Hurting and Loving By Krissiana Feedback: paxacer2@aol.com Ok, it's the first part of the story. G/A, PG-PG13, no subtext. Summary: When Xena gets married, Gabrielle gets out. She has nowhere to go. But 3 gods help her out. Now, she has to decide which temple she's gonna live in: Artemis, Aphrodite, or...Ares. Cold, dark. I felt that way. Hurting, hurting, inside and out. My wounds open up. Will I ever love him? Him, the God of War? He tricked me, right? Wrong. He loved me. He died for me. How did this sorrow chain start? Well, I'll tell you... Gabrielle couldn't believe it. She was at a wedding. Xena and Hercules wedding. 'They look so...happy.' she thought. Time had flew by so quickly. Eve married Virgil 1 week ago, Xena and Hercules married today, Joxer and Meg years ago, when she and Xena were in the ice coffins. 'When is it my turn?' Gabrielle wondered. 'Who will be my true soulmate? I thought Xena was, but, I guess not. I don't know how she helped me out of the Ring of Fire, but, hey, it's Xena. And it's Xena's wedding.' Xena and Hercules came over, all smiles. Before Gabrielle saw them, they saw her sadness. They turned concerned and continued coming over. Gabrielle finally saw them, and put on a fake smile. "Hi! Congratulations, Hercules, Xena!" "Hey Gabrielle, thanks." Xena said softly. "Is something wrong Gabrielle?" Hercules questioned, concern lacing his words. "OH! No, no, no. Why would you think that? Well, I'd love to stay and chat, but, you know how it is, I have to help people on the road! Congratulations, I hope you have a wonderful life together. ByE!" Gabrielle had to get out of there, and fast. She turned and walked quickly away from the merry people and left Xena and Hercules stunned. "Wow, that went by fast!" Hercules said, still staring at the retreating figure of the bard. "You can say that again!" Xena replied, also staring at Gabrielle's back. Hercules opened his mouth and Xena covered it with her finger. "Don't even think about it, wise guy." She and Hercules smiled at each other and gave each other a little peck on the mouth. Then they turned around, put their arms around each other, and returned to the festival. 10 minutes later, Gabrielle stopped running and leaned onto a tree. She closed her eyes and wiped her forehead. "How did this ever get so complicated? Of course, me leaving Xena is probably the best thing because I don't wanna be a third wheel..." Suddenly there was a flash of blue, pink, and green. Gabrielle gasped. Ares, Aphrodite and Artemis. She kneeled before Artemis and bowed her head. "My goddess!" she exclaimed in shock. Artemis looked down on her kneeling queen and chosen. "Gabrielle, you are my queen. Don't kneel. You are my friend." Gabrielle got up, brushed her clothes, and spotted Aphrodite. "Dite!!" she squealed. She hugged her in a ferocious embrace "Hey, Little One! Wuzup?" "Nothing much." Gabrielle replied. She turned her head and saw Ares. "Ares." she said curtly with a nod of her head. "Gabrielle." he said just as stiffly, as if not wanting to be here. "Hey," Aphrodite said with suprise, "where's Xena?" Gabrielle was startled, she was looking at Ares the whole time. "Well," she said with fake brightness, "she and hercules hitched up, so I didn't wanna be a third-wheel, so I..." "You left!" Aphrodite said with great saddness. She knew that Gabrielle had no place else to go. She would be alone. Suddenly, she brightened up. "Hey! I got an idea! What about you live in one of our temples to see how you like it. You can test our temples out. Ya know, 5 weeks at Artemis' temple, 5 weeks at mine, and 5 weeks at Ares! And whichever one you like most, you can become a priestess and live there!" "Uh, I dunno...if Xena heard about this..." "XENA!" Ares shouted, talking for the first time. "XENA ISN'T HERE, IS SHE?! SHE'S LEFT YOU FOR JERCULES, MY ANNOYING LITTLE HALF-BROTHER. SHE LEFT YOU TO FEND FOR YOURSELF!!!" Gabrielle turned away from the gods and they all could see that she was in pain from Ares' blunt words and was crying. Aphrodite elbowed her brother. "Smooth!" she whispered fiercly. She and Artemis went to comfort Gabrielle and said that Ares was just a loser. "I'm not a loser!!" he cried defiantly. Artemis turned her head to him. "Yes you are. Look at what you've done. Now I'm gonna take her to my best temple, to have her TREATED right." Gabrielle smiled at her through her tears and said. "Thanks." "Hey, you are my chosen, after all." Artemis said kindly. Gabrielle hugged Aphrodite goodbye, refused to acknowledge Ares, took Artemis' hand, and they disappeared together. "DANG!" Ares hollered. Aphrodite walked up to him with her hands clenched. "HOW...DARE...YOU!!!!" she screamed. "SHE JUST LOST HER BEST FRIEND, SHE HAS REALLY NO PLACE TO GO, SHE'S CONFUSED, AND YOU JUST VERBALLY ATTACKED HER! RIGHT NOW, YOU ARE NOT MY BROTHER. THIS IS SO EMBARASSING TO HAVE A BROTHER THAT IS NOT IN THE LEAST HUMAN!!!!!" "Dite, I'm--" "APHRODITE!!" she screamed. "Alright, alright. Aphrodite, I'm...I'm...I'm sorry. I just didn't know how to react. You know how hard it's been since Xena got married to Jercules." "It's Hercules!" "Okay, but you know how hard it's been since Xena got married to Jer--Hercules." Aphrodite softened a bit. Ares never really opened up to anyone. Everybody in their family hated him so much. He couldn't trust anyone. And she knew how Ares had a thing for the warrior babe. She put her arm around his shoulders comfortingly. "Ares," she said softly,"Xena is married now. You can't try to get her back anymore..." "What are you saying to me?" Ares said in a low voice. Aphrodite didn't want to get Ares all sad. She wanted to break it down slowly to him. She adjusted her arm on his shoulders. "Ares. She's gone. She has a life! With Hercules. You can't torture her anymore. It's over." Ares turned to his sister. She was suprised to see tears in his eyes. "I know." he said. "But it just pains me. I never really had a chance to be with her, did I?" It was more of a statement than a question. But Aphrodite answered it anyway by shaking her head in sympathy for Ares. She never felt so sorry for her brother in her whole immortal life. Her heart broke for him. It broke more when she saw the tears running down his handsome face. 'The god of war...crying...for a mortal woman...wow...he must have cared for her...with his life.' she thought amazed. "I want to be alone now. I'll see you later...Aphrodite." he said sadly. He turned around to disappear. "Ares" the feminine voice drifted over to him. He turned his head to face his sister. "Yes?" he asked. "It's Dite." They smiled sadly at each other. Part 2