The confidence that came with the implementation of her plan lifted Gabrielle's spirits considerably, and for a while she seemed almost her normal self again. Aphrodite and her guest settled into a routine of sorts. Each day would start the same, with Gabrielle rising and doing an hour or so of drills with her various weapons before breakfast. More often than not, The Goddess came to watch, encouraging the young Warrior to greater levels of stamina, speed and flexibility. Gabrielle quickly regained the tone and strength she had lost through lack of food and sleep during the weeks of travelling back from Japan. Regaining her vitality was also aided by the endless supply of food that Aphrodite provided. In fact, Gabrielle joked that she would have to increase her morning exercises to avoid getting fat. They spent the rest of their days talking and playing games of strategy that quite a few of the Gods enjoyed. Occasionally, Aphrodite would zap them down to Thebes or Athens and they would wander through the markets, browsing the wares. Gabrielle even taught Aphrodite how to haggle with the merchants. The Goddess didn't need to buy anything, being able to create anything she wanted, but she found that she had fun doing it anyway. She was impressed with Gabrielle's skills in that area, and was happy to see her friend smiling, laughing and enjoying life again.

But as days turned into weeks with no word from Ares, the Bard's optimism began to ebb away and she slowly withdrew into herself. Aphrodite tried to contact her brother, even calling on the other Gods to help find him, but she was unable to track him down. The fact that he had not yet returned empty handed gave her some hope, and she tried to buoy up Gabrielle's flagging spirits with that fact. As time went on, even knowing that Ares was still out there searching didn't help, for they both began to believe that if the War God had not yet found a stone, then it may be beyond even his power to recover one.

Then one day he returned, appearing out of nowhere looking exhausted but happy.

"This what you were looking for little lady?" He asked with a cocky smirk, pulling a glowing green stone out of his vest and holding it in his palm. Gabrielle was so overjoyed she actually ran up and hugged him, planting a kiss on his cheek for good measure. He raised an eyebrow at her. "Careful blondie, for a second there you had me thinking you liked me."

"Never..." Gabrielle answered, shaking her head but unable to wipe the smile from her face. "Thank you Ares. I was beginning to lose hope. I'm glad you didn't give up."

"Well I tell you it wasn't easy, whoever it was that hid this particular stone really didn't want it to be found. I had to wander around some pretty freaky dimensions. And I found it in a Dragon's hoard of all places. I hate those things, they stink to Tartarus." Ares groused, shuddering with revulsion.

"Come on Bro, take a load off, you look wasted." Aphrodite chimed in, indicating for him to settle himself on a comfy couch, a nice dark wine-red one in deference to his male ego. Ares stretched out with a deep groan, and helped himself to a piece of fruit from a bowl that appeared nearby. As he munched, he twirled the Kronos Stone between his fingers, staring into it with apparent fascination.

"So tell me." He said eventually, wiping the last drops of fruit juice from his beard with the back of his hand. He caught and held Gabrielle's gaze. "Now that we have the stone, what's the plan? Exactly when are you going back to and what will you do when you get there?"

"Well duh. That's easy, just go back and stop Xena going to Japan. You know, drag the Warrior Babe to Egypt instead. That's what you wanted right?" Aphrodite chimed in. Gabrielle shook her head.

"No, the damage was already done by then. Even if Xena knew from the start she was going to die there, she still would have gone. She felt responsible for Yodoshi and all the souls he had taken. If she ever found out about that, she'd go anyway. I thought maybe I could go back to the first time, when Xena was in Chin, and try to persuade her not to go to Japan in the first place." Gabrielle's idea was interrupted by a bark of laughter from the God of War.

"You're kidding me right? Boy you really didn't pay attention when Xena talked about the good old days did you? That Xena would gut you like a fish without even blinking. Once she had a plan, she didn't back out of it." He paused, pulling a sour face. "Except for that Corinth thing, when that idiot Borias got her up the duff and then turned all honourable on her. It messed with her head." He sighed wistfully. "She was never quite the same after that. Still incredible, but she lost some of her edge." Gabrielle rolled her eyes.

"Oh come off it Ares, you keep going on about the old Xena and how wonderful she was, but back then you hardly gave her a second look." The warrior-bard stepped towards him and lifted the Kronos stone from his hand, tossing it in the air and catching it, then tapping his chest with it. "Let's face it, you fell in love with the person she is now." Gabrielle paused, then corrected herself with a pained expression. "The good person she had become." Ares glared at her briefly, but his eyes lowered quickly and he stepped away, unwilling to admit she was right but unable to deny it.

"So what are you gonna do?" Aphrodite asked.

"There's only one thing I can do." Gabrielle answered, gazing into the emerald depths of the stone. "This whole chain of events leads back to one thing. One single, defining moment that set her off on the path that led us here."

"So what moment is that?" Ares asked, a trifle impatiently.

"You're just going to have to trust me." Gabrielle said, and without further ado, she turned and ran out of the room, grabbing her weapons on the way. Before the two Gods had a chance to follow her, there was a bright flash in the hallway beyond. When they looked out, Gabrielle and the Kronos Stone were gone. Ares and Aphrodite stood in the doorway staring at the empty space for a few moments, then the tall God of War turned to look down at his sister.

"Something tells me I'm not gonna like this."