ForevaXena's FanFic . . .

An Old Flame Burning Bright

by Magenta

copyright 2001 Kimyoo Films

DISCLAIMERS: This is a work of Uber fan fiction resembling the Studios USA / Renaissance Pictures characters of Xena and Gabrielle. I don't normally write Uber, but this one is actually for reference later. I know I'll use this scene in a later film, but I also know that if I don't write it now, I'll forget so, here it is as an Uber.

This is a romantic PWP, no sex, but it does occur between two women. This was inspired by my own looming birthday, my own severe case of singleness and an episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show that I watched during the Fandimonium marathon on TV Land.

Also, I stole from my CD collection to spice up my character. I have all of the CDs mentioned. Now you REALLY know how weird I am...lol

CHEESE WARNING: Yep. It's cheesy. So what? I think we all need some cheese every once in a while, so long as it's gouda. Get it? Gouda...cheese...? Nevermind. Bad pun.

THANKS TO: This story forced itself out of me with a vengeance. I wrote it in about twenty four hours while I was at work so the first thank you must go to my Muses. Obviously they felt this story HAD to be told RIGHT NOW! lol Thanks then go to Stevie Nicks for the music because she's all I listened to while I wrote this, my Macintosh laptop whom I named Argo (Senshi 2 wouldn't have worked...) for being reliable, and, um, I guess I should thank my mom for giving birth to me and the Dick Van Dyke Show for that episode. Uh, thanks. ;)

CHAPTER ONE: Lunch with Eric

"What're you doing for your birthday, Karen?" asked Eric.

The strawberry blonde whom he was talking to absently stirred her soda with her straw.

"Kare? You okay?"

Karen raised her green eyes to her lunch date, sparkling with the melancholy thoughts that were running through her head. "I'm fine, Eric."

"Yeah...sure. So? What ARE you going to do for your birthday?"

The blonde sat up straight for a moment to stretch her back, then slouched again with a soft sigh. "I dunno...probably just stay home and watch 'Survivour'..."

"Oh honey, that just won't do... Why don't you and I go paint the town pink, girls night out and all," Eric smiled as he speared a cherry tomato with his fork and popped it into his mouth.

"Thanks, Eric, but really...I'll be fine. It'll give me a chance to catch up on my e-mail-"

"E-mail, shme-mail...you're gonna go check out the hottest of the hot lesbian porn sites, I know it," he countered. His voice rose dramatically with the last six words and drew looks from the customers who sat around them. Karen lowered her head and smiled apologetically at an indignant female senior citizen who sat next to them and stared at the blonde.

"Sweetie, if you keep staring like that you'll start to draw flies. You can't deny that when Mister Oldnmouldy goes to bed you sift through 'hot 'n' wet lezzies dot com'."

As the senior citizen turned away from Eric and Karen, a momentary look of guilt crossed her face that her husband caught. Soon thereafter, the elderly couple abruptly paid for their lunch and stormed away to talk about the woman's little fetish. Eric smiled devilishly at Karen, who rose her eyebrows in amused surprise.

"Anyway, it's not healthy to be so single, Kare..."

"For me or the people around me?"

Eric laughed. "Both, my dear. I mean, how long has it been since you last got your jollies rocked?"

The blonde arched an eyebrow. "'Got my jollies rocked?'"

"Shall I elaborate?"

"No! That's quite alright," Karen laughed before continuing, "Uh, I don't know...a year or two."

A loud clank reverberated through the restaurant as Eric dropped his fork onto his plate. "A year or two? Oh honey, you're practically a virgin now! Wait a second...what about that hot little Asian number you dated a few months ago?"

"Never touched her...that way. We kissed a lot, got on the verge of heavy petting and then I'd stop it before it started..." Karen recounted, her shoulders slumped in a sign of defeat. "I don't know, Eric. Maybe I'm deluding myself trying to find something that doesn't exist..."

"I still say you should let me take you out for your birthday."

The blonde smiled sadly. "No, thank you...not this year." Karen then looked at her watch and delved into her purse for her wallet. "I've gotta go. Gimme a call later, okay?" She took out a bill to pay for her half of their lunch, gave Eric a kiss on the cheek, and walked away, Eric's sad smile for his friend trailing after her.

