Seeking Forgiveness

Two days later, Gabrielle was walking in the temple gardens. She had heard nothing from Ares and she wondered if he'd found someone else willing to marry him. He wouldn't have a hard time. She hadn't missed the side long glances whenever they'd gone out on a date, but Ares hadn't seemed to notice.

A smile crossed her lips at his reaction when she had mentioned it. He'd been...seemed genuinely surprised. She snorted. As if he didn't know how attractive he was.

One night during a date, she'd teased him about women lusting after the "Bad Boy" and wanting to be the one to tame him and who was "badder" than the God of War? He'd laughed and told her that the same thing could be said for the "Bad Boy" who always lusted after the "Good Girl". They wanted to see how much they could corrupt her and turn her into a "Bad Girl". She had told him that he'd better leave if he wanted to get a start on corrupting one, but he had given her a devilish grin and informed her that he'd already started. She never got to ask who he was corrupting because he'd grabbed her and kissed her in a manner he'd never done before. Her legs had been so wobbly that when he'd dropped her off at Dite's, she'd promptly collapsed on the sofa in front of the fire and hadn't been able to move for a good ten minutes.

The smile slipped away when the fight they had had two days before hit her. There would be no more heart stopping kisses. She discovered that she missed him something fierce. Not hearing from him made her ravenous for any information about him, but she didn't dare ask Dite. The goddess was still furious with her. When she had told her, her friend hadn't ranted or yelled which would have been better. She'd just looked disappointed and orbed out to see her brother.

"Gabrielle?"

Startled she turned.

"Hercules!" she ran forward and hugged him, "Where have you been?"

"Trying to stop all the wars Ares has been starting lately,"

"Oh,"

"I came to ask Dite if she knew what was up with him. I haven't seen him like this since..."

"Since what?"

"Caila died," he turned to look at her.

"Caila?"

"His fiancée,"

"Pretty name,"

"Zeus I'm stupid!" he hit himself in the forehead, "It was the anniversary of her death two days ago. That explains it."

A part of her shriveled and died when she heard that. She had thought that he was starting the wars to get over her.

Ego much?

She swallowed to get rid of the lump in her throat.

"Do I really look like her?"

He studied her for a moment. "Yes, now that you mention it."

"So it's true," her shoulders sagged in defeat.

"What's true?"

"That he's only with me because I look like Caila,"

A look of shock crossed the handsome demi-god's face. "Where did you get such a ridiculous idea?"

She gave him a sad smile, "There's no need to lie. I know."

"How do you know? Who told you that?" he drew himself up angrily.

"Xena. Joxer overheard the two of you talking,"

"Then he told Xena a bunch of lies or she made up a bunch of lies. Either way you were lied to,"

"Xena wouldn't..."

"Never did like that boy," he said as he crossed his arms over his chest, "besides he's never mentioned a resemblance and he's known you how long?"

"But..."

"I can't believe I'm defending him," he shrugged and shook his head, "but it was his parents who pointed out the resemblance between the two of you after they met you for the first time and that was days after Joxer supposedly heard us talking,"

Gabrielle felt like she'd been punched in the stomach. She remembered meeting Ares for the first time and he had looked at her like he might know her, but then the look had gone never to return in all the times she'd seen him. She remembered meeting his parents and the look of stunned disbelief that they had been unable to hide in that brief moment before they'd regained their composure.

Could Joxer have lied to Xena? She didn't think so. Xena was a human lie detector and Joxer couldn't dissemble to save his life. That left Gabrielle with only one conclusion and she didn't like it one bit. Then it hit her.

"Oh Zeus! I made a terrible mistake!"

She took off running. She was panting when she reached their glade.

"Ares!" she shouted as she turned on the spot while trying to regain her breath, "Ares!"

There was no response.

"What's going on?" Hercules demanded when she turned to him.

"I called off the wedding. I threw the ring he'd given me in his face. I told him I never wanted to see him again," she said all in one breath and mumbled, "Don't know why I thought he'd still be here."

"Why?"

"This was the last place I saw him..."

"I meant why you called off the wedding,"

"Xena told me that..."

"The same Xena who's been against your marriage from the get go? Why would you listen to her?"

"She's my best friend. She has my best interests at heart,"

He snorted. "What did he say?"

She opened and closed her mouth.

"You didn't let him defend himself," he said with a sigh, "Between you and Dite...go hide."

She gave him a tearful smile then ducked behind a tree.

"Ares!" Hercules called, "I know you can hear me. Get your butt down here."

The trade mark blue light appeared before it faded revealing the god in question. She gasped when she saw him. He looked awful. His eyes were bloodshot, his hair was a mess and he looked like he hadn't taken an interest in his appearance in over a month.

"What do you want little brother?" he growled.

"Nothing except to tell you to stop your wars,"

"Then why summon me?"

"He called you for me," she said quietly as she stepped out from behind the tree.

He ignored her and straightened.

"Please!" she exclaimed when she saw him preparing to orb.

"I have nothing to say to you," he snarled with his back to her. The coldness of his voice sent shivers down her spine.

"You don't have to say anything. All you have to do is listen," she released the breath she'd been holding when he nodded stiffly. She turned to the silent Hercules and gave him a hug, "Thank you."

"No problem, kiddo. Talk to you later,"

She watched him walk away giving herself time to compose her thoughts. So much was riding on this, her happiness for one.

"I'm sorry for your loss," she turned to the enraged god and whispered, "I'm so sorry."

He raised an eyebrow. "Is that it?"

She nodded.

"Fine," he growled and started to orb.

"Wait!"

He reappeared.

"I'm so sorry," she repeated and took a step closer to him.

"You already said that,"

She nodded. "I should have given you a chance to defend yourself."

"Yes you should have," he growled again clenching his hands into fists.

She took another small step forward, "Believe it or not I like you."

"Who doesn't,"

She gave a tiny smile and took another step closer, "I was hoping you'd come to discover that liked me too."

Her courage waned a little when all he did was raise his left eyebrow and crossed his arms over the wide expanse of his chest.

"Also I'm not all that confident in myself,"

He raised the other eyebrow.

"I'm not," she shrugged, "I took a back seat in my brief marriage and when you travel with a legend like Xena you tend to fade into the background."

She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that he was really listening. She took another small step closer.

"To find out from my best friend that the man I was marrying hated me and was thinking of another woman when he was with me brought up all my insecurities. I was going to be forced to take a back seat again in my marriage and I couldn't live with that knowledge," She stepped closer and placed her hand on his chest, "I realized that I had made a mistake and I'm sorry. And if you're still willing I'd be honored to be your wife."

She held her breath and prayed to every deity she knew. She noticed an amused smirk cross his lips, but for the life of her couldn't understand why.

There was no noise except the gentle breeze blowing through the trees and birds chirping quietly. He stared at her, his face unreadable.

"Sorry," he said sounding anything but, "The position is already filled."

He orbed out.