Akemi

Akemi is a former protege of Xena's. She was taken under Xena's wing, after she was kidnapped and Xena saves her.

She is often considered by fans as a mirror image of Gabrielle.

It is her that is the catalyst of Xena's death in "A Friend in Need II".

She was played by Michelle Ang.

Story
After the events in Chin, envolving Lao Ma, Xena and Borias wanted to conquer a land even further east called Jappa. She hears of a girl, Akemi, that has been kidnapped and her father, Yodoshi, will give a high reward for her return. Xena thinks that this is the best way to fund her quest to conquer every land from Jappa to Brittania, so decides to rescue the girl.

When she finds Akemi and comes face to face with her kidnapper, she negotiates with him and says that she will buy the girl from him, hoping to make an extra dinar along the way. Just before refusing, Borias warns him not to negotiate with Xena, but he doesn't listen. He says that he will not accept money for the girl, so Xena puts the pinch on him and lets him die.

Akemi, awed by what she has witnessed, is more than happy to travel with Xena back to her father, learning a few things along the way. Xena teaches her new protege fighting moves and wisdom. But, after persuasion, Xena teaches her the pinch and her use of it has catastrophic consequences. She uses it to kill her father, to redeem her mother and sister, of whom he killed. Xena then gets angered, as she cannot retrieve her money. Akemi tells Xena that she must kill her, so that she can honor her family. Xena refuses, so Akemi kills herself. Before she dies, she tells Xena to take her ashes to the family shrine.

A more psychopathic looking Xena stumbles through the town of Higuchi, she is jumped by a band of villagers who have teamed up against her for honoring a girl who commited patricide. She drops Akemi's ashes and the wind scatters them. A fire caused by Xena breaks out in Higuchi and kills 40,000 people.

About 30 years later, Xena is approached by a traveller who was sent by the ghost of Akemi. He tells her to head for Akemi in Jappa, as she is in need of her skills to defeat Yodoshi. To meet Akemi, she asks a samurai, Morimoto, to kill her. A fight ensues and she is outnumbered and killed.

Akemi greets Xena at the teahouse and tells her that Yodoshi is drinking from the Fountain of Strength, and can only be killed by the Katana that was blessed by Harakuta. Meanwhile, Gabrielle is informed that in order to revive Xena after her battle with Yodoshi, she must empty her ashes into the Fountain of Strength before sunset.

Gabrielle then ventures to the very top of Mount Fujimara, where Yodoshi waits for Xena and where Morimoto waits for Gabrielle. Gabrielle defeats Morimoto with the Chakram and Xena appears and defeats Yodoshi, releasing the 40,000 souls she codemned to eternal torment.

Akemi is released along with the souls and is forever grateful to Xena.