Good gods, what a disaster of a day.

Gabrielle spent half of the day sleeping, the other half fighting a headache of a lifetime.

Pelagia had been off to work since early morning, and Gabrielle was grateful for that — she didn't want Pelagia to see her in her current state.

Kyrillos, on the other hand, was home — and for that Gabrielle was even more grateful. What a balm to the soul. There was something about him that made Gabrielle's heart well up with such tenderness that made the thought of leaving yet more painful.

They hadn't yet agreed on the final date but Gabrielle suspected that Xena wasn't going to like the idea of staying any day longer, judging by how on edge she was.

It was uncanny, to see Xena that way, so unsettled over a man, and over Ares of all people. It was a side of Xena that Gabrielle had never had a chance to witness before. It was obvious Xena had been smitten with him for years, no matter how much she had always played it down, but now — it was more than just that. The previous innocence of it was definitely not there anymore.

Gabrielle smiled, a wave of tenderness washing over her. Xena could act tough all she wanted, but Gabrielle knew a heartbreak when she saw one, and she wasn't going to just stand by and let Xena sweep things under the rug in denial — the way Gabrielle knew things would go down if left to run own course.

If unattended, the issue would continue to linger and, as much as Xena would try to argue to the contrary — that was not the way to go about those things.

Xena was going to have to face it, willing or not, and Gabrielle was going to see to it.

Because this — it was no longer just having a thing for bad boys in leather; not after what Gabrielle had witnessed the other night at the stables, when the two of them had unknowingly made her the audience to what had given her a pretty good idea of how far from casual the situation was.

Neither was it casual for Ares. Even last night, it was pretty transparent; not even his usual bravado managed to veil it.

She sighed. The headache was subsiding — Kyrillos was right — the chicken broth helped. Not to mention, the taste made her crave more.

Then, looking at the table in front of her, she froze puzzled — there was a refilled bowl of broth staring right at her.

"Here you are, child — have as much as you want, there's still half of the pot left." Kyrillos' warm, merry eyes were looking at her with fatherly concern.

"Thank you…" Gabrielle blinked back tears, thinking about her parents, and marveling at how it was possible that this man she had just met was making her feel like she was sitting at the dining table of her family home, being a kid again. Her eyelids couldn't hold it in.

"It's alright, kid. We all have those moments sometimes," Kyrillos added reassuringly, and it made it even worse, new waves of tears following. "Feelings are nothing to be ashamed of."

"Sorry, it's just that this — I thought about my parents," Gabrielle said, blinking.

"You must have loved your folks."

"Yeah… I uhm… I wasn't there when they, uhm… for years, I was away, and uh, then I came back and they—"

"I'm sorry, kid. But at least you got to know the love of loving parents, not everyone can say that…"

"I guess you're right… I was still a kid when I left home… I guess I just thought they would always be there, to come back to," Gabrielle smiled, sniffling. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize for having feelings, kid."

"Thanks… and thank you for having us…"

"Don't mention it."

"And we are sorry to be a nuisance but I think we won't trouble you for much longer, Xena is almost recovered—"

"Kid, kid — lemme tell you something," Kyrillos interrupted her. "A week ago, before you bunch arrived at this house, I was sitting on this very porch, thinking. And I was thinking, how blessed I've been, I'm healthy, I have a home, a good life, a woman who does her best to make it hell but whom I love anyway, and still — there are those times when I sit here and think — that there should be more. Now I don't wanna sound ungrateful 'cause gods know I appreciate my blessings, but — it's hard sometimes, you know? To sit around the empty house and wonder, what could've been if life had turned out differently; how old would your kids be, what they would be like, how many grandkids you would have running around by now… But gods wanted otherwise, and so — I will never know."

"I'm so sorry, I didn't know…"

"It's alright, kid. Me and the missus came to terms with it long ago, and life just went on as it always does. But what I'm trying to say is — when you lot entered this house a week ago… it suddenly wasn't that quiet anymore, you know what I mean? And if you ask me — I'm not exactly looking forward to your departure."

Kyrillos watched how the girl's face beamed with such tender happiness that it made him smile from ear to ear.