*****
CHAPTER TWO: Later That Night....

Karen locked the door behind her and stepped inside. She absently tossed her purse and keys aside as she kicked her high-heeled shoes underneath the table behind her plush black couch.

"Hi Aragon," she said to her beige and white Canaan dog as she padded slowly across the living room to greet her mistress. The dog followed Karen into her bedroom where she lit a stick of nag champa incense and divested herself of her business suit.

She turned the lights on in her bathroom, the forest green tiles muting the bright overhead light, and turned on the faucet of her bath. The blonde ran her hand underneath the water to make sure it was the right temperature, then went back into her bedroom to grab her terry cloth robe, which covered her full length mirror. She was about to go back into the bathroom with her robe when she stopped and decided to look at herself, really look at herself to see if she could find out what was so wrong with her that she was so alone.

Karen's eyes roamed over her own body in judgment. Everything seemed perfect to her eyes, she was happy with her form for the most part. Her stomach could use a little work, but whose couldn't? She stepped closer to the mirror and looked deeply within her own eyes.

She was an interesting dichotomy of everything a woman could want in another woman: kind, romantic, cautious and impetuous, passionate, intelligent, caring, funny, strong when she wanted to be, weak when she needed to be, lightheartedly serious, an optimistic pessimist and someone who tries to see things from every perspective, but is firm in her decisions.

"So what is it about me that no one likes, Aragon?" The dog whimpered in response and turned her head to the side. This didn't go unnoticed by Karen. "Do you know something I don't?"

Before the dog could answer her mistress, the phone rang in the living room. She rolled her eyes and walked out to answer it, not bothering to don her robe since there was no one there she should shield her body from. *Not that I would anyway at this point...* she thought.

"Hello?" she said into the receiver.

"Hi there," returned a voice, feminine yet tinged with the tones of black velvet and danger.

The voice struck a chord deep within Karen, its vibrations moving all through her body...and to points south. Somehow, Karen managed to squeak out a meager "Hi," before having to sit down, her legs weak beneath her.

"How are you tonight?"

Karen smiled in spite of herself. "Fine, and you?"

"Better now that I'm talking to you..."

The blonde frowned, the voice seeming familiar but she couldn't quite place it. The name of its owner hung on the tip of her tongue. "Who is this?" she asked.

"Who is this?" the voice countered, dropping in tone a little further. The drop sent pleasurable chills up and down Karen's spine.

"I'm sorry," the blonde choked out. "I think you may have the wrong number."

"This is Karen Harland, right?" It seemed the voice was smiling.

"Yes, this is she," the blonde replied, trying to regain her control.

"Then I don't have the wrong number...it's you I wanted to talk to." The voice paused before continuing, "Here's something to help you remember: Emma Neill High School."

Suddenly, Karen had a mental picture of the woman whom she was talking to: tall, dark, dangerous, exotic looking and definitely worth those three years of lust the blonde spent on fruitless fantasies of the woman on the other end of the phone. She felt her cheeks blush the strawberry of her hair in remembrance of the first woman she felt anything for.

"Are you still there, Karen?"

She cleared her throat and responded, "Yes, I'm here...just trying to recall. I remember your voice." Karen paused dramatically and pretended to try to remember her name. She knew the name as soon as she recalled who she was talking to.

"Melissa Oberon?" She hoped the hitch in her voice as she said the name wasn't evident to the velvety voice that caught her from the beginning.

"Ahh, good. You do remember..." Melissa recounted, that dangerous and alluring smile even more evident than before.

Karen stumbled over herself as she rushed to get into her bathroom to shut off the faucet to the bath. The water had just started to slosh over the sides of the huge antique tub.

"I'm sorry...did I interrupt your bath? You can continue, Karen, I won't mind..." Now the tone was unmistakable. Melissa was trying to seduce her over the phone.

The blonde sat heavily onto the side of the tub, her knees weakened again. "Did you call for a reason or just to listen to me take a bath?" She hoped that sounded tough or even annoyed.

