The lone blonde-haired woman smiled, then whistled to herself. After a moment, she began to sing, the lyrics coming to her naturally:
     "Annie Banannie
     She kicks fanny
     Dangerous with sword and knife
     Learned her skills in a past life
     Never will you outfox her
     She's as good as old Joxer...."
     Annie stopped just outside of the door, and looked at the street outside. As good as old Joxer, she thought, and smiled. Yeah... I really am! She took a deep breath of air, and sang triumphantly:
     "I'm Annie... I'm Annie the Mighty!"
     It was a pretty good song, she realized.

     The kiss ended, and the man and woman drew back and looked at each other wonderingly. The woman smiled hesitantly, and the man followed suit.
     "That was... interesting," the man said.
     The woman nodded, chuckling. "We've never done that before."
     He looked surprised. "Are you sure? According to Annie, that's what the show's all about."
     The woman rolled her eyes. "Oh, the show just does that to get hype." Then she reconsidered. "But... I do feel a bond with you, Harry. Something I can't explain, but it's deeper than any past life experience I've ever had, fake or real."
     "I know. I feel it too." He looked into her blue-green eyes, surprised by the understanding he saw there. After all, he'd just met her this afternoon. Is this going to happen a lot? he wondered. Will it take me a long time to adjust to being known so well by a stranger... and to knowing her in return?
     "Mattie... All I can say is..." He bit back the words "I want you by my side forever" before he could say them. Somehow it seemed too early to make such a commitment, no matter how right and true to himself it felt. "Is... I'm glad we met. Every time it's happened."
     Mattie smiled, and put her hand to his cheek. "Me too," she whispered.
     Harry placed his hand over hers with great tenderness. "Um... I still hardly know anything about you," he confessed.
     "That's right..." Mattie said. "I keep forgetting... It feels like I've known you forever."
     "But I want to know more about you. Can we get dinner someplace?"
     "Sure!" Mattie said cheerfully, stepping away to get her purse. "You like sushi?"
     When her back was turned, Harry made a face.

     Annie unlocked the door to her apartment and walked in. It looked just the same as it always did, to her dismay. Pictures of Xena covered all the walls, and while Lucy Lawless was stunning as always- now that was a good-looking woman, even Annie had to admit- it was a rather embarrassing reminder of her earlier misconception.
     She'd have to get some pictures of Joxer in, now. He was actually pretty handsome when she thought about it, although she felt a little awkward at the thought of being attracted to... well, herself.
     I wonder why he wore that dumb helmet in the first place? she wondered silently, smiling to herself as she made her way to the kitchen. Thank goodness my taste in fashion has improved since then. No hats for Annie!
     Realizing that she was moving without thinking, she looked down to find that she was holding a pasta strainer as if it were the most natural thing in the world to pick up. She shrugged. "I guess spaghetti will be good for dinner tonight," she mumbled, but still wondered just what had drawn her to the strainer. She stared at it for a moment, and then it clicked. She started laughing.
     Dinner went quickly, and quietly. Annie was starting to get uncomfortable in the empty apartment. Not afraid, of course... She may not have really been Xena, but she had more than enough of her own experience with a sword to be able to handle any break-ins.
     No, she was just... lonely.
     It was better this way anyway. She had always felt close to Harry, but something about their relationship had never felt quite right. She'd figured it was because he always had to act like an older brother instead of a boyfriend, or maybe because he was just so emotionally shut off.
     But now she knew the truth. It wasn't her fault, or his, it was just because of their destinies.
     I wonder if Joxer felt like this when he wasn't with Xena and Gabrielle? Poor guy. She toyed briefly with the idea of finding Harry and Mattie and just hanging out with them, but shook her head. They'd made it pretty clear that they weren't too fond of Joxer... or of her. Better to make a clean break, and at least they'd be happy.
     Another fifteen minutes of increasing unhappiness, however, showed her that she just couldn't sit at home. Her video library consisted mostly of all four seasons of "Xena: Warrior Princess," and somehow watching that seemed a bit redundant now.
     The only option still open to her was to go out someplace. She shrugged; why not? She ducked into her bedroom for long enough to change into a more current outfit, then grabbed an item from the kitchen and set out for the evening. She didn't know where she'd end up, but at least it would be interesting...

