Hercules was looking in Ares' direction, but he wasn't looking directly at Ares. Hercules was staring at Xena; she looked so peaceful as she slept while strands of her raven hair partially covered her face. Hercules made a soft chuckle then remembered whom Xena was laying beside; he then brought his attention to Ares.
Ares could see in the way Hercules looked at Xena that to him she was more than just a friend. And that didn't settle too well with Ares, who felt he had to in his mind 'protect what was his'. In response Ares turned to Xena, he removed his right hand from underneath his head and wrapped it around her. Then moved his left hand and began gently stroking her arm, before entangling his fingers with hers and meeting her hand with his lips.
Ares turned back to Hercules and grinned devilishly. Hercules' eyes became filled with hatred as he stared at the war god in front of him. With nothing he could possibly do he turned to his left to his wife, who had fallen asleep with her back facing to him. He sighed and with a sadden expression closed his eyes for a moment before falling asleep.
The next morning Sabrina and Adam were off playing, Solan and Evander were wondering about camp separately; and Hercules was talking to Morrigan. While Xena, Gabrielle, and Eve along with Brigid were catching fish in the near by lake for breakfast.
After catching about four fish Xena looked up to see Ares sitting on the ground with his back leaning against a tree. She then walked up to him, carrying a fist full of fish.
"Hope you're hungry" Xena said, as she dropped the fish on top of a piece of cloth before sitting down beside him.
"Can't say that fish is my favorite, but I'm getting use to it" Ares replied, with a smirk.
"So did you think about what I said last night?"
"You mean about my being nice to Hercules?"
"Well that too, but I was talking about Evander"
"Yeah I thought about it" Ares replied, with his head tilted downward.
"And"
"And… I'm still thinking about it" Ares replied, with a sigh.
"Don't think too long, he won't be here forever you know"
"Yeah I know" Ares replied, in a sadden tone.
Xena then grasped his hand in a comforting way. Ares looked up at her and smiled. They gazed into each other's eyes for a moment before breaking out in a small chuckle.
Hercules then approached them and got their attention by clearing his throat. Once Xena realized it was Hercules she quickly let go of Ares' hand. Ares turned to her and gave her a strange look, then got up and walked away. Xena looked back at him confused, and unsure about what had just upset him.
"How could she" Ares mumbled to himself.
He was getting angry and desperately needed to calm down. He walked deeper and deeper into the woods, and then suddenly stopped. Just a small distance from him was Evander, but the young man hadn't noticed him. Ares stood there for a minute wondering whether he should go talk to him, or just turn around and walk away as if he never saw him.
"It's now or never" Ares whispered to himself.
He then made his way to Evander. Hearing the sound of footsteps coming near him Evander rapidly turned around. The two men were silent; both stared into the eyes of the other.
"What do you want?" Evander asked, finally breaking the silence.
"Nothing really, just thought I'd--"
"Just thought you'd what? Come over here and expect me to give you a hug and tell you how great it is to see you" Evander said sarcastically.
"No of course not"
"Fine then what is it?"
"Look I know you don't want anything to do with me, but I figure since we're here we minus well try to make amends"
"You're a couple years too late for that don't you think?"
"Yeah, but it's better late than never"
"Not in this case" Evander replied bitterly.
Ares sighed roughly and said nothing.
"You know what, how dare you think that you can just show up after all these years and try to start acting like my father. The truth is I don't need or want you as a father. I've been doing just fine on my own ever since you abandon my mother and I" The young man said as fire blazed in his eyes.
"Evander I never abandon you, your mother didn't want me anywhere near you"
"Liar, you never wanted anything to do with me, admit it"
"I'll admit I didn't have the best intentions, but I did want you as my son. Your mother and Hercules fought to keep me away from you" Ares replied, getting defensive.
"No you're lying, my mother would have told me that" Evander said, shaking his head, confused and unwilling to believe Ares.
"Look, I am trying my best here damn it, if you don't want to believe me then fine" Ares replied, raising his voice. He had not meant for it to come out that way, but by the time he realized it, it was too late.
"You know what, why don't you just do me a favor and stay the tatarus away from me" Evander yelled, before walking away. Who does he think he is coming here trying to talk to me after all these years? The young man thought to himself as he made his way farther away from the god of war. I only wish I could make him feel some of the pain and suffering he put my mother and I through. That damn bastard is not my father.
Ares watched as his son disappeared among the trees. Filled with a mixture of anger and hurt Ares made his way back to camp. Xena noticed something was wrong and went to speak to him.
"Where'd you go?" She asked.
"I was talking to Evander" Ares replied.
"What happened?"
"He made it pretty clear that he wanted nothing to do with me" Ares answered, obviously a little troubled.
"You're going to try again… right?"
"No I'm not going to try again. Xena he hates me"
"But--"
"But nothing, look I'm not in the mood for another one of your little lectures" Ares said, then disappeared leaving Xena standing there alone.
