Disclaimer: I do not own Xena: Warrior Princess or any of the characters mentioned in this fanfiction. I wish I did, however.
Author's Note: Well, I couldn't sleep last night because this idea kept popping up into my head. So, I just had to get up out of my warm bed at one in the morning to start writing this little two-shot. I apologize in advance for the cheesiness.
Warning: This is basically F/F, although there are no graphic HLS scenes. There's actually no HLS, period.

"How's this, Xena?"

"Gabrielle, you're not even close to being in the position you're supposed to be in. Weren't you paying attention when I showed you what you were supposed to do?" Xena asked, just barely hiding the exasperation she was feeling at the moment.

"Well... I was a little distracted," the bard admitted with a sheepish grin, causing the warrior to roll her eyes. "Don't you roll your eyes at me, Warrior Princess! I didn't see you complaining when you were teaching me to use the rod."

"That's because you were able to use the rod almost immediately," Xena muttered under her breath, earning a smack from her blonde partner.

"I'll have you know that learning to do this with your hands is much harder than learning to do it with a rod," Gabrielle told her. Xena wisely chose not to remind her forgetful, young friend that she had taught herself how to use the rod and her hands, so she knew exactly what the younger girl was going through.

Seeing that her dark friend wasn't going to argue with her anymore, the blonde bent over once more, hoping that she was in the position that Xena had shown her. The warrior shook her head before placing a firm hand on the bard's back.

"You have to get your head a little bit closer," she informed the younger woman. "Otherwise, you won't be able to see the fish very well," she explained before backing away so that she was back on shore. She didn't want to be tempted to catch one of the fish that had been swimming by. That would just make the younger girl feel worse about herself.

"If you say so, Xena," Gabrielle muttered with a sigh before doing as the warrior told her. They had been at this for hours, it seemed, and she still hadn't managed to catch one fish with her bare hands. Sure, she had learned how to smack a thug into a dark oblivion, but she still hadn't been able to learn the technique that Xena used to catch a fish without a pole. It was really beginning to grate on her nerves. She didn't even want to guess how much patience her friend had left.

The bard stood knee deep in the cold water of the gently flowing river for what seemed like forever before a flash of silver upstream caught her eye. She slowly moved one of her hands under the surface of the water, just like Xena had told her to. Just as the fish swam by her hand, she playfully began to wiggle her fingers, catching the attention of the fish. Gabrielle had to stop herself from giggling when she felt the fish begin to nibble on one of her wiggling fingers.

'I've got you now, my fishy little friend,' she thought with a smirk as she slowly brought her other hand over the area that the fish was in. Without warning, the bard let her hand fly into the water. Soon, she felt her hand wrap around her target, bringing a triumphant grin to the blonde's face.

"Ha! I did it! I told you I could do it, Xena!" she told her friend as she pulled her hands out of the water, her slimy prize in hand. "See? I finally caught one!"

"Gabrielle..."

"Yes, Xena?" the bard asked curiously, still smiling.

"You caught a rock," the warrior pointed out. The bard looked down to see that she was, indeed, holding a rock. Not a fish. It also happened to be a rock covered in slimy muck.

"Oh, that is just disgusting," Gabrielle muttered with a sigh as she dropped the rock back into the water, where it belonged. "Xena, I don't think I'm cut out to be a fisher," she mused as she began walking back to shore. "I mean, think about it. If I haven't learned by now, I don't-" The bard's sentence was cut off when her foot made contact with a rather slippery rock. "Ah!" was all she managed to get out before she slipped and fell backwards, landing in the water in a less than graceful manner.

"Are you alright?" Xena asked with a raised eyebrow, not bothering to hide the amusement in her voice. Gabrielle gave her a playful glare before cautiously getting back to her feet. She really didn't want to take another dive into the cold river water. Luckily, the rest of the trip back to shore was incident-free.

"Come on. I know of a nice, warm campfire with your name on it," the warrior said once the shivering bard reached the shore. Gabrielle nodded, her teeth chattering too much for her to say anything, before following her friend back to the camp they had made.