     "Are you sure you don't want any?"
     Harry shook his head. "It's all yours."
     Mattie sighed, and shoveled a piece of raw tuna into her mouth. Speaking around it, she said, "You could have said you don't like sushi."
     "I wanted to talk to you," Harry said with a shrug. "The food isn't that important."
     "At least try the octopus," Mattie said, extending her chopsticks to her date. He pulled back. "But it's good!" she said with a laugh, and the octopus piece seemed to wiggle.
     Harry couldn't keep from laughing. "And it looks so appetizing-"
     "Nice and chewy too!" Mattie added. Harry lost the rest of his composure, and the two shared a long, easy laugh. After they'd calmed down, Mattie smiled. "I'm glad you can laugh. You always seem so serious, I was afraid you'd had your sense of humour surgically removed." She ate the octopus Harry had rejected.
     "I guess I just like to stay focused," Harry said thoughtfully. "Annie used to mention that a lot... We didn't laugh all that much, although she could be pretty funny when she wanted. She used to call herself 'Annie Banannie' sometimes, and that always cracked me up."
     Mattie raised her eyebrow, her smile a little puzzled. "She sounds like a really nice person, at least."
     "Oh, she is, really. Over-exuberant sometimes though. Sometimes I felt more like her father than..." He stopped, and hung his head. "Sorry. I don't know why I'm talking about Annie so much... we're supposed to be talking about ourselves."
     "She was a big part of your life this time around," Mattie said reassuringly. "It's okay. It's to be expected."
     Harry took her hands in his, chopsticks and all. "But I want to talk to you. What were we talking about before the sushi?"
     "Schools. You told me you went to Yale, but didn't get to your major."
     "Right. Well, picking a major took me a long time since there was an awful lot I was interested in, and good at. I ended up doing a double major in medicine and history, with a minor in anthropology, and I went on to intern at Princeton for a while. That's where I met Annie actually, in the medical department."
     Mattie looked shocked. "At Princeton? She was a med student?!"
     "Oh no. No, Annie never finished her second year of university. When I met her she was earning money as a guinea pig for some of the science department's experiments, and she had a tendency to go to the medical department a lot as a result. But, on the plus side, she's now immune to all forms of poison and has a stomach made of iron. She can digest anything, which came in handy when it was my turn to cook."
     Mattie laughed. "It sounds like Annie was a lot of fun!"
     Harry smiled for a moment, then winced. "Sorry. I did it again."
     "Don't worry," Mattie said. This time she took his hands herself. "You know, since Annie keeps coming up in conversation, maybe we should be talking to her. After all, if her soul keeps finding both of ours, then obviously there's a reason."
     He squeezed her hands and nodded. "I never thought of it that way," he said. "You know, I think you'll like Annie once you get to know her, too."
     "I know I will," Mattie agreed. "I always have."

