Prologue: The present

Hercules and Iolaus sat at their campfire, Hercules' thoughts a million miles away as he glared unseeing into the flames.

"A dinar for your thoughts," Iolaus said, wondering what his friend was thinking.

"Hmmm? Oh, I...hey, wait a minute, you don't have a dinar."

Iolaus shrugged, "Well, if I did, I'd give it for your thoughts. You've been pretty quiet since dinner. What are you thinking about?" He poked at the glowing wood in the fire with a long stick.

Hercules shifted on the log the two friends shared, a sad expression crossing his face. "I was just thinking back...do you remember the time..."

A few years earlier

Hercules hadn't slept a wink all night. In fact, he had hardly slept at all since receiving word a month earlier about the ship that was due to arrive in the Port of Athens today. He arrived at the docks before sunrise, though he knew the ship wasn't scheduled to arrive until mid-day. Still, he had nothing better to do, and ships were sometimes known to be early. Nothing would keep him from being there when this one arrived.

He nervously paced the shoreline in the chilly morning air, constantly glancing out to sea, in hopes of catching a glimpse of the North Star, a sailing vessel that he hoped was worthy of who it was bringing home. He was going crazy with anticipation and knew he couldn't possibly wait until noon. He had already waited a year for what this ship was bringing, but these last few hours were torture.

Noon came and went. Hercules pushed aside his increasing feeling of panic and tried to calm down, whispering to himself that while ships were sometimes early, they were also sometimes late. After all, this one had a long way to travel, and there could be any number of reasons for its delay. 'Sure,' he thought to himself, 'severe storms, pirates...' No, he refused to think about such negative things, and he forced himself to picture the vessel sailing along on very smooth waters, with the gentle wind at the back of the ship and crew.

He watched seagulls and paced. Never being one to pray to his relatives, he now sent out a silent prayer to Poseidon to guide this ship safely to shore. Finally, when he couldn't stand waiting any longer, his eyes caught a glimpse of something on the horizon.

A ship! That had to be it! Hercules' emotions and lack of sleep suddenly caught up with him. His heart raced as he paced faster, willing the ship closer to shore. He smiled broadly, though near tears, not caring who was nearby to see him. He was largely ignored, however; as the docks were now buzzing with activity. Burly workers prepared cargo to be loaded aboard the ship, once it docked and they finished offloading its cargo arriving from the East.

Hercules rubbed his eyes and composed himself, now grinning from ear-to-ear. He didn't know how his composure would hold up, but he knew that chances were good it wouldn't hold up at all. As the ship sailed nearer, he strained his eyes in the bright sun, shading them with his hand, to see the reason he had been a pacing, nervous wreck in this spot all morning. He finally saw the familiar blond head among the crew and shouted, "IOLAUS!"

"HERCULES!" came the excited shout from the ship's bow, accompanied by a frantically waving arm. The blond practically leaped off the ship before it completely anchored, but he somehow held back until it was safe. Then he ran down the gangplank and into his best friend whom he hadn't seen in a year. He dropped his carrysack as his tall friend scooped him up off the ground and hugged him fiercely.

"I've missed you, buddy!"

"Me too, Herc!"

"Let me look at you." Hercules put his friend down and looked him over head-to-toe. "You look great."

"So do you," Iolaus laughed. He patted his hands down his vest and said, "And I'm still in one piece -- as promised." He reached down to pick up his carrysack, but Hercules took it.

"Here, I've got it." Feeling its weight, he had to ask, "What in the world have you got in here?"

"Oh, a little of this, a little of that." Iolaus turned and gave a final wave to the ship's crew, who all waved back. They had been quite entertained by Iolaus' stories and jokes during the long journey to Greece and would truly miss him. Most of his stories involved the friend he was now reunited with, and the crew was quite impressed to get even a glimpse of the famous Hercules. Iolaus looked up at his taller friend as they started walking. "It's so good to see you, Hercules!"

"You too, Iolaus. Come on." He put his arm around Iolaus' shoulders and guided him as they walked. "I've got a room for us, I'm going to buy your lunch, and I want you to tell me everything." He looked down at his friend and hugged him tighter. "I'm so glad you're back!"

They walked into Athens' finest establishment: a tavern and inn that came highly recommended to Hercules as a place where he and Iolaus could eat and sleep without interruption. Of course, Hercules had paid the innkeeper a few extra dinars to make sure they wouldn't be disturbed for the length of their stay. He and Iolaus had a lot to catch up on, and they needed 'buddy time' together again.

The innkeeper nodded and smiled toward the pair as they entered his establishment, and he approached them to personally take care of them. "Hello, Hercules," he said. "Iolaus, it's great to see you. Please, sit anywhere you'd like." He motioned around the large room, obviously proud of what he had to offer his guests, then left them to decide what they wanted to order.

The two friends found a private corner table, so that as the lunch crowd started arriving, they hopefully wouldn't be noticed. People throughout Greece were aware that Hercules would always stop whatever he was doing to help someone in need, and they often took advantage of his good nature. Right now he wanted nothing more than to spend time with his returning friend. "Have anything you want, Iolaus," Hercules said.

Each of them had so much to share with the other about what they had been doing the past year, that it was hard for either of them to know where to start. "Anything but rice, Herc. It's all I've eaten for a year -- with sticks, no less -- and I don't ccare if I never eat it again."

"Sticks! How do you eat rice with sticks? And for that matter, why would you want to?" He made a questioning face, then continued. "Well, you sure look better than the last time I saw you."

Iolaus nodded, remembering when they had parted on that same shore all those months ago. "Yeah, I feel better too." He grew quiet and stared at his friend.

Hercules reached across the table and grasped Iolaus' shoulder. "Well, buddy, it looks like whatever you've been doing has worked. You look great."

"I can't wait to tell you all about it," Iolaus smiled. "You look better too. We were two sad guys back then." He saw the innkeeper approaching and leaned across the table to whisper to Hercules. "Boar stew?"

"Boar stew it is." Hercules looked up at the innkeeper. "Two boar stews and two ales," he said. As the innkeeper nodded, Hercules said, "So...I've never seen you so...tanned."

Iolaus smiled and looked at his arms. "I worked aboard ship to pay my passage and I worked outside in the East. I guess I was bound to get all tanned." He leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. "So how's Alcemene?" he asked, wondering about the woman who had always treated him as much like her son as Hercules.

"She's fine and can't wait to see you. I started building a wall in front of her house and, well...it's a long story. It was something to keep me busy while you were away."

Their meal arrived and before they ate they lifted their mugs in a toast to each other. "Welcome home, Iolaus," Hercules smiled.

"Thanks, Hercules." He took a long drink, then asked, "So, uh, how long did you wait at the docks?"

Hercules peered up from his stew. "The truth?"

"No, lie to me," Iolaus grinned. "Of course, the truth."

"Since before dawn."

Iolaus laughed. "Why doesn't that surprise me? I was up before dawn too, so anxious to get here."

"Well, I couldn't chance missing your arrival." He looked across the table directly into his friend's blue eyes. "I was serious when I said I've missed you, Iolaus. I hope you'll never go away like that again."

"Thanks. Right now I don't plan to ever leave Greece again. A year in the East was enough."

"I can't wait to hear all about it."

Iolaus was ready to eat, and as he looked at what was before him, he said, "Wow, a spoon!"

"Did you really eat with sticks?"

"Yep. I brought some back for you, and I'll teach you how to eat with them too. I got so used to eating with them, that I just kept using them on the ship all the way back here."

"Iolaus, I can't eat with sticks."

"Aw, just give it a try. I'll teach you."

Hercules simply smiled and nodded. "What was the hardest thing you had to deal with there?"

"The language, especially at first. Boy, I had to use gestures for everything, but I finally learned enough to get by. I had to to survive. The weirdest thing was that I looked so different from everyone else. They all have black hair and dark eyes and, well...I don't. I was a real curiosity to them. People were always walking up wanting to touch my hair. I got used to it, though, and after a while it didn't bother me." He looked around the tavern and whispered, "At least no one in Greece does that."

