Well, let me tell y'all 'bout this charmin’ little story that I read over at MaryD's. Lovely woman that MaryD. She's from the 'real South' ya know. Now, 'bout that story...

"That First Night" takes us back to when Gabrielle and Xena first met. Ms. Lela did an exceptional job of portrayin’ our girls in 'true' character for that time line. Gabrielle is so innocent and cheerfully undeterred. Xena is her terse and surly warlord self. Remember, Xena didn't want little Gabrielle followin’ along in the first place. Well, now it's night and a chilly one. A shivering 'bard to be' is INSISTING on curling up next to the warmest warrior she can find. Oh no, Ms Maggie is not gonna tell y'all what happens. Go on over to MaryD's and read this delightful story for yourselves. Oh, and if y'all are wonderin’, there's no violence or real subtext in this one, yet.

The little frontier town of Hangman's Gulch is in peril - yes, I said PERIL!  What with Tex Maverick the Scourge of the Sagebrush, Rowdy Roscoe Ringo and his Hole In The Outhouse gang, and corrupt cattle baron Major Fuller Bull...just who is man enough to clean out the town? Cue Belinda Bonanza - and believe me, the name is apt - the mysterious stranger who is packing...packing everything you can possibly think of, and boy does she know how to use it. But has the tough gunslinger met her match, with the sweet, innocent ways of Miz Connie Lingus? And just how CAN a prim schoolmarm from Philadelphia tame the wild lusts of frontier life? And should a virginal Miz really be reading THOSE kinds of trashy dime store romance noveletta's anyway?? Read on, and find out!!

Redhawk is fully into the voice of this story, giving it an authentic tone. That, combined with a traditional romance story structure, creates a delightful blend. It's also simply fascinating to imagine this coupling in this time period and wonder what it might have really been like. Although now a finished story, Redhawk thrills me with her ability to keep a story that's being written in parts on track! You just gotta love that.<g>

In this version, after hurling Gabrielle off the cliff, Xena returns to Ares as his Warrior Queen, and is soon once again leading an army that slaughters and pillages its way across Greece. Yet, unable to resist the pull of the dark side, she hates herself for succumbing to it -- and quietly plots against the God of War, whom she blames for Gabrielle's death and for the loss of her own chance at redemption. After contriving to have Ares stripped of his godhood, she proceeds to take revenge, in a scene (recalled by Xena in flashback) that reads like some infernal symphony in which the horror seems to reach a climax only to rise to an even higher pitch. The complication, however, is that Xena also loves Ares in a warped way, and needs him by her side to fill the emptiness left by Gabrielle's death. So she keeps him alive -- as her slave, her lover and her victim, in a bizarre relationship that alternates between lovemaking and violent abuse.

The combination of shattering brutality and heartbreaking tenderness that was so poignant in "Skin Tight" takes on a grotesque edge in "Together," where the hurt and the comfort come from the same person. Added to these motifs is a gruesome touch of irony. Ares pushes Xena to embrace her rage and vengeance, and finds them unleashed against himself. Xena seeks to punish Ares for turning her to the dark side, and only sinks deeper into evil and madness.

When I first read "Together," it occurred to me (once I had recovered from the shock) that this is what X:WP fan fiction would look like if written by the Marquis de Sade. But the comparison is unfair, since de Sade's torturers and torturees are nothing more than stick figures evoking neither revulsion or pity. Juxian, on the other hand, never lets the reader become a mere observer but takes us inside the psyches of her painfully real characters. Written as Xena's monologue addressed to Ares, the story gradually reveals more and more layers of her mind and her motives. She is punishing Ares, but also, in a way, affirming their dark bond through the very violence she does to him: "I owe you -- all my achievements, all my crimes, all the pain I can inflict."

On yet another level, she revels in her unlimited power over the former War God -- and, perversely, in playing his protector after reducing him to helplessness: "I'll never let you down. I am the strong one now. You can rely on me -- in everything." While we do not get Ares' point of view here, he still emerges as a complex and believable character. Almost completely broken, he still responds to violence with "passive defiance" -- but is unable to resist his self-destructive obsession with Xena: "My kiss does to you what my blows can never do. Your eyes go all mellow and defenseless -- and you lean towards me, cling to me, despite the sharp curves of my breastplate that jam into your chest."

Powerful and superbly written, "Together" is an excruciating read, and not only because of the overly graphic and extreme nature of the violence (which could have been toned down without compromising the story). In contrast to "Skin Tight," there is no promise of salvation here. Both Xena and Ares are beyond healing and beyond redemption; and Gabrielle, of course, is dead. And yet, in this near-total darkness, there are tiny glimmers of light: Xena's hatred of the monster she has become, her memories of Gabrielle, even her twisted tenderness toward Ares -- as well as the hints that Ares' desire to possess Xena has turned into something very much like love (albeit with Stockholm Syndrome overtones), that he is horrified not only by what she is doing to him but by what she is doing to herself. These little sparks save "Together" from being a dehumanizing chamber of horrors: its characters may be hopelessly lost, but their humanity never is.

With a startling economy of words, Darshann beautifully portrays the affection, trust, and vulnerability that drew fans to the characters in the first place. It's skillfully written stories like this one that keep fan fiction alive and well and readers continually impressed.

Troubleshooter intertwines the legal case and the attraction of the two characters into an enjoyable, sometimes humorous, and entertaining story.

"She was coal being burnt, and the ash flame left after. She was water warped into ice and locked in her coldness. She was darkness with no hope of light, for she was the heart of the rock. She knew all this, and knew why she knew it."

How Gabrielle finds her soul and confronts a very real destroyer of self is not the happy creation of most bards within this universe, but it is a resolution that will uplift the heart. Along the way are insights into the relationship and the familiar characters that will resonate within the soul of any fan. Hard to read sometimes and yet emotionally and intellectually satisfying, this is a wonderful piece of writing that I must recommend.