"You'll never get any of them to help you." The deep, rumbling voice echoed through the hall. Gabrielle had no trouble identifying the owner as Ares, the hulking leather-clad God of War. She stepped out of her sleeping chamber, as yet un-noticed by the conversing Gods. When she awoke she discovered that all of her clothes had been cleaned and laid out for her. That was something she had planned to take care of that morning but was grateful she didn't have to.
"You don't know that Ares, I can be very persuasive when I want to be. And besides, you'll help me won't you?" Aphrodite said, pouting for extra effect when Ares looked like he would refuse. Ares rolled his eyes.
"Oh no, not the pout, anything but the pout, you know I can't stand it when you do that!" The big God groaned as his sister's lower lip stuck out even further and her chin began to tremble slightly. He raised his hands as if defending himself from an attack. "Alright! Alright! I'll do my best, but don't expect miracles, after siding with Xena against Athena I'm not exactly everyone's favourite God you know." He sighed heavily as the mournful look on his sister's face was replaced by a brilliant smile that seemed to light the room. Gabrielle could feel its aura warming her even though she stood a good fifteen feet away. "Aww cut that out Dite!" Ares groused, "you know all those love vibes give me the creeps."
"Get over it you big baby." Aphrodite playfully slapped her brother on the arm. "I can't help it, it just happens when I'm happy." She reached up and pecked him on the cheek, leaving a glowing pink kiss-mark that faded after a few moments. "Thank you Ares, this means a lot to me."
"And to me." Gabrielle stepped away from the pillar she had been leaning on. Ares spun around, one eyebrow shooting up as his gaze travelled over her. Gabrielle was fully decked out in the armour she was given in Japan, with her Sais tucked in her boots, the Chakram on one hip and the Samurai sword sheathed at the other, she looked every inch a warrior. Ares let out a low, appreciative whistle.
"Wow, you look... different."
"I am different." Gabrielle's lips twisted into a bitter smile. "Losing a Soulmate will do that to you." She ran her eyes over Ares, noting the shadows under his eyes and several days growth of beard that darkened his cheeks. "You don't look like your usual cocky self either." He lowered his gaze at her comment, self-consciously giving one tarnished bracer a buff with his palm. Gabrielle's expression softened to something near sympathy at the pain in his eyes as he lifted them up again. "You really did love her." She voiced it more as a statement than a question, as if finally acknowledging to herself that the God of War was capable of loving a mortal.
"Just knowing she was around somewhere was enough, you know? Gave me hope that someday maybe she'd get sick of you and I'd win her back." He shot her a half-hearted grin, showing the barest glimmer of the old Ares, then let out a self-deprecating chuckle. "If Hades was still around I'd have to talk to him about that, you shouldn't have to mourn the same person three or four times in one lifetime."
"You can say that again." The Warrior-Bard agreed in a flat tone, having done this too many times herself.
"Whoa, enough of the gloom-fest guys!" Aphrodite piped in. "Like, I miss her too, you know? But isn't that what we're here for? Getting her back so we don't have to spend the rest of our lives totally bumming out?" This seemed to shake the pair out of their mutual funk.
"Right." Ares nodded, straightening up and looking more positive. He snapped his fingers and instantly the fuzz disappeared from his face and his armour returned to a pristine shine. "It may take me a while, if another stone even exists, it may not be in this dimension. But I'll do my best." In a moment of seriousness, he looked directly into Gabrielle's eyes and an understanding passed between them. "I promise." And with that he disappeared in a flashy light show. As the last sparks faded, Aphrodite turned to her guest.
"Are you hungry?" The Goddess of Love asked cautiously. Despite the maternal instinct that had led to her comforting Gabrielle the previous day, she was not really used to dealing with grief-stricken mortals and didn't want to set the Bard off crying again. She was relieved to see a faint smile cross her friend's pale face.
"Actually I am, but I was hoping to do some drills first. Have you got somewhere with enough space?" Gabrielle asked, looking around the Hall and indicating the urns and statues that were dotted all around the place. Aphrodite grinned and snapped her fingers.
"I do now! Right through that door..." she pointed and Gabrielle whirled around, seeing a door in the wall beside her that had not been there a moment earlier. She shook her head, a genuine smile lighting her face.
"Thank you." She said, and the Goddess grinned, wrinkling her nose.
"All part of the service." She said and gestured for the small Warrior to lead the way. As Gabrielle opened the door and walked through it, she inhaled sharply with surprise. Instead of the bare room she had expected, she had apparently stepped into a forest clearing, so similar to the ones she and Xena used to practice in that she had to swallow a sudden lump in her throat.
"Aphrodite this is amazing..." Gabrielle said, walking into the clearing and running her hand over a tree. It felt solid, dispelling her original belief that it was an elaborate illusion.
"Naah, it's easy to conjure this sort of stuff up, I just borrow the ideas from the real thing. So is this okay? I could find you a sparring partner somewhere, maybe grab one of your Amazon friends..." Aphrodite trailed off as the Bard began to shake her head.
"No thanks Aphrodite, this is fine." After so many years of sparring with Xena, she really didn't feel up to practising with anyone else just yet. There would be too many comparisons and the wound was still too fresh. She moved to the centre of the clearing and slowly unsheathed her Katana.
