Disclaimer: In chapter 1. However, I do need to add that 'Fins, Femmes and Gems' wasn't written b me, and I am just borrowing it for artistic and entertainment purposes.

Author's Notes: I hope my fellow Xenites enjoy this little rendition of FFG. I have taken artistic license, so please don't hate me for any of the changes. I tried to be true to the essence of this awesome episode (it's my favourite). The FFG portion of 'Hero' will be fairly X/G focused, but Regina and Emma still play a part. This experience may even bring them closer….. Thank you to everyone reading, reviewing, favouriting and following "Hero".

Finally realising he wasn't alone, the man raised his eyes and stared in desperation, "They stole the North Star."

Xena turned and run back out of the temple. She headed down the road they would have taken anyway, and assumed the others followed. Of all the selfish things, Xena mentally shook her head. I can't believe I was going to ask that immature pink puffin to help the others. She continued to run while she looked forward to the chance to knock heads.

Aphrodite appeared in a swirl of pink, grooving to hip music. "Ooh! Whoo! Uh-huh, uh huh." She pulled the headphones off and tossed them aside. Gazing across her offer table she grinned excitedly, "Let's see what I got today. Need it," she pointed to an item. "Got it. Hate it." She sighed, "Can always hock it. Groady! Uh!" She picked up a fish. "Why do these mortal types always give me fish?! I hate fish!"

Aphrodite turned at the sound of a male voice, "This way!"

Maecanus and his henchmen walked into the temple and stopped before her, "Aphrodite. It is my honour to be able to…"

"Yadda, yadda, yadda." She interrupted. "Did you get it, or not?"

Maecanus handed her a pouch and she tipped a clearest and brightest gem into her hand. "So this is the Mystic Diamond, huh? Nice one. Ooh! Too bad I can't keep it!"

"What? Then why did I just…?"

"Duh! It's a star from the night sky. I gotta show this off." Aphrodite examined the diamond, "This little baby is destined to become the centre of my constellation. Hmm." She put it back in the pouch and gave it to Maecanus, "Now, take it to my priest in Parnassus. He's gonna shoot it into the night sky for me."

"I'll put it up there for you right now, most beautiful of Goddesses." He pulled an arrow out, "Tie your gem on my arrow, so my shaft can bring you satisfaction."

Aphrodite giggled, "I do believe your sweaty, smelly leader is flirting with the goddess of love." She wrapped her fingers around the tip of his arrow and snapped it, "You don't have the thrust. Besides, my guy in Parnassus has better equipment. And he knows the right time to shoot. It's got… something to do with some astrological stuff that gives me a headache. Now, go! To Parnassus! Gotta be there by nightfall!"

"Yes, my goddess," he bowed. "There's just one small problem…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Xena and her pesky posse's right behind ya. Don't sweat it; I gotcha covered." A small vial with floating pink mist appeared in her hands. "I call it 'Obsession.' One whiff, and whatever you're thinking about at that minute turns into an overwhelming obsession. Cool, huh?" She glanced up at the door, "Now, go! Uhhh, out the back door."

Maecanus waved his men after him, "This way. Let's go."

Xena jogged through the door with Gabrielle, Emma, Regina and a less quiet Joxer right behind her. Gabrielle puffed, "How could Aphrodite steal the North Star?"

Emma looked at the spot Aphrodite had just been standing. It could have been her imagination, but she would have sworn to smelling fairy floss. She scrutinised the rest of the room trying to see the scantily clad Goddess.

"She stole the Mystic Diamond from the temple of the heavens." Xena looked around as she walked further into the temple. "Unless we get its powers back before nightfall, the North Star will go out, and the world will be in for some serious turmoil."

Joxer held his sword in front of him, ready to a fight. "You mean, things that go bump in the night really will go bump in the night?"

"All travellers on land and sea look to the North Star as a guide," Xena explained, "The Mystic Diamond's powers will keep it shining."

Glad they got a description from the priest before they left so they knew who to look for, Gabrielle commented "Xena, there's no sign of Maecanus."

Xena scowled, "Let's look around and see if they've stashed it someplace." She frowned at Emma who hadn't moved more than a few paces into the room, and didn't appear to have any interest in searching. "Check over here," she gestured to the others.

Aphrodite watched the group unseen, waiting for her moments to strike. "Hmm!"

Regina didn't care about the mystery diamond, or whatever it's called. She gazed across the trinkets and statues that decorated the room. Most were of Aphrodite, but there was one in particular that caught her attention – it was a statue of a fertile fruit tree. She couldn't tell if they were apples or oranges, yet it still sent a pang of sadness at the loss of her own apple tree. She had grown it herself from a seed. It was the longest relationship she had ever had, a nurturing and supporting one. The least Emma could do would be to replace it, Regina huffed, even if it were with herself. Regina felt dizzy for a moment and then gazed back at the tree statue. Unbeknownst to the former Queen, Aphrodite giggled next to her.

