For The First Time In A Long Time

"Are you sure it was ok to leave Eve alone?" asked Gabrielle of the Raven-haired Warrior, who just continued to walk, staring straight ahead as she answered.

"I know what it's like, Gabrielle. Sometimes you need to be alone. Need to find your own path, not be forced onto one." Gabrielle nodded solemnly, knowing that Xena knew the truth. Desperate to break the somber mood, the bard decided to change the subject.

"So, this town that we're going to? What's it like?"

"Well, twenty-five years ago, Porthos was an good town." Gabrielle raised an eyebrow.

"A good town?" Xena glanced at the bard questioningly.

"A prosperous town," she said after a while.

"Ah."

"I don't claim to know what it's like now," Xena said, turning her gaze forward again. Gabrielle pouted slightly. Xena had apparently decided that the conversation was over. Gabrielle decided to escape to her own thoughts as she was sure Xena was doing now.

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The now mortal Ares sat glumly on his throne, leg dangling over the arm. Being mortal was extremely dull. Sometimes he wondered how Xena did it. Surely that divinely perfect warrior was not meant to be a mortal. His jaw clenched into a pained smile. Xena. He was Ares, God of War! So why did he feel so much like Joxer? The bard hadn't seen the fool's love, hadn't returned it until it was too late. Would it be the same with him and Xena?

"Of course not!" Aphrodite appeared in front of him. "Xena loves you."

"Stay out of my head!" Ares yelled at his sister.

"Please! I don't need to be a goddess to read you like a scroll! -- Though it helps," she added as an afterthought.

"Xena doesn't love me," Ares said glumly directing his gaze to the floor.

"Just trying to help! You really need to go fight or something," said the goddess and vanished, vowing to herself that this wasn't over. There was no way half of Olympus was dying without Ares getting the girl.

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The bard had finally gone to sleep. For that Xena was grateful beyond belief. All day, all she could think about was Ares, and now she could finally be alone with her thoughts, without having them questioned. Xena wandered out of the campsite slowly, her conflicting emotions tearing her apart. Ares had proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he really did love her. He had given up his immortality to save what? The people she loved. He didn't love them. Not the girl that meant his destruction, not the 'irritating blonde.' Xena brought her hands to her face, hoping that it might help quell the battle raging inside her. It didn't. She screwed her eyes shut. Damn. She couldn't trust him, couldn't love him. He was her enemy.... and yet... Xena inhaled deeply.

"Ares," she said softly under her breath, knowing that for once, he wouldn't be able to hear her. The forest and starry sky seemed almost like a comforting blanket. She looked slowly up to the night sky, wondering if Ares could feel her. She allowed every memory she had of him, be it good or bad, to come flowing to the surface of her mind. She began to sing, to herself, about him, to him, even if he couldn't hear. She just had to.

"It was a Monday when

Slowly Xena made her way back to the camp, not uttering a single word, and laying down to rest, without so much as a glance at the blonde bard. The warrior was tired, and any thoughts would have to wait 'til she was more awake to be thought. She smirked to herself. Or until she was dreaming.

Gabrielle watched as Xena fell into her slumber. She had heard her singing through the trees. She wasn't quite sure what -- or who -- she was singing about, but she had a pretty good idea. And she didn't like it. But there wasn't a whole lot she could do at the moment. She couldn't deny her friend her thoughts. Could she?

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Ares could have sworn that he heard Xena singing to him. Or about him at the least. But when he looked in the mirror at her, there she was, fast asleep. Must be his mortal mind playing tricks on him. Now that he wasn't a God, he couldn't expect to hear her anymore. He watched the bard darkly. Why was she watching Xena? He waved his hand, returning the portal to a simple reflection. The room shone golden.

"Sis," he said turning to face the Goddess of Love "I am really not in the mood right now."

"Tell her," said Aphrodite.

"I did," he hissed. Right now, he wanted to kill something. Maybe one of Aphrodite's priestesses, clinging behind their Goddess. Then he thought the wiser of it.

"Tell her again." Behind her the priestesses nodded.

"Why?" he clenched his jaw tightly.

"Because she loves you. She just needs to realize it."

"Hunh. Funny, cause I got the impression that 'I saved her friends, and now she's done with me.'" he said, crossing his arms.

"That's it!" Aphrodite put her hands on her hips and got that determined, playful spark in her eyes. "I'm sick of this negative attitude." Ares noticed her four priestesses fanning out behind her. He scowled at his sister.

"Tell her," she tilted her head, allowing her blonde curls to bounce. Behind her, one of the priestesses, with blond hair up in pigtails, smiled at Ares.

"Wey hey," she said looking at the other priestesses and her Goddess for enforcement.

"Come on, come on, come on," the darker skinned one with leopard print leather joined in.

"Come on and do it," they all sang. Aphrodite smiled gleefully at her brother, before joining in herself.

"Come on and do it!

[Do it, do it, do it]

It's just another thing, keep your eye fixed on the road

Do what your mama said," One mocked.

"I will not be told!" exclaimed Ares.

"Keep your mouth shut, keep you legs shut

"HA!"

"Blameless, shameless, Godling in disgrace!

