Chapter Two: The Pearl

Though her time in Corinth didn't pass smoothly exactly, it did pass quickly. Arriving in the city and meeting with the local council set Xena's mind racing immediately. The things that she was being told by those in charge simply weren't matching what she heard from the locals that she happened to run into on her way into the city. In a short time, it became clear that there was indeed a group of rebels on the move, however their goal was not treason in and of itself, but rather to overthrow an old and corrupt system. It took five days, but in that time, Xena had been able to identify true motives on each side of the ordeal, as well as locate two seemingly uncorrupt individuals ranking low in the local government. With the aid of the ignorant King, who had become accustomed to ruling solely as a figure head and allowing his chosen committee to oversee the true political components, she was able to create the beginnings of a new governing system that would better serve the people and the patriarchy. She knew that this would take many adjustments from many people in the system, but she was hopeful. Her part however, was done and she was eager to make her way to Potadeia.

Gabrielle was still in her hometown tending to her sister. Xena had not received word from her in their time apart, however this wasn't necessarily reason for concern as the women had already created the plan that Gabrielle would remain with her family, regardless of how things went, until Xena was finished in Corinth and traveled back to Potadeia to meet her there. Despite no unease around the distance between them, Xena did hope that she would return to find Lila on the mend. She had several days of travel before her until she found out though.

Xena had not heard from Ares since their encounter in the forest, though still, she felt his presence around. It was more frequent since their conversation, which Xena had to admit she found comforting. Though they have had more than their fair share of differences over the years, she had come to expect him to stop by unannounced, to spy at times, to watch over her. It was an adjustment for both of them during his time as a mortal. She grieved his presence more than she ever admitted to him or anyone else. Since he had become a god again, they both knew that their relationship – if you could call it that – had changed since he had left Olympus. She wasn't sure if this was a change she was happy about though.

Xena left Corinth early in the morning. She knew she would have a long hike through the forest as she did to get there. By midday, the sun was high in the sky, beating down on her with a heat that the shade of the trees could only do so much to ease. She could hear the rushing water of the creek that ran through the forest for the better part of a half hour and was grateful when she finally came upon it. The thought of the cool relief that the water would bring was all she could focus on as she started to remove her armor and leathers, laying them a few feet back from the bank. She felt his presence as she went to remove her cotton shift and momentarily paused. What did it matter now, she reasoned. With their history, they were beyond the point of modesty. She threw her undergarments into the pile of her other belongings and waded into the water. The water at the deepest levels came to just below her breasts, but once she reached this point, she took a breath and let herself sink down, submerging her whole body. She stayed under for a long as she could, enjoying the relief from the sun's rays.

She emerged quickly, with a large gasp of air and caught a glimpse of him sitting on a large rock near the bank from her peripheral. She didn't address him though as she laid back and let herself float for a while. She knew that he was admiring the view and she let him. There would always be a part of her that was excited by his voyeurism.

On his part, he did enjoy the view. It was more than that for him though. Ares had to admit that he wasn't sure where their on-again-off-again relationship would be since he returned to Olympus. If you could even call it a relationship. It was more of a flirtation, really. Although they had been close, Xena always seemed to put up barriers before it went too far. Despite that, he was more hopeful for a potential on-again phase following their last encounter. He had to be cautious not to push it too quickly. Coming on too strong was always a weakness of his. He hoped that his reason for being there now wouldn't be perceived that way. For the time being, he was enjoying just being in her presence, both of them in a private moment together.

Xena let herself relax in the water for about twenty minutes, before she decided it was time to rejoin reality. She knew she needed to get back on the road soon and make time for Ares now as well. She flipped over onto her stomach and swam toward the shore until the water became too shallow and she was forced to walk the rest of the way out. She was very aware of her nakedness and the water dripping from every surface of her body. She was aware of his eyes on her as she walked toward him, next to her belongings.

When she first emerged from the water, Ares drew in a sharp breath. He desperately wanted to run to her and wrap her in his arms. He missed the feel of her and seeing her like this was not making it easy to resist his urges. He reminded himself then that he didn't to want to come on too strong, too forceful, and push her away. He did his best to remain seated and not to ogle her too much. Doing his best to keep a neutral demeanor, he decided that greeting her first would be best to let her know he wasn't there just for a free show.

