Author: Chelsea

Disclaimer: If I own them, I would auction them off on e-bay, quit school, quit work and buy me an island off the South Pacific.

This is a sequel to Past All Forgiven. I didn’t plan on writing a sequel, but someone, and I wouldn’t name names – Sara – complained that I left the story unfinished, and a sequel is needed in order to rectify my mistake, so here it is. (I still think she’s trying to pay me back because I did the same to her once.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~

By the time Gabrielle arrived at Adalei, it was pitch dark. She found the only inn in town which also serves as the only stable in town. After making sure that her horse was taken care of, she slowly walked into the inn.

Eve was nowhere in sight, but she spotted Xena in the corner. She walked over to her friend and grimaced when she smelled the alcohol on her breath. "Hi, Xena, where’s Eve?"

Xena looked up at her; "I’ve sent her to bed. Where have you been? You should have been here before us."

"I…um…I got lost." She fibbed.

"You got lost? It was a straight road coming in. How did you manage to get lost?"

"I must have taken a wrong turn." When Xena gave her one of those ‘I don’t really believe you’ kind of look, Gabrielle quickly changed the subject. "Don’t you think you have had enough to drink for one night?"

"Well, I had nothing better to do while I was waiting for you."

"Now that I’m here, why don’t we call it a night." She smiled and half pulled Xena out of the chair.

"Okay." Xena leaned on the bard as they headed for the stairs. They were stopped by a group of men. A big man, looks like the leader of the group drew his sword, "Xena, what a pleasant surprise!"

"Get lost scum, I’m in no mood to play with you tonight." Gabrielle winced as Xena slurred; her friend was in no shape to fight tonight.

"Oh, but we want to play Xena." Another man chimed in.

"Listen guys, you don’t want to mess with Xena, so just get out of our way and maybe you’ll live to fight another day." Gabrielle stepped forward.

"This must be the pretty little blonde sidekick we heard so much about." The first man turned to Gabrielle, "don’t worry little girl, we won’t forget you." He swung his sword toward the blonde but never made contact as he found himself thrown across the room. A sideway glance had confirmed what she suspected, Ares has arrived. Gabrielle sighed; first she needed to take care of these guys. She pushed Xena onto the steps and pulled out her sais. With Ares’ help, they quickly dispatched the other guys. When she turned around it was to find Eve with her arms around her mother, staring at her accusingly.

Gabrielle has a mental image of the picture that they made with Ares standing beside her and both of them looking somewhat tousled after the fight that they just had. "Eve, this isn’t…"

"What is he doing here?" Eve hissed. "I thought you were going to get rid of him once and for all."

"I was, I did…I didn’t ask him to come." Gabrielle stammered, flushing under Ares’ amused gaze.

By now, the alcohol had gotten to the Warrior Princess as she mumbled, "no more drink, wanna go to bed."

"Here, let me help you." Gabrielle stepped forward, she turned to Ares and said hopefully, "if you hurry, maybe you can still make it into the next town."

Ares chuckled, "I think I’ll stick around for a while. I…um…like it here."

"I took the last 3 rooms, there is no place for you to stay." Eve muttered.

"Oh, I don’t mind sharing." Ares looked at Gabrielle and smiled.

"Look, I can bunk in with Eve, and you can have my room." Gabrielle said, ducking her head as she found herself blushing.

"NO! Mom cannot be left by herself in her condition." Eve gave Ares a dirty look. "She can stay with me, and you can have her room." Without another word, she dragged Xena up with her with Gabrielle following close behind.

Gabrielle had not been in her room for two minutes when she heard the knocking on her door. Thinking that it was Ares, she shouted, "go away!"

"Let me in Gabrielle, I need to talk to you." Eve’s voice came through loud and clear. In fact it was so loud that Gabrielle was afraid the entire inn had heard her.

She rushed over and quickly yanked opened the door, "I’m sorry Eve, I…I didn’t know who it was."

Eve pushed Gabrielle back inside the room and followed her in. "Who did you think it was? And just what is HE doing here?"

"I don’t know Eve, probably nothing. This is after all the first town we came across. He’s probably just stopping for the night, the same as us." Gabrielle whispered, hoping that Eve would take the hint and lower her voice, but Eve either didn’t notice or didn’t care.

