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Challenging Love
By: Lissia
Disclaimer:
The story is mine(except for the prompt, it belongs to whoever), this is a response to the ‘Mighty Aphrodite Challenge.’ The characters aren't mine. This is not connected to my other stories. This story takes place sometime after ‘Fallen Angel,’ but before ‘Chakram.’ Let’s just say, I’m rewriting the fifth season. NO SUBTEXT!!. Enjoy.
Summery:
Aphrodite has Zeus turn Ares mortal so that he and Xena can bond. And her plan jsut might work.
Chapter 1.
Aphrodite made her way into the Halls of War, slightly green from the muck and dirt. Her temples were spotless, but Ares never had been one for cleaning and he didn't expect his priests or priestesses to care either.
When she found her brother's thrown room, she found just what she'd expected to find, a stoic, emotionless god, or at least that was the image he tried to project. She knew him better.
"Hey Ar, why didn't ya come to dinner last night. The one time Daddy is proud to claim you as his son, and you don't show! What gives?" Aphrodite asked, staring at her sullen brother.
"Look, it was Hercules Dad wanted to brag about, as usual. I was just a footnote, I'm sure," Ares responded disinterestedly.
"Yeah, Dad did lay it on thick, what with Herc keeping the light from bringing about the end of the world and all, but he did say he was happy you and Herc could work together, and that when it really came down to it, you knew where your loyalties lay. We all weren't too sure with that whole Dahok fiasco, but now everything's cool. Although I still don't get why you teamed up with that monstrosity and his daughter. You can do WAY better than her," Aphrodite commented, still studying Ares. He had flinched slightly with her mentioning Dahok and Hope, but beyond that she'd gotten little reaction from The God of War.
"What you need is a good woman! How 'bout that hot little Warrior Princess you're always talking about! I mean, I know you want her to lead an army and kill mortals and stuff, but she's got this killer bod, and..."
"Leave her alone Aphrodite! And keep your bow-happy kid away from her as well! Xena has already made it clear that she's not interested, and I..."
"BY... THE... GODS! I can't believe it! You're heartbroken!!! Why didn't I see this before? Some Goddess of Love I must be if I can't see the love pangs of my poor spurned Bro! Don't worry Ar, I'm on the case! Your Warrior Princess will be fawning all over you, when I get through with her!" Aphrodite announced joyously before Ares could protest. Then she was gone in a shimmering of pink light.
"GREAT!" Ares muttered.
Chapter 2.
Xena and Gabrielle were swimming in a calm stream when Aphrodite showed up, "Sweat pea get lost, me and little Miss Warrior need to have a little chat," she ordered.
Xena motioned for the bard to leave, which she promptly did, then said, "What do you want, Aphrodite?"
Aphrodite giggled, "I want nothing, but a very close friend of mine wants something," she said sweetly. Xena rolled her eyes, "Who and what do they want?" She asked impatiently.
"You'll find out who in a few minutes, as soon as he realizes what I'm doing and as for what he wants, that is simple... You," she answered.
"Oh and let me guess, you're here to put some type of spell on me, right?" Xena asked, sarcasm dripping from her voice.
Aphrodite wrinkled her nose and said, "No, not yet. I'll only put a spell on you if you don't give him a chance. Look, Xena I know that he's done some really nasty things to you, but please give him a chance. He's heartbroken."
Xena's eyes widened, "Ares," she said evilly.
The goddess groaned, "Yeah, but please give him a chance, otherwise, me and Cuppie will have to go to work."
Xena thought for a moment, then said, "Fine, I'll give him a chance, but only one."
Aphrodite's features brightened, "Cool! You won't regret it! Later," she said then disappeared.
"Great! What have I gotten myself into?" Xena asked once the goddess was gone.
A few minutes after her talk with Xena, Aphrodite appeared in Ares's thrown room. He was pacing the room, quite upset, at seeing her, he grabbed her arm harshly and demanded, "I know you did something to Xena. Now undo it."
The goddess winced in pain, "Lay off Ar! All I did was talk to her. She's agreed to give you a chance. Now let me go!" She ordered, raising her voice to a yell.
He did as he was told and stood speechless for a few minutes, then asked, "No spells?"
Dite giggled, "Not yet. I'll only cast a spell on her if she doesn't give you a chance, but if you screw this up, then you're out of luck," she explained, then disappeared.
Ares stood motionless for a few minutes, then he too disappeared.
Minutes later he reappeared by a calm stream and from the shore could see Xena swimming, peacefully. Not wanting to anger her when she was in such a good mood, he decided to leave, but stopped when he heard Xena say, "I know you're here. Feel free to stay, take a swim if you want."
It wasn't exactly friendly, but what could he expect from her after what he'd done to her. He decided to join her in the stream. As he started out to her, he felt something weird run through his body, but dismissed it as nothing.