It didn't take long for the two travelers to get to the clearing in the forest where they had left their belongings, along with the Xena's faithful mare, Argo. Gabrielle had begun to gather firewood for the campfire, but was quickly stopped when she felt something hit her in the back. The blonde turned around to find a blanket lying at her feet.

"I'll take care of the fire," Xena told her, not bothering to look at her as she began gathering the firewood herself. Gabrielle watched her move around the camp for a moment before sighing and taking a seat on the ground, wrapping herself in the blanket that had been thrown at her.

She didn't know why the warrior always insisted on treating her like a child. They had been traveling together for almost two years now. If Xena couldn't accept her as an adult by now, what were the chances of the warrior ever viewing her as an adult? If she couldn't be seen as an adult by her friend, then there was no chance that she could move their relationship further, like she wanted to.

'Best keep away from thoughts like that right now, Gabrielle,' the bard chastised herself, although she was finding it rather difficult to stop her thoughts with the dark-haired warrior walking in front of her. Well, it wasn't really walking. 'More like floating,' she thought as a silly grin plastered itself on her face.

"What's got you so happy? The cold bath?" The sound of Xena's voice pulled Gabrielle out of her thoughts. Green eyes blinked and she found herself staring into clear, blue eyes. They reminded her of the azure waters of the river that she had just fallen into. While they were beautiful to look at, there was a coldness behind them. Luckily, Gabrielle was always able to look past that icy demeanor and see the warm woman hiding behind it.

A dark eyebrow raised when the bard didn't answer right away. Gabrielle could feel the heat rushing to her face, realizing that not only had she been caught daydreaming, but staring as well.

"Sorry. Just thinking," the bard replied truthfully, although she didn't plan on telling her dark friend just what, or who, she was thinking about.

"Right..." the warrior said before turning back to the firewood. "Well, don't think too hard. Wouldn't want you to hurt yourself while I'm getting us something to eat," Xena teased her. She didn't have to look behind her to know that the bard was scowling.

"Haha. You know, I don't know why you think you're not funny," the blonde said sarcastically, wrapping the blanket tighter around herself as she felt a cold chill run up her spine. She was never trying to fish without a pole ever again.

"Well, I guess that's what I have you around for," the warrior said with a shrug as she began setting the wood up into a pile. "Without you, who would tell me how funny I am?" The dark-haired warrior turned her head back for a moment and flashed the bard a hesitant smile, who returned it wholeheartedly.

Once Xena turned back to the firewood, a quietness descended on the small camp. The only sound was that of the flint scraping against Xena's sword. Even the talkative bard, who usually couldn't stay silent for more than a minute, was able to enjoy the comfortable quietness.

"I'll be back soon," Xena told the blonde once the sparks finally caught and she had a small fire going. "Try not to get sick while I'm gone." Gabrielle rolled her eyes at her friend as she walked back towards the river before scooting closer to the fire, her thoughts returning to the past year. It had been one of the most exciting years of her life yet, but it had also been the scariest.

She had lost her husband and childhood friend, Perdicas, to Callisto; and after only one day of being married, too. She had nearly lost herself in her quest to avenge his murder. Luckily, Xena had come to the rescue with not only her actions, but with her words, as well. Gabrielle knew that her friend never prayed to the gods anymore, so it surprised her when she had found her on her knees, practically pleading with them. There wasn't a day that went by that Gabrielle didn't thank the gods for allowing her to stumble upon that moonlit scene.

Then she had lost Xena. It had hurt far worse than it did when Perdicas died. At first, Gabrielle had felt guilty for that, but the guilt was pushed back by the lost feeling that filled her after Xena's death. Once they brought Xena back with the Ambrosia, however, Gabrielle felt a different kind of guilt. She felt horrible for being angry with her friend for leaving her, especially since Xena had heard all of her thoughts. The warrior had assured her that it was alright, though, and that she understood that the bard had been hurting. In the end, the experience had left them with a closer friendship. It also left Gabrielle with a kiss to ponder, seeing as she was still unsure whether it had been Autolycus or Xena that initiated the action. She was desperately hoping that it was the latter.