Hercules nodded, smiled and reached over to tousle Iolaus' hair.

Iolaus laughed at his friend. He had missed Hercules more than he realized.

"So are you tired?" Hercules asked as they finished their lunch. "Do you want to go up to the room and lay down?"

Iolaus shook his head. "Nah, what if we walk around town for a while? I wanna see familiar things again. Besides, I'm too wound up to sleep." He took a deep breath, stretched, yawned, and patted his too-full stomach. "I still feel like I'm at sea and the ground's moving. I felt like this for a week after I got off the ship in the East too."

"I can assure you the ground's not moving, but I do know the feeling." While Iolaus waited at their table, Hercules retrieved his carrysack from under the table, took it up to their room, then returned to join his friend for a leisurely walk through the busy streets of Athens. Iolaus stopped to check out nearly every vendor's stand. When he couldn't take his eyes off a basket of apples, Hercules looked at him and said, "Pick out a couple," as he tossed a coin to the shopkeeper.

Iolaus handed Hercules an apple, kept one for himself, and they continued to stroll the streets taking in the sights, sounds and smells of Athens. Eventually the excitement of returning home caught up with the smaller man, and he was at last ready to head to their room.

Upon arriving there, Hercules got a fire going to help with the slight chill in the air.

Iolaus lifted his carrysack to the bed, then sat next to it. He removed some jars that were filled with fragrant spices. "I brought these back for Alcmene," he said. "Do you think she'll like them?"

"She'll love them, Iolaus! Spices, all the way from the East." Hercules picked up one of the jars and smelled the aromatic contents. "Maybe we can talk her into making something special for us, maybe those pastries you love so much. This one would be excellent in them."

"Everything Alcmene makes is special," Iolaus smiled, remembering what a great cook his second mother was. He looked serious for a moment, then sadly looked up at his friend who was pulling the chair over to sit next to the bed. "I'm sorry, I guess I should've brought something back for you too. I just didn't think..."

"That's okay, Iolaus," Hercules interrupted, "you didn't need to spend your hard-earned money on me." He dropped onto the chair, resting his forearms on the chair's back, while waiting to see what else Iolaus was retrieving from the sack.

Iolaus' face broke into a broad grin. "Too late, buddy." He fumbled with something in the sack, then looked around the room and saw a cloth on the small table. He quickly stepped across the room to get it, then returned and plopped onto the bed again. Hiding the item inside his carrysack out of Hercules' sight, he quickly wrapped it as neatly as he could in the cloth, then removed it from its hiding place and handed it to Hercules to unwrap.

Hercules smiled and slowly unwrapped the cloth. Inside was the most beautiful leather belt pouch he had ever seen. He turned it over and studied it carefully, and heard something rattle around inside. "Iolaus, it's beautiful!"

Iolaus smiled broadly. "I'm glad you like it. I had it made special for you. Open it up."

Hercules did as he was told, and found a coin inside.

"It's my lucky coin," Iolaus offered, as Hercules held it up to look at the unusual markings on each side. "One day about two months ago, I was walking down a street when a horse came out of nowhere and knocked me off my feet. As I was getting up, I saw this coin in the dirt. I picked it up and kept it, then decided to put it in your new belt pouch so it'll bring you good luck too."

"Thanks, Iolaus. I'll wear this forever." He removed his belt and slid the pouch onto it, knowing he would never remove it. "Wait a minute...you weren't hurt, were you?" Hercules had a sudden vision of Iolaus trampled by a horse, lying bleeding and helpless in the street, and not being there to help.

"Well, my pride was pretty badly bruised for a few days." Iolaus grimaced at the painful memory as he reached around and massaged his backside. "But no, I was okay." Iolaus saw how much Hercules loved his gift. "You can carry all sorts of small things in it when you travel," he smiled. "Here, look what else I have." He pulled more jars from his sack and explained, "These are herbs they use in the East for illnesses." He held them out one at a time toward his friend. "See? I marked them. This one cures headaches, this one's good for a bellyache and this one's great if you have a cold. You just put a little in hot water and they cure what ails you. They work too, because a few months ago it got really cold and I got really sick. My friends kept giving me this one in very hot water and, before you know it, I was well again." He thought back to that awful week. "Of course, I was incredibly sick before I got well, but they took good care of me."

"I should've been there with you, Iolaus. You were injured, you were sick." He looked at the herbs. "I'm sure they'll come in handy for us."

"For me at least," Iolaus shrugged. "You never get sick, and you worry too much about me."

Hercules thought a few seconds. "No, I guess I don't get sick. It must be a half-god thing. But worrying about you is what I do best." Iolaus laughed as Hercules got up from the chair and retrieved a package from under the bed. It was wrapped in another cloth like the one Iolaus had wrapped his friend's gift in at the last minute. He handed the large gift to Iolaus.

Iolaus took it and looked at Hercules as he sat on the chair again, taken completely by surprise that his friend had a gift for him too.

"Go ahead and open it."

Iolaus smiled, momentarily remembering a gift Hercules had given him a year earlier under entirely different circumstances, then carefully unwrapped the cloth to reveal a beautiful pair of leather gauntlets. He studied the craftsmanship and whispered, "Hercules, they're beautiful. Thank you."

"Don't mention it, buddy. I'm just so glad to have you home. I had these made for you a while ago and I've been anxious to give them to you in person."

Iolaus was nearly overcome with emotion at his gift. He was also getting very tired, but he was extremely happy.

"Here, let me help you put these on," Hercules offered. He took each of Iolaus' arms one at a time, and buckled the gauntlets until they fit his forearms perfectly.

"I'll wear them forever, Hercules." He couldn't take his eyes off of them as he bent his arms in all directions to study them.

"That's great. I'll wear this forever too," he added as he looked down at his gift. He had left some coins on the table, so he gathered them up and put them in his new pouch. "Well," he sighed as he returned to the chair, "I guess we don't have to wear our new gifts to bed."

Iolaus smiled. "No, I guess not. Thanks, Herc. This is one of the nicest things anyone's ever given me. This and my vest." Again he had a flashback to the day he got the vest he was wearing, as he looked down at it. "They look good together, don't you think?" he asked, and stood up quickly to model his new gauntlets with his vest.

"Yes they do, and you're welcome. Now, I don't know about you, but I could use some sleep."

"Yeah, me too. It'll be nice to lay in a bed that doesn't roll with the current." He looked quizzically at his friend. "Are you sure the ground isn't moving?"

Hercules laughed along with his friend. "I'm sure, Iolaus." Hearing Iolaus' voice and laughter again, Hercules said, "Boy, I've missed this...I've missed us."

"Me too, Herc. It's great to be back." Iolaus reluctantly removed his new gauntlets and carefully laid them on the table across the room. He climbed into bed and was sound asleep almost before he finished covering up.

Hercules put his belt with the pouch on the table as well, and laid on the bed on his back. His friend's steady breathing told him Iolaus was already asleep. As he relaxed, he thought back to the events that had caused his friend to go away alone a year earlier. He turned his head to look at Iolaus sleeping so peacefully, and thought about what a different person he was now. Oh, he was the same Iolaus, but he was a little older, a bit wiser, more mature but, Hercules hoped, still as mischievous as ever. If anything, he sure wasn't as sad as the last time Hercules had seen him. Time would tell, but Hercules felt that the Iolaus he had known and loved for most of their lives was still there.

He thought of Ania, as well as her and Iolaus' son. He thought about his own family, and how he and Iolaus had both suffered such horrendous losses at almost the same time in their lives. His own family had been taken by Hera's unrelenting wrath, and Iolaus' wife and son had been taken by illness within weeks of each other. He and Iolaus had depended on each other to get through their losses, until Iolaus just couldn't deal with it anymore and announced he was leaving.

Now, as Hercules laid in the dark room with just a hint of moonlight shining in through the window and the familiar sound of the crackling fire, he thought of those days a year ago like they were yesterday. He had never seen Iolaus so sad before; grief had seemed to age him overnight, and he thought he had lost his best friend forever. As he listened to Iolaus' soft breathing, he closed his eyes as the memories flooded his brain.

