Birdsong

Strawberry Panic fanfic. A short story about the thoughts and feelings of Tsubomi set after the end of the series.
(Tsubomi/Yaya)

Edit: Because I got Tsubomi's name wrong when I wrote this story - Tsubame (which would then mean Swallow, hence the bird connection) - it now has a name that isn't quite what I wanted it to be (Tsubomi on the other hand means flower bud). Still, I'll leave it as it is for now.

Read Birdsong

Disclaimer: All things Strawberry Panic belong to people other than I, and I for one am very grateful to them for this adorable series that I simply love. Set after the end of the series.



BIRDSONG
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by Carola “Ryûchan” Eriksson




Two months had passed since the great upheaval that had been the Astrea Hill’s Etoile election, and one young Spica student briefly reflected on said period of time with somewhat mixed emotions. Her friend and age-mate Chiyo had been equal parts right and wrong when she on the day of the election itself had expressed her belief that despite what happened that day and regardless of who ended up chosen, the select group of friends would continue with their secret night-time tea-parties.

Chiyo was right because despite events the tea parties did indeed continue, and they were still held mostly in the dorm room assigned to Tamao and Nagisa, with the occasional relocation to the dorm room assigned to Tsubomi’s own Spica seniors Hikari and Yaya. Chiyo was also wrong because although the meetings continued as before, the younger half of the newly minted Etoile couple was never present for them.

Tsubomi felt torn about her gentle though not entirely thoughtful senpai’s absence, on one hand Tsubomi felt relief that Hikari no longer tried to find time to spend with her old friends outside of class and choir, and on the other it bothered her greatly. The relief was because the situation between them, between herself, Hikari, Yaya and Amane, was so awkward and strained, and because Tsubomi did not wish for Yaya to hurt needlessly. On the other hand Tsubomi watched as Yaya suffered the loss of her most beloved one and felt angry that Hikari thought so little of the friendship the black-haired girl had given her that not even a moment could be spared for Yaya. It was a confusing situation all around.

In all honesty Tsubomi could not blame Hikari for her absence, nor for wanting to spend all her time with the one she loved, Tsubomi knew she would want to do the same in Hikari’s place. She also knew that Hikari was not a strong person, and so avoiding Yaya and herself was probably the only thing she could bear to do while the pain was still so new.

Tsubomi just wished that the one she loved did not have to suffer so much in exchange for Hikari’s newfound happiness. Despondently the pink-haired girl kicked at some invisible pebble and bit her lip. Not that Yaya would ever know how Tsubomi really felt if Tsubomi could in any way help it... no, Tsubomi was well aware that the attractive and passionate raven-haired star of the school choir would never see her that way. Not Tsubomi, too tall and too grown to manage underclassman-cute, and too awkward and forward to even be considered by someone who had been taken in by the dainty and feminine Hikari. Tsubomi knew she wasn’t pretty enough by far for someone like Yaya to notice, she had always known that.

She had settled for being the favourite sparring-partner, grabbing her opportunity to be near the one she secretly yearned for by pretending to be yet another girl smitten by Hikari’s charms. Tsubomi and Yaya argued and mock-fought over everything and anything, and if Yaya saw Tsubomi as some annoying brat that was fun to mess around with that was fine with Tsubomi. At least it seemed that since Tsubomi, with her own form of tough love, had done her best to drag Yaya out of the depression that clung to her, the older girl found teasing and playing with Tsubomi to be a good way to keep her thoughts away from painful things. For Yaya Tsubomi was more than willing to take the indignity that being her senior’s plaything occasionally brought.

She had tried to get her emotions under an even tighter control, to squash anything beyond friendship, for quite some time. Oh had Tsubomi ever... but it never really worked. Sometimes all it took was a look at Yaya in passing, and Tsubomi’s heart would hurt so badly that Tsubomi would stumble, unable to bear it. Yaya would laugh and call her clumsy, sometimes going so far as put a hand or an arm on Tsubomi, intensifying the pain and the longing all that much more. Tsubomi was terrified that she would loose control one day when that happened, and say or do something which would make it all too clear to her black-haired friend.

When that happened Tsubomi felt sure Yaya would do to her what Hikari was doing to Yaya now and avoid her entirely. Just thinking that Yaya would become no more than a polite nod in passing as she took her place in choir practice brought tears to Tsubomi’s eyes. Furiously rubbing at her eyes before anyone might see her, Tsubomi felt her tiny kernel of anger towards Hikari grow stronger. If Tsubomi hurt this badly just thinking that Yaya might no longer spend any time around her, how must not Yaya feel now that Hikari spent no time at all with her? Even though the two were still officially roommates everyone knew that Yaya did not even see Hikari at the dorm, since unofficially the new Etoile couple had taken up a joint residence in Amane’s room.

Crossing her arms and glaring into the air Tsubomi’s thoughts strayed back to that subject. Yes, Yaya and Hikari were now roommates on paper only, very few of Hikari’s belongings were still there and Yaya for all intents and purposes lived alone. The same could be said for Miator’s Tamao, although Tsubomi had no idea how they managed it she had it on good authority – namely Chiyo – that while Shizuma had remained in the dorms Nagisa had lived with her, and now that the silver-haired former Etoile had graduated the school, she had nonetheless managed to acquire housing impossibly close to the dorms, allowing Nagisa to sneak away from the school during nights and weekends.

The difference between Nagisa and Hikaru was that although Nagisa was also preoccupied with her new lover, she still made some time for her friends on occasion. There were still enough of Nagisa’s belongings in the room to pass muster should Sister Hamasaka get suspicious and inspect it, and at least a few times Nagisa had opted to stay at the dorms, as Tsubomi herself had seen since she was present for the tea parties on those occasions.

Tsubomi sighed. No, she really shouldn’t blame Hikari for being true to her heart. After all, if Tsubomi had through some divine intervention gotten Yaya’s love she too would ignore everything else in order to spend every moment she could with her girlfriend, for however long she would be allowed to.

Growling slightly with the frustrations of being young, head over heels in love and fully aware that this love would never be anything other than unrequited, Tsubomi scowled some more and made faces at her surroundings.

The sudden materialization of a pair of surprisingly strong arms wrapping tightly around her and a familiar voice burring intimately into her ear made Tsubomi experience something that had her very grateful that she was too young to have to worry about having a heart attack.

“What’s with that face, little flower?” Yaya purred into an ear from so small a distance that she was almost brushing her lips across the rapidly reddening shell. “Oh I know, you were missing me, weren’t you?” The teasing words blew hot air into Tsubomi’s sensitive ear, making the younger girl bite back a groan as she tried very hard not to swoon.

“What, no protests? I always knew you had the hots for me, pet.” Yaya continued gleefully, tightening her hold on Tsubomi while the younger girl was too flustered to push her away. “Who can blame you though, I mean, I am pretty irresistible aren’t I?”

Pulling away suddenly from the blushing girl Yaya twirled dramatically until she could lean against the banister, one hand on her hip and the other flicking back her long dark hair while adopting as superior and self-satisfied a mien as possible. “Sexy, beautiful, smart... yup, simply irresistible. No wonder you can’t bear to be without me.”

While stunned at first Tsubomi still caught the playful and expectant twinkle in dark eyes as Yaya smirked her way at the end of her mini-performance and realized that Yaya actually wanted her to react as she usually did, by flailing her arms and throwing insults at the older girl until utter embarrassment made her peter out into violently blushing nothingness. This once, just this once, Tsubomi wasn’t going to fall for it.

“Yeah yeah, you’re irresistible and I just can’t resist all the awesomeness that is you.” Tsubomi rolled her eyes at her somewhat surprised senior. “Any minute now I’ll be overtaken by an urge to write cheesy poetry about you and swoon when you walk by.” Tsubomi turned and started making her way down the stairs. “Come on, you don’t want to be late for choir practice again, do you?”

She didn’t make it far before she was stopped, once again by a pair of warm arms from behind, only this time they enveloped Tsubomi in an actual hug. A soft giggle and then the sultry voice was back tickling Tsubomi’s ear.

“You’re a brat, you know that?” Despite the words the voice was anything but displeased. “But you’re my brat.”

Tsubomi barely had the time to gasp at the words when they were followed up by the sensation of warm, full lips pressed near her ear. The contact was brief but managed nicely to short-circuit the younger girl’s mind to the point she was completely immobile. Yaya on the other hand dashed with a delighted giggle down the stairs, leaving Tsubomi frozen in place as her mind had temporarily shut down with that kiss.

Dazed as she was it took Tsubomi a long moment to realize what else had occurred during that brief but world-changing moment, and her head snapped around to glare over the railing at the dark-haired girl that was happily making her way towards the exit. “HEY! That is my umbrella!”

Yaya turned around to give Tsubomi the brightest grin the younger girl had ever seen the other wear since making her acquaintance, and Tsubomi’s heart tugged painfully at the sight. “Yeah? Tell you what, if you can catch up to me I’ll share it with you, little bird.” Yaya teased with a hand on her hip. “I suggest you run if you don’t want to get wet today... Tsu-bo- mi!”

As Tsubomi raced down the stairs to chase after the tall figure prancing down the hall she could not keep the smile from her lips. Yaya was making sure to go slowly enough that Tsubomi would catch up before she reached the doors, and she was smiling all the way. When had Tsubomi seen the dark-haired girl really smile like that last? No matter what expression she wore Yaya’s eyes always seemed to be crying since whatever had really happened between her and Hikari that night, yet now those same brown eyes were laughing.

Warm.

And looking at Tsubomi.

Not to mention that Yaya clearly wanted to share an umbrella to the church. ‘So it is love-umbrella, huh?’ Tsubomi thought, a blush covering her cheeks as she caught up to the taller girl at last. Walking hand in hand sharing an umbrella like all the other couples that ventured outside on Astrea Hill that day, a romantic kind of stroll that was always popular among the girls of the Ichigo-sha. Maybe... maybe...

Maybe Tsubomi, tall and un-cute Tsubomi, had more of a chance with the person she had found herself head-over-heels in love with than she thought? Maybe, just maybe, it had been long enough for Yaya to consider moving on?

Maybe this was Tsubomi’s chance at happiness.

With a bright smile Tsubomi accepted the hand offered her and stepped up beside her senior, delighting in the slightly stunned look and brief blush that was Yaya’s reaction to it, and then, with a small snap as the umbrella opened, the two of them stepped out into the rain.

Together.

Where Dreams Might Lead

Urusei Yatsura fanfic. Dreams lead to some awkward but important realizations for Shinobu, and for the person she dreams about.
(Ryuunosuke/Shinobu)

Read Where Dreams Might Lead

Disclaimer: Urusei Yatsura and all characters thereof belong to Rumiko Takahashi and a bunch of other people, though who they might be I have no clue.

Having just picked up the anime again after a long time I rediscovered my fondness for the character of Ryuunosuke, the UY character that in a roundabout way contributed to my “Ryûchan” nickname all those (10+?) years ago. As I see definite subtext between Ryuunosuke and Shinobu in the series (as well as Benten and Oyuki, but this story isn’t about those two) I had to give it a go. Oh and I haven’t seen all of the anime just yet, but even the parts that I have seen I might very well have tossed around or changed to fit what I wanted to write here.




Where Dreams Might Lead
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by Carola “Ryûchan” Eriksson





In the darkened mid-sized house that was home to the Miyake family one Shinobu tossed and turned in her soft bed, her thoughts too disquiet for sleep and her body still thrumming with the dreams that had wakened her. Groaning her frustrations into her pillow, Shinobu tried to make sense out of the whirling chaos inside her mind.

Although Shinobu was as skilled at self-denial as the next girl, perhaps even a bit more so, there was no use pretending she had not just experienced a very... intense dream about someone she considered a close friend. While not exactly the first such she’d ever had, it was the first time Shinobu had dreamt something quite so... elaborate about a person she knew, and that was both bewildering and embarrassing enough in and of itself; the fact that the person she had dreamt this about was female did not make matters particularly much easier on her.

Ryuunosuke. Shinobu had dreamt of Ryuunosuke. Again, Shinobu mentally added with a tiny snort and a faint sense of amusement, her classmate and good friend Fujinami Ryuunosuke had been making her way into Shinobu’s dreams a lot lately, and usually for very good reasons too. But this was something rather different.

Shinobu supposed that she should not be particularly surprised that she was somewhat attracted to her boyish best friend, Ryuunosuke’s popularity among girls their age was an awe-inspiring thing to behold considering the embarrassed girl had more female admirers than even the rich ‘prince’ of the school himself, Mendou, and Shinobu could well remember her own first reaction to what she at the time had thought to be an uncommonly handsome and beautiful boy. In fact she had been Mendou’s unofficial date at the time, but even he had faded once Shinobu had looked into those earnest, open and always glittering black eyes.

The truth had been revealed rather quickly, and Shinobu would not have been Shinobu if she had not promptly and actively forgotten all about her bout of instant attraction. Befriending Ryuunosuke she had seen perhaps a bit deeper than most tended to when it came to the brash and boyish martial artist, seen beyond the ‘man among men’ that Ryuunosuke’s father was so set on creating and seen the sensitive and awkward girl that longed to be acknowledged but could never reconcile the male and female aspects of herself enough to find some sort of peace.

