By: Chelsea

Disclaimer: All characters are property of the people who own the rights to Xena, Warrior Princess.

Summary: Ever wondered how Gabrielle just happened to find her horse? This story offers an alternative explanation. The title Prostatis is the Greek word meaning Protector. The original story idea came from Tracy who has patiently helped to guide me through whenever I got lost or confused or simply ran out of idea. Thanks Tracy!

Spoiler: Animal Attraction, Succession

Warning: None, rated "G"

Feedback: [email protected]

"You are perfect. Did you know that? Just perfect!" Gabrielle nuzzled her horse and smiled. Finally a horse of her own, something that belongs to her, and only her. "Look what I got for you?" She held out her hand and on it sat a bright red apple. The horse gave a little whiny sound and pushing his face into her hand, picked up the apple with his mouth. Gabrielle laughed and gave the horse a gentle pat on the back before turning and walking back to her friends.

"Did you see that?" She said with a big smile on her face; her animated features lit up with excitement. "He trusts me now."

"That’s great Gabrielle. I’m really happy for you, but have you decided what you are going to name him?" Xena asked from her sitting position on the ground.

"Yeah, we can’t keep calling him your horse." Amarice joined in.

"I don’t know." Gabrielle bit her lips, "I mean…I wanted to name him, but it has to be something special, something that…well, fits the image."

"Gabrielle, he is just a horse." Amarice gave Gabrielle a ‘what a dumb blonde’ kind of look. "Just give him a name, call him Brownie or Joxer even, who cares?" She gave Joxer a dismissing glance.

"Yeah, Gabrielle, you can name him Joxer. It won’t bother me." Joxer said as he sat down beside Amarice.

"I’m sorry Joxer, but I certainly cannot name my horse after one of my friends." Gabrielle said lightly; "besides, how would you know whom I’m speaking to if I name him Joxer?"

"She got a point." Xena smiled. She was glad that Gabrielle has finally gotten her horse. She has been a totally different person ever since. It has energized her and brought her so much joy. And the best thing is that now they can get to anywhere twice as fast.

"So come on, just name him, will you?" Amarice sighed and said impatiently. "I’ve got the perfect name, since you two saved him in the woods from who knows what, I think you should name him Grateful."

"Grateful? What kind of name is that? Besides, I’m not looking for gratitude." Gabrielle looked at Amarice indignantly. "To be honest, I was thinking of naming him Destiny." She looked at her friends and blushed; "I mean, well, maybe it was my destiny to run into him."

Xena tried hard not to laugh but failed miserably; "listen Gabby, if you want to name him Destiny, well that’s fine, but please tell me you don’t really believe that he is your destiny."

Gabrielle had turned bright red as she heard both Amarice and Joxer snickered. "Never mind, you guys just don’t understand. I’m going for a ride." She stood up and walked back to her horse, totally ignoring Xena’s half-hearted effort to get her to stay.

Gabrielle galloped through the meadow and her laughter can be heard echoing through the deserted plains. She was truly enjoying herself. Finally she pulled in her horse and jumped down. She let the horse loose to chew on some grass as she sat down and just enjoyed the peaceful surroundings. The ride had cleared her head and she’s no longer upset with Amarice. So maybe the others don’t understand her attachment to the horse, but nevertheless it’s hers, and that’s all that matters. Everything seems to be going her way. Xena has accepted the baby and is now looking forward to being a mother again. Gabrielle shared in her friend’s joy and on a day like this can truly appreciate the miracle of being alive again. They are now on their way home to Greece, and life is certainly looking good again.

Unknown to Gabrielle, her horse was not her only companion on this sunny afternoon. Not far away a lone figure sat watching her every move. Ares laughed as he watched her practically flew across the plains on her new horse. He was glad to see her back alive with a new attitude. The Gabrielle of the love is the way is gone, and in its place emerges a fighter, a survivor and a woman who has beaten the odds and came out victorious. Her death experience has actually helped to bring out the best in her. She’s no longer afraid, and she doesn’t hold back when it comes to combat. She has finally come into her own and is allowing herself to utilize the skills that she has developed over the years. The old Gabrielle is still there; the one that preaches peace, love, and forgiveness, but the new Gabrielle understands what it takes to survive.

