Chapter Five

All four began to search the floor of the tavern. They turned bodies over and
moved broken crockery and furniture, but one by one, they each came up empty
handed.

"What are we gonna do, Xena? We have to find Callisto. We can't leave her here
to live out her life as a roach."
"Don't panic, Gabrielle. She's here someplace. Let's look again."
"I found the pouch!"

Turning in the direction of the fairy's musical voice the trio approached the spot
which the glowing creature hovered over. Xena squatted down and picked up the
brown leather sack which had been wedged between a table leg and a wooden
keg. A frown crossed her face as she held it up. The strings had become untied
and the sack was open. It was empty.

"Uh, will someone please tell me what's goin' on here?"
"Sorry, Joxer. It's a long story but the short end of it is that Namora, she's a fairy
you know, accidentally turned Callisto into a roach when her magic went a little
wrong. We've been carrying her around in this pouch hoping to find a way to
turn her back into a human again."
"Why do ya wanna do that, Xena? Good riddance, I say!"
"Now Joxer, don't be cruel. Callisto may be evil, but nobody, not even her,
deserves to live life as a cockroach. Ugh!"
"Yeah, well, that's *your* opinion. Soooo, the little squirt is a fairy, huh?"
"Hey! Who are you calling a squirt, clown?"
"Ok, ok, knock it off you two, the last thing we need is bickering right now."
Once again, Joxer stuck his tongue out at Namora.
"Jerk!"
"Namora!"
"Yeah right, ok."

Suddenly a cockroach darted past them, streaking straight across the floor and
heading in the direction of a back room. Just as quickly Xena grabbed one of the
pewter goblets on a nearby table and was able to successfully trap the insect.
Then she carefully tilted the vessel up very slightly, peering under the rim to get a
better look at her prize.

"Hmmm"
The Warrior Princess completely removed the cup thus releasing the loathsome
bug. Joxer looked at her in shock.
"Why did you do that?"
"Wrong roach."
"Huh?"
"That wasn't Callisto."
Joxer rolled his eyes around betraying his disbelief.
"Xena, we are looking for a cockroach. *That* was a cockroach. How many
cockroaches could there be in this room?"
Before she could answer, another roach skittered past the foursome, then another
and yet another.
"Does that answer your question? Anyway, Callisto was one of those large dark
brown roaches. These are the little light colored ones. Yuk! Remind me to never
eat in this place! Well, I doubt we'll find her now. She's had too much time to
escape. We might as well just hope that she enjoys her new life. At least she won't
hurt anyone anymore."
"Do you mean we're not even gonna look for her?"
"Yes, Gabrielle, that's exactly what I mean. Even if we find a roach that looks like
her, how will we know it really *is* her? We can't carry around the entire
cockroach population of this tavern! We have to give it up. Believe me, I feel
badly too."
"But Xena, that's not like you to just abandon her like that."
"We have to Gabrielle. There's nothing more we can do. Maybe something will
work out on its own. Let's hope for the best for her."

The tavern customers who had so recently been put out of commission by the
Warrior Princess began to stir. Although still a bit groggy, some of them were
beginning to rise to their feet with revenge in their eyes.

"Uh, Xena. The natives are getting restless. Time to scram outta here."
"You know, Joxer, for once I agree with you. Let's go."
They left the tavern taking the empty pouch with them.
"Joxer, you've been here awhile. Is there another place we can stay for the night?
I have five dinars and with Gabrielle's money we should have just enough to pay
for a room."
"Uh, Xena? We don't have enough."
"What do you mean? You had ten dinars. You didn't pay ten dinars for that
pouch, did you?"
"No.....but I did buy something for Namora. She really wanted it and I forgot it
was all the money we had."
"What did you buy?"
"This pin." The bard pointed to the golden pin attached to her green top.
"You used all of our money on *that* piece of junk?"
"Please Xena, don't get mad at Gabrielle. That pin is very important to me."
"Why?"
"I can't tell you."
"Another riddle, Namora?"
"I-I'm sorry. I can't say anymore."

With a long sigh of exasperation Xena resigned herself to accepting the statement
without further question. She knew Namora well enough by now to know that the
fairy would divulge no further information.

"Well, let's go back outside of the town and make camp in the woods. Then I'll go
hunt up something for dinner."
"Hey Xena, can I go with you?"
"I don't know Joxer, I don't want you scaring the food away."
"Oh....yeah....sure, Xena."