"Both."

Karen found herself smiling in spite of herself yet again. *Did she have this effect on me in high school? Yes,* she thought to herself without hesitation.

"I was calling mainly to find out if you had any plans for tomorrow night."

The blonde caught the gasp before Melissa could hear it and tried, in vain, to calm her racing heart. "Uh, no," she replied, her voice steadier than she thought it would be. "No plans for me. Why?"

"Meet me at the fountain in the park by Marina Jack's at eight o'clock tomorrow night and you'll find out.
"Is it a date?" Melissa asked, her cocky self-confidence wavered slightly, but just enough for Karen to catch it.

"Yes. It's a date."

"Good. I look forward to seeing you again, Karen. I'll leave you to your bath. Have a good evening," finished Melissa, pausing only to hear Karen's almost weak farewell before hanging up. The blonde, however, didn't hang up the phone right away once she said good-bye. She was stunned that a woman she lusted after for most of her time in high school, and most of the time since then, was suddenly back in her life...

Aragon padded into the bathroom and barked once at her mistress to bring her out of her reverie. Karen hung up her phone, a wide smile working its way across her face, crinkling her nose ever so cutely. She put the phone on the back of the toilet and slid into the tub, displacing more water over the edge, and sank into the pleasant warmth around her. She then let her mind wander through the pleasant warmth within her, caused by the unexpected call from an old high school crush.

*****
CHAPTER THREE: Birth-day

"You'll never guess who called me last night, Eric!" Karen whispered towards the next cubicle over. Without waiting for an answer, the blonde continued, "Melissa Oberon!"

Eric gasped and rolled away from his desk to address Karen face to face. "No! You're kidding!"

The blonde shook her head slowly, the wide smile from the night before still gracing her lips.

"Did you have phone sex with her?"

"Eric!" Karen rasped, looking around to see who was making it known that they overheard.

"Sorry, but look at you! Giddy as the little school girl you were when you first laid eyes on Miss Oberon.
"Well?! Did you?!" he pressed, anxious for gossip.

"No...but it felt like it..."

"So what did she want to speak with you about?" Eric asked as he pressed save on his computer and turned down the ringer on his phone so he could devote all of his attention to her.

Karen not-so-covertly looked around to see if they had any "privacy" and leaned closer towards Eric, not noticing that most of the immediate sounds around them stopped to hear about her love life. "She asked me out...for TONIGHT!"

Both of them squealed in delight, bringing the attention of their co-workers towards them. "Just cheer her on and know that it's for a good cause," directed Eric. Soon thereafter "Wow, way to go"s and "you go, girl"s came from various anonymous cubicles around them.

"So? Are you going to go?"

Karen gave him a look like he'd grown a second head that had a crack habit. "Of course! And don't worry...we're meeting in a public place..."

"Good girl...I am so excited for you! But now it's five o'clock, time to clock out..after your OFFICE PARTY!"

Suddenly, dozens of co-workers jumped up from their cubicles and showered Karen in metallic confetti, small paper streamers, and shouts of "SURPRISE!!!"

"Oh my GOD!" Karen said before covering her mouth with her hands, her jaw dropped in surprised happiness.

"Happy birthday, Kare!" Eric declared as he gave her a warm hug and placed a small box upon her desk. "All of us chipped in to buy this for you for your birthday so maybe it'll be put to good use tonight!"

"You guys...this surprise is enough for me," Karen gushed as she picked up the box and tore gently at the wrapping paper, trying to not look anxious to see what they bought her.

"Dammit, Karen! Just rip the paper!" laughed a co-worker from behind her. Karen smiled and did just as was suggested, ripping the paper off with a vengeance, finding that the box was wrapped with an entire roll of paper.

"You did this, didn't you, Eric? You evil, evil fiend!" the blonde joked as Eric lowered his head in happy guilt. Finally, all of the paper was torn off and she reached the prize held within the box: a pair of handcuffs, flat black and without harmful edges, and the keys that belong to them. Karen's eyes widened to the size of saucers as she gasped.

"You GUYS!"