Ares was still musing over the changes in the bard when a flash of bright light announced the arrival of his sister Aphrodite. Ares groaned as Aphrodite did not stop where he was but instead appeared right in front of the bard.

"Hi there little one, what are you doing here all by yourself?" Dite sat down beside Gabrielle and gave her one of her dazzling smiles.

"Aphrodite? What are you doing here?" Surprise was clearly in her voice.

"I just came by to see if you are all right, well…I mean I didn’t think I would ever see you alive again." Dite sort of choked on the last few words.

Gabrielle looked at Dite and without thinking gave the goddess a warm hug. Dite was pleasantly surprised and returned the hug. Ares watched the entire exchange and muttered to himself, "even my witless sister gets a hug, but what do I get?"

"Was it really bad?"

"It certainly wasn’t any fun being dead again." Gabrielle shrugged, "and having to fight Xena when she was a demon, that was just horrendous. But it taught me a valuable lesson…the way of love, well, that just isn’t for me. I can’t do what I have to do while going down that road. It was time for me to change; it was time for me to fight. I finally understood that sometimes you have to fight for what is really important. Anyway that’s all in the past." She tossed her head back as if she was tossing out the past. She jumped up and pulled Dite up after her, "come and see my new horse."

Dite walked over with Gabrielle to where the horse was still at the same spot munching on some grass. Dite circled the horse and gave it a long hard look. "This is your horse?"

Gabrielle nodded, "isn’t he something?"

"He sure is." Dite looked around and Ares knew he was in trouble. He knew Dite had already spotted him. "So how did you come by this horse?"

"Well, Xena and I were on our way home after our ordeal in Rome when we found this horse in the woods. Apparently he got himself caught in a trap so Xena and I helped to free him. After that it was just a matter of getting him to trust me." Gabrielle smiled as she ran her hand down the mane of the horse. The horse took a break from munching and gave the bard a gentle nudge with his nose. Gabrielle laughed, "isn’t he just perfect?"

"Yeah, just a little too perfect." Dite said beneath her breath and at the bard’s inquiring look, "nothing. You sure were lucky to come across him, such a perfect animal just wandering around waiting to be rescued." Her voice got louder at the end as it carried through the wind.

"I guess I was, must be the gods looking out for me or something."

"Must have been. Have you named him yet?"

"That’s the hard part. Promise me you won’t laugh?" Gabrielle continued when Dite nodded, "actually I was thinking of naming him Destiny. It just seems to fit."

"Destiny? That’s a nice name, but what if it wasn’t destiny that brought you two together? What if… oh I don’t know, someone gave him to you."

"Who could possibly left me a horse out in the woods?" Gabrielle laughed in disbelief. "Xena maybe, but I certainly don’t have that kind of friends."

"You’ll be surprised, little one. I’ve got to get going. There’s someone else I need to see. It was good to see you back. You take care of yourself and don’t go dying on me again." Dite gave Gabrielle a quick hug and disappeared in flash of light.

Dite reappeared next to Ares just as he knew she would. He gave her an impatient look and didn’t even bother to pretend, "alright, so I gave her the horse. What’s the big deal?"

"The big deal is that it’s one of Zeus’ horse that you gave her. Did you steal it?"

"Of course not. It’s mine. Zeus gave it to me last year when I visited his new colts."

"Why did you give it away? And to the irritating little blonde?"

"I just thought she needed a horse of her own so that she could keep up with Xena."

"Yeah right. Why don’t you want her to know about it?"

"There’s no need for her to know anything. She got her horse, she’s happy. Besides, do you honestly think she would keep the horse if she knew it came from me?" Ares said in disgust.

"That would depends."

"Depends on what?"

"On why you gave it to her, and don’t give me any more lame excuses."

Ares ran his hand through his hair; "I’m not. Oh all right, I just wanted to give her something that I knew she would treasure. It was hard when I learned that she died in Rome. There was nothing I could do to help her then, but now…well, I just wanted her to have it, okay?"

"Why not give her something really valuable? Like diamonds?" Dite smiled and in flash produced a stunning diamond pendant, which she waved in front of Ares.

"Something valuable to her." Ares pushed the pendant away. "She’ll think this is a pretty babble, but it’s not important to her like her own horse."