The funny faced warrior was obviously disappointed. He began to feel that
nobody appreciated him, not even his friends. The Warrior Princess looked at
him thoughtfully, then turning around, she unhitched Argo and climbed up into
the saddle. She held her hand out to Gabrielle.

"No thanks. I think this time I'll walk."
"I'll take a ride."
Namora flew up to Xena's shoulder and settled in comfortably.
"Ok, let's go."

Xena tied Argo to the branch of a nearby tree while Gabrielle and Joxer went off on a quest
to find some wood for a camp fire. She removed the bedrolls and various other
items needed for the evening and set them down near the large rock where
Namora sat staring at her broach. Xena busied herself with unpacking the items.
Thinking the Warrior Princess woudn't notice, Namora stood up and began to
jump up and down on top of the pin. Nothing happened. Maybe she didn't hit
the right spot, she thought, and repeated the action. The Warrior Princess
watched her in amusement, shaking her head. Namora was sweet, but she sure
was mysterious sometimes. She decided not to question her friend or even let her
know what she had witnessed. Finally Gabrielle and Joxer returned, loaded with
twigs and small branches. They set them down on the ground and the bard began
the task of arranging them so they would burn properly.

"All right, time to go hunt up some dinner now. C'mon Joxer."
"Do ya really mean it, Xena?"
"It's against my better judgment, but yeah, I really mean it."
She smiled broadly at him.
"Gee thanks, Xena!"

As the pair disappeared into the darkened forest, Gabrielle turned toward
Namora and saw the look of extreme disappointment that was so obvious on her
tiny, delicately featured face.
"What's wrong, Sprite?"
"This is wrong!" She shoved the pin off of the rock with all of her might.
"Hey! I paid good money for that pin. Be careful." The bard smiled kindly as she
picked up the broach.
"It's a no good piece of junk!"
"Uh.....Namora, earlier, this pin meant the world to you and now it's a no good
piece of junk? Exactly what's the story on it?"
"It's.....it's......oh forget it!!! I don't wanna talk about it."
Gabrielle did not wish to upset her friend any further.
"Ok Namora, I understand."
The bard picked up the pin and examined it closely.
"You know, it *is* kind of pretty."
"Then *you* keep it!"
"I think I'll do just that."Once again she fastened the pin to her clothes.
"Wow! Look at how it shines."
"Yeah, nice."

Namora sat back down cross legged, balancing her elbows on her knees and
holding her tiny head in her hands. Gabrielle felt so sorry for her even though
she did not know why. She wished that there was something that she could do for
this little creature who had become such a good friend in such a short time. Just
then Xena and Joxer returned carrying dinner, two quails and a large, fat rabbit.
The bard began removing the feathers from the carcasses to prepare them for
cooking, while the Warrior Princess made short work of skinning the rabbit.
When the preparations were completed all three were mounted on a makeshift
roasting spit and the fire was lit. Soon the aroma cooking meat permeated the
area around the campfire. Xena picked some black berries from a nearby bush
and put them next to Namora. The fairy turned her head and looked at them,
acknowledging the gesture but did not eat any of the fruit. Xena knew something
was terribly wrong. It was not like Namora to turn away food, especially sweet
berries. They were her favorite.

Later on, with the meal finished, the friends decided to go to sleep. The air was still thick with
sticky humidity and it seemed a good way to stay cool. Besides, all of the earlier
excitement in the intense heat had taken it's toll on them and they all needed to
rest. Namora was already sound asleep on her rock, Gabrielle had just dozed off
and Joxer's loud snoring rang out offensively. Xena pushed him roughly with
her foot, turning him from his back to his side. Moaning softly, a smile appeared
on his face and he continued to sleep deeply, minus the rude noise. The Warrior
Princess removed her boots and rubbed her right foot. Something had been
irritating that foot all afternoon and it felt good to have it free of any covering.
She yawned deeply, laid down on her bedroll and closed her eyes. Soon even she
was asleep. She didn't notice the large brown roach that crawled out of her boot.

"Namora."

The whisper startled the pixie out of a sound sleep. She sat up and rubbed her
little eyes. Then she shook the sleep from her head and rubbed her eyes again.
Could it be?

