The white bird flew through the blue sky, lit on a branch, let out a tiny tinkle of a melody, and then flew off. Xena, looking at the branch through sleepy half-closed eyes, felt a smile twitch up the corners of her lips. She knew the species was common in this area; she knew hundreds of people saw these birds every day. Nonetheless, her heart gave a little thump and a blissful, maternal feeling swept over her. It was a very new feeling, one Xena had never expected to experience again, but one that she'd been feeling a lot since they'd left Yakut and the amazon village. "You're welcome, baby, I thank you too," Xena murmured.

Around her, the breeze swept through the leaves of the trees. There was a gentle chomping sound from behind her as Argo gobbled some of the new spring grass, and a faint chink chink sound a little farther away as Gabrielle did...whatever Gabrielle was doing. Xena had been taking a nap. That was another strange new feeling she'd been having, being tired so early in the day. Why, the sun had barely passed its midpoint in the sky before she's started yawning, and Gabrielle, rather amused, had told her she should get some rest. So she had been lying here, being lazy, letting the sun soak well into her muscles. Where had the warrior who had been able to ride for days on end without ever closing her eyes gone? She certainly hadn't been this tired when she'd been pregnant with Solan. For a brief moment, Xena contemplated the unpleasant possibility that she was getting too old for this--but she quickly dismissed the thought. Age had nothing to do with it. Back when she'd been carrying Solan, she hadn't had to fight any deadly battles with evil shamanesses in the spirit world, nor had she just been resurrected following a crucifixion. What was it that lost artifacts trader, Indianus Jonus, had said about buying horses? "It's not the years, it's the mileage"?

Thinking about all that mileage caused her to remember the woman who had accumulated so much of it with her, and Xena rolled lazily onto her back, turning her head to Gabrielle. The chink chink sound had been growing steadily louder. Gabrielle was doing sais practice again. Judging by the sweaty glisten on her skin, she had been working at it very hard. Xena sighed. She certainly didn't mind the younger woman's newly acquired skill, but she couldn't help thinking that in the old days Gabrielle would have spent a free afternoon like this writing, or looking for the last fall flowers. The sigh turned into a loud yawn, and Xena raised her hand to her mouth to cover it. Gabrielle dropped out of her fighting stance and turned to face her. "The mom-to-be's awake!" she said.

"For the moment, anyway, " Xena said through another yawn. She stretched her arm out into the grass and patted the ground invitingly. "Why don't you put those down and come cuddle for a moment?"

The merest hint of hesitation flickered across Gabrielle's face. "Xena, I'm all sweaty. And smelly."

Xena smiled one of her best seductive smiles. "You think I mind that? You know how much I love the scent of warrior sweat in the morning. Besides, you've put up with much worse from me."

"True," Gabrielle agreed. She looked at the sais for another moment of, shrugged, then set them down and came to join Xena on the ground. She snuggled into Xena's left side, her head resting on the dark haired woman's shoulder. Xena thought regretfully that, flattering as Gabrielle's new haircut was, she still missed the sensation of the long blonde locks trailing over her skin. Her hand curled around the younger woman protectively, gently stroking the bare shoulder and noting the new lines of muscle that had etched themselves there during the last few months. Gabrielle had changed so much, Xena sometimes missed the young woman she had once been. But Xena wasn't going to say anything, especially not now when they had so little time to simply be together. "It's been a long time since we've done this," she murmured.

"Mmm," Gabrielle answered. "Yes. A long time."

Xena lifted up her other arm, and, reaching across her body, traced Gabrielle's arm down to her midriff. Giving the younger woman a hug had gotten harder since Xena's belly had grown, but they could still do this, a sort of lying-sideways-half hug. Her hand slipped over crisscrossed leather bands woven into a fabric, through a dangle of beaded fringe, down to bare skin. The realization that it was truly bare skin made Xena ask a question she'd been wondering about for some time. "Gabrielle? Why don't you wear any mendhi anymore?"

