Xena walked Argo slowly through the dense thicket. Her best friend was walking beside her with her staff at the ready.

"Yeah, ready for what? A gang of bandits or maybe a dragon or..." the young woman brushed some hair off her face and sighed. "Let's face it, I'm just out of ideas. Everything I write her doing, she's already done."

The redheaded woman sighed and shoved the keyboard tray back under the computer. A pale grey tabby cat approached her and begged for attention. She smiled and reached down to scratch the cat behind its ears. She was rewarded with an extremely loud purr.

"You keep that up and the neighbours will complain. I suppose you want some more food?" The cat meowed once, loudly, and the woman grinned as she got up.

"Alright, Pal. I don't know why I keep you. You don't do anything around here and I'm the one who has to clean up after you wreck the house. You know, I should just get rid of you. Yep, first thing tomorrow I'll call the SPCA and have them come and get you."

The cat ignored her and started to eat so the woman crouched a little and snuck up behind the cat with her hands reaching out to the cat.

"They'll throw you into a little tiny cage and lock you away. You will never have anyone ever sneak behind you and tickle you again!"

As she uttered the last word the woman reached out and grabbed the cat. The cat ignored her.

"I think you're getting too used to that. You're supposed to jump three feet into the air and run away you silly cat, not just sit there and ignore me!" The cat continued eating and started to purr loudly again.

The woman got up and wandered into her small kitchen. She looked into the fridge and then the freezer. Closing the fridge, she wandered into her bedroom and looked at several books she had lying on her headboard. Sighing, she got back up and tossed the books down again. She wandered back into the living room and walked to the patio door. Opening it, she listened to the seemingly endless rain pour down. She felt something wrap itself around her legs and smiled as she reached down to pat Pal.

"Got any ideas for Xena? I'm fresh out."

Pal walked away from her, twitching his long tail and jumped into the computer chair. He lay down and looked at the woman.

"Alright, I'll think of something. I can always do another time travel story. What do you think of Xena in World War Two and the only way for her to get back is by going up against Hitler? You know... I don't think anybody ever found Hitler's body... what if there was a struggle and he went back in time to Ancient Greece with her and died there?" The woman thought about the story idea for a moment and then shook her head.

"Naw, I don't know enough about World War Two to write it accurately enough."

Pal pawed the phone and knocked the receiver off. The woman bent down to pick it up.

"I can't call him. He's at work, besides, he'll be over later anyway. If it comes to mind, I'll ask him then, alright? Nosy cat!"

She had just replaced the receiver in the cradle when the phone rang, startling her. She took a deep breath and picked up the receiver again, holding it to her ear.

"Hello?" She listened for a moment and then rolled her eyes.

"Yes, this is Mary speaking. No... uh... no... I'm not inter..." Mary sighed as she tried several times to interrupt the sales person on the other end. She finally sighed and spoke loudly, "I'm not interested! Good-bye!" She hung up the phone with the person still speaking on the other end.

"I wish they would listen once in a while. I hate doing that! Oh well, serves her right! I'll bet Xena never has to deal with that!" Mary stopped and thought for a moment.

"That's it! Xena and a pesky door-to-door salesman! Hmm, should I use Salmoneous? Naw, I'll just make someone up. Now let's see... Xena and Gabby have decided to visit Xena's mom for some reason or another... maybe it's her birthday or something. Xena has to leave for some reason... she has to go use the little girl's bush... and she's stopped by a really annoying door-to-door salesman! It would be short... but funny."

Mary plops herself into the computer chair and slouches down, putting her head on the back of the chair and resting her feet on the wall behind the desk. She pulls out the keyboard tray and begins to type rapidly.

"Nice story... but I don't think Xena would do that." A strong feminine voice said behind her.

Mary nearly fell off her chair in her haste to get up.

"Who are you? How did you get in here!" Mary asked nervously as she eyed the tall woman.

"My name is Xena and I thought you'd have recognized me with all those stories you write!" The tall dark-haired woman replied.

"Xena isn't real! She's just a character on a TV show and if I were you, I'd get some help!" Mary said.

"Does this look like a TV character to you?" Xena asked and then threw her chakrum. It bounced off several walls and through a candle before returning to her hand. "Look, I'm here to help you get over your Writer's Block!"

"Fine, how do you plan to do that?" Mary asked as she watched the tall thin candle wobble for a few seconds and then topple over on the floor.

"Well, first you are gonna sit down. Then you are gonna start typing what I say." Xena instructed.

"Right." Mary said and sat down, putting her fingers on the keyboard.

Xena started talking and Mary typed what the Warrior Princess said. Xena talked about one of her adventures with her friend Gabrielle and Mary's fingers flew over the keyboard. They stayed like that for several long hours... with Xena talking and Mary typing, until the sky began to lighten and Mary's eyes were barely able to stay open.

"The end." Xena finished and patted Mary's shoulder. "Why don't you get some sleep, you need it."

Mary answered groggily, "Sleep... yeah... That sounds good." She yawned and laid her head down on her arms and closed her eyes...

"Mary... Mary! Wake up, dear. C'mon, let's get you to bed." A voice cut through the fogginess of Mary's brain and her eyes fluttered open to see her boyfriend standing beside her.

"...bed..." Mary muttered and looked around for the woman who had been here last night, but there was no sign that she was even there. "Was it all just a dream?" She wondered aloud and then her eyes fell upon half a candle that lay on the floor and she smiled.

"Come on, Mary. You should get some sleep."

She allowed her boyfriend to help her to bed and then cover her up. She was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow with a slight smile on her face.

The man leaned down and gently kissed her cheek before he left the room. He walked over to the computer and glanced at the screen, smiling as he recognized another story about her favorite woman warrior.

"Another late night with Xena again." He said and saved the story before shutting off the computer.

The End

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

COPYRIGHT NOTICE:
Xena: Warrior Princess, Xena, and all other characters who have appeared in the series, together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of StudiosUSA and Renaissance Pictures. No infringement of copyrights or trademarks is intended in the writing of this fan fiction. The characters of Mary and her cat were created by the author for use in this fiction. This story is copyright © 2000 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.