Rating: PG-13 for romance scenes and language.
Summary: Sequel to Joxer's Got a Girlfriend. Xena, Gabrielle, and Joxer travel to a distant island with their lovers and their romance up to the test by spending a day with the other. I suggest you read the first story first.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything of X:WP. You know who it belongs to. I did not come up with the idea of the TEMPTATION ISLAND show either.

"We're at land now. Now, you all know what's going to happen now ?"

The six people together all looked at one another, feeling the nervosity and anticipation in the air.

Joxer, in the same clothes he wore when Aphrodite casted that turn-into-warrior bell spell. He put his arm around Satine, who held his hand on her shoulder. She wore a mid top that revealed a bit more than Gabrielle's top. It almost looked like a bikini in some ways.

Gabrielle's back was up against Garrien's chest, who had his arms wrapped firmly around her waist and rested his chin against her shoulder. She was the most nervous of them all. This was even her idea! Putting their love up to the test. Now, she felt has if she made a mistake. A big, terrible mistake as she noticed that Garrien had been staring at Satine since the entire boat trip, but luckily he acknowledged her with kisses and poetic words of love.

Xena stood next to Hercules. Both their arms crossed over their chests, both not really in a loving-each-other mood. They have been arguing a lot lately, Gabrielle thought as she looked over at the two. Maybe for two great heroes, they just weren't a great match in love other than fighting for good.

Cupid sighed at the silent expressions of all three couples. "I guess that's a yes. Ok now, the rules of this...test...are quiet simple. There are no rules. Once the couple is finished, both guys and girls will get together and separate groups."

Cupid searched around the three couple, figuring who would start off the adventure. He smiled brightly as his finger pointed to Joxer, then to Gabrielle. "Joxer, Gabs, you will be the first two."

Joxer sighed as he said, "Oh boy."

Gabrielle rolled her eyes.

Cupid pointed out in a far distance to the trees of the island. "Inside the jungle here is the temptation which you both will be sharing. Now remember, this is to see if you will stay with your lovers, or you will move on. Good luck."

Gabrielle gasped as she saw the temptation. A hot tub with beautifully decorated towels and soap. Joxer's eyes went wide at the sight of the temptation.

"Wow." He whispered.

"I know." She sighed.

Realizing who they were with, both slowly looked at each other, nervous and confused. They knew what exactly Cupid had in mind for their temptation. But before either of them could protest, Gabrielle and Joxer found themselves in the hot tub, wet and naked. Both winced as they flood away from each other.

"Oh yeah, this is just great! I'm nude in a nice, hot bath with "you." Gabrielle said sarcastically, her hands managing to cover her bare parts of her body that only Garrien was allowed to see.

"Hey, your not exactly my dream date in a hot tub either!" Joxer managed, trying to hide his manhood, but it was getting impossible when he saw his ex-crush nude.

Both scowled at each other, and then turned their backs to one another.

"This stinks. It should have been Garrien here with me. Not you!" the bard sighed.

"Well, this was your idea, Gabby. I would rather be rubbing soap and water against Satine's beautiful back."

Gabrielle felt herself about to turn and give him the famous nose pinch, until she heard that last comment about Satine, his Satine. Beautiful back. She couldn't help but smile as she remembered he once said the same thing, about her back one day. She began to chuckle as she remembered more of the moment. This caught Joxer's attention as he slowly turned back around.

"What?"

Gabrielle turned back around, facing him from the other side of the pool. "I was remembering...when you told me I had a beautiful back. You remember? When we first traveled together, I was feeling down about myself. Your only comment was "Well, Gabby, you do have a lovely back."

Joxer looked at her, confused. But his goofy grin was formed from his lips as he remembered that moment. "Well, you did. I uh...er...I mean you...you still do." He stuttured.

There was a brief silence among the two As Gabrielle looked down at her legs soaking in the water, and Joxer looked up at the sky.

"She really is beautiful." Gabrielle broke the silence.

Joxer looked back at her. "Who?"

"Satine."

"Oh yeah, she is." Joxer smiled as he shook his head.

"Infact, she's so beautiful, no woman in the world, mortal or goddess, could ever have a chance like that."

"Wrong, Gabby. There is one person more beautiful than even Satine." Joxer pointed out.

"Who?" She asked curiously, not believing her ears when Joxer admitted that there was someone else more beautiful.

Joxer grinned like a shy teenager asking his first girl for a first date as he looked down at the water. His looked back up, his eyes locked with hers. That's when she knew. She knew right there the answer to her question. But she wanted to hear him say it.