Meanwhile Sabrina was trying to make the best out of a terrible situation. She was again stuck with Adam, or should I say Hercule.
"I'm bored. Isn't there anything fun to do around here?" Adam asked.
"You what to play hide and seek?" Sabrina replied.
"No that's a baby's game" The brown-eyed young boy answered. Then suddenly noticed the unusual necklace, which hung around Sabrina's neck. The pendent on the necklace was round and covered in gold, with a large sapphire stone in the center of it. The stone glimmered and sparkled when the sun's rays would hit it. And for a moment it seemed to transform into a scorching blue fire, which was almost mesmerizing. "That's a weird looking necklace" Adam finally said after staring at the pendent for a minute.
"Yeah I know but it's really cool, it has magical powers"
"Magical powers? Do you really expect me to believe that?"
"It's true. I use it to go from one place to another"
"How?"
"I just image somewhere I want be and I'm there the next second"
"That is so cool. Bring us to Mt. Olympus or something"
"I'm not suppose to use it without asking first"
"See it probably doesn't even work"
"It dose, fine I'll send us over there by that tree, okay?"
Adam nodded and the next instance found him self-standing beside the tree Sabrina had just been pointing to.
"Wow, I want to play with it" Adam said reaching for the pendent.
"No you can't, I'll get in trouble"
"No you won't, I just want to see it for a second. I'll give it back I promise"
"I'm sorry but I can't, but hey I have a bunch of other toys"
"Like what?" Adam replied, in an angry tone.
"I'll be right back" Sabrina answered, as she then ran to retrieve her nap sack.
When she got back, she placed the sack on the ground. Adam grabbed it began rummaging through it.
"Hey be careful don't break anything"
"What's this?" Adam asked, as he pulled out a ball made of crystal, from out of the sack.
"Here let me show you how it works" Sabrina said, as she put her hands together and placed her palms facing up. "Put it in the middle of my hands"
Adam placed the ball of crystal on Sabrina's hands. Sabrina took a deep breath and began staring into it. Suddenly the ball began to levitate and opened up into many tiny crystals then started to form a dragon. Adam's eyes lit up, as the small dragon seemed to come to life. The dragon flew over their heads a few times before landing in Sabrina's hands and returning into a motionless figure.
"Wow that was amazing, how'd you do that?" Adam asked, in astonishment.
"I just concentrated and pictured a dragon"
"Let me try" Adam said, snatching the dragon from Sabrina.
"Wait, it might not work when you do it" Sabrina said, but Adam was no longer listening.
Adam stared at the dragon for a while, then even tried closing his eyes but nothing happened.
"Hey what gives, it's not working" Adam said, in a whiny voice.
"I told you it wouldn't work"
"It's probably not working because it was in a ball before. Turn it back and I bet you I can do it " Adam said, lying best he could.
"Fine I'll turn it back for you, but it still wont make a difference" Sabrina replied, as she took the crystal dragon and turned it back into a ball. Adam again grabbed the crystal ball and began staring into it, but still nothing happened.
"Why isn't it working?" Adam said, frustrated.
"It only works with my powers"
"What powers? I know you're not more powerful than me"
"Of course I'm not" Sabrina replied, sarcastically. "Look I have the power of electricity and that's why the ball works when I hold it, okay"
"Why is it like that?"
"I don't know, that's just the way my uncle made it"
"Well it's a stupid toy" Adam said, before throwing the ball at a tree.
The crystal ball shattered in half. Sabrina gasped then picked up the two halves of her crystal ball, as her eyes began to fill with tears.
"You broke it" Sabrina said, in anger and shock.
"It was just a stupid old toy any way" Adam replied, with no regrets.
"You were just jealous because you couldn't play with it"
"I didn't want that dumb thing, it looks like a baby toy. Only babies play with toys like that, so that means you must be one. Oh no is the little baby going to cry because her toy is broken" Adam replied, teasingly.
"Shut up and leave me alone" Sabrina yelled, then started to walk away.
"Where do you think you're going?" Adam asked, running in front of Sabrina's path.
"I'm going to tell my mommy" Sabrina answered, in a hurt voice.
"You're such a baby"
"No you're the baby, you little cry baby"
"I am not a cry baby" Adam said, shoving Sabrina.
"Stop that"
"What are you going to do about it, you little baby" Adam replied, shoving Sabrina again.
The young girl had, had enough and this time shoved the boy back, forcefully knocking him onto the ground. Adam got up, grabbed a large stick then swung it at her. But Sabrina saw it coming and ducked out of the way, then drop kicked him taking his feet from beneath him. Adam hit the ground hard and scratched his arm on a rock. Sabrina looked down to see Adam crying. She couldn't help but feel a little bad, but at the same time she felt proud of herself. And a small smile could be seen in the corners of her mouth. But it soon quickly vanished as the young red headed boy before her continued to cry.
