Summer Wine

Summer Wine
Written by Virginia Leonard
Copyright 2013


Xena wheeled around on Gabrielle and held her hand up to quiet the protestations of the bard.  “No…Gabrielle,” Xena paused having realized that her tone was harsher than she really meant it to be.  “No," she softened, "I need you to stay here.  I can’t go take care of this problem if I’m also having to worry about your safety.  I’ll only be gone a few days.”

“Xena, I am not a child.  I can take care of myself.  Let me come with you.  I can help you.”

“How?  Talking them to death?”  Xena noticed Gabrielle flinch slightly and regretted saying that as soon as it came out of her mouth.  Her frustration with the arguing bard was beginning to wear on her.  She was used to people doing what she told them to do when she told them to do it.  She wasn’t used to constantly debating every decision she made.

“Well, yeah.  You don’t have to settle everything with a fist and a sword.”

Xena sighed and rubbed her eyes.  “I know that Gabrielle but I also know this warlord and talking isn’t high on his list of things to do.  Please, trust me and for once, do what I’m telling you to do.”

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The rattle of Joxer’s make-shift armor brought Gabrielle out of her reverie.  He had shown up right after Xena left and if Gabrielle hadn’t known better, she would have sworn that this was pre-arranged.  But, Gabrielle realized, Xena couldn’t have known since the runner who came in search of Xena showed up unexpectedly, exhausted and barely able to stand, asking for help.

Joxer set a tankard of summer wine and a bowl of well seasoned lamb stew down in front of the bard then took a seat next to her and began to eat his own meal.  “Stop worrying.  So, she’s a few days overdue.  I’ve seen her do this time and time again.  She’s fine.”

Gabrielle looked up and smiled a tired and worn smile and drained her mug.  “I’m sure you’re right Joxer.  Still, I worry.”  She took the spoon and toyed with her food.  “This is the longest she’s ever been late though.”

“She’s probably holed up in some cave somewhere waiting for this storm to blow over,” Joxer said around a mouth full of stew.  “You know, without me around, she’s not that bright and relies on me to make these decisions but she’s not such a dimwit that she’d try to travel in this.”

Gabrielle couldn’t help but smile.  “You’re probably right.”

“Like this one time, when we were about to attack this ferocious band of…”

Joxer was interrupted by the sound of a horse whinnying in the inn’s courtyard which carried over the noise in the common room.  Gabrielle’s head snapped up in recognition.  “Argo.”  She jumped up and ran towards the door with Joxer close on her heels flinging it open just in time to see Xena slide from Argo’s back and land in the mud.  “Help me Joxer.”

The two of them carried the unconscious warrior up to Gabrielle’s room and began to undress her.  “Um, Joxer, would you go take care of Argo please?  I can handle this part but don’t get along well with her horse and you do.”

“Oh…OH….ohhhhh,” Joxer smiled and nodded.  “Sure, I can do that for you.”

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Gabrielle managed to get the warrior undressed and cleaned all of the cuts and scrapes with the warm water and soap that the innkeeper’s wife brought up.  There were the usual bruises and wounds, one of which appeared pretty deep in her side.  “She needs to rest and let that heal,” the woman said and handed Gabrielle an earthenware pot with a salve in it.  “Keep this on it and keep her from moving around as much as possible.  I’ll come back later and check on you both.”

Gabrielle got very little sleep for the next several days.  She was alert for every little movement, every little sound that her companion made.  She kept cool cloths handy to help manage Xena’s fever and to drip cold water in Xena’s mouth to try and keep her hydrated.

She changed the dressing on Xena’s cut and made sure to keep it clean and covered in the salve.  She carefully checked and double checked for any signs of infection.  Fingers lightly touched the tender, red skin along the edge of the cut and it seemed to Gabrielle that each time she touched Xena, the warrior relaxed just a little more.    When Xena would have a particularly rough spell, tossing and turning and mumbling in her sleep, Gabrielle would sit next to her and lightly stroke her face until Xena calmed and drifted off into a peaceful sleep. 

Joxer checked on Gabrielle and brought her food and drink but was unable to convince the bard to leave her friend.  "You need sleep, Gabrielle.  I can sit with her."

"I'm ok."  Gabrielle raised her head from the edge of the bed and wiped the sleep from her eyes.  "I need to be here."

"For who, you or Xena?"

"Xena.  Me.  Both.  I just need to be here."

One evening, Joxer brought up a tray with warm roles, roasted meat and potatoes with cabbage.  “How is she?”

Gabrielle pulled off a corner of her roll, dipped it in the meat’s juices and popped it into her mouth chewing slowly.  “She’s resting pretty well.  I think we’re past any danger.”

“Good.”

“How long have I known her, Joxer?”

“Wow, Gabrielle.  I’m not sure.  Long enough, I suppose.”

“Yeah, long enough to feel this attachment.  I can't explain it.”

“I…well…I don’t know.  I can't either but I know that she sorta does that to you.  It’s like, you know she can cut a man to shreds but she still needs looking after.  And you need someone to look after.  So, there you are.”  Joxer smiled. 

“I guess.  It’s more than that though.  I’m drawn to her.  I can’t explain why or how, I just know that I am.”

Joxer opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted.

“You two finished talking about me long enough to fix me a plate of that?  I’m starving.”  Xena was trying to push herself up in the bed.

