Fan Fiction
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Call It Destiny
Chapter Five
The Return of Perdicus
For a long while neither one spoke.
“It’s getting late, I guess I should ride back into town. Poteidaia does have an inn, doesn’t it?”
“Don’t be ridiculous, you’re staying here for the night. There’s an extra room. It was supposed to be for the baby, whenever it came.”
“Then I should put my horse in your barn and get him unsaddled and fed and watered. I’ll be right back.”
While Joxer ate supper, and long afterward, Gabrielle quietly talked about missing Xena; talked about wanting a son for Perdicus; and finally about how suppressed she felt, always having to submit to his demands, and her father’s constant assertions that her troublesome independence was all Xena’s fault.
“I guess I thought being married to Perdicus was going to be like it was when I was with Xena. We would be — partners, you know? I had forgotten how much of a servant Mother was to Father. And Perdicus expects the same thing. Oh, Joxer, I am so unhappy with my life! Sure, with Xena there was danger. And we had to sleep outside in the cold and rain. But I always knew I could depend on Xena. And she would never do anything to hurt me, or put me down.”
There was more silence.
“Joxer, what am I going to do?”
“The way I see it, you should do whatever you have to do to be happy.”
Gabrielle studied her hands, deep in thought.
“I think I’ll go to bed,” she finally said. “You can stay up as long as you want. Good night.”
“G’night.”
The next morning Joxer was up with the sun, but Gabrielle slept late, when she finally slept. Most of the night she had tossed and turned. When she did fall sleep, her dreams were distressing, but she couldn’t remember the details, only the unsettling feelings.
Joxer was sitting at the table when Gabrielle came out of her bedroom. “I think I should be moving on,” he told her. “There’s nothing I can do to help and I’m only a reminder of the good times the three of us had.”
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