Part One:
"Ready, set, go!" shouted Gabrielle as she and Xena took a deep breath and dove under the water.Thirty seconds later Gabrielle broke the surface, gasping for air.Xena, seeing Gabrielle go up, swam under the water and grabbed her legs, pulling her back under. "Xena!" yelled Gabrielle. "Oh, I hate you! You know, I would have beaten you if I had gotton a good breath." "You said that last time, Gabrielle." "Yeah, well, I didn't get a good breath then either," said Gabrielle. "Besides, you cheated by pulling on my legs." "I did that after you lost," exclaimed Xena. "You still cheated," insisted Gabrielle. "Come on. We had better get going if we're gonna make it to Thessaly by nightfall. What did you say they were in trouble from?" "A warlord," said Gabrielle as she caught up with Xena. "Another one?" said Xena unenthusiastically. "You'd think they would get tired after a while. All that plundering and looting and killing. How boring." "Yeah, well this one seems to like the job," said Gabrielle. A long while passed without much conversation as the two walked down the road headed for Thessaly. Finally Gabrielle couldn't stand the silence anymore and had to say something. "So Xena, you got any plans for that flying parchment of yours?" she asked. "No, why?" "Just thinking. You know, the next time we see Salmoneus you could give him one and see if he can sell it." " Now why would I do that?" Xena questioned with a little smirk on her face. "We need coin. Besides you never know, it could catch on and be big." "Yeah right." Said Xena unbelievingly. "Hey you know what? You never have told me when your birthday is," said Gabrielle. "I don't have one," said Xena coldly. "Really?" said Gabrielle mischieviosly. "We'll have to talk about tha..." "Shhh!" said Xena as she held up a hand, indicating Gabrielle to be still. "I hear something..."
To Be Continued
Just then Joxer jumped onto the road from a bunch of bushes, sword drawn and ready. "Xena, it's you!" Joxer said in surprise. "Good thing too because otherwise I would of had to kill you. This road is full of bandits you know." "Joxer, what are you doing here," Xena said sickly. "Just on my way to Thessaly. Heard there was a cyclops there." He glanced at Gabrielle. Gabrielle shook her head at Joxer and mouthed warlord. "I mean warlord! Did I say cyclops, I meant warlord. Those warlords, there all over the place," he said hurridly. "So Xena, how old are you?" asked Joxer. "What?!" exclaimed Xena, than shrugged it off. Gabrielle grabbed Joxer by his breastplate and pulled him behind. "Joxer!" yelled Gabrielle in a hushed voice. "That's supposed to be a surprise!" "What do you mean?" asked Joxer dumbly. "Uhh!" Gabrielle let out in frustration. "Just don't say anything more. Ok?" "Ok, fine," said Joxer. "Hey Xena, I'm going to go on ahead and make sure the road is clear." said Joxer as he and Gabrielle caught up with Xena. "You do that," said Xena encouragingly. After Joxer had left, Xena turned to Gabrielle and said, "What's with him?" "Oh you know Joxer, that's just how he is." "Yea, I guess your right. Joxer will be Joxer," said Xena with a quirky smile. "So, how far is it to Thessaly?" asked Gabrielle. "About an hour," replied Xena. The hour went by rather quickly as Xena and Gabrielle continued to walk the road to Thessaly. Gabrielle had a lot to talk about.
"I had the wierdest dream last night. I think it was another vision, but it wasn't like any other I've had. I saw a box and you and I were in it," started Gabrielle. "We were in a box, huh?" said Xena, enjoying this conversation. "Yes." "And what were we doing in that box? Did you decide you were tired of sleeping on rocks?" "No. I saw you and I fighting something. And then I heard this music. Very eccentric music. Like I said, it was a weird dream," ended Gabrielle. "Just forget about it and it will go away," said Xena. "Here we are." interupted Gabrielle. "The gates to Thessaly." Suddenly some guy ran by and stole Gabrielles coin pouch. "Xena, that guy has my coin pouch!" yelled Gabrielle. "Don't worry, I'll get him." Xena yelled back. The guy was running down an alley, with Xena right behind, when he quickly darted into a nearby tavern. Xena, opening the door to the tavern, glared, as Gabrielle was standing inside...
To Be Continued
"SURPRISE!" yelled everyone in the tavern. Xena looked around the inside of the tavern and saw many familiar faces. Hercules and Iolaus were there, as well as Joxer. Somehow Falafal had heard of the party and had made appatizers for the group. Also there was Princess Diana with her father, the King, and Meg who tagged along. Gabrielle's friend Meleager was sitting at a table enjoying a mug of goat's milk. Even the love struck Draco showed up to tell Gabrielle how much good he has done. Others on the list are Senticles (with a little gift), Ephiny and her son, Salmoneus, Autolycus, and a few others from villages that Xena has saved. "Gabrielle!" Xena said in a stern voice. "What is this?" "Your birthday party," replied Gabrielle. "I got together with Hercules when you were saving that last village by yourself. He and I invited everyone to come for a surprise, well everyone but that guy with the messed up teeth. We even had Iolaus snatch my coin pouch to get you in here." We're going to have to talk about this later, Gabrielle." Gabrielle just looked at Xena and smiled. "Hi Xena, It's been a while," aid Hercules. "Yea, it has . How have you been?" asked Xena. "Fine. You?" "Good." Hercules and Xena continued to talk and remenis for a while. Everyone else just mingled. "Hi Gabrielle." said Iolaus. "Hi." replied Gabrielle. "How have you been. The last time I saw you was when Xena had died. I see she's fine now." said Iolaus. "I'm doing fine. Xena's as good as new now. How are you Iolaus?" "I'm good." he replied. Gabrielle and Iolaus continued to talk for a while. After the party when everyone had left, Gabrielle stayed to help clean up. Xena walked over to her and said, "Now what was all this for?" "It was your birthday party. And since you wouldn't tell me when your real birthday is, I picked today." "Well, thanks. It was nice to see everyone here, but what about the warlord?" asked Xena. "There is no warlord," explained Gabrielle. "I just said that to get you to come to Thessaly. I knew you would never come otherwise." "I'm glad your on my side," said Xena wrapping her arm around Gabrielle's shoulder. "Me too."