Between the Lines

Between the Lines
Series:	Xena: Warrior Princess (1995)
Season:	Four
Story Number:	083
Writer:	Steven L. Sears
Director:	Rick Jacobson
Producer:
Broadcast:	15 February 1999
Previous Story:	Devi
Following Story:	The Way

Symopsis

"What we sow in life, We reap in our future lives. This is our Karma" (From the Xena "Blue" Scroll… author unknown)

Xena and Gabrielle go native in India garb. Xena puts on a blue outfit and jewelry. Gabrielle approves of it. Xena likes it because it's loose and lets her move. They move on to a procession, where a body is burned. Then a woman is to be thrown on the flames, but Xena stops the people from burning the wife of the dead man. Her name is Nayima. Xena fights the people off while Gabrielle escapes with the woman. She follows them into a house or temple and blocks the door. She enters a room and Nayima follows. She does magic, creating a little blue ball, and then she sends Xena off to her future on a journey which actually involves Xena disappearing.

Xena finds herself in a future life, in another body. She is Armenestra, the Mother of Peace in India, in an old and non-athletic body. She is trying to talk peace to an evil woman. The woman touches Xena, and Xena learns that the woman is Alti in another body. A young man with an army rescues Xena, but he is hurt in the process.

Back in Xena's real time, Gabrielle misses her and Nayima performs magic again, showing Gabrielle the beauty of the universe.

In the future, Alti (known then as Kinden) beats someone up as she tries to learn where Xena is.

Back in Xena's real time, Gabrielle learns that Xena had to go to the future to fight a great evil in order to defend her soul, something to do with karma. Gabrielle convinces Nayima that her soul and Xena's soul have a common bond. Nayima says Gabrielle and Xena share many lives, past and future, and agrees to teach Gabrielle what she needs to know to help Xena.

In the future, Xena cares for Shakti, the army leader who rescued her, because he got a crossbow arrow in his shoulder.

Back in Xena's real time, Gabrielle learns that Mendhi is the key to helping Xena. She is sent to the future. Gabrielle finds herself in the body of Shakti. She doesn't recognize Xena until they touch. Gabrielle explains that Xena has to capture Alti and take her back to their real time in order to defeat her.

Alti wants to learn who helped Xena get to the future, so she decides to kill a young girl because she needs her fear. Xena intervenes and she and Alti talk. Gabrielle and her army attack. Xena goes and frees the people. Fighting breaks out everywhere. Alti takes aim at Gabrielle, and Xena goes to kill her, but one of the followers of the Mother of Peace won't let her kill. Gabrielle is knocked unconscious and the follower is killed, but not before he claimed a box from the past with the things Gabrielle needs to help Xena get Alti back to their real time. Alti captures Xena and Gabrielle.

Xena nurses Gabrielle. When she wakes up, she takes paint out of the box and begins painting an elaborate design on both of their bodies. Alti comes into the room, and Xena and Gabrielle do magic.

Back in their real time, Nayima has been captured again and is thrown into the fire. Xena, Gabrielle and Nayima emerge from the fire. Xena tells everyone to find safety, and Alti emerges from the fire, too. Alti also has her mind powers now, and she attacks Xena with images from her past (like the Berserker guy from Adventures in the Sin Trade I), and Xena feels every blow. Xena fights back, though, but not well enough. Gabrielle comes to help, and Alti breaks her staff. She beats up Gabrielle and then shows Gabrielle the crucifixion scene. Gabrielle's hands and feet start to bleed from the nails in the cross.

Xena stands up and screams "you bitch" at Alti. Alti holds Gabrielle up by the hair, and Xena throws her chakram and chops off Gabrielle's tresses so that she falls to the ground. Nayima comes in and uses magic on Alti. The drawings on Xena and Gabrielle glow, and the three get together to use magic. Xena invents magic chakrams, which she throws at Alti. When they finally hit her, Alti explodes. Xena and Gabrielle crawl to each other and hold one another. Nayima says Alti was at her strongest, then, and now Xena will defeat her in every life reincarnation. Naema disappears in a ball of light. As she leaves, she heals Xena and Gabrielle. Gabrielle now has a short hair cut. She tells Xena that her hair was cut short in the vision. They talk about their karma being intertwined.

Cast

• Lucy Lawless as Xena
• Renee O'Connor as Gabrielle
• Claire Stansfield as Alti
• Tharini Mudiliar as Naiyima
• Colin Mathura-Jeffree as Shakti
• Ajay Vasisht as Acklin
• Gabriella Larkin as Khindin
• Saras Govender as Arminestra

Disclaimer

• Xena's Chakram got Gabrielle by the short hairs during the production of this motion picture.