"Haven’t you heard that diamond is a girl’s best friend?" Dite was miffed.

"Not to her. In case you didn’t know, her best friend is the warrior princess." Ares looked across and saw that Gabrielle was reining in the horse as she got ready to ride back to her friends. "This horse…well, maybe he’ll be her second best friend."

"So why don’t you tell her it was from you? I’ve never seen you doing anything without taking the credit for it."

"Haven’t you been listening? If she knew the horse came from me, she would throw it back in my face."

"It must be hard to be in love with someone that hate you guts." Dite said with a certain amount of satisfaction.

"I did not say I was in love with her." Ares said irritably.

"Right, you just gave her a prize horse because…?"

"Because I am a nice god, okay? Now just leave me alone and go play with your diamonds."

"Oh no big brother, we are not finished. She is my friend, and if you are planning on doing anything sneaky, I want to know about it. So come clean, tell me or I’m telling Gabrielle the history of her little horsy."

"I…okay, when I found out that she died, it was like the light went out. I can’t even begin to explain it. It just…hurts." Ares looked at Dite and continued when he saw she wasn’t treating the whole thing as a joke. "After Eli brought them back to life, I offered her the chance to come with me, but of course, she turned me down. I mean what was I thinking of, that she’d just come with me?" Ares shook his head in memory of his own arrogance. "I just wanted to give her a…home coming gift, and the horse is just what she needs."

"And you don’t want anything in return? She doesn’t owe you any favors for it?" Dite asked sarcastically. "Or are you just waiting for her to get so attached to the horse before you call in your debt?"

"Why am I sitting here talking to you when you won’t even listen?" Ares was fast losing his patience. "I’ve already admitted it to you; I’m doing this for her, no ulterior motives, no strings, no favors, no nothing."

"Good, that’s what I wanted to know." Dite smiled, "but let me tell you something bro, if you want the girl, you got to go after her because she is not coming to you. And if I were you, I would hurry up before someone else jumps in before you. Trust me, I’m the Goddess of Love, I know these things." Dite kissed him on the cheek and disappeared leaving Ares to sit there pondering.

Gabrielle jumped down from her horse and came face to face with the warrior princess. "Hi Xena, waiting for me?"

"Not really, I just wanted to make sure that you weren’t mad at us or anything." Xena gave her friend an apologetic look.

"No, of course I’m not. I know you guys mean well even when I don’t happen to agree." Gabrielle said as she gently brushed the hair on the back of her horse.

"I know I can be really impatient sometimes and Amarice…well, Amarice is Amarice. She doesn’t think before she speaks, but you know that she thinks the world of you, don’t you?" Xena took the brush from Gabrielle and lightly ran it down the shinny mane of the horse. "I just don’t want you walking away angry with us."

"I’m not. Really, but I do wish you guys could see how much this horse means to me." Gabrielle said, "this is the best thing that ever came my way, well after you, of course." She added a little sheepishly.

Xena smiled in understanding and watched as Amarice came walking up to them. She gave Gabrielle a friendly look but couldn’t resist digging in, "well, you sure took your time, but I guess your timing is perfect. Dinner is ready." She nodded at Xena and turned to walk back to the cooking area.

Gabrielle smiled at Xena and ran to catch up with Amarice. "Thanks Amarice, I’m sorry if I left you here to do all the cooking tonight."

Amarice’s big wide eyes just about popped out of her little face; "yeah, no problem." And when Gabrielle went to bring out the utensils for dinner, she added quietly, "I’m sorry about the horse. I really am glad for you. Well, sometimes I say things, but I don’t really mean them." She blushed.

"I know, and I promise I’ll come up with a name soon." She added teasingly, "but for now, you can show some respect and call him Mister Horse." Amarice laughed and said sincerely, "you are very forgiving."

"There was nothing to forgive. Come on, let’s eat. I’m starving!"

"Now where did she go?" Xena asked as she dumped a couple of fish on the ground. Amarice was right behind her with her fishing pole.

"She said she wanted to go for a walk and took her horse with her." Joxer added sullenly, "alone!"

"What is her fascination with this horse anyway? All of a sudden it’s like nothing else matters except her horse." Amarice looked at Xena as if she would come up with the answer.

