***Hey guys, sorry for the delay, it was a busy week! Read and enjoy :) Oh, and thanks for the reviews! ***
The Battling Bard was still making tremendous efforts to recover after her first vortex travel- aka doing all her best not to vomit the most delicious breakfast she had had in months- when the sight of her new surroundings finally got to her.
"Wha…Where are we? Xena?! Thank the Gods I was so worried! Are you ok? " she finally exclaimed the instant she noticed her friend's troubled gaze fixed on her particularly disturbed visage.
The very next moment though, as if she had been hit full force by an overly loaded with weapons war wagon, her nausea vanished under the impact of a new, impossible to explain, mind-blowing detail: a scantily clothed Warrior Princess had been obviously spending time in the company of that unreliable cocky Bastard she hated so much -behind her back- while she was worrying sick for her.
"What are you doing here….dressed like that?"
" It's a nightgown " . Xena pointed out biting her lip. "Why were you worried? Didn't Aphrodite…."
"I can see that. Why are you wearing a nightgown?"
A brief pause followed during which Gabrielle only looked even more bothered by the sight she had before her. " She just dropped by to tell me that you were fine and that you were busy doing her a favor….I could smell the lie from afar. She's the worst liar I've ever met in my life….besides Joxer., that is…Still...you didn't answer my question. "
"She obviously couldn't sleep in her lathers, could she? " Ares felt the poignant need to intervene. "There was the option to have her sleep naked but than again, for some odd reason she refused …."
A very disapproving glare was launched at maximum speed from the depth of the raven beauty's azure orbs , hitting him like a thunderbolt and reducing him to silence long enough for the Bard to voice her surprise.
" You've been …sleeping here..."
And yes, it did sound more like a statement than a question...
One swift glance from her unusually nervous friend to Ares and back, and that was pretty much everything Gabrielle needed to start putting the pieces together. When she spoke again, she did her best to hide her revolt. She failed miserably of course, since the repulsion regarding that possibility was painted all over her face.
" Xena….what's going on…?"
Whatever it was, it couldn't be good- not if the God of War was part of the picture and not with Xena looking as guilty as if she had swept an entire village from the face of the earth.
"Xena's pregnant" Ares casually broke the silence, additionally rushing to answer all of the Bard's still unspoken but very much present questions, doing one hell of a job in covering everything that she was anxious to know, too:
"…..yeah, you've heard me correctly. No, I'm not the father. Yes, I'm telling the truth. That would be the One God . I don't know, I'm not the freaking Oracle of Delphi….And no, Smartass unfortunately I have nothing to do with Xena's present condition- no schemes , no tricks up my sleeve. Ok…. that pretty much sums it up I guess. She can fill you in with the rest of the juicy details. " he finally concluded feigning to miss the Warrior Princess' frustrated expression as well as the Bard's chalk white face. "You're welcome, Princess. " he was keen on adding right before leaving the place, wisely assuming that as long as there were still pillows in that room , he couldn't possibly consider that area as being safe.
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Hardly had the cocky Olympian vanished, that the interrogatory started. For the Warrior Princess it didn't come as a surprise- knowing Gabrielle as she did, it was only natural to expect that she would bend over backwards to get to the bottom of that still unsolved mystery.
"Please tell me he was only making fun of me…."
Her voice was low, broken and insecure.
Xena's gaze changed direction almost immediately. It was more than enough that she had a pregnancy to deal with….having to explain something that she couldn't even clarify to herself was more than any mortal was able to handle.
"I wish I could….."
"When?...How? Why would...?" The long series of ludicrously sounding questions started to form on the tip of her lips. She didn't dare finish any of them though- the shock had turned that intention into an impossible to complete task.
"I don't know! I just woke up one day and I was pregnant! I wasn't even aware that I was with child, Ares was the one who sensed it first!"
"Ares, huh?"
The acid irony was hard to ignore.
" Yeah. We were fighting….."
"Oh….that explains it…..I couldn't have guessed…..So….you were killing each other and he caught a vibe...Just like that…." Gabrielle continued on the same offensive tone.
Despite the rising anger, the Warrior Princess tried to maintain her cool. It wasn't the right moment for an argument….
"He's a God, Gabrielle. He can….. sense this type of things…..Plus, being his Chosen and all, he's very much aware of any change in my body, no matter how subtle or insignificant…."
" I'm sure he can…." she said clearing her throat, a gesture that only made Xena loose her patience and snap at her.
"Look, I didn't ask for any of this, ok?! You of all people should know! "
There was a lot of hurt in her eyes-enough to make Gabrielle wanna take her words back, and swallow the rest of her fantesist hypothesis, along with that distinct taste of bitterness from her moth.
"I'm sorry….It's just that….This was so unexpected….How could you be pregnant? "
She took a seat on the edge of her friend's bed, and covered Xena's hand with her own.
"Oh trust me, you haven't heard anything yet! Wait till you hear the rest of the story…."
