Title: A New Dawn.

Author: A.M. Glass aka Leapr

E-Mail: glasswrks@yahoo.com

Copyright: May, 1998

Revised Edition: May 28th, 2002.

Disclaimer: Robert Tapert, UNIVERSAL/MCA and RENAISSANCE PICTURES et al, have something to do with "Xena: Warrior Princess". No copyright infringement is intended or inferred. The story along with any/all original characters are the sole property of the author and can not be used without expressed permission first.

Author's Note: I NEEDED to write this, I've already watched the last episode more times than I should. The ache is still there, I'll stay mad until September, when we see how Xena saves Gabrielle...again. (s) Here's to the two fictional characters I love to watch each week, may we continue to bring them into our homes for awhile yet.

Second Author's Note: Of course I was referring to the second season finale. Just thought I'd throw that in.

I watched in slow motion as my whole world fell apart.

And there was nothing I could do. I heard as she cried out her daughter's name... "HOPE!!"

I never saw it coming.

If I had, I would have stopped her some how. One... one minute she was here, the next...

I looked on as she threw herself against the evil that was her child, into the chasm where Dayhok emanated from.

There was was no sound, nothing...

Silence...

Then as she fell, she turned and I saw her face.

The one I had grown to love...

The one I was ready to die for, so that Dayhok could not re-enter the world.

I told her that.

I watched as she fell...

She wasn't supposed to die... not Gabrielle.

"GAB-BRI-ELLE!!!" I shouted as I dropped down flinging my arm out in a futile gesture, as if I could reach here.

I'll never forget her calling to me: "XEE-NA!!!"

She wasn't holding on to Hope any more, they had drifted apart as they fell down the chasm.

Hope never cried out, not once. She was going to her father once again.

I... I couldn't move... I... I can't breathe. I could barely make out Joxer's voice as he cried out Gabrielle's name.

Then, something entered my consciousness... something out of place in this... hell hole.

Laughter.

I heard laughter.

Laughter bubbling up from Callisto.

She tormented me. Telling me how she could feel again. What she'd witnessed had given her life meaning once more.

She thanked me for that.

I rose from the edge of the chasm, the dagger with the hind's blood on it, still in my grasp.

Turning, I thrust it into her, to the hilt, my mind re-playing my last site of Gabrielle.

"No more living for you," I told the blonde bitch. You could say she goaded me into killing her, it's what she truly wanted.

And I gave it to her, gladly.

Ares...

God of War...

My anger for him know no bounds.

There was a part of me that still had feelings for him, if I wanted to admit it or not. Now... he means nothing to me. He has created his own worse enemy.

I stayed at Dayhok's temple, wracking my brain for a plan. Anything to keep my demons at bay.

I find myself calling out her name as if she's still here...

"GODS...WHY!!"

Joxer has not left my side, I know he loved her. There is a hardness to his eyes, the same look I faced everyday for ten years. I won't let him fall into the same trap.

My chest aches... the weight is tremendous. I can sense the wetness on my check as a lone tear makes its way down.

I should feel something, anything...

And I do feel something. It's just not what I expected.

Nothing...

I'm ashamed, did I love Solon more than I loved Gabrielle?

No...

I keep denying to myself that she's truly gone. There has to be some way to get her back. We've done it before... how can this be any different.

~~~~~

"Gabrielle... don't you leave me here. I can't do it alone... please.... please... come back to me," I whisper into the dank air that infests the area around the temple.

I've set up camp, and although I can't say why, I'm staying a little longer.

"Xena... Xena..."

"Gab... Gab-bri-elle?" I look around the camp quickly, intent on finding her.

"I'll always be with you... always. Get some rest, you'll know what to do in the morning."

My eyes flutter.

I resist, the more I fight it, the harder it becomes to stay awake.

"Sleep... sleep, that's it. You'll know what to do, you always do. I love you Xena."

The morning comes, I rise looking over to see Joxer fast asleep. He's a good man. I'll send him to my mother's, she'll need to get things ready for when Gabrielle and I come home.

"Oh yes, my bard... you are coming home", I whisper, as I watch the breaking of a new dawn.

The End.