"You."

Gabrielle blushed furiously. She wiped a tear from her eye as she smiled lovingly and at her friend. "Thank you. And, I'm sorry for saying that you're not part of my life, because you are apart of my life, Joxer. You're apart of me."

"Same here." He smiled.

"And...I'm also sorry that I did not tell you about Garrien. But Joxer, I just want you to know," Gabrielle paused as she took a deep breath before finishing. "..if...if things were the other way, you would be the first to know about Garrien, Joxer."

Joxer felt his heart skip a beat at her compliment. That, even if it was not what he wanted to here before, felt like more than he deserved from her.

She expected him to come near her. She expected he would try to take her in his arms and kiss her right on the lips, and she would probably jab him in the nose. But he didn't. He just stayed there, looking back at her.

She knew, from that moment on, she could trust him. No matter what, she could always trust him.

"...and that's the end of how me and Gabrielle met."

"Wow. That's really sweet." Satine smiled as she stood in what looked like an empty ballroom in a palace with Garrien.

"Actually, I like how you and Joxer met. I think that's pretty neat. Falling in love the first time you meet. I wonder if that's how Gabrielle felt about me."

"I bet she did, from your little story there." Satine smiled.

Garrien looked around as he started to notice the empty room. "I wonder what's so tempting about this place?"

Just then, soft and slow music started to play. Satine grinned wildly as she recognized the tune. It was the same song her and Joxer had danced on Cupid's Day, the night they first met and fell in love.

She started moving around, gracefully. Garrien had to admit, she was a pretty good dancer. A bit more better than Gabrielle. Infact, Satine was a bit more better than Gabrielle. Satine was challenging, liked to talk, free spirited. Gabrielle never gave him much of a challenge, sometimes he could barely get a word out of her, and she was so serious all the time for her age.

He fell in love with Gabrielle because, well, because of all those things and everything else about her. He wouldn't ever want to lose such a good thing in his life. But if he loved her so much, why then was he happy to be with Satine here besides Xena's sidekick?

The night had passed, and the sun floated slowly out into the sky, shining it's golden and bright rays down at the earth and brushing away the dark.

It had been one hell of a night for everybody. Each paired with different people, and finished with the third and final pairing.

Each walked up to a campsight, where there sitting across from the burned out camp fire, was Cupid. He looked up at the couple.

"Ok. Now, time to talk to each other. Go to it."

Hercules and Xena were first. Xena slowly turned to the son of Zeus.

"I...I know this past couple of days...have been rough for us. I mean, it's been fight fight fight after the other." the warrior princess smirked. Her smile then turned into a frown. "I hated it. Always yelling at each other. You really are a good friend. You saved my daughter from Zeus, and I'm sorry you had to kill him. And...I'm sorry that things are not working out for us."

Hercules turned to her, watching her statement. She looked as if she was about to cry.

"The truth is...I...I....I'm not in love with you, Hercules."

He looked down at the ground.

"I....I'm in love....with...I'm in love with Ares. I...I love your bastard of a brother, ok?" Tears started to stream from her eyes.

Hercules' jaw tightened at the name of his brother, coming from the lips of who he thought was his soulmate.

"I know how you feel about him. Gods, I hated him too. But somewhere in all this, through all the battles and pains and sarrows we've been through...somewhere, through our hatred for one another....I lost my heart...to him." She sobbed.

Hercules looked back up at her as she put her head in her hands, hiding her tears from him and her friends. Even if she didn't love him, he was still a friend to her as he pulled her into a comforting embrace.

"Does he know?" Hercules whispered.

"No." She frowned through her tears. "At least not yet."

Hercules looked at her. He brushed her hair out of her eyes. "Well, when we get back, I'm not leaving until you tell him."

This made her smile.

Xena? In love with my uncle?! Another love I didn't see coming, Cupid thought. He looked over at the last four couples.

Satine turned to Joxer.

"Joxer....last night, when I paired up with Garrien. He made me realize something."

Joxer looked at her curiously.

"He made me think...that...I've never, ever been single for a very long time. He made me realize that...I do want to see the world, but...I want to see it for myself."

He knew this was coming. Somehow he knew.

"I need to be alone, Joxer. I need to find myself. Who I really am. But I do love you, you...Joxer, you're the one who freed me from a nightmare and brought me into a dream. And I thank you for that."