"Hey," he stated, feeling lame that this was the best he could come up with for a greeting.

"Hey," she replied. She was standing just a few feet in front of him and attempting to wring the excess water out of her hair.

"Want some help with that?" he offered.

Xena raised an eyebrow in question.

"No… it's not an euphonism. I just mean with getting dry."

"Oh… sure," Xena agreed thinking that this would be faster and more comfortable than drying in the sun, which she had originally planned to do.

Ares waved his hand and suddenly the Warrior Princess was not only completely dry, but once again clothed in her armor and leathers. Her chakram and sword were still on the ground where she had left them, but besides picking them up and returning them to the places on her person, she was ready to get back on the trail if she wanted to. She reasoned that Ares knew this and was hoping that she would make the choice to stay and talk rather than being forced to in order to dry off and dress herself again.

Instead of joining him on his rock, she retrieved her weapons and walked past him. Ares was about to take this as his dismissal but as he turned to watch her go, he saw that she was sitting on the ground in the shade of an oak tree. Silently, he rejoiced that she did stay rather than leave him sitting there.

"You going to stay out in the sun all day or join me in the shade?" she asked from her spot on the ground.

Ares smiled at her invitation and made his way to her side. He took a seat beside her and for a long time they sat in silence, watching the water flow and listening to the sounds of the forest. He had to remind himself that he was trying to take things slow with her and feel out their new situation, but it was difficult to restrain himself from touching her. Even the idea to reach out and hold her hand was a strong temptation. He knew that he needed to give her space from him, from them. She had done so much for him as a mortal and his first interaction with her after gaining his godhood back was selfish and power driven. He wanted to fix that but wasn't sure he could. So, he restrained himself from physically reaching out to her.

Xena felt the tension between them as soon as he sat beside her. She could feel his longing to reach out to her, which made her wonder if he could feel hers as well. She wouldn't allow herself to give into her desire though, not now, not after everything changed again. Their history had its ups and downs for sure. This most recent change though, him returning to Olympus, it did bring thoughts that what they had when he was a mortal would change. For a little while there, she really thought that there was hope for them to be together, to try to have the relationship that they both knew they wanted. As she helped him set up his home on the farm, hid him from angry warlords, and went to Rome to help him rescue his sister, their feelings for each other – or rather her feelings for him – grew exponentially. The golden apple seemed to create a distance between them again. She knew that giving him his godhood back had the potential to change what was growing between them, and it seemed that it had. Despite all that though, she couldn't help feeling that she wanted nothing more than to lean her head on his shoulder and let him wrap his arms around her.

The silence between them started to become heavy after more than ten minutes passed. Xena attempted to end the awkwardness.

"So… what have you been up to all this time?" she asked, not sure she wanted to know the answer.

"Oh… you know… the god thing again."

"Back to your old self then, I take it?"

"Yes… no… I don't know. I don't know if I want to be my old self again. Being mortal gave me new perspective on… well a lot of things."

"You know… I think I've heard of the possibility of a kinder, gentler God of War. That was a long time ago though." She couldn't help but smile at the memory.

Ares smiled as well, though they hadn't turned to face each other yet. "That was a long time ago. Despite my largely immortal life, it feels like a lifetime ago."

"For me it kind of was," Xena remarked.

"Yeah… I guess so." Ares recalled the adventures he'd had with Xena since then; both as adversaries and allies. "Maybe I was on the right track then… I just wasn't ready yet."

"Are you ready now?" The question was spoken quietly and it was the first time that Xena turned to look at his profile since he sat beside her.

"I want to be…" Ares answered after several minutes of contemplation.

"What stops you?"

