she forced thoughts about that time so many summers ago away from her, promising to dwell on them when they were at the camp and they could relax a little.

The former warlord looked over towards Gabrielle as she noticed bardly limbs akimbo in animated bartering with a vendor. *He's toast,* thought Xena, allowing herself a smile. She casually sauntered over to a nearby cart to overhear the conversation.

"I think I'm being pretty generous considering this thing isn't worth ONE dinar, let alone the two I'm offering."

The vendor smirked patronizingly at Gabrielle. "Do you even know what 'this thing' is?"

"Why don't you tell me and I'll let you know whether you're right or not?" returned the bard, replete with patronizing tone.

"Look, I ain't selling it to you for two dinars!"

"I'll give you three if you throw this in," she suggested, tossing something next to the first object she was bartering for that Xena couldn't see from her vantage point.

"Six."

The bard cocked her eyebrow in her best Xena impression and leaned forward, knowing from her earlier test with Xena that the man could see right down the front of her top. "Three."

The vendor cleared his throat. "Five."

Gabrielle went in for the kill and looked deep into the vendor's eyes, her emerald green gaze making the man's head spin. "Three."

"Three it is...young lady," he said happily as he took the objects and wrapped them up. The bard smiled and dug three dinars out of her satchel and placed them into his hand as she took the bundle away from him. "You gonna be in town long, little miss? I could show you around...a real good time..."

Just as Gabrielle was to politely rebuke the vendor's advances, Xena approached her from behind. "Ready?" she asked as she placed her hand on the small of Gabrielle's back without knowing it.

A chill went through the bard's body at the warrior's touch, but her voice was calm and controlled. "Yep...all finished here. I've got everything I need." Gabrielle flashed the vendor a smile and walked off with Xena, her hand still on her back.

"Xena?" whispered Gabrielle.

"Yeah?"

"Keep touching me like that and people will think we're lovers," informed the bard. Xena pulled her hand away as her mind raced to explain why she put her hand on Gabrielle in the first place.

"I'm sorry..."

"Don't be sorry. It's not that I didn't like it, but I know how you think...and how people think...and you put the two together..."

"Yeah, yeah...let's go," said Xena as she mounted Argo and reached down for Gabrielle, who looked up at her skeptically. The warrior raised an eyebrow and looked at the sky, noting how they didn't have much time before sunset to find a proper campsite. Reluctantly, the bard acquiesced and accepted Xena's help onto the large mare.

A candlemark after sunset they had just finished their meal of rabbit when they started to go about their usual evening rituals. Gabrielle took out her scrolls and Xena took out her almost too well-worn whetstone and tattered oilcloth to sharpen her weapons and polish her armour. Upon hearing the whetstone as it made contact with the warrior's sword, Gabrielle smiled and pulled her scrollbag over next to her and fished around inside looking for the purchase she made earlier.

"Xena, I bought you something," said the bard as she found the package she was looking for and stood to cross the camp and give it to her friend. The warrior looked at her puzzled. "Take it. It's not gonna bite you or anything."

*But I will if you want me to,* thought Gabrielle.

Xena gave the bard a look that said, "You didn't have to do this...buy me something..."

"I just HAD to buy this for you..." Gabrielle said out of the blue as Xena turned her attentions towards unwrapping the package. "It's not anything special...or anything. I'm no expert, but I figured you could use some new ones." The bard shrugged and walked around behind the warrior to help her take her armour off.

Inside the package was a brand new whetstone and oilcloth. For a reason Xena didn't entirely understand, she almost broke out in a torrent of tears at the thought behind this package. The warrior abruptly stood and gathered Gabrielle into her arms for a hug.

"Thank you," she said as she pulled back, her voice small and her eyes glued to the gift instead of the bard's eyes. She sat back down, unable, as always, to voice her emotions to the young woman who traveled with her.

Gabrielle frowned and took off the rest of Xena's armour, then sat down beside her on the log, her back facing the fire. "You're a little more reticent than usual, Xena. Is the whetstone THAT pretty?" she asked, trying to lighten the mood, but got no response from the warrior. She reached around and cupped Xena's cheek and turned her to look into her eyes. Gabrielle saw the emotions brewing just under the surface.

"What's the matter? Please talk to me..."

Xena gazed into Gabrielle's eyes and felt a jolt, not unpleasant, throughout her body. She had been shot by Cupid before, when Marcus lent her a shoulder and an ear, but the feeling was entirely different. This one was warmer, cozier, more intense. She wanted to curl up in the feeling, curl up in Gabrielle, and exist there forever.