Part 2 A year earlier

"Where will you go, Iolaus?" Hercules asked as the two friends sat in Iolaus' house drinking ales in front of the fire, the only light that barely illuminated and warmed the dark room.

A very sad, raspy, barely whispered voice answered, "East."

"East. How far East?"

Iolaus shrugged, "Well, you know, EAST, East. I've heard that they teach people how to meditate and relax."

"Can't you just do that here?"

"There's no one here to teach me. Besides," Iolaus continued, trying to sound convincing to both himself and his friend, "it's more than that, Hercules. I have to get away. I mean, everywhere I go here I'm reminded of Ania and my son." He lowered his head. "I loved them. My heart breaks more and more every day and I..." he stopped talking as tears welled up in his eyes. "There's so much sadness here now and I don't know how to work past it. I can't sleep, I don't want to eat. I just don't know how to be happy anymore, or if I'll ever be happy again."

Hercules felt so much sadness for his friend, and just listened as Iolaus talked.

"I would've taught my son to hunt and fish, and I never would've hurt him...not like..." He momentarily remembered the painful memories of his own childhood. "It didn't matter to me that Ania couldn't cook or sew." Tears fell freely down his face now, falling onto his lap, until he was barely able to say anything. "I loved them, Hercules."

"I know you did, Iolaus. I just wish you'd let me go with you."

Iolaus looked up, with the most grief-stricken look Hercules had ever seen on his friend's face. "I know, Herc, but in a way, taking you with me would be like taking all the sadness with me. Every time I look at you, I see the pain in your eyes from losing your family too. I have to get away from all of it." He looked away and wiped his face with the heels of his hands. "Remember how you went away alone after you lost your family?"

Hercules nodded. "But I didn't go far. I didn't leave Greece, and I wasn't gone very long either." Hercules was afraid to ask the next question. "Will you come back?"

"Right now I don't know," Iolaus mumbled into his lap as he looked down again, and subconsciously twisted his fingers together. "I only know I need to get away from here and all the memories. We were going to have five sons, all named Iolaus," he tried to grin, recalling a conversation he'd had with Hercules on their trip to Gargarencia a year earlier. He remembered that on that day, he had his beloved Ania waiting for him back home, just as soon as he and Hercules conquered the beasts they were on their way to fight. "But now..." He broke down and cried gut-wrenching sobs that shook his entire being, breaking Hercules' heart in the process.

Hercules moved to sit next to his sad friend, took the mug from his hand and set it aside. He put his arm around his shoulders in a feeble attempt to help him deal with his grief. How he wished he could take Iolaus' pain away. He wasn't over the recent loss of his own family, but knew that, like Iolaus, he never would be.

Iolaus had lost his Ania to an illness shortly before Hercules' family was taken. Then, just weeks later, Iolaus' son became ill as well, and lived just a few days longer. When Hercules' family was taken, it all proved too much too soon for Iolaus, and the sorrow came crashing down on him. After his unsuccessful attempt at trying to defeat the She Demon, he had told Hercules of seeing Deianeira on the other side, how strange it was, and that his family missed him. He couldn't get over how unfair it was that both of their families were gone so soon.

When Iolaus was finally able to speak again, he turned and looked at his friend. "I can't go on like this, Hercules. I need to go away for a while. I need to know that you're okay with it. Please, Herc," he pleaded so quietly that Hercules barely heard him.

Hercules studied his friend, his eyes red and swollen. "I understand, buddy. There's nothing you could ask of me that I wouldn't do for you, even if it means letting you go. But you'd better let me hear from you."

Iolaus nodded. "I will. Ships will arrive from Greece all the time, and I'll get word to the crews to pass to you when they return here. And you'd better do the same."

"You can count on it." Hercules suddenly removed his hold on Iolaus, snapped his fingers and said, "I almost forgot something."

"What?" Iolaus asked as he drew his shirt sleeve across his face in a futile attempt to dry it again. He felt that he was shedding enough tears to flood the shoreline along the Aegean Sea, but he couldn't stop. He had bottled up his emotions for a time, now he just couldn't hold them in any longer.

"I have something to give you before you go." He stood and walked to the kitchen.

Iolaus watched his tall friend through blurry eyes as he took a cloth-wrapped bundle down from the back of a top shelf in a cupboard.

Hercules remained in the kitchen for a few minutes, and leaned against the counter as he spoke. "Remember the day I came over when Ania was so sick, and she talked with me privately for a few minutes?"

Iolaus' blond hair bobbed up and down as he nodded in the darkness.

"She asked me to always take care of you, and she showed me this. She said I would know when the time was right to give it to you, and asked me to put it high in the cupboard where you wouldn't find it. I'm sorry I didn't give it to you sooner, but there just hasn't been a good time." He walked toward his friend. "Well, I think now is good."

Iolaus took the offered bundle and held it on his lap for several minutes.

"Go ahead and open it."

Iolaus sniffled, slowly untied the blue ribbon that held the cloth closed and carefully unfolded it. He held up the object: a purple-patched vest.

He broke down again as Hercules said, "Ania made it for you." Hercules sat next to Iolaus again.

Iolaus could barely choke out his words while saying, "But...she told me...she couldn't sew."

"She had some help from Mother and Deianeira, and she was going to give it to you on your birthday."

Iolaus let the vest crumple onto his lap as his tears fell freely on it. Then he quickly brushed them off, not wanting to damage the garment.

Hercules put his arm around Iolaus' shoulders again, anticipating his response. "She loved you too, you know, very much. I promised her I would look after you, and now you want to go away."

"I'm sorry, Herc. I have to do this. If I stay here I'll go crazy with grief." He removed his blue shirt, let it fall to the floor, and replaced it with the vest that fit him perfectly. "It's so beautiful," he sobbed.

Hercules nodded. "It's you, Iolaus. It really suits you. Here, look," he continued, as he poked at one of the patches. "It's a little hard to see in the firelight, but she told me she put blue in this patch to match your eyes, and yellow here to match your hair."

Iolaus smiled a little and drew his hand across his eyes again.

Hercules continued his tour of the vest. "And look at this green patch. It's a piece from one of Ania's dresses. This other blue one next to it is from little Herc's blanket that I gave you when he was born. This one? Can you even GUESS what this piece is?" he smiled, trying to lighten the mood.

Iolaus shook his head.

Hercules pulled his own tunic from his pants to reveal a section missing from the bottom. "Look! She made me surrender a piece, and said that this way, no matter where you ever go with your vest, you'll always have something from those you love with you." He thought a minute, then added, "Well, you know how women are about these things."

Iolaus broke into heavy sobs all over again. "Why did my family have to die?" As much as he loved Ania's wonderful gift, he still couldn't get a grip on his emotions. "Why did Hera kill your family? What did either of us ever do to deserve this?" He thought of when they were younger and how crying or showing any emotions in front of his friend were too embarrassing, but now he just couldn't help it. They had been through so much sorrow in recent weeks -- too many funerals, hand-carving five headstones -- and it was threatening to destroy him.

Hercules held him to his chest as he broke down again. "I don't know, Iolaus. I just don't know." His heart ached more than he could stand for his lifelong best friend who was usually so good at masking his emotions. Now Iolaus cried himself out until, eventually, there were no more tears. He gradually relaxed against Hercules' chest, while clinging tightly to his new vest as if he was clinging to his lost Ania and little Hercules.

Hercules just sat and held him, not wanting to disturb him or to let him go. He silently asked himself how he was going to let Iolaus go East, and tried to think of something -- anything -- that would change his friend's mind. He absent-mindedly stroked Iolaus' golden hair, trying to make some sense out of their recent losses, but there was no sense to be made from any of it.

He thought back to when he had destroyed every one of Hera's temples that he could find after Hera killed his family. He then defeated the She Demon, rescued Iolaus and several others from her powers, and took off on his own for a short while, leaving a sad-looking friend standing in the road as he turned and left. For the first time since that day, Hercules realized how Iolaus must have felt at that moment, watching him walk away and knowing he had to let him go.

