Title: The One

Rating: M

Author: Ellixer

Pairing: X/G

Disclaimer: Characters and show are owned by Universal and others. The story is mine. I make nothing.

Note: Takes place after Takes One To Know One

Special thanks to everyone who reads and reviews. You are a true inspiration and I appreciate every single one of you. I listened to Fever Ray- Keep The Streets Empty For Me, like 5 mil times while writing this, not for the words but the sound.

This night has been way too long, but surprisingly it's ended well. I can't believe mother let Lila come here, well actually I can't believe father let her come. I'm sure it's only because of Joxer, they really seem to like him. The sun is beginning to come up when we all finally get to go to bed. Cyrene is determined to keep the tavern closed; even if she doesn't sleep she has to get the room fixed where the bounty hunter died.

I'm sprawled out on my bed, staring up at the ceiling of my room. I'm tired but the events are replaying in my head. There's a good story in here somewhere if I just change a few things. The lock on my door clicks and it swings open. Lifting my head I see Xena standing there swinging a set of keys in her hand, grinning as she closes and locks the door behind her. My head drops back against the pillow as I feel her lie down next to me.

'What are you staring at?' She asks, nudging me with her elbow as she stares up trying to see what I'm looking at.

'I just saw a centaur walk by.' I grin.

'Is that all? Happens all the time.' We remain quiet as the sun rises, the room brightening with its rays, the sounds of the town waking up outside begin to rustle the air. 'Happy birthday.' She says quietly. I turn my head to the side to look at her, giving her a small smile that she returns.

'With you, my birthdays are never boring you know.'

'Is that a good thing or a bad thing?' She grins at me.

'Definitely good.' We stare at each other, smiles slowly fading till I break eye contact, my gaze returning to the ceiling above me. 'You should go get some sleep.' I feel her eyes turn to me again.

'I have a present for you.' She says quietly reaching for a small leather pouch at her side. Sitting up, I cross my legs under me. Xena sits up, slowly depositing the pouch in my outstretched hand. I untie the strings and flip the pouch over; a thin silver bracelet tumbles out. Streaks of blue and green intertwine like vines, and the inside has an inscription in a language I don't understand.

'It's Celtic.' There's a slight blush to her cheeks but she's trying to act like its nothing.

'What does it say?' I inspect it closer before slipping it over my wrist, admiring how it looks against my skin. Xena doesn't respond she just shifts a little uncomfortably. 'What does it say Xena?'

'Nothing really. I'll let you get some sleep.' She stands up but I grab her wrist before she can get far. Our eyes lock, and for a moment something passes between us that causes me to let go of her wrist like it's on fire. My mouth has suddenly gone dry.

'Xena?'

'You know, we've never really talked about…us.' She's looking everywhere but at me.

'What do you mean?' I know what she means. She sits down on the edge of the bed, back to me.

'It says.' She sighs. 'It says I will always love you.' Why was that so hard for her to say?

'Why couldn't you say that?'

'That's not all it says.' She goes silent again but I don't try to prod anything out of her. 'I just wanted to let you know how much you mean to me.' She shrugs a little, trying to shrug off the importance of her feelings. I bring my hand up, cupping the right side of her face, gently urging her to look at me.

'I know that already. You've said these things before.' She sighs as if I'm missing something.

'No, Gabrielle.' She shrugs my hand away. 'After Alti in India, and the vision...' She drops her head into her hands, rubbing her forehead furiously. My hand comes to rest on her thigh; I'm not sure what she's trying to say so I don't know the right words to speak to fill the void that's expanding between us. I turn slightly, looking out towards the window, not really looking at anything but the sunlight glinting off the edge of the window frame.

Xena lifts my hand; her finger begins tracing the Mehndi that's still faintly drawn there. My eyes follow the trail she makes, her finger tickling my skin as it moves.

'I wish there was some way this could be normal.' She whispers, staring down at our hands. I'm trying to study her face but I can't really see it. 'You should have someone following you around buying you gifts, asking your father for permission to marry you.' She laughs sadly. 'Have a big wedding and lots of kids.' Finally she brings her head up, looking at me with sad eyes. 'You need to leave while you can.' She stands walking towards the door and unlocking it. 'Get some sleep, it's been a long night.' She's gone before my brain can process what actually happened. I'm confused, she's giving me mixed signals here. I'm too tired to analyze it though.

I wake up a few hours later and again Xena is sitting on the edge of my bed, not looking anywhere in particular. I pull my blanket tighter around me, in no mood to get out of bed yet.

