More Than Words

Disclaimer:
Xena: Warrior Princess, Gabrielle, Argo and all other characters who have appeared in the syndicated series Xena: Warrior Princess, together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of MCA/Universal and Renaissance Pictures. No copyright infringement was intended in the writing of this fan fiction. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author. 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.

NOTE: All works remain the © copyright of the original author. These may not be republished without the author's consent.

Say that I love is not the words I want to hear from you
It's not that I want you not to say but if you only knew
How easy it would be to show me how you feel
More than words is all you have to do to make it real
Then you wouldn't have to say that you love me
'Cause I'd allready know
What would you do if my heart was torn in two?
More than words to show you feel that your love for me is real
What would you say if I took those words away?
Then you couldn't make things knew just by saying I love you

The bard watched the path ahead of them, her strawberry blond hair shining in the sun. Her forest green eyes squinted. Her staff wavered in front of her as she strode forward. She looked over at her silent companion and sighed. Xena never really spoke to her. Just srode on in silence, trekking through the paths and kicking dirt under her combat boots. The bard yearned to say something, but was afraid to reveive an unkind glare from her blue eyed friend.

She sighed with unhappiness and kicked dirt herself. She wondered why it had to be this way. The only time they really conferred with each other was in life and death situations. It was heartbreaking. She ached to know more about this beautiful, mysterious warrior with the strength of more than ten men wielded into her palm. She was so much more than a silent strength. Behind the electric blue eyes there had to be emotion. Feeling. She wanted to be the one to search for it and grasp it.

"What? What is it now?" The warrior asked, kicking a rock so hard that it flailed through the air and smacked the trunk of a nearby tree.

Gabrielle shook her head and turned her head away to shield her tear filled eyes. "Nevermind..."

Xena mumbled something under her breath and squinted her eyes, cocking her head to the side.

"Xena? What is it?" Gabrielle asked, noting the familiarity of the warrior's confused face. She heard something. Something dangerous.

"Hold Argo. Stay here," Xena murmured, handing Gabrielle the reins and silently moving ahead, her footsteps light and professional.

Gabrielle sighed as her friend disappeared behind a clump of trees. She followed herself, gasping when a twig snapped and Xena turned around furiously, putting a finger to her mout, indicating for the dumb bard to remain quiet and stay put.

She gapsed when she heard a snap and saw Xena trip over her feet, stumbling back and falling to the ground in a heap, crying out with a moan of agony.

Gabrielle rushed forward and gasped when she heard another snap. Fierce hands grabbed her and pulled her back and she was sent sprawling to the ground, as well.

She looked up into the warrior's eyes and saw a flickering amusement in the sparkling blue. A smile caressed the warrior's lips and Gabrielle panted heavily, wondering what the problem was.

She opened her mouth to speak but recoiled when she heard a deep chuckle sounding in Xena's throat. The laughter grew and Xena's face contorted as she held her sides over the tight leather, cackling like a crazy witch, tears overflowing her eyes.

Gabrielle couldn't help but laugh herself, her staff plummeting beside her, her hands reaching out to cup Xena's cheeks and wipe away the tears as the warrior collasped with laughter, her breathing shallow and rushed as the beautiful laugh shattered the air.

Gabrielle looked down at her friend and smiled wondrously. She had never seen Xena laugh before. Ever. The sight of it filled her with joy, a jubilant happiness that swept through her very soul. Everything came to her in a rush. The feeling of love. The delightful sight of her beautiful warrior cracking up. The joy. The confidence. The attraction.

"Okay... I'm okay... I..." Xena laughed again and kicked her feet into the air, her studded skirt shaking, her boots flailing through the invisible space.

Xena managed to sit herself up, her face redder than a tomato, tears flooding her cheeks. "I... I'm... okay..."

Gabrielle reached forward and tenderly wiped the tears away. Her breath caught when Xena smiled at her and enveloped the small bard's hands with her own immense hands.

"What I... h-h-heard was a... r-r-rabbit," the laughter rose and then fell and her friend continued. "Then, I w-w-walked forward and... almost got my foot caught in a trap. I was so... so reckless! So s-s-stupid! My foot could have been torn off!"

Xena leaned forward and kissed the bard's cheek in an unexpected gesture that had Gabrielle's mind swaying. "The irony of it. Warrior Princess faces a thousand evils and is so dense that she loses her foot to a large trap perfectly etched off the ground that she just happened to not notice."

Gabrielle couldn't help but giggle. It was rather amusing, seeming as Xena was so cautious and could see anything before she stepped near it. The trap sure was big, clearly able to see even if you did not have 20/20 vision. She started to giggle again at the fact that she had not seen the trap herself. What an ass they were!

The bard looked into the warrior's eyes and found a million feelings cascading through her veins.

The blue eyes softened to a fabulous passion that Gabrielle had never seen spark in those taunting eyes. The bard smiled as Xena's lips pressed against her own in a soft, meaningful gesture.

Gabrielle smiled wider as she felt strong arms wrap around her, pulling her close, surrounding her protectively, and began to kiss her warrior softer and slower, pressing her body closer as sweet surrendering bliss swamped her and the two lovers drowned in their passion...

From that day on Xena listened to every single word that the bard spoke to her... not a flicker of harshness in her mannor, but a world of understanding.

Author's Note: This was a very emotional story for me to write. I knew that Xena and Gabrielle seemed close in the show, but when you think about it there was a lot of harsh words unspoken when the warrior and the bard first met up. Xena never really listened to the bard when she talked and seemed to find her own way to ignore her. Once their feelings for each other grew, that changed completely and this is what I wanted to capture in this story. The song "More Than Words" (performed by Extreme) seemed to really go along with these feelings that the two felt for each other, but never realized were there. They needed more than words to express those specific feelings. I hope I really inspired this image in such a shorty story. I also hope that whoever reads this story will deeply enjoy it.

-Brianna Phillips (lucy_farnelli@hotmail.com)

:-)

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