Ares hated that he needed to come here to beg. She would only gloat, but that was how much he loved Xena that he was willing to put up with it.
"I need you to do me a favor." He wrinkled his nose, not only because the words were distasteful in his mouth but because of the stench of incense that permeated Aphrodite's quarters. It was not like the perfume of a battlefield.
"Sure, bro. I saw that cute kid of yours by the way. Congratulations. You two must be over the moon. What'd you name her?"
"Camilla," he answered, appreciating her interest. Xenia wasn't as over the moon about their daughter as he'd hoped. She was still focused on her campaign to conquer the Byzantine Empire. Normally, it would have thrilled him, but he remembered how she was with Eve, and well, he just wished she would sing lullabies to Camilla.
"After the warrior maiden in Virgil's Aeneid? Seriously appropriate. I should have known it would have something to do with war with the two of you as her parents. Pretty though."
"I'm glad it meets with your approval," he said sarcastically, squinting against all the pink and candlelight.
"You're not as happy as I hoped. You've been wanting offspring with her for years now. Is it something to do with Xena? Are you quarreling? I'd totally put in a good word for you."
He rolled his eyes. "Xena and I are just fine. She is not as attached to the baby as one would hope, but we're fine."
"Unlike the Xena we knew and loved. I so knew you didn't love her evil self," she said, clapping her hands together in excitement.
"Yeah, yeah, you were right," he said, annoyed already. "I'm looking for Gabrielle's reincarnation. I assume you keep up with it, since she was one of your favorite mortals."
"I do. This is like so sweet. You want to bring them together, hoping she'll turn good again."
"Look, don't make me lose my patience. Do you know where she is or not?"
"Like don't blow your top. She is a teenage girl in a little farming community outside Antioch. Her name is Valentina."
"That's what I need to know. Thanks. I owe you." He went to find her right away.
sss
Valentina was in the field with her sister, laughing as they gathered their harvest. She didn't look much like Gabrielle other than being blonde and didn't sound like her either, but there was an essence about her, a look in her eyes, that let him know Aphrodite hadn't lied to him.
He was jealous. Xena and Gabrielle's connection had been mistaken as something physical in the past because they were so inseparable that others wondered how two people could be so close, share so much, and change each other for the better without it being physical. It wasn't that way between them though, he would know.
Xena and Gabrielle's connection was deeper than that, a friendship so intimate that you could hardly mention one without the other. Two women who had gone to hell and back, sometimes literally, and yet it only served to make them better, stronger people and strengthened their relationship. They were soulmates, and it was why he hated her so much.
He could be many things to Xena: her teacher, her lover, the father of her child, her enemy, and even her ally/sometimes friend. He could never be her soulmate though, destined to be with her during every lifetime. It was as far beyond his reach as ambrosia was to most mortals.
He only got one lifetime, a never-ending one where he had to watch the woman he considered his other half living a hundred of them and forgetting him every time. He didn't often envy the earthborn, but this was one time he did.
Both girls' eyes widened in alarm. Her sister ran, but Valentina stayed, her curiosity winning over her fear. "Who are you?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you, but you could change the fate of the empire."
"What do you mean?"
"Xenia, you've heard of her?"
She gave a short laugh. "Who hasn't heard of her? What does that have to do with me?"
"More than you know. Only you can stop her."
"Me? I'm no warrior."
"There are more ways to accomplish change than in battle though none are coming to mind at the moment, but that's because of who I am. Sometimes it only takes someone doing good deeds, being a positive force, to effect those around them."
The words were sappy, but they were true. Xena had made him want to be a better person. He hadn't always considered right and wrong and wouldn't always, but even the tiniest light had a way of piecing through the blackest darkness.