“Here, let me help you.  You’re going to rip that cut open if you aren’t careful.”  Gabrielle moved to Xena’s side and helped ease her up into a comfortable sitting position then carefully checked the bandage to make sure Xena wasn’t bleeding. 

Xena swatted at Gabrielle’s hand.  “I’m fine.”

Gabrielle continued her examination.  “Yeah, well, I’m not sure you’re qualified to make that observation.  Your thought processes are sometimes a little broken.  And you don’t get a plate of that, you get soup for a few days until we’re certain you can keep it down.”

Xena just snorted, “I don’t want soup.  I want something I have to chew and I can take care of myself, you know.”

“Yeah, Joxer and I have seen that first hand.”

Gabrielle took the bowl of soup that Joxer had just returned with and began to serve it to Xena.  While she protested the action vehemently, she never raised a hand to actually stop it.  That did not go unnoticed by Gabrielle or Joxer, who stretched and yawned a jaw-cracking yawn.  “Ok ladies.  It seems you have everything under control here so I'll just leave you two to it.  Never know when I may have to jump to someone’s defense tomorrow.  A warrior’s work is just never done.  Xena, see if you can make her get some sleep.”

Xena’s eyebrows shot up and Gabrielle was grateful that her back was to Joxer so he wouldn’t see her grin.

“Night Joxer,” they said in unison.

Gabrielle continued to feed Xena.  Xena’s protestations became less and less until she finally relaxed against the pillows and let the bard feed her.  Xena watched how Gabrielle’s fingers curled around the spoon, how they rocked and shifted as she dipped the utensil in the warm, savory liquid, how intense Gabrielle’s eyes were while watching to make sure she didn’t spill any, how the bard’s lips pursed ever so slightly every time Xena opened her mouth to take the spoon and offered nourishment, how Gabrielle’s chest rose and fell with each mouthful that Xena swallowed.

Xena never took her eyes off her companion.  Gabrielle never dared look at Xena’s, which gave Xena the freedom and release to actually give in to the feelings that were growing inside her.  This wasn’t about the patient falling for the healer.  This was about a woman loving a woman, soul to soul. 

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Gabrielle felt Xena’s eyes on her.  Her skin tingled from it.  Her heart raced.  It was all she could do to keep her hand from shaking and slopping hot soup all over the warrior’s tender belly.  She didn’t dare look.  Xena would know exactly how she felt if she looked and she believed that Xena didn’t need that added pressure.
And then, she felt Xena’s strong hands take the spoon and bowl from her and lift her chin forcing her to look into those deep blue eyes.

“Gabrielle…”

Without hesitation, without thinking about the possible consequences or caring that Xena might not need the added pressure, Gabrielle let go and let her feelings explode inside her.  She suddenly leaned forward and cradled Xena’s face then kissed her.  Hard.  Lips crushed against each other.  Bruising.  Owning.

Xena broke the kiss and grasped Gabrielle's hands in her own.  "No.  I can’t. I…nobody has……….you haven’t……"

Gabrielle pulled back a little looking once again into endless blue eyes.  “Don't stop this.  Please.  Let me give you this.”

"Gabrielle, I am not someone..." 

The bard interrupted Xena when she raised up on one knee on the edge of the bed and took Xena’s hand, guiding it down between her legs.  “This is yours, take it.”  She gasped when Xena’s long fingers disappeared inside her.  This was new.  This, she’d never felt before.  The physical reactions were strong enough but the emotional reactions threaten to overwhelm her.  They consumed her and Gabrielle felt herself open to Xena in every way imaginable.  “Tell me what you want.  It’s all yours, Xena,” she whispered, her head and body bent forward, her hips rocking gently against the insistent movement of the fingers within her.

Something broke inside Xena.  The Gods reached inside her and tore open the barriers to her heart flinging Xena's soul wide open and raw.  Xena closed her fingers in Gabrielle's hair and pulled her over and down on the bed.  Xena’s mouth took the bard's.

Gabrielle wanted it.  Welcomed it.  All of it.  She felt Xena’s body pressed against hers but not the weight.  She floated.  She was lost in the sensations and love that she now knew she felt for this woman.  So lost in the moment that neither woman was aware of the wound opening slightly or of the small drop of blood that dripped on Gabrielle making its way through her soft curly hair and down to mix with Xena's already slick fingers.

Gabrielle's hips rose to meet the fingers that reached deep and stroked her soul.  They left a trail of fire everywhere they touched.  Lips seared hers and Gabrielle’s body tingled every time their tongues touched.  She was cradled in all things Xena and when the orgasm finally took her, it overpowered her, pulling her body off the bed to press even harder against her warrior and pulled tears from the bard’s eyes.

Hours passed and dawn began to break.  Gabrielle had explored Xena’s body bringing the warrior to climax several times before both collapsed in a pile of tangled arms and legs on the bed.  Gabrielle eased out from under Xena and sat, watching her sleep.  She noticed how peaceful Xena looked, how vulnerable and then reason returned.  "What have I done?" she whispered.  "I can't stay.  I'll only weaken her and become a burden."

Quietly, she packed her belongings and disappeared into the morning leaving only a note that said, “Because I love you.”

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Gabrielle heard the sound of hoof beats behind her and before she could react, she felt herself being lifted up and plopped on the lap of the rider.  “Don’t be foolish Gabrielle,” was all Xena said with one arm still wrapped around the bard’s waist.

Gabrielle just smiled and rested her head against her warrior’s shoulder.