From: daviderl31@yahoo.com   
      
                           6.22 A Friend in Need  (part two)   
      
   First aired on June 18, 2001.   
      
   The story starts out at the end of AFIN part 1. Xena is burying her warrior   
   breastplate, leathers and sword, and using her Chakram to cover them up. She   
   is in the gold and black armor. She hears drums in the distance. And then   
   the sound of soldiers coming, horses, and a wagon carrying barrels and bombs   
   with a flammable liquid and probably gun powder.   
      
   Gabrielle is also listening to the quiet. She remembers Xena's advice about   
   listening to the sounds behind the sound. She realizes Xena was telling her   
   she is sacrificing herself. She runs back to find  Xena.   
      
   Xena throws the Chakram and it hits the wagon, spilling its contents. It   
   then ricochets and knocks a torch from a soldier's hand, igniting the liquid   
   causing a tremendous explosion, which forms a mushroom cloud. The fiery   
   shockwave burns trees and soldiers nearest to the explosion. Xena, many   
   other soldiers, and Gabrielle are knocked to the ground.   
      
   Xena runs up a tree and begins to shoot arrows at the soldiers. When she   
   runs out of arrows, she jumps to the ground. Suddenly volley after volley of   
   arrows fly toward Xena. She manages to catch some and deflect others. But   
   she is hit in the shoulders and leg. Then in the stomach. She gets angry,   
   pulls the kutana from its scabbard and attacks the soldiers, hacking,   
   slashing, and yelling Gabrielle's name. Many soldiers are killed but her   
   wounds begin taking their toll. She hesitates as she sees the samurai   
   general and before she can defend herself, he cuts her head off.   
      
   Gabrielle enters the battlefield littered with bodies. She finds the Chakram   
   covered with blood.   
      
   In the teahouse, Akemi is playing her instrument. The kutana reappears. A   
   naked Xena walks in and then is dressed in a flowing red robe.   
      
   Gabrielle sees the ghost hunter killing the souls as the leave the bodies to   
   keep Yodoshi from swallowing them. Gabrielle insists Xena is alive.   
      
   Xena tells Akemi this underworld feels different from others. Akemi says it   
   is a illusion projected by Yodoshi. The woman with the anklet stamps her   
   foot and it rings. Yodoshi arrives in a black swarm. Everyone bows but Xena.   
   His right arm becomes a fiery lasso. He grabs Xena and throws her around. He   
   uses his arm as a whip and burns the robe from her. Xena tells him she is at   
   his service. He turns back into a swarm and disappears.   
      
   Xena and Akemi are outside the teahouse. Xena leaves, knowing the anklet   
   woman will follow. Xena and Gabrielle find each other in the woods and hug.   
      
   When Gabrielle asks about the robe, Xena says she is going to kill Yodoshi.   
   When Gabrielle tries to give her back the Chakram, Xena's hand passes   
   through it. Gabrielle realizes Xena is dead and asks how she could let   
   herself be killed. Xena tells her she had to do it alone or they'd both be   
   dead. Gabrielle asks if that's supposed to make her feel better.   
      
   The ghost killer arrives and Gabrielle tells him to stay away. Xena says   
   they are working together. Xena grabs anklet woman and throws her toward   
   ghost killer. He stabs her and her soul is gone. Xena catches the anklet   
   before it hits the ground.   
      
   Back at the teahouse Xena tells Akemi with the anklet they can call Yodoshi   
   when they're ready. Gabrielle is walking over the small bridge to the   
   teahouse.   
      
   Xena tells Akemi Gabrielle is her soul mate, but they are interrupted by the   
   ghost killer. He asks Gabrielle if she will risk her life for the return of   
   Xena's. Gabrielle says yes. He tells her she must find Xena's body, burn it   
   and take the ashes to the Fountain of Strength on Mt. Fuji before sunset the   
   next day.   
      
   Xena then introduces Gabrielle and Akemi to each other. Gabrielle starts to   
   leave but  Akemi says she wants to give her something. She tattoos something   
   on Gabrielle's left calf, and a dragon over her entire back.   
      
   A thunderstorm breaks as Gabrielle finds the camp where Xena's headless and   
   naked body is hanging by her arms. It's all Gabrielle can do to keep from   
   vomiting. She yells for them to give her Xena's head, then cuts her down and   
   wraps her in a tarp or blanket.   
      
   The samurai general comes up behind Gabrielle.  He says killing Xena was   
   honorable. Gabrielle says she was outnumbered 1000 to one, and he is a   
   fraud.   
      
   She accepts a challenge to fight. They circle each other carefully, neither   
   making the first move. Gabrielle is listening to all the sounds. He attacks   
   but she sidesteps his sword, knocks him down and has her sword at the back   
   of his neck. He asks the she grant him a noble defeat and take his head. She   
   knocks him out with the butt of her sword., finds Xena's head, then leaves.   
      
   In the teahouse. Xena puts on the anklet then rings it. Yodoshi bursts in.   
   When he sees Xena he asks where the other woman is. Ghost killer  pops up   
   from the tub and stabs Yodoshi in the back. He is flipped over and the sword   
   goes flying. Xena grabs it and kicks Yodoshi into the tub. When she tries to   
   stab him, the water boils and he rises up as steam to the rafters. The steam   
   condenses and a drop falls to the floor and Yodoshi is reformed.   
      
   Ghost killer is stabbed by Yodoshi. Akemi is thrown into the tub and Yodoshi   
   blows on it, freezing the water and trapping her. He and Xena fight some   
   more. She cuts off his right arm then stabs him. He turns into a swirling   
   flame and rockets up through the roof. Xena breaks the ice and frees Akemi.   
      
   Gabrielle lights Xena's funeral pyre.   
      
   Ghost killer tells Xena that Yodoshi has gone to the Fountain on Mt Fuji. He   
   dies.   
      
   Gabrielle rides toward Mt Fuji but the samurai general is blocking her way.   
   He shoots her horse with an arrow. They begin to fight. The urn with Xena's   
   ashes is kicked up into the rocks. Gabrielle and the samurai fight within   
   site of the urn. When he is knocked out by Gabrielle, his arm hits the urn   
   and it rolls over a cliff. Gabrielle can see it lodged in a bird's nest ten   
   or fifteen feet below.   
      
   Yodoshi is at the Fountain and is using a sword to try to open a valve to   
   let it flow. Xena runs up and throws him away. She is waiting for the water.   
   As it starts to fall, he blows on it, freezing it. The ice  breaks up and   
   flies everywhere. Xena is blown a dozen or more yards away and lands hard   
   and is out.   
      
   Gabrielle runs back to find Xena. Xena tells her she needs water from the   
   Fountain. Akemi is there and tries to kill Yodoshi. He blows her away from   
   him. He sees a piece of ice and using his tongue grabs and swallows it. His   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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