From: davideml@bellsouth.net   
      
   6-21    A Friend in Need  (Part One)   
      
      
      
                 First airing was June 11, 2001.   
      
                 The story starts out with Xena and Gabrielle looking at the   
   Auroras. They are talking   
   about going back to Egypt - Xena said she hears they are in need of a girl   
   with a Chakram.   
   Gabrielle hears a noise and says someone's out there. Xena says he's been   
   trying to find them for a   
   half hour. They go out to see and it is a Japanese monk named Kinji with a   
   backpack of sticks with   
   a small overhead shelter to protect him from the sun and rain. He says he is a   
   messenger sent by   
   Akemi. Xena is stunned. He says he saw her several weeks ago in a teahouse.   
      
                 Flashback to Kenji and another monk seeking shelter from a   
   storm. They go into the   
   teahouse and there are three women. Kenji is taken by Akemi's beauty. While   
   she plays on a stringed   
   instrument, the other monk is in a tub with the two women. One of the women is   
   wearing an anklet   
   and she jingles a bell on it. Akemi hears the noise and tells Kenji he must   
   go. The women in the   
   tub have disappeared. A large head with a snake's body bursts into the   
   teahouse. When the body   
   catches up it is a man with gold and red camo paint on his face. He takes a   
   deep breath then blows   
   out freezing air to freeze the monk. He then sucks the monk into him.   
      
                 Kenji sees this and runs and jumps into the water. When he gets   
   up on the dock, Akemi   
   is there and tells him the demon is the lord of the Darkland and he is   
   preparing an army to wage   
   war on the city of Higuchi. She has a sword, the sacred kutana. She tells him   
   he must take the   
   sword and go to the west to find the warrior princess.   
      
                 Cut to a boat on the sea. Gabrielle and Kenji are sparring with   
   kendo sticks. Xena is   
   watching. When Gabrielle asks Kenji what he knows about Akemi he says she is a   
   ghost. Xena calls to   
   Gabrielle to sit beside her so she can tell her the story. She says she and   
   Borias heard about a   
   young girl from Japa kidnapped by a Chinese warlord.   
      
                 Flashback to Xena and Borias talking about the ransom for the   
   girl and Xena is   
   looking forward to a new land to plunder. They enter the tent of the warlord   
   where Akemi is. She   
   knows Xena's  name and says she will protect her and soon love her, and she   
   will teach her   
   everything Xena knows. They offer the warlord 50 pieces of gold for her. When   
   he refuses, Xena puts   
   the Pinch on him then fights off his guards. She takes Akemi and lets the   
   warlord die.   
      
                 Xena and Borias are back on their ship. Xena tries to teach   
   Akemi to defend herself   
   but kicks her in the chest when she can't follow Xena's instructions. She   
   tells Akemi Lesson One is   
   "trust no one."   
      
             As Xena and Akemi leave the ship to go after the ransom, Borias   
   stays behind and tells   
   Xena he gets 10% of the ransom. Xena and Akemi are walking in the snow to   
   Akemi's father's house.   
   They talk about the things Xena can hear in the silence. Xena says every sound   
   is a possible   
   warning of an enemy approaching.   
      
             Akemi writes a verse for Xena -"Yesterday-- the moon took lodging on   
   my sleeve.  Today--   
      
   I have hope for even the brokenhearted stars."   
      
             Gabrielle says how beautiful it is and that she must have loved Xena   
   very much. Xena says   
   she broke her heart.   
      
             When Xena finds out Akemi has been taking her to see her dead   
   grandfather, she isn't too   
   happy. She tells Xena she can hears sounds that Xena can't. After she prays   
   she says her   
   grandfather says that Xena is a wise teacher but her sword isn't good enough.   
   She tells Xena about   
   a Japanese sword, the kutana which is nearby.   
      
             They go into a blacksmith shop where swords are being made. Akemi   
   tells the sensei that   
   Xena wants to challenge for the kutana. Xena strips down to her bra to fight.   
   The sensei cuts her   
   sword in half with his sword. Xena fights barehanded the five or six other   
   men. When the sensei   
   tries to kill Akemi, Xena knocks him out, then gets the kutana.   
      
             Later, when they are camped for the night, Akemi asks Xena if she   
   will teach her how to   
   put on the Pinch. Xena agrees.   
      
             Gabrielle is appalled that after only a few weeks Xena agreed to   
   teach the Pinch to   
   Akemi. Before Xena can answer, the ship captain says Higuchi is under siege   
   and is burning and he   
   will have to turn back. Xena and Gabrielle swim to shore.   
      
             Catapults hurtle fire bombs on the city. Gabrielle says the city is   
   going to be burned to   
   the ground. Xena says they have to release the water in the water tower to   
   save the city. She tells   
   Gabrielle to show her how she would do it. They swing on ropes and bounce off   
   a canvas roof to   
   another one. Then balance on ladders, and walk the ladder to get to the tower.   
   When Gabrielle can't   
   turn the valve to let the water out, Xena uses her sword to break a hole in   
   the tower and the water   
   sprays over most of the city, putting out the fires, and soldiers retreat.   
      
             Gabrielle asks Xena if Akemi ever used the Pinch, Xena says yes.   
      
             Flashback to Xena and Akemi reaching Akemi's father's fortress. He   
   is watching dancers,   
   when a woman dressed in white wearing an ugly mask appears. Xena cuts through   
   a thin screen and   
   fights off two guards. When the woman gets close, she takes the mask off and   
   it is Akemi. She puts   
   the Pinch on her father then prays to her family that she avenges their death   
   at his hands.  She   
   tells him she prays he suffers in death. She tells Xena it was her duty and he   
   had to die. Xena is   
   upset there is no ransom.   
      
             Akemi goes out into the garden and kneels down. She wants Xena to   
   cut her head off to   
   restore her honor. She takes a long knife and stabs herself with it. She wants   
   Xena to take her   
   ashes to the family shrine in Higuchi. Before she dies, Xena decapitates her.   
      
             Gabrielle asks how Xena will feel when she faces Akemi's ghost. A   
   man comes up to them   
   and says he is the killer of ghosts. When Gabrielle says Xena save his city,   
   he says this time. But   
   it does nothing to atone for the last time she was in Higuchi.   
      
             Flashback to Xena wearing Japanese mourning clothes, with her hair   
   cut off with white   
   makeup. The wind is blowing hard. Xena is drinking out of a bottle and   
   carrying the urn with   
   Akemi's ashes. The townspeople feel that Xena is going to defile the graveyard   
   with Akemi's ashes.   
   They attack her and she falls and the urn is broken and the ashes are blown   
   away. Xena grabs a   
   torch and spits sake out at the people setting them on fire. The city begins   
   to burn.   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)