Xena let her sword fall onto the bed, pretending not to see Gabrielle's frown. She pretended while she pulled off her chakram, her whip, and her boots. She pretended while she unfastened her sword belt. She considered pretending while they went down to the tavern for a meal.

But when Gabrielle slammed shut the chest on her side of the room with enough force to make the windows rattle, Xena stopped pretending.

"Just tell me what I did so I can fix it and we can get some sleep before we leave in the morning."

Gabrielle didn't turn around. "Oh, nothing."

Xena took a deep breath, muttering for the gods to give her patience. "Oh, so it's going to be one of THOSE nights."

Gabrielle spun around, eyes burning. "AS IF you don't know."

"If I knew," Xena said in a tone both soothing and annoying, "would I be asking?"

"Sixteen miles, Xena," Gabrielle said. "We traveled 16 miles today, with you on Argo, riding in the spring sunshine, breeze in your hair, listening to the birds sing, and me… "

Xena suddenly pretended to be very, very interested in a piece of mud embedded in the leather of her belt.

"Me, walking with JOXER." She took a step toward Xena. "While he SANG TO ME." She let her finger jab into Xena's chest. "For. Sixteen. Miles."

Xena looked down at Gabrielle, thinking that she must have gotten too much sun that day; her face felt hot. "A little song can make the road a more pleasant…"

Gabrielle's eyes narrowed. "Did you miss the part about it being JOXER singing to me? For…"

"I got it," Xena said. "Sixteen miles." She smiled weakly as Gabrielle continued to glare at her. "Tell you what…"

The next morning, Joxer came out of the inn and headed for the stables, humming to himself. Another day, he thought, another 16 miles with his Gabby by his side… he stopped.

"Xena," he said. "What are you… " He stared down the road, where Argo's tail was disappearing around the bend, a blonde perched on her back.

Xena grinned down at him, and draped her arm across his shoulder. "I thought you and I should spend some time together on this trip," she said.

"You did?" he stammered. "I mean, you did. Of course. Well, I guess we could…"

"Let me tell you a tale while we walk," Xena said, steering him down the road where Gabrielle and Argo had vanished moments before. "It was about a Spartan mercenary I met in Corinth. We traveled together for a while, and it was the funniest thing."

"What was?" Joxer asked.

"He wouldn't stop SINGING," she said, smiling down at him. "Can you imagine how much that annoyed me after the first mile or two?"

"Ummm, well, it must have, ah, been, ah… "

She nodded. "Until, of course, I cut out his tongue." She kept walking, then frowned, glancing back over her shoulder. "Joxer? Are you coming?"