Friends Will Be Friends

by Jaguarita

Copyright 1999

"Friends Will Be Friends"
by Queen

Another red letter day,
So the pound has dropped and the children are creating,
The other half ran away,
Taking all the cash and leaving you with the lumber,
Got a pain in the chest,
Doctors on strike what you need is a rest.

(CHORUS)

It's not easy love, but you've got friends you can trust.
Friends will be friends.
When you're in need of love they give you care and attention.
Friends will be friends.
When you're through with life and all hope is lost,
Hold out your hand cause friends will be friends right til the end.

Now it's a beautiful day,
The postman delivered a letter from your lover.
Only a phone call away,
You tried to track him down but somebody stole his number.
As a matter of fact,
You're getting used to life without him in your way.

repeat Chorus 3 times.

Hold out your hand cause right til the end -
Friends will be friends!

Joxer looked at the annoyed expression on Gabrielle's face then slowly turned with a sigh to walk away. Her words echoed in his ears as if from a bottomless well. "Go away, Joxer!"

Gabrielle stared at Joxer's back as he walked away. She sank back on to her bed roll in shock. He was leaving... He was really going away.

Xena glanced over to find her friend wide-eyed and pale. The warrior looked away and muffled a sigh. Gabrielle had done it again. Xena rolled over and put her back to Gabrielle. She didn't want to have to choose between her friends. Gabrielle was her light... But Joxer needed her and what she could teach him. Xena silently prayed to Athena that it wouldn't come down to that.

Athena appeared in her sister's sanctuary. She arched her eyebrow silently at the decor. "Pink, pink, red, pink, lavender, pink, pink, pink. I think you're in a rut, Aphrodite."

"Look who's yapping. What's with the armor and helmet all the time?" The Goddess of Love looked up from her massage. "And owls are not an accessory, sister of mine."

"Let's not get back into that old argument," Athena sighed. "We have a problem. Xena, Joxer and Gabrielle."

"What about them?" Aphrodite asked finally giving her sister her full attention.

"Xena feels she is being forced to choose between her two best friends," Athena said. "Gabrielle and Joxer had a fight. Again. Or rather Gabrielle yelled at Joxer and he just walked away."

"And you don't think Studmuffin will just go back again."

"Exactly." Athena nodded.

Aphrodite bounced to her feet. "Let's go do something about it then. You go have a chat with the blonde twit, and just leave Joxer the Mighty to me!"

Gabrielle looked up at the flash of silver light in front of her. Athena stood there in a plain brown shift with her hands on her hips.

"We have got to talk, young lady."

Gabrielle blinked. "You're...."

"The Goddess Athena, yes. You are causing a very good and loyal friend a great deal of pain," Athena said with a cool look in her eyes.

"Joxer?"

"And Xena. You are bringing her to a point where she will be forced to choose between two people she loves very much." Athena finally sat down. "You and Joxer."

"Joxer? Xena isn't in love with Joxer." Gabrielle frowned.

Athena rolled her eyes. "She isn't -in- love with him. She loves him. Try 'he's my little brother' kind of love."

"Oh." Gabrielle stared into the embers of the fire.

"You sounded jealous for a second there."

"I was not jealous!"

Athena nodded. "Right. But can you imagine your life without Joxer in it? Because you know Xena will choose you if it comes down to it. And then she will lose something just as important as if she lost you."

The blonde bard flushed.

"Just ask yourself if you want to get used to life without him in your way." The Goddess shrugged and vanished.

Joxer sat in front of the little fire he had built. He sighed and tugged his blanket more tightly around his shoulders. He didn't notice the tears on his cheeks and didn't care that his vision was blurred.

"Hi, Joxer," said a familiar voice behind him. Aphrodite walked around to stand in front of him. She glanced around and shook her head making her blonde curls bounce. "The whole rustic thing does nothing for me, Studmuffin."

"What do you want, Aphrodite?" Joxer said with a sigh.

"First to have this chat somewhere way more comfy," Aphrodite said with a wave of her hand. Joxer blinked. He looked around and found himself in a room decorated in soft pinks and lavenders. Roses filled the room's vases between statues. Surprisingly, not one of the sculptures were of the Goddess of Love. "Nice."

"Yeah, well, it's home." Aphrodite shrugged. "Like I said, we've got to talk."

"What about?" Joxer said. His voice flat.

"Duh, about the blonde." Aphrodite sat next to the mortal on the sofa. "You two had a fight, right?"