Oh how Shinobu had ached sometimes to help Ryuunosuke past the confusion and teach her those things she knew the other girl wanted to know but never had the opportunity to learn with her father doing his best to beat every remotely female thought out of Ryuunosuke’s head. But there had been far too many people interfering on that score already, ironically most of them male, all of them trying to force Ryuunosuke into their preconception of what a woman should be, and so Shinobu instead defended Ryuunosuke’s right to be herself, whatever and whoever that might end up being.

To herself Shinobu could admit that she preferred the other girl the way she was, not yet another carbon copy of sugary sweetness but a person of complexity and layers, a strikingly handsome figure in her male uniform with breathtakingly beautiful eyes and a chivalrous nature underneath the rough male speech that even Mendou, with his high-class speech and affected mannerisms, could never hope to achieve.

Realizing that she was back to thinking of Ryuunosuke’s eyes, the way her black hair fell into those eyes or the cutely abashed smile she would have when embarrassed, and just what that was doing to her heartbeat, Shinobu turned onto her other side, frantically trying to get her thoughts back on track before she would accidentally picture something like the other girl’s, ahh, healthy figure when not wearing the boy’s uniform... argh, too late darnit! Shinobu hit herself in the head with her pillow, repeatedly. Stop that right now!

Well, yes, fact established, clearly Shinobu was not merely attracted to the more masculine traits of her friend. Sighing Shinobu clutched the pillow a bit closer. She had so prided herself on being a perfectly normal girl, too... knowing that she was a bit on the plain side compared to her more illustrious friends, being known as ‘the girl next door’ in all the chaos had eventually become her greatest merit. After all, no matter how sexy they were, what boy would willingly take a homicidal basket case home to meet their mother?

In Tomobiki, apparently nearly all of them. Aa, with all the trouble the males of her immediate surroundings put her through on a daily basis, was there any wonder Shinobu’s thoughts strayed to sweet, shy, kind-hearted Ryuunosuke? Shinobu rolled over onto her back to better be able to stare at the ceiling.

OK, so the normal was a bit of self-delusion on Shinobu’s part to begin with, she kind of knew that. She had gotten enough of the monster-treatment over time due to her great and unexplainable physical strength that she was well aware that normal wasn’t quite the word to describe her. When really angry a normal girl at school might throw a textbook or a pencil case – Shinobu would throw a desk. So what? Was that such a big deal? Ryuunosuke certainly never seemed to think so.

Just being in school was a constant battle, in every sense, but at least since the arrival of Ryuunosuke Shinobu had someone she could count on to have her back. In fact, during the more physical bouts at school that was exactly how they invariably ended up, back to back fighting off whatever was coming at them.

Blushing slightly Shinobu touched her lips. Back to back, yeah... that was how it had happened, Shinobu’s first kiss. By all accounts most likely Ryuunosuke’s first kiss as well, but as Shinobu knew Ryuunosuke had been on a date with that viciously conniving two-faced little devil called Ran, she couldn’t be altogether sure... and it was a bit too delicate a matter to just right out ask the other girl about it.

Sure, the kiss had been by accident, and thanks to that cursed magnetic lipstick that Shinobu still was not entirely sure how she had ended up wearing, but...

But. Ryuunosuke’s lips had been soft and warm, and the kiss, though brief, was nice and left Shinobu feeling tingly and rather confused. She hadn’t been the only one, as Ryuunosuke had seemed quite freaked out by it, but then again they’d had quite the audience at the time, the same people that were always on Ryuunosuke’s case about potentially liking girls, so it was to be expected. Afterwards Shinobu and Ryuunosuke had by mutual, unspoken, decision ignored what had happened, what was a little accidental kiss between best friends?

Not what Shinobu was beginning to realize she wanted it to be, at any rate.

It didn’t end there though, not if she was honest about it. That day when she had felt eyes following her as she was making her way home from school alone, what was it that really had prompted Shinobu to race over to Ryuunosuke, attach herself to the bewildered girl’s arm like a lover, and with a quiet plea ask Ryuunosuke to help her scare away whoever was stalking her? Shinobu had always, before and since, taken care of such things herself, and she had yet to meet the man she couldn’t discourage if she really put her back into it, err, put her mind to it.

Ryuunosuke had in her kindness agreed, and probably without realizing it herself as she held Shinobu and wiped a few tears away acted very much like a caring lover herself. It had warmed Shinobu’s heart so much that when a little while later she had found herself urged to go on a fake date to discourage some at that time unknown would-be suitor, Shinobu had eagerly grasped the opportunity to go on a date with Ryuunosuke.

It was just her typical rotten luck that the supposed fake date was not even that, though, but rather an endless string of posing for couple-like pictures with Ryuunosuke while constantly tormented by certain demented so-called friends determined to ‘save’ them both from forming any ‘unnatural’ relationships. As if that person in question would know anything natural if it hit him in the head. And why oh why couldn’t the males of Tomobiki be at the very least normal enough to simply drool and quietly dream of threesomes when faced with the possibility that two girls were dating, the way hormonal teenage boys everywhere were supposed to?!

Shinobu sighed again and tried to calm herself down before she threw her pillow across the room in a fit of pique. At least she had come away from the whole thing with a set of very nice pictures, and the memory of being held in Ryuunosuke’s strong arms like she was something precious. In truth Shinobu couldn’t quite remember why Ryuunosuke had lifted her up and held her like that, because from the moment the taller girl had scooped her up the world around them had just ceased to exist for Shinobu. Held like that with her arms around Ryuunosuke’s neck, Shinobu had felt like a fairytale princess in the arms of her prince.

Smiling to herself Shinobu remembered how Ryuunosuke had sparkled then, and how she had held and indeed carried Shinobu around for quite a bit before remembering to put her down again. Of course, Ryuunosuke had also tried to kiss her, something Shinobu now regretted that she had not held the courage at that moment to let her. Then again it would just have broken Shinobu’s heart to know that she had been kissed by Ryuunosuke twice and neither time had been intentional... since even this second kiss would have been just Ryuunosuke caught up in the posing and obeying the directives of the one holding the camera.

Hadn’t she? Shinobu would never know, she supposed. The date had ended in a spectacular fiasco involving a whole lot of people, including the not-at-all discouraged but oh so very much unwanted suitor, and upset and quite a bit confused Shinobu had stalked on home by herself, cursing men all the way.

Ryuunosuke had shown up outside her house the next morning, all sweetly apologetic and embarrassed, with a flower for Shinobu and an offer to walk her to school. Charmed beyond reason by the flower and the gesture, especially considering Ryuunosuke actually lived at the school and had no reason whatsoever to be walking around her neighbourhood as it was, Shinobu had accepted and linked arms with her friend all the way there.

They had been through a lot since then, and Shinobu had gone through several half-hearted attempts at sort-of dating, mostly with Mendou, again, but it never panned out and she couldn’t be bothered to put neither heart nor effort into it. The friendly outings she’d gone on with Ryuunosuke had been far more pleasurable and memorable, especially those when the two of them were on their own, but still, neither of them had ever alluded to those being dates.

In fact, though she wasn’t sure and couldn’t prove it, Shinobu suspected that Ryuunosuke had made at least one attempt of her own at dating with another girl, this time with the rough and roguish biker-girl Benten. It had burned quite a bit when the two tomboys had apparently made an instant connection and Ryuunosuke had taken off with chain-wearing Benten to spend the entire day doing who-knows-what. The last Shinobu had seen of Ryuunosuke that day had been her rapidly disappearing figure sitting on the back of Benten’s red motorbike even though school was still in session, and her frustration had not been lessened by the mutterings of her classmates about Ryuunosuke and Benten being ‘instant soulmates’. Shinobu had been short-tempered and snippy towards everyone for the rest of the day, although thankfully Ryuunosuke at least had not been around to witness that.

Lacking the guts to ask Ryuunosuke about it, Shinobu knew she would never find out what happened that day, just that Ryuunosuke was at school as ever the next day and Benten didn’t come back around for a while.

Fighting back a jealous growl Shinobu tried to bring herself back on track. Oh, right, her dreams about Ryuunosuke.

Was it the abject lack of even remotely passable – or for that matter, remotely sane – males in all of Tomobiki that had made Shinobu subconsciously turn to her best friend, the best friend whose bewilderingly good looks and manner incidentally wooed girls by the scores?

Something about that question just didn’t sound right to Shinobu, but if she was going to risk ruin a great friendship and face the inevitable onslaught of her insane schoolmates over this she had better be sure. Alright then, time for a little mental exercise as an experiment.

Setting aside emotions, personality, likeability and whatnot for now, Shinobu called up the images of a few of the females she knew to be considered the most beautiful by people in general. The first one was easy, Lum. While she supposed her most-times-friend, sometimes-adversary was pretty enough and that her exotic looks made her quite popular, Shinobu felt absolutely nothing at the thought of the other girl naked.

The second one was Ran, and all Shinobu could feel was a sense of revulsion for the clearly schizophrenic little puppet master and her saccharine façade, so Shinobu quickly moved onto contestant number three, the priestess-gone-nurse and also someone Shinobu considered a friend despite the age gap, the lovely Sakura.

That was a thought that gave Shinobu pause and caused a bit of blush in the process. Alright so Sakura was perhaps not the best test subject, given that even small inanimate objects and single-cell amoeba experienced palpitations and swooning whenever the raven-maned miko passed by. So perhaps a fourth test subject would be in order, since reacting to Sakura was clearly not going to be indicative of anything. Who to pick though?

At a whim Shinobu called up the image of the constantly man-hunting but much-desired Kurama, only to find that not only did the image of the snow-white wannabe not do anything for her in the sense of the experiment, but it also reminded her that this loud and obnoxious stranger was another strong contender for Shinobu’s Ryuunosuke-kun, in fact Ryuunosuke was Kurama’s ideal ‘man’ and the other woman had fully intended to marry her before that trifling little issue of gender got in the way. Shinobu seethed for a moment before collecting herself enough to move on.

Alright then, on the female side of the experiment the results were... nil, with one possible point for Sakura of course, Shinobu was still not convinced the older woman should count though. That left the male side of things, as loath as she was to consider it.

Attractive men in the general consensus would be Mendou, Rei and... Shinobu wondered who else the girls at school would put on that list. Clearly not Ataru, and Shinobu shuddered at the thought, but she honestly did not know of any other man that stood out from the crowd. Sakura’s boyfriend perhaps, though honestly Tsubame was a plain and uninteresting man and Shinobu couldn’t quite get what the miko saw in him. Nonetheless, Tsubame, Mendou and Rei it was.

Tsubame gave nothing but a vague sense of embarrassment that she even entertained the thought, and in her mind the image of the man apologised before disappearing, causing Shinobu to chuckle at her own imagination. Second was the one she had sort of pursued for some time, Mendou, the guy that had been the most popular person in school among the girls before the arrival of Ryuunosuke. Picturing him made Shinobu shudder slightly and feel grateful that she was past following him around, though she was unsure of whether her revulsion had anything at all to do with his looks, or if it had all to do with his wretched and lecherous personality.

Finally the last one on her list was someone that was virtually a stranger, but one whose looks had taken her in once before. Yes, Rei was a very handsome man and women of all ages swooned over him, and Shinobu was not quite unaffected herself even now. Strangely she was more inclined to think him attractive if with clothes than without, and a moment’s critical thought gave her the answer to that... it was the almost feminine parts of his appearance, in particular his eyes, that she had liked, and that illusion did not extend below his neck.

That was three nil versus three nil. How frustrating! In the end nothing was accomplished but to make Shinobu embarrassed and force her to avoid Sakura for the next couple of days at school so that she would not end up blushing and making a fool out of herself in front of the older woman... particularly so since it seemed Sakura had a habit of reading people’s minds.

So, Shinobu thought somewhat annoyed with herself, she was not interested in girls but she sure wasn’t interested in boys either. What did that say about her? More importantly, what did that say about her considering she did react to Ryuunosuke?

Before she could think better of it Shinobu summoned up an image of Ryuunosuke from the girls locker-room at school, naturally in the altogether.

WHOA!

Shinobu shot out of bed with such force the previously clutched pillow bounced against the far wall of the room, her face on fire with a blush of epic proportions. Shower! Shower, need shower now, cold water, shower!

Trying as best she could to calm herself down and not start hyperventilating on top of everything else, Shinobu felt like hitting herself in the head. How stupid was that? Well, if nothing else she could with absolute certainty say that she was physically attracted to her best friend – and how! – and also say with equal conviction that the pang of interest at Sakura’s beauty was negligent at best, and any assessment of Rei’s looks on her part was highly impersonal and meant absolutely nothing.

At the end of the day it seemed Shinobu quite simply was a Ryuunosuke woman, the thought bringing a half-hearted but amused chuckle and a slight clearing of the recently overheated thoughts. A shower sure would have been needed, though Shinobu realized she would wake her parents up if she took one in the middle of the night. As she’d rather not have to explain herself she’d better come up with something else to cool down.

Deciding on a walk to let the night air clear her head Shinobu craftily snuck through the hall, getting a jacket and her shoes before just as quietly leaving the house. There was a soda vending machine a block or so over, the walk there and back should do her good.

As Shinobu quietly stepped over to the gate and closed it behind her, studying the windows of the house carefully for any sign that she had woken anyone up, she considered splurging and having a can of juice once she reached her destination. A small sound made her turn around, an uncomfortable shot of adrenaline rushing through her system and her hands already halfway raised into fists just in case.