Instead, the warrior stood, on the pretext of needing to use the bushes, and walked away. *I don't remember this feeling for Alia...and she's the only thing that's been getting me through...until last summer, when I met Gabrielle. I mean, what am I doing? I'm letting this little blonde into my heart, the place I swore was only for Alia. I'm betraying the only person I've ever loved...*

It was then that she felt something akin to a slap across her mental cheek. She went back to the camp dazed and trying to ignore the feeling when she saw that Gabrielle had already retired. She heard quiet sniffling and noticed that the bard was crying. The warrior's heart sank.

*She was just trying to be nice to you, you big stupid Gods damned warrior. She doesn't know anything about your past because you won't tell her. She's feeling lost and lonely because you won't talk to her. She loves you, and you love her. Deal with it before you lose her, and lose yourself.*

Xena inhaled and walked over and sat between Gabrielle and the fire. She saw that the bard was trying to hide the fact that she was crying. "Hey, Xena, what took you so long? You fall in?" Gabrielle joked, her light words not reflecting her heavy sorrow.

"Can we talk?" asked the warrior, wincing at how pathetic she sounded, but couldn't help herself.

"Of course...I'm ready whenever you are..." replied the bard, not making a move to turn and look at Xena.

"I need to see your eyes, Gabrielle."

The blonde took a ragged breath and sat up, then turned towards the warrior, not looking her in the eye. Xena gently lifted Gabrielle's face to look into her soul, puffy from crying though her eyes were, then pulled her in for a hug, too brief for either woman's liking.

"I'm sorry I'm not more talkative. I can't afford to be...but I am trying, just for you. I guess I just have to try a little harder," the warrior smiled. "I've been thinking a lot-" but the warrior was stopped by the bard's soft fingers pressing gently against her lips.

"Shh...you don't have to tell me anything you don't want to, Xena. Don't feel guilty because I talk too much..."

The warrior took Gabrielle's fingers from her lips and held her hand in her lap, her eyes fastidiously glued to the bard's. "Never think for a moment that you make me feel guilty, Gabrielle. You've brought friendship and joy to my life...and a light that I lost a very long time ago. I can never thank you enough.
"And I promise you that I will be more open with you...I'm sorry it's taking so long...I just need a little more patience." Almost as an afterthought, Xena, the Warrior Princess, the Destroyer of Nations, the Lioness of Amphipolis, added, "Please." Shocked, Gabrielle couldn't speak. *She said 'Please' to me...* The bard leaned forward and kissed the corner of Xena's mouth and smiled reassuringly. The dark woman was afraid that Gabrielle would scoff at a warrior who said "please" to a bard, but instead found that her expressive green eyes were smiling in love and understanding.

*I can't even remember Alia's eye colour anymore...but Gabrielle's green will stay with me forever...* she thought as she returned the bard's kiss, smiled and went to her bedroll on the other side of the campsite.

Neither was aware that the other gently caressed the area that was kissed, the warmth and softness lasting long after the event. They settled in for sleep, safe in the presence of each other.

*****

"Xena...it's me...Alia."

The warrior turned around and saw her Alia step towards her from what she assumed to be the Elysian Fields.

"We need to talk."

"I'm sorry for disgracing your memory, Alia..." Xena said, her head lowered. "Gabrielle's just a friend."

A small giggle came from the former slave. "I've come to talk some sense into you, warrior...because you need some help. Have a seat. Some of what I have to say might hurt."

Xena sat as Alia directed, then listened intently to her former lover. "Remember when I said that being inside you wasn't my destiny? I had already met and lost my soulmate by the time you came into my life. She came to me in a dream, much like I am with you now, and told me about your future and what I could tell you when you and I reached a certain point. And now we have. "I have no bindings over your heart. That beautiful bard does and no matter how you try to get rid of her, she'll stay by your side and stay in your heart. SHE is the other half of your soul...not me."

Alia stepped forward and hugged the warrior. "You've changed so much, Xena. You make a lot of people proud...including me...and especially Gabrielle.
"I'll always remember you, but now you have to let whatever you think you feel about me go and continue your life.
"Good-bye, Xena..."

"Xena, wake up," said a soothing voice that cradled the head of a crying warrior princess in her lap. Slowly, the dark woman came back to the world, feeling gentle fingers wipe tears from her cheeks. Xena sat up to face the bard, holding Gabrielle's hand to her face. The warrior kissed the inside of the blonde's palm, then pressed her cheek to it.

"Let me ask you a couple of questions, Gabrielle..." started the warrior. "Why'd you buy me the whetstone and oilcloth?"