'Have I been asleep long?'

'No.' I should probably find it weird that she's in my room, sitting on my bed while I've been sleeping.

'Couldn't sleep?'

'No.'

'Can you say anything other than no?'

'No.' I snicker at her, lifting my blanket up. She pulls her boots off and slides under next to me. My body curls up next to her as her arms wrap snugly around me.

'Xena what were you trying to say before?' She sighs.

'I don't know. Sometimes I can tell you exactly what I'm thinking in a couple of words, but other times, I just can't figure out how to say what I want.' Her fingers are dancing on the back of my shoulder as the warmth of her body leeches into me.

'Did you figure it out yet?'

'No.' We both laugh.

'Xena, I don't need flowery sentiment from you. I know how you feel about that. You're more a woman of action.' I grin a little, remembering some of her 'actions.'

'You should have more than that.' She says soberly.

'I think I can decide what I want Xena.' I hate when people want to decide what's good for me, like they know better. We grow quiet and my eyes fall closed. I begin to drift into this state that's in between awake and asleep. I'm fully aware of what's going on around me, but half of me is wandering off to dreamland already.

I wake up again to darkness. Someone seems to have built a fire in the fireplace, the small amount of light flickering off the stone walls. I'm still curled against Xena but she's stripped to her chemise, which is always more comfortable to lie against than her leather.

'How do you always manage to keep so quiet?' I mumble into her shoulder. I know she's awake, she always is.

'I never need to be quiet. I can run a herd of cows through here and you wouldn't even stir.' I reach over and pinch her side. She exaggerates pain, though I know it doesn't hurt.

'You don't think everyone's wondering why you're sleeping in here?'

'No.'

'Do you think we can ever tell anyone?'

'Yeah when we're dead, but I think some people figure it out for themselves.' I prop my chin up on her shoulder and look at her.

'Like who?' Her fingers come up, brushing hair behind my ear.

'Does it matter?' No, it doesn't. I shift, moving myself over her, propping myself above her body and looking down into ice blue eyes.

'Are you going to tell me what the bracelet says?' She grins playfully at me.

'No.'

'You seem to say that a lot lately.' My nose wrinkles up as I smile back.

'I can think of a few things I can say yes to.' Her eyebrow arches up suggestively.

'Did you lock the door?'

'And I have the spare key.'

'You always think of everything.' I bring my face down, rubbing against the side of hers.

'The other night you were the one doing all the thinking.' Her voice has lowered, hands working on getting my top off.

'It was in some scrolls I read.' I mumble against her ear, just enjoying the way her hands feel against my back and shoulders. Her breath is hot and heavy against my ear but I don't move, letting her do all the work. She takes her time, in no particular rush; at the moment we have all the time in the world. The fabric is slowly pulled away from my body as I sit up, allowing her to pull it away from each arm. I look down into her eyes, showing my trust, my love, my passion, refusing to look anywhere else. The top is discarded and her warm hands slide up to engulf my breasts, concealing them from the cold air that surrounds us.

I lean forward once more, my lips grazing against hers, enticing her. My tongue flicks out, just barely touching, licking across her bottom lip barely leaving a trail in its wake. Her hands are migrating, moving down my body and under the hem of my skirt. Her fingers rake across the skin of my hips as our noses seem to jostle against each other, dueling for first rights to kiss.

I capture her top lip in my mouth, teasing it between my teeth before letting it go. Before she can reciprocate I sit back up, straddling her hips, my hands reaching for her chemise to pull it up her body. She lifts her hips slightly to help me along and soon it's up to her chest where I stop. We're both half-dressed but skin is against skin. My eyes close for a second as this electric feeling surges through me. My hands are splayed just under her breasts, her hands grasp at my hips; we seem to be caught in a spell where neither of us is moving but our eyes our locked on each other.

'Xena?' I finally manage to break through whatever's pushing against my chest.

'Yes?' Her eyes look as if she's drunk though I know she's not. I slide my hand up between her breasts, her chemise hitching higher but it doesn't distract me from her eyes.

'After everything, is this a choice you would still make?' I don't know why I ask, it seems to come out of nowhere. Her hands grip my hips tighter and she flips me onto my back, this time she hovers over me, hands now planted on the bed.

'A million times over.' Her eyes are scanning my mouth as she licks her own lips in anticipation. 'Shouldn't I ask you that?'

'I make that choice every day.' And just like that my words are swallowed by her lips, her tongue sliding easily into my mouth as if it belongs there. To others, moments like these play out in dreams and fantasies; but just as my nightmares are everyday occurrences, so are the things I dream of. I never have to wish for much, most things come true without me even having to ask.

