Morning quickly approached. Gabrielle woke with the sun shining on her face. It was a beautiful morning and Ares was nowhere to be seen. Had he left while she was sleeping? She walked over to the stream and washed her face. After she had a bite to eat, she got all her things together and was ready to leave.
"Not leaving without me are you?" A male voice said from behind her. Gabrielle turned around and saw Ares standing there, grinning at her.
"Oh..it's you..." She said with a wicked smile. "I thought you left." She didn't think he would really stick around. This was a surprise. She wasn't entirely sure if she found it a pleasant surprise or not.
"Nah.. I just popped out for a few minutes. " The dark god said. He walked over to her, one hand rested on the hilt of his Sword.
She was curious why he'd left. "Business?"
Ares had to pop out because of his sister, Aphrodite. Dite had always been very fond of Gabrielle. Actually, they had become friends. So, he got a little lecture from her.. Yes, the God of War had been lectured by the Goddess of Love. She didn't want anything bad to happen to the bard. Though, he wasn't to happy about it, he still loved his sis, she was the only that ever cared for him. However it had been embarrassing enough, telling it to Gabrielle would make it even worse.
"Just some family business." He finaly told her. She eyed him suspiciously. "What?" Ares asked annoyed.
"It's not like you have much family left.." She told him and immediately regretted it. Nice Gabrielle, really nice.. You didn't have to rub it in a little more.
She saw his face twisting up in anger. "Like I don't know that!" He snarled. Gabrielle looked at her feet. It hadn't been her intention of bringing that up. "I'm..sorry.." She whispered as she looked at him. She then reached out to touch his arm but he stepped away from her.
It wasn't because he and his other relatives never got along that he wanted them to be slaughtered like a bunch of animals. He turned to her, his eyes cold but when he saw the look on her face, he softened a bit. "Just forget it."
"So, what family bussiness then?" She carefully asked. Ares sighed. It wasn't her damn business..well, that wasn't entirely true.. He just didn't feel like telling her. Ares thought his sister might be on to something..about his 'feelings' for the little blonde.
"Dite called for me." He said and hoped at the same time that there weren't going to be more questions.. Luckily there weren't any.
"It's been awhile since I last saw her. Is she alright?" she asked. She really missed Aphrodite. She hadn't seen her anymore after Xena died, not even once.
Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea telling her about his little run in with his ditzy sister. She would know that Dite still cared about her. Yeah he would just tell her. No big deal, right? This was just Gabrielle.
"She's alright. Actually the reason she called me was because she wanted to talk about you. Making sure that I wouldn't pull any tricks on you. So as you can see, she hasn't forgotten about you. She just had a lot on her mind lately. Things weren't going very well with Cupid and Psyche. But that's all cleared up now. So i'm pretty sure she'll drop in on you very soon." He assured her.
That would be great. Gabrielle was looking forward to it. It would be nice seeing her again. "All right, i'll be expecting her anytime soon." She said with a bright smile.
Gods, what a smile she had! It could lit up the darkest places, or even his dark heart. He caught himself staring at her and quickly turned his attention towards the heavens.
Was Ares just staring at me? It must have been her imagination. "Uhm, I guess we should get going now. We've already wasted enough time." She walked over to Argo II and mounted. "Ready?"
He raised an eyebrow and then grinned broadly. "Hey, I was born ready!"
Gabrielle had to laugh. "If you say so, Mister God of War who couldn't kill a simple chicken." Ares gave her an angry stare. She had to bring up that incident again. She didn't have the slightest idea of how terrible it was for a God to live on a farm. Killing a chicken for dinner sounded easy. At least it would be when he was still a God.
"I just needed some practice.. That's all.." He explained. She really tried not to laugh too much. You don't want to have an angry God of War by your side. "Oke, let's go."
After an hour walk, they arrived in Athens, Capital City of Greece. It had been a while since Gabrielle's last visit. It was big, crowded and especially noisy. Her home town, Potedeia, wasn't any of that. She used to be more of a country girl, though she started to appreciate the cities more and more after she went travelling with Xena.
"Well.. Here we are. I think i'm gonna skip some of the festivities. I have some things to take care off anyway." Ares said after he scanned the place. Gabrielle smiled. She knew that a crowded marketplace wasn't Ares' place to be.
"That's alright Ares..I can take it from here." She briefly touched his arm. "Thanks. For keeping me company.. And for not pulling any tricks.. I mean it." She said and smiled up at him.
Ares smiled back. So, she didn't think having him around was that bad. Good to know. Besides, he wasn't going to leave her alone for very long. He was never one to waste time or opportunities.
"No problem Blondie." And with that he disappeared.Gabrielle rolled her eyes at the given name.
For a moment she was beginning to think that she would miss his presence but she quickly shaked those thoughts off. She needed some new scrolls so that would be the first thing she was going to buy. She had a lot to write about, mostly about their last adventure together. The adventures she had shared with Xena left her with many dazzling stories. In a way, Xena had not only been her best friend and soulmate, but also her muse. After buying a pair of scrolls, she went to a local Inn and got herself a room. A nice big room with a cumfy bed. It had cost her 6 dinars which was pretty expensive but she didn't care. All she cared about was getting a good night sleep and a good meal. She desperately needed it. After a long day, she decided she would turn in early. She wanted to get enough sleep. When she was headed for the Inn, a pink flash appeared in front of her. It was Aphrodite.
"Sweet Pea! " She squealed in happiness. She ran over to Gabrielle and hugged her fiercely.
"Aphrodite!" She hugged the Goddess back. "It has been too long. I'm so sorry I neglected you and i'm sorry for what happened to the Warrior Babe.." She let go of Gabrielle.
Gabrielle did her best at smiling, but the memories still haunted her. "Yeah.. I still miss her alot. But i'm fine.. Really.. And it's oke.. Ares explained it to me."
Aphrodite looked rather surprised. "Is that so? .. well that's new.. I can see he hasn't done anything to you. He better not!"
Gabrielle smirked at the blonde Goddess. "He has been the perfectly Good War God. Well at least as good as it can get." Aphrodite chuckled. "He isn't all bad. He just does what he is supposed to do." Dite was right. Gabrielle had already seen another side of him. Mostly when he was mortal but still.. Maybe even the God of War was capable of changing. Though it was hard to believe..but maybe not impossible.
"Actually there's another reason why I came to visit you. You are invited to a party!" Dite announced excitingly.
"Ow.. I see..Well.. I don't know." She didn't feel like partying at all. Aphrodite looked rather disappointed. "Aww little one.. You have to come! It will take your mind of things!" Dite pleaded with her. Gabrielle sighed deeply. She didn't want to hurt her feelings..
"All right. I'll come to your party.. But just because you really want me to." She clarified so she was sure Dite knew she wasn't going to enjoy this.
Aphrodite was smiling like crazy. Yeah she was definitely happy about it. "That's so cool! I'll talk to you later! Take care!" And with another flash she was gone.
Well at least someone was happy about it. She went to her room at the Inn and climbed into her bed. After a few minutes, she was sound asleep, not knowing that Ares was watching over her, asking Morpheus to give her pleasant dreams. He smiled at the sleeping form. "Sweet dreams, Little Bard."