From: daviderl31@yahoo.com   
      
                                           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\with the head, it is a   
   man with gold and red camo paint on his face. He takes a 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  the five or six other men barehanded. 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 roof. Then   
   balance on ladders, and walk the ladders 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)