A pair of stunned yet ever-glittering wide black eyes stared into her own in the dim light of the street.

“R- Ryuunosuke-kun?” Shinobu stared in disbelief as the girl that had occupied her thoughts were standing there, looking terribly guilty doing so, leaning on the wall on the opposite side of the narrow street outside Shinobu’s home. “What are you doing here?”

A small blushing competition was underway in the darkened street, but the two competitors pretended not to notice.

“I-I... couldn’t sleep.” Ryuunosuke glanced up at Shinobu through her bangs, crouched over enough to make Shinobu the taller for once, but did not elaborate as to why the inability to sleep had led her to walk all the way over from school to stand in the dark outside Shinobu’s house. Shinobu realized this and felt a small flutter of hope ignite. “Must have walked here without thinking.”

“Were you thinking about me?” Shinobu smiled encouragingly, feeling just a bit bolder in the dark than usual, and knowing full well that Ryuunosuke was too honest not to answer one way or the other. “Or you wanted to see me, maybe?”

Bashfully the other girl looked away, her blush intensifying before she answered in a quiet, hesitant voice. “Y-yes.”

“Good... I was thinking of you too.” Shinobu blushed a little at her own admission but stepped forward all the same to link her arm through Ryuunosuke’s. “Would you like to come in, or should we take a walk?”

“A walk is fine with me...” Ryuunosuke answered absently as she eyed Shinobu getting attached to her arm, but she didn’t comment on it or move away. When it came to Shinobu, she never did. “Wait, you were thinking about me? W-what were you thinking?”

Shinobu giggled a little as she started them walking slowly. “Oh, I’ll tell you when I’m done thinking it.” She teased gently but meant it all the same.

They walked mostly in silence all the way to the vending machine that Shinobu had picked as her destination earlier, only a few quiet words exchanged and, at least on Shinobu’s part, basking in the pleasure of walking side by side with her arms wrapped around one of Ryuunosuke’s and her cheek lightly resting against the top of the same. Ryuunosuke looked a bit embarrassed when Shinobu leaned on her like that, but there was a tiny smile on her face and the taller girl again did not pull away.

It was when Shinobu treated Ryuunosuke to a can of juice, receiving a bright smile and honest gratitude in thanks, that it hit Shinobu just how much she would truly like to go on a real date with Ryuunosuke sometime. Indulging for a moment as they made their way over to a bench to sit for a while, Shinobu tried to imagine how that would be, the two of them on a real date.

It wouldn’t be anything fancy, she decided, mainly because any dating on their part would be paid for solely by her since Ryuunosuke was perpetually penniless, Ryuunosuke’s father always seeming to squander whatever means they had in mysterious ways that not even Ryuunosuke herself could fathom, but that would be ok. Ryuunosuke was a person that appreciated the simple things, so it wouldn’t have to be fancy to please her, and Shinobu would be happy either way. A dinner at some more inexpensive but still nice place, and then a trip to the movies, maybe? Or a day for the both of them at an amusement park, Shinobu was sure she could afford that for a special occasion. As long as it did not involve a trip to the seaside, it was probably safe.

But then again, Shinobu thought to herself with a widening smile, just sitting together watching the stars was nice enough. Ryuunosuke was doing just that, her head tilted back to study the night sky while carefully sipping her juice, and Shinobu decided to be bold.

Setting her can discreetly aside Shinobu eased even closer to her friend until she quite simply, with some attempt at casualness, leaned her head on Ryuunosuke’s shoulder with a little sigh. The taller girl tensed up for a moment, just long enough for Shinobu to doubt herself, then a hesitant and slightly trembling arm came up to rest around Shinobu. Resisting the urge to pump her fist and yell a hearty ‘YES!’ to the sleeping neighbourhood, Shinobu instead wrapped her arm around Ryuunosuke’s waist, snuggling in a fraction closer.

They sat like that in silence for some time before finally Ryuunosuke had to ask.

“Do girls normally do this a lot?” Ryuunosuke’s voice held no discomfort, merely curiosity, still Shinobu winced a bit inwardly at the phrasing. She also felt as if there was something in the question she was missing, but no matter, Shinobu would answer as best she could.

“N-normally? Well... with a boy they really like, sure. Someone they’re dating... something like that.” There was a brief pause, during which Shinobu could almost feel the questions forming in Ryuunosuke’s mind. “If you mean to ask if it is ‘normal’ for two girls to do things like this... I can’t really tell you, Ryuunosuke-kun. I think that it is up to everyone to find out for themselves if they think it is or not. To me I think it could be, but that is just my opinion and it doesn’t have to be yours.”

“I do know that for me, whatever else it might be, to be here with you is much more right than anything else I could imagine.” Whoops. Why not go ahead and say the words ‘I love you’ while you’re at it Shinobu?

Then it occurred to Shinobu that she was thinking of Ryuunosuke in terms of love. Wow, that was fast! An hour or so earlier and Shinobu had been trying to coming to terms with being attracted to her best friend, and already the love thing had slipped in. Drawing back just far enough that she could properly face the other girl it occurred to her that the love thing probably wasn’t something particularly new, just something she hadn’t thought that closely about before. Alright.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is Miyake Shinobu, going all in!

“I-I guess what I’m saying is that I... have feelings for you, Ryuunosuke-kun.” Wincing slightly and biting her lip Shinobu gazed up at the wide-eyed girl. “Does that... b-bother you?”

Ryuunosuke looked stunned at first, then blushed and scratched her head in that strangely disarming gesture Shinobu had witnessed so many times before. “No...” She avoided Shinobu’s eyes. “Um, when you say ‘feelings’, you mean... ?”

Shinobu pulled her hands into her lap, suddenly feeling a lot less hopeful and a lot more scared of the consequences of her little declaration. “I-I mean feelings as in... going out on dates... holding hands... kissing... romantic sort of feelings.”

“Oh.” Here it comes. Shinobu tried to brace herself for a very awkward rejection. “Shinobu?”

“Yes?”

“...I’m a girl.”

“...yes.”

“...you know that I’m a girl, right?”

A soft sigh. “Yes, of course I know that you’re a girl, Ryuunosuke-kun. I don’t have these feelings because I picture you as a guy, or because of what kind of girl you could become if you wanted to; I like you just the way you are.”

A hand found its way to one of Shinobu’s, grasping it in a tentative grip that grew more sure when Shinobu did not draw her hand away. Looking up at Ryuunosuke Shinobu was startled to see a shy but happy smile meeting her.

“You know I’m a girl but you like me anyway. Right.” The smile widened and Shinobu’s hand was given a little squeeze. “I just wanted to be sure.”

“I-I...” Ryuunosuke cleared her throat. “really, really like you too, Shinobu.” Blushing furiously Ryuunosuke still managed to force herself to look Shinobu in the eye. “Really really really really.”

The hot flush of happiness that washed over Shinobu when she realized what Ryuunosuke was actually saying was almost overwhelming. The soft sound of happiness that slipped past her lips got muted by Ryuunosuke’s shirt when Shinobu, unable to help herself, grabbed the other girl in a long, firm hug.

When she after long moments of hugging the taller girl tightly eased up enough to create just enough space to be able to look at Ryuunosuke’s face, Shinobu discovered that she had somehow managed to all but crawl into Ryuunosuke’s lap in the process. Far too happy to even consider being embarrassed by that though Shinobu merely beamed at the shyly smiling girl she still had in a tight embrace.

“I guess that means that we’ll be dating now, doesn’t it?” Shinobu needed to make sure they agreed on this, one could never quite know when it came to the people of Tomobiki and the subject of relationships, she had too much personal experience in just how easy it was to misunderstand one another. “As in each other, only? Maybe even... girlfriends?”

Ryuunosuke nodded eagerly and smiled widely. “Yes! G-girlfriends! And... dating, just for real this time?”

Shinobu couldn’t help but laugh a little at that, and leaned forward a bit. “Yeah, for real this time, without the audience. Though we’ll have to be sneaky to avoid getting Ataru-kun or your father to follow us and interfere.” They shared an exasperated look and a small groan at the thought, neither of them quite sure which one of the people mentioned would be worst when it came to ruining things for them.

“Ryuunosuke?” Shinobu asked a bit more quietly after a moment, her fingers idly playing with the open collar of Ryuunosuke’s uniform jacket. “Do you remember... um... our first kiss?”

A renewed blush and a very emphasized nod was her answer, making Shinobu melt a little inside at how adorable Ryuunosuke could be sometimes. Gathering her courage despite the tiny voice in the back of her head that demanded to know what Shinobu thought she was doing, Shinobu leaned in some more, their faces now very close to one another. She touched Ryuunosuke’s face in a small, gentle caress.

“Would it be alright if...” The quiet question was interrupted as their lips met.

It was so soft, sweet and warm, everything Shinobu had remembered from their first kiss and so much more. This was no mere accidental press of lips, this was a real kiss... and everything else just faded away. By the time they reluctantly drew apart Shinobu felt strangely weak, dizzy and definitely out of breath... but oh so happy.

It took a few attempts before they could make themselves part long enough to stop kissing, stand up and start the slow walk back towards Shinobu’s home, because as much as they would have liked to stay there on their wooden bench by the vending machine all night, morning was not far away as it was and the coming day was a school day after all. They would more than likely fall asleep in class as it were, but that wasn’t as much of a problem as one might think, what with the usual goings-on at school. Still, staying out all night and get caught at it by their respective parents was perhaps not the best of ideas, so a slow walk back and a very reluctant parting it was to be.

Their parting kiss was a long and involved one, leaving Shinobu to float through the house to her room with a pounding heart and a general sense of euphoria, and Ryuunosuke – once she had seen Shinobu safely inside – to race the wind back to the small room she and her father rented, bubbling with happy laughter all the way.





Mr Miyake was just exchanging his morning newspaper for his briefcase getting ready to head off for work when he heard his wife’s hurried footsteps coming from the kitchen. He looked that way just in time to see her excitedly round the corner to peer out through the small decorative window on their front door.

“Dear! Dear!” Mrs Miyake cried and waved at him to come join her. “I think I just saw our Shinobu kiss that nice young boy that is walking her to school today, what was his name again? You know the one I mean, the handsome one that has no mother.”

“A well-mannered lad, as I recall...” Mr Miyake mused and peered out the window beside his wife. Shinobu and her companion had already disappeared behind the high wall edging the street though, but he didn’t mind much as he wasn’t particularly keen on seeing his little girl do things he frankly did not want to know about with her new boyfriend. “He has walked her to school before, and didn’t Shinobu mention that he had helped her out with something a while back?”

Mrs Miyake nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, yes, that’s him! He is so much nicer than those other boys she has gone out with... sweet, well-mannered and honest... much better husband material.”

“Didn’t Shinobu say that he was a hard-working lad, too? Some kind of small-scale family business, I think.” Mr Miyake considered what he knew of this lad and weighed him against the Moroboshi’s son and the Mendou boy, and then nodded decisively. “If you still think she is dating him by the end of the week, make sure Shinobu invites him over for dinner.”


Some distance away a young couple stopped for a moment by a wooden bench in order to properly put two forgotten juice cans in the trash, sharing a moment of secret looks, blushing and happy smiles before linking hands once more on their way to school.

Her Champion

Star Trek Voyager fanfiction. Another one of Tom Paris' holoprogram goes haywire, but fortunately for B'Elanna there's a certain knight coming to the rescue.
(Seven/B'Elanna)

Read Her Champion

Disclaimer: Seven, B’Elanna and all else Voyager in this story belongs to the powers that be, and certainly not to this little dragon.





Her Champion
----------------------------------------
by Carola “Ryûchan” Eriksson





It was with a slight eyebrow tick and an oncoming headache that B’Elanna Torres inwardly asked whatever forces out there that habitually enjoyed messing around with a certain ship lost in the Delta quadrant just why these things always happened to her. And most importantly, WHY in the name of Kahless was Tom Paris ever allowed anywhere near a holoprojector when everyone knew it could only lead to disaster?

Point in fact, this latest situation.

After a few weeks of one bad situation after another it appeared that Voyager was being given a break for once, and things had been quiet for a few days. Naturally people could not merely be given the opportunity to relax, do the stuff they’d been putting off during one crisis after another or even catch up on those little work issues that tended to get pushed aside for the more urgent ones, oh no. Not with the combined forces of Tom Paris, Neelix and a bored Captain Janeway.

Not surprisingly Tom Paris had a new holodeck program ready and waiting, and Neelix suggested making it a shipwide party. With B’Elanna’s perhaps not entirely well thought-out, and to be honest a bit snarky, comments and a few annoyed eyebrow twitches from the no-emotions section – Seven and Tuvok – Janeway decided to make it a mandatory event. No excuses would be accepted for skipping out on the whole thing short of a red alert, and so here B’Elanna was.

Trapped in yet another one of Tom’s holodeck program gone haywire, only this time the setting wasn’t some old Irish village or a nineteenth century whatever, or even Captain Monochromoron for that matter. No, this time the setting was a fantasy version of medieval Britain, a kind of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table sort of deal.

B’Elanna had to show up? Fine. Participate? Sure, she could heave a couple of synthenol beers or whatever and then knock Tom on his ass in some medieval games, the rougher the better... except it didn’t quite turn out that way. As soon as B’Elanna walked into the holodeck, with the intent of giving herself an outfit more fitting a warrior of course, the moron she at the moment much regretted dating had programmed the computer to supply her with a frilly lady-of-the-court dress.

