On The Flip Side

ForevaXena's FanFic . . .

On The Flip Side

by Magenta

*note from Magenta* This is one of my earliest pieces in the Xenaverse. I've left it basically intact except for spelling corrections and stuff to clear up a little confusion at one point... The rest of the confusion is intact. ;) Look at how short my disclaimers are!!! *bg*

Copyright disclaimer: Xena, Gabrielle, and Argo are characters owned by Renaissance Pictures and Universal Studios. I don't pretend to own them, but I do own the story and the characters of Keloni, Matra, and Alonis.

Subtext disclaimer: There's no sex, but there is love.

First authored November 4, 1999.

CHAPTER ONE
Creatively Speaking

She stood at the door, her lithe, naked body silhouetted by the candlelight behind her."Gabrielle? When are you coming to bed?" she asked, even though she already knew the answer.

"In a minute, Xena...the muses are being especially kind to me tonight," came the response from the blonde, wearing her sleeping shift and hunched over her scroll, the quill moving with a speed that amazed her.

As quiet as a ghost, Xena walked up behind Gabrielle and bent down, wrapping her arms around the bard. "I'd like to be especially kind to you tonight... It's not often that we get a room at an inn."

Gabrielle stopped writing and turned to Xena, who was nibbling her neck. "I know, but I've GOT to get this down tonight...at least as much of it as I can. Please understand."

Xena dejectedly took her arms from around Gabrielle and walked back towards the bedroom.

"I'm sorry, Xena..." A little wave was all the response she got. "I love you."

"Yeah...sure," Xena whispered as she blew out the candle in the bedroom and lay down to sleep.

Gabrielle stared at the darkened bedroom and contemplated abandoning the scroll she was working on so diligently when the daughters of Mnemosyne struck again. She picked up her quill and started scribbling, the words flowing like lightning from Zeus' hand.

*I'm sorry, Xena,* thought Gabrielle. *I'm a bard and this is what bards do... You knew that when we started traveling together.*

A candlemark later, the muses left the beautiful bard, who rolled up the scroll and packed both it and the quill in her bag, quite satisfied with the evening's creative spurt.

Silently, she blew out the candle and crept into the bedroom, slipping between the sheets next to Xena. The warrior, on her back, looked like she was sleeping soundly, but Gabrielle knew better. She scooted herself closer to the warrior and tried to put her arms around her, only to be foiled as Xena, hurt that her love wouldn't come to bed, turned onto her side facing away from the bard.

"Xena?" quietly inquired Gabrielle. "Are you angry with me?"

"Go to sleep, Gabrielle. We'll talk about it in the morning."

The bard clenched her jaw. "Maybe we should talk about it now..."

Xena turned over to look at her lover and softened. "Tomorrow, okay? Please." She put her arm around her and pulled her close.

Gabrielle sighed and snuggled against her warrior's side. "I love you, Xena," she mumbled into the warm flesh and kissed her lover's neck, then drifted off. Xena, meanwhile, lay awake, holding her bard for all she was worth, afraid that if she let go, she'd slip away. The past few weeks, Gabrielle'd had an incredible creative spurt, using all her time to write in her scrolls and paying little attention to Xena.

On top of it all, all the warlords seemed to have taken a vacation. There was nothing, absolutely nothing, for Xena to do, especially since Gabrielle's been so pre-occupied with her scrolls. She felt as though her bard was sliding through her fingers like the sands in an hourglass whose time was almost up.

That's why Xena decided to get a room at an inn. She hoped that maybe a room would rekindle their romance, but she should have realized that candles and a table would be even more conducive to Gabrielle's creativity.

Xena sighed and kissed the top of Gabrielle's head, causing her bard to stir and squeeze her tighter. The warrior closed her eyes and gave herself to Morpheus' clutches for the next few hours.

*****
CHAPTER TWO
Cold Armour and a Message

"C'mon, Gabrielle. Wake up. It's checkout time."

The bard mumbled incoherently from underneath the covers as the bright light of sunrise poured through the windows in their room.

Xena flipped the blankets off Gabrielle. "Wakey, wakey, my lovely bard."

"You are WAY too chipper in the morning, Xena," commented Gabrielle as she propped herself up on her elbows and watched Xena fasten her armour and tighten her bootlaces.

"C'mon...it's time to go."

Gabrielle reluctantly crawled out of the bed and took off her shift to put on her clothes. Xena seized the opportunity and sauntered up behind Gabrielle, wrapping her arms around her bard and started kissing her neck.

"Whoa!! COLD ARMOUR!! COLD ARMOUR!!!"

Xena released Gabrielle and walked out of the room silently, feeling that she had been rejected again. The bard turned and watched her warrior stalk out while cursing to the Gods. She hurriedly put on her clothes, packed her shift and ran out to catch up with Xena who was heading towards the stables next door where Argo was.

"Is something wrong, Xena?"

"No," she answered rather curtly.

"Oh yeah...I believe you... Come on...what's wrong?"

Xena walked into Argo's stable to put the saddle on her. "Let's talk about it later."

"Xena, last night you said that you wanted to talk about something this morning, now you're saying you want to talk about it later. What gives?"

"What gives? I'll tell you what gives. I feel like I'm here just as entertainment value or some little thing in one of your scrolls, which you're working on all the time..."

"I'm a bard, Xena. Bards write. We definitely do not ignore the muses when they grace us with their presence. When they're there, the writing must be done while you can, not later."