If that weren't enough, Gabrielle and Xena faced another ordeal that almost took the warrior away from the bard. When they had gone up against the Horde, Gabrielle was afraid that she was going to lose her friend to the darker part of herself. For those few horrifying days, she had been scared of Xena and what she was becoming. Words could not express how happy she was that her friend had been able to overcome that violent part of herself and find another way to end the conflict between the Athenian outpost and the Horde; even if it had taken Gabrielle risking her life to get the woman to see the solution.

Then there had been the incident with baby Bliss. As much as she enjoyed romance, the bard hoped that the little boy wasn't able to get his hands on the arrows again. At least, not until he knew how to use them correctly. She couldn't believe that she had been in love with Joxer! And that ridiculous song?

'I swear, if I ever hear that song again, I will throttle him!' she mentally promised herself as she stared into the flames. Thinking back on the baby Bliss incident, she realized how jealous she had felt when Xena had fallen for Draco. It was nearly as painful as watching her fall in love with Ulysses when they were headed for Ithaca. Despite the fact that she had been horribly seasick, she was still well enough to feel envious of the returning king.

"What did I tell you about thinking too hard?" Gabrielle jumped at the low voice that sounded next to her ear.

"For the love of Zeus, Xena! Would it kill you to make as much noise as a normal person for once?" she asked with a scowl as she watched the smug warrior take a seat next to her. She had a bag of fish resting between them, waiting to be cooked. "Let me guess: Bare hands?"

"How'd you know?" Xena asked with a smirk. Gabrielle rolled her eyes, muttering something that sounded like 'show-off' under her breath before pulling the first fish out of the rough bag.

"Well, I may not be good at catching these things, but at least I can cook them," the blonde commented while she unwrapped herself from the blanket. She walked over to the large mare and grabbed one of the saddle bags before going back over to the fire. "Otherwise, we'd be eating charcoal." The teasing comment earned her a gentle slap on the shoulder when she sat down. "Kidding, Xena," she said as she pulled a knife out of the saddlebag and began preparing the fish to cook. Once Gabrielle had all of the fish roasting over the fire, she looked over at her quiet companion.

"You know, I really do appreciate you teaching me how to fish," she said, sincerity sparkling in her emerald eyes. Not that Xena needed proof of the bard's honesty.

"It was... interesting... teaching you," she replied, turning her head back to fire to hide the smirk on her face. "It wasn't bad, for your first time," she added on, ignoring the sarcastic laugh that came from the younger woman.

"Well, I'm sure with such a great teacher, I'll be able to do it in no time," Gabrielle said before leaning over to give the dark-haired woman a kiss on the cheek. It was at that exact moment, however, that Xena decided to turn her head towards her to say something. The result was practically electric as their lips met purely by accident.

Gabrielle's eyes widened in shock when she first felt the contact, but she was quickly closing them as she deepened the kiss. She could swear that she had been struck by one of Zeus' thunderbolts when Xena began returning the kiss. Her, the little girl from Potidaea, was being kissed by the most magnificent woman in the known world. She couldn't believe it.

She had to fight a bubble of laughter that was threatening to escape her throat as she wrapped her arms around the warrior's waist. The sounds of the world seemed to be silenced to her mind. All that she was aware of was Xena. Why hadn't she ever felt that way with Perdicas?

Before Gabrielle's mind could contemplate what her heart already knew, Xena was breaking away from the kiss and the embrace. Confused, green eyes looked into sapphire blue, which, for a fleeting moment, looked frightened.

"Xena...?" The bard reached out to touch Xena's shoulder, only to have the warrior pull away from her. A flicker of hurt passed over Gabrielle's face. Had she really been such a bad kisser? She knew that she had been enjoying it immensely.

"I'll be back," was the only answer she received before the warrior got to her feet and began walking away, leaving Gabrielle sitting at the fire, dumbfounded. What the Hades had just happened?

I hope you all enjoyed that! I'll be sure to get the conclusion up soon! Also, I hope the kiss wasn't too bad. It was my first attempt at writing one, and I had no idea what I was doing. I'm still a virgin to kissing, so I just guessed. :)