B’Elanna had seethed and plotted vengeance, but Janeway once more decided to punish her for the lack of Delta quadrant activity lately and made her wear the stupid outfit, arguing that if she, the Captain, could put up with wearing the matronly version of such a dress then B’Elanna could certainly wear the one she had been given.

The men had of course fared far, far better in B’Elanna’s freely and somewhat loudly offered opinion, as none of them had been forced into frilly dresses. Well... except for Tuvok perhaps, whom in the guise of a priest had quite frilly robes, but the other guys did ok for themselves, Neelix as a jester, the doctor as a travelling troubadour, Chakotay as a farmer, Harry as a squire and Tom as some sort of courtier.

The real trouble had started after an hour or so of partying on B’Elanna’s part, when she, Janeway, Harry, Tom and Chakotay had interacted with the holodeck characters in a certain section of the program. Whatever went wrong was only visible as a brief and not particularly strong flash of light, and as such none of them realized the situation they were in... until the holographic knights began questioning B’Elanna’s forehead ridges, that is.

When the insistence of the holographic characters began feeling threatening B’Elanna called out to the computer to delete them, but there was no response. Janeway joined and called for a complete freeze of the program, adding her command code to the request, but still no response. Calls from B’Elanna and the others for the computer to respond were also met with silence, and further hostile looks from the characters that surrounded them.

At that point B’Elanna made an attempt to rewire some circuitry in a hidden access hatch to manually override the holodeck controls, but no sooner had she removed the hatch cover from what appeared to be a plain rock wall than the holodeck characters had rounded on them and taken both B’Elanna and Janeway captive. While Chakotay attempted to grapple with one of the knights holding the Captain, Tom and Harry were told to run for it, to find a way to shut down the holodeck or at the very least get to the rest of the crew and mount a rescue mission.

It didn’t take long at all before Tom and Harry were both captured and brought back, but disturbingly enough both men had experienced the same thing though in different directions: for some reason their section of the holodeck was closed off from the rest, they could not get out and they had found no sign of anyone else from Voyager being in there with them.

The angry cries of witchcraft and sorcery got worse, and B’Elanna was the centre of the holographic mob’s attention. Her forehead ridges were pointed at and the call rang out that she must be a demon, then faster than really should have been possible she was dragged away, kicking and cursing all the way... to being chained to a stake over a very ominous-looking mountain of firewood. Janeway and the others were chained as well, to seats along one side of what looked like an arena of sorts, and it was as she looked at them that B’Elanna realized that the holodeck safety protocols had been turned off.

There was blood all over Chakotay’s face, and Janeway was leaning forward in her chains towards Harry who was slumped over in his chair in an alarming way. Even at her distance B’Elanna could clearly see how the baby blue of Harry’s tunic was swiftly dying into what looked awfully black, and a dreadful chill swept through her at the sight. Next to Harry Tom sat with wide, uncomprehending eyes, while knights, soldiers and nobility milled together in the open field between the seats where B’Elanna’s friends apparently were meant to witness her burning and B’Elanna herself. The holodeck characters appeared to argue about something for a while, sending B’Elanna apprehensive looks every so often.

Finally the crowd dispersed, leaving the knights on the field while all the others took up positions sitting or standing around Janeway’s well-guarded group. The knight that seemed to have been appointed the leader of the medieval lynch-mob stepped forward and raised a hand, everyone else immediately falling absolutely silent.

In a strong voice the knight called out to his audience, declaring that on this day of the Lord so-and-so they had discovered witchcraft and even a demon in their midst. They had all witnessed the sorcery of Lady Kathryn and Lady Belanne – Janeway and B’Elanna – and there could be no doubt now that whatever veil had been cast on their minds had been lifted, that B’Elanna was a demon. Their path was clear, the she-demon must burn for her sins, but as it had been speculated that Janeway was but a pawn caught in the demon’s thrall she and her servants – Chakotay, Tom and Harry – might be freed with the death of the demon. They would be made to witness B’Elanna’s burning and then, freed from her evil powers, priests and prayer would help them back to the path of the righteous.

Janeway objected of course, but between the threats to her companions and Chakotay’s discreet attempts to warn her from saying too much, she was quickly silenced. B’Elanna tried to dissuade her captain as well, but firmly bound and gagged all she could do was shoot the upset older woman a determined look and shake her head. No way in hell would B’Elanna’s friends be made to suffer more than they clearly had because of B’Elanna’s unfortunately quite visible Klingon heritage, she’d take whatever was coming by herself.

Something the lead knight was saying drew B’Elanna’s attention back to him with some surprise.

“...enough!” Some protesting voices were quieted, although B’Elanna hadn’t really heard what the argument was about. “We are not barbarians! Although clearly a demon, Lady Belanne stands before us in the guise of a highborn, and as such she has the undeniable right to be championed.” He turned towards B’Elanna’s shackled friends. “A father, brother or spouse of noble birth may choose to take up the sword and meet the knight of our choice in combat to prove her innocence.”

A long moment of silence met his words as the holographic characters seemed to wait for someone to speak up, and B’Elanna’s friends tried to grasp what they were being told. B’Elanna on her part strained against her chains, inwardly cursing up a storm as she wanted to take on this challenge herself.

Eyes both holographic and real tracked to Tom, expecting a reaction. There was none as the man in question replied with a wordless ‘who, me? You’ve got to be kidding!’ look and nothing else. Chakotay struggled to get to his feet, clearly the hit to his head more serious than it appeared, but Janeway was faster, a determined look on her face.

B’Elanna shouted internally for Janeway to sit back down. As much as she loved and adored the other for this gesture, there was just no way B’Elanna would allow her Captain to get herself killed because of her. She threw an angry glare at her very-soon-to-be ex-boyfriend that promised murder. Tom you petaQ, I will remember this!

“I will be her champion.” The voice that rang out interrupting Janeway just as she was about to speak came from the far end of the field, and caused all heads to snap in that direction.

It seemed as if the holographic characters didn’t know what to make of what they were seeing, and at least in that respect B’Elanna couldn’t blame them, she wasn’t quite sure what to make of it herself.

There on the other side of the field a knight came walking towards them at a brisk, determined pace that made her easily recognizable to B’Elanna as none other than Seven of Nine. Gleaming armour covered her torso and knee-high boots, while the dull grey of her sleeves and dark pants made B’Elanna suspect chain mail and leather. As if choreographed with Seven’s approach the heavy grey clouds that had covered the sky since B’Elanna got there moved apart just enough for a single ray of sunlight to shine down on the approaching ex-Borg, igniting her armour and hair into a fiery blaze that made her appear like some creature of myth, come to exact divine retribution.

Magnificent! Some part of B’Elanna whispered, while yet another groused with quite a bit of annoyance that of course Seven got to wear armour and not a freaking frilly dress!

“Who... who are you?!” The lead knight called out, overcoming the confusion that Seven’s sudden appearance had caused. “Halt! Come no closer before you identify yourself!”

Seven did not slow down but she did answer him, her voice strong and clear. “I am Seven of Nine, and I shall be this woman’s champion.” A single regal gesture towards B’Elanna before coming to a stop. Some of the knights had horses, and clearly Seven was leaving herself enough space to meet them if they charged.

“By what right would you, a woman, seek to champion...” The lead knight was as bewildered as his peers, but at least his voice was steady. It mattered little as Seven interrupted him with typical Borg bluntness.

“I am her spouse.”

No-one heard B’Elanna’s muffled outcry of shock at Seven’s declaration, and thanks to Captain Janeway and Chakotay’s quick thinking – and somewhat rough handling – no-one noticed Tom’s reaction either. The lead knight looked torn between simply laughing and saying something rude, but once again Seven forestalled him.

“By your own words a father, brother or spouse may volunteer to be her champion.” Seven’s rigid Borg posture and air of superiority seemed stronger than ever, making the blonde look oh so sure of herself. Enough so that those looking at her would doubt themselves. “I will be her champion, and as I would be neither her father nor her brother, I am her spouse.”

B’Elanna felt strangely disappointed when she realized what had caused Seven’s rather unusual declaration, and then she got annoyed with herself for having such a confusing reaction to Seven of all people.

It was this moment of self-berating and general confusion that led B’Elanna Torres to question the universe in general and the gross oversight that allowed one Tom Paris anywhere near a holoprojector in particular. In fact the seething woman made some vaguely formed plan to jam one such holoprojector down Tom Paris’ throat while emphasising very, very firmly that he was never to go near any holodeck controls for the rest of his natural life, and just what exactly B’Elanna would do to him if he did.

So engrossed in this little fantasy was she that she missed a verbal part of Seven and the lead knight’s further exchange, but she was brought back to proper focus when with a gesture from the lead knight a large two-handed sword was thrown at Seven’s feet.

B’Elanna grinned widely under her gag when the murmurs of disbelief spread among the holodeck people as Seven easily picked up the oversized and undoubtedly very heavy blade with her Borg-encased hand and twirled it in the air a few times as if it was made of paper.

B’Elanna’s glee was quickly replaced by concern when she saw the expression on the lead knight change at the display, becoming deadly serious before he turned to another knight, a mountain of a man, and gestured for him to mount his horse and charge. For a while there B’Elanna had relaxed without meaning to, forgetting that the situation was quite serious and that people could die here. To her embarrassment she quickly realized why, too.

It was Seven. As soon as she had seen Seven approaching a part of B’Elanna that she was none too proud of had with great relief put it all on the blonde’s shoulders to deal with, so sure that they were safe with the other woman there, so sure that Seven would save her, no, save them, that she had allowed herself to be preoccupied with her annoyances.

The huge mounted knight charged, right at Seven who stood still, her only movement a slight cocking of her head as she watched the thundering approach to her position. B’Elanna wanted to scream at her to move, damnit! but there was no need.

The knight had his sword out and as soon as he came into range took a powerful swing at Seven’s head. Seven, with a speed and grace that seemed unreal, stepped into the strike avoiding it with the tiniest margin, and delivered her own shocking blow.

In one smooth blow Seven’s blade struck upwards from the ground, cleaving right through the charging horse and stopping only as the tip of the blade broke off and stuck into the knight’s shoulder, both rider and mount already dead. A geyser of blood sprayed into the sky then, but Seven had already moved, only a small spatter of blood sullying the shiny breastplate.

Absolute silence reigned as Seven walked on, not bothering to look back as the severed bodies fell to the ground in a clatter of metal parts, even B’Elanna’s mind was stunned into silence at what she had just witnessed.

Seven did not get far before the reaction came. With a roar the concept of chivalry was altogether abandoned, as the lead knight yelled at his companions to slay the ungodly beast, and so they charged.

The knights first, not bothering to mount their horses in their haste, rather attacking Seven on foot with all the weapons they had on hand. The soldiers roused by the sight of the knights pressed in as well, leaving the nobles to guard the captives as they too rushed the lone woman on the field.

It hit B’Elanna after a few moments that while she had heard praise of Seven’s performance at the Tsunkatse tournament, she had never actually seen the other woman in combat herself. When others had spoken of Seven’s combat prowess B’Elanna had mentally waved that away as of course Seven would do well, Seven excelled at anything she did, it still did not make the aloof blonde any kind of a real warrior. Sure, if B’Elanna was really honest with herself Seven would be the one person she’d feel most comfortable with having her back, but that had to do with other things. Like how the woman was just so damn capable no matter what the universe threw her way... in secret B’Elanna rather admired that about Seven.

What B’Elanna saw now though was... it was...

It was beautiful and brutal and graceful and terrifying... it was like a Klingon war goddess come to unleash her fury, all the more horrendous and stupefying as each ruthlessly killing blow was delivered without a trace of emotion. B’Elanna shivered, aching and burning inside in equal measure at the sight.

The Klingon inside B’Elanna howled with emotion, heart alight with the beauty that was Seven, the speed and elegance more befitting a predatory animal and the strength that was simply unmatched. The purity and grace of each blow, each position and each strike made the Klingon in B’Elanna want to write epic poetry to Seven in the blood of Seven’s defeated enemies. Hell, she’d write her an opera if she could, in honour of her magnificent blood-spattered angel, so that no-one would ever forget these events.

The human in B’Elanna wept as she saw Seven swiftly reach out and crush a man’s head in one Borg-enhanced hand without the tiniest trace of hesitation, cried out internally as Seven casually yanked an arm clean off one attacker to smoothly impale another with the weapon still clutched on its end before moving away, almost dancing among the carnage. That part of B’Elanna cried out for the still fragile and gentle soul she knew hid underneath the aloofness, wept as she wanted to spare the other the further agony of even more lives taken, even more blood spilt, when Seven had so much that tormented her conscience already.

It was not until the last opponent had fallen, leaving Seven soaked in blood but still the last one standing on a field of corpses, that it occurred to B’Elanna that they were still on the holodeck. Of course Seven showed neither restraint nor hesitation in cutting down her opponents, although B’Elanna had forgotten for a moment Seven had not: Seven’s opponents were not alive and never had been. Though certainly dangerous and potentially deadly they still amassed to little more than bugs in a program, and as such there was no remorse or hesitation needed when removing the obstacles with Seven’s typical Borg efficiency.

