All night Xena kept one eye trained on Gabrielle. By the time the first rays of the sun appeared in the east, she was tired, hungry and very cranky. She knew she had to get rid of Ares somehow, before he ruined Gabrielle's life. If Gabrielle wanted to get married and have kids, fine. She would find Gabrielle a different husband. But there was no chance she was going to marry Ares, not until Tartarus froze over and Zeus paraded around in a bikini!

Yawning, Gabrielle sat up and stretched. She blinked her eyes sleepily, then her eyes flew wide open. Today was her date with Ares! The fire had burned out during the night, leaving only a circle of soots and ashes. Sleeping on the other side was Ares. He lay on his back with one arm across his chest, snoring. Even sleeping he made her heart skip a beat. Realizing what a mess she must look, she quickly gathered her stuff and ran down to the nearby lake to wash.

Slipping out of her clothes, Gabrielle hurried into the cold water. She had just picked up the bar of soap when a pair of black boots appeared at the edge of the water. Gabrielle gripped the wash cloth to her chest and sighed with relief. "Oh, it's only you, Xena. You shouldn't scare people like that!"

Xena knelt down at the water's edge. "Look, Gabrielle. You don't know Ares the way I do. He's a heartless monster. You don't want to marry him. He'll make your life miserable, like he did mine. In fact, he probably doesn't even want to get married. He'll say anything to get what he wants. Once he gets it, he'll drop you. That's how guys are, Gabrielle. He's preying on your innocence and trust."

"But he's not asking me to be a warrior or a warlord." Gabrielle said as she washed her arm. "I know you think Ares is always after you to be a warlord again, but you choose to be a warrior. Ares didn't pop in front of you one day and stick a sword in your hand. You wanted to be one! So you can't really say it's all his fault. That's not fair, Xena."

"Look, I know I choose to be a warrior." Xena admitted, taking a quick glance behind her. "But you can't marry Ares! He doesn't want to marry you or anyone else. That's not how he works. He only plays."

"But he said he was looking for a wife. You heard him." Gabrielle dipped under the water, wetting her hair. Then she began to lather it with the soap. Her hair had to be nice and shiny for her date. "Look, I'm going to take this slow, OK? I'm going to go out with Ares on a date. A date, Xena! Do you understand? We'll probably walk around town, eat at a restaurant, that sort of thing. And we'll talk. The whole purpose of a date is so we can get to know each other better."

"Just make sure he doesn't take you to a hotel room." Xena warned. "Or to his temple. Or even do it out in the woods."

"Xena!" Gabrielle blushed, her entire face turning bright red all the way to her shoulders. "Ares wouldn't do that!"

"Sure he would." Xena moved slightly closer to Gabrielle and lowered her voice. "Even Hercules and Iolaus does that sort of thing. All men do it."

Gabrielle blinked. Then she starting laughing. She swung her hand at Xena, water droplets hitting the Warrior Princess on her face. "Oh, Xena! You'd say anything to get me not to date Ares, wouldn't you? I know Hercules would never do such a thing! Why, he practically blushes each time a girl even talks to him! He only does that sort of thing when he was married, with his wife."

"No, he doesn't. I know that for a fact." Xena told her, a serious look on her face. "Same with Iolaus. Look, Gabrielle, I'm trying to save you from that pig! He's out to take advantage of you. It's a new scheme of his."

"Xena, you are paranoid!" Gabrielle rinsed off her hair, a frown on her face. "I'm trying to be patient with you and I appreciate your concern. And I'll be careful! I promise I won't go to any hotels with Ares, OK? We're just going to have a little innocent fun. I'm not like you, Xena. You're thinking of your own wild past and all those big burly warlords you were with, that Brutus or whatever his name was. You can trust me. You know I don't do those sort of things. How can I ever get a boyfriend if you won't even let me date? Geez, you're more controlling than my parents were!"

Xena frowned. This conversation was rapidly going down the hill. She had to do something fast, before it was too late. "I never told you how much I appreciate you. Well, I really do! You're the best cook around and you can write really well, you have these incredible ideas..."

"Xena, you don't even listen to half the things I say!" Gabrielle huffed as she climbed out of the water. Picking up her towel, she wrapped it around herself. "I know you mean well, but I really want to go out with Ares."

Xena watched Gabrielle disappear into some nearby bushes to get dressed. A few moments later she came out and started to brush her long blonde hair. "Please, Gabrielle. Don't go out with him. He might kidnap you or something. Once he gets you in his clutches, he could do anything and you'd be powerless to stop him."

Gabrielle rolled her eyes. "He could have kidnapped me last night, but he didn't. I'm going on a date with Ares and that's finale!"

Xena watched Gabrielle walk towards their camp and frowned. The situation was even worse than she had feared. Gabrielle was too trusting. She was being taken in by Ares' bad boy looks and that aura of power he had around himself because he was a God. A lot of woman were taken in by that and later regretted it. Then a thought occurred to her and she screamed after the bard's retreating form. "Don't forget what Zeus did! He's just like him!"

Gabrielle didn't even turned around.

"Darn!" Xena picked up the forgotten bar of soap and washcloth, then hurried after her friend. She couldn't chance leaving her alone for one minute with Ares.

All during breakfast Xena kept giving Ares dagger looks. Gabrielle was sure that if looks alone could kill, Ares would have dropped dead on the spot. She barely tasted the dry roll and wild berries they had that morning. Normally Xena caught them some fresh food, either meat or fish, but this morning Xena was too busy having a silent war with the God of War. Gabrielle could hardly wait to get to town so she could escape from Xena! Then the bard paled. What if Xena insisted on following them everywhere on their date? It would be utterly terrible! She choked down the last chunk of dry roll and jumped to her feet. Ares rose a moment later, smiling at her and she hurried to his side.

They walked through the sun dappled woods, Gabrielle holding onto his arm. Xena made sure to stay behind them as she led Argo. The bard tried to forget about Xena, but she could feel that steely gaze drilling a hole in the back of her head. Why was Xena being so hard on her? She had a right to date, too! Gabrielle thought of all those wild stories her friend had told her, about all those lovers she had had in the past. Was Xena really worried about Ares being a pig? Or was it something else?

Could Xena be in love with Ares? Was she .... Jealous?!

The idea was shocking! She'd just have to find some other way to keep Xena busy once they reached town. Maybe what Xena needed was a boyfriend. Maybe she could whisper a few words to some big ugly warlord brute, push him in the right direction. Xena would be busy for a few minutes pounding on the guy and she could escape with Ares! Of course, she and Ares wouldn't go far. Maybe they could go tour a museum or see a stage play. Or even just sit on a bench near a sparkling fountain and talk. But she knew as long as Xena was around, they wouldn't have any peace at all!

Finally the woods ended and the town appeared. If luck was with her today, she might be able to actually enjoy her date!