Xena asked, “what?” Ulysses asked as he
looked into her blue depths, “I just want you Ulysses, I just
want you, all of you, nothing more and nothing less,” Xena
said as she caressed his cheek and as he looked into her eyes he
could see that she meant what she was saying. “I just want
you,” Xena whispered once more with passion and longing in
her voice, as they leaned their foreheads against each other while
looking into each other’s eyes. Ulysses closed his eyes as he
pulled Xena closer to him while gently rubbing her arm, “open
up to me,” Xena said, her words barely audible but Ulysses
heard them as though she had shouted them from a mountain top.
“It’s not what I can say but what I can do that will
open up that part of me,” Ulysses said and Xena nodded.
“But not tonight…tonight I just want to be with
you,” Ulysses said as he caressed Xena’s cheek while
looking into her eyes.

 

 

“I just want to hold you and talk to
you,” Ulysses said and Xena looked into his eyes where she
could see he needed that and she needed and wanted that as well, so
she nodded and that’s what they did, for the rest of the
night and into the early morning they stayed up talking about
anything and everything. They laughed and clowned around, they held
each other and spoke of their dreams and ambitions, it was one of
the best nights either one of them had, for instead of making love,
they chose to give each other intimacy, something that was most
often times taken for granted in relationships because a
relationship is nothing if you don’t get to know and continue
to know the person you’re in the relationship with.

 

 

They had fallen asleep in front of the fire place,
the fire and each other’s arms keeping the other warm through
the night. When Xena woke, the sun was shining and she stretched
some then looked up at Ulysses who was still asleep. She smiled to
herself as she remembered last night and at that moment she was so
happy and so comfortable, she just caressed Ulysses’ chest
and fell back to sleep. When Xena did wake up, Ulysses was no where
in sight but she did notice she had been moved to the bed. She laid
in bed for a couple of minutes before Gemini jumped onto the bed
and Xena played with her before she got up and went to the bath
chamber to get herself cleaned up. As she stood in the mirror and
looked at herself she looked at the room behind her and all that it
held, “I could get use to this,” Xena said to herself
then looked down at the ring on her finger.