Her last reservations laid to rest B’Elanna allowed herself to fully enjoy the sight of Seven as the statuesque blonde picked up a blood-soaked battleaxe and with negligent ease hurled it through the air to embed itself firmly into the ground near Janeway and the others, cutting the chains that held them clean through. Shrieking fearfully the holographic characters remaining scattered and ran away, leaving Janeway’s small group to untangle themselves from the broken chains unimpeded.

Apparently confident that her Captain and fellow officers would free themselves without further help from her, Seven then turned and marched towards B’Elanna. Although her pace was less brisk than usual, given the many obstacles she had to step over, it was every bit as determined as ever. Seven was coming to free B’Elanna.

In her chains B’Elanna fought to keep herself from swooning at the sight, but as Seven drew near there was no calming nor denying the immense and dizzying waves of desire that washed over her. A sudden and unbidden image of B’Elanna being pressed up against her stake – or any handy nearby wall for that matter – and being claimed by Seven sprang to her mind just as the woman of her little fantasy reached her.

Seven knelt and shredded the chains holding B’Elanna’s legs without preamble as soon as she had reached the other woman, but somewhere in the motion of beginning to rise she froze. Wide blue eyes turned to meet B’Elanna’s with shock and dawning comprehension clearly shining in them, Seven’s hands still hovering painfully close to yet still not touching the area of B’Elanna’s knees.

Mortified B’Elanna knew Seven had just pieced it together, there was no way those acute Borg senses had not picked up on the way B’Elanna’s heart was hammering in her chest, her laboured breathing, or worse still, considering Seven’s position, B’Elanna’s...

B’Elanna blushed hotly with embarrassment, yet some wanton part of herself given precious little free reign until then decided not to try to hide anything, not to pretend there was nothing there. Black eyes bored into wide-open blue, the air between them electric as Seven ever so slowly rose to her feet. You can tell, can’t you Seven? What you and only you can do to me?

A small but visible shiver ran through B’Elanna as Seven, her eyes still locked on B’Elanna’s, searching, put one hand on B’Elanna’s waist and used the other to gently remove the leather gag.

Her field of vision narrowing down to a pair of very full, pouty lips parted just so, B’Elanna was only dimly aware of the dull metal crunch that signified that Seven had reached up with one hand and crushed the chains holding B’Elanna’s arms in place above her head. Completely free at last B’Elanna wasted no time in wrapping her arms around the neck of her unexpected knight, mindless of blood and gore, knowing only the heat and the breaths of air that passed from Seven’s lips directly into her own. Closer... closer... just a little closer...

“Seven, B’Elanna, are you two alright?” The voice of Captain Janeway cut right through the haze of attraction and desire, making both women react in an almost guilty fashion. “Are you hurt?”

Seven spun around to face her Captain – who was far closer to them than either of them had realized – somehow grasping B’Elanna in her arms and carrying her with her in the process. A little startled at suddenly being carried B’Elanna nonetheless found herself rather charmed by the gesture, not that she wanted to admit that to anyone not Seven anytime soon. At least, she rationalized, it was a good excuse to keep her arms around Seven’s neck for a while longer.

“Captain, I will shut down the holoprogram momentarily.” Seven’s determination was back, and she was apparently unfazed at being seen carrying B’Elanna around. “Are you injured, Captain?” At the brief but negative response Seven cast a glance at the men. “Persevere for a moment longer, Ensign Kim... Harry. You shall be in sickbay soon.”

“No problem Seven, I’m hanging in there.” Harry Kim joked weakly as he with some support from Tom and Chakotay made his way over.

Not releasing B’Elanna Seven marched over to the access hatch which B’Elanna had uncovered earlier, and shifting the woman in her arms a bit Seven then plunged the tubules on one arm into the glowing circuitry.

Both Captain Janeway and B’Elanna yelped words of caution at the act, fearful that whatever had caused the holodeck malfunction would injure Seven somehow, but relaxed as moments passed without any sign of distress on Seven’s part. A moment longer still and then the holographic environment gave out, flickering away to reveal the grid pattern that was the true interior of the room, cast into darkness.

The holographic clothing also gave away, revealing that although most of the small group had come to the party wearing their regular uniforms, Seven had in fact worn the sleeveless outfit she usually wore for the holodeck games with Captain Janeway. As the armour disappeared so did almost all of the blood, leaving behind an only slightly sweaty and dishevelled Seven of Nine with a few small nicks here and there.

Although Seven had managed to cut the power to the holodeck, thereby killing the lights, the room was not nearly as dark as it should have been, and it was swiftly revealed why as concerned voices at the room’s exit called for them. There stood Tuvok, Neelix, the doctor and a number of security and engineering personnel, some of them holding lights, others weapons while others still – the engineers – were working away at access points in the hallway.

The doctor hurried them over to the hallway where site-to-site transport was used to get them all into sickbay as fast as possible. Once there Tom grabbed his gear and started healing Chakotay, leaving the others to help Harry onto one of the medical beds. Quickly administrating an anaesthetic to Harry the doctor addressed Seven over his shoulder. “Seven, how bad are those injuries?”

“They are merely superficial, doctor.” Seven finally let the woman in her arms get down.

“Mine too, doc, just a couple of small cuts and bruises.” B’Elanna gave Seven’s cuts a critical scrutiny, making sure there was nothing Seven was keeping quiet about.

“Good” was the doctor’s terse reply, “then B’Elanna get to do the honours of patching up her gallant hero, as I know she is handy with a dermal regenerator...” He trailed off, working on Harry while quietly asking the newly arrived Tuvok to make sure the Captain had no injuries she had failed to mention.

Grabbing the needed tools from a nearby tray B’Elanna was only happy to comply with the suggestion, but something the doctor had said made her stop and look at Neelix whom had accompanied Tuvok to sickbay.

“We couldn’t go in or contact you, but we did manage to get a visual of events.” Neelix explained with a little shrug and gave B’Elanna a half-apologetic, half-encouraging smile.

“Seven, when you’re done I trust you will help the good lieutenant in return?” The doctor spoke up again, briefly, still not looking away from his patient and therefore missing the nodded reply, but he knew Seven well enough not to need a verbal reply to the request.

A good while later, after various injuries had been healed and then checked and double-checked by the doctor before being allowed to leave sickbay, Tuvok, Janeway, Chakotay, Tom, B’Elanna and Seven were all lingering in the corridor a small distance outside of sickbay itself getting a short and unofficial briefing on what had happened, while the sleeping Harry was being kept in Sickbay overnight.

It had not been alien life-forms attempting to communicate or invade, nor had Voyager been under any kind of attack. In fact, it had not even been the effects of some strange nearby nebula with a grudge against Captain Janeway. No, in the end it had simply been that the very power-needy program run by so many at the same time had overloaded one of those little less-prioritized things that B’Elanna had wanted to deal with earlier, and when it exploded from the strain it caused a cascade effect that damaged several key systems including the holodeck controls.

Everyone else had managed to leave the failing program safely, but the section where Janeway and the others ended up trapped was completely cut off from outside interference for reasons yet unknown, the only thing Tuvok’s group had managed to accomplish was the small and very one-way audio-video feed which allowed them to at least know what happened inside.

“So in other words...” B’Elanna was torn between being angry and just being tired. “there was no outside interference besides short-circuiting the safeties and locking us in. The holo-characters were doing what they were programmed to do, just... all in a jumble.” She glared at Tom. “The question is, why the hell did you program the characters to flip out and want to attack me for my ridges, huh Tom?”

Seeing angry glares directed at him from several directions Tom waved his hand somewhat nervously and tried his best disarming smile. “No no, you don’t understand! I made the characters in that part of the program specifically so that they would pick a fight, I figured B’Elanna in particular would enjoy challenging and beating the crap out of a knight or two. I only made those characters in that section, so that they’d be easy to avoid if you didn’t want to give medieval fighting a go.”

“There’s a difference between a lynch-mob and picking a fight, ensign.” Janeway’s cool tone and formal address let Tom know he was in trouble. “Not to mention that this was supposed to be a party, not a combat simulation.”

B’Elanna rubbed her eyes, in a way she could understand Tom’s reasoning and realized that he really thought he had come up with something she might appreciate, but... “One...” She held up a finger, causing Tom to stare at her hand. “how are people supposed to be able to avoid a certain place in your holoprogram if you don’t tell them about it first?” A second finger. “Two... why make me wear that stupid dress if you expected me to fight?” The third point was the one that bothered her. “Three... you know just how sensitive an issue my ridges is for me, specifically being stared at, mocked for or being attacked because of them. So why?”

“It’s the easiest way to get you all fired up!” The enthusiasm in Tom’s voice proved to B’Elanna just how much he didn’t get it, despite her having told him so much and on several occasions. She sighed.

“You know what? I don’t wanna know and I don’t care.” It was depressing to think of all the time she had wasted on this moron. “I’ll have whatever stuff you have at my place sent over to you sometime tomorrow, and I expect that if there’s anything of mine at your place... not that I’ve left anything there that I know of... you’ll make sure I get it back too.”

“Outside of work I don’t want anything to do with you anymore, Tom. We’re through.”

Feeling relieved that the Tom Paris chapter of her life was firmly over – ignoring Tom’s sputtering and Janeway giving him a quiet but stern talking to – B’Elanna turned to the tall blonde standing quietly by her side. She smiled up at Seven and was charmed to receive a shy little smile in return. “So, my gallant knight, what do you say about stopping by my place to borrow my sonic shower?”

While B’Elanna had tenderly wiped away the blood from Seven’s cuts earlier as she healed them, Seven could still use a shower... not that B’Elanna was about to complain.

With a cough and a hurried mumble that was as discreet as a raging rhinoceros Chakotay added for B’Elanna’s ears to hear. “Coughshowerandpancakebreakfastinthemorningcough!”

“Oh you’re soo subtle, Chocolatay.” B’Elanna growled at him with good humour, appreciating his friendly jibe and the fact that he never thought Tom had been worthy of her. She glanced up at Seven, knowing that if B’Elanna could hear Chakotay’s little suggestion then Seven most certainly could as well, and frankly feeling just a bit worried what the reaction would be.

Seven had a small but adorable blush on her face and avoided looking in Chakotay’s direction, but at the same time there was a smile on her lips. Just seeing that smile brought back that breathless, heart-pounding feeling from earlier, and when Seven’s blue eyes met her own with a surprising twinkle in them, B’Elanna could swear she felt her knees buckle.

“If such a thing were to be offered, Commander, I feel I would ask that the bed be burned first.”

B’Elanna nearly swallowed her tongue. “Oh that could be arranged... I’ve got the replicator rations to burn.” B’Elanna gestured Seven to precede her towards the turbolift with a whimsical smile on her face, but she meant every word. “And for you? Anything.”

Seven’s smile widened and her blush deepened, and she looked very pleased with B’Elanna’s reply. As she started towards the turbolift she nodded briefly towards her senior officers. “Goodnight Captain... Commander... Lieutenant Commander.”

Ignoring Chakotay’s enthusiastic thumbs up, Tom’s dumbfounded staring and Janeway’s open-mouthed shock B’Elanna hurried to catch up to Seven, one hand coming to rest lightly at the small of the taller woman’s back as they walked, exchanging a few quiet, soft words out of earshot of the others.

As soon as the turbolift doors closed around them Seven and B’Elanna found themselves standing very, very close together with B’Elanna’s arms inching their way up to wrap around Seven’s shoulders.

B’Elanna’s last thoughts before the sensation of hot breath against her lips drove all thoughts away was that replicating herself a new bed was a very small price to pay indeed for the possibility to have Seven in her life.

Then B’Elanna was quite busy properly showing her champion just how much she was appreciated, repeatedly and with great enthusiasm.

In the Shade by the Road

A tiny story about the meeting of a knight and a young woman under a tree by the road.

Read In the Shade by the Road

Disclaimer: None really, a small original story inspired by Liz getting me to think about female knights. ^-^





In the Shade by the Road
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by Carola “Ryûchan” Eriksson





The hilltop was almost too small to earn the name, but the tree growing upon it offered kind shade as the sun bore down from overhead and a nice view over the well-worn road that for the moment seemed quite abandoned. It provided a nice spot for companionable conversation for the two figures having a rest in its shade while a large dappled warhorse placidly enjoyed the grass nearby.

The smaller figure studied her companion as she worried the plain white scarf tied around her hair. Despite being strangers, having actually met just moments ago, and despite being both old enough and intelligent enough to know the dangers of this wide world for a woman on her own, there was something calming about her new acquaintance... and it was not the knightly colours and travel armour that blinded her sight.

“I did not mean to delay your journey.” She mentioned again, even though it was a topic already discussed and she expected no new reply to it. This tall and foreign knight had happened upon her as she sat there, alone and waiting for her companions to collect her on their journey home, and apparently decided to provide protection once she declined the offer to share the knight’s horse to the next village.

Her knightly friend waved the notion away with a smile, appearing to be in no hurry to be anywhere else than keeping her company at the moment.

It was those bright blue eyes, she decided silently, they were kind and gentle though for some reason there was sadness in them. Suspicions began to form although she wondered if this knight would answer her truthfully if she asked outright. Perhaps if they got to talking casually she could get to the questions she wanted answered without being too forward about it.

“If it is not too presumptuous to ask, are you from the city?” It was a superfluous question and they both knew it, where else would a new knight of this calibre have come but from the King’s capital, even if the journey was a long one. The knight took the question as a request for conversation and answered truthfully.