"Thank you," she said, blinking back tears again. Kyrillos watched her with tenderness overflowing his heart. What a sweetheart that little one was. Her folks had been lucky to be blessed with such a daughter, he thought; and suddenly, it was him who was blinking back tears now. He noticed the girl saw it and then they both just let the tears fall freely.

"So, you kids take your time, and don't be thinking of leaving soon if you don't have too; the house is big enough for all of us. And I've seen my wife has taken to you quite much — she did mention our village could use another healer to take some work off her hands, but I guess you already know that."

"Thank you, Kyrillos… you know, me and Xena, we've been on the road for years; we both long forgot what having an actual home is; occasionally, we would stay several days here and there, but here, your house — it's… this place feels so much like home, like the home I remember from my childhood, the home that is no longer there to come back to…" Gabrielle paused, sniffling, "It's hard to think of leaving, to be honest… but it's not up to just me."

"She'll stay."

"What?"

"Not that she'll admit to it, but she wants to stay even more than you do."

"I think you're definitely onto something with the denial part — that's Xena for you," Gabrielle smiled. "But believe me, I know her — she needs kicks in life that she won't find here."

"I think she just might; in fact, I think she already has," Kyrillos said with smug smile. Gabrielle's face expressed pure confusion for a moment. "They've both been gone all day, you know," Kyrillos added, raising his eyebrows.

"Oh…" Gabrielle released the breath, feeling her ears burn.

"You see, those kids, they are in a bit of a sticky situation; they got some serious issues to work out; I'm not saying they will succeed, but I'm just saying that staying here for a while longer might help to save a lot of heartache in the long run."

"You think?"

"Ask her, for several more days. And trust me, she won't show it, but she will be grateful — 'cause she can't let him go either."

"Last night he said that he would leave if we won't."

Kyrillos smiled. "He won't, believe me. Not as long as she's here. He's proud alright, but, whether we like or not, for him — she's the one. And you don't just walk away from that, not until you've checked all the options."

Gabrielle took a deep breath in and exhaled slowly.

The bits and pieces from what she'd overheard that feral night at the stables were echoing in her head.

"He loves her so much that it pains me to see," Kyrillos sighed. "He's been drunk daily ever since he got here, poor kid."

"You know, it used to be quite different, not that long ago, actually."

"I know kid, I've talked to him — he told me about his past life and how he screwed things up between them; and how he then gave up his old life for her but it's now too late to fix things. There's a big chance he might be right, but then again — I saw the way she looked at him the other day, and believe me — that look is unmistakable."

"I saw her cry in bed after an argument with him; and believe me, that is not the Xena I've known for years."

"You're concerned about your friend, I'm concerned about the boy; they're both troubled kids."

"You really do like him, don't you," Gabrielle smiled, a feeling of tenderness washing over her at the sight of Kyrillos being so fatherly protective over Ares.

"He's alright. I know he's a troublemaker, but deep down he's a good kid; all his life he had to be tough and so he's just never had a chance to develop that side of him that he's starting to discover just now."

Kyrillos looked at Gabrielle and saw her lost in thought, brows furrowed, wheels turning.

Gabrielle was astonished. It was an eye-opening observation; she hadn't actually looked at Ares this way. Actually, everything Kyrillos said so far made a lot of sense.

"So, what made you leave home?" Kyrillos asked, curious.

Gabrielle took a deep breath in and exhaled with a rush. "I was dying to know what the outside of our village looked like, you know? Until, one day, a certain warrior princess happened to pass through my village… and life took a whole different turn," Gabrielle said, a pensive smile tinting her face.

"Warrior princess, you said?" Kyrillos asked, intrigued; those words rang a bell.

"Well, it's more of a nickname, she's not technically a princess."

"You love her a lot, I can tell as much."

Gabrielle sniffled, her eyes suddenly glossy. "More than words could tell; and that's me saying it as a bard."

"A bard?"

"Well, not anymore, really," Gabrielle smiled somberly. "But I used to write a lot back in the day."

"Wait a sec… No, it can't be… what a strange coincidence," Kyrillos narrowed his eyes, stroking his beard in wonder. The scroll. The scroll he thought about the other day; he was sure it was written by a bard named Gabrielle; Kyrillos did remember as there weren't many female bards. Gabrielle the bard, Gabrielle who sang of Xena, the mighty warrior princess… But how? That was three decades ago, those girls hadn't even been born yet.

