Disclaimer:  The characters (Xena, Gabrielle, Naima, Hope, etc…) do not belong tome.  They are the property of Renaissance Pictures and MCA/Universal Studios.  No copyright infringement was intended while writing this story.  Other then that, additional characters and the plot belong to me.

Violence: Lemme think, it’s Xena… yes!

Subtext:  Sorry, nope…well, maybe a little

Author’s Note: This is the second story in my series, but it is not necessary, although advised, that you read the previous stories.

Spoilers: May contain spoilers for Between the Lines, Gabrielle’s Hope, Livia, Eve, and Motherhood (Bringing together a LOT of characters : )

Burying The Past
By Ray: The Warrior Prince

Part One

“I can’t believe we’re back in India,” Gabrielle mused while walking through the sandy streets, watching and remembering. She was now clad in an emerald green sari: a short skirt and a lighter green, sleeveless top that was cut off to show her well-muscled stomach.

“Yeah, I didn’t think we’d ever be back here,” agreed Xena. She was admiring her new clothes--a pair of deep blue silk pants, a silk shirt of a lighter shade of blue, and of course, jewelry. “So many evil things that we’re not used to dealing with.”

“But what about that time with Naima?”

“I think that was to best time I had here,” answered Xena.

“And why was that, we both got crucified, well, sort of.”

“But it was worth it to rediscover that we’ll be together for all eternity,” replied Xena with a big smile across her face.

Gabrielle smiled back, but not for long. A funeral procession in the street caught her eye. “Speaking of Naima,” she muttered as a woman clothed in a ruby red cloak was being carried on a platform towards the pyre.

“Here we go again.”  Xena took off running and launched herself into the crowd and landing in front of the procession. “Look, any of you who might remember me know what’s gonna happen, so let the girl go.”

A small, old woman hobbled out of the gathering crowd. “I remember you,” she said. “You were here about twenty five years ago, but you haven’t changed a bit. It’s impossible!”

“Not quite,” Xena answered. “Why don’t you tell them about last time.”

“You should listen to her,” she told the young man at the head of the funeral, “you don’t want to get her angry.”

“Quiet woman!” he yelled while pulling out his whip.

“Don’t do it,” Xena ordered.

The man switched the whip into his other hand, and pulled out a small, circular object. The rest of the men did this also.  Gabrielle--who was now at Xena’s side--and Xena’s eyes both widened as they realized that everyone had a chakram!

The warriors started to twirl the chakra on their fingers, and Xena pulled out her own.  They launched their chakra, and Xena deflected them with her’s.  She soon realized that none of their weapons ricocheted off anything. The last one was flying straight at Gabrielle, and the whole village was amazed when Xena caught in front of her face. When their attack stopped, she started her own.

The chakram flew through the air taking the whip out of the leader’s hand.  It bounced off a nearby pillar and split in two. It continued it’s flight, disarming two more men before it came together and traveled to its master’s hand.

The leader spoke: “Who do you think you are…”

A large fireball fell from the sky and exploded nearby.  More balls of fire flew into the village and a small army started to pour in.  Xena and Gabrielle ran for the old woman and the one that was in the funeral.

“C’mon,” she ordered the woman sitting on the platform, about to get burned.  All four of the women took off running.  Xena immediately noticed that something wasn’t right when she saw that the old woman who could barely hobble before was running with them, maybe even slightly faster.

They entered an alleyway to escape the battle. “Who are you?” Xena asked to the old woman.  She turned around and immediately transformed into a woman dressed in ruby red sari, with long, dark hair, and deep brown eyes.  And she was covered with the intricate designs of the mehndi.

Xena and Gabrielle stared in amazement as Naima raised her arms and produced a bright, glowing blue ball of energy.  She held it high over her head for a few seconds before bringing it down to chest level and closing her hands. The ball burst into a million dots of energy that circled Xena and Gabrielle, who started to break apart themselves.

The energy, Xena, and Gabrielle flew into the star pattern on Naima’s chest, and the darshan herself disappeared also, leaving only the afterglow of the mehndi.

The stone wall twisted and turned, spiraling into a bright light.  Xena and Gabrielle were thrown from the center and onto the green marble floor.

They were on a balcony, overlooking a huge chamber decorated with fine treasures from all over the world: gold from Egypt, sculptures from Greece, Chinese silk, and plenty more.  Below, there were two women; each was holding an infant.  One of them was dressed in the plain clothes of a servant and had short, brown hair.  The other was facing away, but Xena could see that she was wearing an outfit similar to that of an amazon.  She had long red-blond hair, and was short, but elegant. They were talking, but too quietly for Xena to understand.