"It's not just that. It seems like you shrink away from me when I try to touch you...lately..."

"Your armour was cold, I was naked. The two do not a match make!"

"What about last night? You didn't come to bed until late. All yesterday, all you could talk about was some stupid dream about our descendants finding your scrolls underground-"

Xena stopped herself when she realized what she said and found herself unable to take it back. She could see the hurt in Gabrielle's eyes.

"Excuse me? That was a STORY I'm writing, not a dream. You think it's stupid?"

Materializing almost out of nowhere, a messenger approached the arguing couple, giving Xena a much needed respite from the argument. "Xena?"

"What!" The lovers angrily said in unison.

"S-sorry to interrupt... I have a message from the warlord Keloni."

Xena narrowed her eyes at the messenger, who held the message in trembling hands. The man, terrified, ran away from those penetrating blue orbs as soon as the warrior snatched it away.

"Xena? What is it?"

Xena ignored the question and read the message:

"Xena. Please come to the village of
Abdera. I desperately your help or
else I'd not have sent for you.
-Keloni "

"We're going to Abdera." stated the warrior matter-of-factly as she refolded the message and packed it away.

"Why? What's going on?"

"An old lo-...an old friend of mine needs my help," was the reply as Xena climbed atop Argo and offered her hand to help Gabrielle up behind her. The bard accepted Xena's help, reluctantly, and they were off towards the village.

*****
CHAPTER THREE
Wavering Belief

"Who are you people to decide our fate in place of the Gods?" shouted the disturbingly calm woman who had a blindfold tied over her eyes. "None of you are a part of the Olympic pantheon and have no right-"

"We have a right to protect our children from the likes of you," responded a tall blonde man who appeared to be the ringleader of the circus mob that rushed her to the stakes.

"We've done you no wrong."

Inside the prison cell from which the mob had just dragged the calm woman to her fate, three other women watched the procession.

"Where's your friend, Kel?" whispered one of the women, tears almost ready to spill over from her auburn eyes. "Why isn't she here yet?!"

"Keloni said that she'll be here, Matra. Relax."

Matra, exasperated, just looked at the other woman as if she were stupid. It'd been at least three days since Keloni had sent the message to her old friend, but it felt like three months. It may as well have been forever the way the villagers were finishing what they had started. Keloni started to doubt the draw, any draw, she still may have had on the Warrior Princess.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for a woman named Keloni. She's got curly brown hair and blue eyes. Have you seen her?" asked Xena of an older woman, who gave her a strange look and silently walked away.

"She was awfully friendly," commented Gabrielle, who was holding a fresh scroll and quill, having only paused in her writing to observe the villagers.

"Go back to your scroll, Gabrielle," said Xena, who then added quietly, "It's all you seem to like doing lately anyway."

The couple walked further into the village, then caught the sounds of the angry mob and the calm woman's futile ministrations to earn freedom. Xena and Gabrielle started to run towards the crowd and the dark warrior leaped into the middle where the woman fought against her captors leaving Gabrielle to tend to Argo and roll up her scroll.

Matra watched the excitement from her post at the prison window. "Hey...there's something going on in the crowd. Someone just leaped into the throng!" she shouted. The other two women raced to the window to watch the commotion, but Matra instinctively knew that Keloni had been right all along and smiled.

*Xena...* she thought.

"I don't know who you are, but I highly suggest you leap your way back to where you came from. This is justice," suggested the ringleader to the warrior princess.

Xena turned her steely gaze to the man, then proceeded to size up the crowd. "This looks more like a lynch mob than justice."

From behind her, a woman shouted out, "What would you know of justice?"

The ringleader ignored the woman's comment and focused his attention on Xena. "This is justice. Not only has she put the people of this village in danger, she has wronged the Gods and Goddesses of Olympus. She is unnatural."

"We are carrying out Zeus' will!" shouted another member of the crowd.

Xena smirked and once again scanned the crowd, "You want me to leap away?"

"Yes."

"All right!" With her signature battle-cry, Xena clasped the calm woman around her waist and the two of them leapt backwards, over the heads of the surprised onlookers, and onto Argo.

Xena grabbed Gabrielle by her green halter top and pulled her onto the saddle in front of the warrior, then spurred the horse out of the village. None of the villagers were prepared for such quick resistance, so by the time any of them had their horses ready, Argo and her passengers were beyond suitable tracking range in the lessening daylight.

Xena slowed Argo about a league from the village, but they continued on towards a cave that was hidden well away from the beaten path. Inside the cave, Xena helped Gabrielle down first, then she and the bard helped Keloni down from the saddle, still being bound and blindfolded. Xena dismounted last as Gabrielle untied the rope from Keloni's wrists and the warrior took the blindfold off her. The first person she focused on was Xena. "Gods, Xena...I thought I wouldn't see you again...you cut it awfully close," Keloni said as she wrapped her hand behind Xena's head and pulled her down for a kiss.

Gabrielle cleared her throat angrily. "Whoops!" was the only reaction Keloni gave to the blonde bard. "I'm sorry. I didn't know you were there."

"Would it have made a difference?" asked the bard while looking at Xena who was trying to retain that Warrior Princess calm in front of Keloni.

"Hmm...probably not." Keloni offered Gabrielle her hand in friendship. "My name's Keloni."

Gabrielle accepted the hand offered cautiously upon a stern look from Xena. "Gabrielle."

