"Xena! Get up!"

"I can�t. Gabrielle�"

The bard ducked as a sword swooped by her left ear but she wasn�t fast enough to stop the club that smashed into her stomach. Gabrielle dropped to her knees, her arms crossed over her middle and sucked in a pained breath. Her eyes moved to her soulmate who had a look of disbelief on her face and the bard reached out to her.

"Xena, please get up."

A blow to her head made her see stars and she slumped forward, crawling on her hands and knees toward her incapacitated partner, barely feeling the blows that were raining down on her back.

"Gabrielle!" Xena yelled, reaching out her hand and cursing her useless legs as she watched the Roman soldiers slowly beating her soulmate. Finally, Gabrielle�s body gave out and she no longer had the strength to move. She was hauled to her feet and she turned her head to see Xena being dragged behind her.

"Xena," she whispered and then passed out.

Gabrielle awoke to find herself sprawled face down on the straw covered floor of a Roman prison cell. Every part of her hurt but she willed strength into her arms and pushed herself up off the ground. Her clothes had been taken from her and she was dressed in strips of cloth that had been wrapped around her breasts and hips.

"Gabrielle�"

The bard looked around to find Xena propped up against a wall, dressed in similar rags.

"Xena, gods�"

Gabrielle crawled to her, sat with her back against the wall and lay the warrior across her lap.

"You fought them. You left the Way of Love. I�m sorry, Gabrielle."

The bard pressed her fingers gently over her soulmate�s lips.

"I chose the Way of Friendship, Xena. It�s the only way that matters to me anymore."

"You should have left me," came the hoarse reply.

"Never. We stay together, Xena. Until the end. It�s our destiny."

They waited in silence until Xena finally spoke.

"I�m sorry for all the times I didn�t treat you right."

The bard smiled tenderly.

"I�ve loved every moment we�ve been together."

"I wish I�d read your scrolls."

"You would have liked them."

"I know."

Tears ran down Gabrielle�s face and she sniffed, wiping her hand across her nose.

"Don�t cry, Gabrielle� please. I know you�re scared but we�re going to be ok. We�ll always be ok, once we�re together."

"Xena, we�re going to die and I feel as if we haven�t had nearly enough time together. I never told you how much you really mean to me."

"Tell me now," the warrior replied.

"I love you. I love you so much that it hurts to see you like this."

"My back�s broken. Callisto hit me in the spine with my chakram. Gabrielle, I wish�"

She stopped as her voice broke with emotion.

"What do you wish?"

"I wish I had told sooner that I love you. My only regret is dying without ever knowing your touch, without ever hearing you speak my name in passion. Gabrielle, I�ve been such a fool."

"You love me that much?"

"You�re my everything, the one I love most in this world. I�m so sorry. This is all my fault. You�re so young, Gabrielle. You had your whole life ahead of you and I�ve destroyed that."

"Xena, I made the choice a long time ago. Where you go, I go, remember?"

"Thank you for being my best friend and my family."

"Oh, Xena�"

Tears rendered the bard speechless and she buried her face in her soulmate�s hair.

"I love you, Gabrielle."

Gabrielle captured her best friend�s lips for a tender kiss and they felt their souls combine in one last chance at life.

"Come on you too!"

Gabrielle cried out as Xena was lifted away from her and she too, was pulled roughly to her feet.

"Walk, you slag!" the soldier growled, and punched the warrior in the face, grinning as a trickle of blood ran from her nose.

"She can�t walk!" Gabrielle shouted, "Her back is broken!"

"Useless bitch," he continued and dragged the half-conscious Warrior Princess toward the door. "Take her too. Caesar wants them to die side by side."

Two more soldiers grabbed Gabrielle by the arms and pulled her after her soulmate.

Snow was thick on the ground on the mountain and a blizzard obscured Gabrielle�s view. She could barely make out the line of crosses standing in front of her but her fear made her sick to her stomach as she realised that, this time, they weren�t going to make it. The soldiers lay her down on a cross and held her wrists and legs against the freezing wood. Gabrielle turned her head and saw Xena�s piercing blue eyes focussed on her.

"Gabrielle, you were the best thing in my life," the warrior said, her breathing short and laboured. Tears rolled freely down the bard�s face and she nodded.

"I love you, Xena."

Suddenly, pain like she had never known ripped through her as the hammer fell, pounding the nail through her right palm. Her face contorted in agony but she was determined she wasn�t going to scream. Xena couldn�t help the scream that was ripped from her, not from pain but from seeing her soulmate�s body being brutalised. The hammer fell again and Gabrielle�s left palm was mailed to the cross. Her feet followed suit and then her cross was lifted, sliding into place with a muffled thump. She tried to control her breathing, forcing the pain into the recesses of her mind and thinking only of her soulmate. She heard Xena scream as she was nailed to her cross and then, finally, they were standing side by side, in the silence of the freezing mountain pass. Gabrielle turned her head painfully and looked at her best friend. She couldn�t speak but she managed a tiny smile and Xena mirrored it, knowing that it was a silent goodbye. Gabrielle closed her eyes and willed the pain back as far as she could. Then she looked at her soulmate and they spent a long time just staring at each other, trying to convey a billion words of love. Finally, Gabrielle couldn't wait any longer and she shook her head slowly. Xena smiled and nodded and the bard sent her all her love before the life drained from her body and she died.

Hours later, Xena�s body finally gave up and she crossed over to the other side. She found herself in the Elysian Fields but all she could think about was finding Gabrielle. She strode purposefully through the green meadows and finally came to a beautiful waterfall. She stood at the edge of the pool, letting the spray hit her but she smiled as she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"I knew you�d be here."

Xena slowly turned and faced her soulmate, the woman she loved more than anything.

"How could I stay away. This is it, Gabrielle. We�re going to be together for eternity. I love you."

She pulled the bard into her arms and they kissed passionately.

"I�m yours forever, Xena. I love you too."

The End