Chapter 67

"No…." was his ghostly response to the unconceivable sight that he had before him.

He really didn't want to believe it at first and for a moment he actually thought that his eyes were playing tricks on him and he shook his head in disbelief, desperately trying to rid himself of the horrifying image that laid in front of him. It didn't work though and he looked over again to where the body was lying and there she was, his precious Xena, seemingly unconscious as she laid there on the floor unmoving.

The awful sight of the trickle of blood that was slowly seeping out of her mouth made his heart pound savagely against his chest. What was she even doing here? How did she…? When…? But…? The questions were just racing through his mind of why she was even here now. He took a small step in her direction, still completely in shock that it had been her that he had hit with that energy ball, and then he took another one and before he knew it, he covered the space that separated them with extraordinary speed.

"No, no, no, no…" he faintly whispered out as he kneeled down next to her.

He literally felt sick to his stomach and the sight of her battered body was only causing that nauseating feeling to grow unbearably intense. He reached out to touch her but then retracted his hand, not sure whether or not that he should – he had no right after what he did. Sure, it had been an accident, he didn't mean to hurt her, she was the last person that he ever wanted to hurt.

And yet, the effort to convince himself that what he had just done was nothing out of the ordinary, and certainly resulted in the same ending with hundreds of other priests and priestesses throughout the years, was not working. The dread that had taken a hold of him once his eyes had landed on Xena felt like it was suffocating him. For the first time ever in his long life, his chest hurt with an indescribable ache, as if someone was gnawing at his insides and slowly destroying him from within.

Her chest was barely rising and falling, but it brought no comfort to Ares and the sight of Xena like that was just doing havoc to him. That nauseous feeling kept growing though and with it, an unimaginable weight began to form against his chest while his eyes softly roamed over her, the panic in him was making the War God a nervous wreck and then he reached out and tenderly smoothed back her hair from her face.

Once he had made contact, one couldn't have pried him away from the Warrior Princess for anything and he lovingly began to smooth his fingers against her cheek. He swiftly wiped the blood from her mouth and then, just as gently, he gathered her closer to himself, being careful not to move her too hard and not wanting to hurt her any more than he had already done.

"Xena…?" he murmured out, delicately cradling the most important person in the world to him within his arms and at that moment he was scared out of his mind, "… sweetheart… talk to me… please…"

His voice was weak, but kept running his fingers through her silky raven tresses, which by this point was slightly covered in blood from the wound on her head, hoping that it would be all that she needed to open her eyes. He placed a soft kiss against her forehead, pulling her closer to himself and not daring to let go of her for a single moment. After a few more strokes, he finally took notice of her wound and carefully inspected her cut. Having located where the gash was, he quickly placed his hand over it, putting all of his energy into healing it and after taking a little longer then he would have liked, it soon disappeared.

He then proceeded to look for any other wound that he might have over looked for the next several minutes and after not finding anything, the God just held Xena tightly within his arms, fearing that even the slightest inch away from her might somehow cause some unknown damage of some kind and he wasn't going to let that happen for anything in this world. Moving his hand up, he lightly started to run his knuckles along her cheek, hoping the sensation would give him what he wanted. An eerie feeling gripped him tightly with each second that passed though, he had hit her with a powerful energy ball, knocking her into a marble pillar and he nearly killed her from the impact. The thought slowly filled him with guilt, an unusual feeling for him and on top of that he was absolutely panic stricken from the moment his eyes landed on her.

Why wasn't she waking up already? Every instant that she laid unconscious in his embrace was only making Ares worry more. She should have wakened up by now, maybe there was something else wrong with her? With that grim thought, the War God immediately placed his hand against her chest, letting his energy run through her so he could better assess what was going on with her. He could feel her heart beating steadily against his palm, it could have been stronger but other than that, there was nothing out of the ordinary.

The concern etched on his face while he looked down at his Princess was only growing and he leaned forward and placed a few kisses against her head. How could he not have known that it was her?! What made him feel even worse was that he did know, subconsciously anyway, but his anger kept him from realizing it in time. If it wasn't for that little vindictive bitch of a Goddess then this would have never happened and the thought only made him angry once again. Nonetheless, as that small rage began to form within Ares, his mixed with hate and worried eyes drifted back down to his beloved's face and it snapped him right out of the notion of even thinking of leaving her side for a second.

His darling Xena was who was important and everything else became superficial and he cradled her more tenderly in his arms, making sure that she was safely encased within his embrace as he once again tried to reach his Princess. All she needed was a little motivation, something to lure her out of the dark with.

"Come on, Xena…." he whispered against her ear, trusting that his voice would be an incentive of some kind to her, "… wake up darling…"

He pulled back from her slightly, tilting her face up towards his more and gently running his palm along her face. This waiting was pure torture, something that he was not enjoying at all as the seconds ticked by at an alarmingly slow pace and as the iron grip that had seized his heart got a little tighter with each passing moment, practically squeezing the life out of him, there came a very faint whimper from his gorgeous Princess.

That was the most beautiful sound that he had ever heard and this sense of relief washed over him and a small smile pulled at his lips. She was becoming responsive and his hold around the one who was his eternal flame only became stronger while he continued to softly smooth his fingers against her cheek. But he wasn't out of his misery just yet, and the cold steely grip of terror washed over him again when there was no other reaction.