The three women stood there for an uncomfortable moment, until Xena broke the silence.

"Gabrielle, why don't you start the fire while I go hunt?" Xena turned to Keloni and focused a blistering gaze on Keloni. "If Gabrielle asks you to do something, you'll do it. Otherwise, you'll sit down right where you are and not move one whit."

Keloni smirked and sat down where she was, but didn't argue with the dark warrior. Gabrielle watched the scene with interest at how Xena easily controlled this wraith from her past, then proceeded to build the fire.

*****
CHAPTER FOUR
Unanswered Questions

"Gabrielle, do you want any help?" asked Keloni as she sat down on a log near where Gabrielle was building the fire.

"No," she replied much colder than she intended. "Uh...thanks."

Keloni smiled at the cold dislike that oozed from the bard. "I think we got off to a bad start earlier. I honestly didn't know you were there."

Gabrielle stopped and looked at Keloni. "And I ask again: Would it have made any difference?"

Xena's old friend stretched out her legs. "Probably not," she repeated. "Xena and I have a history together."

"Obviously."

She drank in the bard's apparent jealousy. "I didn't mean to upset you, Gabrielle. Please accept my apologies."

"Oh, I'm not that upset. Believe me. If I got jealous every time we met one of Xena's old lovers, I'd be permanently green. The kiss...actually, her reaction to your kiss, is what's bothering me."

With a genuine smile, the woman again asked, "You're sure you wouldn't like any help?"

"No, thanks."

As she watched Gabrielle set up camp, Keloni decided that she liked Gabrielle...then realized that she liked her a little more than Xena and Matra would be pleased with.

*****
CHAPTER FIVE
Long Time, No See

The dinner was long and quiet as the three feasted on the rabbit Xena had caught. When they were finished, Xena gathered the plates and put them in front of Gabrielle.

The bard eyed the plates then the warrior. "What?"

"Would you wash these?"

"It's not my turn. I did them last night, remember?"

"Gabrielle." Xena tried using the trusty Steely Gaze, but to no avail. "Please?" She then looked over her shoulder in an attempt to silently tell the bard that she wanted to talk to Keloni alone.

Gabrielle angrily snatched up the plates and walked away, mumbling, "This must be all I'm good for to you...you never read my scrolls, you never offer encouragement. Washing dishes and sex...that's it. Forget that I'm an Amazon queen...how convenient..."

Xena wanted to both laugh and cry at the words coming from Gabrielle's mouth, but she would have to deal with that later...Keloni was the matter at hand. Once Gabrielle was out of earshot, Keloni turned to her former mentor and smiled. "Beautiful girl, Xena..."

"Yeah...stay away from her."

"What? Afraid I'm going to try and steal her from you? Please Xena, you know me."

"Yeah, I do know you - stay away."

There was a short moment of silence, broken by Xena as she added more wood to the fire. "What's going on, Keloni? Why'd you send for me after what's happened?"

Keloni lifted herself off the log and onto the ground. "I need your help..."

"You need MY help? Keloni the Great? Keloni the Fearless?"

"Keloni the No Longer a Warlord..."

Xena, genuinely surprised, stared at her old friend in silence.

"I see you're surprised... That was my reaction when I first heard about you. I used to wonder why, but now I see that pretty young thing you've got by your side and I understand completely."

"What made you change?"

"I met someone. She's in the Abdera prison right now... That's why I need your help. I can't free her. I took an oath - I swore to her that I would give up my ways."

"Why were you in prison? Why were the villagers about to burn you if you'd taken this vow?"

"They believe our love is wrong, Xena. They say that the Gods have put it to them to wipe out people who love the same sex. Matra and I were merely passing through the village and we needed a room at the inn. We told them that we wanted just one room and they put us in prison.

"We need to break her out."

"You didn't seem to care about her when you kissed me in front of Gabrielle..."

"Would you rather I had kissed you while her lovely back was turned? I just wanted to see the reactions. I guess you two are having a fight?"

"That's none of your business, Kel," said Xena, using her old friend's nickname as a warning. "You don't seem too worried about Matra."

Keloni smiled and leaned back against the log. "I don't need to worry. You're here."

"And what if they've already killed her?"

"I'll have yours." The icy seriousness in Keloni's voice made Xena inwardly shudder, and was about to respond when she heard Gabrielle approach. "Xena, I love Matra...but who knows what'll happen to me if she's gone. Yes, I took an oath, but Gods help me, if you don't help, Xena, she'll be dead because of you and I'll take something...someONE...in order to make you feel what I'm feeling."

"I already know the feeling. We'll go in the morning to get her."

"What feeling?" asked Gabrielle as she bent down to put their plates away. Gabrielle's presence made the conversation instantly stop...a fact which irritated her no end. She sat down far enough way from Xena that it was clear they were having some problems.

Finally it was Keloni who broke the silence. "So, Gabrielle. I've heard you're a bard...might I read one of your scrolls before bed?"

Gabrielle stumbled. "Uh...yeah! Of course!" She reached for her bag, giving Xena a look that summed up what she was thinking, and picked a scroll for her to read.

"Here...it's shorter than most of my scrolls, but I think you'll like it."

Keloni smiled as she accepted the scroll. "What's it called?"

" 'One Against An Army.' "

"Oh. Is it any good, Xena?" asked Keloni, fueling the fire.

"I'm sure it is..."