As Hercules ate alone in a small tavern one night not long after that, a traveler saw him, sat at his table and told him he had seen Iolaus a few days earlier. He told the tall man that his friend was very distraught, keeping to himself, not speaking to anyone, and everyone who knew Iolaus knew this wasn't like him at all. Hercules immediately left the village without finishing his meal, returned to Thebes, and had spent nearly every moment with his friend ever since. He realized he shouldn't have parted from Iolaus so soon after all the tragedies in their lives, but at the time, he had as much trouble dealing with everything as Iolaus was having now.

Hercules now sat with Iolaus throughout this long night, doing anything he could to help him as they wept together and reminisced together. He tried to convince Iolaus that drinking too much ale on an empty stomach would only make things worse, although Iolaus didn't care. He was at a point where he didn't care about anything anymore. Hercules finally got him to drink some herbal tea that he hoped would help him relax enough to sleep. It did for a while, but Iolaus couldn't sleep for more than a half hour at a time, when he would suddenly wake up, get out of bed and pace through the house. Sometimes he would walk outside barefoot in the dark until Hercules would wake up, discover him gone, go outside to find him and guide him back inside. Eventually, he would collapse into bed, exhausted, and sleep for another half hour, then repeat the whole routine.

One night Hercules resorted to slipping a small amount of sleeping potion he had asked the local healer for into Iolaus' mug, in order to get him to sleep through an entire night. It worked, as Iolaus slept through the night and half of the next day, although he still tossed and turned every little while, caught in the grasp of some nightmare. Hercules was always right at his side to calm him back to sleep. Their lives continued like this for a few days, until Iolaus announced it was time to go to Athens where he would catch the first available ship heading east.

The day they were to leave Iolaus' house, Iolaus had a startling revelation. "Penelope! Who's going to take care of Penelope?" Every so often he thought about selling his pet pig to a butcher, but could never bring himself to do it. On occasion, he would walk her to town, only to walk her back home. In his heart, he knew he would never sell her, much less to a butcher.

"Don't worry," Hercules assured him, "We'll find her a good home. In fact, I know someone who would love to look after her."

"Alcmene?" Iolaus smiled.

"Alcmene."

After taking Penelope to Alcmene's, an overnight stay and saying their good-byes, the pair was on their way to Athens. Hercules still wished he could change Iolaus' mind, but once his mind was made up about something, wild boars couldn't change it.

In Athens, Iolaus arranged his passage as a crewmember on the Capricorn. He knew that working on the ship would keep him busy and his mind occupied during the long sea voyage.

Hercules boarded the ship and gave it a thorough going over to ensure it was safe enough to transport his friend. Finally convinced that it was covered with an adequate amount of pitch, had no holes or torn sails and was quite seaworthy, he disembarked and joined Iolaus, who was just finishing a discussion with the ship's captain.

When the ship was ready to sail, the two friends embraced, not knowing when, or even if, they would ever see each other again. "You'd better take care of yourself, Iolaus."

"Yeah, you too. I only hope you understand why I have to do this, Herc."

"I'm not real sure why you have to go so far away, but if it's what you think you need right now, then I'll support your decision one-hundred percent." Hercules absent-mindedly picked some lint off Iolaus' new vest, needing to keep a connection with him. Iolaus loved his vest so much that it was all he had worn since Hercules gave it to him.

"Thanks. That's all I can ask."

They hugged again and, Iolaus, trying to keep his emotions in check, said, "I only hope the four giant elephants that hold up the world keep holding it up. I don't want to sail off the edge."

Hercules laughed nervously. Iolaus looked dreadful. He hadn't slept or eaten right for so long. Hercules was very worried about Iolaus' current state-of-mind and going so far away on his own, but he knew he had to let him go, just as Iolaus had let him go after the loss of his own family not so long ago. As hard as it was, he had to let his best friend follow his own path, and hope that it would lead him right back here very soon.

Iolaus slowly walked to the gangplank, where he turned around and waved to his brother.

Hercules waved back. "Please come back soon -- and in one piece."

Iolaus nodded slowly. "I will." With that, Iolaus boarded the ship, not understanding how he could feel even worse than he had been feeling. He felt that he was abandoning the best friend he would ever have, but he was somehow driven to go East, and he couldn't bring himself to change his mind.

Hercules stood on the docks until sometime later when the Capricorn was well out of sight. "Be safe, buddy," he whispered to the distant horizon. He realized that the best part of who he was had just sailed out of his life, and he reluctantly turned and walked away, not knowing what he was going to do without Iolaus.

Part 3

Laying in bed now, Hercules recalled that painful time in their recent past, surprised at how saddened he still was at the memories. He cleared his throat and carefully got out of bed so as not to disturb Iolaus. He padded quietly across the room to drink the rest of the water in a mug he left on the table earlier. He then moved the chair next to the window to sit in and look out over the street below, as well as up at the stars and the crescent moon. Glancing toward his sleeping friend, he whispered, "Thank you for coming home, Iolaus."

Iolaus was awake, heard him and sat up. "Hercules?"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up."

"You didn't. You okay?"

Hercules nodded. "Yeah, just couldn't sleep."

In the moonlight, Iolaus saw a sadness reflected in his friend's face, knowing that he had broken Hercules' heart by going so far away a year ago, but it was something he had to do for himself or he surely would have died from grief. He thought of the times he had sent a message to Hercules with every ship's crew that arrived from his homeland, letting Hercules know that he was okay. There was always a message from Hercules with the arriving crews as well. "Come on back to bed. It's cold."

"I will," Hercules replied. He walked over to the hearth. "I'll just put some more wood on the fire."

Iolaus laid back down, pulled the blanket snugly around his shoulders, turned over and fell asleep again. Hercules continued to sit at the window until he felt he could sleep. He finally climbed back into bed carefully and slept better than he had in a while. His best friend, his brother was at last back where he belonged, and now he could put aside all of his worries of something dreadful happening to Iolaus in the East or at sea.

At breakfast the next morning, Hercules looked at his friend sitting across the table, breathed a heavy sigh and said, "So tell me more about your journey, Iolaus, and don't leave out any details."

Iolaus smiled. He loved to tell stories, always with a flair and as much exaggeration as he could get away with. "On the trip East, I stayed as busy as I could on the ship. There was always something to do." Then he spoke more quietly and continued. "The nights were bad, though, when work stopped and I had too much time to think. I missed my family, I missed Greece and...I missed you. I made lots of friends among the crew because I couldn't sleep, so I'd take their watches every night.

"My second day at sea I decided I would come back home, though. I needed a change...a chance to do something different, but after two days I decided it wouldn't be forever. I told the returning crew to get a message to you that I'd be back in a year. That was a long time, but I needed it. I decided that after a year, no matter what I was doing, I would come home and...well...here I am."

Hercules smiled and let Iolaus continue.

"When I got to the East, it was the strangest place you could imagine. I looked so different from everyone, except can you believe that most of them were shorter than me? That was a switch. No one ever called me 'little' or 'shorty'...at least as far as I know," he shrugged, amused at remembering being in a place where he wasn't the smallest guy around. "I couldn't speak their language and they couldn't speak mine, so it was pretty lonely with no one to talk to very easily. Oh, I had the ships' crews to talk to when they were in port, but they were never there for long.

"The day I got there I met a man named Lee. He was my age and very friendly. I just started helping the crew offload supplies from the Capricorn, then I helped load the new supplies onto it. I somehow conveyed to Lee that I wasn't part of the crew, but that I was staying there and needed a job so I could eat. He owned an import and export business, so I had the perfect job loading and offloading supplies for ships. In exchange, he gave me a room and a meal every day."

"Rice with sticks."

Iolaus laughed a little. "Yeah. Don't worry, I'll show you how to eat with them. Anyway, Lee helped me find a teacher so I could study meditation. I learned so much, Hercules. Later on, I learned self-defense techniques, using my size to an advantage. I trained every day in this beautiful garden, and I think I could take on half a dozen bad guys now and win. They told me it takes years to perfect some of it, but I was a quick study."

