The following scene took place extremely fast, and it was dramatic enough for Aphrodite to burst into tears almost instantly - not that she was the difficult to impress type, in any way.
As soon as he materialized back at the temple, the first image that Ares saw, was the one of a livid Xena lying on the bed and of a psychotic Gabrielle ready to slit his daughter's tiny, fragile throat. The outcome was rather obvious, but the violence used to prevent her from harming his little girl was unusual even for him.
An accurate description of the tragic but ever so welcomed event, would have something to do with the sharp blade that flew across the room in less than a split-second, sticking into the Bard's back, piercing through flesh and muscle with incredible easiness- as if cutting through a tomato - and one could safely assume that should have been more than enough to put a halt to her murderous intentions. There was definitely no real need for the blinded with rage God to additionally pull the dagger out of that nasty - pretty lethal- wound as he rushed by Gabrielle's side, just to plunge it again into her heart….With a hasty, almost desperate gesture, he snatched the baby from her arms seconds later, and, with an expression of infinite contempt painted all over his face, he clutched a hand in the dying Bard's hair. Pulling her closer, he made sure to growl savagely a few parting words against her lips.
" I thought I told you to take good care of my Princess! I do wish you a safe trip to Tartarus, Blondie…."
The Love Goddess couldn't restrain that shriek of hysteria the instant he pushed the blade deeper into her still pounding heart, and, to her unspeakable horror, when with a firm foot kick in her midsection he sent her flying straight into a column, she distinctly heard her friend's spine crack...
The Battling Bard of Potidea finally embraced death with a loud, heartbreaking moan escaping her lips, her glassy eyes firmly fixed on Xena's corpse as life left her body…..Aphrodite finally broke into tears as she saw Gabrielle's own tears falling down her cheeks.
Refusing to turn Gabrielle's way to quick death -in his opinion at least- into a spectacle, maddened with grief, Ares redirected his attention towards his daughter, casually waving a hand over the child's fragile form. A few moments later, she was perfectly clean, a white, fluffy blanket wrapped around her meaning to keep her cozy. He carefully placed her down on the bed, without uttering anything else and shifted his gaze towards Xena. He didn't bother checking for her vital signs. The eye catching pallor of her skin and the amount of blood soaking the sheets were more than enough to tell him everything that he needed to know….
As soon as his hand went to her forehead though, Aphrodite gathered the force to speak out her mind, despite the fact that her feet were still shaking and her temples were throbbing with pressure.
"She's gone, Bro….You can't heal her….."
She nearly froze in place when she saw Ares' darken with fury eyes, as he turned around to face her…..He was boiling mad, and the quite visible veins pulsating at his neck were more than a clue that she should have kept her mouth shut.
She just took a defensive step back, redirecting her sad blue moons towards the floor, in explicit submission and regret.
" I have seen one or two dead people in my life, Aphrodite! I can tell them apart from the living rather easily, thank you. " he satirically retorted, while still glaring daggers at her. "I'm not trying to heal her. I'm bringing her back to life…."
" Ares….You can't….Not without Athena's blessing, you know that…..There's nothing you can do…..Unless….." she broke out uncontrollably, no longer thinking of the consequences.
It took her one more furtive glance to her Brother's injected eyes to see that she had nailed it….He was about to give up on his immortality to resurrect her….He was giving everything up, for her….
" You don't mean that….."she murmured, finally summoning up the courage to close in the distance between them. "Ares, I know you love her, but….."
"But what?" he snapped. "There's no but! And it's not love I feel for her Dite! Heck I'm not even obsessed, it's worse than obsession! You couldn't possibly understand! No one can! The need to have her is sometimes strangling! It's torture! Imagine how a life without her would be! Oblivion would feel like the Elysian Fields compared to an eternity marked by her absence..."
Aphrodite sighed, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.
" Think about your daughter, Ar...What she needs right now is protection against the other Gods. With you mortal, how can she possibly be safe?"
It took him a couple of moments to utter an answer, moments during which the Love Goddess was actually under the impression that her paternal speech had miraculously gotten through him, but when the words finally escaped his lips, there was no doubt in her mind about what she had to do...
" Seriously, do you actually think, for one second that I would let her live with Xena dead? I couldn't even get myself to look at her. If Xena stays dead, her daughter might as well join her..."
"You don't mean that. She's your daughter too…." she exclaimed in a terrified voice.
"Oh trust me, I do…." he said, without a second thought….and he did mean it.
Needless to say, Aphrodite was speechless. When her brother's hand extended towards Xena's forehead again though, she grabbed it in her own.
"Let me do it. They both need you to be your self….."
He just stared at her in complete amazement for a few moments, visibly shocked by her uncommonly bold proposal.
"What? Why would you do this?"
"What are sisters for huh? " she simply replied, shrugging her shoulders. " Plus…..you and Xe are a real family now….I want you to be able to enjoy a life together…." she answered, a warm smile playing on her lips at the thought.
"We could still have the whole fairy tale ending even with a mortal...me ...in the picture"
"Come on Ar! Don't be stupid, it doesn't suit you! Daddy would kill you all in a blink! At least with you a God and all, you might just stand a chance….."
After one intense minute of weighing the pros and cons, the War God just shook his head in disapproval.
"No….I can't let you do this …." he muttered, withdrawing his hand from her own. "Thank you though. I do appreciate it…"
And then it happened…..An absolutely unbelievable thing that was bound to rock his entire concept about blondes to its foundations….She punched him….A perfectly executed left hook that literally threw him off the bed, thus giving her enough time to transfer all her divine energy into the Warrior Princess's body.
" You have no idea how long I have been waiting for this unique moment!" she just had to tell him once he managed to regain his balance. " An oh yeah! That was for all the times when you called me an air headed Blonde!"
Still taken aback by the brutality of her gesture, he was still searching for the right line to fit her own when, with a low moan , Xena opened her eyes, her lungs filling with air again for the first time in that last hour...She was alive….