The Siege of Alexandria: Epilogue of Xena: Warrior Princess

Chapter Six: A Friend in Need

(The name of the chapter is a reference to the series finale of Xena.) Gabrielle had woken up the following morning with a start, first she became aware that she was naked and there was another naked body next to her own as she felt that person's heat and warmth. A feeling of dread came over her as she looked at the content and sleeping face of Evander, guilt had overcome her very being as she stared at the sleeping form of the young man. But at the same time, she thought it would be rude to let him wake up all alone with no explanation, and his peaceful expression while asleep did give her a positive feeling that warmed her heart to its core, writing a note that thanked him for an evening she knew she would never forget, she made sure to leave the note on the pillow with a Cherry Blossom, a rare flower that grew in Jappa, she kissed him tenderly on his lips, forehead and left cheek since he was lying down on his right side, he didn't stir the whole time as she caressed his handsome face smiling a little as she picked up her things, her shoes, her dress, etc. and left to her room to prepare for the day. Before the rooster crowed, she was readily prepared and left the tavern to go straight to the library of Alexandria. Every account of Alexander the Great, Ruler of Macedonia, Greece, Egypt, Persia, and Arabia was beautiful in writing, his exploits legendary in conquest, the downside was that he had died too young in his early thirties. The Iliad was a fictional account of what actually happened at Troy, which didn't involve the gods, Ulysses, and two fictional characters called Achilles and Agamemnon. The Odyssey was almost half true, Ulysses didn't have a son (at least not yet), and his wife Penelope had to convince him to stay in Ithaca to rule alongside her when he had wished to go out on another adventure. She had just finished a most recent scroll that spoke of Mark Antony and Cleopatra (real one died, but Xena pretended to be her.) until a familiar voice snapped her out of her concentration. "Had fun last night?" "Xena! That was not funny!" The raven haired woman had a mischievous smile on her face as she sat next to her best friend and soulmate, despite being dead she had kept her promise to not leave Gabrielle, unfortunately there was only one condition for still interacting with Gabrielle. She was primarily only visible to her soulmate and could only communicate with her during the day, only at sunset was the connection to the living world severed. "I heard you finally got yourself laid." Gabrielle could feel herself turning red as she looked up at her friend, "I don't know what came over me, last night it just... felt so right at the time, and Evander was different, he was intellectually more interesting and he kind of reminds me of myself when I was starting out with you, so innocent, naive, but life is definitely not a heroic adventure as I've learnt over the years." She could remember all the dark times that she had gone through with Xena, Dahak, her evil and demonic daughter Hope, dying on the cross, going through Hell and Tartarus, the Rift with Xena, Bellerophon slaughtering the Amazons, dealing with Mephistopheles and Lucifer, tormented by the Furies into trying to kill Eve, being frozen for 25 years and witnessing her daughter with Xena, Eve, becoming like her past self Callisto and slaughtering Joxer and the Elijans, Solan being killed by Hope and her temporary estrangement from Xena, Eli murdered right in front of her by Ares, and most of all finding the headless corpse of Xena when she died permanently but did not know it yet. "Hercules told me once about Ares having a son, after hearing that poor kids story, I was personally glad I rejected Ares offer to give him a child. Evander from the look of things managed to become a more decent man than his father. 25 years ago... he would have been at least 5 or 6 years old if we had met him earlier." Xena said smiling, Gabrielle then groaned in realization as she softly banged her head repeatedly on the desk. "Oh, this is the second time I went after a younger man! I feel so awful right now Xena, it's like I took advantage of his innocence and just took his first time which could have been better with someone else more meaningful, much better than me. I feel like I'm some sort of... some kind of a jerk that I would do such a thing to a kid, he might look the same age as me, but I know that I am mentally much older than him and... I shouldn't have slept with him." Gabrielle was almost on the verge of crying, Xena looked empathetically at her better half, she had always been her much better half in life and in death. "Gabrielle... you are clearly still trying so hard to move on from what happened in Jappa, sometimes in grief, we do things that might be impulsive, somethings that some people aren't ready for yet, but I can assure you that you didn't do anything wrong, okay? I don't know if there's any other complications to be worried about, but Evander even if "that" doesn't work out, he would still feel like he had been with the right person, and his opinion would be someone who was kind, thoughtful, shared a few interests with him, he would be fortunate that someone who loves unconditionally would be his first time in being with the most compassionate and caring woman who no doubt was you. He would have been fortunate to have had this experience with you because I know you Gabrielle, you love unconditionally, you try to see the good in other people, and you are a positive influence on everyone you meet. I should know because... you saved me the day we first met." A small smile formed on Gabrielle's lips as silent tears of joy now cascaded down her face, Xena gave her a loving side embrace and kissed her forehead as she heard her whisper. "I miss you." "I know, but like I said before I'll always be with you, and I will always love you." Shuddering at those three important words, Gabrielle replied, "I love you too, Xena."