This seemingly simple question made Gabrielle's whole body stiffen. Xena's body stiffened in response. What had she said wrong? "Well-the mendhi took on a whole new meaning for me in India , Xena," Gabrielle said slowly. "You know that. I continued wearing it when we got back to Greece as a symbol of what I'd learned there. But somehow that no longer applies. I'm hardly a follower of the Way of Love anymore." Gabrielle's eyes looked downward, resting on the place where her sais stuck out of the grass.

Xena frowned. "No," she said. "No, you're not. But…Gabrielle, it was Naima who taught you that the Amazon tattoos where called 'mendhi' in India , and that they had spiritual significance, right?"

Gabrielle tilted her head up, so she was looking at Xena from under her eyebrows. "Yeah? So?"

"So, unless I'm much mistaken, Naima was also the one who taught you that our karmic paths were linked. That we'd be together forever." Xena looked down at the younger woman affectionately. "So I always took the mendhi as a symbol of our bond. And that very much still applies."

She wanted Gabrielle to smile. She really did. Or, at the very least, she wanted to see her look into her eyes with that perfect faith and trust she'd use to have. It didn't happen. Gabrielle did meet her eyes--but there was something very different from love and trust in her gaze. "Does it?"

Xena was stunned. It felt like Gabrielle had plunged the tip of one of her sais into Xena's abdomen. "What?" she managed to get out. "Of course it does! Gabrielle, what's wrong with you?"

Gabrielle sighed gustily and rolled over, looking at the sky. "I don't know," she said in frustration. "It just feels like I've been left out a lot lately. I know this baby is a good thing, Xena, but-I can't help feeling that he or she is changing everything, pushing me out." Gabrielle looked at Xena's tummy ruefully. "She even keeps us apart when we cuddle."

It took her several moments, but Xena finally found words. "Gabrielle, that's not true. You know I need you now more than ever. Look at all the number of times you've defended me and the baby. From those thugs-from Alti-"

"Yeah. I did a really great job there, didn't I."

Xena shook her head. "Yes, you did! Gabrielle, the only reason I could handle Alti is that I once possessed the same kind of darkness she did. That's how I knew how to traverse the spirit world. You shouldn't feel bad that you couldn't..."

"Well, I do." Gabrielle ran her hand irritably through her short locks. "Or-oh, Xena, I don't know what I think anymore. Part of me really wants to fight and protect you and the baby at all costs. And the other part is horrified by what that might mean. Killing the stag, getting covered in all that blood, was only the first part of it. I don't know. Maybe it's not so much that I feel left out of your life. Maybe it's that I feel left out of my own." Her face softened. "You must admit that I haven't been myself for a while. Ever since-"

"Ever since we died," Xena finished for her. She put her hands on both sides of Gabrielle's' face and turned her toward her. Her own features had taken on some of Gabrielle's grief. "It's true. You've been doing much more of the warrior thing lately, and I've been becoming more like the old Gabrielle," Xena said quietly. "Maybe Eli mixed something up when he resurrected us."

She'd meant the comment only as a sort of gallows-humor joke, trying to lighten the moment. But Gabrielle looked up hopefully. "You think?"

This forced Xena to consider her suggestion more seriously. She finally had to fall back on the phrase Gabrielle had used so often during this conversation. "I don't know, Gabrielle. Maybe. Or maybe it's just a natural progression. Maybe we've just become exactly what we had to, given all we've been through."

Gabrielle shrugged. "Maybe," she said. "I guess all I really need to know is this. Do you still need a really mixed up former bard, sometime warrior?"

Xena replied with a smile that was haunting in its beauty. "Forever."

Gabrielle nodded and pushed herself up into a sit. She looked happier than she had for a long time. "Maybe I'll go put some mendhi on now. I've never seen how it looks with this new outfit."

Xena sighed and relaxed back into the grass, well satisfied. "Sound good," she agreed. "I think you'll like the way it looks...you've got a lot more skin exposed to decorate now."

