Part Six

The small group decided to settle down for the night not too long after the sun set for the evening. Once they finished eating, Xena sat back and gazed into the fire. "We made pretty good time today. If we keep up this pace, I reckon that we'll get to the outskirts of Amazon territory the day after tomorrow."

"That's good," Gabrielle sighed, wincing a little.

Joxer immediately noticed Gabrielle's discomfort and asked in a concerned voice, "Are you all right, Gabrielle?"

"I'm okay, Joxer. I'm just a little stiff from riding in the wagon," Gabrielle hastily reassured her husband.

Joxer put his empty plate down. "Here," he said as he slowly began rubbing the small of Gabrielle's back. He frowned when he felt how stiff her muscles were underneath his touch and began rubbing in a circular motion.

Slowly, underneath Joxer's gentle touch, Gabrielle began to relax. "Ohhh, you have magic fingers, Joxer," she sighed.

Behind her, Joxer smiled and he continued massaging her back, slowly moving his hands upward. He leaned forward a little bit and hummed softly in Gabrielle's ear as he rubbed her shoulders. Gabrielle smiled and closed her eyes, enjoying her massage. Ricky looked up as he finished his own meal and nodded once. He collected the dishes from the group and walked over to the stream to clean them, Arose accompanying him.

Jace rose to his feet and stretched with a yawn. "It's been a long day and I'm sure you want an early start, Xena," he said. Xena nodded in agreement. "I'm going to bed."

"Night Jace," Gabrielle, Joxer, Xena and Eve said.

"Night," Jace replied, leaning down to kiss Eve on the cheek. "See you in the morning." They nodded as he walked over to his wagon and went inside.

Xena turned to Eve and tickled her. "Time for you to go to bed too!" she laughed.

"Mommy, not sleepy!" Eve exclaimed even as she yawned.

"Yes, you are. C'mon!" Xena laughed again as Eve rubbed her eyes. Xena kissed her on the cheek and waited patiently as Eve hugged and kissed Gabrielle and Joxer goodnight before running back to her.

"Hey, aren't you going to kiss us goodnight too?" Arose teased as she and Ricky came back from washing the dishes.

"Auntie Arose!" Eve cried out, running over to the two of them and kissing them noisily on the cheek. "Night!" she said, returning to her mother.

"Night, Eve," they replied, smiling as Xena easily picked her daughter up in her arms and took her over to her small bedroll.

Arose looked around curiously. "Did Jace already go to bed?" She watched as Xena gently tucked Eve in and kissed her goodnight.

"Uh huh," Gabrielle said, hiding a yawn behind her hand. "And it sounds like a really good idea to me. It's going to be a long day tomorrow."

Ricky nodded as he finished putting the dishes away. "Sounds good to me as well," he agreed. He rose to his feet and put his arm around Arose's waist. He moved his head toward their bedrolls and Arose nodded. "Goodnight," he said.

"Goodnight," Gabrielle and Joxer chorused. They watched as Arose and Ricky settled down for the night and Joxer turned to Gabrielle. "I'm tired too," he admitted with a soft smile as he rose to his feet and held his hand out to his wife. She took his hand in hers and he carefully pulled her to her feet.

Together, they walked over to their own combined bedrolls, saying goodnight to Xena as she walked over to put out the fire. Joxer helped Gabrielle lay down and slipped underneath the pelts with her. Gabrielle nestled up against Joxer, putting her arm over his chest and sighed happily. "Goodnight Joxer," she murmured.

"Night Gabrielle," Joxer responded quietly just before her lips went over his. "I love you," he whispered when they broke contact.

Gabrielle smiled. "I love you too, Joxer. And thank you so much for this," she said.

Joxer returned the smile and brushed her hair away from her eyes. "You're welcome, Gabrielle." He continued smiling as she closed her eyes, but the smile faded away when her breathing rhythm changed to that of somebody who was in a deep sleep.

Joxer shifted position slightly so that Gabrielle's head rested comfortably next to him and he gazed up at the stars twinkling in the sky for a long time and listened to the crickets chirping. He thought back to his and Jace's conversation from earlier in the day and quietly sighed. I hope that you're right, Jace. I really do, he thought to himself sadly. He turned in Gabrielle's direction and gently kissed her forehead. She murmured in her sleep but did not stir otherwise. He sighed again and eventually fell into a troubled sleep.

Joxer felt someone poking him in the side. He turned around and looked up into the face of a giant bird. He let out a sharp yelp, his eyes widening at the sight of the creature standing next to him. The bird spoke to him in a harsh, croaking voice. "Get up! You must come with me!" it commanded.