Gabrielle leaned forward a bit. "Xena doesn't read my scrolls. She doesn't even know which one I gave you."

Xena, exasperated, stood up. "Good night, Keloni," she said, grabbing Gabrielle's green halter top at the front lacing and pulling her to the bedrolls a few feet away, not giving her time to wish Keloni sweet dreams.

"Night..." Keloni watched the scene, amused, and settled in to read the scroll. *This should be interesting, since they're having a fight. Maybe I'll learn something about Xena...or something about Gabrielle.*

========

"What in Tartarus did you give to her, Gabrielle?" asked Xena in her best loud whisper. Gabrielle settled down on their bedroll, her legs crossed under her.

"Why do you care, Xena? You've never read even ONE of my scrolls. Not one. Why?"

Xena took off her heavy armour and sat down next to the bard, sighing. "I was there, Gabrielle. I don't need to read about it."

"You're not supporting me. I'm always there for you when you need me, knocking some guy or another over the head with my staff while your back is turned. When you have those nightmares, who holds you until you settle down?"

Gabrielle turned Xena's face to hers to look deep within the oceanic depths of her blue eyes and gently stroked her warrior's cheek. "Who loves you more than Aphrodite herself could dream of? "Xena, please tell me what's going on..."

"I feel like a background character in your life lately. All you do is write in your scrolls." Xena reached over and picked up her right hand. "I have no doubt that the words this hand produces are magical, but I'm just having a hard time dealing with this side of you...one I haven't seen in a while."

Gabrielle stroked the top of Xena's hand with her thumb. "You knew I was a bard when we started traveling together. You accepted it.

"I'm having a bit of a hard time with your reaction to Keloni kissing you."

"I didn't react."

"Exactly. Xena, I've not gotten really jealous about all the lovers you've told me you've had or that I've actually met because I know you're with me now...you're all mine, but when she kissed you I couldn't tell if you liked it or if you hated it."

Xena mockingly considered it for a moment. "She always was a good kisser," she said.

Gabrielle let go of the warrior's hand, disappointed at the answer, joking or not, and looked at the ground. "Oh..."

Xena leaned over and turned Gabrielle's face to her. "But she's nothing compared to you..." The warrior closed her eyes and kissed her bard softly. Gabrielle wrapped her arms around her warrior's neck and entwined her fingers through the raven black hair as she deepened their kiss. Without breaking apart, Xena gently pushed Gabrielle onto their bedroll when, quite unexpectedly, Keloni softly cleared her throat, reminding them that she was still there.

========

Keloni opened up the scroll as Xena and Gabrielle sat down to start working things out between them. No matter what was said and done, she could tell that the two women across the fire from her were very much in love...and that drove her nuts.

She didn't think she was in love with Xena anymore, the kiss proved it, but she found her lustful attentions drawn to the beautiful blonde whose hand was caressing Xena's cheek.

*Matra would kill me, y'know...and her, even against her own principles. Not to mention what Xena would do to me.*

*What power that little girl has over the Warrior Princess,* she continued to think as Xena now held the bard's hand. *I wonder if I ever had that power. No...probably not, yet this girl does...if anyone ever bothered her, all she'd have to do is tell Xena who and they'd disappear not so mysteriously.*

Keloni tried to focus on the scroll she held so delicately in her hands when she noticed that Xena and Gabrielle were kissing and about to lay down on their bedroll. Jealous and a wee bit embarrassed, Keloni cleared her throat. *I know Xena doesn't care if someone's nearby when she's making love to someone, but I bet that Gabrielle does.*

Keloni sighed and turned her full attention to the scroll in her hands and briefly pondered the title, "One Against an Army."

========

Reluctantly taking her lips away from Gabrielle's at the sound Keloni made to remind them of her, Xena sighed, frustrated. *Gods! That FIGURES!*

The warrior tried to move off Gabrielle, but the bard wasn't going to have any of that. "Not yet," she whispered as she drew Xena back to her mouth.

"Gabrielle...Keloni's just on the other side of the fire," Xena whispered when she came up for air from her bard's lips and looked at her old friend reading the scroll.

Gabrielle reached up and turned her warrior's face to look at her. "I said 'Not yet.'" She pulled her down again.

Xena twisted her lips free from Gabrielle's and subsequently tried to wrest herself from her arms. The bard rolled them over with one swift push of her strong legs and pinned Xena to the ground, straddling her and holding her wrists down. The warrior, though much stronger than the blonde, was surprised and decided to not fight.

========

Once more, Keloni's attention was diverted from the scroll when she noticed that Xena had rolled Gabrielle on top of her. *Geez, you really don't care, do you?* Keloni thought to herself. *Just like it's always been.*

"You never-" said Gabrielle loud, then quieted down to a whisper that Keloni couldn't hear.

*She never wants you on top? Hmm...that's funny. I don't remember her having an aversion to it. Ah well, things change. I know I certainly wouldn't mind if you were on top, Gabrielle...* The thought made her flinch, however, as she instantly thought about Matra, who was still in the Abdera prison.

*I'm sorry, Matra...I do love you, please believe me...*

========

"You never-" Gabrielle stopped herself when she realized that she was speaking at normal volume. "You never listen to me, Xena..." The bard looked into the azure eyes below her. "You don't appreciate me, Xena, and I'm sick of it."

========

With all of her attention finally devoted to the scroll, Keloni was instantly transported to a point a few years ago when Xena had to fight the Persian army all alone. Gabrielle was poisoned and she wouldn't let Xena sacrifice Athens to save her.