Gabrielle, already rummaging through the saddlebags in search of the supplies for the mendhi, threw Xena a saucy smile over her shoulder. "Are you complaining?"

"Who, me? Of course not." Xena waited patiently while Gabrielle mixed up some henna paste and loaded up the applicator bottle, then let out an exclamation of surprise when Gabrielle began to apply it to herself, her back still to Xena. "Hey!"

Gabrielle looked over her shoulder. "What?"

Xena wriggled herself more comfortably in the grass, propping her heard up like someone abut to watch a show. "I like to watch."

Gabrielle smirked. "Oh, of course you do. I should have remembered." She knelt down next to Xena, perfectly positioned to give the warrior a wonderful view. Xena watched, rapt, as the younger woman began to apply the paste to her midriff, starting with a simple circle around her navel and then spiraling out in ever more complicated patterns. Soon, a beautiful mandala highlighted Gabrielle's muscles. When she finished, she set the mendhi bottle down and slowly eased herself to the ground, taking care not to smudge the still wet design.

Xena looked at her in mock horror. "That's it?"

Gabrielle was confused. "What do you mean, 'it'?" she asked, then a teasing note crept into her voice. "What else do you think I have to paint?"

Xena wriggled again, causing the opening in her blue maternity outfit to spread apart. Her pregnant belly stood revealed. "You're not the only one who wants to join in on the fun."

Gabrielle was clearly incredulous. "You want me to paint you?"

Xena shrugged eloquently. "Why not?"

"I hadn't realized you'd become such a patron of the arts," Gabrielle said. But as soon as her own design had dried enough not to smudge she got to her knees and began applying the paste to Xena's abdomen. Xena allowed a gasp to escape as she felt the cool paste drip over her skin. She closed her eyes to concentrate on the sensation better. It wasn't the mendhi so much as the person who was doing it. It had been a very long time since Gabrielle had touched her with such consideration and care.

Gabrielle seemed to know exactly what effect she was having. Her voice, amused, floated up to Xena from her middle. "You didn't always used to be such a fan of this."

"No, but you were very persuasive about making me try it." Xena opened her eyes and her gaze locked with Gabrielle's. Suddenly each of them were remembering the same interlude from their past, and it made both of their hearts beat a little faster. It had been many years since Gabrielle had given in to the temptation to use Xena's body for a mendhi canvas while the warrior was asleep. But the memory was still fresh and vivid to them both. Xena had woken up so completely covered with henna designs that she couldn't move so much as her big toe without fear of smudging them…something Gabrielle had intended all along. Xena hadn't known then that mendhi was at least touch try in a much shorter time then the bard had let on, so she had been forced to sit, motionless, while Gabby carried out her worst designs upon Xena's person. Xena's body began to tingle as she remembered, and she knew that if she could see her breasts, she would see a rosy flush beginning in the valley between them. Fortunately, her new maternity breastplate was in the way.

"Persuasion is one of a bard's greatest skills." Gabrielle said with a smile. "But you paid me back amply for it, as I recall."

Once again their eyes locked, and this time it was Gabrielle's turn to remember. The day after she had "persuaded" Xena to enjoy her art, Xena had taken her to an inn with a hot spring. She'd thought the warrior wanted to soak her muscles, muscles that had been made quite sore by the previous night's activity. But when they got there, Xena had claimed she was tired and Gabrielle had enjoyed the warm bath alone.

It had all been a setup. Xena had taken the opportunity to steal Gabrielle's clothes while she bathed, and when Gabrielle managed to make it back to their room, she had had the young woman completely at her mercy. Xena had intended to do a little mendhi drawing of her own, but Gabrielle had used up all the paste on Xena the night before, so Xena had had to improvise. Gabrielle couldn't suppress a slight squirm as she remembered the awful moment when Xena had picked up one of her quills, and she'd thought she was going to be paid back by seeing her body covered in ink. But Xena had flipped the quill over, using the feather end to tickle and tease...

Gabrielle had to admit that sometimes being given a taste of your own medicine wasn't bad at all. She leaned back thoughtfully holding up the mendhi bottle. "I think it's time for a little re-match, don't you?"

