Xena was out hunting for some food, so Gabrielle was alone in the camp, save for Argo, and Joxer who was elsewhere in the clearing. She was busily writing one of her scrolls, recording the most recent encounter with some bandits, when Joxer returned, heavily laden with wood for the fire which was lessening as the night began to fall. He stumbled over a tree root and the sticks and branches dropped with a clatter, earning him a look of annoyance from the bard.

"Sorry," he mumbled and he carefully retrieved all the kindling, adding it to the fire, but only succeeded in smothering it and the fire extinguished itself.

"Great, that'll keep me warm!" she said crossly, jumping to her feet from the log she'd been resting on and pushing him aside.

After spending at least ten minutes with her tinder box, she got the fire going again and she sat back down in a huff, after shooting a glare at him that spoke volumes. He sighed and sat himself down at a discrete distance from her, pulling his lute out from his pack and played a few chords of a gentle melody.

What was it about him that always managed to upset her, he wondered as he played his lute.

It wasn't as if he did anything to deliberately annoy her, quite the opposite in fact, but he may as well have for all the affection she ever showed him. He knew he wasn't much of anything and wasn't likely to be, but he did care about her and Xena, and though Xena treated him with at least a degree of respect, Gabrielle never made him feel welcome. Was it too much to ask for her to be nice to him just once?

I can't stand it when you look at me that way, he thought.

He'd made his feelings for her known indirectly on numerous occasions, but she'd never seemed to recognise the gifts, flowers and words for what they truly were, a message from the heart. Time and again, he'd taken kickbacks and still he soldiered on trying so hard to be there for her. He knew he'd never love anyone else, not even Meg, who looked after his 'other' interests.

So what should he do now? Confront her directly?

Well, it would certainly decide things one way or another, but could he handle the rejection if she so chose?

Possibly, but he shrunk at the prospect. He'd do that if nothing else occured to him, but not in her current mood, that was for sure. After all, he'd tried almost everything else.

Well, whatever he was going to do, he'd better do something quickly, whilst Xena was still out hunting. He put the lute down by his pack and went to Argo, giving her a half carrot he found. The horse munched contentedly as Joxer stroked her back and neck.

"What do you think I should do, old girl?" he asked the horse quietly, more to reassure himself than expecting Argo to answer him.

"Well, you could try calming her down before talking to her," Apollo said, materialising on Argo's back, making Joxer jumping back in surprise.

"Uh, hello Apollo," Joxer said nervously.

"So when have you talked to her?" the Sun God asked him. "I mean, really talked to her, about what worries her, what she likes, dislikes, what makes her happy and sad?"

"Well, never," Joxer admitted, "but I thought that's what she and Xena talked about?"

"So how can you expect her to love you when you never talk to her?" Apollo said testily.

"Look, just talk to her from time to time - there's lots of things that she and Xena don't talk about that she'd like to talk about."

"How do you know?" Joxer countered.

"I know," Apollo said firmly.

"Here, catch," and he tossed Joxer an object.

"The Kithara!" Joxer said in awe, recognising the God's favourite instrument.

"Yeah, I know," The SunGod replied airily, "you've got it on loan for an hour or so."

"Oh, and Joxer?" he added. "Lose the helmet will you? It makes you look ridiculous and no woman will ever take you seriously."

Apollo vanished in a flash of lights and Joxer's nimble fingers quickly examined the prized instrument, as he familiarised himself with the Kithara and strumming a few chords upon it. But which tune to play?

He searched through the many melodies and ballads from his memory, when his mind focused on one in particular, crying out "YES!"

His skilled fingers coaxed the chords into a tune that seemed to echo in the still air around him, its haunting melody needing no words to accompany it. Time stood still for what seemed an eternity, then he carefully laid the instrument down on the ground, took of his helmet and enclosed the Kithara within it, and put the helmet on top of his pack.

He stood up and saw Gabrielle approaching his side of the camp, looking around for him. She spotted him and went over to him, looking quizzically at him.

"Joxer, was it you who was playing just now?" she asked him.

"Yes it was," he said simply. "I thought a tune might cheer me up and relax me a little."

"What was that song? I've never heard you play it before," said Gabrielle.

