CHARACTERS

Xena
Gabrielle
Joxer
Eve (mentioned only)

Rating: PG to be on the safe side
Summary: After a battle, Joxer and Gabrielle talk
Timeline: This story makes the assumption that the last four episodes of Season Five never happened, because Denialville is a wonderful place to live in after all, :-P. Set in approximately AU Midseason Six.
Author's Notes: Thanks to Findle for the lyrics, even though they are rather unusual for a Valentine's Day challenge, ahem. I hope I did them justice.

Xena and Gabrielle rode into their campsite, Joxer following behind them a short distance away. Gabrielle attempted to hide a yawn behind her hand after dismounting from Horse and then rubbed her eyes. She blinked hard, looked up and saw Xena gazing at her with an amused expression on her face. "What?"

"Nothing, Gabrielle." Xena's blue eyes sparkled as she knelt down in front of some wood that had been gathered earlier. "Nothing at all." She rubbed the back of her neck, stretched luxuriously and picked up the flint she had taken from Argo's saddlebag. With a quick, efficient yet graceful movement, she got the flint to spark and she set the dry tinder placed on top of the logs aflame.

"Right," Gabrielle replied dryly. From the corner of her eye, she saw Joxer enter the camp, tugging futilely at his breastplate. Giving up, he pulled the helmet from his head and with an angry jerk of his arm he threw it at a nearby tree, where it hit against its side with a solid thump before falling on the ground. He stalked away from the women without a word into the woods.

Xena and Gabrielle stared at his retreating form for a moment before turning around to gaze at each other. "You want me to talk to him?" Xena asked finally.

"No," Gabrielle sighed. "I will."

Xena nodded in agreement as she took out her water skin. "Okay." She watched Gabrielle turn around and begin heading in the same direction that Joxer went. "Gabrielle?"

"Yeah?"

"Be nice."

Gabrielle mumbled under her breath and rolled her eyes as she stalked from the campsite. Xena shook her head, chuckled silently to herself and took a long drink from her water skin before turning her attention back to the fire.

It wasn't too long before Gabrielle found the warrior wannabe. Joxer was sitting cross-legged before the riverbank, angrily skipping stones across the water's smooth surface. She crossed her arms over her chest, watching him for a few moments in silence before clearing her throat gently, startling him. "Joxer, can we talk?" she asked.

Joxer nodded and Gabrielle slowly approached him before lowering herself to take a seat at his left side. She watched for a few moments as he began skipping stones across the river again. As he lifted his right arm back to toss another stone, the sun reflected off his skin and she glimpsed a couple of long-healed scars that looked suspiciously like whip marks on the underside of his upper arm. He threw the stone and turned to face her after it gently fell into the river with a soft plop. "You said that you wanted to talk," he reminded her.

Gabrielle bit her bottom lip. "Yeah. I did," she replied. "You don't usually go around abusing trees like that." She mentally cursed herself as the attempted joke fell flat. She ran her fingers through her hair that she was allowing to grow out in silent frustration. "You really held your own today in that fight, Joxer. It was so clever how you managed to get those little Chin powder bombs set off at different times," she offered finally. "The distraction worked perfectly for Xena and me to finish things off..."

"I guess," Joxer grunted, searching for another potential skipping stone to throw in the river.

Gabrielle reached out and took Joxer's hands in hers to get his attention. He looked up at her with troubled dark eyes, his eyebrows furrowed together and his lips twisted in an unhappy pout. "Joxer, something's been bothering you ever since you met up with us at Cyrene's tavern to drop Eve off so we could go on this mission," she said softly.

Joxer drew in a breath and exhaled harshly as his eyes dropped to gaze down at their intertwined fingers. "I went home to visit Mother," he murmured. There was a long pause before he added in, "Father was there, too - early parole from prison."

Gabrielle sat back a little, her eyebrows rising. "Oh." There wasn't much else she could say.

Joxer's lips curled into a bitter smile. "Oh. Yeah." He shook his head a little. "Every time I see him, it's the same damn thing. He makes me feel like I'm nothing. Weak. Stupid. Like I want to hit the wall and scream... Just crawl into a cage and hide away from the world so he'll leave me alone." He gently removed his hands from hers and began wringing them nervously. "I don't know why I let him do this to me," he whispered.

Gabrielle gazed at Joxer for a moment before reaching out to still his hands. "Joxer, the reason why he does it is because he's the one who's weak. Not you."

"What?" Joxer looked up, startled.

"Your father preys upon your confidence because it's the only way he thinks he can win over you," Gabrielle said, gazing into Joxer's eyes intently. "You've always fought back by locking yourself in the only place where you feel sheltered - in your mind." Her gaze dropped down to the ground. "I've felt the same as you," she admitted softly.

"You have?" Joxer asked, puzzled. "When?"

Gabrielle laughed, shaking her head. "Gods, I've been searching my entire life for something better - my whole 'way of peace' is just a small example of that. I always thought that everything would work out as long as I could find that little 'extra-special thing' to make my life complete." She sighed as her smile faded away and she leaned closer to him, lifting his chin up so that her eyes gazed directly into his. "I was wrong, Joxer. I had everything I was looking for right here - with you, Xena, and Eve. It just took me a long time to figure it out." Joxer returned the gaze and nodded slightly, the expression in his eyes no longer so unsure and worried. "Don't believe what your father's told you, because it's not true, Joxer. It's not true. I believe in you. Xena believes in you," she breathed as she closed her eyes, wrapped her arms around his torso and leaned in so that her lips met his.

Joxer returned the kiss tentatively at first, then with more confidence as he drew closer to her and slipped his arms around her waist. The kiss deepened then gently faded away as their lips parted in mutual silent agreement. He leaned his forehead against Gabrielle's with his eyes closed for a moment post-kiss before leaning back and opening them up to gaze into her crystal clear green eyes. "I never realized that you felt like that too..."

Gabrielle's lips quirked up slightly. "That's because I've never said anything about it before. I couldn't even admit it to myself."

Joxer nodded and made a motion with his head towards the general direction of their camp. Gabrielle returned the nod and Joxer slowly rose to his feet and held his hand out to her to help her up. She took it and together they walked back to the campsite, where Xena was skinning a rabbit for the evening meal. She looked up when she heard the two of them approaching, her left eyebrow rising as they walked into the clearing. "Joxer... You're all right?" she asked huskily.

Joxer's eyes met Gabrielle's briefly before he turned to face Xena. She saw that his eyes shone with new life and she watched in silent relief as his lips slowly curved into a smile. "Yeah, Xena. I am."

Please take the time to write to Sandy at fiebrans@prodigy.net, and let her know how you liked the story!

COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER:
Xena: Warrior Princess, Xena, Gabrielle, Joxer, and all 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 "Simon" 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 © 2003 by Sandy Fiebranz 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.