DISCLAIMER: The characters Xena/Gabrielle/Argo are subject to copyright. No infringement of this was intended. I have a feeling that Ares and Hades have been around awhile. Like all my stories, our two heroes are in love. Because that is the way it is. There is no sex in this tale, so no-one should be offended. Actually, it is very sentimental, so a sick -bag may be necessary. Though this has nothing to do with this story, I would like to say that all praise goes to Lucy and Renee, they make the greatest programme ever, what it is. Thank you ladies.
As ever ALL comments are welcome.
by Rab Donald
The squeal and hiss of hydraulic brakes gently nudged Tanya from her reverie. Another diner in another town, another stop in the middle of nowhere. She vaguely heard the bus driver.
"Scheduled stop, 30 minutes. We depart at 5:45 in the a.m."
Tanya wiped condensation from the window. An illuminated sign read
"Welcome to ‘Port Deer’. This ain’t no port, we have no deer!"
She smiled, it conveyed to her a simple pride, a town happy with itself.
Tanya was unconvinced she herself had any reason to feel pride.
To her amazement, some people chose to remain on the bus.
Anonymous diner it may be, but it meant rest-room, coffee, a chance to stretch long legs. A chance to light up a cigarette. If only in the car park.
There were drawbacks too. Thus far, Tanya had enjoyed the luxury of an empty seat by her side. A scheduled stop meant the possibility of unwelcome company for the remainder of the journey. But under still dark skies, a light drizzle and the first satisfying puff of smoke from a Marlboro, it was a worry that could wait.
The diner was an odd mixture of bustle and weary calm. Excited travellers meeting and greeting, soon to be travellers kissing goodbyes.
Rowdy sailors, either shipping out, or going home, slugging on bottles of Bud. Then a section of calm. Couples, or solitaire people, sipping coffee, staring blankly, quiet yet not looking content.
Tanya took a stool at the counter, drained a coffee as if it were medicine, ordered another. One girl, sitting alone at a table caught her eye. She looked young, small, wary. Nervously clutching a hold-all
between her feet, she glanced often out of the window, as if expecting unwanted intrusion.
Tanya tried not to stare, yet felt compelled to observe her.
Blonde, reddish-blonde hair, inquisitive green eyes. Despite her air of caution, those green eyes sparkled with life, vitality. The cutest face that seemed to break into the gentle smile of a private memory, then wariness returned. Tanya quickly looked away as the girl got up, but she had not been caught spying, it was the rest-room that the blonde sought. Sipping her coffee, Tanya followed the girl’s easy gait. A tight white sweater defining firm bosom, a shorter than expected skirt revealing luscious thighs. Tanya was spellbound.
She momentarily considered following the girl. The notion was quickly dismissed. What could such a divine young woman see in an old, cynical, world-weary person as herself? Tanya sought her own reflection in the mirror-tiles. Her hair was still lustrous, blue eyes showing pain. The black cotton T-shirt stretched to it’s limits by her ample breasts.
‘I like black’ Tanya justified her choice to herself ‘it matches my hair, and my mood’
A sudden raising of voices, a minor commotion caused Tanya to turn around. The young blonde had returned, but not to an empty table.
The beer-swilling sailors were in loud, leering attendance.
Tanya slid off her stool, six feet tall, her powerful frame ambled slowly across the room.
"I like a joke as much as anyone" the girl was saying "but keep your hands and profanities to yourself!"
Tanya observed as the men continued to bait the girl. Lewd comments and blatant remarks about maidenhood, loss of virginity were amongst the audible outpourings of the four sailors. No-one else in the diner seemed willing to intervene. Even two burly truckers seemed to have found an overwhelming interest in their plates.
One of the sailors had sidled in, trapping the blonde. His hand was on her knee, he was imploring a kiss, offering much more. Tanya saw a spirit, a readiness to defend herself in the young woman’s eyes. But she was well out numbered. Tanya wasn’t.
She decided to try the non-violent approach.
"Hey you!" she called "how are you doing?" as if greeting a long lost friend. Both the blonde, and the sailors looked up. The girl seemed to understand "great to see you" she replied, and tried to push past the seated man. He would not give way.
Another of the men grinned. "Hey boys, the virgin has a friend! But this one ain’t no virgin. She looks a real handful!"
Tanya sighed.
"You got that right, Einstein!" and she floored him with a single punch.