Every sentence written by the bard's graceful quill elicted emotions from Keloni that she was not accustomed to - fear, nervousness, anxiety...every emotion that there was...and could it be even love?

The love that Xena had for Gabrielle helped her to fight off soldiers in numbers Keloni had only dreamt of commanding and the love that Gabrielle had for Xena and her fellow beings, allowing her death for the Greater Good... That love radiated from the scroll and from the two women beyond her eyesight behind the fire.

*Am I capable of that kind of love? Matra is, that's why I changed.* Keloni read the scroll again to try and discover the source of such deep love.

========

Xena's eyed welled up when her bard finally told her how she felt she was being treated, the tears spilling over and rolling down to her ears.

Gabrielle wiped them away, then sat up off Xena's arms and put her hands on her warrior's chest.

"I'm sorry, Gabrielle...I love you so much. I never meant for you to feel like that. You're my world. I-" Xena was silenced by the bard's fingers pressing softly against her lips.

Gabrielle smiled and bit her bottom lip. "I'm sorry you feel neglected." She bent down and kissed her warrior. Xena arched into the kiss, pressing her body against her bard, and caressed the well-toned thighs that held her tightly.

Abruptly, Gabrielle sat back and covered Xena's hands with her own. "Too bad we can't rectify the situation at the moment."

"Sure we can." The warrior sat up, wrapped her arms around her bard's waist, and started to kiss her neck, distracting her.

"Xena, I...uh...mmm...Gods," she breathed as Xena began to suck her neck. "You bacchae."

The bard giggled and pushed Xena away. "Stop, stop. I don't want to scare your old...FRIEND. Or make her jealous."

"So if she wasn't an old friend...let's say she were Joxer...you'd make love to me right now?" Xena asked, a wicked gleam in her eye.

"HA! Joxer?!" shouted Gabrielle, who then covered her mouth and looked back at Keloni.

Xena put her free hand on her bard's face and turned her back to her. "I guess that's a 'No?'"

"It's more like a 'Not on your life if it were Joxer, Keloni...or Autolycus.'"

"Why Autolycus?"

"He'd want to join in..."

"What person wouldn't?"

The bard considered this. "Vidalis." Xena laughed, eliciting a giggle from Gabrielle.

========

"Ha! Joxer?!" shouted Gabrielle, who then silenced herself.

*Who's Joxer? Probably one of Xena's boyfriends and she just told Gabrielle about him. Figures that Xena would keep something like that a secret from her.* thought Keloni. *After reading this scroll yet AGAIN I don't understand how Xena can treat that beautiful woman so badly.*

A loud, joyful laugh came from the dark warrior, followed by a cute giggle from the bard. *Gods, why couldn't I be the cause of that giggle?*

Keloni sighed and rolled up the scroll, then laid down to try to get some sleep.

========

Xena and Gabrielle heard the rustlings that Keloni made as she settled herself down to sleep.

"I wonder if it was as good for her as it was for us," joked Xena at normal volume.

"Better," came the reply. "Are you two going to do your thing or what?"

"Gee, she sounds irritated," whispered Gabrielle. "Maybe she's still in love with you."

"No, Kel. Go to sleep. G'night," answered Xena as Gabrielle rolled off of her.

"Good night. Good night, Gabrielle. Sweet dreams."

"Night, Keloni," said Gabrielle as she lay in Xena's arms and gazed into her eyes.

Xena leaned over and kissed her bard deeply. "Good night."

"Mmm...better night," she retorted as she pressed herself more into Xena's body.

*****
CHAPTER SIX
Keloni's Choice

Everything was pitch black around the former warrior. She felt as though she were plummeting to the depths of Tartarus though she felt the ground firm beneath her.

"...the greater good..."

*Where'd that come from?* Keloni asked herself.

"...better yet, ask yourself what it means to you..."

*What it means to me? "The Greater Good." For Gabrielle, it as dying to save Athens. She would kill herself if it meant saving someone.

*What has Xena done for the Greater Good?*

"...look at her life, Kel...she sacrificed all that power she had for the greater good..."

*Just like me?* Keloni asked the darkness, but received no reply. *What am I gonna do?*

"...better yet, Keloni, ask yourself why YOU aren't going to save Matra..."

========

Keloni awoke with a start as she felt herself land in the darkness of her dream. Her eyes darted all about the cave. The fire had died down, but still gave off enough light to see her surroundings. She figured there were at least three more hours until Apollo began his ride across the sky.

She looked over the remaining flames and saw Xena wrapped possessively around Gabrielle, her cheek resting against the back of the bard's head. Keloni noticed that Gabrielle was facing away from Xena. *Yeah, she probably won't let you get too far from her... Ah, but that's none of my concern, is it?* Keloni stealthily stood up from her spot on the ground and picked up a stick to write a message in the ground for them to read upon awakening.

Thanks for coming, but I've realized that
I don't need your help. Take care of her.
Kel

She put the stick back where she found it and crept out of the cave as quietly as she could. She could sneak up on Xena and not be caught at least three out of the five times she tried. *Gods, please let those odds be with me now.*

She took one look back to make sure that she hadn't woken them up and saw Xena nuzzle Gabrielle tighter. Keloni clenched her jaw at the sight, but left all the same.

"Good luck, Xena...you'd better make Gabrielle happy," Keloni whispered into the cave and she disappeared into the night.