After reaching her, he asked, "Are you being nice to me because of Dite's threat or because you know that I care about you?"
She looked at him, annoyed that he was questioning her motives and sharply replied, "Neither. I've been a little harsh on you. you left me and my friend alone for quite some time, so I thought that I could be a little nicer to you. I thought that just maybe you could prove me wrong and be nice without a price."
He winced a little, then gave her one of his famous devilish grins. Then almost timidly, he splashed some water in her face. She responded by holding him under the water until he stopped struggling. He came up sputtering water and gasping for air.
She started to laugh, but stopped when she saw the alarm clearly written on his face, "What's wrong?" She asked cautiously.
He responded by asking her a question, "Do you have a dagger or anything sharp that I could borrow for a minute?" She squinted at him skeptically, than handed him her breast dagger. "Very nice. Thank-you," he said distractedly, while cutting the palm of his hand with it.
Ares winced in pain and Xena gasped as blood came spilling from his hand. He handed the dagger back to her, then looked at the shore to see a blond goddess laughing her head off, "Dite, what gives?" He asked irritably. Aphrodite composed herself, then said musically, "I thought that a little mortality would do you some good and daddy agreed to two weeks of mortality. Sorry, I guess I should've told you sooner."
Ares smiled sarcastically and said, "Yeah, that would've been nice." Aphrodite started laughing again, then quickly disappeared. Ares turned to Xena, to see her laughing so hard that she could barely keep her balance. "Great," he muttered sarcastically.
Xena, still laughing, replied, "It can't be that bad." Ares rolled his eyes and splashed water at her, which she returned.
Chapter 3.
Gabrielle returned to the lake, figuring that Aphrodite would be gone. What she saw both angered her and frightened her, Xena and Ares were playing in the stream. "By the gods, what in Tartarus is going on here? She asked in a bewildered tone.
Both Xena and Ares turned to the bard, Xena answered the question calmly, "He's mortal and I agreed to help him out for awhile."
Gabrielle looked disgusted, "Great," she muttered, then went back to their camp.
Xena turned to Ares and both started laughing. He calmed down and said, "You told her 'awhile,' but don't you mean two weeks?"
She grinned and sarcastically replied, "Yeah, or until you screw this up like everything else."
Ares returned the grin and added, "Or until you fall in love with me and can't except, then you'll send me packing."
Xena's grin faded to a frown, "You and me? Not going to happen," she stated coolly.
He winced, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, keep telling yourself that," he replied trying to get back at her for her harsh comment.
Xena was offended and slapped him, then started for shore. Ares followed and they both returned to camp fully dry and dressed.
Gabrielle looked up as the two walked into the camp, "Oohhh, do I since tension?" She asked sarcastically.
Both Xena And Ares rolled their ayes and sat down at opposite ends of the camp. The bard nodded and went to sit down by her friend, "Xena what’s really going on?" She asked, quietly, suspicion in her tone.
"Aphrodite wanted me to help him out during his two weeks of mortality," the warrioress lied.
Gabrielle saw threw the lie, "I thought we agreed that there weren’t going to be any more lies between us," she stated.
Ares butted into their conversation saying, "I’ll go get lunch, while you explain our little situation to bardy."
Gabrielle looked offended and Xena nodded, then he left the camp. The bard looked at Xena expectantly. The Warrior Princess surrendered, "Aphrodite wanted me to give him a chance and I agreed, then to make things ‘easier’ she turned him mortal for two weeks," she explained.
"Why’d you agree?" Gabrielle asked, horrified. Xena shrugged, "He left us alone for a while, I thought could at least give him a chance," she answered.
Sensing that this wasn’t everything, Gabrielle said threateningly, "Xena..."
The warrioress grimaced, then continued, "Okay, okay, okay, I guess it was for old times sake more than anything else." The bard smiled and grabbed a clean scroll and quill, then said, "Please, elaborate on ‘old times sake’ more."
Xena shook her head, "Over my dead body. You already know enough about my past with him," she said clearly. The bard wined, them realizing that she wasn’t going to get anymore information from Xena, started getting things ready to cook the food.
Ares returned with food, which Gabrielle cooked. Then they all ate in a dead silence. After the meal, Xena went to take care of Argo. Seeing her opportunity, Gabrielle asked the former god, "Back when Xena was a warlord, what went on between the two of you?"
Ares glanced at her, "What has she told you?" He asked in return.
"Nothing really. Only that you two had a relationship and that you gave her the chakram," she replied.
"Ah, well then, that’s all you need to know," he said calmly. Gabrielle rolled her eyes, "You’re as helpful as Xena was," she muttered sarcastically, then started pacing the camp.
At that time, Xena entered the camp, obviously having overheard the conversation. Gabrielle, then, huffed out of the camp, saying, "I’ll be at the lake if you two need me."
