"This is irony for You." She tried to make Her comment sound casual, but He heard the fury and despair underlining it.

He stepped up next to Her on the mountain and brought His Sister close to His side. "It's going to be okay," He promised to Her as He had to Xena.

"How?" She demanded, turning to Him and shooting Him full of daggers from Her suddenly ice blue eyes. "We have a buffoon and a thief trying to rescue them, and We're forbidden from intervening or helping the mortals in any way." Aphrodite crinkled Her nose and stomped Her foot. "Daddy can be such a pain in the - !"

He squeezed Her so close to Him that She could feel every inch of His muscles against Her soft and supple skin. She stopped speaking instantly and looked deeper into His eyes. She saw the power ripple over him, witnessed the lightning flash in His eyes, and suddenly She understood as He spoke again, "They are going to survive this."

She grinned and wriggled Her perfect nose in an entirely different way. "Sometimes, I really love You, Brother."

Ares' grin was bold, broad, and fully confident. "I know," He commanded, "but show Me again." She closed the distance between Them and kissed Him like only the Goddess of Love knew how. She knew He would not fully give in to Their kiss, not yet at least, but this was the perfect distraction to keep Zeus from seeing Ares looking through Joxer's eyes. If Her Brother said He would make something happen, Aphrodite believed Him and, more importantly, in Him as long as it wasn't stopping the Warrior Princess. This was helping Her friends, however, and finally She knew, though She didn't know how, that Xena and Gabrielle would survive their crucifixions.

The End