"It doesn't have a name," he answered her, "I just play it when I'm feeling low, to remind of a better place and time."

"Mm, that was great, it just felt like the song washed over me, taking all my worries and problems away," the bard said in a calm, relaxed tone. "You should play it more often, I know I could do with hearing something soothing like that after a hard day and I bet Xena would feel the same if she heard it."

He raised his eyebrows questioningly at her last words, and she laughed quietly.

"Hey, even Warrior Princesses need to relax now and again!" she protested with a twinkle in her eye.

He grinned in spite of himself, and smoothed his hair back.

"Gabby, even though we're friends, I don't know much about you. I know you talk to Xena mostly, but I'd like to think you could talk to me about things as well."

She looked surprised at this statement, and he tried to explain himself better.

"I've always tried to play the part of a warrior, following in the family footsteps, I guess, but I know I'm not much of anything really. I've always been in awe of you and Xena, which is partly why I've never tried to get close to you before."

She looked even more surprised at this admission; Joxer was in awe of her? Why?

Xena she could understand, especially as she and he were both warriors. Admittedly he was a less than capable one, and she a fighter of great renown., but still, the connection was clear.

"Partly?" she pressed him, after a pause.

"Well, I know how close you and Xena are," he replied guardedly, "and I've felt shut out from you both from time to time, even if it wasn't intentional. I don't want to come barging in where I'm not wanted, so I kept my distance and to myself."

"But you're our friend - You should never feel shut out from us," Gabrielle said in a shocked voice.

"I know there are probably things you need to talk over with Xena that you can't talk with me about, but I know too, that there are things you and Xena don't talk about, so if you ever need someone to listen, I'm here for you," said Joxer in a low voice.

"How do you know there's things Xena and I don't talk about?" she asked warily.

"I know," he said firmly.

She eyed him thoughtfully, wondering at this sudden change of attitude. He'd never shown much interest in talking to her or Xena before, why was he starting now?

On the other hand, all he was offering was a listening ear to her troubles and problems, and she knew he wouldn't tell anyone else. Whatever else he was, and she'd called him plenty of things since she'd known him, he wasn't a blabbermouth. What could it hurt?

"Okay Joxer, what would you like to talk about?" she said cautiously.

"Why not tell me why you become a Bard?" he asked her suddenly.

Her forehead wrinkled as she thought back to the time she left her family and village behind, meeting Xena, and changing her life entirely.

"Well, I suppose it was a gradual change; After I first met Xena, and attached myself to her company, unwelcome though I was," said Gabrielle, with a meaningful look at her companion, "I knew she didn't want yet another warrior by her side, so I became a recorder of her adventures. I always liked telling stories as a young girl, and it developed from a hobby into a profession. After I'd written a few scrolls, I tried telling a few tales in taverns, and it just went on from there."

"So why did you become a warrior?" she returned.

"I didn't have much choice in the matter, my family consisting of a warlord and an assassin, so being a warrior was the only possibility, even with my limited abilities. Even though I know I'm no good at it, I've done it for so long I wouldn't know how to do anything else," he ended sadly.

"What about your lute playing - have you ever thought of taking it up as a career?" Gabrielle asked him.

He considered the idea carefully, subconsciously picking the Kithara up again, and idly strumming a tune he knew.

"No more 'Joxer the Mighty' then?" he chuckled. "Tell you what Gabby, if you teach me some fighting skills, I'll play for you both whenever you ask."

"Why are you asking me for help Joxer?" she asked him. "Xena's the one with all the fighting skills, not me."

"Yes, but I don't want to become a proper fighter, just learn how to stay alive," he argued.

"Then at least you and Xena won't have to keep an eye out for me whenever we get into a scrap. As my father tried to tell me on numerous occasions, 'K.I.S.S.'"

"Kiss?!" Gabrielle echoed.

"Keep It Simple Stupid," he explained.

"Ohhh, I thought you meant... Never mind," she said in relief.

He looked on in bemusement, then realised what she was referring to and grinned.

"Just teach me the basics and I'll get it eventually," he expanded, as he laid the Kithara back down in his helmet.

