One Night

Chapter 7

Slowly Gabrielle made her way closer to the old farm, almost dreading what she might stumble upon. 'Maybe she's not there. Maybe she left.' The bard tried to convince herself, but deep down inside she knew the chances of that were slim.

Her fears were confirmed when she spotted Xena and Ares on the porch looking straight at her. She couldn't help but stare at the dress Xena had on, and wondered why in tartarus was she wearing that.

"I should have never let her come back here alone." She whispered underneath her breath as she watched Xena descend the steps.

With a slight pull of the reins Gabrielle brought the horse to a stop.

"Xena, I thought I might find you here." Gabrielle had on a smile as she spoke, but what she meant to say was, "I was afraid that I might find you here."

The bard then swiftly dismounted her horse.

"How was your visit with your sister?" The warrior princess asked as she tried in vein to ignore her friend's questioning look.

"It was fine, she's doing well." Came Gabrielle's short reply. "It's good to see you Ares." She glanced at him before turning back to Xena.

"Right back at you Blondie." He said with a hint of wryness in his voice.

"So I see you two have been busy…fixing the porch." The bard added in the last part as an after thought.

"Yeah, we just started." Xena replied.

An awkward silence soon surrounded them as tension slowly rose. Xena glanced back at Ares knowing that he would understand; but the last thing he wanted to do was leave her side.

"Um….I'm going to check on something inside." He said before reluctantly walking into the house.

Once the door was closed behind him Xena looked back at her best friend who was trying hard not to jump to conclusions.

"Xena, what's going on here?" Gabrielle said in what she hoped was a calm voice. "You said that you were just going to check up on him, and that it wouldn't take long."

The warrior princess released a frustrated sigh. She didn't feel like going through this right now; and she almost wished that the bard hadn't shown up at all. Now things no longer seemed so clear and simple.

"I know what I said…but I decided to stay a little longer. That's all,"

"But why?"

"Because I wasn't ready to leave…not just yet," She watched as Gabrielle's expression turned from confusion to slight annoyance as the words left her mouth.

"So what happens now? You're going to just stay here and….and play house with him?" There was a hint of bitterness in her voice as she spoke.

"Gabrielle, it's not like that."

"You sure, because that's what it seems like?" She tried to take a calming breath, knowing that yelling at each other would get them no where. "Xena, I'm just worried about you. This is Ares we're talking about."

"He's changed."

"How can you be so sure about that?"

"Because the old Ares would never have sacrificed everything he knew for us, in order to save our lives."

Gabrielle briefly glanced away as the truth became harder and harder to deny. Of course she knew he had changed but she hadn't been ready to admit it, not until now.

"It was for you," She suddenly whispered.

"What?"

"He did it all for you." Gabrielle said as if she had just come to that realization. "He loves you," She mumbled, finally saying out loud what both of them had known for quite some time. "And you love him too." She whispered and watched as a slightly surprised expression appeared on Xena's face. "I could tell by the way you talked about him. I guess it was really just a matter of time."

"I guess so." She agreed.

Slowly the tension around them finally began to dissipate. A moment later the door to the house suddenly opened.

"Blondie, you're still here?" Ares said as he stood in the doorway.

"If I didn't know better I would think that you were trying to get rid of me." She replied as she started to walk towards the stables with her horse.

"Wouldn't dream of it,"

Xena rolled her eyes at them as she gradually made her way up the steps. Ares waited for her to try to pass him before he moved to block her way. She raised an eye brow at him and didn't resist when he pulled her close to him and stole a quick kiss before letting her go.

Gabrielle chose that vary moment to glance back at them. "This is going to take some getting used to." She sighed.

TBC

--7-- Not too much Xena and Ares going on in this chapter, but I felt that I had to add Gabrielle in if I wanted to stay true to the show. Seeing as how Gabrielle seemed to always just show at times that were inconvenient to Ares. lol

Leave a review if you liked it. :) --7--