"Yeah. I tripped and made Gabrielle drop her scroll into the fire." Joxer scrubbed a hand over his face. He suddenly looked down at himself. His armor was gone and he was clean. He was dressed in a pair of tight brown trousers and a loose white shirt that belted around the waist. "Uh.. Thanks."

"So she's steamed because of an accident? Bogus." Aphrodite wrinkled her nose. "Look, Joxer. She will get over it, ya know."

"I don't know this time," Joxer said, shaking his head. "She hates me."

"You don't know that." The blonde goddess shook her head. "You and Gabby have been friends for years, right? You've saved her life, she's saved yours."

"She's saved mine, I haven't done anything but get her and Xena in trouble." Joxer looked down where his fingers had tied themselves in knots.

"As if!" Aphrodite snapped. "You helped save her from the Bachii, you refused to stab her when Callisto was egging you on, and you got the Hind's blood dagger when the three of you faced off against Hope! Not to mention the fact that you've put up with all the ear and nose pulls! I'm surprised you don't say anything to her about it!"

"I couldn't do that," Joxer said softly. "She's been through..."

"Yeah, I know." Aphrodite sighed. "You've really been pulling for her. Eventually she's going to realize that."

"No she won't. I'm not going back." Joxer stood up and started to pace. "I won't."

Aphrodite watched him for a while. She really thought it was the armor that made him so clumsy. "Joxer, you make her smile. You make her laugh. Did you know that people only get that mad at people they care about?"

Joxer shook his head. "She doesn't even like me, Aphrodite."

"Sure," she rolled her eyes. "She didn't take care of you when you got beaten up. She didn't help you stop your brother from killing Cleopatra. Of course she doesn't care about you."

Joxer stopped and looked up at her. "I didn't think of that."

"Studmuffin, you may be pretty quick for a guy, but sometimes you are really slow on the uptake." She grinned up at him from where she was lounging on the sofa. "It's not easy love, but you've got friends you can trust. You of all people ought to know how special that is!"

A small smile curled Joxer's lips. "Yeah."

"So? Ready to go back?"

Joxer nodded slowly. "Thanks, Dite."

"No problemo, Studmuffin!"

The world around him shimmered and Joxer was standing next to his small campfire again. He looked down and sighed. She'd left him in the new clothes. His eyes darted around until he found his armor neatly piled on the other side of the fire.

Gabrielle sat staring into the fire for a long time after Athena left. She tried to picture her future without Joxer stumbling in it. She couldn't. She couldn't imagine waking up and not seeing his smile or not looking in to his warm brown eyes.

"Xena?"

"What Gabrielle?"

Gabrielle stood up and brushed off her skirt. "I'm going to go look for Joxer. He should have been back by now."

"All right." Xena rolled over and yawned. "Be careful."

Joxer kicked dirt on the small fire and picked up his bundle of armor. He turned back toward where he had left his friends. He started walking then heard something in the woods in front of him. Slowly and trying not to make a sound he lowered his things to the ground. He slipped between a couple of bushes and waited for who or whatever it was to go away.

Gabrielle stepped quietly into the small clearing where she could still smell smoke from the recently put out fire. "Joxer?"

"Over here, Gabrielle," he said as he stood up. "I was just..."

"Don't go," she whispered.

Joxer blinked. "Huh?"

"Don't leave. I'm sorry I yelled at you. I can always rewrite the scroll. It isn't like I don't know that story by heart."

"Gabrielle," Joxer said softly.

"What?"

"You're babbling." He smiled slightly. "I was trying to say, I was just on my way back to camp."

"Oh. Um. Mind if I walk with you?" Gabrielle asked after a moment.

Joxer chuckled. "I'd like that."

Athena sat next to her sister as they watched Joxer and Gabrielle settle back around the campfire they shared with Xena. "It worked."

"Was there any doubt? We make a good team, sis." Aphrodite grinned at her more serious sister.

"Just don't get any ideas." Athena shot her a look.

Aphrodite faked an innocent look. "What?"

"You know what. I do not do love." Athena vanished in a shower of blue and silver sparks.

"Sure you don't, Athena." Aphrodite rolled her eyes and pulled her own vanishing act.

The End

Author's notes: Okay. I couldn't write this without using two gods. It just didn't work with just Athena or just Dite. Sorry it took so long but Ath and Dite wouldn't let it go without that last bit of yacking between them.

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

COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER:
Xena: Warrior Princess, Xena, Gabrielle, Joxer, Aphrodite, Athena, 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. The lyrics to "Friends Will Be Friends" 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 © 1999 by Jaguarita J.H. 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.