*****
CHAPTER SEVEN
The Greater Good

Gabrielle woke up as the sun rose over the horizon and found herself looking at Xena's chest, the warrior wrapped around her. The fire had died out a while ago and Gabrielle gently propped herself up to see if Keloni was up, though she doubted it. A mouse wearing boots and being as quiet as mousely possible three leagues away would wake Xena up.

"She's not there, is she, Gabrielle?" asked Xena, her eyes still shut.

"No, she's not. What do we do?"

Xena opened her eyes and sat up. "I heard her leave, but I didn't stop her...I thought she was just heading out to use the bushes..."

Gabrielle stood and walked over to where Keloni had originally bedded down for the night and found the scroll she lent her. "Xena. She left you a message."

"What's it say?"

"'Thanks for coming, but I've realized that I don't need your help. Take care of her. Kel.'"

"Gabrielle, what scroll'd you give her?"

"'One Against an Army.'"

"What's it about? Is that where you dressed up like me when I was poisoned?"

"No...it was the one where I tried that flip without my staff and sprained my ankle, then I got poisoned. You remember, you took on the whole Persian army alone."

"Somehow, this has gotten some sort of weird thought in Keloni's mind to do something rash...for the greater good."

"Weird thought, huh?"

"Gabrielle..."

The bard threw her hands up at Xena's chastising voice. "We really need to work on how you phrase things...your people skills. If you think she's gonna do something rash, let's go find her."

"No, wait a sec," the warrior said as she walked over to the bard already packing their camp. "Maybe I should go alone."

"Xena, what I said just now, about your people skills. This would be a good time to NOT argue with me."

"I am working on them by arguing with you. Keloni was about to be burned at the stake because her lover's a woman. If we get separated and those villagers catch you, they won't think twice about burning you because you love me.

"They also know you're with me. They'll use you against me."

"So you're saying I'm your weakness...Xena - PEOPLE SKILLS.

"If they catch you...I said IF...they won't think twice about burning you, too, no matter what you've done - good or bad. You're going to need my help. I'm not leaving you al-...I'm not leaving you," the bard finished. They saddled up and headed toward Abdera.

*****
CHAPTER SEVEN
Awakenings

Keloni waited within eyesight of the prison, hoping to catch glimpse of her love, when a thought hit her like a swinging tree trunk: *You won't be able to save her by giving yourself up. The only thing these savage villagers know is violence. They were going to burn you without a trial, why do you think diplomacy and surrender will make them think?*

A fire long lost, but not forgotten, ignited within the warrior's chest as she crept behind the blacksmith's shop and snuck in the back door.

========

"Xena, what do you think she'll do?" asked Gabrielle.

"I don't know. I don't know her anymore. My bet is that she's going to give herself up so she can be with Matra."

"I didn't think my scroll would affect her so much as to leave us behind..."

Xena smiled, though Gabrielle, who was riding behind the warrior, couldn't see it. "Your words are very powerful." In response, the bard tightened her hold on the dark one's waist and she spurred Argo on faster to the village.

========

*Keloni the warlord, caught by simpleminded villagers and put in prison for this force called love. How ridiculous.* thought Keloni as she sifted through the blacksmith's back storeroom for a proper weapon. *I should be controlling that power, not be controlled by it...*

She crept along, not really looking at anything, feeling herself drawn to a sword, perfect for the new mindset Keloni had. Simple in it's design, the look of the sword was diabolical.

The six inch hilt was wrapped in black rope, matching the sharp two and a half foot blade. The guard and pommel were polished silver, striking against the flat blackness. The sheath that held the sword was simple, made of black leather with no etchings or marks of any kind.

*Perfect...* marveled Keloni as she picked up the sword and took it out of its sheath to test it's weight and balance. *It was made for me...*

========

On the outskirts of the village, Xena and Gabrielle dismounted from Argo and hid her by some bushes, out of sight from any passers-by, and they, too, crept up behind the blacksmith's shop and stopped.

"Xena, why are we stopping?" asked Gabrielle.

"I want to see if Keloni has started anything," she replied with a matching whisper.

========

Matra was sitting all alone in the prison cell, the other two women having been taken away during the night.

*Kel...where are you?* she asked herself. *Why didn't you come right back with Xena and that cute little blonde?*

The woman sighed, tears at the corners of her auburn eyes, which still shined with a glimmer of hope that Keloni didn't leave her to die.

========

As Keloni crept towards the armour section with her new treasure, something shiny caught her eye. It was buried underneath blankets and clothes with a small opening allowing the shine to escape. Keloni quietly moved all the clothes and blankets and found a silver chain mail shirt.

She smiled at her discovery and rifled through the clothes she lifted and found a black cloth shirt with laces in the front and on the long sleeves and a pair of black leather pants. She changed out of the prison shift they dressed her in and put on her new clothes. She felt different, a feeling she hadn't had in a while, and knew that nothing would ever be the same. She shrugged the chain mail on as quietly as possible, but it still made a disconcertingly loud sound.

========

The two were about to move forward when a sound from the building beside them caught their attention.

"Xena, that sounds like armour being put on. Isn't this the blacksmith's shoppe?"

"Yeah...let's check it out."

They backtracked to the door.

========

Keloni, now in her new clothes, felt more like herself than she's felt since she made that promise to her lover, Matra. She found a worn pair of black boots just her size by the door as she was about to leave.

