Hercules could not believe what he was hearing. He stood in the training room, arms crossed, while Iolaus looked at him with a slight smile on his face.

"Let me get this straight," Hercules started slowly, wagging a finger at Iolaus," We stayed up for hours last night planning this date and now you say you aren't going?"

He began circling his friend suspiciously. Iolaus turned so that he was always facing the taller boy.

"I just think that I would rather go on a date with just one girl...not you and a girl. And I know you want to ask her about Olympus. I mean, why wouldn't you? She's more likely to tell you if you spend the whole day together alone. You can't say you don't want that."

Hercules stopped circling and raised an eyebrow at him.

"I just don't see you as the type to give up on a date."

"Herc, really, I want you to go alone with her."

Iolaus walked up to his friend and handed him two fishing rods he picked up off the floor. He also pulled a flower out from inside his jacket and handed that to Hercules as well.

"Show her a good time, alright?"

Hercules could only gape while the curly haired boy left the room, giving him two thumbs up. Turning toward the door, he slowly made his way outside, still a bit confused. Iolaus loved dates. He loved women. He chose to be a good friend over that? Hercules made a mental note to check his friend's temperature for a fever when he got back.

Stepping into the courtyard, he put the fishing rods down by the door and spun the flower around in his fingers. He spotted Nerissa over by the stables with the Academy horse. Going over, he wasn't surprised to find her talking to the horse. Nerissa liked to talk, but she liked quiet listeners who gave little feedback. Hercules started to wonder if she saw him more like a horse than a person. Shrugging off the thought, he was surprised to find her in an outfit fit for a date. She was wearing a lilac skirt that stopped at her knees. Her top, like most of her tops, stopped just above her stomach. She had a matching shawl slung over the post next to her.

"Ready?" he asked, handing the flower to her," You look nice, by the way."

"Oh!" she smiled, taking the flower from him," Thanks."

He smiled back, surprised that a simple flower made her smile like that. Women. Nerissa looked around confused as she put the flower in her hair.

"Where is Iolaus?"

"Apparently, he decided he didn't want to go on a date with the two of us. I was sent to go alone."

Her eyebrows shot up. Hercules understood how she felt. This was a surprising decision for Iolaus to make. Nerissa then snapped her fingers.

"I get it! He's being a good friend by leaving you alone to ask me about Olympus."

She smirked, stunning him.

"How would you-?"

"I have a spy named Lilith who told me as much. You're not getting any information from me...unless...hmmm."

Hercules watched as she grabbed her shawl and moved out toward the courtyard. Following, he stopped beside her at the well as she grinned up at him.

"If I deem this date good enough at the end, I'll talk about Olympus and your father."

"Oh, really? And, what would you consider a good enough date? Because, to be honest, I've never been on a date period."

"Then this will be a good learning experience for you. You sink or swim. So, what are your plans?"

Hercules went over and grabbed the fishing rods before turning back to her. He put a big smile on his face while Nerissa's facial expression was priceless. He lowered the rods. She wasn't impressed.

"No good?"

Nerissa walked over to him and took a rod from him.

"I feel like you are forgetting my mother came from the sea. If you want to be embarrassed, feel free. If...you think this will get me to tell you anything."

A feeling that fishing was suddenly a terrible idea invaded Hercules's brain. He took the rod away from her and put both back where he had picked them up from. Clasping his hands together in front of him, he narrowed his eyes at Nerissa, who was smirking.

"I have a feeling with information about Zeus hanging in the balance, you're going to be tough to please."

"Maaaaaaaybe. Here, maybe walking will inspire you."

She moved off and Hercules had no choice but to follow. Catching up to walk beside her as they exited the Academy grounds, he groaned.

"I don't know enough about you to know what you'd like. I can't use anything you've told me so far."

"See, that's why the competition was dumb. I knew that no matter who won, the date would either flop or it would be what the guy liked to do. It could be just a normal day of going to Kora's and wandering around. Maybe a monster can come out and attack like in those stories you told me."

Hercules gave a fake laugh.

"Oh, yeah. I'd loooove that."

Hercules felt extremely boring. His and Iolaus's date plans had hinged on the idea of fishing. Now they were walking down the street and he couldn't come up with anything to do.

"Nerissa."

She stopped and looked at him. He could tell she was somewhat amused by the tortured look on his face.

"You really know nothing about dates, huh?"

"Sorry. The girls I've liked before were...kind of special."

"Oh?"

Looking around, Nerissa suddenly grabbed Hercules's hand and pulled him into the woods. They reached a clearing just near the road with a few big rocks. Nerissa sat down on a rock, patting the spot beside her. Hercules obliged.

"Please, do tell me about these women."

Hercules laughed.

"Alright...uh, well, there was Eurydice. She liked someone else until...about the last second. And then she died. Then there is Queen Cyane of the Amazons. She's not exactly into dates, but she liked me back. And then there was kind of Nemesis, but I think it was just a "in the moment" type of deal."

It was slightly insulting because Nerissa was now laughing at him. He waited for her to calm down. When she did, she smiled and placed a gentle hand on his arm.

