"Story Time" is copyright © 1997 by Morgan MacLeod, all rights reserved. Do not distribute, archive, or repost without prior permission from the author.

Xena and Gabrielle belong to MCA/Renaissance Pictures. Some characters herein are also based on situations belonging to Paramount. All these characters are used here in a strictly non-profit manner, and their appearance is in no way intended to infringe on the trademarks of MCA, Renaissance Pictures, or Paramount.

"It's always hard to say goodbye, isn't it?" Chloe asked, the knowing tone of her words inviting Gabrielle to join, if only for this moment, the sorority of those who waited for their heroes to return.

Gabrielle nodded. "She can take care of herself, better than anyone I've ever known, but, at least when I'm with her, I know what's happening."

"You're lucky, that way. Most of us always have to wait." The underlying note of pain and fear was clear in Chloe's voice. "Leo isn't really comfortable going out with the fishing boats, but he takes turns with his older brother, in his father's boat. He'd rather tend the gardens. I try not to think about what could happen whenever he goes out."

Gabrielle gave her a quick hug. "Don't worry about Leo. Or any of your friends. Xena will take care of them."

"I know she'll do her best. But Leo can be, well, headstrong at times. And Xanti is always trying to prove she can do things as well as the men - as if we all didn't already know that she's better than most of them. I just hope neither of them does anything stupid."

Gabrielle took a deep breath. "They'll be all right. Now, we have things to do, so let's get started." She turned away from the path, back towards the camp. "So, Chloe, do you want to take charge of keeping the camp in order? Meals, keeping things running, making sure fresh trenches are dug when we need them, that sort of thing."

"It's not much different from running a household, is it?" Chloe smiled. "I can do that, no problem."

"Good. I'll take care of the horses - Argo's used to me, but she can be difficult around people she doesn't know. Kind of like her mistress, that way." Gabrielle smiled wryly.

The others were waiting by the fire. Gabrielle slid in between two of them to pick up a bowl and help herself to what remained of the morning's breakfast. She looked around her, catching the eye of Pellicles and Antimone, the two youths she had assigned to the first watch. "I'll go out to the watchpost with you as soon as I'm finished here. You're both ready?"

Antimone nodded. "Ready, but hoping that nothing happens."

Gabrielle smiled at her. "I think we all hope that. We don't want to see any of you put at risk unless it's absolutely necessary, and I really don't want what you're doing to be the cause of any confrontation between you and your people."

"Do you really think it could come to that?" This was Lamdas, the youngest of the youths who had followed Leonidas in support of Xena's plan.

"I hope it doesn't, but I wouldn't lie to you. It could happen. Your Elders know why Xena and I came here. They know we won't leave until we've finished what we came to do. And they're going to notice that you've all gone missing. If we're lucky, they won't bother trying to look for you. If we're very lucky, they won't try to put any more of your friends up on that rock. But it could happen."

Chloe spoke softly into the silence that followed Gabrielle's words. "She's right. And we have to be ready for it."

Nervous glances flashed around the firepit, passing over the bent head of Gabrielle as she scooped up the remains of the grain porridge from her bowl and ate it quickly.

"Do you think we'll have to fight?" asked Andymion, a tall lanky blond who seemed to take this thought with less concern than his fellows.

Gabrielle looked up. "I hope not. Your Elders are good people, even if they have made a terrible mistake about how to deal with the Wingclaw. I don't think they'll want to turn on their children." She set down the empty bowl. "But let's hope that we never have to find out. Well, then, let's get going." She stood, then paused to look at the others. "Chloe is in charge of the camp, so do what she says while I'm away. Lamdas, if anything happens here before I get back, it's your job to run out to the watchpost and get me, understood?"

Amid nods of assurance, Gabrielle picked up her staff as Pellicles and Antimone shouldered the day's provisions and gathered their own weapons. With a last reassuring smile at Chloe, Gabrielle led the others back along the lightly marked path they had followed the night before.

As she led the others on a quiet march through the dense brush that lay between the campsite and the watchpost, Gabrielle fought to keep her mind on the task that lay before her, blocking out as best she could the memory of Xena's kiss. As long as no one came out from the village, there was really nothing to fear. Even if the creature came to the spire looking for easy prey, they would be safe in the woods. But once the villagers moved, anything could happen, even battle. Could these inexperienced village youths stand against the adults they had looked up to all their lives? And could she lead them against their own people, if it came to that? She had watched Xena take command of others more times than she could count, and she had her own experience at the siege of Potedeia to draw on, but this time, she was alone and facing attack on two fronts, one from the village, one from the sky. She tried to imagine herself as the warrior princess. What would Xena do, if the townsfolk came to stop them from keeping the rock free of sacrifices?