“Yes, I am... by order of our King I am on my way to serve his lordship the Earl Grimalkin and to take personal control of my family’s estate in this shire.” The knight smiled kindly as the words were spoken, yet it sounded a strange order to be given indeed. “I am the first to make the journey since my mother made the move to the capital as a small girl... I hope the honourable Earl has not taken offence by my family’s absence.”

“As you are new to the area you might not know this...” She hesitated, wondering if this would prove a fine way to insult her new acquaintance. “but... the Earl has very few knights and all of them are elderly.” She tried to gauge her companion’s reaction, worried that she was overstepping her bounds already. “Even the nobles and the title-holders in this shire are farmers, sir Knight. I fear you will not find much of the things you were used to in the capital here... just hard honest work.”

The knight just nodded and turned blue eyes on the meanderings of the large horse slightly below them. “I have gathered as much. But fear not, I am not averse to shoulder my fair share of hard work.”

The girl wondered suddenly if the ladies and maidens of the capital were fairer than those in the countryside, self-consciously tugging at her shawl once more. She knew she was considered fair enough for the local admirers, but to more worldly eyes she would probably be quite plain, especially in her simple travelling dress and sturdy boots.

“What peaceful and good land this must be,” The knight mused, interrupting the girl’s bout of self-consciousness. “...to allow for young maidens to wander the roads unescorted without fear of evil and villainy.”

The girl laughed softly, earning a more delighted smile from her companion. “My father would not agree with you, sir Knight, if he knew that I had been waiting for my companions alone.” She sighed a little but decided not to explain that further for the moment. “Although I think you are right, it is rather peaceful here.”

“Tell me, are knights like you common in the capital?” At the questioning expression she was faced with she clarified “Female knights, I mean.”

The blonde knight looked very surprised for a moment before finally she chuckled. “I would have thought it not that easy to tell, not this quickly and while I still wore armour.” A brief thump against the breastplate which hid any obvious clues to the knight’s true gender. Between that, the chainmail and the leather nothing was given away save the impressive height, and at first glance the face above the armour belonged to a beautiful young man. “To answer your question, no, female knights are not common in the capital. To my knowledge I have been the only one in at least a generation.”

The girl grinned and was inwardly pleased that she had been able to tell the truth the moment her new acquaintance had stepped down from her horse, though how anyone could mistake the gender of this handsome knight was beyond her.

“Was that the reason you... left there?”

“No. Yes.” The melancholy look was back in blue eyes. “It was undoubtedly a part of why I was sent away.” Her voice grew quiet, as if what she spoke of was something not intended for other ears. “The King was ever kind to my mother and I, and I had held his favour for some time... but there are... complications, and so that my presence will not cause them both further pain I agreed to this arrangement. My cousin will take over my duties to my King and my mother in my absence.”

The girl nodded slightly, it was much as she had suspected. That their King was childless was a well-known fact, and because old men with a touch of drink in them enjoyed their gossip even more than young girls and were less careful with their wording, she had also heard that the King after years of a loveless marriage to their Queen had in secret taken a mistress in a widow from a noble house. If indeed that woman was this knight’s mother, and perhaps the knight herself the secret child of the King, then that would be cause of much plotting and intrigue, especially now that the King had named his nephew heir to his throne.

Then again those were rumours, and could just as easily have nothing at all to do with this fair-haired female knight. She certainly did not care whether they did or not, and the capital with its convoluted politics was far away.

A large horse-drawn farmer’s carriage became visible where the road wound out of the nearby woods, and the men riding it waved enthusiastically once the hilltop was in sight.

“Your companions, I presume?” The knight asked somewhat unnecessarily as the girl waved back with a bit more decorum. At her nod the knight rose to her feet and offered the girl her arm, a chivalrous gesture to aid her down the tiny slope.

As they moved and the carriage was still some distance away the girl continued her conversation, feeling a certain need to know the important details before having to leave. “Will you be expecting company from the capital once you have claimed your estate?”

The knight smiled. “My mother will make the journey in the spring and stay with me for a while before going back. She is eager to see her childhood home she says, so I must make sure it is all in order before then.”

“What of others, did you leave no sweetheart behind as you came here?”

The knight gave a start, and blushed furiously. “N-no... no sweetheart...” She swallowed hard and gave her companion a strange look. “I... t-the ladies of the King’s court are not... so inclined as to... find favour with one such as I.”

Suddenly feeling very pleased and happy with the world at her knight’s reply, she removed the white cloth covering her hair, allowing shining waves of thick chestnut hair to fall free down to her waist. Giving the knight her best smile, vaguely aware that it came across a bit more flirtatious than it otherwise would have but finding it appropriate, she turned towards her more fully.

“City ladies must not have the discerning eye of a countryside woman, then.” She gave the tall blonde a wink before wrapping the scarf loosely around her shoulders, fully enjoying the dumbstruck expression she was rewarded with. “How about you look me up when you have gotten settled?”

“B-but I do not know your name!” The knight found her tongue again and protested as the brunette was taking a few steps away.

If possible the smile facing the knight grew even wider. “I think it is time I return the favour and tell you a story.”

“There was this Earl who ruled a rather peaceful farming shire. He did not have many knights, and those he had were men too old to be asked to travel much, and everyone in the shire had their work and their duties to perform. This included the Earl’s only child, his daughter, although the Earl always tried to dissuade her, and so it was that when she was helping out transporting supplies between villages and her companions had to go ahead without her, she had no-one to escort her to meet them.”

“My Lady!” The knight gasped and fell to one knee before the now laughing girl.

“The Earl’s daughter was fortunate for a very kind and handsome knight appeared...” The brunette giggled and danced on light feet over to the side of the cart. “Wouldn’t you agree?”

Still stunned the knight watched as the smiling woman was helped into place next to the Wagoner and the cart started moving again. Over her shoulder she called one last thing as they moved off. “Do remember to come see me when you get to father’s castle, now.”

The knight remained unmoving for a long moment before she finally spun around, got her sword and satchel from where she had placed them, and hurried over to her horse.

“I will catch up to you shortly, Milady!” She called after the swaying wagon trudging on ahead. The delighted laughter that was carried back to her on the wind did strange things to the knight’s insides and brought a joyful smile to her lips.

Sitting up and urging her charger to catch up to the cart she found that she now felt better about life than she had in a long time.

Conquering Liaisons pt 10

Xena Warrior Princess fanfic, Conqueror. As the story starts Xena, known as the Lord Conqueror and not a nice woman, acquires a new bodyslave - not realising that she will come to love this woman, deeply and sincerely, to the point of madness. Assassination attempts, power struggles and bickering satraps all demand Xena to remain the harsh and cruel ruler, while Gabrielle without intending to draws out the woman that wants nothing more than love and family.

Has sexual themes and graphic violence, and most importantly it is a dropped story, meaning it will be years and years before I even consider continuing this.
(Xena/Gabrielle, Lila/Minya) Divided into roughly ten parts due to size.

Read Conquering Liaisons pt 10

Disclaimer: Xena, Gabrielle and anything else XWP belong to RenPics and TPTB, and certainly in no way to a certain little dragon.

This is a conquerorfic and contains a fair share of violence. There is mention of sex, and at a certain point a roundabout mention of rape. While I think it should not be too disturbing for anyone’s sensibilities, a warning is only fair so that you can avoid reading if this would upset you.

The most important warning I feel is this; THIS STORY HAS BEEN DROPPED. It is unfinished and shall remain that way for the foreseeable future. I do still hope to return to it sometime, years from now, but for now – and for quite a few years – I am hopelessly stuck.






Conquering Liaisons pt 10 of 10
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by Carola “Ryûchan” Eriksson






Chapter 24: The Fall of a Satrap

For a long moment after Gabrielle had been led inside by Royal Guards and placed in an ornate chair next to Xena’s own at the head of the table, Xena merely sat staring at her lover. She was, simply put, mesmerized.

The cream-coloured dress was of an deceptively simple cut, but made from the finest of materials, and held intricate but elegant tooling in silver around the waist, neckline and cuffs. It was also a splendid complement to Xena’s own choice of dark clothing with identical silver tooling, fitting them together quite nicely. Xena had to remember to do something nice for Myra sometime, she decided.

Gabrielle warmly but discreetly greeted Ephiny and Glaphyra as she sat down, waiting for Xena to make the official introductions or at the very least tell her what to do. Xena shook herself slightly to return from the pleasant love-struck gazing that she had indulged in, hopefully before the other people in the room noticed.

By the raised eyebrows and speculating looks on display, Xena failed that attempt somewhat. Fighting down a surprising impulse to blush, Xena forged on with the introductions.

The room fairly teemed with curiosity as Xena introduced “Lady” Gabrielle, but neglected to inform the Satraps why Gabrielle was present at this very exclusive meeting, and who the young woman really was. Only Glaphyra knew the truth, and she was beaming a pleased, if smug, smile at the others that managed to dent the passive armour of Lao Ma ever so slightly… Lao Ma narrowed her eyes speculatively at both Glaphyra and Gabrielle. Xena of course noticed, and while slightly amused by how well Glaphyra knew to push Lao Ma’s hidden buttons, she couldn’t have cared less. The silently glowering Marc Anthony was a greater cause for concern, just in case he decided to open his mouth at an inopportune moment. But no matter, Xena wanted them to deal with the business part of the evening’s meeting before making her announcement, and besides, keeping the Satraps itching with curiosity was rather amusing.

For most part, Gabrielle sat quietly listening and observing the proceedings of a Satrap meeting. It turned out to be quite less formal than she would have expected, but still, there were some rules to be respected and she’d rather learn about them before disturbing anyone. She exchanged some quiet words with Ephiny, who sat close by, and even tried to speak to the unresponsive boy on her immediate left. Ming T’ien ignored her attempts at a conversation, but kept staring at her. It made Gabrielle feel rather uncomfortable, but she chose to ignore him altogether.

Xena was well aware of Gabrielle’s presence at her side, of the silent looks and quiet words shared with Ephiny, even though she was not really distracted from her work as such. The meeting carried on, although very haltingly for most of the Satraps, giving Glaphyra a much appreciated opportunity to voice the issues for her province before the others. The usual responses were sparked, although in a subdued fashion, and the meeting was well underway.

It wasn’t until Xena noticed Glaphyra glaring across the table in Gabrielle’s direction that she fully turned around to look at her lover. Gabrielle sat leaning slightly towards the table listening to something Ephiny was saying, and was not paying attention to Glaphyra. Xena realized that it was not Gabrielle Glaphyra was glaring at, but rather Ming T’ien who was quite blatantly staring down into Gabrielle’s cleavage while wearing a quite unbecoming leer.

The booming thud of Xena’s large hand when it impacted with the tabletop as the Conqueror rose to her feet made the room go deathly silent. Everyone gave a start and stared at their scowling ruler. Xena turned her angry gaze at the youth.

“You.” A rising eyebrow at the boy and a single finger moving in a curt motion towards Lao Ma. “Go sit by your mother. Now.”

Ming T’ien remained unmoving for a moment, undoubtedly too shocked to move, but Ephiny discreetly pulled out his chair and urged the boy to his feet. On the other side of the table, chairs were exchanged so that a space would be available by Lao Ma’s side. It wasn’t until Ming T’ien took a tentative step or two that he seemed to snap out of his surprise enough to pout at the turn of events and give Xena a petulant look.

“What?” Marc Anthony snorted derisively. “You’ll not take his eyes for staring at your whore?” Xena bared her teeth as she turned around to face Marc Anthony, but stayed the protests from others with a negligent hand. She waited a moment until she was certain she could speak without giving in to the darker impulses that were coursing through her at the moment, then cast a glance in Ming T’ien’s direction.

“No. He’s a child that knows no better…” A glance at Lao Ma. “and I… respect his mother. He gets to keep his eyes for now.” The eyes in question turned the size of saucers hearing this. Xena lowered her voice to one of it’s more dangerous and growling registers as she added. “If he ever tries to commit such a crime against me again, however… he will know his punishment.”

The youth from Chin scrambled to his mother’s side, where he stared wide-eyed at his suddenly deadly surroundings. Cleopatra eyed Gabrielle with new appreciation while Boadicea snorted in contempt at the whole dramatic proceedings. Neither Xena nor Marc Anthony was quite done yet though, it would seem.

Xena placed herself behind Gabrielle’s chair, with her hands on Gabrielle’s shoulders. “Have a care with how you address my Gabrielle, Anthony… I will give you no more warnings.”

A wiser man would have heard the danger in Xena’s voice, and let self-preservation hold his tongue regardless of his opinions. Not so in the case of Marc Anthony, he shrugged and sneered in the direction of the other Satraps at his side as if looking for backing.

“A whore is a whore is a whore, Xena… despite your little illusions, she’s had many before you, and will have many more once you’ve gotten tired of her… charms.” He leered at Gabrielle, who at this point was trying hard not to cry.

The growl emanating from Xena’s throat sounded as if it came from some large animal, perhaps the lion that she was so often compared to, for nothing in it seemed even remotely human. As loud as it was, it was the snap when one of Xena’s large hands reflexively tore off one armrest from Gabrielle’s gilded chair that should have warned Marc Anthony of what was coming next. If he had the time to notice it, that is.