     The apartment was empty when they got there. Harry turned on all the lights in every room and even checked underneath the bed, but there was no sign of Annie.
     "Would she have gone someplace else?" Mattie asked from the main sitting room. The place was certainly decorated in an... obsessive fashion.
     "I guess she must have," Harry called back. "I didn't think she had any other place to go." He returned to Mattie and took her hand as a reflex. Mattie smiled and didn't mention it. "I guess we go look for her."
     "But where? Didn't she even have any favourite hangouts?"
     Harry sighed. "Her favourite hangout was alt.tv.xena for a while, and then she moved on to the Xena Paladium or whatever it's called. She doesn't have any real life places to go."
     "Well then... Where would Joxer go?" Mattie smiled sheepishly at how lame that question sounded, but Harry's eyes flashed in inspiration. They both thought seriously for a moment, then their eyes met.
     "A tavern."
     Their visits to the nearest bars were unfruitful. It was more than an hour before they came across Meghan's, the small bar in a back alleyway. They would have ignored it if the name hadn't resonated for some reason.
     As it turned out, Annie was indeed there, sitting in a corner and holding some silver-grey object in one hand. When they got closer, they both recognized it as a pasta strainer, and gave each other puzzled looks.
     "Annie?" Harry said quietly. His ex-girlfriend jumped and whirled to face him, shock painted across her face.
     "Harry!? What are you doing here??" She noticed Mattie, and her eyes grew even wider. "And her?"
     "We came to find you, Annie," Mattie answered slowly, and tried to smile even though she felt a distance of some kind between herself and this woman.
     Harry gave a disapproving look at Annie's empty shot glass. "I think it's time to call it quits, hon. You know how alcohol affects you."
     Annie scowled at him. "I'm not your 'hon' anymore." He and Mattie both flushed at his mistake. "And for your information, I've only had a couple of Jell-O shooters, and I don't get drunk off of those. So stop bossin' me around, Harry. You're always in everyone's business." She finalized her speech by sticking her tongue out at the tall man, then turning her back on him.
     Harry sighed and put his hand over his eyes. Before he could speak again, Mattie put in, "Annie, can we sit with you?"
     "I think it's better if you don't," Annie answered, keeping her back to them. "If you guys want the apartment I guess you can have it. It'll be easier for me to pay for a one-person place anyway."
     "That's not it," Harry said patiently. "We just want to talk to you for a while- as our friend."
     Turning to face him again, Annie said, "Forget it, Harry, we already decided never to see each other again!!"
     "You decided that, not me," Harry said, his expression going quite cool. He raised an eyebrow and bit the inside of his cheek. "I never had any say in the matter, and I don't quite like that."
     Annie was unimpressed. "Yep, well, that's fate."
     Mattie watched, her head turning to look first at one friend and then the other. Finally she just couldn't stand it any longer. "Okay, enough! Harry, sit down there, and Annie you stay put!!" Both of the two looked surprised, and did as she said. "Okay, Annie, why do you think we shouldn't be with you?"
     Annie sighed, a resigned sigh that conveyed her frustration at having to explain this again. "Because that's not the way it goes. Lemme guess, you don't watch the show either, huh?"
     "That's not important," the past lives therapist replied. "Tell me, in your own words, why you're never going to see us again."
     "Okay," Annie said, rolling her eyes. "Xena and Gabrielle are soulmates. They're the two most important people in the world to each other, ever. Joxer doesn't really have a place with them, even though he's their friend. It's just not the same."
     Harry interjected, "But why should that mean that you have to stay away from us?"
     "Because I am Joxer! Look, if you just watch the way it is on the show-"
     "Maybe," Mattie interrupted, "the show doesn't show everything the way it really is."
     Annie gave her a sideways look. "Why do you care so much anyway?"
     "Because I..." Mattie stumbled, suddenly finding herself slightly shy. "I feel something between us... The same way I do between myself and Harry. Not as strong, but it's there. Do you feel it too?"
     The blonde woman was silent, her blue eyes cloudy with confusion. "I dunno," she mumbled eventually. "Maybe sorta, but... I don't know, maybe it's just because you mentioned it."
     Mattie looked to Harry for help. He thought for a moment, then said, "Couldn't you do something with that hypnotizing thing? Show her something?"
     "Not that again," Annie groaned faintly.
     With a snap of her fingers, Mattie grinned. "No, that's a great idea! But we'll have to go someplace more quiet."
     "The apartment," Harry said without hesitation.
     Annie sighed. "I'd really rather not..."
     "Oh, please?" Surprisingly, it was Harry who made the request. Annie looked startled.
     "Are you begging me now?" she said with a smile.
     Taking her hand and standing, Harry answered, "I'm not begging, just asking."
     "No, that was begging," Annie said with certainty as she got to her own feet. She let Harry pull her away, as Mattie followed behind them, wondering about their situation.

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