The afternoon was calm, with a somewhat somber vibe to it; maybe it was the clouds, dimming out the sun partly, or maybe everything else, non-related to the weather whatsoever.
Sitting on the porch, Gabrielle adjusted Agatha on her lap, where the girl was wriggling impatiently.
"I want my mom…"
"I know honey, and you will see her soon. Your mom and dad are working now, but they will be back."
"When?"
"Soon."
Gabrielle hated trying to convince the girl to believe something she herself didn't. The truth was, the girls' parents were supposed to be back two weeks ago, and the fact they still weren't here was something that worried everyone, but was not spoken about, unless in private.
Both Xena and her had meant to look into the issue, but there was always something to keep them occupied; first, there was the incident with bounty hunters, now Ares and the flu. Xena wanted to use the opportunity of him being bed-bound to do more scouting as it was time to expand the perimeter, with the bounty hunters having traced them to as close as the third village — but because of how his state was getting worse from day to day, she now wouldn't leave his side.
Not wanting to add to Xena's already moody, pre-menstrual state, Gabrielle kept it to herself, but the fact that his fever had lasted for days now, was starting to worry even Pelagia, who was always rational and far from unnecessary pessimism.
Pelagia didn't know how wrong she was about the reason of the patient's low immunity level; she blamed it on excess alcohol consumption. Because she didn't know what Gabrielle did, what occurred to her just now – the godly immunity system relied wholly on their powers, and now that Ares lost that support, his body was starting to develop immunity from scratch, like children. The mortality rate among children was much higher than in adults — due to a less advanced immunity system, and this realization was unsettling. She had to talk to Xena.
In fact, maybe it would be good to have a portion of ambrosia at hand just in case, just as something to fall back on, in case his life was in real danger.
He wouldn't need to know.
She had to talk to Xena.
#
It very soon turned out that Xena's thoughts ran a similar course.
It was a sunny afternoon, a bit windy. They were lounging at the stables, finally able to take a short breather in the otherwise hectic day; Agatha was running around with a chunky stick that she used to hit the ground with every now and then, in between swinging it in the air in a manner of striking the invisible opponents — the inevitable and very predictable outcome of daily hanging out with uncle Ares. Xena was sitting on a huge tree trunk that served as a long bench, indulging in her usual stress-relief activity.
"Xena, if you keep on going, the blade will break under its own weight," Gabrielle noticed, attempting at some humor to lighten up the heaviness in the air.
Xena stopped and looked her in the eye with intensity that took Gabrielle off guard.
"Gabrielle, I need to find the closest temple of Aphrodite. Ares mentioned she's disappeared on him since Olympus, but we need to check out this last option. If she is still there somewhere, there is a higher chance of reaching her that way—"
"Ambrosia…" Gabrielle nodded, interrupting.
There was a hint of sadness and regret softening Xena's eyes, contrasting with the sharply pursed lips. "Gabrielle, it's the closest chance we have…"
"And there's no time to waste," Gabrielle added. "Xena, I know it's not an easy decision to make, but I think it's the right one; without his powers reinforcing him, his immunity system is much weaker than ours, and every little infection could pose a danger… and well, the drinking didn't help either."
"It makes perfect sense… I should've thought about it earlier…"
"I only realized it just now myself," Gabrielle admitted, and, before Xena had time to respond, she added hastily, "Xena — you stay here, I'll go."
"Gabrielle…"
"I'll go, end of story. You know that between the two us, I stand a better chance at reaching Aphrodite, as well you know that he has a better chance of recovery with you by his side," Gabrielle stated, not leaving much room for argument. The truth was, she knew that Xena would've gone crazy if she had to leave his side for more than a little while.
Xena's eyes were teary when she opened them. "Thank you…" she whispered as they hugged. Gabrielle rolled her eyes. Of course she was going to do it, how could she even not?
Wiping her own wet face, Gabrielle sniffled, looking at the sunny afternoon outside the window.
It was time.
What Xena didn't know, however, was that Gabrielle wasn't going to search for Aphrodite's temple.