This was not easy for me to write; for those who know me know this is not my cup of tea. I hope you enjoy! :'(

Chapter 13

"Gasp…."

It was a small, sharp intake of breath, barely perceptible to the ear in the still raging party that was going on around them. The Warrior Princess and the War God just stared at one another for a few seconds, each trying to register what had just happened. Xena tentatively brought her right hand up to her chest, and for the first time in what felt like a thousand years, she broke their gaze and cautiously looked down at herself.

Her hand was shaking a little as she lightly touched against her fresh wound, blood staining her hand as her chest heaved warily while the foreign object protruded from her torso a little.

"Ares…" she breathlessly whispered out, a few droplets of blood seeping their way out of her mouth as she said the War Gods name in complete doubt, still not believing what had just happened.

Ares on the other hand was still in complete shock. What in Tartarus had just happened?! It was not until the angelic voice of his darling Princess saying his name that he fully came out of his disbelief. His eyes searched out hers, Feeling the droplets of her warm blood fall against his torso as she moved her hand away from her chest, he could feel her pain on a cosmic level like nothing he had ever felt before and for a moment he thought he was the one with the wound. He could see the pain and shock in those sapphire moons of hers as she struggled to draw each breath.

The War God quickly, but gently sat up, his beloved Xena still on top of him and he tenderly shifted her so he could have better access to her wound and the movement made her cough and with it, more blood came out of her sweet mouth. Xena wiped it away, groaning out in pain from the movement as each sharp intake of breath only made it harder to breathe.

"Easy, Princess, easy…" Ares soothingly whispered, "…. don't you worry about a thing, I'll have you fixed up in no time." he sweetly told her as he began to inspect her wound more closely.

The War God was hit with an onslaught of emotions, desperation, hurt, pain, fear…. the latter of them being something that he had never felt before as he thoroughly examined her wound. The dagger needed to come out, there was no doubt about that, but he was almost certain that it would only cause more harm than good but leaving it in was not an option either. With each breath that his Princess took it slowly made the dagger move a little and with each slight movement it only made more blood ooze out of her wound.

"Oh good…." she chuckled out, causing herself to go into a coughing fit from her words "… I was beginning to worry."

Xena was trying to make light of her situation but she knew that this was no laughing matter, and the stern look Ares gave her for her less than humorous joke at a time like this quickly made her regret it. She could see the desperation in his eyes even though he was trying to hide it. She could feel it too, this was not a wound that her War God was going to be able to simply fix with a wave of his hand like he had done some many other times in the past when she was slightly injured in battle.

"I have to pull it out, Xena.", the War God sorrowfully muttered out, his brow furrowing broodingly, not liking the idea one bit.

This was not how this evening was supposed to go, they were supposed to be more than halfway on their way to a very satisfying evening and the only moans that were supposed to be coming from his Princess' mouth were that of pure pleasure, not pain. He knew that was exactly what he was going to cause her the moment he started to slide that accursed dagger out of his Princess' chest. But with each excruciating second that passed he could feel it, her life force was getting weaker the longer he sat there and did nothing. He was not going to just let his Princess slip away from him like that. He needed to do something, and he needed to do it fast.

The Warrior Princess could see the raging battle that the War God was having in his head. She knew that the moment he removed that dagger she would have nothing, but mere seconds left. She had treated her own men for wounds like this and was aware of the outcome from it. The amount of blood that had already seeped its way out of her body from where the blade was so mockingly stuck inside her was a lot and she shivered a little from the lack of warmth that was not flowing through her.

While the Warrior Princess seemed to be slowly accepting her fate, Ares on the other hand was having a hard time coping with the fact that his Princess might just be slipping through his fingers right in front of him. Perhaps, just maybe the wound was not as bad as it seemed, and the War God thought he could quickly heal his Xena the moment he removed the blade. In that instant, just as quickly as the thought had crossed his mind, Celeste had appeared a few feet away from them.

"Get the fuck out of here!" the War God venomously breathed out, glaring daggers at their new unwelcomed guest.

Xena quickly looked over to where Ares was now staring menacingly and saw a young woman dressed in black standing there. Deep down she knew who it was, but her mind would not let her comprehend what it all meant. Their new guest said nothing though, just stood there quietly as she watched the scene unfold out in front of her. It was on days like these that she really hated her job, but all souls must be guided to the Underworld and she was the one who was entrusted to do it no matter what…. or even who it was.

There wasn't a God on Mount Olympus who didn't know about the Warrior Princess and the God of Wars strange fixation with her. But it didn't change the fact that Xena was still mortal, and Celeste knew that this day would come eventually. Despite the bond that they shared, even a Gods obsession could not stop fate. Still, it amazed her though that something as strong and as powerful as what the War God and the Warrior Princess shared between them could be so easily severed.

"Ares…" Xena softly said, trying to bring his attention back to her as she lovingly touched against his cheek and he looked back at her.

"Don't you worry Xena, I'm not going to let you go that easy." he possessively stated, smoothing back his Princess' hair and he leaned in and placed a protective kissed against her forehead.

"Ready?" he asked as he turned her slightly from him and took ahold of the hilt of the dagger.

"Ready." she unconvincingly replied, which did not go unnoticed by Ares and with the way her voice sounded so weak it only made him frown in response. He could feel her slipping away and the crushing weight that was constricting his chest savagely from the feeling was almost unbearable to him.

"Deep breath my dear." he told her and with one of his own, Ares swiftly pulled the dagger out of Xena and carelessly dropped it to the floor. She instantly screamed out from the pain and the War God quickly turned her over in his arms. Without a second to lose, seeing that his darling Princess' blood was now coming out faster, Ares quickly placed his hand against her wound and with all the strength that he had he willed himself to heal her.

The Warrior Princess felt that same familiar warmth from his hand that she had felt so many times before. The warmth against her skin was a welcoming sensation and she closed her eyes from the feeling, reveling in his touch and his strength as it began to fill it.

"Don't you dare close your eyes damn it…" Ares panicky told her, "…. open those gorgeous piercing blues for me Xena."

With a soft flicker of her eyelids, Xena did as her War God asked. Perhaps one of the only times she had ever listened to him when he told her to do something. She looked up into those hypnotizing brown eyes of his and a small smile pulled at her lips.

"Ares… I…."

"Shhhh…" he quickly silenced her, "…. Save your strength, this will all be over in a moment, I promise."

He stared down into those stunning sapphire moons that he had come to be unable to go a day without seeing at least once. She still felt so weak though and he concentrated even harder on healing his Princess. Xena reached up and softly ran her palm against his cheek and he closed his eyes at the contact. Her own stained hand leaving her blood against his cheek and he leaned into her touch, a touch that he was not willing to let go of just yet. Opening his eyes again, there they were, those baby blues staring back at him, and he leaned in closer and gently captured her lips with his.

He felt her softly kiss him back, something that they had done thousands of times before but this one felt different. It was not filled with rage or lust driven passion; it was overflowing with something that neither of them had been able to admit to the other. With one final sweet kiss against her lips, Ares pulled back a little and rested his forehead against hers.

"Xena?" he breathed out a little breathless, "Stay with me." he begged against her lips almost inaudible.

When she did not respond, he pulled back more and saw her eyes were closed. He looked down to where his hand was over her wound and saw that it did not heal. Panic began to overtake him; this could not be happening!

"Xena!"