Xena looked after her, slightly confused, then sat down on a log. "Do you know who Amarice is?" Xena asked casually.
Ares looked at her, "Yeah, she’s an annoying Amazon with a temper as bad as yours. Why?" He replied.
"Because she’s our daughter," Xena answered absently.
He looked shocked, then offended, "Why didn’t you tell me?" He asked.
"I figures that if you were going to cheat on me with Discord, that you didn’t care and had no right to know," she answered.
"Is that why you went to Borias after your run-in with Caesar?" He asked carefully, knowing that he was on thin ice.
She nodded, then turned away from him as her emotions took a hold of her. Realizing that she was upset, he went over and put his arms around her. At first she tried to jerk away from him, but, then, gave in and laid her head against his chest.
"What’s wrong?" He asked gently.
"Memories," she answered through sobs.
"Borias and Solon," he guessed.
She nodded then added, "Amarice and," she paused, "and you" she finished quietly, lifting her head to look at him.
She tentatively leaned forward and let their lips meet briefly, then pulled away upon hearing, "Yahoo! Goddess of Love is right again! I knew that there was still something between you two," Aphrodite said, appearing in the middle of the camp.
Ares gave his sister an irritated look, then she was gone. He turned back to Xena and upon seeing the expression on her face, said, "Don’t worry, I know it meant nothing. You were upset and weren’t thinking straight."
She smiled, happy that he wasn’t going to hold her to anything.
Aphrodite reappeared, "Bum, bum. You know Xe, you really shouldn’t lie to him or yourself, it’s not nice," she wined.
"Butt out, Dite," Ares ordered harshly.
"Geese ohh1 I only came to help! Later," she wined angrily, then disappeared.
He looked back to Xena, only to see that she’d moved to the opposite side of the camp and was now sharpening her sword.
A closer look revealed tears streaming down her face, "I haven’t been a mother to either of my children," she sobbed quietly. She set the sword down and put her head in her hands.
Ares, seeing this, walked over and tentatively wrapped his arms around her, she returned the embrace and rested her head on his chest, then continued to cry.
Gabrielle returned to see Xena asleep in the former God of War’s arms. "What in Tartarus are you doing?" She asked harshly.
Ares’s head shot up, "Hello, blondie. She was upset, so I comforted her," he replied, laying Xena down.
"Why was she upset?" The bard asked suspiciously.
He rolled his eyes, "She told me something that you don’t need to know," he answered.
She smiled grimly, "Amarice?" She guessed, hoping that she was correct.
He nodded, then the bard said, "She got upset when she told me, too." Then the Amazon started to cook some fish for dinner, while Ares went to sit by Xena’s sleeping form.
Then he asked, "Blondie, why won’t you give me a chance? Xena is, yet you aren’t."
She looked at him in disbelief, "Let’s see, you’ve tortured both me and Xena, teamed up with Dahok, and got my daughter pregnant! Why do ya think?" She yelled.
He grimaced, then replied, "Yet Xena is able to at least give a chance. Look, blondie-"
She cut him off saying, "Stop calling me that."
He nodded, then continued, "Okay. Look, Gabrielle, I want, not only Xena’s forgiveness, but yours as well."
She looked puzzled for a moment, then skeptically asked, "How do I know that this isn’t some trick to get Xena back? How do I know that you’re not going to win my trust, then use it against Xena?"
He looked at her squarely and answered, "Xena follows her instincts. She won’t do something just because you are. Sorry, but you don’t have that strong of an influence over her actions."
The bard nodded, "True. I was once told that while you were mortal, you were someone that could be trusted. So, as long as you’re mortal, you have my trust, but once you get your goodhood back, don’t expect anything," she said.
"Thank-you," he replied souly. She nodded, then turned back to the food.
Xena awoke to the sound of laughter. She quickly sat up and was startled to see that the source of the laughter was Gabrielle and Ares. "May I ask, what’s so funny?"
She said sarcastically. Both turned to look at her, "Gabrielle was telling me about her little play experience," Ares answered cheerfully.
Xena nodded, a little confused and said, "So, I take it you two are getting along okay."
Gabrielle nodded, "Yeah, I guess you could say that." The warrioress shook her head in confusion. "Food’s done! Help yourself," the bard said, extending her head to the fish that lay cooking on the fire.
They ate, then Gabrielle turned in, while Xena and Ares went for a walk.
"Xena," he started. When she turned to look at him, he continued, "You didn’t have to tell me about Amarice, I’m glad to know, but I could see the pain it caused you to tell me."
She looked sad, "Actually, it caused me more pain to keep it from you. Don’t feel bad, I’m glad I told you," she said, placing a hand on his shoulder. She looked into his eyes and saw a mixture of concern, guilt, and lust.