"A horse is important to its owner. I would never trade Argo for anything." Xena shrugged, "Gabrielle’s been wanting a horse for a very long time, and I think she’s still trying to accept that she has actually found one or one has actually found her. This must be a miracle for her, imagine having your fondest wish just dropped into your lap…" she stopped and a stunned look crossed her face.

"What is it?" Joxer asked. He might not be the brightest guy around but he has been around Xena long enough to know when something is troubling her.

"I’m not sure, but there’s something fishy going on, and I don’t mean that literally." She gave Amarice a rude look as the girl picked up one of fish and dangled it in front of her face.

"What are you saying?" Amarice dropped the fish. "We were all there when you two rescued him."

"I don’t know. It was just a little too convenient. Considered that the horse was caught in a trap, he really was not hurt that badly. Think about it, Gabby only bandaged his foot a few days, and it’s now as good as new." Xena said thoughtfully. "No, it was no accident that we came upon this horse, someone wanted her or us to find it."

"But who could it be?" Joxer looked around as if he was excepting that person to just jump out.

"I don’t know, but believe me, I’m going to find out." She turned to Joxer; "which way did she go?"

"She said she was taking the horse up stream."

Xena and Amarice shared a knowing look; "knowing that we were fishing down stream. Why don’t you two start on dinner and see what you can do with those fish, I’m going to see if I can catch up with her."

Xena found Gabrielle just walking along the river with her horse. But before she could get close enough to call to her, she felt a familiar but unwelcome intruder. She narrowed her eyes as she searched the surroundings. The intruder quickly disappeared but not before Xena realized who it was. She sighed, not really surprised but not wanting to get tangled up with him again. He’s gone, at least for now, but Xena knew he would be back, but before he does, she needs to find some answers.

Gabrielle quickly turned around when she heard that someone was approaching her. Her hand automatically reaches for her sais, but her defensive stance turned into a welcoming smile upon seeing her friend. "Hi Xena, what are you doing here?"

"You’ve been gone for a long time. I thought maybe you were in trouble or something."

"No, and even if I were, horse here will protect me, right?" She grinned at her horse. Suddenly her face lit up with excitement; "I’ve got it. I’ve finally got it." And at Xena’s inquiring look, "I know what I’m going to name him, Prostatis, he is my protector!"

"Umm, isn’t it usually the other way around? Shouldn’t you be his protector instead?"

"Well, perhaps we can protect each other. But I know he will take care of me if I ever get into trouble. Don’t you remember how he tried to help me with that thug when we were at Spamona?"

"I remember, but don’t you think you are moving just a little too fast with that horse?"

"Excuse me???" Gabrielle asked in shock, "Xena, this is a horse. What are you implying?" She started to laugh when she realized how ridiculous that sound.

Xena on the other hand was not amused. "Look Gabrielle, ever since you’ve acquired that horse, it has become your number one priority. How many times have you just left us at camp and took off on your own with your horse? Every time I turned around you were gone."

"Xena, are you jealous of my horse?" Gabrielle asked in disbelief.

"Of course not!" Xena sounds as she just been insulted. "I just wanted to know why you are so attached to this horse."

"Other than the fact that he’s beautiful, loving and actually allows me to ride him?" Gabrielle asked as she leaned her head on her horse. The horse whined but did not pull away.

"Gabrielle don’t you think that the way you came by this horse was just a little strange?"

"Strange? No, why would you think that? People set traps all the time. This horse just got caught at the wrong place and time."

"You are right Gabrielle, traps are set all the time." She knew by the tilt of Gabrielle’s head that the remark was not lost on the bard, but until she finds out just exactly what Ares’ motives were, there’s probably no need to alarm her just yet. "I’m just a little too suspicious I guess. I think it’s time you go back to camp and help out with dinner. Amarice is getting kind of fed up with having to do all the cooking all the time."

"I better go and apologize to her. It’s just that I seem to lose track of the time when I’m with him." She patted the horse gently and swung herself onto its back. "All right, let’s go Prostatis"

"Since I’ve had to help out three nights in a row, I think I deserve a break tonight. You go on ahead. It’s my turn to have some alone time." Xena said and gently smacked the horse on the behind to get him going. Gabrielle’s "see you later!" was lost in the wind as the horse gathered speed and galloped back toward camp.

