Rated: PG
Author's note: Well, this one took a different turn than I expected! I hope you like... Feel free to archive where ever you think it's worthy enough to be posted. Thanks for the lyrics, Sandy! I'm not a romantic at heart, so these were a good challenge to me... hope I did okay with them.

The tall, lanky warrior wannabe stared at the bard as she walked in front of him. It had been a long time since she had been hit by Baby Bliss' arrow. Cupid had taken the spell off her and he had pretended to go along with her when she realized what had happened, but he couldn't forget the taste of her mouth. His eyes closed ....

"Gabby, you're the love of my life," he whispered as he got down on one knee. "Gabrielle, where you are, that's where I wanna be."

The bard smiled down at him. "Joxer, what are you trying to say?"

He brought out a small box and opened it, holding it out to her. "Gabby... Gabrielle, will you be my wife?"

She sunlight sparkled through her eyes and her face lit up with joy as she saw the delicate bracelet. "Oh, Joxer," she gasped as she slipped it onto her wrist. "It's beautiful! How did you ever manage to..." She looked into his face, and kneeled in front of him. "Joxer, I would love to be your wife. I have been waiting for you to ask me for ages."

His face lit up with pure joy and he swept her up into his arms. "Oh, Gabby! I promise to be the best husband ever! We can go dancing in the moonlight with the moonlight shining in your eyes! Gabrielle, I love you! With all my heart, I love you!"

Gabrielle laughed as he spun her around and gently set her down again. She smiled up at him and tilted her head up, her eyes closing... her lips lightly brushed his.....

"Hey! Joxer, wake up!"

Joxer's eyes flew open and he quickly unpursed his lips. He looked around and realized, with a sigh, that he had been dreaming again. "Right. I'm awake," he muttered.

Gabrielle looked at him curiously. "What were you dreaming about? No, wait! I don't want to know... it's probably about you and Meg having.... UGH! EEEWW!!" She rubbed her eyes and shook head, trying to get rid of the mental image she had created for herself.

Joxer saw her expression. "It was about me and yo...er.. Meg. Yeah... you know she's an amazing woman..." He thought back to the dream of him and Gabby again. "With long flowing golden hair... and beautiful green eyes... and uh..." He noticed the bard was staring at him. "I mean ... you know... she has this wig and.. uh..."

The bard shook her head and turned away. "Forget it, Joxer. I don't even want to know."

Joxer brought out a small box from under his tunic. "Gabby, wait! I..."

She turned around with an exasperated look on her face. "Joxer, if you're gonna keep on about Meg, I don't want to hear it."

He looked at her with a hurt look in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Gabby... I just wanted to ask... uh... what I mean is... I have this... and... I wanted to know if..." He shook his head, this wasn't the way it was supposed to go.

The bard sighed, realizing how hurt her words must have hurt him. "Look, Joxer if you care about someone that much, you should ask her to marry you. I'm sure she'd jump at the chance."

Joxer looked at her sceptically. "She would?"

Gabrielle nodded. "Of course, she would! I mean, what girl wouldn't? You're sweet... sort of... and generous... Hey! Remember when you gave me that necklace? I've still got that. Oh, and you're sort of cute too... in an off-beat kinda way... Joxer, any girl would be lucky to have you!" She smiled, pleased with herself.

Joxer narrowed his eyes. "Any girl?" he asked.

Gabrielle nodded. "Oh yeah. You're quite a catch you know!" she winked at him and smiled. This was going good, she thought to herself. He'll go and marry Meg, and I'll never have to see him again... well, unless Xena and I decide to go visit or something.

Joxer grinned. "Do you think I'm quite a catch?" he asked, hopefully.

Gabrielle's smiled faltered a bit, but she quickly recovered. "Oh... well... You know. I'm just not your type... I mean, I'm not really into the whole 'settle-down-and-have-babies' thing. But I'm sure you and Meg will be very happy together!"

Joxer's face fell. He finally caught on to what she was doing. "Oh, right... because you've got Xena and I've got... um... oh look! I think Xena wants us to catch up with her." He pointed farther up the trail where Xena was waiting.

Gabrielle nodded. "Right, well, we'd better catch up then." She hurried off to rejoin her friend. She paused for a moment and glanced back at Joxer, then continued.

Joxer likes me? She thought, then shook her head. No, that's silly! He likes Meg, not me.

Well, that was embarrassing, he thought. I don't know why I even dare to hope... it's obvious she doesn't like me.

Sighing, he replaced the box inside his tunic and followed the bard.

Please take the time to write to Anne at JoxerBuddy@hotmail.com, and let her know how you liked the story!

COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER:
Xena: Warrior Princess, Xena, Gabrielle, Joxer, and all characters who have appeared in the series, together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of StudiosUSA and Renaissance Pictures. The lyrics to "Love of My Life" are owned by the appropriate copyright holders. No infringement of copyrights or trademarks is intended in the writing of this fan fiction. This story is copyright © 2002 by Anne Beaudry and is her sole property along with the story idea. This story cannot be sold or used for profit in any way. Copies of this story may be made for private use only and must include all disclaimers and copyright notices.