"Yeah, let's check it out," was whispered from outside the door. the warrior heard two separate footfalls and knew right away that Xena and Gabrielle were right outside the door. She slipped on the boots, but didn't tie them, as she thought about the situation. *Just like Xena to not listen to me...but maybe Gabrielle would leave Xena to be with me. My fashion sense IS better than hers, that's for sure.*

Keloni opened the door abruptly to find Xena and Gabrielle hunched over, the warrior's hand by the doorknob ready to open it. As the black clad warrior stepped out of the building, Xena and Gabrielle stood up.

"I'm glad we found you before you did anything stupid," said Xena when she realized what Keloni was wearing.

"Keloni, why are you dressed like that?" asked the bard, anticipating the answer before she even asked.

Keloni looked at Gabrielle with a withering gaze and replied evenly, "Your scroll inspired me, Gabrielle. I realized that Matra is my love so I must save her." She turned to Xena and stepped up to her, each not shrinking from the other. "Leave, Xena."

"I'm not going to let you go back on your oath to Matra, Kel. Let me get her out."

"And let you have her, too? Not on your life." Keloni looked at Gabrielle then walked away full stride, not hiding her presence any longer.

" 'Let you have her, too'? What does she mean by that?"

"I think she means you, Gabrielle," replied Xena, who rushed after Keloni and caught her by the arm and spun her to look into her eyes.

"I can't let you do this."

"It's not your decision, Xena. Stay out of it."

Keloni wrenched her arm free of Xena's grasp and continued into the village square, drawing her black sword from its sheath in movement to attack the ringleader and the mob that had started to gather.

"Alonis!" Keloni screeched, making the ringleader spin around towards her. Xena flung herself through the sky, over Keloni's head, and drew her sword upon rolling to an upright position in front of her old friend.

========

"Alalalalalalala!!" The odd vocal wrenched Matra from her day dreaming and drew her to the prison window. From her position, she could see Xena, but not the face of the person she was confronting. "Where's Keloni?" she asked herself.

"Xena, don't stand in my way," said the leather clad warrior.

"Don't make me stand here, then. Drop the sword. Wait over by Gabrielle. Let me handle this, Kel."

*"KEL?"* "Keloni, is that you?!" shouted Matra through the prison window.

"Don't let her see you like this, Kel. It's not worth it to lose her," the warrior whispered to her old friend.

"She's already lost me, Xena. I can't be who I'm not. Stand aside."

"No."

"STAND ASIDE!"

As the villagers gathered to watch the two warriors battle, Alonis gathered their police force. Gabrielle rushed her way through the throng of people to be next to Xena.

"Gabrielle, you shouldn't be here. Y'know, it's just like you to drag her into this."

"Keloni, she didn't drag me into anything."

The crowd parted as Alonis approached with the police force following him. "Enough of this foolishness. You are all condemned to die. Drop your weapons."

Keloni growled and made as if to drop her sword, but actually spun the blade to point behind her. The black blade entered one of the soldier's torso up to the hilt.

"Just like old times."

Keloni withdrew her sword and spun around, the sword ready to attack, and sliced through three more soldiers, narrowly missing Alonis. She turned towards Xena, her blue eyes taking on an animalistic bloodlust as she glared at her old friend. Alonis stepped behind the protection of the warrior princess.

"Bring Matra out here!" growled Keloni to the ringleader as he cowered behind Xena. Alonis turned to one of his soldiers standing in the crowd and nodded. The soldier ran towards the prison.

========

From the window, she could not see a thing, but she heard the villagers screeching and Keloni's demand and knew what was going on. "Oh Kel!! What in Tartarus are you doing?!!" she shouted over the noise.

Suddenly, her cell door was unlocked by a tall prison guard. "Follow me, NOW!" he commanded and she did as she was told.

========

Keloni stepped towards Xena, purest menace in her eyes. Gabrielle stepped between the two warriors, her end of her staff against Keloni's shoulder to hold her back. "Enough. Drop your sword, Keloni."

"I don't want to hurt you, Gabrielle, but..." the warrior trailed off.

"But you will if I don't move? What does that solve?"

Keloni opened her mouth to answer then, inexplicably, closed it, the animal intensity in her eyes waning.

"Watch out, let us through," demanded the prison guard as he brought Matra through the crowd behind Xena, forcing the people to stand aside. The guard pushed Matra into the circle next to Xena.

"Please, Kel...drop the sword," pleaded the gentle woman as tears began to pour down her cheeks.

Alonis grabbed Matra's arm and drew her close. "Yeah, KEL...drop your sword," he said as he took a dagger from his belt and held it to her neck. Gabrielle and Xena glanced at each other for a moment, then Xena turned halfway towards Alonis, not letting Keloni completely out of her peripheral vision.

Keloni, who had started to calm down thanks to Gabrielle, became enraged beyond all compare and started to rush Alonis.

"NO!" screamed the bard, throwing herself into the raging warrior before Xena could react. The black blade flew out of Keloni's hand upon impact with Gabrielle and sheathed itself in the torsos of both Matra and Alonis.

Keloni, dumbfounded, lay atop Gabrielle and stared as the body of her lover fell dead to the ground attached to the man who had condemned them both to death for their love. The police force rushed in and took Keloni off the bard.

The two warriors looked at each other. Xena could feel the sad helplessness in her old friend's eyes, but watched as other emotions clouded the amber-flecked blue. the hatred and anger that oozed from her shot through Xena's heart like an arrow.