"Namora, time to go home."
"Kathryn?"
"Yes, it's me."
The tall, slim redhead knelt beside the rock. Her familiar smile warmed
Namora's heart.
"Oh my gosh! It's really you! How did you find me?"
"We picked up the signal from your com badge."
"But.....it didn't work. At least I thought it didn't work."
"Well, it did. Lucky for you we decided to stay around for awhile. When you
didn't come back with the others, we delayed our reentry into our own time in
order to look for you."
"Oh Kathryn, I'm so glad you did. I thought you abandoned me."
"Namora, you are part of my crew, and you are also a dear friend. You know I
would do everything possible to find you. Oh, by the way, I brought something
for you."
"My wand! Where did you find it?"
"One of the others found it and brought it back to the ship."

Xena, awakened by the conversation stood up and walked over to the rock.
"Namora, is this a friend of yours?"
"Yes, Xena. This is my good friend, Kathryn. Kathryn, this is my new good
friend, Xena."
"A pleasure to meet you, Xena. Thank you for taking such good care of
Namora."
"The pleasure is all mine. She's a real treasure."
"Xena, I'm going home! I'm finally going home."
"I'm happy for ya, Sprite. But, I am gonna miss ya. Grew kinda fond of ya, ya
know."
"What's going on here?"

Gabrielle joined the group. Once more introductions were exchanged and the
explanation given.
"Oh Namora, now who is gonna help me write those rhyming poems when you
leave?" The bard winked at her friend.
"Gabrielle, you will do just fine. Just keep practicing, cause ya know what they
say....'practice makes perfect'."
"Who says that?"
"Never mind. You have talent, Gabrielle. Use it. I have faith in you."
"Namora, we really must go now."
"Oh gosh! You know all of this time I wanted to go home and now that I can I
really don't want to leave you two. You've become such good friends."
"Go on, Sprite. Who knows? Maybe we'll meet again some day."
Xena gently picked Namora up and smiled. The fairy planted a tiny kiss on her
cheek and then flew over to Gabrielle and gave her one too."Ready?"
"Yes, I'm ready now."

Kathryn stood up and Namora settled happily on her shoulder. Xena then
noticed the pin she wore. It was exactly the same as the one Gabrielle had bought
and was now wearing. Kathryn touched the pin lightly and as she did they could
hear several short, soft musical tones.

"Two to beam up."

The figures of the two began to waver and dissipate. As they did Xena and
Gabrielle saw Namora raise her wand, saying something. But they could not
make out the words. Then, finally they were gone, disappeared! Gabrielle turned
around, not wanting her friend to see the tears in her eyes. As she did she caught
sight of someone sitting on the ground near the fire.

"Xena look! It's Callisto!"
At the sound of her name, the leather clad blonde jumped to her feet.
"AIIYEEEEEE!!!!"
Back flipping rapidly, she disappeared into the blackness of the thicket.
"Xena, aren't you gonna go after her?"
"Nah, let her go. She's been through enough for one day. There will be another
time."

Suddenly a chill wind blew through the forest, cooling the two overheated
Amazons nicely. Large flakes of frozen liquid began to fall gently, covering their
hair, their clothes, the ground and the still sleeping Joxer. The two friends looked
at each other in amazement and began to giggle with excitement.

"Snow! Xena, it's snowing! Thank the gods!!!"
"No Gabrielle, I think you can thank Namora. I believe this is her magic. She
remembered and made snow to cool us off."
The bard brushed the snow off of her hair.
"Hey Xena, does this snow look a little purple to you?"
"Nah. Your eyes are playing tricks on you, Gabrielle."
The Warrior Princess winked mischievously at her friend.
Joxer, suddenly awake, sat up, still groggy from sleep. He wrapped his hands
around his bare arms and began to rub them vigorously.
"Brrrrr. Unusual weather we're having, isn't it?"

Just a personal footnote..........I would like to extend my thanks to Mistra and
kram2 who helped me over a couple of rough spots in the beginning. I would
also like to thank Ramona, because without her idea, this tale would never have
been written. :) And Jon.E, if you're reading this, I'd like to thank you too, for
you have been an inspiration to me from the beginning. Without your
encouragement and support, I would have never posted a single story or poem.
Thank you, dear friend. :) And thank you dear readers, for staying with me and
letting me have the honor of entertaining you.

RedPrincess {{~_~}}