Gabrielle stood up from preparing the fish that Xena had caught earlier in the nearby stream and walked over to the saddlebags that were resting alongside the sleeping furs that had been laid out in the small but well organised camp. She opened the flap of one and delved into its depths to retrieve a small packet. She sniffed at it, nodding to herself and then returned to the almost-ready-to-cook fish. Opening the packet she looked inside and frowned before upending it and sprinkling its contents onto the fish.
"Xena," she began, "in the morning I'll pop back into the village. We've run out of those herbs that go really well with fish and I'm sure that they will have some there I can buy."
Xena's rhythmical stroking of the oil stone along the edge of her sword paused and she glanced up to look at her friend. "I've got to repair one of Argo's bridle links in the morning but once that's done we can go." She resumed dressing her sword's blade, expecting that the planning for the morning would now be concluded.
"No problem," Gabrielle replied, putting a few final touches to the fish. "I can do that while you're sorting out the bridle. There's no point in both of us trailing back there."
The metallic scraping stopped again but Xena didn't look up straight away. She stared, unfocussed at the blade in her hands for several long moments. Eventually she said, in an uncharacteristically quiet voice. "No! I don't want you going back there alone."
It was Gabrielle's turn to stop what she was doing. Her gaze lifted from the fish and she looked into the fire in front of her. "Why not?" Her voice carried more than a hint of challenge in its tone.
Xena paused another moment before replying. "Some of those villagers weren't too friendly. They might blame you for causing the damage to their property by annoying the Titans."
Gabrielle turned to look at her. "Oh come on Xena," she said. "Where did you get that idea from? It seemed to me that most of them were just really pleased that we had turned the Titans back to stone before anyone got hurt."
Xena looked up to meet Gabrielle's challenging gaze. "I don't want to take any chances. We'll go together." She resumed her sword sharpening again, the discussion at an end.
"That's ridiculous. All the people I saw were decent folk and really quite friendly, they were just frightened. I'm quite capable of going back there to buy some herbs on my own."
Xena's sharpening didn't break its steady rhythm this time. "I said, we'll go together Gabrielle, and that's an end to it."
Gabrielle stood and paced the three strides to far edge of their camp. She stopped and stared into the woods in front of her. Her shoulders were tense and her hands bunched into fists. She whirled and faced Xena, her face slightly flushed in the glow from the campfire. "Why don't you have any trust in me Xena?" Her voice was strained and loud with barely suppressed anger. "You treat me like a child, you don't take anything I say or can do seriously. You just have no respect for me at all." She stopped, breathing deeply, staring defiantly into Xena's eyes.
Xena stopped again and put her sword and stone onto the ground beside her. She sighed and looked up to meet Gabrielle's eyes, her shoulders dropping very slightly. "Look, if this is about what happened in the temple, then I'm sorry, I..."
"NO! This isn't about what happened in the temple...well not specifically. This is about how you treat me. You've been doing it for weeks and you're getting worse. I'm starting to feel like I can't take a visit to the bushes without your permission and having you standing guard."
Xena blinked and was still for a moment, then stood up and faced Gabrielle, her back straight and her chin held up. "Listen Gabrielle, there are lots of dangers out here and you don't know the half of them. You're young and you don't have any experience of dealing with them."
Gabrielle put her fists onto her hips. "Xena, I'm seventeen summers for crying out loud."
"Yes, 'only' seventeen and this is the first time you've been anywhere other than Potaedia, more or less. It's my responsibility to look after you and make sure you're safe, so let me make the decisions."
Gabrielle's anger was not assuaged. "I don't want another parent, Xena, I want a friend. Someone I can trust and who trusts me; someone I believe in and who believes in me." Her voice dropped and became gentler. "Someone I can laugh and cry with."
Xena's shoulders slumped and her eyes dropped to stare at the ground in front of her. "I just don't want you to..." she hesitated.
Gabrielle's anger flared again. "You just don't want me to do what Xena?" Her eyes looking daggers towards her tall companion.
"I don't want you to get hurt, Gabrielle. It..." She stopped, shoulders slumping even more, eyes closing, unable to say the words that would betray and confirm the feelings she knew were growing inside her heart.
Gabrielle's anger evaporated, shocked at seeing and hearing the powerful and unflappable warrior in front of her defeated by her words. She stared at Xena for long moments, neither of them moving. Eventually she walked slowly forwards until she was a hand's breadth from her friend. Gabrielle raised her hand and gently cupped Xena's cheek. "Xena?" she whispered.
A faint shudder passed through Xena 's body and she opened her eyes to look straight into the forest green ones looking up at her.
