Chapter 379

XENOIS

"I know," I said, putting my arm around her carefully. "I miss her too. Sometimes I'll be in the middle of pack business and think 'Xena would have a funny comment about this' and then I remember she's gone and it hits me all over again."

"Does it get easier?" she asked. "Does the missing ever stop hurting?"

"No," I said honestly. "But you learn to carry it better. You learn that grief and love are two sides of the same coin. That missing her means she mattered. That the pain is proof of how much we loved her."

We sat together in the quiet, both crying...