"X-Xena...w-why didn't you stop my sword?" asked Keloni, who then turned her hatefilled eyes to Gabrielle. "Why did you try to stop me?! Matra's blood...MY blood, is on your hands, Gabrielle!"

Xena helped the bard stand up and no matter how much she wanted to, she couldn't put her arms around her for fear of condemning them both to the same fate. Unavoidably, bringing the town to justice would have to wait.

"Gabrielle! It's your fault this happened!! I will find you no matter where you are, no matter how Xena tries to hide you! I can promise you that!" shouted Keloni as the soldiers took her to the prison.

More soldiers swarmed upon the two bodies on the ground. The biggest of them turned to Xena and Gabrielle. "This young woman has bought you both freedom for her bravery, but only if you leave Abdera before sunset." The soldier turned from the warrior and the bard to pull the sword from the bodies.

Gabrielle turned the soldier around. "What will happen to Keloni?"

"She will be tried for these murders and appropriately dealt with. It's no concern of yours. Leave now before you, too, are arrested and sentenced to death," the soldier warned, wanting them to leave so no more blood could be shed.

The crowd of villagers started to break up as the police force carried away the carnage and impounded the murder weapon. Gabrielle silently stared at the prison, numb to the world around her.

Xena turned her face to look into the emerald depths. "Gabrielle. We have to go."

The bard nodded and turned away from the prison. Xena looked at the window where Matra had held her vigil the night before and inwardly cringed when she saw Keloni lead into the "High Security" cell opposite. The condemned warrior fired one more arrow of hate from her eyes before the solid door was closed.

The tension in the air was thick. The villagers paid no attention to Xena and Gabrielle, only to the anger they felt for Keloni. Tears pooled in the corners of Xena's eyes which she nonchalantly wiped away. She turned around and followed her lover out of the village, back towards Argo, knowing that Keloni's fate wasn't in the hands of the law anymore.

*****
CHAPTER EIGHT
By the Fire Side

Dinner was short that evening, Gabrielle having lost her appetite. The bard laid down on their bedroll on her side, her knees up to her chest. "Gabrielle? Don't you want to write a little?"

The bard shook her head in response and lie there, facing away from Xena. The warrior heard the soft sobs and watched as the tears overtook her. She crawled over behind Gabrielle and wrapped her protective arms around her.

"Shhh. It's okay," she soothed. The bard turned round in her lover's arms and pressed her cheek to Xena's chest. She tried to think of something to say to aleve the hurt in her heart, but the warrior knew well enough by now that Gabrielle never believed her, or at least acknowledged believing her.

"Gabrielle, I know that you know this in your heart. If you hadn't stopped Keloni, she would have killed many more innocent people. You cannot hold yourself responsible for Matra's death." She didn't know if she was getting though to the woman whose tears wet her chest.

"At least now she'll be tried and put behind bars before she can do anymore serious damage," the warrior continued, regardless of how she felt it would actually end.

Gabrielle cupped Xena's face and kissed her deeply before pulling Xena closer and settling in her warrior's embrace to wait for Morpheus to take her away. Xena, meanwhile, lay awake, holding her bard for all she was worth, afraid that if she let go, she'd slip away. Gabrielle's creative spurt wasn't the culprit this time. This time it was the flip side of her personality, the side that wanted to live the adventures she wrote about. What the bard didn't seem to realize was that even the most heroic of deeds sometimes end badly and guilt, no matter whose fault the outcome is, usually follows.

*****
CHAPTER NINE
Chaos ensues

Abdera shone with an eerie light as the villagers came together and stormed the prison, torches ablaze, demanding Keloni's immediate death.

The warrior sat in the "High Security" cell that faced the one her lover was in only a day before, alive and awaiting her heroine's return. Thoughts of how that beautiful, devilishly innocent looking Gabrielle caused Matra's death flew through her mind and the flames of hatred threatened to engulf her again.

The cell door was opened and the villagers, seething with anger and bloodlust, rushed in and pulled her away to the stake that had been set up for her. None of the prison guards tried to stop the mob and some of them helped the villagers take her to her fate.

Surrounded by the light of a hundred torches, the stake was more ominous than any other night preceding. It was piled high with wood. Keloni strained her eyes to see what else was on the wood that would soon engulf her with flames. She saw the body of her lover, looking peaceful, about to share the same burning end as its living mate.

The mob tied Keloni to the stake and stood back as the new head prison guard, the one who left Xena and Gabrielle go, approached the condemned. "It was my idea to burn your love with you. Perhaps then you'll have peace," the guard whispered.

"I'll never have peace until Gabrielle pays for what she's done."

"Let go of your hate and anger, Keloni. It wasn't her fault."

"It could be no one else's. I will have vengeance, I promise you that."

Keloni's last hate filled promise, filled the night air as the guard stepped back and lit the all-consuming pyre. The warrior held in her screams, not wanting to give the simpleminded villagers any satisfaction.

The guard disappeared into the prison as the crowd dispersed. He reappeared moments later carrying Keloni's black sword and stepped into the warrior's eyeline.

"May you rest in peace, Keloni...and so may your violent legacy." The guard then threw the bloodstained sword in its sheath onto the fire. It landed with a solid thump next to the warrior.

"Godsdamned shame..." muttered the soldier as he walked away from the pyre.

The End

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