The Tale Teller

"And then what happened?" the young girl asked,
watching the old bard with her wide brown eyes.
The bard smiled and brushed back her long white hair,
"Sit, and I'll tell you." She looked down at the girl
and saw herself, long ago.

"It was a long time ago," the bard began, "when gods and
   mortals and fabulous beasts shared the world.
Warlords ruled, and plundered, and destroyed whole villages.
Only the Warrior Princess, Xena, stood against them,
   and she defended the weak and weary."
"But wasn't Xena wicked wicked too?" the girl asked.
"Oh yes, she had been ," said the bard. "She had a past full of
   death and destruction, until an act of compassion changed her.
Then she fought for good, and-and I fought with her."
"You!" the girl's eyes widened even more. "You're Gabrielle!"
The bard brushed back her hair again, and remembered when
   it was burnished gold in the sun, not white and brittle,
And Xena would sometimes brush it back for her,
         and smile.
"Gabrielle!" the girl's voice pierced the bard's memories.
"Oh yes," Gabrielle said, "I remember. We traveled all over,
   fought many battles, saved each other's lives
         more than once."
The bard fell silent, thinking.
"Then what happened?" whispered the girl.
"I thought I could tell any tale, any story,"
   Gabrielle said, "but I can't."
She looked at the girl sitting beside her.
"What happened was that I knew the greatest friend,
   the bravest warrior and the best--
   and I remember--that's all."
The young girl nodded and took Gabrielle's hand,
   and tried not to notice the tears.
"I'll remember, too," she told the bard,
         and she did.

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