"Did you two ride in together?" She demanded. "What are you up to Gabrielle? You kept trying to convince me that he’s really just a nice guy and simply misunderstood. You are on his side now, aren’t you? Did he sweet talk you into betraying Mom and me?"

"No, Of course not, I did as you asked, and then I came here by myself. Honestly!" Gabrielle shot a glance against the wall, hoping that the occupant on the other side was not listening on their conversation.

"I don’t like this, he must be here for a reason." Eve started to pace back and forth, "he just doesn’t give up, does he?"

"Stop worrying Eve, I’m sure he’s not here to stalk…your mom. Look, go to bed and we’ll make an early start tomorrow. We could be gone before he even gets up."

"With Mom’s condition, I very much doubted that she will be ready to go anywhere in the morning." Eve sighed. "Look, if you can’t make him go away, at least keep him away from us."

"What?" Gabrielle gasped, "I’m not going to…"

"You owe me this. You promised me, Gabrielle." Eve restored to her childlike persona. "I’ll keep Mom in until she feels well enough to travel, and you keep him away from us."

Gabrielle was speechless. Eve, taking that as consent, hugged her and stepped out before Gabrielle was able to get her voice back.

Gabrielle lay on her bed and muttered to herself, "keep him away, how am I suppose to do that? Like I can seduce him away from her." She hit her pillow in frustration, and after twisting and turning for ages, finally fell into a deep sleep.

It was the knocking on the door that woke her, thinking that it was Eve, she made her way to the door while still rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She pulled it open only to come face to face with Ares.

"What are you doing here?" Still flushed from sleep, she made an enchanting picture standing at the door with her hair all tousled and eyes wide and innocent.

It took Ares a moment to remember why he was there. "Aren’t you suppose to get me away from here? If you don’t get up, I might just stick around, and then Eve would really come down on you, won’t she?"

"You were listening?" Gabrielle said indignantly.

"Thin walls." He said, then added softly, "you talk in your sleep, you know. Too bad you didn’t talk loud enough for me to hear anything. I would love to know what you were dreaming of."

"Oh, just get out. Why couldn’t you just leave us alone? There must be hundreds of other people out there that you can harass."

"Come on Gabrielle, we can just walk around town, I can buy you breakfast, and we’ll keep little Evie happy."

"You...you can just go to..."

"Now be nice, you don't want Eve to hear us now do you? Besides what harm can it do? I'm only suggesting a walk in bright day light with dozens of people around. What are you so afraid of?" He asked reasonably.

Unable to come up with a reasonable excuse and remembering her promise to Eve, "oh alright, just give me a minute." She slammed the door in his face.

When Gabrielle emerged downstairs, Ares was there waiting. He smiled as he saw her walking down the stairs. The smile took away some of her apprehension. She took a deep breath and walked up to him. "Okay, let’s go before Eve shows up, and then I’ll really be in trouble."

Ares took hold of her hand and refused to let go when she tried unsuccessfully to wrench it free. "Now, Gabrielle, we are supposed to be friends."

"You are enjoying this, aren’t you?" Gabrielle questioned accusingly.

"Yes, actually I am." Ares smiled back at her, taking her breath away.

Once Gabrielle let down her guard, it wasn’t as bad as she thought. Ares was actually a very amusing companion. True to his words, he bought her breakfast and was actually trying to be charming, and Gabrielle was charmed. Am I doing this for Eve or myself? Does it really matter? He’s here now. Look on today as God’s gift to you.

Ares didn’t know what she was thinking, but he knew the moment when she threw caution to the wind and just accepted his presence. He kept a hold of her hand as they stroll along the town square in companionable silence. And when he stood behind her with his arm around her and his chin resting on her head while they were watching some street performers, it was only natural for her to lean back against him. And when she felt the brush of his lips on her hair, she simple closed her eyes and savored the moment. Right now she doesn’t want to question his motives. She just wanted to treasure the all too brief time that they have together. Tomorrow will be here soon enough, but today is a day stolen from time, one that she will remember forever.