"You poor, boy. An Amazon queen, a goddess, and a now dead girl. Tell you what, I'll lead this date then. So, when you actually find a girl, you'll know that fishing isn't the first thing you should think of."

Getting up, she took his hand again.

"Lead me to the market. I like shopping."

Hercules chuckled.

"What woman doesn't? Why did I not think of that?"

Nerissa grinned and shrugged. Hercules moved off back to the road, leading her by the hand. As they walked, the continued hand-in-hand, for some reason, made Hercules feel a little strange. It had been a long time since he'd held a girl's hand and they had never been going a very long way. He felt both happy and nervous, yet the feeling was nice. He looked down at her to see that she was looking straight ahead with a relaxed expression on her face. She wasn't bothered at all by their linked fingers.

"Tell me about your past loves, now. Just so we're even," he smiled," I want to know."

Nerissa sighed.

"Ah, they were nothing special. Normal Corinthian boys who I attended school with until I started being specially taught with Jason. They all ended the same way. They got too obsessed with me and I had to let them go. Guys tend to get really territorial and jealous when they're with me. I hate it."

"I'm sorry."

"I like being single better, don't worry. It makes me feel like I'm waiting for the right person, you know? I'm a handful and taking time to find a guy who can handle everything is important."

Hercules frowned.

"How are you a handful?"

His eyebrow raised when she glanced at him before looking back in front of her. He'd stumbled into a sensitive area. He squeezed her hand.

"Hey, you don't have to tell me unless you want to."

He saw her smile slightly.

"Thank you, Hercules. I...don't want to talk about it."

They continued on in silence but it wasn't awkward at all. It was a pleasant silence. They reached the market in a short amount of time. Nerissa flitted around to all the stalls, commenting on pretty cloth colors, the vast majority being pastels. She was very finicky about jewelry, but when she mentioned she liked a pearl bracelet because it was made of real pearls, Hercules instantly bought it. She protested profusely, but he ignored her. The lady selling the jewelry gave them a decent prize, assuming that Hercules was trying to impress his date, which wasn't completely untrue. After he bought her the bracelet, she refused to go to any more venders, instead dragging him into a dance hall.

"Do you know how to dance?" she asked, after getting him inside.

"I'll let you guess."

He took the lead and pulled her onto the dance floor. The band was playing an upbeat lyre led song. Hercules could dance well enough to not embarrass himself. She laughed at his funny dance moves.

"Now I know where Jason learned it!" she exclaimed.

He got a good laugh when she would imitate him every so often. When the band started a slow song, Hercules felt a bit awkward and tried to escape the floor, but Nerissa pulled him back. It wasn't that he didn't want to dance, he was just worried about how she might react to being so close. Apparently, it didn't bother her much to have his hand on her back. The dance floor filled up so much, they had to end up even closer together. This just made the two of them quiet. Hercules wasn't used to dancing with a girl his age. He had learned to dance with farmer's wives at village parties, never with a girl his own age. He put his hands on her rather slim waist and tried to look anywhere but down at her. It was hard, considering her hands were around his neck from lack of room.

"So, you can dance," she commented, getting him to look at her.

"Yeah, my mom wouldn't let me get away without learning how. Aphrodite teach you?"

Nerissa shook her head. When she did that, they were so close that Hercules could smell lilac. He couldn't help smiling. She was wearing lilac colored clothing and she had used lilac scent in her hair. He was beginning to notice little things, but these were things she liked that could come in handy later.

"When Jason was taught how to dance, I was taught as well so I could be his dance partner. A king needs to know how to dance."

"You spend a lot of time with Jason in Corinth, huh? How come you weren't there whenever we visited?"

Nerissa's eyes lowered so that she was staring at his chest. He instantly knew the answer.

"Okay, you were on Olympus, I get it."

"Once Jason started at the Academy, I got lonely a lot so my mom would pop me up there or to her temple."

The slow song ended and a lot of people left the floor. Hercules and Nerissa slipped out of the building and began walking back toward the Academy, except this time they followed the river nearby which would lead to the Academy as well.

"So, your mom is pushy?"

Nerissa gave a fake laugh.

"To say the least. I love her, I do, but I'm a teenager. You know how you want to break away and be your own person. I feel like I'm completely defined by who my parents are. It's like being only me is too much to ask for."

"I think plain old you is great. Your father locked me and Iolaus in jail before for "attacking" the King. Everything worked out though."

Nerissa rolled her eyes.

"He's ridiculous sometimes, but a good guy. Strict...very warlike, I guess."

"Did someone mention war?"

The two teenagers looked up and saw a man dressed in all black standing in front of them. He had long black hair and clean-cut facial hair.

"Ares," they both said.

Hercules had said it with disgust while Nerissa was just surprised. Ares pointed at the girl.

"That is "Uncle" Ares, to you, Rissie."

Nerissa shuddered at the nickname. The god looked between her and Hercules.

"So, I see the two of you are close. Rissie, you really should pick better company. I'm trying to get this kid, mmm…taken care of, if you know what I mean."

"What do you want Ares?" Hercules spat.

Ares shrugged.

"Oh, I just wanted to torture you a little since I can't kill you. Sadly, this needs to involve my niece. Sorry, sweetheart, but you need to die to help my cause."