Joxer looked around, slowly realizing that it was daylight and saw his friends and Gabrielle were gone. "Where's my wife and friends?" he asked as he rose to his feet.

"The Queen is giving birth. Your friends are watching this miracle," the giant bird told him.

"But... But... What about me?" Joxer asked, puzzled.

The bird stared at Joxer with a gaze that made his blood run cold. "You are a man. This is not allowed," it told him.

"But Jace and Ricky are men!" Joxer protested, not understanding what was happening and beginning to panic. "What's going on?"

The bird didn't answer his question. It simply pushed Joxer along the path. Joxer tried to get away from the bird but it flew in front of him every time, so he gave up. After a short time, they stopped in front of a circle with a pole standing in the middle of it. Joxer saw that there were leather straps tied to it. The bird forced Joxer to stand in front of the pole and then it secured him to it tightly. Then, without a word, the bird vanished into thin air.

Joxer tried to escape by pulling on the tightly knotted straps, but discovered that with each struggle, the knots became tighter. Suddenly, he heard strange music and watched as several Amazons came from the bushes dancing and chatting around him as if he wasn't even there. He saw that each Amazon wore masks and clothing that symbolized different kinds of birds. The music grew louder and the rhythm became hypnotic to his ears. Joxer blinked as he tried to keep focus. "Somebody untie me, please! GABRIELLE! GABRIELLE!" he screamed. Nobody heard him, or if they did, he was ignored. He tried yelling some more but gave up after a while.

In the background, Joxer could hear Gabrielle's screams of pain. The music kept getting louder and he found that he couldn't hear her anymore. His head spun from the noise and the Amazons dancing and singing wildly to the music around him. His brain went into overload and he passed out.

When Joxer awoke, he found himself alone in the woods. He slowly stood up, his head still spinning from what happened earlier. He moaned softly and placed a hand against his forehead. When he was finally able to focus, he saw and heard that he was not alone. A tiny bundle was on the ground beside him. He bent down and lifted the bundle and saw that it was a baby boy with dark hair and pale skin, crying. A scroll was placed inside the blanket. With a shaking hand, Joxer reached out and carefully removed the scroll. He then slowly opened the scroll and began reading:

Joxer,
Thank you for serving your purpose. I now have a daughter that is normal. I no longer need your services and do not wish to see you again. Please take this boy as a token of my appreciation.

Gabrielle,
Queen of the Amazons

Joxer stared at the baby, not feeling the parchment fall from his fingers or the tears that ran down his face.

"Joxer? Joxer?"

Joxer again felt someone poking him only this time it was very gentle, but his nightmare had frightened him enough that he didn't want to turn around and see who was trying to get his attention.

"Joxer, are you crying?" His heart began racing as he realized that the voice he heard was Gabrielle's - and that she seemed very concerned. Slowly, he opened his eyes and saw that it was still nighttime and everyone else was asleep. He turned around and faced Gabrielle. She stared back at him with love in her eyes. "Bad dream?" she asked in a soft whisper as she wiped away a tear. He nodded, too choked up to speak. Gabrielle rose a little bit so that she could place her head on his upper chest. "Shh, it was just a dream. Do you want to talk about it?" she asked, gazing up at his face with genuine worry in her eyes.

Joxer shook his head. Gabrielle reached out and slowly stroked his hair. "Okay. We can talk about it later. Go back to sleep now. I'll stay awake until you do."

Joxer nodded and closed his eyes, feeling Gabrielle's fingers gently run through his hair. His heart slowed down and his breathing evened out, signaling that he had fallen asleep again. Gabrielle sighed and wondered what Joxer had dreamed about to get him so upset. She looked up and saw that the sad and frightened expression on his face had disappeared. She rose up again and gently kissed him on the cheek. "I love you, Joxer," she whispered in his ear as she snuggled against him and fell asleep once more.

The next morning, Gabrielle awoke, wondering why she was feeling cold. She opened her eyes slowly and saw that Joxer had already gotten up. "Glad to see you up, Sleepyhead," Xena called out from across the campsite with a teasing note to her husky voice. "I was afraid I'd have to take drastic measures to get you up and about."

Gabrielle yawned and slowly rose to a sitting position. "Very funny, Xena." She looked around and frowned. "Where's everybody else?"

