Lawless admits that even she wasn't sure about Xena's sexual orientation until the last episode. But once Gabrielle had to revive Xena by passing water into her mouth, Lawless says it was clear that these two characters were more than just close friends. "There was always a 'Well, she might be or she might not be,' but when there was that drip of water passing between their lips in the very final scene, that cemented it for me," she says in her thick New Zealander accent. "Now it wasn't just that Xena was bisexual and kinda liked her gal pal and they kind of fooled around sometimes, it was, 'Nope, they're married, man.'"

During a follow-up telephone conversation with the Lesbian News (while Lawless was in Los Angeles scoping out her next project), she more fully explored Xena's sexuality and her past loves. During the final episode of the series, we are introduced to Akemi, who needs Xena's help in slaying a spirit-gobbling ghost. Akemi and Xena met years earlier, when Xena was still an evil Warrior Princess. Lawless says it was Akemi who turned Xena around, in more ways than one.
"Akemi was Xena's first love, her coming out relationship," Lawless says. "She was the one who turned her on to her true sexuality. I don't know what she [Xena] was doing with all those guys in the first season."
When Xena introduces Gabrielle as her soulmate to Akemi in that final episode, Lawless says it almost made her feel like she had lied about the nature of her characters' relationship while doing numerous press interviews throughout the years. "People would ask me and I would hedge because she'd had all these boyfriends and I would say, 'I don't know, whatever they do on their own time is nobody's business,'" Lawless explains. "Had I known about Akemi before the last episode of the sixth season, I would have gone, 'Yeah, I think she is, I absolutely think she is.' But not until then would I say that."

Dein Outing (man möge mir verzeihen, wenn ich es jetzt erst kapiert habe - bin schließlich neu hier) hat mich schwer beeindruckt. Ich meine, es ist nicht jedermanns/jederfraus Sache, seine persönliche Lebenseinstellung auf einem Board auszuposaunen, noch dazu zu einem so heißen Thema. Aber damit bewegen wir uns natürlich auch auf Glatteis... also wenn was falsch ankommt, gleich beschweren und nicht lange Groll aufbauen!