Hercules laughed. "I bet you were. You really have some muscles there." He reached over and squeezed one of Iolaus' upper arms that was rock solid like the other one.

"Yeah, between training and loading supplies, I sorta built up a lot of muscles. So anyway, in time I was able to come to terms with the losses in my life. Being away from here was the best thing I could've done. I missed you, but I was so sad and depressed a year ago, that I didn't think I would ever get over it. I still miss our families, but now I can move forward with my life without so much sadness ruling my every waking moment."

"Then that's wonderful, Iolaus, and I'm glad it worked out so well for you. I can't tell you how happy I was to hear that you'd be home in a year, although it seemed like forever. I looked forward to a message from you with every ship that arrived."

"Me too, Herc. Working on the docks, I knew every ship from Greece. It took forever to get messages to each other that way, but it's all we had." He looked more thoughtful for a moment, and stared into Hercules' blue eyes. "Do you think anyone will ever invent a faster way to communicate from great distances?"

"Naaah," they both said at the same time, then laughed.

"So, what do you want to do, Iolaus, stay here a few days or go somewhere else?"

"Well," Iolaus took a bite of his porridge, "I'd like to go home...you know, see if my house is still standing."

"Oh, I can assure you it is. I've been taking care of it for you."

"Thanks," Iolaus smiled gratefully. "After that, I dunno, maybe we can just start out walking and see where the wind takes us."

"I like that idea, buddy."

"Yeah, maybe we'll run into people who need our help or something. I mean, I was thinking on the way home..."

"Uh oh," Hercules joked.

"Very funny, Herc. But I was thinking, we can travel around and do things for people in exchange for food and shelter. Or maybe we can just travel and hunt and fish for ourselves and sleep outside under the stars." He shrugged his shoulders. "I dunno, it's just a thought and it's something to do. We can do anything we want. I never did like farming and I'm ready to do something else. Even lugging all those supplies on and off ships got tiring."

"I think that's a fine idea, Iolaus. It's sort of what I've been doing all year anyway."

"Really? Well, you'll have to tell me all about it." Iolaus put his spoon in his bowl, grabbed an orange from the fruit bowl on their table and walked quickly out of the tavern.

Hercules looked questioningly after him. "I take it this means we're finished?" he mumbled to himself. He caught up with Iolaus outside as he finished peeling the orange and gave half to his tall friend. "Thanks. Shall we get our things and hit the road?"

Iolaus smiled up at him. "Sure, Herc, I'm ready to go."

An hour or so out of Athens, on the long walk to Thebes, Iolaus looked up at Hercules and said, "I want to try my new defensive moves."

"Oh no you don't," Hercules replied.

"Sure I do. I can really beat you this time."

"Iolaus, we've been down that road before. I'm not going to fight you."

Iolaus relented. "Okay, okay, but I really could beat you now."

"Hmmm...maybe, but save it for the bad guys."

"Yeah, there's no point in hurting you."

"Oh, like you would hurt me."

"Well, you never know." Iolaus looked at Hercules out of the corner of his eye and grinned evilly. "You don't know what I've learned."

"You couldn't possibly learn enough to beat me, buddy."

Iolaus just grinned wordlessly, staring at his friend as they walked.

"Iolaus, quit it."

"Quit what?"

"You know what. You're staring at me and daring me to fight you." Hercules put his arms out to his sides. "Well, forget it."

Iolaus continued to stare wordlessly, glancing at the path before them from time-to-time. Then he started to whistle.

Having had enough, Hercules finally said, "Okay, Iolaus. You're not going to stop this ridiculous behavior until I give in, are you?"

"Nope," the smaller man smiled. He loved a challenge, especially when it involved besting Hercules at something.

Together, they removed their vests and tossed them to the ground. "This is just like that time in my barn. You would've been head-first into that barrel if Deineirra hadn't shown up when she did."

"Oh yeah, right," Iolaus smirked. "No way, Herc. I had you cold."

"You had me cold, huh? Iolaus, I had you over a barrel...literally." He took a deep breath. "Okay, show me what you've learned." He figured that one punch at his friend would deck him, and he could sit on him until Iolaus admitted defeat.

"Well, you know these are defensive moves. You have to come at me." Iolaus took a defensive stance, while motioning at Hercules to come at him. "C'mon, Herc, I'll try not to hurt you," he giggled.

Hercules approached Iolaus and was immediately flipped onto his back as Iolaus giggled again and readied himself for another attack. "I told you I can beat you now."

Slightly annoyed, but glad to see that Iolaus was still his former self, Hercules stood and prepared to attack him again, ready to block his blows. Without warning, Iolaus threw his hands to the ground, flipped forward, threw his legs over and ended up sitting on Hercules' shoulders, locking his friend's head with his arms. His large friend was rendered quite immobile, but among the many things Iolaus had learned in his training was how not to injure someone he didn't want to injure.

Hercules suddenly found himself standing there with Iolaus sitting on his shoulders. His face was slightly twisted and his mouth was muffled by one of Iolaus' new gauntlets, as he said, "You can let me go now."

Iolaus laughed and said, "Uh uh. I told you, Hercules, you can't beat me. Agreed?"

"Okay, you win...this time."

Iolaus did a back-flip off his friend's shoulders, quickly crawled between his legs and popped up in front of him, a huge grin on his face.

"I'm impressed."

"Well, you should be." Iolaus brushed the dirt off the knee patches on his pants.

"So this is how they fight in the East?"

"Yeah, those who study the techniques. Everyone there is my size or smaller, and they use their skills to overcome their size so a little guy can beat a bigger guy, except there aren't any bigger guys there, only here. Remember the time I told you that at your house, that I'd been talking with a guy from the East who showed me a few moves?"

"Yeah, I remember."

"Well, I learned a whole lot more of them, and now I can travel with you and you won't have to worry about me getting beaten up." He practically danced along the road as they continued on their journey. "I can hardly wait to try them on some big...bad...stupid...barbarians!"

"I'm sure you'll get a chance someday, Iolaus, but hopefully not today. It's too beautiful a day to fight barbarians."

"Yeah." Iolaus had his carrysack in his right hand, and again studied the gauntlet on his left arm as they walked. "I love these, Herc."

"I'm glad you do."

They walked on in silence until they decided to make camp at a large lake they came to. Hercules caught two fish while Iolaus started the fire. Once the fish were nearly cooked, Iolaus reached into the bottom of his sack and took out the sticks he had brought from the East. "Here," he said as he handed two of them to Hercules.

Hercules fooled with the sticks awkwardly. "How did you ever eat with these things?" He started to poke at the pieces of fish with one of them, using it like a spear.

"It took a lot of practice, but it was either that or starve, because they don't have utensils like ours. I finally figured out that if you hold your bowl or plate..." he picked up the large leaves that held the fish... "or leaves, right up to your face, you can sorta shovel the food into your mouth with them."

"It's a strange way to eat," Hercules said, while watching Iolaus fumble with the hot leaves as he demonstrated.

"It is...ow, this is hot...but after while I didn't even think about it. I'd be so hungry by the end of the day that I would just eat any ol' way I could with these things."

"Would it be okay if I leave them at Mother's?"

"Sure," Iolaus grinned, "I guess they'd be kinda hard to carry around."

They journeyed onward, and eventually arrived at the top of the hill that overlooked Thebes. Iolaus worked hard to keep a grip on his emotions, surprised at the strong memories from a year ago that suddenly flooded his thoughts as he looked at his home town in the valley below.

Hercules sensed what he was feeling and said, "I love this spot."

"Me too."

"Come on." He wanted to reach the village and give Iolaus something to focus on besides sad memories. "We can spend the night at Mother's, then head over to your place tomorrow, if that's okay."

Iolaus simply nodded, still trying not to let his emotions get out of control.

Finally arriving at Alcemene's, Iolaus dropped his carrysack and exclaimed, "PENELOPE!" and bent down to give his pet pig a big hug and lots of friendly pats. Penelope responded with a few loud snorts and squeals.