Xena and the others came running at the sound of Adam's loud sobbing.
"What happened is everything alright?" Xena asked, as she ran up to Sabrina.
"Adam got hurt" Sabrina answered.
"How did this happen?" Morrigan asked Adam, as she helped her child up.
"She kicked me" Adam said, pointing at Sabrina, while still crying.
"Did you kick him Sabrina?" Gabrielle asked.
"Yeah but that was only because he tried to hit me" Sabrina answered, trying to explain.
"Adam is this true?" Hercules asked.
"No. She was calling me names before and I told her to stop but she didn't. Then she kicked me because I said I was going to tell on her" Adam replied, lying through his little teeth.
"No that's not what really happened, he's a liar" Sabrina yelled.
"How dare your daughter accuse my son of lying, when it is obvious that this was all her fault" Morrigan said to Xena.
"Lets not jump to conclusion, we should listen to Sabrina's side of the story first" Hercules quickly said, as he could tell that Xena was about to pounce on Morrigan.
"Why? She already admitted that she kicked him" Morrigan said.
"She said it was only because he tried to hit her" Xena replied.
"You can't honestly believe her, my Adam would never lie"
"That's nice and all, but I know for a fact that Sabrina wouldn't lie either"
"Sabrina tell us what happened" Eve said.
"First we were playing with my crystal ball toy and Adam couldn't make it work, so he threw it at a tree. And it broke in half" Sabrina said, showing them the two halves of the crystal ball in her hands. "Then I got mad and said I was going to tell on him. He started calling me a little baby then he pushed me. I told him to stop but he pushed me again, so I pushed him back and he fell. That's when he got up and tried to hit me with a stick, but I moved out of the way and kicked him. That's what really happened"
"Oh please like we can actually trust her not to lie" Morrigan said, rudely.
"She's not lying" Evander said, coming up beside them.
"What? What are you talking about?" Morrigan asked.
"I saw most of it, and she's telling the truth. Adam did get a stick and swing it at her after she pushed him down to make him leave her alone" Evander answered.
"Whose side are you on?" Morrigan asked, angered.
"No one's" Evander replied.
"Adam is that the way it really happened?" Xena asked.
Adam looked down at the ground and nodded.
"No it couldn't have" Morrigan said, unwilling to admit defeat.
"Adam I think you owe Sabrina an apology" Hercules said.
"I'm sorry" Adam said, in a sad voice.
"It's okay" Sabrina replied, barely able to hide her sigh of relief.
Morrigan turned from them with disgust and walked away. Hercules followed after her.
"Morrigan, wait! Morrigan" Hercules said, trying to catch up to her.
He then ran in front of her causing her to stop.
"Hercules when are we leaving?" Morrigan asked.
"Leaving? What are you talking about?" Hercules replied, confused.
"I don't want to stay here any longer, not with her around" Morrigan answered, with a revolted look.
"Her meaning who, Xena?"
"Yes Xena"
"There's no reason why you two shouldn't get along"
"There's no reason why we should" Morrigan replied, in a bitter tone.
"Morrigan what is this really about?"
Morrigan froze for an instance, as she looked away from Hercules. What was she going to say? How could possibly explain to him how she was feeling, when she wasn't sure her self? She obviously didn't like Xena, but why? Was it because of their fight just the day before? No it couldn't be only that. There was something else, something deeper than that. It had something to do with Hercules. Was she jealous of Xena? Jealous of the fact that Hercules might still love her after all these years.
Morrigan shook at the thought. She then began remembering the look of Hercules' face every time he would talk about Xena. How a glimmer in his eyes would appear at the mention of her name. And how the night before, Xena and Hercules had gone on a long walk and when they returned, they were smiling and laughing as they walked side by side closely. No, snap out of it. Morrigan said over and over in her mind. She suddenly realized that Hercules was looking at her still waiting for a response.
"I just don't like her that's all, I don't need a reason why"
"Yes you do"
Morrigan rolled her eyes and turned her back to him. Hercules sighed, and gently pulled her arm forcing Morrigan to face him.
"Why do we always have to fight like this?" Hercules asked, while gazing into Morrigan's eyes. "Is it really so hard that you won't even try?"
Morrigan's expression turned from anger to remorse, as she realized how childish she was acting. Xena was Hercules' past, she is his future. Morrigan thought to her self. What's the harm in trying to get alone with her. There is point in worrying about something that isn't there.
"Hercules I don't want to fight with you. If you really want us to stay… then we'll stay" Morrigan said, with a half smile.
"Thank you" Hercules replied, then pulled Morrigan in for a kiss. "I knew there was a reason why I married you"
"Oh, you already found your reason that's strange cause I'm still looking for mine" Morrigan said, smiling.