Gabrielle snorted softly. That was easy. Xena would stand there as if she had not a care in the world, and tell them to go away and leave her to her business. And if they refused, well, Xena could probably take them all on by herself. But she was not Xena. Despite her growing confidence with a staff, she had nothing like Xena's battle skills, and really did not want them, even if they could have been hers. If the villagers attacked them, she would have to find another way, her own way.

Before she knew it, they had reached the lookout, and Antimone was introducing her to Memnon and Phlebas. Seeing the exhaustion in their faces after their night on watch, Gabrielle left Antimone and Pellicles in charge after a few final instructions, and led them quickly back to camp, where Chloe fed them, and sent them to their grass pallets to sleep. Her duties as leader satisfied for the moment, Gabrielle went to see to the horses, and to be alone at last with her thoughts.

Feeding the horses, and leading them to the nearby stream for water, occupied her thoughts completely at first, for despite two years in the company of Argo, she was not quite comfortable with animals the size of these warhorses. Fortunately, in recent months Argo had decided to obey her, at least when Xena was not around, and the other horse seemed inclined to be led and cared for without complaint. Gabrielle sighed. If only she could find a gentle little pony for herself, an animal that did not leave her feeling so small and high off the ground. It wouldn't be able to keep up with Argo at full gallop, but then not even Argo could sustain full gallop for very long.

The next task of grooming Argo was a familiar and oddly soothing one, as she brushed and combed her, free to contemplate the shock that the mare's mistress had given Gabrielle earlier that morning. Certainly, through the other events of the morning, breakfast, the walk to the spypost and back, no matter how much she tried to ignore it, a small voice had been exulting in the back of her mind, over and over again, that Xena loved her, Xena had kissed her, Xena wanted her, was hers. But why reveal it now, she wondered. Could it be that this was some new realisation? But no, Xena had said that she had felt this way for a long time, long before she had married Perdicas. And it could hardly be the threat of danger, the separation. They had parted in perilous circumstances before. There really was nothing particularly unusual about this time, unless she somehow owed this sudden revelation to Rillian's sly but persistent needling of the warrior over the past days.

She took a deep breath. Xena loved her. And knew, finally, that she loved Xena in return. But why, if she had loved her for so long, had she never spoken? Why had Xena let her walk away and marry Perdicas without even a word, a whisper, of how she herself felt?

Gabrielle shook her head savagely, to clear the questions and doubts from her mind. There would be time to talk when Xena returned. For now, it was enough that the hiding, the pretending, was over, for both of them. And that Xena loved her.

Leaving the horses on a loose tether in a different section of the thicket, Gabrielle returned to the common area and rejoined the others. The day passed without further event, as Gabrielle yielded to requests for tales of the famous Warrior Princess, and found to her surprise that her recounting of Xena's deeds had taken on an added dimension. Some passages seemed to evoke greater emotion in her; others she found awkward, and made notes to herself to rewrite with added insight. In the late afternoon, she sent the team for the evening watch, Andymion and Soter, out to change places with Pellicles and Antimone, and then, her voice tired at last, helped Chloe with dinner, saw to the horses again, and went to sleep after reminding Phlebas and Memnon to take the night watch once more.

The second day passed much as had the first, but in the late morning of the third day, just as she had finished seeing to the horses, Pellicles ran suddenly into the camp, his face a mixture of panic and a tense excitement. Before he had time to do more than gasp out Gabrielle's name, the whole camp had clustered around him.

"What is it?" she asked, pushing the others aside to stand face to face with the panting youth.

"Gabrielle, they're coming. From the village!"

Alarm flashed across the faces of the erstwhile young heroes. A babble of questions rose from half a dozen voices, as the full awareness of their situation stuck home. Gabrielle silenced them with a curt gesture. "Are they bringing another sacrifice?"

"I don't know. They were too far off to see when I left. But there's a lot of them."

"How many?"

"I'm not sure... at least a dozen, maybe fifteen."

Gabrielle looked around her at the fearful faces of the others, and took a breath to steady herself. No matter how frightened she might be, those around her were far less experienced and prepared, and needed her voice to guide them. Think like Xena, she whispered to herself, as she opened her mouth to address them. The words began to flow without her conscious thought. "First, everybody stay calm. We don't know what's going to happen yet. We all knew that sooner or later, they would come looking for you, and Xena and me, we've been planning for it. What we have to do now is make certain that no one else dies. I promise you, if there is any way to get out of this without a fight, I will do it." She looked over at Chloe. "Wake Phlebas and Memnon, we'll need everyone." Grabbing her own staff, she looked around at the others. "Gather your weapons, and let's go.