A noise from behind caught her attention.  Xena and Gabrielle turned to see Naima standing there with a haze of bright light circling around her.

“Why did you bring us here?” Xena asked.

“You must know the truth, Xena,” she answered.

“The truth about what?”

“Livia.”

“She’s Eve, not that monster that she used to be,” Xena corrected harshly.

“Don’t be so sure.”  With that, Naima faded away.

Xena and Gabrielle shared puzzled glances and turned their attention back to the women below.  They were still talking quietly.

“Where are we?” asked Gabrielle.

“It looks like Augustus’ palace.  Look, that’s his symbol on the wall,” answered Xena.

“Then we can’t be too much further in the future.”

“We’re not in the future.  Naima said I have to know something about Eve.  My guess is we’re in the past, and Eve is somewhere in the palace,” Xena explained.

“Wait, Augustus said that she was sent away with a servant to be raised in the country.  What if that is the servant, and the amazon is going to teach her how to fight,” Gabrielle guessed.

“But why would they be making plans for her to fight now, when she’s just an infant?”

“I don’t know.”

“Here is Eve,” said the servant, loud enough that Xena and Gabrielle could hear.  The amazon nodded and walked over to the cradle.  She laid her baby in the crib and turned around. Xena’s eyes widened in horror as she realized that the amazon was Hope.

Part Two

Xena immediately tried to launch herself down at Hope, but an invisible wall prevented her. She heard a whoosh of air from behind and turned to face Naima.

“Let me down there!” she demanded of the darshan.

“I’m sorry Xena, but I cannot,” she answered quietly.

“And why not?” the warrior demanded.

“You are in the realm of the past. It has already happened and cannot be changed. But Hope is going back to her realm where no time exists.”

Xena turned to see the demon spawn walking toward a swirling red portal that had appeared in the wall. Hope walked into it and disappeared.

“That bitch is mine!” And with that Xena jumped off the balcony and ran towards the portal. Gabrielle followed her closely and they both jumped in to another world.

“I’m so glad you could join me, mother,” Hope hissed as she picked Gabrielle up by the throat. “How do you like this world that you sent me to, hmm?”

Gabrielle looked around as best she could while being supported in the air by her neck. Fire burned, lava flowed, and it smelt of sulfur. “It’s perfect for you,” she answered.

Hope tightened her grip on her mother. “Now, now, let’s not be rude!” she scolded.

Just then, Xena jumped toward her, but Hope was ready. She threw a lightning bolt at the flying warrior, sending Xena backward into a stone wall. She giggled as she heard the crack of bones against the rock.

“I should’ve killed you sooner,” Gabrielle gasped. Hope just stared back at her. “Why couldn’t I see the evil inside you?”

“Who ever said that I was evil,” Hope said as she dropped her mother to the ground. “I was simply listening to father.” She slowly started to walk over to Xena as Gabrielle sat on the ground, grasping her sore throat.

Hope knelt down in front of Xena. “Watch me work my magic,” she whispered. Xena tried to get up, but gasped in pain. She now knew that she had broken something, probably part of her spine.

Hope turned back to Gabrielle. “You saw how good Dahok’s religion was,” she began. “You followed them, you thought that they were leading you to a life of eternal peace.”

“But instead they brought me to a world of death,” Gabrielle answered.

“You should know by now that peace means sacrifice. Your first kill was what brought me into this world,” Hope countered.

“THAT’S supposed to be peaceful?”

“If you and Xena hadn’t tried to kill me, then I could have brought peace! You didn’t even give me a chance!” she shouted. A slight tear ran down her cheek. “Think of how it was when I was born.  You loved me! And then Xena came along trying to kill me, and you let her.”

“I tried to save you, Hope,” Gabrielle answered. “I did the best I could.”  By now Hope was standing over her mother, and Gabrielle was looking into her eyes.  “Then you killed Solan, and I knew that Xena was right.”

“I told you, mother, that there has to be sacrifices to obtain peace.  I needed Callisto’s help, and that was the only way.”

“To kill an innocent child? How is that supposed to bring peace?”

“Mother, I tried!” Hope shouted. The tears were now flowing. “I tried everything to fulfill my destiny, but you and Xena kept getting in the way! I really tried mother, I really did.”

“You tried everything but love,” Gabrielle answered.

“I loved you,” Hope said quietly. “And you killed me!”