In one smooth, instantaneous motion Xena spun in his direction and swung the wooden piece of armrest in a deceptively negligent one-handed blow… that hit the Roman’s face with enough force to send both him and his chair sprawling on the floor, split his lip and leave an angry red welt across the side of his face.

Xena was visibly shaking from struggling with herself, and to the amazement of the Satraps, Gabrielle gently touched her arm in a soothing manner to calm her. And it seemed to work, somewhat. Xena clasped Gabrielle’s hand within her own and lifted it to her lips for a brief kiss.

“It was my intention…” Xena said quietly, still with some difficulty, and completely ignoring Marc Anthony as he dazedly moved around on the floor. “to wait until our business meeting was over for this evening before making the announcement.”

“It was my intention to invite you all” A brief pause emphasize that the invitation no longer would include all present, for obvious reasons. “…to my wedding.”

The room went so still that it almost seemed a palpable thing. Xena met the astonished eyes of each of the people sitting at the table as she swept her gaze over them.

“I am wedding my Gabrielle in a month hence. And she will be your Queen.”

Silence reigned for a long moment in the room, as Xena gave the Satraps a moment to digest the no doubt startling news. She exchanged a tender look with her still rather pale young betrothed, placing another kiss in the palm of Gabrielle’s hand.

“You” Marc Anthony spoke unsteadily from the floor where he was straightening himself out, gingerly wiping some blood off his face as he got to his knees. “…are saying you’d marry your slave?” The incredulousness in his voice seemed genuine, and the comment caused Gabrielle to flinch slightly.

“Not just a slave, either, but your _body_ slave? A whore you scraped off from a brothel is supposed to become the Queen of the world?” His laughter turned into a wheezing cough as he bent over his upturned chair as if to pull it up with him. “Surely you’re not that desperate. So unless Aphrodite herself taught her the profession, I’d say she has a hold on you… I wonder what it is?”

Several things happened at once.

A tear escaped Gabrielle’s downturned eyes and made a solitary journey down one cheek as she unconsciously cupped the invisible swell of her belly. Cleopatra all but climbed into Lao Ma’s lap in her attempts to put distance between herself and her obviously self-destructive lover, while the enraged Glaphyra climbed up on the large table in her attempts at crossing it to give the insufferable man a good proper beating. Ephiny and Melosa both stood and stepped closer to Gabrielle, then Ephiny gently pulled Gabrielle out of her chair and protectively put her behind herself.

Marc Anthony spun around in his position on the floor, revealing the broken armrest in his hand, and charged Xena with it. Xena… lost control.

It didn’t take long for Meleager and the Royal Guards outside the room to come rushing in and separate the two combatants, but it was enough time for Xena to have done quite a number on the Roman’s face. Restraining the Roman was a simple task for the guardsmen, but making Xena calm down proved a bit more challenging. Fortunately Meleager had, after all, known Xena for many years now.

The Roman glared futilely at the woman now standing partially behind one of the Amazons. Ephiny noticed the look and crossed her arms in silent challenge, but Marc Anthony didn’t notice. Instead he saw, even with one of his eyes slowly swelling shut, the way one of Gabrielle’s hands still rested on her abdomen.

If his laughter before had been a wheezing cough, then the sound he made now was quite unrecognisable as anything at all except just plain being ugly.

“S-she…” He wheezed. “she’s p-p-pr…”

If Meleager had not managed to grab Xena before she reached the Roman as she spun around at the sound of his voice, she would have simply reached out and snapped his neck. As it was, the firm grip of the Captain of her Royal Guard reminded Xena of her surroundings again.

“Pregnant?” Her voice was dangerously smooth. “Yes. The child of my love she carries.”

Xena may have been far too angry and too preoccupied to notice how Gabrielle’s eyes grew wide and luminous at her words, but a few of the Satraps bore witness to the look that passed over the young woman’s features instead. Ephiny and Melosa shared a look of silent communication.

“Lord Xena?”

Xena turned to the grim-faced Amazon princess, a little surprised to find her providing a protective human shield for Gabrielle, and even more surprised to find herself met by an Amazon warrior greeting. She looked at the young Amazon quizzically.

“May I suggest turning him over to Amazon justice?” Ephiny met her gaze unblinkingly. “Our laws are very clear, and very strict, especially when it comes to transgressions against children or those carrying new life.”

“In Africaans we do this delightfully evil thing with ants…” Glaphyra piped up from where she was gingerly climbing down from the table, careful to avoid destroying any more of the delicate cutlery.

“Tongs. Red-hot tongs and water…” Ming T’ien spoke up unexpectedly and with surprising enthusiasm, immediately falling silent after receiving several odd looks, the most stifling being the look from his mother.

“No.” Xena looked absolutely evil as she stood in front of Marc Anthony and the Royal Guards holding him. “Have him branded, then send him gift-wrapped to Brutus.”

Marc Anthony paled visibly.

“I’ll decide on whom I wish to bestow all his wealth, titles and property later… Perhaps Octavian should be given a little something, as Brutus gets his favourite plaything?”

Marc Anthony spluttered as the guards began to drag him away, but managed to resist them for long enough to throw a last taunt at Xena before they would drag him to whatever dungeon or slave pit that Xena would have them use as she destroyed his life.

“So whose is the bastard then, Xena? Is it her former owner’s, or maybe a customer’s?” One of the guards holding him cuffed him in the mouth to keep him from saying anything else about their adored Lady.

“Oh, and Meleager?” Xena tossed over her shoulder as Marc Anthony was dragged away. “Have them neuter him first, Brutus won’t mind.” Her smile at the Roman’s choked gasp at her words was, once again, truly evil.



The evil look faded away with the last of the guards that left the room, and instead Xena looked tired as she looked at her lover. Silently she opened her arms wide, and immediately Gabrielle moved out from behind Ephiny and hurled herself into them.

Holding Gabrielle close and burying her face in the red-gold hair, Xena spoke softly, disregarding anyone else present “I am sorry, my sweet… this was not how I had intended this to go.”

Xena sighed deeply and tightened her embrace, kissing Gabrielle gently on her head.

“I know, dearest… I know.” Gabrielle’s voice was muffled against Xena’s chest and still somewhat choked with tears, but as long as Xena was holding her, she felt she would be allright.

After a good long moment of silence, Melosa cleared her throat somewhat awkwardly. “Well then, I guess that congratulations are in order.”

Affirmative noises and phrases came from the other Satraps, although with different levels of enthusiasm. Xena accepted the well-wishes as amiably as she could, given the situation. And she certainly was not about to let go of her beloved anytime soon.

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Chapter 25: Relations and Relationships

Flinging the announcements at the Satraps in the manner that Xena had, although not quite by her own choice, had proven somewhat of a bother. Although the Satrap meeting was in truth finished as surely no-one could keep their minds on business after all that happened, there were still a lot of unanswered questions and, as much as Xena detested it, polite small talk to endure.

Xena answered the questions regarding the upcoming nuptials that she felt she wanted, and even a few regarding the elevation of Gabrielle to Queen of the Known World. No-one quite dared ask about the truth in Marc Anthony’s foolish slurs regarding Gabrielle being a body slave bought from a brothel, and Xena made it clear to them all that she would not accept any comments along those lines either. She did inform them that Gabrielle had indeed been her slave, and if anyone felt that it was their place to question her choices, they could do so… of course, the expression on the Conqueror’s face, as well as her tone of voice, made it clear that the person who did so had better feel it worth his or her life, for that would indeed be the price for their concern.

A topic of great, if carefully vented, interest was of course Gabrielle’s pregnancy. Xena was surprisingly candid about the circumstances of the pregnancy, which made Gabrielle blush fiercely to the roots of her hair, and garnered a range of reactions from the Satraps. The Amazons seemed most reverent and awestruck once they realised that the child within Gabrielle would be truly born of two mothers without the interference of a man. Such an occurrence would be held almost holy among the various Amazon tribes, and Melosa told Xena quietly that once the news of this spread among the Amazon Nations, Xena would gather an even stronger support than before.

Lao Ma looked darkly at Gabrielle, making the young woman feel quite ill at ease, but the Chin Satrap never spoke to her. Finally Xena let them all know she had enough for one night, and brought her young lover back to their chambers.

Some distance away from the meeting Viceron was fuming in his rage. But the news of events at the meeting spawned another idea, another angle through which to reach his objective. Smiling, Viceron considered his options.

Yes, it would certainly do.



In the room that the Royal Guards on stand-by duty used there was a small section in the back that housed a number of bunk beds. The guards on stand-by slept, ate and sat playing cards in shifts, so that they would always be ready if their sovereign needed them. As it was, nightfall coincided with Mavican’s sleep shift there, and she was just getting comfortable as someone unexpected claimed the bunk next to hers.

“Minya? You’re not on duty tonight, you can go down to the barracks and your own bed, you know?”

Mavican decided not to ask why the younger woman was not sleeping in Princess Lila’s room that night, as had been the norm since the girl had gotten a room of her own. After all, Minya was clearly floundering around the devious young Poteidaian as it was, Mavican probably shouldn’t tease her about it so much, even if it was one of Mavican’s new favourite pastimes. And who knew, perhaps even these girls needed the occasional night to themselves, she figured.

Minya muttered something unintelligible, and turned facing the wall. Mavican shrugged a little and relaxed, listening to the sounds of the other guards moving around in the room, and the quiet voices announcing that the Lord Conqueror and Lady Gabrielle had retired to their chambers for the night. Artus was on duty tonight, and by the sounds of it, on a winning streak at whatever game going on at the table. Mavican had almost drifted off again when the room went from quiet to silent, and a set of soft footfalls approached the bunks.

“Princess Lila?” Sitting up Mavican identified the quiet guest. The lump on the other bunk groaned slightly and moved, but did not sit up. “What are you doing here, Princess? Do you need anything?”

Mavican was nothing if not conscientious in her duties, and if truth be told, she rather liked her young charge, so naturally she was concerned when said charge wandered into the guard room at night wearing no more than her nightgown and a pout.

Lila showed no indication of having heard Mavican’s softly spoken questions, instead she rubbed her eyes and looked like a lost child for a moment, standing there in her long nightgown and obviously very sleepy. Then she zeroed in on Minya’s form on the bunk, just as Minya peeked a dishevelled head over the covers.

“Lila?” Minya was alarmed. ”What is it? Is something wrong?”

“You didn’t come to bed.” The Princess whined. “I waited and waited, and you didn’t come to bed.” She further expressed her extreme displeasure at this with an angry stomp with one small foot.

Mavican bit her lip not to start laughing as Minya turned wide-eyed and beet red at that statement. It really was too adorable.

“Ah, Princess? Isn’t there a Royal Guard already stationed at your bedroom tonight?”

Another stomp and another adorable pout. “Want Minya.”

Mavican snickered and Minya, by the sound of it, choked, but neither woman got the chance to say anything as the pouting princess crawled up into Minya’s bunk, over the suddenly petrified woman, and partially squeezed into the small space between Minya and the wall. The rest of the obviously sleepwalking Princess ended up draped over Minya with her head on Minya’s shoulder, and one arm tucked firmly around her quarry.

“S’better.” A mumble from the direction of Minya’s shoulder. “G’night Mavican.”

“Goodnight Princess.” Mavican chuckled, and looked forward to telling Lila about events in the morning. She hoped the girl’s new guardians wouldn’t be offended if she spent a night in the guard room, as surely the girl couldn’t be safer than right there, using one of the guards as her personal pillow. Mavican also hoped that said guard would remember to breathe soon, preferably before she fainted. Either way Mavican reasoned that she had a world of ammunition to tease her young friend with in the morning, and she was looking forward to it immensely.



The following morning, Mavican decided that she felt sorry for the Poteidaian princess. Xena and Gabrielle both had come running into the room while the princess and Minya still slept, nearly in a state of panic, believing the girl to have been abducted. Mavican, who fortunately enough had been up for a while, intercepted them to explain the night’s events, but she didn’t get very far. Woken by the noise, Lila stirred and peeked up from her comfy sleeping place in Minya’s arms, and both of her guardians immediately spotted the girl.

Gabrielle was left gaping in shock as Minya also woke and, after a single befuddled glance at her ruler, turned beet red. Xena’s eyebrows climbed a bit on her forehead at the sight, but she still smiled enigmatically.

Mavican once again tried to explain the situation, while Gabrielle snapped at her sister to go to the Royal Chambers and wait for her there. Lila scowled but trudged away obediently enough, leaving Minya looking as if she was waiting for the executioner’s axe.

Fortunately for Minya, Xena listened to Mavican’s explanations, then told the young guard that she would speak with her later, privately. At the moment, Xena and Gabrielle were more concerned with Lila and settling things with her.

Returning to the Royal Chambers Xena and Gabrielle found Lila pacing back and forth on the Persian carpet, alternating between frowning and pouting. When she saw her sister come in, Lila immediately turned to face her.

“Lila, you really can’t just walk around like that in the middle of the…” Gabrielle launched into a lecture straight away, with Lila looking moderately repentant as she listened. Xena tuned it out for most part, choosing instead to think some things through and leave the scolding to her lover. Mostly this was because Xena realized she would not have the heart to reprimand the girl, and with the severity of what could very well have happened to her the way things were, Lila needed to be scolded. It was for her own safety.

Still, Xena looked at the increasingly sorrowful countenance of this trusting child that the Fates had seen fit to bring into her life, and after a while she just couldn’t take any more. A hand on her shoulder stopped Gabrielle’s admonishment short.

