A Beach on an Island in Greece, Who The Hell Knows How Long Ago, Sunday Fandom Time
Rescuing an entire village from being captured and nearly burned alive, turning into a short and talkative ball of rage when Sisyphus had escaped from the Underworld and stolen Ares's sword, leaving the God of War mortal, then helping to foil his plan? It had been a very, very long three or four weeks for Gabrielle, and it was probably just because she was tired that she was taking this so well in stride -- "this" being walking along the shore, talking to her best friend . . . who didn't look at all like Xena.
"So Ares is back where he belongs," she said, glancing over at Xena without much of the instinctive twitch she'd gotten used to since she'd been home. "But you're still in Callisto's body. It's wrong."
More than wrong, it had been painful. When Callisto had schemed with Ares to escape from the Underworld by playing on Xena's guilt to switch bodies with her in the dreamscape, she'd had far too much fun manipulating Gabrielle. She'd been sent back to Tartarus in the end, but not before trying to force Gabrielle to kill "Callisto" and rounding up all of Amphipolis, including Xena's mother Cyrene, in an attempt to get revenge for Xena's destruction of Cirra years before. And Gabrielle had spent weeks waking up with a start every time she saw the face of the woman who'd killed Perdicas next to her at the campfire.
Ares had promised to keep his word, but -- typically -- he'd smirked, laughed, and disappeared as soon as he'd gotten his sword and his godhood back, leaving Gabrielle, Xena-in-Callisto's-body, and Joxer in an island stronghold full of the bodies of warlords who'd been killing each other off to try and become the new God of War.
Xena shrugged. "But at least people can control their anger again."
Gabrielle, who was grateful nothing had been said about her starting a bar brawl and beating poor shopkeepers over the head with fish, was about to reply when Joxer creak-clanked by in his armor, jostling them both aside and yelling, "Hey! Last one to the boat has to row!"
They ignored him and let him run ahead, and Gabrielle looked at Xena. "Then why do I still feel like killing him?" Rhetorical question, of course. It was Joxer. More seriously, she went on, "Xena . . . if Ares doesn’t keep his word, and he doesn’t switch you back -- I'll be there for you, no matter whose body you're in."
"Even a snake-haired gorgon monster?" It might have been Callisto's face and voice, but the question was so Xena that Gabrielle had to laugh.
"I'll be there. I just won't look at you."
Xena laughed and put a hand on Gabrielle's shoulder, and Gabrielle was proud of herself for not flinching at the still-unfamiliar weight of the touch. "Gabrielle, I'm proud of you. You felt the anger but you fought it. It takes a lot more strength to resist the violence than to surrender to it."
"Thank you," Gabrielle answered sincerely, picking up the pace so she was a few steps ahead. "Now, if I can just survive the boat ride with Joxer I'll be fine."
"Trust me, you'll be fine," Xena answered. Then, in a lower and much more familiar tone: "And so will I."
So she had to turn around, of course. "Xena? It is you, right?" It was a little sad that she had to ask that, and for reasons that had nothing to do with Diana the princess or Meg the, uh, woman of questionable virtue.
"Go on," Xena replied. "Test me."
"Whose bodies are worse being trapped in than Callisto's?"
"A snake-haired gorgon monster," Xena answered without missing a beat. "And don't you think it's time to see about getting back to Fandom? It'll save you the boat ride with Joxer."
Gabrielle just laughed, gave Xena the world's biggest hug short of knocking her over into the surf because that happens next season, and lingered for a long, long time.
[OOC: Dialogue taken from the end of "Ten Little Warlords," NFI, NFB, OOC okay. I was going to do this as a full canon catchup thing over the course of the week but writer's block pwned me in the face. D:]
"So Ares is back where he belongs," she said, glancing over at Xena without much of the instinctive twitch she'd gotten used to since she'd been home. "But you're still in Callisto's body. It's wrong."
More than wrong, it had been painful. When Callisto had schemed with Ares to escape from the Underworld by playing on Xena's guilt to switch bodies with her in the dreamscape, she'd had far too much fun manipulating Gabrielle. She'd been sent back to Tartarus in the end, but not before trying to force Gabrielle to kill "Callisto" and rounding up all of Amphipolis, including Xena's mother Cyrene, in an attempt to get revenge for Xena's destruction of Cirra years before. And Gabrielle had spent weeks waking up with a start every time she saw the face of the woman who'd killed Perdicas next to her at the campfire.
Ares had promised to keep his word, but -- typically -- he'd smirked, laughed, and disappeared as soon as he'd gotten his sword and his godhood back, leaving Gabrielle, Xena-in-Callisto's-body, and Joxer in an island stronghold full of the bodies of warlords who'd been killing each other off to try and become the new God of War.
Xena shrugged. "But at least people can control their anger again."
Gabrielle, who was grateful nothing had been said about her starting a bar brawl and beating poor shopkeepers over the head with fish, was about to reply when Joxer creak-clanked by in his armor, jostling them both aside and yelling, "Hey! Last one to the boat has to row!"
They ignored him and let him run ahead, and Gabrielle looked at Xena. "Then why do I still feel like killing him?" Rhetorical question, of course. It was Joxer. More seriously, she went on, "Xena . . . if Ares doesn’t keep his word, and he doesn’t switch you back -- I'll be there for you, no matter whose body you're in."
"Even a snake-haired gorgon monster?" It might have been Callisto's face and voice, but the question was so Xena that Gabrielle had to laugh.
"I'll be there. I just won't look at you."
Xena laughed and put a hand on Gabrielle's shoulder, and Gabrielle was proud of herself for not flinching at the still-unfamiliar weight of the touch. "Gabrielle, I'm proud of you. You felt the anger but you fought it. It takes a lot more strength to resist the violence than to surrender to it."
"Thank you," Gabrielle answered sincerely, picking up the pace so she was a few steps ahead. "Now, if I can just survive the boat ride with Joxer I'll be fine."
"Trust me, you'll be fine," Xena answered. Then, in a lower and much more familiar tone: "And so will I."
So she had to turn around, of course. "Xena? It is you, right?" It was a little sad that she had to ask that, and for reasons that had nothing to do with Diana the princess or Meg the, uh, woman of questionable virtue.
"Go on," Xena replied. "Test me."
"Whose bodies are worse being trapped in than Callisto's?"
"A snake-haired gorgon monster," Xena answered without missing a beat. "And don't you think it's time to see about getting back to Fandom? It'll save you the boat ride with Joxer."
Gabrielle just laughed, gave Xena the world's biggest hug short of knocking her over into the surf because that happens next season, and lingered for a long, long time.
[OOC: Dialogue taken from the end of "Ten Little Warlords," NFI, NFB, OOC okay. I was going to do this as a full canon catchup thing over the course of the week but writer's block pwned me in the face. D:]