Summery:
A present day story, taken place in New York. Alisa and Len have been banned from Greece, forced to move. Old friends are brought back together and family is restored. Several lives change dramatically.
Cast: Alisa-Gab Len-Xena Ares-Ares John-Virgil Nicole-Eve
Of Times and Times Again
By Lissia
Chapter 1. Reunions and Loss:
Alisa smiled as she got off of the train. “What a nice place. Don’t ya think so?” Her friend, Len, comes off after her and wrinkles her nose, “No.” “You don’t like anything!” “I loved Greece!” Alisa rolled her eyes, “Only because of Trudy!” Len stared at her, “I loved that horse and because of you we were banned from Greece and had to sell her!” “You blame everything on me!” Len rolled her eyes and went up to her apartment, what was to become her home, though she could never picture it being that. Alisa on the other hand went to a nearby store. They had gone their separate ways now. “I hope she never comes back,” Len states harshly. Alisa hears her, but pretends not to have, honestly the words stung severely. ‘I am such a terrible person,’ she thought.
Later that day, there was a knock at Len’s door. She rolled her eyes, “Yes.” She said, opening the door. “Oh My God! Nicole!” A young red- head, followed by a young man, walked into the living room of the apartment. “Hi mom.” “Len through her arms around her daughter’s neck, then turned to the man, “So you two finally got married? Bout time. I was about to force ya to.” “Hi Len,” he said, blushing a little. “Mom go easy on John, you know he’s not a very open man.” He blushed more. “Sorry sweetie,” Nicole said, then she turned to her mother who was beaming at her, “I’m sorry about Alisa.” Len looked confused, “What about her? We just went our separate ways, that’s all, we’ll get back together soon, I’m sure.” John shook his head, “You haven’t heard?” She shook her head, “Heard what?” Nicole’s eyes filled with tears and she through herself into her husband’s arms, sobbing. “She’s dead. Today, shortly after you two arrived, she ran in front of a construction truck and died immediately.” Len’s face went pale and she fell to the floor. Nicole sat down next to her, trying to comfort her mother, who was in shock. “Dead? That’s not possible. Where is her body?” Nicole sighed heavily, trying to control her own emotions, “Come with us, we’ll take you to her.” Len nodded and took John’s extended hand. Then, turned an helped her daughter.
John drove them a few blocks, then stopped. “Is this where she is?” He nodded, “Go on in and tell them who you are, they’ll let you in to see her body. Take your time, we’ll wait for you, no matter how long it takes.” “Thanks, you two are the best.” She excited the car and walked into the small building. The man at the front desk smiled, “Hello madamn, can I help you?” Len raised as eyebrow, “Uh, yeah, I’m Len-” “Ah, you must be here to see Alisa, am I correct?” She was shocked, how had he known that, feeling at a loss for words, she mearly nodded. “Go down the hall, last door on the right. Take your time.” She smiled, then took a deep breath and went down the hall. “He seems familiar,” she said quietly. She looked behind her and saw that he was starring after her, smiling devilishly. “That smile..I swear I’ve seen it before.”
Walking into the room, she saw a form covered by a white cloth, she took a deep breath and uncovered the form. There was Alisa, laying there, looking asleep almost. “Oh my god! I am so sorry Alisa. You are the best thing that has ever happened to me, I want you to know that. I know I didn’t treat you right all the time and I am so sorry for that, I am so desperately sorry! Why’d it have to end like this? We were meant to be together, as friends, as sisters almost. You were my soul reason to do what is right, my inspiration, my light. You were my hope! I love you Alisa.” Her head fell onto the table as she cried, clinging to her dead friend’s hand. She stayed like that, crying and apologizing several times. Finally, she sighed and stood up. then wiped the tears from her face and prayed she didn’t look too bad. “Good-bye Alisa, my dearest friend ever. I will always love you.” At that she left the room and went back up front.
The man was still there, starring at her. It made her terribly uncomfortable, “You have a problem?” His eyes jerked away form her, “I have no problem, do you know who I am?” She couldn’t rightly answer that question, but something within said yes and that came out of her mouth as well, “Yes, I do know you.” He smiled, “Very good Xena.” She laughed, “It’s Len.” Then she wrinkled her nose in thought, “Wait, no you’re correct, aren’t you?” He nodded, “You’ve been through some changes, no leather, no whip and you don’t seem to really recognize me.” Right then, something snapped within her, “Ares,” she growled. He laughed, “Then again, maybe you do.” She slammed him against a wall, “What are you doing here?” “Nice greeting, Xena. I am here to be with you as always. I still love you.” She laughed bitterly, “That’s a load of crap and we both know it. Don’t you think I’ve been through enough today? Ali-Gabrielle just died! And now you have come to tell me more lies! I don’t want to see you, ever! Not in this lifetime, not in any!” She released him and stormed out of the building, tears running down her face. Everyone could tell that she was mad and therefor, the ride home was quite. Arriving at her apartment, she got out and slammed the door, “Mom, are you going to be okay?” “Don’t worry about me Nicole, I can take care of myself just fine. You worry about yourself and that baby you’re carrying.” John and Nicole looked startled. “Yes I could tell! It’s a mother thing.” She laughed, then went into her apartment for a nice, long sleep.