Xena waited until the horse and rider were out of sight before drawing her sword and demanded, "Ares, I want you to come out now."

Ares appeared before the warrior princess without any trace of emotion. "Xena, what can I do for you today?"

"Cut the crap Ares. It was you all along, wasn’t it?"

"I don’t know what you are talking about."

"You know very well, the horse, the horse that Gabrielle is so attached to; it was all your doing." It was a statement, not a question.

Ares knew better than to try to bluff his way out of this, so he decided to just brazen it out. "So what if it were me? Was it so terrible that I gave your little friend her very own horse?"

"What’s in it for you?" Xena tightened the hold on the hilt of her sword.

"Now Xena, maybe I just gave her a horse out of the goodness of my heart." He said sarcastically.

"What heart?" Xena gave him a caustic look. "Whatever you are after, you are not going to get it. I’m only going to warn you once Ares, you leave Gabrielle alone or you will regret the day you were ever born."

"Are you threatening me? The God of War?" He raised his voice in anger. "Be careful Xena, I’ve been pretty tolerant with you, but don’t overstep yourself. You are not indestructible."

"You are still after her aren’t you? This is your little plan on getting her to lead your army." Xena gave him one of her steely-eyed glaze, "you are wasting your time Ares, you can offer her the world, but she will never follow you."

Ares felt his heart sank as her words only echoed his own thoughts. "Then you have nothing to worry about, do you?"

"As long as you are within a hundred miles of her, I have plenty of reasons to be worried. Just give it up Ares. Gabrielle might have the brains and the skills, but she doesn’t have the heart of a warlord. You might think you can change her, but her ideals are too lofty, you can never turn her into one of your killing machines."

"I guess you are right." Ares shrugged, "I do know when to cut my losses Xena. I should have given this more thought. Instead of leading my army into war, Little Miss Innocent will probably spend all her time trying to change me." He pretended to shutter in disgust.

"Good. I will leave the horse out here tomorrow morning before sunrise. I can just tell her he ran away."

"NO…" He lowered his voice; "she can keep the horse. After all I have no use for it." He defended himself at her raised eyebrows. "The horse is simply a liability to me. If she wants it so badly, she can have it, just keep it out of my hair." When she still looked skeptical, "I was trying to get rid of the horse anyway. I thought I could kill two birds with one stone, but I guess I’ve been proven wrong once again. I know you are mad, but please Xena, I don’t need that horse back as some sort of punishment."

Xena considered it carefully. She hates to owe him the horse, but on the other hand, how could she take something which means so much to Gabrielle away from her? There was no easy answer to it. But in choosing the lesser of two evils, she decided to take a chance on Ares and let Gabrielle keep her horse. "I want your word Ares, I want you to promise me that you wouldn’t use the horse as a leverage with Gabrielle."

"Fine, you have it." At that he disappeared.

Xena waited until she was sure he’s gone and headed back to camp. Although she doesn’t trust him, she has developed a very keen sense in people reading and could tell that he had no intention of breaking his promise.

With her eyes still closed, Gabrielle tried to push away the annoying fly that was tickling her. She became wide awake when her hand encountered the bushy mane and warm skin. She looked up into the face of her horse just as it gave off its trade mark whiny noise. She smiled and sat up. "What is it boy? Have I overslept?" She looked around and saw that the others were still asleep and that Apollo has yet to cross their path. She frowned, "you could at least wait until the sun rise. What do you want?" She quietly got out of her bedroll as the horse continued to nudge her. She took the horse by the reins and silently left camp.

When the two were far away not to disturb the others, she turned to look at the horse, "you know, you’ve got to get with the program. You can’t just wake me up whenever you are bored, lonely or whatever." The horse nuzzled up to the bard, and Gabrielle couldn’t help but smiled. "Okay Prostatis, you’re forgiven, but only this time. Now let’s go down to the river and maybe I can catch some fish for breakfast. I guess I owe them a decent meal."