Joxer approached a mural on the wall. It depicted a man and a woman in the jungle. "What's this?"

Gabrielle came to a stop beside him, "That's the story of Attus, the ape-man, and the Princess Gaia." She looked at the beautiful detail of the artwork. "Hmm, it's a beautiful love story."

"Hmm. Ape-man." Joxer felt a strange sensation come over him. He reached out and touched the mural with his finger. "Hmm."

Gabrielle looked over the other artworks in the temple. Along the far wall, behind where Regina stood, was a series of statues of couples engaged in intimate activities. "That's not humanly possible."

Xena glanced up briefly, "Sure it is." She turned and frowned again at Emma, who had spoken the same words at the same time.

Emma grinned at Xena. She had spent a good portion of her adult life using Xena as a role model. She had worked hard to redeem herself from her past transgressions; becoming fit and capable, helping catch thugs, thieves and misfits in her own way, and working towards being able to forgive herself. Seeing her hero in the flesh only made her want to do better, to be better. Emma didn't even realise the room spin slightly as she stood up straight and placed her hands on her hips, determination clear on her face.

"They say that the paintings of women in Aphrodite's temple represent her many faces, right?" Gabrielle looked at herself in the slightly dusty mirror, "Well, based on this, I'd have to say that she's pretty full of herself."

Aphrodite raised her eyebrows, "Oh, really?"

Gabrielle blinked rapidly for a few second, and then looked closer at the mirror and reached for it as if in a trance, "Pretty!"

"They've probably headed for Parnassus. The priest there is an expert astrologer." Xena scanned through the objects along the Alter. "Who knows what stupid thing Aphrodite would want him to do with it?"

"Nice! Double dose for you, Warrior Babe." Aphrodite warned.

Xena lifted up a fish and examined it, "Hmm… a walleye."

"Big mistake," Aphrodite giggled, "you're never getting that smell off your hands now."

Xena's eyes went wide, "I've got it." She looked up and glanced in the direction of the door, "I know what to do! The North Star is on the verge of extinction. The fate of the whole world lies in our hands. We've got no choice." She held up the fish, "We're going fishing!"

Intro music: In the time of fairy tale characters, good versus evil. A land in turmoil cried out for a saviour. She was Emma; a reluctant princess, forged in the heat of battle. The magic, the passion, the danger. Her curse-breaking will change the world.

The sky was a beautiful baby blue, scattered with fluffy white clouds. A cool breeze flittered around the group as they were engrossed in their separate activities. Joxer was searching through the branches of a small bush. Not far from him Regina was going from tree to tree, placing her hand on each one as if trying to communicate with it. Emma was further in the field, glad to have found a reasonably flat and soft patch of grass, where she alternated between push ups and sit ups with a resolute expression. Xena, too, was in the field, a bar of rolled twine in each hand that led into the sky.

Gabrielle stood near her, "It's beautiful, absolutely beautiful. Don't you think it's beautiful? The way it dips and curves?"

Regina glanced briefly at the two Grecian women but turned back to the tree she had her hand on. It was a tall tree with luscious green leaves. Her hand glowed as she pulled it away, and she upturned her palm to reveal a single seed. She smiled with satisfaction before putting it in her pocket.

"It's not supposed to dip and curve," Xena explained. "The parchment has to stay still up there."

Gabrielle turned to look at her friend with confusion, "Parchment? Uh, no…" She looked back up, "no, the cloud behind it. Don't you think it looks like my nose? You know, the way it dips down, and has that cute little curve to the side?"

Regina rolled her eyes at the bard's focus. She stole a glance in Emma's direction and was momentarily distracted by the way the muscles in Emma's arm moved during the upward motion of the push up. She mentally shook herself and knelt down. She gathered dirt into the small carry bag she had retrieved from their gear.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Look, that clip is supposed to release when you tug on that line." Xena pushed Gabrielle with her elbow. "Go on, grab it."

"Huh," Gabrielle shook her head, "Waste of my time."

"Go ahead." Xena insisted.

Gabrielle sighed, as if the whole ordeal was too much effort, but she looked at the clips and jumped once to catch it. "Uh," she huffed, "very funny. Fortunately, I have a brilliant sense of humour." She looked at her nails.

"Gabrielle!"

"Xena, if you think I'm gonna waste my time jumping up and down for flying parchment…"

"It is not a waste of time! I'm trying to test…" Xena snapped, but then she her expression changed suddenly. "Oh! Oh, ah, excuse me. I, uh, I didn't wanna make you feel uncomfortable."

"Uncomfortable? Me?" Gabrielle asked, shocked, and waved her off. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, yeah, you know, about your, uh… your little problem: your height?"