Ares let out a heavy sigh. "It's not what stops me that's the problem… it's what distracts me. Is there motivation for me to be a changed god? Of course. Being mortal for so long I have a new perspective on mankind… on war… on you… us…" Ares waited several seconds to see if Xena would respond. When she didn't, he continued. "I can't stop being the God of War. We saw how that turned out. I can be different, better though. That is what I told myself when I returned to Olympus. Turns out it wasn't that easy. A god needs followers, worshippers. I had lost a lot in my time away. The ease of gaining worshippers again through my old ways – manipulations, empty promises, using people – it's all too easy. It feels like second nature to me. That's what happened with Varia."

He finally turned to meet her eyes then, not sure what to expect from her.

"It was hard for me to watch that," she finally said.

Ares nodded his understanding. He understood that she couldn't be who she was before, the warlord that he created. Still, he knew that there were still feelings for him under her hard exterior and every time she had to watch him mold a new warrioress he saw the pang of hurt, jealousy, sadness in her eyes that most missed.

"Apologizing won't undo it," Ares started. "But for what it's worth… I do regret it. It truly wasn't my goal to bring you or Eve into that. Eve just happened to come along, something that I wasn't expecting and things escalated from there. I'm not targeting her… I never truly was."
The words "baptism by blood" echoed through her mind as the image of Ares, more than twenty-five years ago, holding her infant daughter flashed before her eyes. "I know," she admitted softly.

"I should have called the whole thing off when I realized I had put her in danger. I was caught up in the quest for power and recognition again. I know… it's no excuse."

Their eyes locked and the awkwardness between them faded away. Ares wanted to make a move but knew that he had to let Xena be the one to initiate it if anything were to ever happen between them again. Xena knew he was waiting for this, but couldn't bring herself to give in just yet.

"Do you regret it?" she asked instead.

"Of course, I do," he answered quickly. "I just said that. I really don't have any intentions to harm your daughter. I'm sorry about the way that situation played out. I could say that I knew you would find a way to save her like you always do, but that doesn't justify what I did."

"No… not that," Xena cut him off before he said more. She knew his intentions in the Amazon village weren't really about her and Eve. She was able to see that for what it was; a power move on his part that she, Gabrielle, and Eve happened to stumble into. "Do you regret saving her and Gabrielle? Giving up your immortality? Spending so much time as a mortal? Losing the following you had?"

He didn't need time to think about an answer, it was on the tip of his tongue before she even finished asking. "No. Not even once. I know you and likely everyone else believe that I did it just because I have a thing for you… that I didn't want you to die… again. There's some truth to that, sure. But I also did it because I know how important Eve and Gabrielle are to you. I saw how much it hurt you the last time you lost Gabrielle, how much it hurt you when you lost Solan. I couldn't let that happen again. I couldn't let you go through that loss again."

Xena slid her hand closer to his on the ground, placing it so close that their fingers grazed lightly. Ares took this as permission to make the smallest of moves. He placed his hand over hers and laced their fingers together. She let him have this moment in silence. In fact, she let him have close to a half hour of this before she spoke again.

"Well Kinder, Gentler God of War… I have to get back on the road soon," she slowly pulled her hand back and rose to her feet.

Ares was quickly standing beside her. "Wait, I have something for you before you go." He held out a flat palm and an oyster appeared there. She looked at him quizzically. "Open it," he urged.

She took the oyster from his hand and pried it open. Inside was the whitest pearl she had ever seen. With two careful fingers she took it from its hiding place and held it up to admire it better. "It's beautiful," she told him.

With a wave of his hand, the oyster was gone and the pearl was now set on a silver strand to create a necklace. "Only one in every 10,000 oysters contains a pearl, and surely fewer are as perfect as this one." He reached out and gently took the necklace from her, then moved behind her to fasten it around her neck. She moved her hair aside, letting him place the gift on her.

"There is no one on earth that could compliment the beauty of this tiny gem the way you do," he said as he stood in front of her again to admire the view before him.

"One of the perks of being a god again," she chuckled. "Thank-you," she added with sincerity. She reached out and squeezed his hand again. He took the chance to lift her hand to his lips and kissed it lightly. She didn't pull away.

As her hand fell back to her side and she started to walk away, she called back over her shoulder to him. "See you soon."

He smiled as he watched her walk away again and responded. "Yes, you will."