The day flew by and before either was aware, the sun had started to set.

Gabrielle watched and realized that the day is coming to an end. She turned to Ares and said solemnly, "I’ve got to get back." And then with a certain degree of difficulty, "you should probably be on your way."

He watched her and said in the same solemn tone that she used, "come with me?"

Gabrielle swallowed, "I can’t."

"Why?"

"Because today isn’t real." She began, pushing her hair back, trying to explain it to him in a way that both of them would understand. "If tomorrow comes, I mean when tomorrow comes you will realize that you cannot take today and make it your tomorrow." The question was in his eyes even though he left it unasked. "You’re trying to find a solution that fits in with what you are now, and I just happened to be here. What we had today, that wasn’t real."

"It felt real to me, and I know it was real for you."

She shook her head, "these feelings that you have, they are not about me. They are about you, about the person that you wanted to be." She continued before he had a chance to interrupt. "You’re just starting to learn about humanity. You want to believe that you can have a life with someone like me, but it’s not really me that you want. It’s what I represent."

Ares was thoughtful as he watched her shifted uncomfortably from one side to the other. "You are right. I do want what you represent. I want someone who is smart and generous, caring and loyal, who can make me laugh, and make me cry. Someone who is so beautiful that my heart stop beating every time I see her. I’ve found her Gabrielle, she is standing right in front of me. Why would I need to look elsewhere?"

"Ares…"

"Don’t Gabrielle, don’t try to put up barriers. You are looking for faults when there are none. You and I, we belong together Gabrielle. I’m willing to trust in us, why can’t you?"

"Because…because you have nothing to lose, and I…"

"Is Xena really so important that you can’t even bare the thought of not being with her?"

"It’s not Xena. It’s my soul that I’m afraid of losing." She admitted reluctantly.

"Your soul?" He looked at her and a smile of understanding crossed his face. "Don’t you know that our souls are intertwined? I’m willing to let you take control of mine."

She slowly shook her head from side to side, "Ares, please don’t do this to me. You don’t have to settle for second best just because you can’t have your dream girl."

He stared at her in astonishment. "Are we still talking about Xena? Why are you so obsessed with her?"

"Because you are, I’ve accepted that you will always love her, and I’m admitting it, it hurts! But I’m not going to be your doormat, I’m not going to pick you up just because Xena kicked you down."

"You really think that I would do that to you?" He asked with a hint of anger in his voice.

"What do I really know about you? Other than you confessing your undying love for Xena? I don’t know which one of us I pity more, you or myself?" The sun had set completely. Under the shadow of darkness, Ares could see the beginning of tears forming in those haunting green eyes, and all of a sudden, his anger disappeared. He pulled her into his arm in spite of her half-hearted struggles. Finally she stopped and rested her head on his shoulder and whispered, "let me go Ares, I don’t have the strength to push you away, so please, just let me go."

She could feel him shaking his head, "I’m never letting you go, Gabrielle. For the last time, get over Xena, I have. Your problem is not even Xena; it’s because you are afraid. You still don’t trust me in spite of what you told Eve. You still think I’m out to hurt you. Let go of your fear Gabrielle, I don’t know what’s gonna happen tomorrow, but I would never intentionally hurt you. The Ares that was in love with Xena never experienced the intoxicating, bewitching Gabrielle. That other Ares needed Xena to prove his strength and power, but this Ares, the one that’s standing in front of you just wanted a chance to make you happy. That other Ares was looking for someone who could be his equal on the battlefield and found it in Xena. This Ares sees you as his destiny. I’ve buried the old Ares because I don’t need or want him. I like the new Ares because this Ares knows the value of a certain golden-haired angel. This Ares will always be here for you whether tomorrow comes or not. Come with me Gabrielle, I promise I would never give you cause for regrets." He tightened his hold on her and just waited.

Life holds no guarantees; eternity can be over in the space of a second. It is what you make of it; it is how you choose to live it. Gabrielle understood that. Fear is no substitute for love, her destiny is waiting, all she needed was trust. Her mind cleared, she is not going to spend the rest of her life wondering what could have been. She looked up at him and smiled, a smile that rivals even the brightest stars.

End