Emma smirked in amusement at Xena's tactics. She liked to tease Regina too, and with that thought she looked around and found the former Queen sitting crossed legged at the edge of the field with a bag in her lap and her hands held on the top. It could have been the sun, but Emma thought briefly that Regina's hands glowed with magic…

"You want me to catch your silly clip, do ya? Fine. I'll show you height." Gabrielle leapt up a few times before her hand clasped around the clip, "Uh! Got it! Now, what?" She pulled on the clip a little too much and pulled the whole flying parchment with it. Both she and the parchment fell to the ground. "Oh. Ow!" She squeaked.

Xena picked up her parchment, "Needs some minor adjustments. I can make 'em up at the lake."

As Gabrielle stood she spotted their noisiest companion, "Hey, is that Joxer?"

"Mmm, bug." Joxer lifted the creature and put it in his mount.

"That is so disgusting." Gabrielle turned away. "Xena, he's been acting very strange. I don't think we should be seen in public with him. Or Regina…" She finally noticed Regina to the side, where she gently stroked the leaves of a small sapling in her lap.

Xena gathered her parchment and gear, "They've been acting strange because something happened to them at the temple. Aphrodite must have put some kind of a spell on him. Now Joxer's obsessed with that silly story about the ape-man, and Regina with trees. Not quite sure about Emma… Maybe exercising." She paused, "You know, you got the obsession thing, too."

"Excuse me?" Gabrielle looked at her incredulously.

"Ooh, yeah."

"What am I obsessed with?"

"You." Xena said pointedly. "Your opinion of yourself is flying higher than my parchment."

Gabrielle chuckled, "That's ridiculous! Xena, my opinion of myself has not changed one iota since," Xena withdrew her sword and held it in front of Gabrielle, "Oh. Oh, yeah… lookin' good."

"Yeah." Xena agreed absently as she re-sheathed her sword.

"All right," the bard conceded, "Um, if we're all obsessed with something, what about you? What are you obsessed with?"

"Well, that's the good news. I haven't been affected by the spell, so I can still take care of business. So, let's fish. Joxer!"

"Huh?" Joxer looked up from his perch on a rock.

"Move it. And bring some of whatever it is you're eating. Might be good bait."

"Uh- OK."

Xena looked towards Regina, "Coming Your Majesty?" She ignored the glare from her fellow brunette. "Bring your princess too."

Regina's eyes widened a little at Xena's inference, but said nothing in response. She held the bag with her sapling against herself as she stood. She gently slung the bag over her shoulder and brushed herself off with a dignified expression. Satisfied that she was clean, she strode over to Emma and looked down at her with crossed arms. Emma sat in the lotus position with her eyes closed. When did she stop working out? Regina wondered.

"What are you doing, Miss Swan?"

Emma took a deep breath through her nose, "I'm finding my inner hero."

Regina blinked, "Right. Well, you'll have to continue that later. We're moving on."

Emma opened her eyes, and her mouth to argue, but then decided against it. She had too much to focus on without getting into an argument with Regina. She had to centre herself and prepare herself for the coming confrontation with Maecanus.

Gabrielle followed Xena, with Regina, Emma and Joxer behind her. "I still don't see why we didn't bring Argo. I'm getting callouses - perfect callouses."

"I let Argo roam free for a while," Xena said over her shoulder. "I need to concentrate totally on the mission at hand."

Regina patted her carry bag, checking for the hundredth time her sapling was still there and safe.

"Is that the diamond?" Gabrielle asked.

"Henry," Emma stated at the same time Xena spoke.

"Yeah, and the diamond," Xena glared quickly at Emma. She was getting annoyed that she kept speaking at the same time.

"You know, Xena? I've been thinking of rewriting the scroll." Gabrielle explained cheerfully, not concerned about the dynamics between her companions.

"Whatever," Xena muttered. She already had the rest of her afternoon planned out, and it didn't involve scrolls.

"It just doesn't have a point of view. You know, it needs more verve, more character, more…" Gabrielle laughed, "… more of me. It doesn't sing to me like this." Her eyes lit up in excitement, "Actually, that's a great idea. The scrolls should be sung, not told!" She nodded her head as a tune came into being…

"Well, listen to my story about Gabrielle…

Cute little gal that's lookin' really swell.

Perfect hair, such a lovely lass...

Nice round breasts and a firm young-"

Xena clamped her hand over Gabrielle's mouth, "Are you out of your mind?!"

Regina stops a hair away from Gabrielle's back, but unfortunately Emma wasn't paying as much attention. She bumps into Regina and almost knocks her over. Luckily her reflexes work when she's paying attention and she catches the brunette in her arms. Regina blushed; flustered by being held by the arms she was admiring not that long ago. She pushed Emma away, but not with any malice.

Gabrielle pulled back to speak, "Too loud? Ar-are you worried we're gonna get there and the fish'll be gone?"

Xena's eyes shone dangerously, "I'm worried we're gonna get there and the fish'll be armed!"