"You needed new ones."

"Yes, but...you contributed to my cycle of violence...."

The bard laughed gently. "Xena, what does it matter? You would have bought them yourself, I just beat you to the punch."

"It matters to me...it's an extraordinary gesture..."

"I saw you were in need and I provided, just as you do for me every day. It's as simple as that. If you want to get technical, if you need some sort of reasoning, let's say that by buying you the whetstone and oilcloth, I contributed to your saving countless villages and lives. Feel better now?
"What was your other question?"

"Have you ever been in love, Gabrielle?" The bard swallowed, her cheeks colouring. Xena noticed her reluctance to speak and her heart sank, but she decided to continue, for Alia.

"I thought I was in love once...I was nineteen and...a powerful warlord. I fell in love with one of the slave girls. Her name was Alia.
"All I wanted was to keep everyone I've ever loved from danger...so I became what I feared: war. One night, the security around my camp was lax, and Alia and I were asleep on my pallet...when we were ambushed by an effective army of vengeful farmers...
"Alia was raped and murdered and I died that night...I slaughtered the entire attacking force..."

Gabrielle didn't turn away as Xena expected. She leaned forward and brushed away the raven hair from the warrior's eyes, then cupped her chin with both hands. "You know...I would feel the same way if I lost you or were on the verge of losing you..." "No! Don't say that...don't even think it.... I wouldn't be able to live with myself if you killed for me. I'm not worth it."

"Yes, you are, Xena...you've just been told that you aren't. I'm here to tell you that you ARE worth anything...everything. You deserve every bit of happiness available," said Gabrielle, trying to maintain eye contact though the warrior wanted to duck her head and not believe what the bard was trying to tell her.

"I've done truly horrible things, Gabrielle..."

The bard dropped her hands, and her gaze, to her lap. "Everyone has, Xena...even me."

The warrior laughed, then gave the bard an apologetic look when she looked up. "What truly horrible thing could YOU have done, Gabrielle?"

The bard sighed heavily. "I've kept a secret from you, my best friend. A big one. Not some little dinky one like 'I knew the nutbread was laced and ate it anyway,' which is true, but this lie...well, it effects both of us."

Xena fanned her hand across her chest at the admittance about the nutbread. "You DIDN'T! Oh...my gods...I'm SO devastated," she said, feigning painful shock.

"Xena..."

"...I don't think I'll ever be able to trust you to cook our bread again..."

"Xena..."

"...that explains the mysterious bag at the bottom of my saddle bag..."

"That's just this seasoning called oregano, okay...?"

"...no wonder you have a voracious appetite..."

Gabrielle loved this playful side to Xena, but was tired of trying to get her secret out in the open. She grabbed the warrior and pulled her forward to meet her lips. The contact was full of lightning and fire and colours never before seen by human eyes. The bard tried to pull back to look into Xena's eyes, but the dark woman followed her retreat. Gabrielle smiled into Xena's kisses, then gently pushed her away. Fear crept into the warrior's baby blues...

"Oh, don't get scared now, Xena. I just wanted to tell you that I love you. That's my big secret. I'm in love with you and I have been since before that day in the clearing. I saw you before then, when my family and I went to Porios to visit my aunt Silva...your army marched through the town and I saw you through the window in the tavern. And you looked up at me and, oh Gods...I don't think I ever wanted another human being more then when our eyes met.
"Or, more than right now," Gabrielle admitted sheepishly.

"I remember that day. I was going to raze the village, but I saw these eyes, these brave green eyes, and they bored into my soul. I led my army away as fast as possible," Xena said, the wonderment evident in her voice. "Gabrielle...I love you, too. I've been so afraid that you'd leave me or that I'd be defiling Alia's memory that I never considered telling you.
"To lose you would be to lose myself..."

"You're not going to lose me, Xena. It's a promise I intend to keep." Gabrielle leaned forward and kissed the warrior again. As the bard lay back, she wrapped her hand around the back of Xena's neck, pulling her down on top of her. They broke the kiss to breathe and the warrior looked into Gabrielle's eyes. There, within the beautiful green eyes of the least expected source, Xena found the love she'd been looking for all her life. It was then that she was absolutely sure that she had also found the other half of her soul.

They kissed again and when Gabrielle opened her mouth to receive Xena's questing tongue, their souls connected, trading half for half so they carried part of the other with them always. The bard wrapped her legs around the warrior's waist while her hands were busy trying to get the battledress off. Xena trailed kisses from Gabrielle's mouth to her neck, sucking gently on her pulsepoint as her fingers fumbled with the bard's belt.