"Hey, you never know when they'll come in handy, so to speak," Eric pointed out as he gave Karen another hug. "What were you expecting? A Miata?!"

"I wasn't expecting anything," she laughed in response. "Thank you, everyone!"

Various happy birthdays were sprinkled throughout their co-workers as a cupcake was brought out from the employee kitchen, a single candle stuck in the top. The revelers broke out in a discordant version of the Beatles' birthday song as it marched it out to Karen. She smiled as they placed the cupcake on her desk and finished the song, much to the pleasure of her ears, and paused to make her wish:

*I just want to love and to be loved.*

Karen shook away her melancholy thoughts, inhaled, then blew out her candle. After a moment, the wick lit again. The blonde rolled her eyes as sporadic snickers broke out among her co-workers.

"When someone gives you a trick candle on your birthday cake, does that mean you get multiple wishes?"

The revelers laughed as Eric licked his fingers and pinched the fire of the trick candle out. "Only the one, hon."

Eric leaned in close and asked, "What time's your date?"

"Eight o'clock tonight."

"Wow...well, we'd better get this party going so you can hurry home to get ready! C'mon, everyone! Let's go to Charlie's!!!"

*****
CHAPTER FOUR: Birth-night

Karen left the party early to give her enough time to get ready for her date with Melissa Oberon.

"Melissa Oberon.
"Called ME.
"Melissa Oberon CALLED me!
"Nope! I still can't believe it!" she said to herself as she laid out her clothes for the evening: a black slip dress, her black, two and a half inch heeled shoes and her black and silver purse.

After her shower, she dried her hair, made sure she had everything (except the handcuffs, which she left in her normal purse on the back of the couch to be dealt with later) and got dressed. By seven thirty she was on her way to the fountain which was a fifteen minute drive from her house.

As she pulled into a parking spot close to the fountain, she checked the clock in the dash: seven fifty eight. *I should have been here earlier, but I just had to be behind the elderly person who shouldn't be driving anymore and couldn't drive even the speed limit.* Karen sighed in frustration and fixed her hair, her heart beat making her shake in excitement.

She got out of the car and sighed again, then started to walk towards the fountain. She always passed the fountain on her way to work and never really appreciated the beauty of it. The fountain stood at least ten or fifteen feet tall and there were several metal dolphins jumping out of the water. At night, the lights were turned on to accentuate the metal work of the dolphins and the water as it spritzed and flowed.

There were two couples taking a walk around the marina, but no one seemed to be waiting. Karen checked both the side facing the bay and the side facing the park and she saw no one that closely resembled Melissa.

Karen decided to sit on one of the benches by the fountain to wait for Melissa, hoping she wasn't just stood up. Five minutes passed, but it felt more like five hundred and Karen was about to give up. She felt tears flood her eyes as she lowered her head in humiliated defeat. The next thing she saw was a pair of black dress shoes as they entered her vision and that velvety voice float down to her.

"Did you think I'd stood you up?"

Slowly, Karen raised her head to look and found a bouquet of white roses held out to her. Beyond the bouquet, she saw the owner of the voice that turned her knees, and insides, to liquid: Melissa Oberon.

Melissa wore plain black pants, a white button up shirt with no collar, a black leather jacket, and that sexy dangerous smile that, tonight, was apologetic. That smile always drove Karen wild in high school...and continued to do so. Melissa's long black hair cascaded down her back and made her ice blue eyes jump out at anyone who had the courage to look into them...such as the blonde who sat before her.

"I'm sorry I'm late...I forgot how far the fountain was from my house...not a very good excuse, but true nonetheless." Melissa paused for a moment before continuing, "Hi. Happy birthday, Karen."

The blonde stood and took the bouquet from her old crush and smiled, the tears that rolled down her cheeks now of happiness. "You know my birthday?"

Melissa stepped forward and wiped Karen's tears away. "I never forgot it..." The dark woman gently pulled the blonde into her promise-filled embrace.