It was barely light enough for the bard to see but she managed to catch a couple of fish. With their breakfast sitting on the bank, Gabrielle decided to take a little time of her own before heading back. She sat down on the bank and started tossing pebbles into the river. It was one of the things that she remembers doing as a child and still to this day, is one thing that always helps to calm her down. The feeling that she was being watched refuse to go away. She has had the

same feeling for the past few days, but every time she looked around, there wasn’t anyone in sight. This morning that same feeling is becoming overwhelming and she quietly pulled her sais out from her boots as she scanned the area carefully.

"Are you looking for me?" Ares appeared.

"Don’t you have anything better to do than to hound us?" Ares smiled as he saw her sheathed her sais on seeing him. The fact that she shows no fear doesn’t bother him, instead it warms his heart to know that she doesn’t feel the need to defend herself against him.

"A God’s work is never done." He shrugged, "how did you know I was here?"

"I guess being with Xena for so long must have taught me a few things including when a snake is invading your space."

"Come on Gabrielle, you don’t have to pick up on her choice of speech too, now do you? What do you have against me anyway?" He asked innocently.

"Either you have a very short memory span or you are totally delusional. Do you need me to recount the number of times that you have tried to hurt us, manipulate us, use us as pawns for your own devious reasons?" She looked at him scornfully.

"Okay, maybe you have your reasons, but let’s not dwell on the past." He turned away from her scathing look and instead walked toward her horse. Gabrielle quickly followed, "stay away from him!" She warned. She looked at him curiously and remembered Xena’s warning the night before. She looked at the horse and refused to contemplate the possibility. She can’t lose this horse and if she actually entertain the idea that it came from him, than she could not possibly keep it. So the easiest thing to do would be to simply ignore such notion, wipe it out of existence, and she did just that.

"So this is your new horse," he gently brushed his hand down the mane of the horse. Gabrielle pulled on his arm to get him to stop and quickly dropped it again when he turned around and looked at her hand. "Leave my horse alone." She said instead.

"I wasn’t going to hurt him." Her distrust quickly brought on his anger. His normally silky tone turned into a snarl. "You know Gabrielle, you always tried to find something good in everybody, why can’t you do that with me?"

"I have tried, but there is nothing good inside you." She said unthinkingly. For some reason she felt angry and the need to strike back dominates over her sense of reasoning. "You’ve been around following us these past few days haven’t you? Just what is it that you are after this time?"

He thought about it for a quick second and came up with the first thing that came into mind, "actually I heard that Xena’s with child and I wanted to find out who’s the father."

"You leave Xena and her child alone." She said as her liquid green eyes grew stormy, "whatever you are hoping to gain from this, you can forget about it. I will die before I let you hurt her or her child."

"Is that a threat or a promise?" He returned and realized the poor choice of words he had used but unable to retract them.

Gabrielle gave him a long searing look that mirrored her own anger. "Just stay away from us Ares." She reined in her horse and quickly jumped onto its back. Her temper flared as she realized that to him, she’s still the weak link, the one that he can use to manipulate Xena. "You are surprisingly slow for a god, Xena had outsmarted you in the past and she will continue to do so. But I promise you this, if you hurt her or her child, not even Zeus can keep you save from me." She gave him one last angry glance and galloped away, quickly disappeared from his sight.

Ares looked at the dusty trail Prostatis had created and sighed in disgust, "dammit, why do I keep blowing this?"

"I can’t believe this. Is it just you or do all men suffer from this foot in the mouth disease?" Aphrodite appeared and asked angrily.

"Why is it that every time I see her, I say all the wrong things?" He looked at his sister in despair. "I wanted to compliment her on her horse and how well she was doing with him, but instead I just got her angry with me again."

"Oh Ares, you just don’t understand." Dite pulled her brother into a warm embrace; "a girl likes to be flattered, not threatened."

"I didn’t threaten her. She jumped to the wrong conclusion when I mentioned Xena." Ares said defensively.

"And her child. You know how protective the little one is with Xena. And considering the relationship that you guys have in the past, can you honestly blame her? She can’t see past that right now especially since you haven’t given her a whole lot of reason to think so." Dite said seriously. "You can’t force it Ares, the time isn’t here yet."

"Will the time ever be here?" He looked to his sister for reassurance.

"I hope so bro, I sincerely hope so."

The End