Xena's voice contained a slight growl. "Having a creative impulse, are you?"

"Would you hold still for it if I was?"

There was no hesitation. "Absolutely."

Gabrielle looked down at the bottle, considering. But after a moment's hesitation, she threw it away. She wanted to be able to touch all of Xena's skin, at least all of it that wasn't already painted. Adding more mendhi would just get in the way. With Xena's help she unfastened her blue top, removed the breastplate, and quickly undressed her. Her hands traced over Xena's breasts, feeling their new weight. They almost overflowed her cupped hands. "They're getting bigger again."

"I know," Xena said with a touch of wry amusement. "My new silver breast plate is already beginning to chafe."

Gabrielle laughed. "Yes, it's too bad nobody's ever designed a nursing breastplate," she said. "Maybe I should mention the idea to Salmaoneous. I'm sure he'd grab it and run with it. So to speak."

"Don't you dare," Xena said. "I want Salmoneous thinking about my breasts as little as possible." She reached up and, catching Gabrielle in a sensitive place, began to tickle her. After a moment or two of playful tussling, they settled down again, Gabrielle thoroughly appreciating the beauty of Xena's new shape. She really hadn't done enough of that lately. Her lover's breasts felt soft and warm in her hands, and Xena made several sounds of pleasure as Gabrielle stroked and caressed them. Gabrielle began to work her way downward, making sure that every square inch of Xena's skin she could reach had ample attention, before something made her stop. "Xena?"

"Mmm?"

"Are you sure this is okay? I mean , with the baby and everything..."

Xena, hearing the worry in Gabrielle's voice, drew herself back from the beautiful place Gabrielle's hands had taken her. She opened her eyes and looked at her lover. "You're really worried about that, aren't you," she said. "That's why we haven't done this in so long."

Gabrielle looked sheepish, but the worry was still there. "Yes, I suppose so," she said. "I mean, I know all those stories about sex bringing on miscarriages are old wife's tales, but still..."

Xena laboriously sat up and reached out to take Gabrielle's hand. "Yes, it is an old wife's tale," she said. "But I can understand why you were worried, and I'm touched. Thank you for caring so much about me."

"You're welcome," Gabrielle said. "It's easy to do." She continued her path downward, and soon Xena was again lost in a world of sensation, brought there by Gabrielle's touch. Dimly, through a warm fog, she heard like an echo the voice of her young bard, from the first time she'd ever painted her body. *Do you know what I love about making love to you? It's the way your body becomes everything for me. The whole world fades away, and there's nothing left but you. Your skin...your touch...your scent...* There words were permanently inscribed on her heart, and she took them even deeper into her soul as her body exploded.

Later, when she had caught her breath, she repeated the words to Gabrielle while she helped the younger woman to her own climax-and somehow knew that a new, deeper bond had been created between them. They wrapped their arms around each other and slept.

 ***

When they woke, it was late in the day, so they decided that they might as well spend the night where they were. Gabrielle went to their saddlebags and got some blankets. When she got back, Xena had an odd expression on her face-a beautiful, peaceful, inwardly luminous smile that Gabrielle had never seen before. She stopped abruptly, the blankets dangling from her hands. "What is it?"

"Come here," Xena said. Gabrielle did as she was asked, stretching out on the ground; Xena pulled the blanket over them both and then, to Gabrielle's amazement, began to slowly, carefully, roll her belly over until it was pressed to Gabrielle's. Gabrielle had drawn the same design on each of them, and as they snuggled in the lines matched up perfectly. Gabrielle was about to say something, when she felt a phantom kick.

She'd often felt the baby move before. This was different. For a moment Gabrielle felt almost as if the baby was inside of *her*, or maybe inside of both of them, part of both of their bodies. She stared at Xena, eyes wide, and was met with a knowing smile.

Above them, not noticed by either, two white birds lit upon a branch, called to each other, and then streaked across the sky.

The End

11/25/2000