Gabrielle lowered her hand and spoke in not much more than a whisper, holding Xena's gaze. "Xena, we have to sort this out. I know that I'm inexperienced in many ways but I am not a child and I am quite capable of looking out for myself, especially with other people. You have to let me find my own way, even if that means I might run into danger sometimes. If we can't do this, I'm not sure it will work, us travelling together, I will just feel smothered."
Searching Xena's eyes, Gabrielle saw something flicker through them, gone as quickly as it came, but she gave no indication that she was going to reply. Gabrielle continued. "Xena, you said that we are friends, and we are, but this will come between us if it continues. I want to be your friend, I want to stay with you. Please, make that possible." She reached out her hands and took Xena's fingers, holding them lightly.
Xena took a shallow breath and sighed. "You're right, Gabrielle, I'm sorry. I'm used to just making things happen and, if something is bothering me I just make it so that it doesn't bother me any more. I know I can't... I shouldn't do that with you. I promise that I will try."
Gabrielle squeezed Xena's fingers gently and spoke in a gentle but firm voice. "That's all I can ask." She released Xena's fingers. "Now," she said in her normal, bubbly tones, "let's get that fish cooked, I'm starving. Would you like to hear the story about Pandora that I've been working on while we eat?"
Xena took a deep breath and blinked slowly. A small smile curved her lips as she bent to retrieve her sword and stone. "Absolutely, my bard." she said.
Comments
Again, my only thoughts are with Xena's reaction. I just don't know if I see Xena as being that passive and easily defeated... I'm not sure how I would expect her to react, but I feel like she is such a strong and assertive/aggressive personality that even a confrontation with Gabrielle would not result in her appearing so defeated and so unable/unwilling to articulate what she is feeling.
I agree with Gab that this is the hardest part of their relationship to delve into, because for the first season it really all is subtext, and requires a lot of imagination. You are doing brilliantly and I can't wait to read more.
I too am not entirely happy with my portrayal of Xena, especially towards the end. I think one of my problems is lack of patience. I want to get to the payoff too quickly and I struggle to take it slow and let the story unfold. Consequently, I think I end up not being entirely true to the character I am describing. So thanks again for slapping me in the face with that.
Regarding the characters, I was taking my lead for Gabrielle from how she reacted to Xena in the temple. She certainly wasn't passive there when she flamed off at Xena. However, I do take your point, Gabs, that she may have been worried about the "highway/my way" thing. I guess, though, it would depend on how desperate she was getting.
As far as Xena is concerned, having Gabrielle around is really messing with her head and, once Gabrielle stood up to her and told her she was behaving like a mother hen, she had the stuffing knocked out of her. Perhaps Xena felt she was facing a "highway/my way" situation too. However, I do feel that perhaps I did portray that too far.
I may have another look at this and perhaps revise it, but I'm going to be a bit busy for the next week or so, so we'll have to see.
Thanks again m'dears.
I remember how wounded Gabrielle was in the temple, but that was about her impulsiveness, which isn't quite the same thing. Gabrielle often pushed for more credit with Xena, and demanded her trust, but I do think it was too early for her to issue an ultimatum. Oh, and there was one more tiny little thing I noticed. There were a few occassions when the dialogue was very British, and in the show itself it was strictly American. One example was when Xena said, "... and that's an end to it". Another is when Gabrielle referred to Xena "sorting out" the bridle. Probably 99.9% of the Xena audience would miss that, but having grown up watching lots of English TV myself, those phrases among others really stuck out as being not quite the thing, as it were.
I wouldn't mention it, except to give you something to ponder in future stories. As I say, it's hardly an egregious flaw, but something that you might try to avoid another time, if possible, if you want to be as true to the characters as possible. Sorry if I'm being obsessive, here.
gabfan31
I also like that you are exploring the early relationship of our girls. I think this is the most difficult period to try and portray. In the later stages, things are much more set, and you can lean on the history that others have written for the show itself. But in these early days, you have to build the foundations of the relationship for yourself, and that's much more challenging. I did have a slight reservation about Gabrielle laying down the law quite so strongly here, I mean, that's definitely something she does in the future, but would she have come on quite so strong that early on? I'm not convinced. I think she would have been a little less mature about it, sulking and making snarky remarks. The sentiments would have been the same, but I don't think she would have been so forthright in demanding it. I think at this point she'd still have the vague fear that Xena might react to an ultimatum of "my way or the highway", with a "make it the highway". Not that Xena would have made that choice, but Gabrielle wouldn't have had the confidence that she wouldn't. That's why I think she'd have been more passive aggressive about it.
But all this is just nitpicking. It was still well written, and if it didn't completely agree with my view of the characters, it doesn't negate the strength of your writing. I really do enjoy it.