Rating: PG-13 for violence.
Genres: Angst, Vignette, VeryShortStory
Spoilers: None.
Language: None.
Sex: None.
Violence: This is Callisto. Of COURSE there's gonna be violence!
Subtext: None intentionally.
Summary: Callisto's internal soliloquy to Xena.

The world moves in rounds, my mother would tell me. She would take my hand and put it on her big belly, moving my hand with hers in a circle on her skin to feel my unborn brother or sister kicking inside. "Everything is a circle," she would say. "Life and death, beginnings and endings; they all come from each other." She would smile at me as she touched my face. "Someday you'll be part of that circle, my love. You'll grow up and have a little girl of your own. Just like I have you."

That was my circle then: birth, life, birth, death. To be a mother and a wife and a whole person and to die happy in my old age with my children around me, part of the endless ring of life. But the circle is made of ice, you showed me. It can shatter with one blow of a sword and melt in the flames of someone else's hatred.

I had to make my own circle then: death, death, death, death. Yours. You are my Alpha and my Omega, my despised maker, my one thought, my one goal. As I will be yours. It took my own death to make me realize just how badly I wanted yours. You laid the seeds of your own destruction in the burnt-out charcoal shell of my home. I laughed while I watched my family burn, laughed in despair, laughed because I knew that you, too, must die.

Your friends didn't laugh. No, no. They screamed and gurgled like the fish I gutted them as. Eyes round as fish-eyes in shock and disbelief. No one really believes they're going to die until they do. Until it's too late for them to do anything about it, or for you to. Did you love them? Does your little heart go pitter-pat at the thought of losing them? It's too late for that now. I feel like a little child whose life has just begun. The ridiculous warrior, the little blond...far too late now. You clutched them as your chance for redemption. I am your judge and your jury, and I will be your executioner.

You're mine, Xena. You're my little girl, to have and to hold and to kill. Poor little child, with your blood on my sword as you lie crumpled and unconscious at my feet. But you'll recover. The circle ends here...but it doesn't stop. It never stops, and my work is never done.

I'll leave you now, with your grief and your hatred and your self-pity. You'll pick up the sword I leave beside you, red with the blood of your friends, and you'll search for me, won't you? Because we're starting over, with a new game to play and a new cycle to spiral through. Don't cry long, mighty Xena. A nice girl like you, you'll make new friends.

And then I'll be there. To start the circle over again.

DISCLAIMER:
No breadsticks were harmed in the making of this teaser, although the author did put a serious dent in some soggy grilled cheese sandwiches.

Please take the time to write to Kawcrow at kawy@cox.net, and let her know how you liked the story!

COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER:
Xena: Warrior Princess, Xena, Callisto, 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 "Back At One" 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 Kawcrow 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.