He leaned forward and their lips brushed gently, as he pulled back, Xena violently pulled him into a passionate kiss. A few minute later, she pulled back and sprinted back to camp, leaving Ares stunned in the middle of the forest. He soon shook himself out of shock and went back to the camp. Upon arriving he saw both Xena and Gabrielle asleep. Still confused, he too went to sleep.
Chapter 4.
As always Xena was the first to rise the next morning. She decided to let the other two sleep a little while longer, while she tried to sort out her feelings towards Ares. He was supposed to be her enemy, a person in which she despised, but she didn’t, she still cared about him, even after all these years.
Her thoughts were interrupted by, "Were you just going to let the rest of us sleep all day?"
She turned to see Ares sitting by her and absently shook her head, "I was just thinking," she replied.
"About what?" He pried.
She answered the question quietly, saying, "Last night." He sighed heavily, then guessed, "Aphrodite?" She shook her head.
"No, I would have noticed sooner. There’s no way it was one of her love spells or Cupids. This was...I don’t know," she said sharply.
"Regretful," he asked, though he already knew the answer.
Once again she shook her head, then looked away from him and said, "No, not regretful. It was, uh, like old times, like when I was a warlord and we were, uh, we were, um..."
Ares finished the sentence for at upon seeing her discomfort, "When we were in love."
She nodded, "Yeah, in love," she said thoughtfully. "That’s so sweet," came a voice that Xena recognized as Gabrielle’s. She gave the bard an irritated look.
"Sorry, didn’t mean to eavesdrop or anything, I just couldn’t help it," the bard said, trying to make light of the matter.
Xena laughed, then walked out of the camp saying, "I’ll be back with breakfast as soon as possible. Be good."
The bard rolled her eyes, then seeing the opportunity asked, "Do you love her?"
Ares was mildly surprised by her bluntness and returned it, "Yeah."
Gabrielle smiled wildly, "Oh gods this is great," she said excitedly.
"Write it and die," he quickly threatened.
"I wasn’t going to. Anyway, if you killed me, then Xena wouldn’t be able to say that she lo-. Oops, I think I said too much," the Amazon added quickly.
He laughed, "You really don’t know her that well, do you? She hates me," he replied, resentment dripping with every word.
Gabrielle was offended and quickly inquired, "Why do you think she told you about Amarice? Why do you think last night happened? Why do think she’s giving you this chance? Why you can she always feel your presence?" Without giving him a chance to respond she continued, "It’s because she loves you. I can see it, by the gods, even Joxer could see it. That and the fact that she told me, but that’s beside the point, the point is, she’s been giving you every clue and you just can’t digest them," the bard finished breathlessly.
The once god stared at her in shock, "This can’t be happening," he breathed.
"We’ll it is," the Amazon replied defeatedly. He looked at her carefully, then smiled a little.
Xena entered the camp with a few rabbits and ordered, "Gabrielle away from camp, you me talk now." The bard nodded and followed her friend out of the camp.
The warrioress raised her eyebrows and motioned for the bard to talk.
Gabrielle smiled, "I told him," she said.
"Good. And..." The Warrior Princess trailed off. "And I’m not too sure. At first he didn’t believe me, but I think he does now," the bard said, then started back to camp.
Xena stopped her, "Gabrielle, how does he feel about me?" She asked.
"You’ll have to ask him yourself," the Amazon replied.
"Okay, then, after we eat you can hop on Argo and head towards Potidaea. We’ll catch up with you as soon as possible," the warrioress offered.
"Cool," replied the bard, to Xena’s surprise.
They went back to camp and quickly ate breakfast. Then, Gabrielle was off, leaving Xena and Ares behind. An uncomfortable silence fell over the camp, Xena broke it, asking, "How do you feel about me?"
He was shocked by her bluntness, but replied none-the-less, "Your little bard didn’t tell you? Kinda shocks me."
She laughed, "I asked her, she told me to ask you. So how do you feel about me?" She replied quietly.
He raised an eyebrow and smiled, "That’s the easiest question in the book," he said.
She irritably asked, "Good, now what’s the answer?"
He shifted as she gave him ‘the look’ and said,
"You want the answer? Okay I love you, Xena. I always have and always will, although I didn’t realize it until it was too late."
She beamed at him happily and fell into his arms, passionately kissing him. She broke the kiss briefly and said, "I love you two." Then his lips recaptured hers.
Epilogue.
They met up with Gabrielle in Potedaea and were wed a few days later. Two weeks came and went and soon Aphrodite was returning Ares’ godhood to him. He was, once again, the God of War, but he only left the mortal realm when he had to. When he had the choice, he stayed with Xena. Together, with Gabrielle and soon Amarice, they traveled around Greece, helping those that needed their help.
The End
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