"You're looking at her." Aphrodite replied, and once again she had to face Ares and Xena's trademark stares- the kind that made your heart stop on spot. "Like what? She needs to know some details if she's the one meant to protect our precious angel…"

" And you're saying that based on what?...A feeling?! A hunch?! " the War God snapped at her, almost ready to rip her head off.

" Hey, don't take it out on me! I wasn't the one to spill the beans!….She already knew! You heard her too!"

" Yeah we heard her, but that doesn't mean we also chose to trust her!" Xena joined Ares in his blind determination to at least spiritually burn the Love Goddess at the stake for her crimes.

" Oh! You broke my heart Xena! To think that I was actually deluding myself here into believing that we finally had a connection…" Callisto replied with a grin, gently rocking the little girl when she started crying. "Shhh….it's ok little one, your mommy's just in one of those moods…It's gonna be a bit complicated for you and me in the beginning but, we'll make it…."

All this time, Gabrielle was watching the scene with wide, incredulous eyes. Not in her wildest dreams had she ever anticipated this scenario….The Lunatic herself watching over her friend's baby….Talking about complications…

"That's like sooo sweet!" Aphrodite squealed clapping her hand in excitement. " Psycho love has always been my favorite kind of affection!"

" Don't push it, Goldie Locks! " Callisto bit, venom in her voice, handing the baby over to Xena. " Here. I think she might be hungry. Children need to be fed you know…." she added, trying to sound as uncaring as possible, while still fighting all that avalanche of feelings that had invaded her soul the moment she had first taken the baby in her arms…It was an indescribable sensation, absolutely breathtaking….The ditsy Aphrodite had been right…they were somehow connected…they souls instantly recognized each other...

….And then it finally hit her…..

"Hmmm…"

" What?" Ares instantly questioned, noticing her reaction.

" Nothing. " she simply replied, unsure whether it was a good idea to tell them all about her new revelation …." So why is this kid so important anyway?" she quickly asked, efficiently diverting his attention from what he had just seen.

" You mean apart from the fact that she is my child?" Xena's line came pouring out, and for easily understandable reasons, the pure acrimony present in her voice kinda grazed Callisto's heart. She would have never admitted it, not even if her life had depended on it, but deep down she was actually sorry for having condemned Solan to death. Agreeing to help Hope was the worst decision of her life, and as much as she hated the Warrior Princess for having taken her family away from her, thus sentencing her to a life of pain and sorrow, she wasn't blind….Xena wasn't the horrible monster that she had met back then any more….somewhere along the way something inside her had changed…Maybe it was life itself the cause of that transformation, or maybe it was indeed her irritating Bard friend that followed her everywhere – pretty much like Argo for that matter- but she was different…

In that light, their intricate past made Xena's any reaction related to the matter somehow justified, she silently said to herself, and for a split second there, her gaze turned to the forever innocent Gabrielle….There was something about the Bard that had attracted her attention the very minute she had joined the group….She had changed as well, but unlike Xena, her change wasn't for the better. She could feel the darkness floating around her, the restlessness of her aura…..What in Tartarus was wrong with that picture?

She arched an eyebrow as she saw her smiling at the little girl…..And despite the fact that it looked like her usual cotton candy sweet, candid smile, she didn't like it….

Ares, who had been studying Callisto for awhile now, had noticed the same thing…They briefly exchanged glances, silently letting each other know that they needed to talk…..in private….

"Yeah…apart that…" the Goddess finally uttered, as if having woken up from a dream.

" She is the bringer of Twilight. " Ares announced, his pose a bit more relaxed than it had been minutes before.

"The legendary…TWILIGHT?" the Goddess inquired, not really believing her ears.

"The same one…" Aphrodite tweeted, materializing a fluffy pink outfit on her niece, under the Warrior Princess' disapproving stare.

"Do you really need to keep doing this every twenty minutes?" she snapped, scandalized by her gesture.

" What? It looks good on her. She's so cute in pink! Plus, it's important for any gal to be dressed for the occasion." the Love Goddess defended herself, trying not to appear too intimidated by her friend's murderous tone. Truth be told, Xena's sudden outburst had given her the chills.

" She's a baby, Dite, she doesn't care about clothes yet! She only cares about being fed and getting enough sleep! And you two were supposed to only use your powers if strictly necessary!" " Xena reminded her, also casting a glance Ares' way.

"Hey! Don't give me that look! I've been on my best behavior so far! " he protested, much to Callisto's amusement.

" She has you perfectly tamed all right. Do you know any tricks?" she teased, laughing at the perspective of seeing the God fetching a bone or something.

The War God's contemptuous glare only challenged her even more.

" You people are so boring….So in other order of ideas, Zeus wants the bay dead in order to prevent the destruction of the Olympians pantheon…." the blond Psycho concluded, eager to get to the interesting part of the story.

" That pretty much sums it up, yeah" Ares replied, gazing pensively at his daughter, whose tiny hands were now caressing her mother's neck….It was a sight to see, and for a moment there he allowed himself to get lost in the image, as if wanting to perfectly memorize every single detail of it….

" Hey! Snap out of it Lover Boy! I still need some extra details to understand the bigger picture! "

"We'll see about that…" a still very skeptic Xena answered, arching an eyebrow at her.

" Do they know where we are?" Callisto asked, trying to ignore the Warrior Princess' uselessly malicious line.

" We do now…" a sharp, mocking voice came from somewhere behind them. Ares instantly sighed at the sound of it. He didn't need to turn around to see who it was…