"I what?"

Ares snapped his fingers and Nerissa disappeared. Hercules lunged at Ares, who just sent him flying with barely an ounce of his powers. The boy groaned as he got up again.

"What did you do to her?"

"You'll have to find her to know. But if you don't hurry along, your date is going to have a pretty "killer" ending."

Ares laughed and disappeared.

"Him and his damn comments. Thinks he is so funny."

Hercules took off running, following the river. He had no idea where she could be. After running for about two minutes he shouted her name. The water was picking up speed as he went farther along. He could hear the loud splashes from a waterfall up ahead. His heart jumped as he heard a high pitch scream.

"HERCULES!"

He ran as fast as he could and reached the site of the waterfall. There were boulders everywhere and he was at the top of the waterfall. Looking over, he cursed. Nerissa was hanging onto a rock, just over the edge of the waterfall right smack in the middle of the water. She was spluttering as spray was drenching her and her fingers were slipping.

"Hercules! Help! Please!"

She would try to raise herself up, but the rock was too slippery. She was going to go down at any moment. Hercules turned at the sound of a god appearing. Ares was laughing at him.

"Too bad I can't go to Tartarus for killing her, huh?"

"ARES!"

Both males turned to spot an extremely pissed off Aphrodite. Ares's smile dropped.

"Damn it."

"How dare you attempt to kill my daughter? Especially on a date! If you touch either of them, you'll have to deal with me for the rest of your immortal life."

Ares wrinkled his nose and left. Aphrodite turned to Hercules.

"Go get her," she said, tossing him a rope she materialized out of air.

The rope was very pink. She then disappeared. The boy shook his head.

"I don't understand gods."

He wrapped one end of the rope around his arm and then aimed toward Nerissa.

"You need to grab the rope."

"Fine. Just hurry!"

One of her hands slipped off the rock. Hercules threw the rope. She got it securely in her hand just as her other one slipped off the rock. She screamed and grabbed her lifeline with both hands. Hercules grunted as all her weight shifted onto the rope and she swung into the water. He almost toppled over the edge with her, but getting good footing, he pulled her up with all the strength he had. When her hand got close enough, he reached out and easily pulled her up. The two fell onto the ground.

"Oh, my gods," Nerissa whimpered.

She was shivering from the ice-cold water that soaked her through. After getting his breath back, Hercules stood up.

"Come on, let's get as far away from here as we can. You need to dry off in the sun."

Nerissa was shaking so badly she couldn't get up, from the cold or her near death experience, Hercules wasn't sure. He instead picked her up and walked with her until they reached a sunny area quite some ways from the waterfall. He sat down against a tree trunk and sat his friend in front of him. Since she was still shaking, Hercules gently wrung her hair out for her. She looked up at him

"T-Thank you, Hercules. I thought I was..."

She didn't need to finish the sentence, even if she could. She was doing her best already not to burst into frightened tears. She sat holding herself in between his legs. Hercules leaned forward and pulled her against him.

"You're warm," she murmured, burying her face in his shoulder.

Her cold cheeks on his neck made him shiver, but he just rubbed her arms to try and warm her up.

"Yeah, I know. Having family like ours sucks. But, hey, at least your mom saved the day...sort of."

"She just wanted to watch you play hero. Like you always do."

Hercules couldn't help but laugh at that. He stopped though, when Nerissa suddenly looked up at him, her face inches from his.

"Zeus really likes that about you. He told me."

She had easily stunned him, both from her proximity and her words. His father...talked to her about him. Her head went back down to his shoulder.

"You win information for saving me. Zeus is so proud of you. More than he is proud of any of his other sons. Ares...he complains because you're the favorite. As far as your father is concerned, it's true. Your father told me he likes how loyal you are to your friends and how, even when you don't have to, you try to save people. He raves about all the things you've done. It irritates some of the gods, especially Ares, but he loves you so much. Honestly, it was why I didn't mind getting to know you so quickly. Then you just made it easy for me to know Lilith and Iolaus."

It was quiet for a little while. Hercules pondered her words and she soaked in some of the sun.

"Thank you," was all he could say when he was able to speak.

Nerissa smiled into his shoulder as he gave her a hug.

"Let's go back. I think I can walk despite feeling like I'm wearing potato sacks."

Hercules watched as she pulled herself up to stand. She wobbled slightly from the extra weight of her clothes, but she waited for him to get up. Once he had, he shook his head to clear out his thoughts. He could think about what she told him later. They made their way out to the road.

"You know, I could carry you back."

"No, thanks. There will be enough questions to answer upon arriving back. We don't need to make it look even stranger than it already does."

Looking back at him, Nerissa smiled and took his hand.

"What are you going to tell them," Hercules questioned," when they ask about the date?"

"The truth. Annnd that my date was just so hot I had to cool down somehow. Right, hot stuff?"

Hercules laughed.

"Hey, you can't call me that. Take it back!"

"Not unless you catch me!"

Nerissa, despite the extra weight, took off running. Hercules couldn't help but be compelled to chase after her. After all, it made a nice ending to a good date.