"Chloe, I want you to come with us too, I might need you. Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you. Can you do that?"

Chloe swallowed, and nodded.

"Good. Is everyone ready? Follow me, then, and be quiet. We don't want to give ourselves away."

After a quick and nervous passage through the woods, Gabrielle and the others slipped quietly into the sheltered hollow where Antimone waited for them. Keeping low, and making as little noise as possible, Gabrielle peered out at the reason for the signal of alarm. Beside her, Antimone pointed into the distance, and Gabrielle could see, marching along the path towards the sacrificial stone, a group of townsfolk, some wearing patched armour and carrying swords or spears. At their head was the Elder, Deiron.

Lamdas looked at Gabrielle, fear and eagerness warring in his face. "This is it, isn't it? We'll have to fight them."

Gabrielle shook her head. "Maybe not. See, they haven't brought anyone out to sacrifice. Maybe they're just looking for us, and if we ignore them, they'll go away."

"Ignore them?" asked Andymion, shocked.

"Yes, ignore them. Do you think Xena or I want to see you fighting your own kin? We're here to save lives, to end this horror, not to set families against each other. If there's any way to avoid this without anyone striking a blow, I'll take it... short of giving in to them, of course."

Behind her, Gabrielle heard Antimone gasp. "What is it?"

"It's my father. How could he do this? Years ago his own sister was one of the sacrifices. I remember him telling us how he cried for months. How could he come here, like this, to try and stop me?"

"I don't know, Antimone." Gabrielle paused for a moment. Xena had always said that every scrap of knowledge was important. This might be something she could use, if it came to a confrontation. "Which one of them is your father?"

Antimone pointed to a grey haired man in an old cuirass of boiled leather. "That's him. His name is Gordias."

"Right, I see him. Anyone else have a father, or a brother out there?" Sotor pointed to his brother, Memnon to an uncle. "Right. Let's hope we don't have to fight, but if we do, Phlebas, I want you to stay here with Chloe. If it's going badly, get her out of here. Take the other horse, and get her away from here. The rest of you, follow my lead exactly. No bravado, no brilliant ideas, just wait for my word. Understood?"

She looked each one in turn full in the eyes, waiting for a word or nod of assent. Each one, in turn, gave it. She nodded, half to herself. "Just remember, wait for my word for everything. And maybe, if we're lucky, no one will get hurt."

The band of townsmen had come ever closer as they spoke, and now halted near the spire. Deiron looked around the site carefully, peering into the trees. Gabrielle and the others froze as his glance passed over their place of concealment, but he seemed not to see anything, and his surveying gaze passed by without pausing.

He took a step towards the woods. "Xena!" he shouted. "Warrior Princess. I know you're there. Come out and face me!"

Gabrielle motioned the others for quiet, and waited.

"I know what you're doing, Xena. I know you're not alone. I don't know how you got to them, but I know there are others there with you. You can't win, Xena. The gods have cursed us. The gods will have their due."

The lack of response seemed to unsettle the man, for as yet again his cry went unanswered, he turned from side to side, anger on his face, indecision in his bearing. "Xena!" he howled. "You will not get away with this. I'll find you, if I have to tear the forest apart!"

Watching carefully as he turned to speak to the men behind him, Gabrielle motioned to the others in the watchpost to remain, and stood up quietly. Moving a short distance from their hiding place, she left the cover of the brushes, and called upon all the power of her bard's voice. "Xena isn't here. She's up in the mountains, doing what you should be doing instead. Stopping that monster."

Deiron spun around to face her. "Ah, the little companion. Did Xena leave you here alone to try and stop us from carrying out the will of the gods?"

Gabrielle stepped towards him. "I chose to stay here to keep you and your people from killing again."

"We don't need strangers like you coming here telling us that our ways are wrong. We're the ones who have lived with this curse for generations, not you. We're the ones who know how best to deal with it. You and the Warrior Princess don't belong here. Go, and leave us to our fates."

"And leave your sisters and daughters to die needlessly? Sorry, that's not what we came here for."

"I tell you, we are cursed."

"No, you are cowards. You've let your children die rather than study your enemy, learn how to destroy it and free yourselves from the fear you've lived in for all these years. It took strangers to realise that this is only a monster, like any other monster."

"I'm warning you, if you try to stop us, you will regret it. We will not let you interfere. Leave this foolishness now, before you are hurt, or worse."

"You would really try to kill someone who wants to save your children? Perhaps you would." Gabrielle signalled to the others, and she heard behind her the immediate answer of rustling branches as the youths of Thalassepolis stepped into place behind her. "But will you fight your own children? Look at them, people of Thalassepolis. They don't want to die for a superstition any longer. But they will fight to end this horror."

