By Sierra

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Disclaimer: Ares and Gabrielle belong by Universal, Renaissance Pictures, Studios USA.

I’m just borrowing them for this story.

Spoiler: Seeds of Faith

Summary: A short conversation between Ares and Gabrielle during the episode Seeds of Faith.

Feedback is most appreciated, positive or otherwise.

Ares looked down and saw her staring at him in confusion. That look contained bewilderment, anger, sadness, but most of all, disbelief. He looked at his sword, which was still dripping with blood, Eli’s blood. He turned back to Gabrielle who was at that moment sitting on the ground with Eli’s body cradled in her arms. Once again she had looked from the body in her arms to the god towering over her. Tears were starting to form in those mesmerizing green eyes. Not knowing to what to say, and afraid that he’ll start apologizing, Ares disappeared.

The tears did not help, nor did that heated exchange between Xena and herself. Gabrielle yanked her sais out of the tree and started to walk several yards away. Xena had blamed her for letting Ares kill Eli, but did she really have a choice? Was she supposed to defend Eli even when he begged her not to do so? She threw both her sais at the tree in her frustration and watched them embedded themselves in the tree. She walked up and pulled them out again. She looked at the tree, a dead tree, no leaves, just the remains of the tree trunk. Anger replaced sadness as she wiped away her tears. Dead, everything is dead, just like Eli.

Ares watched her started to walk away from the tree again. She’s been doing this for quite a while now. Her way of relieving her frustration and anger. He understood what she’s going through. She’s frustrated over her own lack of action, frustrated because she had listened to Eli and stepped aside, and in doing so, allowed him to be killed. She’s angry with Xena because Xena had blamed Gabrielle for Eli’s death. She’s still trying to get over the fact that he had actually killed Eli. He decided that it was time to talk to her.

"Hello Gabrielle," he materialized right in front of the dead tree.

Gabrielle spun around to face him, and without hesitation threw both her sais at him. He caught them, but before he could say anything, she ran up to him and pushed him hard, "this is all your fault."

Ares stood his ground, "yell at me, push me around, if it would make you feel better, then go ahead, punch me."

Gabrielle took him at his word and punched him on the jaw. The impact sent Ares back a few steps. He put up a hand and rubbed it against his sore jaw. He didn’t really think she would do it, but does she have spunk! He smiled in spite of the fact that no one, and that means, no one is ever allowed to hit the God of War without retribution. He acknowledged that he did, however, invited the assault. He looked at her and marveled at the changes in her. A few years ago, she would never had dared to hit him, but now, she’s standing there ready to take him on. The change in her is so much more than just her appearance, she has changed, she has become so much stronger on the inside as well as on the outside.

"Did that make you feel better?" He questioned softly.

"How could you?" She stared at him and shook her head from side to side. "How could you?" She repeated in a voice full of disbelief.

"I had no choice Gabrielle." He walked around her; "it was a matter of self-preservation."

"Eli would never have done anything to you. He was only passing on his message of peace and love." She sniffed back the beginning of tears.

"He was doing more than that, and you know it. He was encouraging people to turn their backs on the Olympian Gods. The gods are vulnerable too; our strength lies within our worshippers; we survive because people believe in us. Without that belief, we can no longer exist. I did what I had to do Gabrielle."

She turned away from him and covered her mouth with her hand and at the same time managed to hold back her tears. Words would not come, she felt so helpless.

Ares stared at the back of her head and saw the effort she made to contain her tears. He sighed and gently turned her around to face him. "I know what you are going through, but you understood, which is why you are so confused right now."

His hands stayed on her shoulders and she didn’t try to push him away, "how do you expect me to understand?" She asked in confusion; "he was so much more than just someone I’ve met. He was my friend, my teacher. He personified my beliefs. He was love, hope, the future."

"The future that would destroy all gods Gabrielle. How could you blame me if I was only trying to hold on to my own existence?" He asked reasonably.

He saw the indecision in her eyes and smiled. "We all have our reasons for the things that we do. You, me, Eli, our reasons might not be the same, but they are what kept us going."

"You killed him. I could never forgive you for that." Gabrielle said, staring at him with haunted eyes.

"Is that the problem Gabrielle?" He questioned softly, "the fact that you cannot bring yourself to forgive me?" He added when she refused to answer, "you have been thinking a lot about us, haven’t you?"

He smiled as she quickly shook her head, "I can see right through you Gabrielle. You have been trying to forget my proposal, haven’t you? But you can’t. You’ve been questioning yourself over the possibility. You can’t believe that I’m sincere, but more than anything, it’s what you wanted to believe."

"You have too high an opinion of yourself Ares." She continued to shake her head stubbornly. "I have not been thinking about anything that has to do with you at all. In fact you are so far down the line that if you were not standing in front of me now, I wouldn’t even remember what you look like."

Ares chuckled softly, "well, I guess we have to find a way to remedy that, won’t we?"

She grabbed her sais out of his hands and walked away from him. "Just stay away from me. I follow the teachings of Eli, and I will continue to believe in him, not you."

"I’m really not so different from Eli."

The absurdity of his words stopped her and she turned around to face him. "Spare me that Ares. Eli teaches love, and that is the ultimate answer to all our problems. You can never understand that, however long you might live. You will never understand the need to love someone enough to forgive him for his faults, his mistakes, his betrayals…" she stopped as tears were threatening to overwhelm her again.

"And as I said, that’s where our problem lies. You don’t want to forgive me, but you know you will. And that brings a bigger issue to this, doesn’t it, Gabrielle?" He walked up and stopped just mere inches away from her. "How could you even consider forgiving someone like me? What does that tell you of how you really feel about me?"

Images of his sword plunging into Eli’s side, Eli’s blood on her hands, his lifeless body in her arms flashed across her mind, making it possible for her to step backwards, "I don’t forgive you. I have already said it, Ares. I don’t feel anything for you other than disgust."

His expression darkened, "lie to yourself if you must. But one day, you are going to have to face up to yourself, and I’ll be waiting." He stared at her a moment longer and disappeared in a flash of lights.

Gabrielle leaned back against the tree; he’s gone. But he will be back, this is just a brief moment of reprieve.

The End