"Okay Joxer," she agreed, "just tell me one thing - why are you in awe of me?"

"Well," he began hesitantly, "you've been through so much, lost friends, become an Amazon Queen, you're a well-known bard, yet you still manage to hold on to the same values and beliefs you've always had."

"How do you do it Gabby?" he asked, almost in reverent tones.

She took a deep breath and studied the face of the man looking so earnestly at her.

"It hasn't been easy - it's never been easy," she sighed. "If it hadn't been for Xena and you and - "

"Me?" he squeaked. "How did I help you?"

"Oh come on Joxer, you've helped me out lots of times," said Gabrielle forcefully, "like the time you helped restore my memory, or the time you watched over the lavahole after I took Hope with me, or the time you rescued me from the steam hut in the Amazon village and tried to stop Xena from taking me?"

"Well, I guess I have, but -" he said in a low voice.

"But nothing," she interrupted him, "Xena, you, and all my friends have always been there for me, no matter what. Even if you haven't been there in presence, you've been there in spirit; you've kept me going in times when it all got too much to bear, when I wondered if it was worth carrying on, when my spirits were low, I think of you all and it helps me feel good to know you're all behind me, every step of the way."

"Well, you do the same for me too, Gabby," Joxer said carefully. "Whenever I suffer a setback, or get hurt in battle, or get humiliated, I just want to roll into a ditch or dark corner until it goes away, but when I think of you, your face mellow as the month of May, I feel the earth move under my feet and I get the strength up here," he said, pointing at his head, " and in here," he said, pointing at his heart.

"You're like my inner strength, telling me to carry on, despite all the obstacles in my way, and I will overcome them in the end."

They hugged each other in a spontaneus moment, then sat there together talking quietly. Xena approached the camp with a brace of fish from a nearby stream and a rabbit she'd caught. She heaved a sigh, waiting for the tell-tale sound that would tell her how her two friends had agreed to spend the night; silence, in which case,they were on opposite sides of the camp and not speaking to each other after a row, or a one-way argument, in which Gabrielle was losing her temper with Joxer again and letting rip, while he just sat there and took it. Why couldn't they for once, just get on with each other while she left them alone for an hour or two? It was always she who had to act as peacemaker between them, and then the following morning Gabrielle would just settle for giving him a hard glare, knowing full well how that made him feel.

She brushed aside the branches that blocked her way, looking for her friends, when she saw them together and actually talking together! She rubbed her eyes in disbelief; were they actually just talking instead of tearing lumps out of each other?

She stiffened suddenly, sensing a God or Goddess nearby, and whirled round to see Apollo behind her, watching the twosome with amusement in his eyes.

"Is this your doing?" she hissed at the SunGod, who'd just reclaimed the Kithara.

"Nope, nothing to do with me," Apollo answered her. "All I did was give him some advice. The rest is all down to them. Sheesh, you mortals!" and he rolled his eyes before vanishing.

They hadn't noticed her yet, so she marched boldly into the camp, holding the fish and the rabbit aloft.

"Gabrielle! Joxer! Food's here!" she called out to her friends.

She saw them sat together, and they looked up guiltily, and talked loudly to cover their embarrasment.

"So what was it you were saying Gabby, about the price of quills and scrolls?" Joxer said.

"It's a disgrace, 25 dinars for a set of quills and scrolls! How do they expect to sell anything at those prices?" the bard replied.

"Here Joxer, start skinning the rabbit," Xena said, tossing him the rabbit.

"Gabrielle, can you start the cooking?" she said, passing her the fish, then going off to fetch the frying pan from Argo's saddle.

The camp hummed with activity, until the rabbit and fish were sizzling away in the frying pan.

So they'd finally began talking to each other at last? It was about time - Xena knew how he felt about Gabrielle and that she liked him really; it was just he got on her nerves sometimes and she tended to lose her rag at the slightest provocation. Maybe this was the beginning of a beautiful friendship..........

Please take the time to write to Jerry at studmuffin_jer@yahoo.com and let him know how you liked the story!

COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER:
Xena: Warrior Princess, Xena, Gabrielle, Joxer, Argo, 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 "I Feel the Earth Move" 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 Jerry Hendy and is his 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.