She paused for a moment, looking at Deiron as he searched the faces of those who stood with her, seeking some weakness, some unwillingness. As his confidence turned to concern, she formed a silent prayer of thanks to whatever gods might be listening that her companions had held firm.

She stepped forward one more pace, pressing her advantage. "We've made a pact, your sons and daughters, and Xena and I. We will fight you, if you try to hang another of your children up on that bloody rock. Do you want any more of your children's blood on your hands?" She could see the shadow of pain appear in his eyes at her words. Unrelenting, she pressed on. "What are you going to do now, Deiron?" Gabrielle asked. "Are you going to fight us here and now, take your children back to the village bound like slaves." Quickly she scanned the faces of the men, finding the signs of doubt, of hesitation, on a handful of faces.

She struck again. "Or perhaps, you'll just leave them all tied up here, wounded or dying, like a summer picnic for the beast. How delightfully accommodating. Is that what you plan to do with your children, Deiron, is it?" Stunned, he shook his head. She raged on, before he could speak again. "You'll have to do something, Deiron, because if you don't, we'll just stay here, and every girl you put up on that rock, we'll cut down. We will not let another victim die."

Deiron turned to his left and then to his right, looking for a moment at his companions, sensing them wavering before Gabrielle's words. "We'll stay here ourselves, and make certain that you don't interfere. The sacrifices will continue."

"Oh will they? You've always left them to die alone, haven't you? Why? Isn't it because you know it's wrong, it's monstrous, it's evil? Isn't it because you know not one of you could stand there and watch the Creature devour his child in front of him?" She whirled to fix her stare on Antimone's father. "Could you do that? Could you stand here while Deiron ties Antimone to that rock? Could you stand here and watch the monster take her in its claws, and tear her to pieces, and swallow her still living flesh while you listen to her screams and see her blood... your blood, pouring down from the sky and staining the ground? Could you?"

The man shuddered and turned away, his hands covering his face. Deiron grabbed him by the shoulder. "In the name of the Gods, Gordias, don't let her get to you. This is our way. We will stand it if we have to."

Gabrielle laughed in derision. "This is your way," she mocked him. "Right. For the gods alone know how many years, your people have been doing this unimaginable thing, and not once have you been able to stand and look at what you're really doing. And you expect me to believe you'll start facing up to the horror of your choices now, just because now your own sons and daughters are ready to die, if they have to, to end this? I don't think so, Deiron. And neither do your friends. Look in their eyes, Deiron."

Reluctantly, he turned, and saw the shame and horror written on the faces of the others. "We can't give up now," he pleaded with them. "We've been over this a thousand times, there is no other way. This is the will of the gods."

"What if it isn't?" the man asked, sobbing. "What if we've been wrong?"

It was all she needed. "Yes, people of Thalassepolis, what if you have been wrong? What if this was never a curse of the gods, but a terrible, meaningless litany of agonizing deaths. What if your sisters and daughters have never had to die? What if it has only been fear, and the guilt of men like Deiron, men who sent their loved ones to death, and now cannot bear to even imagine that there might have been another way out. Will you let this tragedy go on, or will you end it now?"

One by one, the men who had followed Deiron laid down their weapons. Antimone's father, still sobbing, held his arms out imploringly to his daughter. Gabrielle turned to her, and nodded. "It's all right now. Go to him." Slowly, the two groups mingled, as relatives, neighbours, friends faced each other, seeing for the first time the open knowledge of the horrors they had fallen to, and the courage that would break them free from that horror. Gabrielle and Deiron were left alone, still face to face.

The naked pain frozen on his face tore at her heart. She moved closer to him. "I know you only did what you thought was right. And I'm sure that your daughter knows that too. The dead can read our thoughts, you know. She knows how much you loved her." He stood motionless for another moment, then the first racking sobs tore from his throat. Gabrielle opened her arms, and Deiron collapsed against her shoulder, his pain and guilt and sorrow flowing freely at last as she held him close.

Looking over Deiron's shoulder, Gabrielle could see two men standing close by, watching the weeping Elder, wavering as they tried to decide whether or not to intrude. She motioned to them, and as they approached, she gently eased the distraught man into the care of his friends. Behind them, the others, both the men of the village and the youths who had stood with her, slowly gathered around.

"What should we do?" they asked, first one then another, uncertain of what to do, now that the confrontation was over, and in a manner that none of them could have imagined.

"For Deiron? Take him home. He needs his family now. He needs to heal." As the two men led him away, Gabrielle spoke to those who remained. "As for the rest of us, the first thing we're going to do is cut every one of those ropes and chains down from that rock. And then, I think Xena could use some help hunting that monster."