"What do you mean?" Gabrielle asked in confusion.

"Give me a minute, kid; it might be old age fooling me, but I gotta check something," Kyrillos said, making a move to get up.

Puzzled, Gabrielle watched him disappear in the kitchen doorway.

She sighed, realizing the broth was already cold.

Kyrillos was back before she had time to decide whether to heat it up or eat it cold. He was carrying something under his arm.

Gabrielle felt her heart skip a beat.

She saw it in slow motion, how she took the scroll from his hand, unrolled it, and her heart went up to her throat as her eyes fell on the old yellowish parchment.

"Where…" she sniffled, shaking her head, "how… oh gods, this is…"

Kyrillos was watching her in amazement. Her reaction told him all he needed to know. He just didn't understand how? How was it possible for this young kid to recognize the piece of parchment that had been in his possession since before she was born?

"So, you do recognize it?"

"Well, it's not the original one — this is not my handwriting, it's a re-write, but other than that — yes… oh gods, I can't believe it… where did you get this?" Gabrielle scanned through the text, her cheeks flushed.

"Just tell me one thing, kid — the author of this scroll — Gabrielle than sang of Xena, the Warrior Princess — wrote this roughly three decades ago — surely before you or your friend were born; and yet you recognize it as yours, how is that possible?" Kyrillos asked with wonder.

Gabrielle drew in a breath. The twenty-five-year gap, of course. There you go.

"Well, this is going to sound odd… It's a long story, but in short — we were frozen in an ice cave for 25 years — we were put there by uhm, a friendly god who thought we were dead. After 25 years an accidental avalanche let the sun inside and the ice melted, and… here we are… it was 5 months ago."

"Godsdammit, kid…"

"Sometimes I still can't believe it…"

"No family home to come back to, huh?"

Gabrielle sniffled.

"So, your friend indeed is the Xena…" Kyrillos mused. Seeing Gabrielle's sudden apprehensive look, he added, "It's just interesting to finally put a face to a name; she used to be quite famous back in the day — she's quite a character."

"You know, not all they say is true; many things are, but she's a different person now."

"So, she used to be quite a naughty kid back in the day, huh? That's what Arkadios meant when he said that she used to be like him."

"Well as the God of War-" Gabrielle blurted out. "I mean, she does have a past, but she's-"

"The God of War… wait a minute… as in Ares, the God of War… who in your scroll is obsessed with Xena and tries to get her back for years… Arkadios…"

Gabrielle froze in anticipation for what the reaction would be. She felt her palms sweat.

"Gods damn… You know, when I first met him, I was struck by how uneasy he was around the common folk; I thought he was some royalty whose life took a bad turn."

Gabrielle sighed. Well, Kyrillos just figured it out by himself; there was nothing she could do now. She knew Ares was adamant about keeping his identity secret, but, what was done was done. She would have to break it to him somehow.

"Well, his life actually did take a bad turn," she sighed. She might not have been a fan of Ares, but she was just where justice was due. "He lost everything he had — his life, home, family."

"Poor kid. And he gave it all up for her."

"She would've died otherwise; he was between a rock and a hard place."

"Damn, this is big... You know, when he mentioned he gave up his old life I thought he meant something along the lines of some unruly lifestyle, the one that attracts troublemakers like him. Poor kid. I did feel for him before but now…"

Gabrielle was looking at Kyrillos, her eyes full of tender wonder. What an amazing soul. He'd just learned who Ares really was, and yet, not even for a second, not even a single shade of prejudice overshadowed his feelings for Ares; for the Ares he knew — the Ares that he loved like a son. Gabrielle wiped her face, sniffling.

"Why the tears, kid? 'Cause I know they're not for Arkadios," Kyrillos asked, smiling under his nose.

Gabrielle smiled through tears. "I was just thinking you have a beautiful soul… and that whoever has you in their life is lucky."

"Funny you should say that, kid; just the other day, when I was talking to Arkadios, I said the same thing about you," Kyrillos beamed at her, making her heart well up with another wave of tenderness.

She could see his eyes were glossy too.

But somehow, right now, the day wasn't a disaster anymore.