Ares was on his way to earth for a battle when he saw her.

Aphrodite… walking down the street… holding hands with Hephaestus.

She'd always told him how much she despised him, and here she was for all to see, holding his hand.

Ares abhorred Hephaestus as deeply as if he were an invading army, and in a way, he was one. Ares had started seeing Aphrodite long before Hephaestus had even returned to Mount Olympus, and for some reason, Hephaestus had felt it acceptable to drag Ares around, naked with Aphrodite, in a net for everyone to see, as if Ares had done something wrong, even though Aphrodite had never loved Hephaestus in the first place.

Or so she'd claimed…

They seemed to be headed from Zeus and Hera's palace. Why had they been there? Aphrodite hated Hera, possibly more than he hated Hephaestus. Had she been having breakfast with them? Why would she do that to herself?

Ares decided to take a detour and follow them down the road.

At one point, Hephaestus turned his head to the side to look at Aphrodite. Ares could see that he was beaming – he'd never seen him so happy. Then Aphrodite seemed to be whispering something to him, and he laughed. What was she saying to him? She'd been so morose last night, and now she seemed practically giddy.

What was going on?

Hephaestus now appeared to be whispering something back. And now it was Aphrodite who was laughing….

That was it. Time to say hello.

Ares jogged a little to catch up with them. They hadn't been walking very fast, so it didn't take long.

"Why, good morning, neighbors! Fancy meeting you all here!"

Hephaestus flashed a big smile. "Good morning, Ares! My wife and I were just going for a walk."

Aphrodite forced a grin at Ares that looked more like a grimace. She felt so awful that she wanted Ares to pick her up and carry her away.

"It is a beautiful morning for a walk, I must say," replied Ares, looking at Aphrodite the entire time.

"It is a glorious morning, indeed," said Hephaestus. Aphrodite had both insulted his mother and said that she loved him, and now he was walking hand-in-hand with his wife in front of her former lover, flouting their rekindled relationship. His day couldn't get any better.

Aphrodite didn't say a word. She tried to smile again, but even Ares could tell that she was too uncomfortable to mean it. Ares shot a confused look at her in return.

"Where are you off to this morning?" continued Hephaestus, who was taking great pleasure watching Ares squirm.

"I'm off to oversee a battle," he told Hephaestus, all the while scrutinizing Aphrodite and trying to decipher what was going on.

Subtly is definitely not his strong suit, thought Aphrodite. "I hope you have a speedy victory," she blurted, as it would mean she would get to see him soon and explain everything to him.

"Thank you, Aphrodite."

Hephaestus took this moment to place his free hand on the small of Aphrodite's back. "We should let you get going – we wouldn't want you to be late and lose your battle." Seeing as you've already lost one this morning, he thought.

"And I should let you… continue your walk. Have a good day." Ares bowed his head goodbye and marched toward earth again with a puzzled look on his face.

Going for a walk… thought Aphrodite. It occurred to her that Hephaestus may have had a double meaning when he'd said that. No… No… No… What had she done?

Once Ares was out of earshot, Hephaestus began whispering to her again.

"You have no idea how happy I am this morning. I could break out into song."

"Please don't," interjected Aphrodite.

Hephaestus thought she was joking and laughed. "I won't – I'm no singer. But I could make you something, though. Some jewelry, perhaps."

Aphrodite felt her stomach tighten. That's what she needed, more love tokens – that would solve their problems.

Hephaestus stopped and turned Aphrodite to face him. "No, better yet, why don't we just start over?"

"Start over? What do you mean?"

"I mean, we start afresh. There's so much we've been through, so many things we've done to each other. If we want to make this work, maybe we should look at this walk as our first date. I could court you. I never got to do that."

As much as the idea appealed to her, she had a hard time believing that their problems would just disappear. Nevertheless, starting over would mean she could go back to her room when they got home, and possibly spend the afternoon with Ares later, whereas she had no idea what picking up where they left off would entail. "I would like that."

"You would?" Hephaestus was so overjoyed that he took her in his arms. The feel of her body against his flooded his mind with memories from the beginning of their marriage. "Oh, Aphrodite," he cooed into her ear, "I've missed you so much."

Aphrodite hadn't seen him this openly affectionate in ages. She'd wanted him to be this way for so long that, now that he was, she wasn't sure if she could trust what he was saying. After a moment, she wriggled out of his embrace and mentioned that they probably shouldn't walk too much longer, as she didn't want him to strain his leg.

"Yes, that is probably a good idea," remarked Hephaestus. "I'd almost forgotten about my leg. What would I do without you?"

Aphrodite was wondering the same thing.