Warning: No Joxer. This turned out to be a Jett story. This is also a weird story, but then again it's also two am here in writerland so leave me alone. :)

Jett stared at the woman standing out side his cell. Her long dark hair half fell across one eye as she stared back at him from eyes like polished bits of onyx. Small and fragile as the last time he'd seen her. A smile curled her lips gently.

"Hi," she said. Her voice was a throaty whisper that burned across his nerves like a torch on spiderwebs.

"Obsidian? What in Tarturus are you doing here?" Jett hissed at her as he moved closer.

She faced him through the iron bars unflinching at bearing the brunt of his rage. He couldn't lay a hand on her if she didn't let him. "I thought I'd come visit you. It's been a long time and you've never really stayed in one place long enough before."

"I don't want to see you, Obsi." He turned away and would have lounged on his bunk, but then he'd have to look at her again.

"Then don't look. All you have to do is listen," Obsidian shrugged. "I've been thinking, long and hard about you. About what used to be us."

"There was no us," Jett snapped and turned to glare at her.

She shrugged again. A liquid ripple of muscle under skin and silk. "If you say so. But I have a ten year old bundle of energy that would prove you wrong."

"What do you want from me, Obsi? You're the one who told me you didn't need a man."

"Need? No. I don't need a man," she said quietly as she tipped her head to one side. "I need you, Jett. Our son needs you."

His lip curled in a sneer. "Too bad I'm locked up, huh?"

"You don't have to be," Obsidian whispered as she stepped closer to the bars. "You know that and I know that. All you have to do is want it bad enough and you're out of here."

"I thought you lost your powers," Jett whispered back. He couldn't help moving closer, it was Obsidian for the Gods sakes.

"I got new ones, formed new ties," Obsidian murmured as she reached a tanned hand through the bars to brush back the wave of dark hair falling across his pale forehead. "This is my world now, and I take my strength from it."

The guard coughed slightly and looked apologetic at Obsidian's sharp eyed glare. The woman turned back to the assassin. "You know how to call me when you want to see me again."

Jett watched as she turned and walked down the dingy hall in a swirl of black silk. He closed his eyes and dropped back onto his bunk with a soft sigh.

"Who was that?" growled the voice of the prisoner in the cell next to him.

"Obsidian, Dad. Her name is Obsidian," Jett said forcing his voice to stay flat. He wanted to roll the word off his tongue the way it had that one night when she sacrificed everything to be with him. She'd wasted herself on him.

Obsidian stepped into the sheltered glen just to the north of the small hut where her son slept undisturbed. She knelt in the dirt and set her small torch to the fire she had laid earlier in the day. When the flames caught she shrugged out of her overdress of silk and crouched there in simple gray linen. Her eyes rose to touch the moon above her. She let her eyes drift closed as she lowered her hands into the fire. They didn't burn, but started to crawl up her arms.

"A creature of Air and Water once was I," she chanted softly. "Now of Earth and Fire by my own choice and desire. I seek to have congress with the Powers that have always Been."

"Speak, little once-was-Djinn," came a female voice from the flames that was echoed softly from the ground, the breeze and the trickle of water.

"A choice I made, and by my choice I abide," Obsidian said calmly. "But one given no choice needs my gifts."

"You would free an assassin, little once-was-Djinn," came the voice again.

"I would free a man, no more no less. A living thing, to it's nature true."

"Little once-was-Djinn, you would make yourself never-Djinn-again for this living thing, to it's nature true?"

Obsidian opened her eyes to the faint outlined glow of four female forms. "Mothers, Air, Water, Earth, and Fire, I would make myself so for one who is might-become-Djinn."

"The child," they said in one echoing voice.

"Who needs his father," Obsidian insisted.

The four were silent for a moment. "His will, if this is, granted."

The fire went out and Obsidian collapsed, drained, but waiting for the Choice to be made.

Jett paced his cell. His father had stopped questioning him about Obsidian a few hours after the old man had begun to understand that she wasn't offering a two for one break out.

"She's only a woman, boy. There's nothing she can do anyway." The old warlord belched.

"Obsidian is more than a woman, Dad. She's Obsidian." Jett wondered what their son looked like. Was he dark like his mother or pale like Jett? Was the boy anything like Joxer? Jett quietly made his choice as he walked over to the tiny window high above him. Obsidian would be waiting.

He ran a hand through his hair, pulling free the small dagger Obsidian had hidden there. The little blade was no longer than his thumb, including the hilt. Then again, this was not something made for fighting, but for magic.

Once he'd told Joxer that he had a good thing with Gabrielle and not to mess it up. That had been the voice of experience. He'd messed up with Obsidian. Could he really be getting a second chance?

Only one way to find out.

Jett slid the edge of the tiny dagger across his palm and let the blood from the shallow cut drip into the moonlight pooling on the cold stone floor. "Obsidian, I hope this works."

Power crackled around Obsidian's still form. The Elements that gave the Djinn their power opened the flood gates for her as an act of will called to the once-was-Djinn.

She opened unseeing eyes as her body was lifted from the ground and held upright, suspended in the air. Her hands reached out. A ripping noise sounded in the night's expectant hush as a rift of power was opened.

Jett turned and tossed a sarcastic salute to the guard gawking at the tear in the wall before turning to plunge through. He rolled along the ground for a moment before coming to his feet. The assassin spun around to see Obsidian struggling to close the rift she'd opened to free him. It threatened to suck her into that cold dark place that Jett had just passed through.

He wouldn't loose her, wouldn't loose his chance with her again.

Jett wrapped his arms firmly around the woman he'd held once before. Anchoring her to this world she'd chosen. Anchoring her to him.

Obsidian screamed as she let the power pull itself from her, all of it in one violent wrenching act that left her permanently crippled in the eyes of all Djinn. The voices of the Elements fell silent, the constant murmur of Magic faded from her ears.

When she came back to her mortal, human self, all she could hear was the gentle rasp of Jett breathing against her cheek. "Jett?"

"How was I to know in that one night, my whole life would change?" Jett whispered. "What did you do, woman?"

"I gave it up. My power, for you," Obsidian murmured back.

"Fool." The word was an endearment as it fell from his lips.

Obsidian sighed and settled back into his arms. "Stay with me this time?"

"Who said I ever left?" Jett tightened his hold around her. "Let's go get our son."

"Onyx. His name is Onyx, Jett."

Jett nodded against the soft mane of black hair. "I think it's time Onyx met his Uncle Joxer."

Please take the time to write to Ephiney at ephiney@yahoo.com, and let her know how you liked the story!

COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER:
Xena: Warrior Princess, Jett, and all other characters who have appeared in either series, together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of StudiosUSA and Renaissance Pictures. The lyrics to "You Stay With Me" are owned by the appropriate copyright holders. No infringement of copyrights or trademarks is intended in the writing of this fan fiction. The character of Obsydian was created by the author for use in this fiction. This story is copyright © 1999 by Ephiney 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.