”Funny,” Gabrielle smirked, an eyebrow slanted at Xena’s last violent quip. ”Very funny.”

”What? It could have been worse.”

”You and your sense of humor,” Gabrielle smiled at last, tending to the small fire which had been dying on-and-off for hours. ”It’s gonna get us both in some real trouble one of these days.”

”Not that we have to worry about that,” Xena grinned, sitting haphazardly on a fallen tree to unsheathe her sword. ”I’d say I take pretty good care of us. Wouldn’t you?”

”That’s NOT the point,” Gabrielle laughed quietly, blushing in the glow of the fire. Glad for the excuse of its heat.

It was difficult to keep certain feelings from surfacing, and whenever Xena alluded to her strength and the fact that she could take care of things, Gabrielle felt her cheeks color themselves pink. Her mind was filled with images of the warrior riding bareback to come to her rescue, or handling that heavy sword with perfect expertise in each fight. Gabrielle often found it quite difficult to push those thoughts aside as she went to sleep.

What was strange through it all was that she had convinced herself that was normal – that everyone felt that way for their friends.

Xena stared curiously at Gabrielle’s back, noticing that the bard often turned around mid-smile, and wouldn’t face her again until it was necessary. Gabrielle was acting even stranger lately, and it was usually during their teasing. Could Gabrielle feel it too? Xena wondered. Or was she alone in feeling the way she did with that powerful affection for her friend?

Biting her cheek so as not to smirk openly, Xena got up from the tree, and wielded the sword in her right hand to step over toward her blond companion. We’ll just see, she figured.

”I hope this fire dies out soon,” Gabrielle said quietly, doing her part to try and string along some meaningless conversation that would detract from any possible embarrassment.

”Yeah. I’d hate to let it burn,” Xena said just as quietly, only a step or two behind the beautiful bard. She had picked her sword into the earth, and was leaning there on it, awaiting that inevitable twist of Gabrielle’s hips to look her in the eyes.