"Joxer went to fill the water skins. Ricky went to get more firewood for breakfast. Arose just took Eve to get washed up and Jace apparently is finishing up his morning beauty routine," Xena replied as she removed some flatbread and cheese that Cyrene had given them for their journey from Argo's pack and began dividing the food up into equal portions.

"Everyone should always look their best, Xena!" Jace exclaimed cheerfully as he got out of his wagon. He smiled at the two women, who both returned it. "Good morning, Gabrielle!"

"Hi Jace," Gabrielle replied as she rose to her feet, licking her lips at the sight of the bread and cheese. "Boy, am I glad that I don't have morning sickness any longer," she mumbled as she sat down to eat.

"I just hope that the food that Mom gave us will hold out until we get to the Amazon village," Xena teased and laughed at the face Gabrielle made.

"She's eating for three, Xena. Give her a break!" Jace said, joining in the laughter.

"It's more like she's eating for six!" Xena retorted, still laughing.

Gabrielle stuck her tongue out at Xena, who winked at her then she continued eating. "What's so funny?" Joxer's voice rang out as he entered the campsite, Eve and Arose walking behind him. He put the water skins into Jace's wagon and joined the others. Ricky happened to come back at the same time, carrying an armload of wood in his arms. He put the wood on the ground and began working to start the fire.

"Gabrielle and her appetite," Jace explained as he sat down to eat after Eve ran over to give him a hug and kiss good morning. Xena put a pot of leftover stew from the previous night's meal into the fire to warm it up and sat down next to Eve.

"I see," Joxer grinned. He sat down next to Gabrielle, who kissed him good morning and began eating his meal after returning the kiss. Gabrielle gazed at Joxer carefully as he ate. He seemed to be in good spirits this morning and she couldn't see if what had happened last night was still bothering him. Joxer noticed that Gabrielle wasn't eating and he looked at her with a frown. "Is something wrong, Gabrielle?"

"No. I'm okay, Joxer. What about you?" Gabrielle asked.

"I'm fine," Joxer replied as he spooned some stew into her bowl and gave it to her.

"Okay," Gabrielle said as she took the bowl from him and watched him for a moment with a raised eyebrow as he spooned stew into his own bowl and then began eating again. Jace, Arose and Ricky exchanged curious glances, wondering what was bothering Gabrielle. They said nothing, however, and continued eating their own meals.

Once everybody was finished, the campsite was quickly broken up. "Do you want to ride in the wagon today?" Joxer asked Gabrielle as they walked over to Sugar.

"No. I feel pretty good, so I'll ride with you for now," Gabrielle said.

"Okay," Joxer replied and helped Gabrielle onto Sugar and then he mounted up behind her. "Are you sure that you're comfortable?"

"I'm fine, Joxer. Honest!" Gabrielle exclaimed.

"Okay. I believe you," Joxer said as he slipped his arms around her.

"Just let us know if you're getting tired and we'll stop so you can ride in the wagon," Jace said as he mounted Dancer.

"I will," Gabrielle promised. "Let's go. I hope that we'll make good time today," she added in as the group re-started down the road.

"Uh huh. Me too," Xena said as she moved Argo up front so she could take point. She looked up into the early morning sky and nodded. "It looks like we'll have good traveling weather today."

"Good," Gabrielle replied with a smile as she had Sugar trot a couple of lengths behind Argo. Her smile fell as she thought back to what happened last night and she sighed.

"Gabrielle, is something wrong?" Joxer murmured in Gabrielle's ear.

Gabrielle sighed again and waited a couple of minutes before responding. "Joxer... About last night..."

"Oh," Joxer said softly. He drew in a breath then exhaled it through his mouth with a gentle whoosh. "I guess I'm just worried about you and the twins, Gabrielle. I only want all of you to be happy and safe. I think everything just got to me last night." He sighed. "Sounds silly, doesn't it?"

"Of course not! It's the most normal way to feel in the world!" Gabrielle exclaimed softly. She turned her head so that her eyes met Joxer's. "We'll be fine, Joxer."

"I know," Joxer said softly, leaning down to nuzzle her neck. "But you can't expect me not to stop worrying." He followed it up with a gentle kiss on her cheek.

"I wouldn't expect you to," Gabrielle replied in the same tone, a small smile curving on her lips. "Once we get to the Amazon village, we can relax."

"Yeah," Joxer replied. "I suppose you're right."

Gabrielle, carefully guiding Sugar over a fallen log in the road, didn't see Joxer's face grow distant. Jace, who was riding beside them, did notice the change and his eyebrow rose, but he said nothing.

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