"Yeah, well, it was my pleasure. And it was...great to meet you, Satine." He extended his hand to her, and she happily shook it. He did try his best to hide the dissapointment of her leaving him.

Garrien looked over to Gabrielle, but she wasn't looking at him. That's when he knew that they didn't need words. The answer was plain and clear to him. He lost her, he knew that now.

He knew it since they first got on the ship, he knew it now as Gabrielle stared at Joxer.

"Gabrielle, Joxer...is there anything you want to say to each other?" Cupid asked.

Both nodded, and walked over to each other.

Gabrielle started off. "You know, at first, I didn't expect this little test to be anything like it was last night. I was really pissed off because...because I was not with Garrien. But...but all that anger was washed away, Joxer. For the first time away from Garrien, I was happy with somebody else, and I never expected that from you."

Joxer's eyes kept on her as she looked to the ground, then back at him.

"We talked all night in the hot tub, Joxer. We didn't fight, much, and nothing else. We just talked, and laughed...oh, Joxer, I never had a great time like that before in my life."

"When." she continued. "...I was reunited with Garrien this morning, we kissed and told each other we missed each other. It's funny though, because...I don't need words when I'm with you. Everything about you and what you do is like a beautiful and soundless word. Somehow, Joxer, I knew that you loved me."

Gabrielle began to fight back the tears that urged to roll down her cheeks.

"I had some many wonderful intimate moments with Garrien that I cherish. But...those moments...they should have been...they should have been with you. You..you should have been my first kiss, Joxer. You should have been my first everything." She sobbed.

Joxer begin to feel his ears water as he smiled at his beloved bard.

It was his turn to talk now.

"I'm really not good with crap like this, so uh...I-I...I'm uh just gonna make this short. Satine and I are over with. The truth is I really loved her...more than I loved you. I know how much you and Garrien mean to each other, it's like that way with me and Satine."

Gabrielle began to hug herself, stopping her from doing anything she would regret.

"I...gods this is hard. I uh...I remember that story you told to Iolas when you first met him. About the creatures that were made of two but were separated into one, and started searching for the other half. Well, I thought I found that in Satine. But, now I know...no matter how hard I fight it...I know now, that I've found my other half."

She couldn't fight it anymore. Gabrielle begin to cry, realizing what Joxer was about to say.

Joxer looked up at her, straight up at her. He looked into those beautiful green emeralds of hers. They both as their eyes locked, that if there was any wall between them, what he was about to conclude would either crash it down or make it stronger.

"If you take me.....I promise...I promise to love you forever."

The restraints were gone, and the wall was demolished.

She rushed up to him, and smashed his mouth with hers in a hungry and passionate kiss. Her arm wrapped around his neck as she ran her fingers through his dark brown hair.

They finally pulled away, gasping for air. She rested her cheek against his chest as she cried.

"I love you. I love you." she repeated.

He smiled and kissed her hair as his own tears started to roll down his cheek.

Cupid smiled at this. He never did expect such a thing to happen. Mortals, so unpredictable, he sighed.

Garrien looked over at Satine, who still watched her now former boyfriend with his new love. "Why don't we travel together?"

Satine's eyes tore away from Joxer and Gabrielle, and locked with Garrien's. "Us? You want to travel with me?"

"Why not? I mean...I'm still in search of myself too. Besides..I want to travel the world as much as you do." He grinned. Her answer was a bright and friendly smile.

Across from them, Xena watched as Joxer and Gabrielle held onto each other. "Well, look at that."

Hercules stood beside her and smiled. "Guess the dork got the girl of his dreams...OW! Geez, what was that for?!"

"For calling my friend a dork!"

"Sorry. Geez."

Just then, Cupid walked up to Xena.

"Where to next?" He asked her with a smile.

She grinned as one thought came to mind.

"Send us to where ever Ares is."

With a grin and not another word, all seven of them vanished in a golden, sparkling, light.

Please take a moment to write to KScott2112 at KScott2112@aol.com and let him know how you liked the story!

COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER:
Xena: Warrior Princess, Xena, Gabrielle, Joxer, Aphrodite, and all other characters who have appeared in the series, together with the names, titles and backstories are the sole copyright property of StudiosUSA and Renaissance Pictures. The series Temptation Island is the property of 20th Century Fox. No infringement of copyrights or trademarks is intended in the writing of this fan fiction. The characters of Satine and Garrien were created by the author for use in this fiction. This story is copyright © 2001 by KScott2112 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.