"Hmmm in Tamtumus dom youm get thith thing off?" said Xena against Gabrielle's throat, unwilling to tear her mouth away to ask the question.

"Let me get it," the blonde giggled, her voice thick with need.

"Ohm nom youm don't...I hame many skillth...certaimly I cam take off a belt..."

Gabrielle giggled again as she returned her attentions to getting the leather barrier off of the body she desperately craved. She finally succeeding in undoing the laces on the battle dress and peeled it off Xena's body. They separated for a mere moment to allow Xena to fully remove her clothing and when they came back together, the feverish kissing was gone, replaced by a passion that didn't know time. It was a slow exploration, all-comsuming, reassuring them of the place they held in each other's hearts. Every action was filled with the intense white heat and blinding light of their love.

Finally, Xena conquered the puzzle of the blonde's belt and slid it and the skirt reverently from her body. She kissed Gabrielle again then moved her attentions to the other side of her bard's neck, her fingers starting to work at the laces to the green halter top.

Gabrielle pressed her hands against Xena's breasts, feeling her nipples harden under her gentle touch. The warrior moaned at the contact, her fingers still working at the laces.

"D-do you need some help, Xena?"

In response, the warrior growled against the milky white skin of Gabrielle's neck and smiled. She had no trouble with the laces at all, they were already untied, but she liked the feel of the soft, firm breasts underneath the course green linen. Slowly, she worked the sides of the top apart, then over the bard's head. With a forcefulness that surprised them both, Gabrielle flipped them both onto Xena's back, straddling her waist. she pulled back enough to look into Xena's eyes, their noses barely touching.

"Are you mine, Xena?"

The sincerety of the question shone in Gabrielle's eyes and stabbed a pleasurable pain into the warrior's heart and soul.

"Yes.
"Are you mine, Gabrielle?"

The bard smiled, tears of happiness rolling down her cheeks. "I live for no one else. Yes, I am yours." Sealing their bond, and the exchange of souls, they kissed. It was no longer the fevered kisses of love long denied, but of a love being explored. The bard broke their kiss to lavish Xena with the love she had spent her life fighting for, but never truly found.

*Safe. Complete. Loved.* These words flitted through the warrior's mind as Gabrielle sucked on her pulse-point, leaving a mark for the world to see. However, Xena didn't mind if the world knew that she was owned by someone. She craned her neck to give the bard further access. Xena arched her back when bardly hands came into contact with her breasts and she felt a smile against her neck.

Gabrielle loved the effect her touch was having on the warrior...but she felt something was missing.

"Xena.." she started but was silenced by the warrior's fingers pressed against her lips. The dark woman smiled, then closed her eyes as the bard pressed her lips to the inside of her wrist.

Xena leaned up and kissed Gabrielle deeply, then flipped them back over onto the bard's back and softly squeezed the blonde's breasts, making her moan into the warrior's mouth. Reluctantly, Xena left the warm comfort of Gabrielle's mouth and kissed a path to her breasts, licking and nibbling yet careful to avoid her sensitive nipples, saving the best for last.

"Gods, Xena...please..." moaned Gabrielle.

"In good time. Be patient."

The bard laughed. "YOU're telling ME to be patient?" In response, the warrior bit down gently on aching flesh. "Oh-okay..patience it is..."

Xena resumed her loving attention on Gabrielle's breasts, but before long she felt hands on her shoulders pushing her down the length of the bard's body. This time, she complied, nibbling and kissing down to Gabrielle's heat. She kissed the bard's thighs, working her way inward toward her center.

Scared for the third time in her life, Xena took her time pleasuring the bard, learning the things that drove her mad with need and reading the body that writhed under her touch. Gabrielle moaned when the warrior‘s velvety tongue pressed against her most sensitive area and when she exploded, their souls were sealed together in that one perfect moment. The bard found her soul mate in the fierce, repentant warrior who was worshipping her like a Goddess. The warrior found her soul mate in the equally fierce, bright shining star of a human, who, in turn, loved the warrior as she had sought after all her life.

Xena's first taste of love brought her true happiness. For the first time in her twenty-nine years of life, she felt whole and complete. Truly satisfied. She was home. She was safe. All because she had Gabrielle and Gabrielle had her.

When it was Xena’s turn to be loved, she let herself go, trusting completely that Gabrielle, the young bard who made herself a home from the stones that housed the warrior’s heart, would understand what she was giving, understand how much trust and love Xena was placing with her.

She was not disappointed.

Xena was thirty summers old.

---

Continued HERE.

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