Alcmene heard someone shouting and came outside through her beautiful garden and into the arms of her sons. "Hercules! Iolaus! It's so good to see you both!" She hugged both of her boys and Iolaus kissed her cheek.

"I've missed you, Alcemene, and especially your cooking," Iolaus beamed.

"See Mother? Nothing's changed. He's still the same ol' Iolaus, thinking about food all the time." He grinned toward his friend. "But wait until you see what he brought you."

Iolaus glanced around and retrieved his sack. The trio walked into the house where Iolaus took the jars out and handed them to Alcemene. "They're from the East," he grinned.

Alcemene was thrilled. "Oh, Iolaus, how wonderful!" She looked at each jar, then announced she would be making a special supper, complete with pastries. Iolaus already had his eye on the orange cake that was sitting over in a corner of the counter, something that didn't escape Alcemene's eye. "You boys just relax and leave everything to me. I have to run into the village for a few things, but I won't be long. I wasn't sure when you'd be here, so I waited to shop so everything will be fresh."

"Iolaus and I can go for you, Mother," Hercules offered.

"Nonsense," Alcemene replied, "you've been traveling and I want you to stay here and relax. I'll be back before you know it." She grabbed her basket, then turned back and said, "Oh, Iolaus, your room is all made up for you, so make yourself at home." Then she was out the door. A moment later they heard her announce, "That cake had better still be there when I return," and she was gone.

"Come on," Hercules smiled, "let's put your things upstairs."

Iolaus had a room at Hercules' house that he practically grew up in, and it was always referred to as 'Iolaus' room.' "This room used to seem so big to me," he smiled as they walked in. "It still looks the same, though." He walked to the window to look out over the familiar front yard and garden.

Hercules nodded his agreement and put his hand on Iolaus' back. "Come on, let's go down and get something to drink."

Iolaus turned from the window and gestured with his thumb in the general direction of the front yard. "That's quite a wall you're building out there."

"Well, like I said, it gave me something to do." After Hercules drank a mug of water, and Iolaus downed an entire pitcher of water, they went to the nearby river to clean up and get more water from the well for the kitchen.

Alcemene returned from town with the spelt, kamut and quinoa to make a special loaf for her sons. She smiled to see that the orange cake was still untouched on the counter. Along with plenty of quail, fresh fruit, and Iolaus' favorite pastries that she would quickly bake, they would have a lovely meal, with enough left over so they would have food to take with them when they left the house.

Iolaus returned from the river first, noticing the wonderful smells of baking that now filled the entire house, and he realized he had missed this more than he knew. He watched Alcemene as he leaned against the doorway to the kitchen, and smiled when she added her new spices to the filling of his favorite pastries. He thought of all the times she had made them for special events, or sometimes just out of love for him. He watched as she coated each quail with three different spices as well.

"You taught Ania some cooking skills, didn't you Alcemene?"

"Oh...Iolaus, you startled me," she jumped. "I didn't see you there."

"I'm sorry," Iolaus replied apologetically, "I didn't mean to."

Alcemene wiped her hands on her apron, slid the pastries into the fire and walked toward Iolaus. "Yes, Iolaus, she was really a quick study. She just needed someone to show her some basic things." She paused. "You really miss her, don't you?"

Iolaus nodded and sadly replied, "Yeah."

Alcemene put her arms around him, and he responded in kind. "Well, so do I. We spent hours on this vest," she said as she released him and tugged at the front to straighten it on his shoulders. "She couldn't wait to give it to you."

"I wish she had lived long enough to. Herc gave it to me before I went East. He told me about the patches."

"They were Ania's idea, so you'd always have something from those you love with you when you wear it."

"Well, I love it, Alcemene. Thanks for helping with it."

She hugged Iolaus again. "You're welcome, Iolaus. She loved you so much, you know."

Iolaus nodded.

Just out of sight, Hercules had returned, not wanting to interrupt and heard most of the conversation. He thought now would be a good time to put the buckets of water on the kitchen counter.

After a feast fit for royalty, everyone retired around the hearth in the sitting room.

"Alcemene, I haven't had a meal like that since...since...well, since the last time I was here, but now I can barely move. Thank you." He eased into a chair, holding his stomach like it had expanded to ten times its normal size.

"You're welcome, Iolaus. I love cooking for you two, because you always appreciate my efforts."

"Well, when you're the world's best cook..."

"Oh, Iolaus," Alcemene laughed. "I don't know where you put it all, but it's good to see you eating well." A year ago, Hercules had told her how his efforts to get Iolaus to eat were in vain, and how incredibly worried he was about his friend's health. "There's plenty left over that I'll pack up for you to take wherever you're off to next."

Iolaus shared his experiences in the East with Alcemene throughout the evening, adding more flair and detail than when he first told them to Hercules. They showed Alcmene the gifts they had given each other, and Hercules explained his new lucky coin to her. They finally called it a night and extinguished the candles and oil lamps.

After starting a fire in the hearth in his room, Iolaus stood and looked out of his upstairs window for a while as so many memories of his childhood flooded his thoughts. They weren't all pleasant memories, as he recalled the abuse from his father that often sent him to the safety and comfort of Hercules and Alcmene. Sometimes he would just show up for no reason other than knowing no one could hurt him here. He envied Hercules' life with a mother who loved him so much, and wanted to share as much of that as he could without feeling that he was imposing on them. He was grateful that ever since he could remember, there had always been a room, a warm bed and plenty of food for him here. He breathed the fresh air deeply, loving the familiar smells of home, so different from the smells in the East. Completely lost in his thoughts, he didn't hear Hercules come in.

"I hope I'm not intruding, " he said.

"Hmm? Oh...no, not at all. Come on in. I was just...thinking...remembering, you know." He turned and sat on the bed as Hercules sat next to him.

"I couldn't sleep either."

"We sure have some memories here, don't we?"

"Yeah."

"Some good, some not so good...but mostly good. You and Alcemene always made me feel so welcome here." He added a couple pieces of wood to the fire. "This was always more of a home to me than my own home."

"I know, Iolaus, and I'm glad. I hated it, though, when you showed up all injured and..." he suddenly stopped, not wanting to bring up old, unpleasant memories of the events that often brought Iolaus here. Iolaus' father, Skouros, was not kind toward his son, to say the least. As good of friends as Hercules and Iolaus were, and as well as they knew each other, they had never really talked about how bad Iolaus' childhood had been at his home. Iolaus' mother was powerless to do anything to protect her son from her husband's anger, and all Iolaus knew to do was to make his way to Hercules' house where he would be safe and cared for. "I'm sorry, Iolaus."

"It's okay, Herc," Iolaus sighed deeply. "You know, sometimes I've wondered if I'd been fed better at home when I was little, if I would've gotten taller. I was always being sent to my room with nothing to eat for no reason. Then I'd sometimes crawl out of my bedroom window and sneak over here and practically devour everything Alcemene cooked. She probably thought we were just two growing boys who needed a lot to eat, but the truth was, I was usually starving and I wasn't growing at all. As soon as I could, I started hunting and fishing so I could eat as much as I wanted anytime I wanted." He grinned a little, shrugged his shoulders and continued, "I still didn't grow much more, but I learned enough to keep from ever going hungry again."

"I never knew that, Iolaus," Hercules said sadly. "You were the scrawniest kid I ever knew, but I didn't know you were hungry all the time."

"Scrawny!" Iolaus exclaimed, his injured pride showing. "I wasn't scrawny, you were just....so much bigger than me." Iolaus then smiled and said, "Well, I guess I was...maybe a little." He stood up again and walked to the window. "Do you remember the time we were eating lunch at school...well, YOU were eating this huge lunch and I didn't have anything to eat? I didn't eat the previous day and I was so hungry that I grabbed your food and took off running, devouring as much as I could along the way. You thought I was joking around. You caught up to me and sat on me and threatened to beat me up if I didn't give it back. So I dropped it on the ground and I never did that again."