"Xena?" he hesitantly whispered, tenderly running his fingers through her raven tresses and he leaned forward and placed a kiss against her forehead for good measure.

She did have a small reaction to her name, another soft mew forming in her throat and her eye lids had fluttered a little but she did not open them, preferring to just rest within her protective cocoon for a while longer. It had been a very powerful energy ball that he had hit her with, something that she had never experienced before and she was caught completely off guard by it. Her body was not accustomed to it and it needed the time to recover from such a violent blow. She could hear his voice, feel the warmth of his gentle touch against her skin from his hand and lips and it was like a beacon in the dark that was telling her that she was going to be fine. Her body hurt like crazy though, especially her chest and back where she had received the brunt of the attack from him and the pillar.

For a moment, she tried to move but her limbs were not cooperating with her at all and she just whimpered out again from the sharp pain that shot through her when she tried. The War God did not miss the small frown that had formed on Xena's face, she was in some type of pain and the thought made his heart constrict violently from the idea that it was a direct cause from what he had done. He swiftly placed several soothing kisses against her forehead, trying to ease his own guilt and succeeding in settling her a little from her torment. At some point, she had managed to move her hand a little and her fingertips softly touched against his chest, immediately drawing Ares' attention towards the contact.

He had watched them with great interest as if her faint movement against his flesh was suddenly going to give him the unknown answer that he sought. Technically, she was fine, maybe a few scrapes and bruises but she did lose a good amount of blood and she was just weak from that and the other painful thought of himself almost killing her. Once her hand had come to a stop, he gently picked it up, bringing it closer to himself and placing a kiss against the back of her hand before moving it back to where it was against his chest.

With remarkable patience, the War God just sat there with Xena huddled up protectively in his lap, waiting ever so patiently for her to open her eyes. He kept talking to her all that time as the minutes just continued to fly by and he would get small reactions from her as he did so, slowly alleviating the vice like grip of fear that had taken a hold of his immortal being. She was coming around, slower then he would have liked her too but it wasn't every day that a mortal got hit with an energy ball, specifically the way she did too.

"You should have seen the look on her face…" he murmured into her hair, tenderly placing a kiss there as well while he softly rocked her, "… it was priceless, you would have loved it."

Her loose grip around his hand that he had now been holding on to in a death grip had slowly began to tighten, her fingers softly curling around his and letting him know that she was in fact enjoying his story. It wasn't long before she had actually fallen asleep, her body really needing the rest and because the warmth of him surrounding her securely the way he was, it was the perfect place for the Warrior Princess to let go completely and heal.

Ares felt the change in her breathing and for a moment, he panicked, not realizing that she had fallen asleep in his arms and he pulled back to look at her. His completely worried eyes assessed her quickly, looking for anything that would raise cause for alarm but, sensing the anxiety rising in him, her added pressure to his hand and the way she faintly nuzzled her cheek against him soon put a stop to his over active mind and he relaxed a small amount.

"Rest now, my sweet…" he whispered to her, gently nestling his head against hers and bringing her impossibly close to himself, "… you're going to be just fine…"

After a few more minutes, Ares carefully picked Xena up completely into his arms and he carried her to their bed chamber. He cautiously made his way towards the bed, being careful of every move that he made while he gently laid her down on it. He swiftly changed her into something that would be more comfortable for her and he just stood there and watched over her for a moment.

As his auburn eyes roamed over her, it was abundantly clear that she was very important to him and that her death was something that he was more than positive that he wasn't going to take very well. If that strange panic attack that he just had had anything to say about it, then it was more significant then he originally thought it was. He didn't like the terror that had gripped him when he saw her lying there like that, bleeding and unconscious and all by his hands and he quickly tried to banish the cruel thoughts that were now trying to work their way into his mind.

Suddenly, he needed contact, the only thing that was going to reassure him that his darling Xena was in fact alive and was going to be fine and he swiftly made his way into the bed. He immediately engulfed her with his form, practically melding her to him so there was no chance that she could get away from him while he gathered her up as close as possible. His hands franticly touched everywhere that they could, running along her body as if he had never touched her before in his life and just needing to feel her sweet flesh against his.

Nevertheless, he continued to talk to her even though she was well within the realm of sleep. It was more for himself then it was for Xena, some weird thought that he had that if he just kept talking to her then this nightmare would be over a lot quicker. Her subtle little movements were her answers to him and he soothingly roamed his hand up and down her back, making her shift again within his arms.

"I told you, you'd love it." he playfully whispered in her ear, a tiny smirk appearing on his face from their previous conversation about when he touched her this way.

Naturally, his response came in the form of a small whimper which he took as her still protesting to what she so clearly loved and his grin grew even wider from it. She was just so stubborn, even in her sleep and he absolutely loved it. After placing a few more delicate kisses into her hair, Ares snugly pulled Xena closer to himself and whispered one last thing in her ear before joining her in her slumber.

"Come back to me…"

Although the War God couldn't have possibly known for sure, somehow his words did register with the Warrior Princess and her hand drifted towards his heart and settled there as a protective cover to keep it safe as her unconscious answer to his request but he too had been over taken with sleep and he didn't notice her symbolic gesture.