Tanya then grabbed the seated man with one hand and hauled him to his feet, she elbowed another with her free arm.
"You boys just won’t take a telling, will you?"
Suddenly, the diner was interested. Two sailors prostrate on the floor, a third raised clear off the ground by a single arm, the fourth looking shocked, disbelieving. Like he wished it had been a ghost he had just seen.
Belatedly, the situation under control, one of the truckers got to his feet "Need any help ma’am?"
"Not unless the entire ship’s company is waiting outside" Tanya sneered.
Ten minutes before departure time, Tanya and Gabrielle were formally introduced. They were in the car park, enjoying a light breeze and the continuing soft rain. When Gabrielle smiled and looked at her, Tanya saw the earlier wariness in green eyes, replaced by sheer admiration. It was unsettling.
"I’m leaving home, Port Deer has nothing to offer me. I just want the bus to leave before my parents find my note" Gabrielle explained.
Tanya watched as the four sailors got on the bus.
She fished around for a final cigarette "want one?"
"No thanks, I don’t" replied the smaller woman.
"I usually only smoke just after sex…. I’m a 20 a day girl!" said Tanya in dry tones.
Gabrielle looked briefly shocked, then burst into melodic laughter.
‘I like this woman’ she thought to herself.
Tanya boarded the bus first, strode purposefully up the gangway.
She stopped and guided Gabrielle into the window seat.
"I’ll just be a moment" she said.
She then walked to the far end of the bus where the four sailors occupied the last row of seats.
"One word, a single remark out of place and I will kill you. Any one of you, or all of you, I don’t care."
One man cowered, the rest were defiant. Tanya increased the intensity, the total assuredness of her voice.
"All that big talk in front of a little girl. Beer talk, boys talk" she sneered.
"You couldn’t handle me. So don’t even think of trying. You couldn’t even handle Gabrielle. Yes, that little ‘virgin’ has a name. I’ll bet good money that none of you have ever satisfied a woman."
Tanya focused her attention on the biggest, meanest looking man.
"Your girlfriend’s only good lover comes with batteries!"
The other three sniggered, the outraged man threw a straight punch.
Tanya caught his fist in her hand. Began to crush his fingers.
The man yelped in pain, he seemed astonished by her strength.
It was the end of the discussion.
The tall woman resumed her seat next to Gabrielle.
"Just saying hello to your fan club!" she grinned.
As the bus pulled away, an awkward silence sat like a cloud over the two women.
‘I can’t believe I made that 20 a day remark’ Tanya thought to herself.
‘how do you tell another woman that you are deeply attracted to her? A total stranger too. A mature woman who probably thinks I’m just a kid’ occupied Gabrielle’s mind.
‘She is just too beautiful. How old, sixteen, nineteen? Forget it Tanya,
and stop staring at her! How can you last the rest of the trip if you keep having fantasies?’ Tanya blushed inside.
"Penny for your thought?" finally Gabrielle spoke.
Tanya blushed outwardly.
In a remote corner of the elysian fields, two women sat by a stream, bathing their feet in the cooling waters, they smiled and kissed. It was the afterglow of many hours of lovemaking.
The Goddess Aphrodite appeared.
"You two make me nauseous, don’t you ever tire of each other?"
"No" they said in unison, then kissed again.
"You’ve been here for over 2000 years, yet you look like young lovers on their honeymoon" The Goddess seemed disapproving.
"Let’s go to bed" giggled the smaller woman, her friend agreed.
"Check the viewing well first" said Aphrodite unhappily.
"Look it’s us!" said Gabrielle, excitedly.
"They look like us" Xena corrected her. "How come yours is called Gabrielle, mine is Tanya?"
"There was only, and ever will be, only one Xena" Gabrielle smiled.
"Do you think those two will get together like we did?" Asked the warrior.
"They have to!" said Gabrielle
"Looks a bit awkward, wouldn’t you say? They aren’t even talking. Some ‘Gabrielle’ she is!" Joked the warrior.
The bard laughed "Can’t we do something?"
"No!" It was Aphrodite. "Only Gods can influence the mortal realm" she sounded very pleased with herself, she grinned even more on seeing Gabrielle’s disappointment.
Xena saw it too. She looked deep into her lover’s eyes.