They stepped apart and Karen lowered her head to not let Melissa see her cry, but the dark woman wouldn't hear of that. She gently guided the blonde's head up so she could look into her emerald pools. "Do you know how long I was in love with you, Karen? I thought you were straight so I never said a word. I recently moved back and heard you were gay and had to find you, if for nothing more than to finally tell you how I feel."

Karen laughed briefly, but stopped when she saw the look of pain flit across Melissa's face. "I'm not laughing at you...I'm laughing because that's exactly how I feel."

Sighing in relief, the dark woman gestured for them to take a walk and offered her arm to Karen, which she took with a smile. Slowly, they began to walk along the sea walls of the marina,their conversation consisting of small talk and pointing out the boats they liked or thought were ugly.

Thunder roiled in the distance, but the two of them paid it no conscious mind, Karen steering them back to her car. By the time they got back to her maroon Chevy, the wind had picked up considerably and thunder exploded more frequently.

"Can I see you again, Karen?" asked Melissa, suddenly insecure having finally poured the contents of her heart out to the blonde.

"Of course...get in."

"Where're we going?" the dark woman asked.

"My apartment," Karen replied as she unlocked the passenger-side door with the automatic button on her door's armrest. At Melissa's hesitation, Karen said, "Look, I'm not that kind of girl, but it's my birthday, right? Get in, silly!"

"I wasn't hesitating about that...I don't want to leave my car..."

Karen laughed. "Follow me then."

With that, and a smile that would light up the darkest night, Melissa ran to her car and hopped in and followed Karen to her apartment.

*****
CHAPTER FIVE: Inside the Apartment

"Here we are!" Karen stated as she turned on the lights and let them both in. Afraid that Aragon would start barking at the stranger, the blonde grabbed the dog's collar and held her back as Melissa stepped in and locked the door behind her.

"This is Aragon. She's not too good with strangers, so this will be a brief meeting before I put her out on the porch."

Melissa laughed. "Reminds me of a friend's dog. no matter how many times I go to her house, the dog throws a conniption, even when she's put out on the porch. Keeps jumping up and down, trying to get me through the glass. Can't blame her tho, she's just protecting her family.
"Let her go, see what she does," the dark woman suggested.

Karen shot an "are you sure?" look at Melissa, who nodded. Hesitantly, the blonde released her grip on Aragon who ran right towards Melissa. Instead of barking and carrying on, like Karen expected, Aragon leapt upon Melissa and licked her face repeatedly, her tail wagging as if she hadn't seen the dark woman in forever.

"Wow! She's never done THAT before..." commented Karen as she watched the spectacle. Melissa gave the dog another firm rub of her head then stood to take off her jacket, which she placed on the chair near the door.

"Have you eaten, Lis? Would you like something to eat?" asked Karen, suddenly feeling uncomfortable.

"Lis, huh? You've already got a cute little nickname for me!"

Embarrassed, Karen started to apologize when Melissa put up a hand to stop her. "No, don't take it back! It's cute! And it's much better than ÔMel'," she said with a visible shudder at the butch-sounding shortened form of her name.

Karen smiled, feeling relaxed again. "Would you like something to drink? Some coffee?"

"Never touch the stuff. Have you got any soda?"

The blonde was already headed to the kitchen. "Just root beer. Is that okay?"

Melissa smiled. "Perfect."

"Great! Go ahead and have a seat and get comfy. I'll be out in a minute," Karen said from the kitchen. "You can turn on the tv or the stereo if you'd like..."

The dark woman smiled as she rounded the couch and headed for the entertainment system and looked through Karen's CDs and read them off to herself, "Buckingham Nicks, Fleetwood Mac, Rumours, Tusk, Fleetwood Mac Live, Bella Donna, Mirage, Wild Heart, Rock a Little, Tango in the Night, Behind the Mask, Fleetwood Mac's Greatest Hits, The Chain, Street Angel, The Dance, The Dance / Best Buy promo, Enchanted, Stevie Nicks' Storytellers, Trouble in Shangri-La. Hey, you're missing some, Karen!"

"Missing some what?" the blonde called out, still in the kitchen.

"Fleetwood Mac albums..." Melissa replied. "Mystery to Me, Kiln House, Time..."