Xena stood in front of Lila and gently made the girl meet her eyes.

“Lila, Gabrielle and I are not angry with you, you just scared us very much.” The look on the girl’s face said quite clearly that she didn’t think Xena could be afraid, but she remained silent as Xena spoke. “You are safe with the Royal Guard, and if you are ever worried or in trouble and Gabrielle and I are not there, you should run to them. They will protect you with their lives.”

“But living here in the palace is not like in Poteidaia... I have enemies, little one, dangerous people that would stop at nothing to hurt me or those I care about.” Xena heard Gabrielle take a deep breath, she probably did not want to frighten Lila with what had happened with Jett and whoever murdered him, but it was unfair to scold the girl for something that had not been properly explained to her in the first place Xena figured. “These people would hurt you or Gabrielle if they could, Lila... and that is the reason why there are always guards present. They are for your protection when I can’t protect you myself.”

“But we can only protect you if you do not wander off on your own.” Xena touched her cheek. “Do you understand?”

Lila nodded, wide-eyed, and received a pat on the head from the slightly relieved Xena. “Good.” She didn’t notice Gabrielle’s surprised eyes on her. “Now, will you tell me why you did not want to sleep in your room?”

Admittedly Xena knew nothing of what moved in a young girl’s mind as she herself had been quite... different from the typical young girl, she supposed... so she thought it best to ask the girl in case there was something wrong with the rooms Xena had gotten for her. Perhaps the bed was not satisfactory? Or maybe the guards that were assigned to Lila that night were people that the girl did not feel comfortable with? Xena could imagine a number of scenarios that might urge Lila out of her own bed and into the cot with the guard she felt the most secure with.

Lila pouted. “Minya did not come to me even though I waited. So I had to go to her.”

Gabrielle shook her head slightly in amused exasperation. “Minya is a grown woman, not your cuddly toy... you can’t ask her to be with you every waking and sleeping moment, Lila. It is great that you two are such good friends, but you have to respect that she has to be off duty and have her own life sometimes.”

The words were spoken gently, but they sparked a spectacular reaction.

Xena on her part made panic-stricken faces at Gabrielle, but it was too late. Lila turned pale, and large dark blue eyes overflowed with tears.

“S-she...” Lila’s quiet voice quivered as pitifully as the girl’s still pouting lip. “...she’s just with me because it is her j-job?” A sob. “She d-doesn’t want to be with m-me at all?” The crying began in earnest.

Xena turned in panic to Gabrielle but found her young lover standing there quite open-mouthed and dumbfounded at her little sister’s reaction. Turning back to the sobbing girl Xena had no real idea what to do, but did manage to scoop the girl up in an awkward hug, trying to comfort. Crying children were not her area of expertise.

“There, there.” Xena murmured, clumsily patting the girl’s back. “Minya cares a great deal for you, you know that Lila. There’s no need to cry.”

The girl sniffled into the fabric of Xena’s shirt. “R-really?”

“Really.” Xena promised, feeling thankful that her young guardsman was as transparent as she was, otherwise Xena would have had to lie to her young ward... because she didn’t think she could stand seeing the girl cry.

“B-but... what if she... thinks I’m silly and... too young and... oh Xena what if she likes someone else?”

The last was almost a wail, and Xena was back to patting the shaking back as comfortingly as she could muster. Xena sent a beseeching look over at Gabrielle, who had remained stunned to silence until that point, and thankfully it got the other woman to snap out of her stupor. Gabrielle hurried to Lila’s other side to hug the girl.

“Oh sweetie, I’m sorry... I didn’t mean to sound as if Minya didn’t care about you.” There was a small twitch as Gabrielle said ‘care’, but other than that she managed not to let on how badly the concept had surprised her. “Please don’t cry anymore Lil.” Gently she wiped at the girl’s eyes.

After a moment of hugs and murmured apologies from her sister, Lila had calmed down. Xena even got a smile when she ruffled the dark bangs a bit, making the Ruler of the Known World breathe a silent sigh of relief.

“So... are you and Minya, uh...” Gabrielle began at last but faltered off awkwardly. Finally she cast a pleading eye on Xena, who winced internally but nonetheless stepped up to the task.

“How far have the two of you gone?”

“XENA!” Gabrielle was aghast.

“Whaaat?” Wasn’t that what Gabrielle had wanted her to find out?

“What?” Lila echoed and looked at them both uncomprehendingly at first, then it seemed to slowly dawn on her. She blushed promptly. “Oh!”

Just as Xena thought that the girl wouldn’t answer, Lila spoke up again. “She holds me while we sleep.” The confession was soft and the shy smile that accompanied it was heart-warming to see. “And...”

Xena smiled and patted Lila’s hand. “And?”

Lila blushed harder. “And... I would very much like to... kisshersometime.” The end part was all but whispered out in a rush, making Xena and Gabrielle take a moment to catch on. “Eventually. When it is the right time. And if she likes me too.”

Xena nodded approvingly. “It is good that you know you should wait until it feels right for you. Don’t ever think you have to do things you’re not comfortable with to make her like you, just because she is older than you are.”

“Are you sure?” Slightly insecure blue eyes looked for confirmation from her hero.

“I’m sure. Minya wouldn’t pressure you. In fact...” Xena hesitated for a moment, wondering how much to say on that subject. She wasn’t sure if these things were over Lila’s head because the girl was so young or not. But the girl was nearly fourteen, in places like Poteidaia that was old enough to arrange for marriage, no matter how disturbing the thought was to Xena herself. “I would suggest you take things slow and, um, be patient and gentle with Minya. I don’t know the whole story, but Minya was hurt by someone pretty badly before she joined the Royal Guard.”

“Someone hurt Minya?” Lila gasped in horror and mounting anger. “Who? Who hurt Minya?”

Xena calmed the girl before answering. “I don’t know. That is a story Minya herself will have to tell when she’s ready. Don’t let knowing that make you treat her differently, just remember to be careful with her affection.”

“Thank you Xena.” Lila hugged her tall guardian gratefully. “You are the best.”

“Hey... what are sisters for?” Xena beamed at the girl and elaborated. “We’ll be sisters soon, once Gabrielle and I are married. I always wanted a little sister.”

That earned Xena another round of hugs from both Poteidaians, and with a promise to remember what she had been told about wandering off on her own, Lila was sent to her own rooms to get ready for the day. Xena nearly sagged with relief... handling young girls was much more harrowing than crossing swords with someone on the battlefield.

Slender arms embraced her from behind and a warm voice murmured near her ear. “You are surprisingly good at the sensitive chats, dearest.” There was some amusement evident in Gabrielle’s voice but mostly sincere affection. “We both have some rough spots, but we have time to iron those out until our baby will be old enough to date.”

“Date?” Xena growled and pulled at Gabrielle’s arms until she could put her own arms around Gabrielle. “Our child will not date. I’ll make a royal decree that any prospecting suitors will have their arms torn off... and if I find them unsuitable for my child, another body part of my choice.”

Gabrielle giggled and looked up at Xena adoringly. “Silly goose.” Xena’s pretended outrage made Gabrielle giggle some more. Then the expression changed into something else. “Xena?” She breathed, causing Xena to break out in goosebumps with the look in her eyes. “Kiss me.”

And Xena did, repeatedly and for a very long time.

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Chapter 26: Relations and Relationships

Days passed in something of a blur, filled as they were to the brim with the business of ruling the world. The satrap meetings were a bit more quiet than usual, as Cleopatra remained quiet for most of the time, opting to agree with whatever Xena suggested and merely sat close by Lao Ma and watched the proceedings. The Chinese satrap was as surprised at the sudden friendliness as Xena was, but did not give much sign that she noticed any change beyond the initial surprised glance. Xena did not mind the lack of banter from her flamboyant and shrewd satrap, and as even Boadicea was subdued and not as argumentative as usual, things moved along more or less smoothly.

It lasted for a few days, and during that time much of the scheduled work was processed. Of course, Xena had to entrust the silent search for Jett’s murderer to Meleager while the preparations for her upcoming wedding was handled by Jace, and it frustrated her to no end that she was stuck having to go through the satrap business when her focus should be on those two matters. Fortunately circumstances allowed Xena to bring Gabrielle with her to the satrap meetings, and the younger woman’s soothing presence at Xena’s side was just what was needed to placate Xena’s restlessness.

It amused Xena to see that Gabrielle had picked up two new and dedicated friends in Ephiny and Glaphyra. The two appeared to take turns in being seated to Gabrielle’s left – her right being occupied by Xena at all times – often engaging her in quiet conversation when there was opportunity. Normally Xena would have felt jealous at someone being that close to her beloved, but in the case of the Amazon, not only had all the amazons become surprisingly reverent towards Gabrielle after the news of her pregnancy had spread, but Xena knew that Ephiny had been devoted to the stocky and taciturn lover that was waiting for her back at their village ever since they were children. If completely honest with herself, Xena would admit that she was willing to allow Ephiny her camaraderie with Gabrielle because of how the Amazon had sought to protect Gabrielle during the unpleasantness with Marc Anthony.

Glaphyra was another matter... Xena knew without any doubt that Glaphyra was simply too loyal to entertain any lustful thoughts towards a friend’s lover, despite her often flirtatious jokes. It was that sense of loyalty that would cause one satrap meeting to erupt after several days of subdued dealings.

Boadicea and Glaphyra had wound up sitting next to one another during that day’s meeting, and Boadicea, perhaps recovering from days of forced politeness, had been making all manner of snippy little comments and getting on Glaphyra’s nerves. Finally Boadicea had loudly speculated in what was an old but still touchy subject... the matter of Glaphyra’s two fellow Satraps in the Africaans, Satrina and Mahari.

Satrina and Glaphyra had for a brief time been lovers, but by the time Xena made them Satraps of the Africaans it had become a deep friendship instead. When Satrina was first introduced the third Satrap Mahari, a tall, proud beauty native to that part of the Realm, she had fallen head over heels in love. Caught up in the whirlwind of emotion Satrina had made no secret of how she felt, and indeed gone to Mahari to confess all and ask if she had any hope of winning Mahari’s affections in return.

Satrina had been shot down as Mahari explained that she was married to an older man and had two small children by him, and even though it was an arranged marriage Mahari would not be unfaithful to him. Satrina was heartbroken but did her best not to let her feelings get in the way, loving Mahari from afar over the years as her feelings never faded. Five years later illness ended Mahari’s husband’s life, and by then not a one among Satraps and nobles were unaware of Satrina’s silent pining away for her fellow Satrap.

Satrina gave Mahari a year of mourning before she approached the other woman again. This time Satrina was not deterred, and after roughly two years of courting Satrina married Mahari. It would not have been the cause for anyone’s concern had it not been that the circumstances surrounding the death of Mahari’s husband had been questioned, and Mahari remained adamant about not revealing what illness had drained his life. Malicious individuals suggested that the man had been poisoned.

Xena found the idea preposterous, reasoning that if that had been the case, Satrina and Mahari had not waited eight years to marry, and the subject in itself not suitable for discussion among her Satraps. After all, among them were two women guilty of the very same crime as Lao Ma and Cleopatra had both successfully poisoned their spouses, and neither had ever been openly questioned regarding their husbands demise. Boadicea only brought the matter up to stir trouble with Glaphyra, against all better judgement.

And she succeeded. After a particularly lewd comment about Glaphyra’s friends despite Xena warning Boadicea to silence, Glaphyra spun around and delivered a blow to the briton’s chin that toppled Boadicea’s chair to the floor with her in it.

Xena felt a headache building. She sighed.

“I suggest we step out while the guards take care of this situation... perhaps we can reconvene at another location?” Xena gestured towards the door, getting Gabrielle and the amazons to move towards it. “We will have to make do without the representatives for Britannia and Africaans until the grand meeting it seems.” Wryly. “That should give them time to cool off.”

Directing the last bit towards the Satraps from Chin and Egypt Xena was surprised to find that Cleopatra had once more all but climbed into Lao Ma’s lap, despite the fact that she had been seated on the side of the Chinese ruler that was further from the combatants. Although her face betrayed nothing Lao Ma’s eyes were bewildered, still she managed to calmly disentangle herself and stride from the room with her usual dignity.

Xena followed, with an amused smirk on her lips, as the guards entered the room to break the fighting women apart. She looked at Ming T’ien who was still looking over his shoulder with wide eyes. “It would seem that this was not a good year to experience the Satrap meetings by your mother’s side, Ming T’ien.” Her tone was partly polite and partly apologetic.

She was surprised when the otherwise so arrogant boy turned towards her and spoke with genuine appreciation. “On the contrary my Lord, I appreciate this opportunity. I believe there is much to be learned from unplanned events as well.”

Xena gave a short but amused laugh. “Then it was the perfect time for your first visit to Corinth. However, may the next one be in... less _interesting_ times.”

The boy blinked a few times, then caught the joke and laughed... a light, youthful sound that caused Xena to smile slightly and his mother to frown. A brief but harsh glare from his mother made Ming T’ien shut up and adopt the disinterested and arrogant expression that usually made Xena and many others want to drop him in the nearest manure pile. Xena sighed again.

“I hate to impose, especially right now...” It wasn’t until Melosa addressed Xena quietly that Xena noticed the additional amazons standing in the corridor along with the Satraps. “...but I’m afraid there has been some trouble with the children.”





---dropped---