My fingers play over the rippling muscles of her back as I begin to lose myself in her delicate kiss. Her tongue teases across the inside of my mouth, playing a game of cat and mouse with me. She pulls away slightly, a small smile playing on her lips. My eyes are drawn to it as I bring my fingers to trace across her bottom lip. I involuntarily bit my own lip, just remembering how hers feel when they touch mine.

She drops to her side so now we're facing each other, legs tangled together; my hands sliding across her cheeks, hers into my hair. Our foreheads drop together, breath mingling as hands begin to wander. There's nothing like the feel of her skin under my fingertips and I could spend my life sliding my hands across her body.

The room around us disappears till all I can see is Xena and the landscape of her body, a sheet just covering the curve of her hip. Her hands seem to be drawing their own picture on my body, trying to distract me from my work, my task of memorizing every inch of her. My fingers gently push the sheet away, revealing hips and thighs that only she could own. As if in some silent communication, I'm pulling my skirt off and she's pulling her chemise off, both tossed somewhere on the floor. Nothing hinders the wandering fingers anymore, the fingers that touch skin as if it were made of something fragile, something to be revered.

One of my hands slides up her arm till our fingers lock. Our foreheads are touching, noses pressed side by side breathing in each other's stuttering breathes. Our bodies press close, breasts pressed hard against breasts in a way that sends tingles through me. We are under the spell of touch and we can't seem to break it. My breath hitches just by the feel of her skin against mine, the feel of her lips grazing my cheek and her breath hot as her heart rate increases. Our lips dance enticingly close but never seem to quite hit the mark.

My fingers slide from hers, moving down her body till it grasps her hip, pulling it up against me. A small sound escapes her as our mouths continue their forbidden dance. My leg slips up in-between hers, fitting snugly in the warmth that has pooled there. Again a small sound escapes her lips, vibrating against my cheek. I turn my lips to her neck, giving warm, sucking kisses that sound loud in the near silent room. She begins to sigh almost erotically, hands grasping at my body wanting me to satiate the desire that's building inside her.

Our lips finally meet, I just want to delve deep inside of her and I think she wants the same. How can you dig your way inside of someone? I'm sucking the breath from her lungs but there's no desperation in our kiss. All we have is need and desire and the knowledge that there is no one else on this earth that we could possibly want more in any lifetime. Did I ever think something like this was possible? No. I don't think anyone does though.

Our lips part enough for us to suck in lungful's of air but we refuse to actually part. We become tangled together, our bodies rolling as we fight for dominance; no not so much dominance as trying to outdo each other in our expressions of love. We finally both give in, fingers reaching out at the same time, entering the same causing us to groan as if one person. Once again we are side by side, my head in the crook of her neck as I try to focus.

We work in tandem, trying to give each other the same satisfaction at the same level. The silence of the room is suddenly filled with the noises we make; the grunting, the groaning, the sounds of our fingers as they slide in and out at a furious pace. When the time comes, we cling to each other, my eyes squeeze shut as my body rocks with such sweetness I've never felt. Sometimes I'm embarrassed by how she makes me feel. I can't always seem to control myself when I'm with her; I abandon any and all caution.

I feel her lips peppering my cheek with kisses as her arms squeeze around me. One thing that's surprised me, she has never left. I'd wake up every morning and she'd still be there, arms holding me securely, not willing to let go. From what she had always told me I expected her to be gone, but it never happened. I feel her mouth drift to my ear.

'I'm yours and you're mine. Always.' She whispers.

'What?' I move my head till I can look in her eyes.

'The bracelet.' She says, nodding towards my wrist. 'That's what it says.' I don't know why but this brings tears to my eyes. She smiles, her thumb trying to wipe them away. 'Don't cry.' She laughs, tears beginning to form in her own eyes. 'I know I could never give you everything but I can give you all of me.' Now I'm trying to wipe the tears from her cheeks.

'That is everything.' But she shakes her head at me.

'I can't give you a wedding, kids, stability, the promises that we won't die a couple more times.' She grins a little at the last part.

'All I need is you.' Her tears come a little more freely now. I grab the sheet and pull it up over us. My head rests in the crook of her neck as her cheek rests on the top of my head. We curl into each other, taking comfort in each other's arms and the warmth of our bodies.

'Xena, if you can stand by me, I can stand by you.'

'Always?' She whispers, her voice crackling with emotion.

'Always.'

FIN