"No, I'm not," corrected Karen. "I've got all the ones I want...and that's all the ones with Stevie Nicks on them..."

Melissa shook her head affectionately and continued through the CD collection, noting the genre jumps, from Fleetwood Mac to Nine Inch Nails, from Stabbing Westward to Ella Fitzgerald. The dark woman frowned and pulled a jewel case out to look at it.

"Japanese Folk Music, Kare?" she asked, laughter tingeing her voice.

Indignant, Karen replied as she walked out of the kitchen with her coffee and a glass of Barq's root beer for Melissa, "Yes. I also have Delibes' opera Lakme...what's your point?"

"Nothing. No point." Melissa ran her index finger along a few cases belonging to burned CDs and asked, "What're these?"

Just then the phone rang. "They're labeled on the front. Excuse me," she said, running to answer the phone, kicking herself for not turning off the ringer when she got home.

Melissa took out a few of the burned discs and read them to herself. "Stevie with Fleetwood Mac, Best of Stevie outside of Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nicks demos, assorted Gothic, Mix volume one." Shrugging, Melissa took out the mix CD and read through Karen's handwritten liner notes as the first song came on, which she looked up and found was "Better Be Good to Me" by Tina Turner.

~~~~~~

"So, did anything happen?" asked Eric, the voice on the other end of the phone.

"We're still on the date, Eric! I'll call you tomorrow," she said, then hung up. Karen picked up the handset and set the ringer volume to OFF. She could hear Tina Turner's gravelly voice as it floated into her room and smiled.

*Good choice, Lis,* she thought as she hung up the phone again and walked out of the room. She intended on going right into the living room, but she saw Aragon paw at the sliding glass door leading into the porch, that desperate, "GOTTA GO NOW MOM!!!" look evident in her eyes.

Praising Aragon for her self-control, Karen walked over and let her out.

~~~~~~

Melissa closed the jewel case and put it on top of the stereo, then sat down on the couch. Karen's precariously placed work day purse fell onto the ground, spilling its contents onto the floor. The dark woman closed her eyes and cursed silently, then stood to pick up the mess when she stopped, her eyes coming to rest on something of interest.

She walked around the couch and crouched to clean up the mess, amused by her little find. Melissa made sure that everything was back in her guest's purse, then picked up the handcuffs and found Karen staring slack-jawed at the dark woman. She watched in horror as her purse fell, praying that the prank gift wouldn't fall out or if they did that Melissa wouldn't notice them. *Too bad,* her mind said to itself.

"Did you have something in mind for tonight, Kare?" Melissa asked with an amused smirk as she walked towards the blonde, the handcuffs swinging back and forth from her index finger.

Speechless, Karen could only shake her head, her eyes still on the handcuffs as if she were hypnotized by them. Melissa bent to look into the blonde's eyes, still amused.

"E-E-Eric, gave them to me. F-F-F-For my birthday," stuttered Karen, mortified.

Sensing her embarrassment, Melissa put them back into Karen's purse and looked into her eyes. "If you want me to leave, I will..."

That seemed to shock Karen out of her shock as she shook her head. "No...it's just...what you must think of me, finding handcuffs fall out of my purse..."

"Hell, I thought you thought I was going through your purse. These don't shock me at all...in fact, it's quite the opposite..." Melissa finished, almost shy. In the background, "Better Be Good to Me" faded out and the opening chords of Eric Clapton's "Wonderful Tonight" started.

Melissa turned down the lights in the chandelier and held out her hand towards Karen. Shyly, the blonde stepped forward and accepted the proffered hand and found herself pulled in close to Melissa, the warmth of her body seeping through their clothes and mingling together. Karen put her head onto the dark woman's shoulder and gently kissed her neck.

As the song ended, Melissa tilted her head down and kissed Karen, a kiss softer than any silken caress and more powerful than anything they'd ever experienced before...and it was then that a few pieces of the puzzle that was their lives clicked into place. They knew where they had to be: with each other for ever.

A whisper to whatever gods there were floated away from the couple and onto the breeze that flitted through the apartment.

"Thank you."

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