Episodic Ficlet #21: Lifeline
“Xena! …Xena, we’ve got trouble!”
An imperceptibly slow pulse instantly quickened. Gabrielle!
“Wait a second.”
A heart that had long known it was not whole thudded to protest the delay of its reunion with its newfound other half. Irritation spiked the warrior princess’s waning blood pressure. Step aside, you fool!
“Salmoneus, get out of my way!” that cherished voice echoed.
“Wait a second!”
“What?”
Breath abandoned the lungs that were keeping two people alive.
No! Xena lost the little bit of consciousness she had left.
#
Am I dead? the woman wondered several seconds later. I must be, for she could hear each one of Gabrielle’s shattered, disbelieving thoughts as if they were rioting within her own head.
Xena, how could you? You promised me you’d be here when I got back! How- How could this happen? Why- …
Gabrielle, I’m here! she wanted to tell her companion. Do not be afraid. I have not left you. I am with you always.
This must be a dream. I’m dreaming…
You are a dream, my dream, my dream come true.
There were no words then, only soundless emotions; Xena, Destroyer of Nations and unfeeling warlord—dead, unfeeling warrior—acutely perceived everything coming from Gabrielle, the lively girl who had opened her friend up to feelings as only she could.
That unbearable and yet irreplaceable soft touch carefully albeit absently fixed Xena’s hair.
Soon, both pale hands were fussing with the long locks, the bard ruefully joking to herself that she could finally do whatever she wanted with them. Perhaps she’d spend the evening brushing them just to annoy their owner. Gabrielle smiled wryly and gave a slight head shake. The same irresistible compulsion that had drawn her to Xena’s hair in the first place, the warrior overall, drew the bard to her knees to kiss her friend’s cheek.
That smallest, lightest touch burned most of all. It banished the coldness that had settled into fast-stiffening limbs.
But the response went unnoticed, or, perhaps, it was felt but not trusted.
Gabrielle was only allowed a second to press her face to her friend’s before Salmoneus spoke and broke the spell that had been cast over her at seeing the impossible.
Thus, the even more impossible happened. Following a last long look, the girl severed the connection between her and her soulmate with a simple, unspoken goodbye. Gabrielle stood and turned away from that which she could longer bear to witness.
Her warmth and light gone, Xena fell back into icy darkness.
.
400 words, minus those that are not mine. This is a new way of doing these, eh? What do you guys think? Should I just stick to “between the scenes” or mix in more like these that take place during the scenes? Lemme know! Thanks!