Hercules thought a few seconds. "I remember that. You started crying and ran off. I really did think you were just joking around and I didn't know what was wrong. I went looking for you and couldn't find you. In fact, I spent half that night looking for you. You didn't come back to school for a couple days and I was pretty worried about you. Then you finally came back, but you kept avoiding me."

"Yeah, well I couldn't let you see me crying, and I sure couldn't tell you what was wrong. I just couldn't tell you stuff then. We were just kids. How could I say, 'Hey, Herc, I'm starving to death. Can I have your lunch?'"

"I'm sorry, Iolaus. I didn't know. I would've given it to you if I had known."

"I know. I stayed at the river by myself. I hated myself, I hated being hungry, I hated everything. I didn't want you to think I was some charity case who only hung around because you always had so much food at your house."

"I never would've thought that, and I certainly wouldn't have let you starve!"

"I know, but I was too...I dunno...ashamed I guess. You were the first real friend I had. Actually, you were the ONLY friend I had. I guess I was afraid you wouldn't want to be my friend anymore if you knew what my life was like at home."

"That didn't matter to me, Iolaus. I mean, your life at home mattered to me, of course, but you were still my best friend too. I think the other kids were afraid to be my friend because I'm the son of Zeus and I was always so much bigger than them. None of that ever mattered to you, though."

"Nope," Iolaus said matter-of-factly. "Well," he continued more cheerfully, trying not to fall into some depression he couldn't pull himself out of, "if you don't sit there all night, I'm going to bed."

"Good night, Iolaus. Sleep well." Hercules stood to return to his own room. Then he stopped and turned back to his friend. "I wouldn't really have beaten you up if you hadn't given me back my lunch."

Iolaus laughed. "Thanks."

As Hercules crossed the narrow hallway, he thought about what Iolaus had said. He knew Iolaus had been hurt very deeply emotionally and often physically while growing up, and would probably never completely recover from his mistreatment. Then he lost his beloved family. Hercules always promised himself that he would never do anything to hurt Iolaus. His friend had suffered enough for ten people during his life. He was glad to know something new about his friend now, although he didn't like what he heard. Hercules soon fell asleep, ready to head to Iolaus' house with him in the morning.

Iolaus laid on his bed and tried to think of the happy times he had spent here. After all, they did outweigh the sad times. He thought of what Alcemene would make for breakfast, although he was so full from supper, he could hardly imagine eating again early in the morning. Still, he could never refuse a meal cooked by his second mother. He also didn't know when he would be back this way, so he had to store up plenty of her wonderful cooking to last a while.

Part 4

The following morning dawned sunny and warm. Alcemene had a breakfast feast on the table when her sons came downstairs just after dawn. She always hated to see them leave, but knew they must live their own lives. She filled Iolaus' carrysack with as much food as it would hold, and they were soon on their way. Iolaus gave Penelope some hugs and pats, they waved to Alcemene and were gone.

Alcemene smiled bravely, and watched until they were out of sight, then she sat on the bench in her garden and wept for a time. She loved them both so much, and was always glad for any time they could spend with her. She was so glad that Iolaus was with Hercules again, but still, she always missed them when they weren't around. She thought about her own increasing loneliness, and how she would love to marry again one day. 'Well, perhaps,' she thought to herself.

Hercules had been home often during the past year to help Alcemene with her house, as well as take care of Iolaus' place. The memories of their past lives and families were too great, however, so he didn't stay very long at a time, preferring instead to wander the hills of Greece while waiting for his best friend to return.

The pair now headed to Iolaus' house where, upon arriving, Iolaus was surprised to see that it looked the same as when he left. "Thanks, Hercules," he said as he looked around inside.

Hercules nodded. "It was the least I could do." He shrugged and looked around at the small rooms from where he stood. "I had to find things to do to keep busy...you know. Should we stay here tonight?"

Iolaus didn't hesitate in answering. "No, I...can't. Let's go make a camp outside of town."

"Anything you say," Hercules agreed.

As they walked away, Iolaus picked two large bunches of wild flowers that still grew in the garden that Ania loved. They stopped not far from the house, at the two graves around a bend in the path off the main road. Iolaus touched the markers that he and Hercules had carved so solemnly together, and placed the flowers in front of them.

Hercules started to walk away. "I'll just give you some time."

Iolaus shook his head. "No," he took a deep breath, "it's time to leave the past in the past. I can accept losing them, but..." he looked up at his taller friend, "I'll never forget them."

"Of course you won't, Iolaus, and neither will I." Hercules put his hand on Iolaus' back as they turned to walk away.

"Promise me something, Herc."

"Name it."

Iolaus stopped and took in the surrounding view. It was breathtaking, with magnificent green trees, fragrant wildflowers in all directions, a slight breeze, all surrounded by peace, serenity and a few chirping birds. "Promise me that if I die in battle someday, you'll bury me right here." He turned around to face the other direction. "And put a marker here," he gestured broadly. "Nothing big or fancy, just some little marker so people will know I'm here."

Hercules choked back a sudden lump in his throat and simply nodded. He finally said, "You love this place, don't you."

"Yeah, I always have."

"Well," Hercules cleared his throat and continued, "let's hope that's not for a long time, buddy."

"Yeah."

They followed the narrow path until it caught up with the road, then they just kept walking, away from Thebes. "So, you haven't told me yet what you've been doing this past year. Well, other than building a wall for your Mom and taking care of my house."

Hercules thought back on the year. "Nothing as interesting as you."

"Yeah, but there must be something."

"I walked a lot from one village to another. I helped people here and there, and in return I often got a meal or a bed for the night."

"You're right, that doesn't sound very exciting."

"It was sometimes," Hercules said in his own defense, "like the time there was a cave-in outside of Thrace and I got everyone out. That counts, doesn't it?"

"Yeah," Iolaus smiled, "and at least you didn't have trouble understanding the language."

Hercules grinned. "I can't imagine not being able to communicate. How did you ever learn?"

"Lee helped me a lot. He would point at something and say the word for it. Then I would tell him my word for it. Sometimes we'd draw pictures when we couldn't figure out what the other one meant. Sometimes we would just laugh and give up."

"He sounds like a good friend."

"Oh, the best...well, besides you, of course."

"It must've been hard for you to leave."

Iolaus thought a few seconds. "Not really. I was so anxious to come home once I felt I had learned everything I wanted to learn there, and once I found ways to deal with everything. I was feeling better and I wanted to come back here where it's easier to talk to people. But Lee was a great friend and I'll miss him."

"So tell me about your training...the fighting techniques."

"That was pretty hard at first. Lee introduced me to my teacher, Chang, and he about kicked the stuffing out of me while teaching me how to defend myself. Believe me, I learned QUICK! He didn't believe in pulling punches or kicks, and I was bruised from head-to-toe for a while. I think he got some sort of sadistic pleasure out of beating me to a pulp. It was so weird, Hercules. He would bow to me, then kick me senseless. It didn't make sense to me at first, but I soon learned to block his kicks and duck from his flying fists, especially after I thought he broke my nose one day." He crinkled up his nose while rubbing it, remembering that painful incident.

"But after while I was as good as him, and you'd better believe I was happy the first time I knocked him on his butt. I bowed to him like he taught me, then I caught him by surprise and boom, he was on the ground!" Iolaus laughed. "The expression on his face said it all. He got up and I thought he was going to kick me into next week, but he bowed to me several times and our lesson was over for the day.

"The next thing I knew, the whole village was bowing to me like I was some sort of hero or something. Lee explained to me that none of Chang's students had ever matched his expertise, and that Chang said I was the best student he ever had. He said there was nothing more he could teach me. Lee said what an honor it was for Chang to say that."

"Wow, Iolaus, I guess I'd better watch my back."

Iolaus giggled. "Chang said it takes years for students to learn what I learned in a few months, but I told him it was just my wanting to stay unbruised and unbroken."

"No, Iolaus, I think it's more than that. I think you have a natural talent for these Eastern fighting techniques, and I know they're going to serve you well."

"Thanks, Hercules." Iolaus looked up at his friend as they walked. "It sure is good to be home."

