Okay, so this is a bit longer.
"Ares." Xena stood still, staring at him.
"Hey, Xena." He said, stepping into the room.
"You-" She cut off, still a little in shock. He walked closer to her.
"You didn't actually think I would let you die, did you?" He asked, a small smile forming on his lips.
"How did you...?" He shrugged.
"Athena healed you."
"You convinced Athena to heal me?" She repeated. He nodded, stepping up closer. She opened her mouth to ask another question but he cut her off.
"Gabrielle's fine." He said. "She's sleeping in another room." Xena nodded. She was relieved, but she was still a little bit in shock. She guessed that after how long she had known Ares that she shouldn't be shocked by anything he did, but she still wasn't expecting something like this.
"Why?" Ares rolled his eyes, smile still on his face as he stepped right up to her.
"Do I really need to answer that?" He asked.
"I mean, what do you want for this?" She asked. He gave a sigh and reached up, touching a hand on her cheek.
"I told you, Xena. I couldn't let you die." He stepped back. "Gabrielle is in the next room down. Think about it, Xena." He said before disappearing.
Instead of going to Gabrielle right away, Xena sat on the bed and let out her own sigh. Confusion was replacing shock. She couldn't believe that Ares had done this. She kept wondering where the catch was. Ares never did something for someone without wanting something in return.
She shifted on the bed. Getting up, she got her own clothes and shrugged out of the gown. One thing was sure, she was going to feel a lot more comfortable in her own clothes.
As she dressed, she wondered what exactly Ares would want for this. She just couldn't make herself believe that he would do something like this for nothing in return. Then again, she had been dying.
But what if he had? What if he had simply saved her? He had saved Gabrielle as well. She shook her head. No way. He knew that she would never give over to him if he let Gabrielle die. That had to be the reason.
She walked slowly out of the room and looked around. She recognized this place now. She was in one of Aphrodite's temples. Of course, Ares wasn't really into the whole white and pink lace thing.
She wondered down the hall to the room that Ares had said that Gabrielle was in. Pushing the door open, she walked in quietly. Gabrielle was still asleep on the bed. She sat on the side, watching her friend.
It was a shock, being here, alive and watching Gabrielle sleep. She had fully expected to die there and she had accepted it. She really hadn't had much of a choice. But she was alive now, alive because of Ares.
Her eyes snapped up when she felt his presence before he appeared next to the bed. She gestured to Gabrielle, who had not stirred during any of this.
"You put her to sleep?"
"I needed to talk to you." He said. She saw something in his dark eyes then. A moment of confusion and doubt that she had never seen in gaze. A flicker of doubt came to her.
"I wanted you to know that I didn't get you down to get something for you." He said. She watched him, silent. "I know this isn't my usual style, but..." He trailed off, and there was another sight that was odd. Ares, at a loss for words. That flicker of doubt grew in her mind.
"I felt you dying." He said finally. "And I couldn't let it happen." She stood up, walking closer to him, searching his eyes.
"After everything that's happened, how do you expect me to believe you?" She asked, quietly. She couldn't force any bite into the question, though. There was just more confusion.
"How about I prove it to you." He said.
"How are you going to do that?" He stepped back from her.
"By not asking." He spread his arms a little. For an instant, his eyes were ungaurded again, and she saw a storm of emotions pass over them.
"I love you, Xena." He said, disappearing again and shoking her again for the second time in one day.
"Xena?" Gabrielle's voice startled her out of her daze.
Ares landed in one of his own temples and sat down heavily. He did not feel like going up to Olympus and see Aphrodite's smug expression or answer Athena's questions.
He wasn't one for epiphany's but he had a blinding one when he had felt Xena dying. When he had pulled her down. When he had gotten to her, she was nearly dead. That had led to a desperation and fear that had startled even him.
He had had the prescience to grab Gabrielle as well. Aphrodite, of course had pounced on that as soon as he had convinced Athena to heal them.
"You saved them?" Aphrodite said. He had needed a place to let them rest, and his own places weren't exactly the best. He had brought them to one of her temples to rest.
He simply nodded at her question. That feeling of panic that he had had before still hadn't faded completely. After placing Gabrielle in one of the rooms, he laid Xena down in another, and watched her sleep for a moment.
"You saved both of them?" Aphrodite repeated. She didn't sound as surprised as she probably should have. She tilted her head to the side, watching her brother. She had seen the change in him the instant he had walked through the door. To be honest, she figured that it was there before, but that it was just never realized.
"You love her." She said, a smile appearing on her face. She jumped up and down and threw herself at him, hugging him tightly. "This is unbelievable." She pulled back. "Well, maybe not so much after thinking about it. I mean, you have been, like, obsessed with her forever."
"Aphrodite." He pushed her back slightly by the shoulders and she looked up into his eyes.
"Oh." She said. "Your freaking out, aren't you?"
"I'm not freaking out." He said, his eyes narrowing. "And I am not in love." She rolled her eyes. She probably knew Ares better than anyone alive. She knew when he was lying, even when he was lying to himself.
"Really? Then why did you save them." She held up a hand when he opened his mouth. "Oh, you can lie to yourself about the reasons for rescuing Xena, but what about Gabrielle?."
"Xena, she's-" "Gabrielle's best friend?" Aphrodite interrupted. "She'd be heartbroken if something happened to her. That's why you did it." Ares shook his head and stepped back from her.
"You got it wrong." He said, preparing to leave.
"Ares, wait." She said. He paused, meeting her eyes. "Look, don't lie to yourself on this one, or her. And don't do what you usually do. You know, screwing it up by doing something stupid. You know she'll never forgive you if that happens again."
Ares sighed and leaned further back into his seat. He really hated it when Aphrodite was right. The lying part was easy for him. It had been a lot easier to tell Xena than he thought it would have been. He was not a coward, after all. No matter what anyone thought.
He just didn't know how much good it did him. Along with the realization that he was in love with Xena, another realization that she might really never forgive him for all the things he had done to her in the past. Why should she?
"Ares saved us?" Gabrielle repeated in disbelief.
"Yes." Xena said, getting up from the bed and pacing the room. Gabrielle sat up in the bed and watched her friend.
"Are you okay?" She asked.
"I'm fine." She said tightly. When Gabrielle met her gaze briefly, though, she saw the confusion there.
"Xena-"
"Can we just, not talk about this right now?" Xena asked finally. Gabrielle sighed and nodded, still watching her worriedly.
Xena didn't know what to think. Ares had not come back after disappearing that last time. Now, she couldn't help but to wonder if he was telling the truth, and what that meant. She felt a warmth spread at the simple thought, and pushed the feeling down forcefully.
She could not go down that road. It was out of the question. She couldn't think of Ares like that. He was not one of the good guys, he'd only end up betraying her like always.
Then again, what if he was telling the truth? She had never let herself actually feel for Ares. She had had to always be on guard around him. But she had thought once that she could have loved him. She shook her head, looking over at Gabrielle.
"Let's go."
Athena never fought Xena until after she found out about Eve, so I went with that. That she would heal someone if Ares convinced her to.