"For you my eternal soul, I will do anything. It may not work, but I will give them a helping hand"
"You cannot do that Xena!" laughed Aphrodite in triumph.
"Watch me. I have many skills!" smiled the warrior.
Suddenly the bus swerved and halted rapidly. Gabrielle was jolted from her seat and flung sideways, Tanya grabbed for her, stopping her from ending up on the aisle. They were momentarily clinging to each other, lips close to lips, eyes meeting. The moment seemed to last for ever. Tanya became all too aware that in catching the younger woman, her hands were latched on to firm breast, shapely buttocks.
"Er, sorry" the black haired woman offered as she looked at where she was holding the blonde, but somehow couldn’t let go.
"It’s OK, you saved me" breathed Gabrielle, making no attempt to return to a proper seated position.
Tanya breathed in the girl’s perfume, before extricating her hands.
As she lifted the blonde and replaced her in the seat, she gave the breast a final gentle squeeze, stroked the buttocks.
Gabrielle stifled a sigh, could barely stifle a smile, could not at all stifle the thrill she felt. Her panties became very wet.
"Sorry folks! Just a stray dog, I managed to avoid it" the driver explained his actions. Then as an afterthought "Is everyone OK?"
Loud complaints from the sailors were hushed by Tanya’s glare.
The two women were now sitting much closer together, thighs touching.
"I’m not really a virgin you know" said Gabrielle "I do look quite young, but I’m seventeen, nearly eighteen"
"It doesn’t matter either way" said Tanya "actually, I thought you handled those drunks pretty well, but I could tell they weren’t going to give up"
Gabrielle basked in the compliment, but she had a different agenda to follow.
"I’ve had a few boyfriends, three actual lovers. Though the first was a 20 second affair, maybe that doesn’t count!" she smiled.
Tanya was unsure how to respond, luckily Gabrielle seemed happy to talk further.
"I used to think I just hadn’t met the right man, I mean sex is such a let down, quite a joke really after all the publicity it gets!" she grinned.
"Used to think?" asked the older woman.
"When I was younger, my grandma’ told me everyone had someone special, their own ‘Tree in the Forest’ she called it. I am convinced that is true, it is just that my tree is not a man, but a woman" as she spoke those words, Gabrielle stared directly and intensely at Tanya.
Tanya returned the stare.
"You know I never believed in ‘love at first sight’ or all that ‘soulmate’ crap that people talked about. Until now."
She leaned down and kissed Gabrielle with tenderness, but passion too.
After a few seconds, they pulled apart.
"Maybe a bus is not the right place….." smiled Tanya
"Why don’t we get off at the next stop?" agreed Gabrielle "No matter where it is, let’s just be somewhere, anywhere, alone together"
Gabrielle and Xena were in a soft bed, they had chosen not to have sex, rather just lie cuddling, whispering endearments.
Aphrodite reappeared
"I would have knocked, but what is the point?"
"Don’t you have lives to ruin elsewhere?" scowled Xena
"Love has many strands" said the deity, "I just prefer to be mischievous, not everyone gets the eternal happiness and fantastic sex you know"
"Just leave us alone" said Gabrielle, who was yet again feeling frisky She began to fondle Xena’s bosom.
"Just look at the viewing well first, before you start rocking the bed" said The Goddess with a sigh.
"Look, They are at a motel" said the bard
"And they won’t need the porn channel for inspiration" laughed Xena as the two woman fell upon each other like animals in heat.
"Do you think it will last?" said Gabrielle "I mean once the initial passion is gone, will they stay in love?"
"Huh!" said Aphrodite, "You two had difficult times. Believe me, that society down there will not make things easy. I give it six months tops!" she seemed pleased with the idea.
Xena and Gabrielle looked at each other.
"It will last because we will make it last" said Gabrielle
"No society can banish true love"
Aphrodite was about to argue "You CANNOT interfere….."
she then sighed in resignation as the bard and warrior yet again began to kiss.
"I know, you have many skills.." she said.
Xena looked at her "I am about to display two of them" she said
"One, the skill to make Gabrielle blissfully happy in bed, which I will take many, many hours over. Probably days. The other is to punch your face in, that will take less than a second…"
"I’m outta here!" said Aphrodite, and she disappeared.
"It will work for Gabrielle and Tanya, won’t it?" asked the bard.
"I promise" replied Xena
"Good! Now about that making me blissfully happy……."
THE END