Hercules reached over and patted Iolaus' back. "It's great to have you home, buddy. So you learned everything you wanted to?"

"Yeah, enough. I spent a lot of my time off in a temple learning how to meditate and reach an inner peace with myself. I was in pretty bad shape when I left here. When I got to the East I still couldn't sleep, and all I wanted to do was work to keep my mind occupied. Lee would drag me from the docks at night to get me to stop working. Then he took me to a temple one day and I started meditation training. I started working on how to face my losses and deal with them. I guess it was obvious to them how sad and depressed I was, and I was finally able to explain that I'd lost my wife and son, that my best friend had lost his family too, and that I went there to get away from all the sadness."

"How did they understand what you were saying?"

"I took a stick and drew pictures in the dirt of Ania, little Herc and me. Then I erased their pictures and left just me, and they understood. Then I drew you...a great big you...and your family, and did the same thing again. I drew a heart, then drew a line through it and they knew. So I started meditating with a teacher. It was impossible at first because I couldn't relax enough to let go of the thoughts that put me there in the first place. But I worked hard at it, copying what he was showing me even without words. Every day I got up at dawn, meditated in the temple, worked on the docks all day, then trained with Chang in the garden before dark. Then I'd have dinner, always rice and sometimes fish when I had time to catch one and build a fire on the shore to cook it, go to bed and do it all over the next day. The best days were when a ship's crew brought news from you, and when I was able to send a message back with them to you. I kept expecting a crew to arrive and tell me you had met someone and were getting married again."

"You did?" Hercules was surprised by this statement.

"Yeah. I guess it was too soon, though."

"That, and without you as my best man, I wouldn't get married anyway."

"Thanks," Iolaus smiled.

"So, what about you?"

Iolaus looked around. "What about me? You mean remarrying? Oh no, there's no one else like Ania. I can't see myself getting married again. I dunno, maybe someday, but not in the forseeable future. Someone like Ania comes along once and...no, I can't even think about it."

Hercules nodded his understanding. "This looks like a good place to make camp."

They stopped close to the river and went about preparing their camp for the night. As Hercules gathered wood for the fire, Iolaus took some food from his sack and set it on a cloth Alcemene had thoughtfully included. Hercules dragged a couple of logs over from among the trees for them to sit on next to the fire. They looked out over the water and continued their conversation.

"It seems like you've been gone forever," Hercules said.

"A lot's changed in our lives, hasn't it?"

"Yeah, but I like what you said before about us traveling together and seeing where the wind takes us. We could have a lot of adventures just walking through Greece like I've been doing and like we both used to do, but it's much more fun with someone to talk to. It's been a lonely year for me."

Iolaus nodded as he munched on a piece of cake in one hand, a pastry in the other. "You're right. There's nothing for me here...no family...well, other than you and Alcemene...no future, only a past that was very special while it lasted." He sighed heavily and continued. "I guess it's time to start over and move forward with my life."

"Then it's a deal. Starting right now we'll just keep walking and see where we end up. If we can help people along the way, then it'll be worth it. Maybe sometimes they'll give us both a meal and a room for the night. I guess there are other ways to live, but for now, that sounds fine to me."

"Me too, Herc. You said before that you enjoy traveling and want to do some more. Well, so do I."

"You know what else I want to do?"

Iolaus shook his head silently.

"I want to go back to your forge one of these days in the near future & make a new knife."

Iolaus looked questioningly at his friend.

Hercules shrugged, not yet wanting to reveal that it would be another welcome home present for Iolaus. "No reason. I just want to. If we're going to travel, it's bound to come in handy for hunting, cleaning fish...stuff like that."

It was still early evening, but Iolaus put more wood on the fire for the night and they laid down on opposite sides of the fire. As Iolaus thought of his short-lived life as a husband and father, he focused on what his life could be now. Greece could use a couple of guys with their skills and talent who enjoyed helping people. He thought he might be able to put his new fighting skills to good use too; that is, if Hercules didn't take on all the bad guys himself. Greece was full of warlords, barbarians and even the occasional monster, and someone needed to deal with them.

He felt that Ania would approve of him picking up the pieces of his shattered world and doing good for others. As he laid there listening to the crackling fire and staring at the sunset, once again back with his best friend in the world, he vowed to live a life that would make Ania and little Hercules proud of him. If he could, then he knew his life would be worth living. Sometimes he wanted nothing more than to have someone be proud of him.

Hercules laid awake thinking as well. He had enjoyed this past year of wandering, returning to Thebes as often as possible, and traveling seemed like something he was destined to do. As he told Iolaus earlier, It had been an incredibly lonely year, though, after both of their familes were gone, then Iolaus himself left. He hoped he would never have to deal with so much loss in his life again.

He hoped Iolaus would be content to travel with him, at least for as long as he could or would want to. He didn't know what the future held -- no one ever knew that -- but at leastt Iolaus was home safely and they would face the future and their destinies together.

He couldn't help but wonder if this was meant to be all along. He thought of how strange it was that they had met as young boys, grew up together, married, had children, then both of their families were tragically torn from them within such a short time of each other.

Hercules looked across the fire at Iolaus. Thankfully, he seemed to be content, happy to be home, more accepting of what life had cruelly thrown his way, and he wouldn't go so far away alone again. It was great to have Iolaus back and in better spirits than a year ago. He thought of the night when he gave Iolaus the vest he seldom took off, and knew it was Iolaus' way of keeping Ania with him. With all of these thoughts stirring around in his head, he drifted off into a deep sleep.

The following morning they were up early. Hercules kicked some sand onto the dying embers of the fire, looked off down the beckoning road into the distance and formally announced: "I think our destinies are in that direction, Iolaus. Care to join me?"

Iolaus smiled. "Frankly, Hercules, I wouldn't have it any other way."

Epilogue: The present

"Boy, Hercules, all that seems so long ago, yet it seems like yesterday. Who knew back then that we'd end up traveling together all these years?" He still poked at the fire with the stick, as they talked about their years and adventures together and sometimes apart.

Hercules nodded. "Any regrets?"

Iolaus looked at Hercules. "Are you kidding? Absolutely not! I wouldn't trade any of it for...well, come to think of it, I'd trade that whole Sumeria thing for just about anything, but none of the rest of it."

"Me too. Sumeria," he sighed. Now there's a place I'll never go back to."

"Me either."

For some reason, Hercules recalled the moment in his recent past when he and the Iolaus from the alternate universe stood at the memorial he had erected for this Iolaus after the whole ugly Sumeria incident, in the very spot Iolaus wanted it. It wasn't the small, insignificant marker Iolaus had mentioned, but Iolaus deserved more than a small, insignificant marker. When Hercules had stood in that same spot with the other Iolaus, he couldn't help but reflect on that day a few years ago, when he had stood there with this Iolaus, sadly watching as he put flowers on the graves of his wife and son. The memories of his lifelong friend had washed over him until he thought he would burst with the sadness of it all.

Outwardly, he had told his new friend how much Iolaus loved that place, and that Iolaus was at peace, but inside his heart was forever broken. He knew it was a selfish thought, but he didn't want Iolaus to be at peace, lost to him forever. He wanted Iolaus back at his side, traveling, hunting, fishing, fighting the good fight and making him laugh with his bad jokes. He didn't know then that he would have Iolaus back in a few months, and he could only try to continue to hold himself together for his own sake and that of his new friend. He reached into his leather pouch and removed the coin Iolaus had given him so long ago. He held it in front of himself and smiled.

Iolaus smiled as well, then said, "These gauntlets sure have seen some action, but I'll still wear them forever." He tugged at his vest. "This sure is more faded than when it was new, but I'll never give it up either. How 'bout you? Any regrets?"

"Nope. Our lives would've been so different if we hadn't lost our familes. But you're my family, and traveling with you all these years has been a real adventure." He reached over and gently squeezed Iolaus' shoulder.

"Yeah. It still beats growing cabbages."

The two of them laughed and talked well into the late evening hours, as their voices and laughter were carried away on the gentle wind.

The End
Mare
July 2001

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