Gabrielle was taken aback by this. She desperately tried to escape Hope’s gaze, but couldn’t, until her daughter turned away.

“Speaking of love,” Hope began. “What about that time with Eli? He preached love, and he got killed.”

“He made the decision to sacrifice his life for his cause,” Gabrielle answered.

“But Xena didn’t see it that way, did she?” A wicked grin stretched across Hope’s face as she stared at the injured warrior. “She blamed you for his death.”

A tear welled in Gabrielle’s eye as memories of Eli’s death flooded her mind. She tried to break free from the thought, but couldn’t.

Xena tried to get up again, but more pain overcame her body and she was unable to move as Hope continued to weave her web of deception.

“And then there’s Livia,” Hope whispered. Gabrielle’s eyes immediately grew wide at the mention of Xena’s daughter. “She killed so many in the name of war, shouldn’t she deserve to die?”

A look of pain came over Gabrielle as she tried to fight the flood of emotions being poured into her.

“She murdered so many, she even killed Joxer. Why isn’t she dead? Maybe it’s because Xena gave her a chance to mend her ways. Why didn’t I get that chance, mommy?”

Tears flowed out of Gabrielle as she started to sob.

“Or maybe it’s just because she was XENA’s daughter. I guess that makes her privileged, huh? Why shouldn’t the daughter of the great Warrior Princess deserve a second chance? After all, she’s just following in mommy’s footsteps. Yeah, I think that’s it. Just because Livia is Xena’s daughter, she doesn’t deserve to die. Don’t you think that’s right, mother?”

“No,” Gabrielle answered. “It can’t be.”

“And why not?”

“Because Livia isn’t Xena’s daughter,” Gabrielle announced. “She’s yours!”

Hope’s eyes widened and she stepped back. “How could you have…”

“Simple,” answered Xena who was now standing. Hope spun around to find the warriors hands and feet covered in glowing mehndi. “We saw your little baby switch back in Rome. It was obvious.”

Hope turned again to see Gabrielle standing with the gleaming mehndi on her body.  Xena and Gabrielle moved in sync as power started to fly from their limbs. It wrapped itself around Hope, and in a flash of light, all three were gone.

 Lightning flashed in the sky as Xena and Gabrielle flipped out of space and landed on the ground. Another bolt delivered Hope, but less gracefully as she slid along the dirt.

The battle from before had broken up, and the people were quickly fleeing the area.

Hope stood staring at her mother. Her stormy eyes met ice blue pools, as Xena stood ready to fight with Gabrielle at her side.

“This is going to be fun,” Hope declared.  She then took off in a sprint towards her enemy and jumped high in the air. She tried to deliver a kick to Xena, but the warrior caught her foot and spun her around. Hope jumped up and the battle ensued while Gabrielle backed away slightly to let Xena do her work.

After a few moments--which seemed like an eternity--Xena was tripped and lay on the ground. Hope stretched out her hand, and a sword from a nearby shop came to her. But by this time, Xena had gotten up, and readied for her attack. She unsheathed her sword, and struck fiercely, but Hope countered every move.

And then Hope struck Xena’s stomach with her foot, and the warrior fell to the ground. Hope positioned herself over her prey, ready for the kill. But she forgot about Gabrielle, who jumped in with her sai just in time to save Xena. The warrior got back up, and joined her bard against the demonic child.

Hope managed to knock Gabrielle’s sai away from her, but couldn’t hold the two off. She stepped back away from the fight, as Xena and Gabrielle stood ready for an attack.  And then an evil grin crossed Hope’s face as daggers from a shop behind her flew through the air. Xena pulled out her chakram and sent it flying; splitting in half to deflect the knives.

Then Xena and Gabrielle’s mehndi started to glow a bright yellow once again, and magical swords appeared in their hands.  Hope turned and grabbed a weapon, as another battle ensued.

Hope grew weaker by the minute, and finally Gabrielle plunged her sword into her daughter’s chest. Hope dropped her sword to grasp her chest. She stared up into her mother’s eyes and confessed: “I love you.”  She then fell to the ground and disappeared.

Gabrielle’s face was blank, as Xena pulled her into an embrace, and they stood. People gathered around, but they took no notice; they were together, nothing else mattered.

 Xena smiled as she saw her daughter delivered into the hands of Cyane by the Roman servant.

“I wonder if we’ll ever meet her,” Gabrielle pondered aloud.

“I’m sure we will,” Xena answered. “Very sure.”

 The End.

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