Season 6 Episode 21 - A Friend in Need I

While trying to decide what to do in their future Xena and Gabrielle are visited by monk. He tells them that Akemi, someone who Xena knew in her past, has sent him. A short while ago he and another monk went to a tea house and saw Akemi when he was there a spirit with the body of a snake burst into the tea house and killed his friend. He got away thanks to Akemi, who told him to go and find Xena and give her a certain sword or else the spirit, called Yodoshi, will take the souls of everyone in Higuchi. Xena and Gabrielle agree to go to Japa with him and help Akemi, on the way there Xena tells Gabrielle that Akemi is a ghost and starts to explain how they met along time ago. When Xena was evil and with Borias a reward was offered by Akemi's father to anyone who would return her to him, as a man had captured her.

Xena and Borias went to find Akemi so they could random her back to her father. But Akemi and Xena got on very well and Xena promised to train Akemi to fight while she was taking her back to her father. Akemi tries to teach Xena love by ready her some of the poems that Akemi wrote, and Akemi is a great poet. Still going back to Akemi's father Akemi takes a detour so that Xena can fight and win a sword called the sacred Katana (it's a Samurai sword). Xena wins the sword, it's that same sword the monk had to take back to Xena, and continues her travel with Akemi back to Akemi's father. That night before going to bed Xena teaches Akemi the pinch. Meanwhile Xena and Gabrielle have reached Japa, as soon as they get there the entire city of Higuchi is on fire, because some of Yodoshi's Samurai warriors are attacking it, and so Xena asks Gabrielle how they should put the fire out. Gabrielle notices a water tower high up in the city and Gabrielle manages to show Xena how they can both reach it. When they get to it they release the water all over the city putting out the flames. Then Xena tells Gabrielle more about Akemi and the past. Xena and Akemi finally reached her father and Xena was about to claim the ransom when Akemi puts the pinch on her father, killing him. While he is dying she says that this act will avenge the deaths of her mother, her grandparent and her sister. Xena gets very annoyed because this means no ransom money but then outside Akemi asks Xena to restore her honour by using the Katana to cut of her head then put her ashes in her family shrine in Higuchi. Xena doesn't want to but when Akemi stabs herself in the stomach Xena does. Back in the normal time the people of Higuchi celebrate the flames being put out when a man, called Ghostkiller, tells Xena that along time ago she murdered all the people of Higuchi except a few. First Xena is confused then she realises what happened when Xena was putting Akemi's ashes in her family shrine the people of Higuchi attacked her because they heard that she was honouring someone who killed their own father. In the fight the urn that carried the ashes got broken and so Xena set a man on fire. The flames spread and killed 40,000 people. Then Akemi's dead father's spirit was so evil that he became Yodoshi eater of souls and took the 40,000 souls of Higuchi to torment forever. Xena now realises that she is guilty of a greater evil then she ever thought possible and swears to put things right. Later Xena shows Gabrielle that many Samurai warriors are gathering ready to attack the city while Gabrielle goes off to warn the others Ghostkiller comes up and to Xena, Xena asks him how come he can't kill Yodoshi's ghost but can kill everyone else's. Ghostkiller tells her that he can kill Yodoshi's ghost but can't get close enough to do it because only another spirit can capture a spirit as power as Yodoshi's. Then Xena gets a look in her eye like she has a self-sacrificing idea. Then Gabrielle and Xena meet just before going to battle against the Samurai's and Xena shows her the pinch and tells her that if she only had thirty second left to live that she would want to live them looking into Gabrielle's eyes. Then Xena tells Gabrielle that they have to split up, Gabrielle has to go to the east because some of Yodoshi's archers are there, Xena is going off to fight some other of Yodoshi's men.