"Hey I've been meaning to ask for like years, what happened to that staff you used to destroy all my temples with?" Aphrodite called out from the hammock that had materialised between two trees.
"I, uh... I threw it away." Gabrielle admitted, her voice laced with regret. "I decided I didn't want to fight anymore."
"And yet here you are, armed to the teeth… so what happened?" Aphrodite asked, indicating the weapons that seemed to cover the blonde woman from head to foot.
"We died." Gabrielle replied flatly. "Because I wouldn't fight, Xena and I were caught and crucified. That put a new perspective on things."
"Oh, yeah." Aphrodite said, remembering the incident. "Man you should have seen Ares when that happened." She rolled her eyes at the memory. "He was so upset, he totally trashed two of his own temples. Then he ranted at Hades for hours because big Bro banned him from going into Tartarus to beat the tar out of Julius Caesar. He went completely wild when Hades admitted you weren't in Elysia or Tartarus. I've never seen him act like that. Honestly, he didn't cool down until the news came through that somehow you'd both been brought back to life. Then he couldn't get to Rome fast enough."
"He really does love her doesn't he?" Gabrielle said. "It seems so strange for the God of War to have fallen in love." She shot Aphrodite an amused if mildly accusing look.
"Hey don't look at me, our special powers don't work on the other Gods. Sure we can throw thunderbolts at each other and stuff, but for instance Ares can't make all the other Gods fight each other, except by annoying us. And Cupie and I can't make him fall in love. Believe me, this is as much a mystery to me as it is to you." Aphrodite twirled a strand of hair around her fingertips and shrugged.
"Well I guess I can't really blame him can I?" Gabrielle chuckled, her expression turning melancholy.
"Hey, none of that. We're going to fix this remember?" The Goddess waited for her friend to nod, then she hopped off the hammock with surprising grace. Gabrielle decided she had to have used magic to hold it still, having been flipped over by the cursed things more than once herself. "Now don't take this the wrong way, this whole mini-warrior thing looks super sexy, but I've always thought this suited you way more than a sword." Aphrodite stated, and held out her hand. A ball of light appeared in it, rapidly expanding into a long pole. After a moment, the light faded to reveal an exact replica of Gabrielle's old Amazon staff.
"By the Gods..." Gabrielle whispered, too stunned to even react to Aphrodite's crack about her size. She sheathed the Katana and reached out to slowly clasp her hand around the weapon. She ran her fingers reverently over the wood and the intricately patterned grips. There were tears in her eyes as she met the Goddess's gaze. "Aphrodite, I... I don't know what to say." She looked back to the staff, noticing that her hands had instinctively found the right grip to perfectly balance her old weapon. "I can't even tell you how much this means to me." She smiled through her tears, taking one hand off the staff to envelop the Goddess in an embrace. Then she pulled back and slapped Aphrodite lightly on her arm. "Careful with the height jokes though, or this "mini-warrior" might just have to kick your butt." She narrowed her eyes and mock-glared at the Goddess.
"This is the thanks I get?" Aphrodite asked, dramatically laying a hand over her heart. Then she winked. "Okay Amazon Warrior-babe, no more size jokes as long as you promise not to take apart any more of my temples with that thing."
"Deal." Gabrielle said, flashing Aphrodite a grin along with her own version of the Goddess's patented nose wrinkle.
"Cool. Okay then, get out there and show me what you're made of!" Aphrodite retreated to her hammock and settled down to enjoy the show. Gabrielle unfastened her sword and laid it on the ground, along with the Chakram and her armour. She moved back into the clearing, settling the length of sun-warmed wood in her hands again.
"It's been a while since I did this." She mused.
"Well, if you hit yourself in the head, I promise I won't laugh." Aphrodite stated, quite sincerely, and Gabrielle chuckled. She began slowly, twirling the staff in figure of eights, spinning it first to one side of her and then to the other. As her muscles warmed up and her body remembered the old pattern of moves, she began to pick up speed, feigning attack and defence, sparring with an invisible opponent. Aphrodite watched in fascination and ever-growing admiration as her friend went through a series of manoeuvres, each one more complicated than the last. After a while, Gabrielle was adding and inventing moves she hadn't been capable when she last fought with the staff. She performed wild leaps and flips, even running up a tree once then tucking and rolling in mid-air to land behind her invisible foe. She followed this with a leg sweep that would have put her opponent on the ground. By the time she finally wound down, Gabrielle was breathing heavily, her body covered with a fine sheen of sweat that glistened in the sunlight filtering through the leaves. She had become so focused on what she was doing that she jumped when Aphrodite began applauding enthusiastically.
"Whoo-hoo! That was awesome!" She ran forward and looked like she would hug the Bard, but she stopped, pulling a face. "Ewww, you're taking a bath before I hug you, sweaty-babe!" Gabrielle laughed, wiping the sweat off her forehead with an equally damp arm. She gathered her weapons and armour and the pair headed back into the Goddess's home. This time Gabrielle was able to give her body the long soak it had been craving. Afterwards, she felt more relaxed than she had since before Xena's death. The pain was still there, like a sore tooth that causes agony if prodded, but she was able to look past it, with hope that her plan would succeed.