Chapter 2. Grief:
Len awoke with a jerk at midnight. Images from her dream were still in her head, images of Alisa, of Gabrielle. Grabbing a sheet of paper and a pen, she started to write what was on her mind. “I am Xena, yes, I know that, but I am Len now. I was Xena, there’s the wording, was. She will always be me, but now I have to leave her behind and be Len. Alisa, who was Gabrielle, my closest friend no matter who she was, is dead, gone forever. A little voice is saying that there’s always a way to revive a loved one, but I know that’s Xena’s thinking, not mine. She’s dead, end of discussion. Nicole must be Eve, making John..Virgil! That sounds like it would work out. And now...Ares is here too. I have to deal with him. I know he won’t leave me alone, he doesn’t know how to do that. I can’t believe he wanted me to believe that he loved me. I know that he is Ares, but as I am Len, he too must have a counterpart. What am I saying? He’s a god..or wait, no he isn’t. Or is he? Oh well. Still though, my soul reason for loving is dead. Poor Alisa and it’s all my fault. If I hadn’t have gotten mad at her, she would still be alive, with me.” At that, Len broke into tears, hanging her head low so that her hair covered her face. There was a knock at the door, “Ares,” she whispered. She decided to ignore it, but when it just didn’t stop, she got up an opened the door. Nicole was standing there, in tears. “What’s wrong sweetie?” “Me and John got into a fight. He didn’t hurt me or anything, I just had to get out of that house. I didn’t know where else to go, I wanted to feel safe and I always do with you.” Len put her arm around her daughter and led her into the bedroom, helping her lay down, then laid down beside her. “Shh..Sleep now. Sleep. Everything will look better in the morning.” She didn’t believe it, but Nicole did and that was all that mattered right now.
Chapter 3. Relationships Refound:
The next morning Len awoke and went to take a shower. As she got out, there was a knock on the door. She opened it and John was standing there, looking very upset. “What do you want?” “Is Nicole here? Oh, please say she is!” “She is, what do you want with her?” “She’s my wife! I want to see her! Is she okay?” “I’m fine, why wouldn’t I be?” Ah...Nicole woke up, “It’s okay mom, I want to talk to him, alone.” “Yeah, alright, I’ll go make breakfast.” They both made weird faces. Len rolled her eyes, then walked off. “Nicole, sweetie, I am so sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. I’ll go to the breathing classes with you if you want me to. I’m there for you one-hundred percent.” “Good. I just think that these classes will help us be better parents, they teach us what to do and how to do it.” “I know, I know. I read their little pamphlet thing, they sound good. I like it,” John finished, wrapping his arm around her. “I just have one problem,” he said. She sighed, “What is it?” “Do I have to eat your mother’s cooking?” She laughed, “No way, I would never force that on anyone. Let’s just leave.” He laughed and they walked out of the door, Len watching as they did so. “My cooking isn’t that bad.”
Len stared at the wall, Nicole and John were gone and she had nothing to do. Wind rushed through a window, “How that get open?” She asked herself as she closed it. “Perhaps a friend wanted to make an entrance.” She turned ready to strike out, “Ares, go away! Can’t you take a clue? I want nothing to do with you. Leave me be.” “Here me out first,” he commanded. “Then you’ll leave?” He nodded, “If you wish me to, yes.” She considered it, “Alright, I’ll listen.” “Thank-you.” He sat down on the couch and she joined him. “I followed you and Alisa here from Greece when you two were banned. I made sure that Trudy had a good home, then I took off after you, which wasn’t too hard. I made sure you couldn’t tell I was around, but I stayed close the whole time. I even tried to safe your little friend, but I was too late. I knew that I had to talk to you, so I acted as if I worked at the morgue, you saw through it as I knew you would. I love you more now than I ever have. And I never meant to hurt you. Please give me a second chance to prove myself to you. That is all I have to say, so if you wish, I shall leave you now.” He got up, but Len grabbed his arm and forced him back down. “Trudy is safe because of you, thank-you. And you tried to save Gabrielle and that in itself means allot to me.” “Xena, I would do anything for you, don’t you see that?” He sounded desperate and she knew it was true. “I know.” “Do you accept it? Accept me?” She thought briefly, then looked him in the eyes, “I do.” He smiled and held her close, kissing her forehead as he did so. “Stay with me?” She asked quietly. “I will never leave you again, I swear.” She kissed him fiercely and upon separating asked, “Think you could transport us to a nice ranch or something and then get Trudy here?” He laughed, “What about Eve?” Her and Virgil can come with. After all, I’ve got to see my grandchild at some time.” He laughed, then transported them along with Eve and Virgil back to Greece.
Epilogue:
Xena quickly explained what was going on and where they were. Ares found Trudy and made sure she got brought back to Xena. And soon there after, Xena and Ares were wed. Eve later gave birth to a baby girl which they named Alisa, after the irritating blond. And a year after that Xena also had a child, a boy, which they named Mike. The two children were best friends, though also relatives. And the family stayed closer than ever. Although still no one would eat Xena’s cooking no matter how much she insisted that it was fine.
Please e-mail the author of this story with your comments. lissia_rieger@hotmail.com
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