"So you're really the god of war?" Valentina asked.

"Yes," he answered rather shortly. It felt like she'd asked it a thousand times already though it couldn't have been more than a dozen.

"And I've really lived another life and I knew you then?"

"Yes," he said a bit of a growl in his voice.

"Unbelievable. Tell me everything. I want to hear it all. I wonder how many other lives I've lived. Can you imagine all the stories I would be able to tell if I remembered them all?"

"Does she have to be here?" Ares asked. Journeying with all her many questions was going to get old quick.

"Yes, but you don't," Xena said with a flicker of amusement.

He rolled his eyes, knowing she was only half serious.

One of her former soldiers was pestering a tribe for all their food in exchange for their lives.

"I thought you got rid of them all,"

He shrugged. "I didn't obliterate them. I just sent them back where they came from."

She shook her head in annoyance and went to rescue the people whose provisions were getting stolen.

He, Camilla, and Valentina hung back and watched.

He and she had a few angry words. Then he drew a sword and she drew hers. Dumb move on his part. Her becoming good didn't affect her sword fighting skills. Though a well-trained soldier, she had him on the ground with a sword pointed toward his chest in under a minute, and he was begging for mercy like the worm he was. Fortunately for him, she was good because she spared his life and bound him instead. She was going to let his victims decide his fate.

"She's a wonder to behold, isn't she?" he asked, feeling more congenial with her than a few minutes ago. A fight always improved his mood.

"Yes, she is," Valentina agreed

Camilla had been watching as well, and she was kicking her legs, making him believe it excited her as well. Then she shot a tiny fire ball, no bigger than a candle flame toward her mother's attacker.

"That's my girl," he said with a grin.

Xena saw it though it flickered out harmlessly onto the man's armor, and she looked toward Ares with eyes, big and round like blue moons.

He nodded his confirmation.

sss

"Do you think she'll have other powers?" Xena asked that evening.

"Without a doubt," Ares agreed. "They'll be even more muted than mine though. Worshipers of Greek gods are just too few these days."

Xena looked up at the quickly clouding sky. All the flames in the world weren't going to keep them dry in the coming downpour. "We need shelter. I suppose we'll have to use your temple," she said, recognizing the area.

"They're not going to let you in there," he said right away.

Anger burned like a flame of her own. "Why because I'm not slaughtering for you anymore? Are your priestesses going to demand my blood?"

"No, because they're monks. They frown on women spending the night."

"I don't understand."

"I don't either. You'd have to be out of your mind to shun a woman's company."

"I meant I never expected you to give back one of your temples to the Christians. Why did you do that?"

"Mostly for you. Besides, how many worshipers am I going to get with no one warring in my name?"

Camilla reached up with her little hands and touched the scruff of his beard, completely unafraid. He smiled down at her so lovingly. It was heartwarming and not a picture of Ares she ever thought she'd see, a doting father. It was not his normal nature to put anything or anyone before war. It was a side of him that made her love him all the more. Had he been like this for a long time and she just hadn't noticed?

"If you can keep your promise to put family life before your self-interests, I can keep my promise to marry you."

That got his attention. His head snapped up. "You mean it?"

"I do, but I want to find my people first. I want to apologize to my mother. Then you can invite the Fates to marry us."

If he surprised her before, he shocked her now. "It doesn't have to be the Fates. We can take this one lifetime at a time. One day at a time."

She leaned over Camilla and rewarded him with a tender kiss. Their one in a billion chance had come, and she couldn't be happier about it.