With that Aphrodite and her priestesses vanished. This was bad. Ares was being forced to action, by the Goddess of Love and her own private barber-shop quartet. With a sudden jerk, Ares realized something -- He was becoming one of them. Mortaltitis was setting in. No! He was, is, ARES, GOD OF WAR, and he will not sit around on his butt all day doing nothing.

"We make our own destiny," he mumbled his chosen's words under his breath, his warlike power flowing through him. Oh, he was still mortal, he just wasn't a lump anymore. And Xena was going to be his...

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"So," said Gabrielle, yet again on the road to Porthos, the Warrior at her side. "Were you...singing...last night?" Xena gave her an odd look and then smirked.

"No. Of course not." Gabrielle's brain did a flip flop. If Xena was denying it, that meant it was bad. Real bad. Ares. Now she was sure of it. She was going to question the Warrior Princess further, but, just before she could speak, Xena said

"Alright, we're here. Porthos." That brought Gabrielle out of her thoughts, bringing up many unrelated questions.

"What do you think it'll be like? Still prosperous?" she asked as they entered through the village's richly carved brass gates. "What are the people like? Are they nice?" Xena looked at her companion, but didn't say anything. Gabrielle looked happily around at the commerce that was taking place all around her. There was something vaguely, well, odd about the village, but she couldn't place it.

"Let's get the horses to a stable," said Xena.

"...right," said Gabrielle, still zoned out trying to figure out what was wrong. After their horses had been securely placed in a clean stable, it clicked.

"Xena, have you noticed that nobody here is smiling?"

"Maybe they're having a bad day,"

"Come on, Xena. Not one smiling face?"

"You're right, Gabrielle. There's something going on here. I can sense it."

"Me too."

"Let's find an inn."

"An inn?" Gabrielle stopped short and grabbed her friend's arm.

"You're serious? We'll actually stay in an inn? We'll have beds? Without bugs?"

"Yeah."

"Ok. I don't have a problem. That's good." Gabrielle was truly shocked. She couldn't remember the last time that they had slept off the road. It would be a nice break. Maybe she could write down some of those stories that needed writing. Xena noticed a palace in the distance. That was new.

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After Xena and Gabrielle had placed their things in their room, they took it upon themselves to find out what was getting to their warrior-alert sense. Thing was, there was nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing at all -- except that no one seemed to have any other disposition other than depressive. Even the taverns were dull and quiet for the most part, except for the occasional out-of-towner who was being loud and boisterous. The people reminded Gabrielle of slaves who had been beaten into submission. Xena hadn't really been paying that much attention, her thoughts occupied with other things, but was snapped out of it, when she saw a soldier out of the corner of her eye.

"Gabrielle," she whispered, nudging the bard to see what she was seeing. The tawny-haired soldier had a helmeted buddy with him. Xena and Gabrielle thought it would be prudent to follow those soldiers, after all, they were the closest thing that they had to a lead at the moment. After a few minutes, their hunch paid off. The soldiers were going from trade-stand to trade-stand, demanding payment for some 'Lord Amdus.' It irked the two warriors to no end how the people just gave what was asked, even though it was clearly unreasonable. Xena figured that they were collecting about seventy-five percent of each villager's profit. Clearly, these people were motivated by fear. If Xena wasn't so sure that it wouldn't do anything, she would take out those soldiers in an instant. Instead, she chose to watch and wait. Porthos certainly had changed in the twenty-five years that they had been gone.

"I'm going to trail these soldiers," she told the bard. "You find out who this Lord Amdus is."

"Sure."

After Several mind-numbing hours of simply following the incompetent soldiers of Amdus, Xena was starting to get really bored. And relatively angry. She wanted to off the soldiers on the spot, but all that would do is alert Amdus that someone was onto him. Or her. And Xena figured that if Amdus was the kind of guy that she thought he was, he would probably take out his anger on his oppressed villagers.

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Gabrielle had been talking for hours. And she had gotten nowhere.

"Amdus is our Lord."

"Amdus protects us."

"Amdus simply demands payment for his services." Amdus, Amdus, Amdus!! All with the same 'if I speak a bad word about him, I'll be hung on the spot,' kind of attitude.

One more, she pushed herself. You'll get answers this time. If she didn't, she was likely to explode.

"Hi," she said, forcing a smile as she walked up to a stand that she hadn't yet visited. She lifted a piece of jewelry, pretending to be interested in buying it.

"This is nice," she mumbled, finding herself actually admiring it.

"Ze finist silver in all ze land," exclaimed the man. Gabrielle looked up. This was the first guy she had met all day who seemed to act like a salesman. Or like he had any personality left in him.

"I'm Gabrielle," she said, extending her hand. He gripped her hand and shook it vigorously.

"My name eez Poitza."

"So," said Gabrielle, remembering her mission "I hear Lord Amdus is ruler around here," she began casually. Poitza's face darkened to a scowl.

"He eez! I speet on him!" Gabrielle was pleased to hear someone who didn't mind speaking up.

"Who is he?"

"He eez..." He cut off and told Gabrielle some things about the necklace she was holding as a soldier walked by. "I apoligize for zat, but eef I eem caught, I weel be tortured, eef not keeled."

"I understand," said Gabrielle, learning now for certain that her hunch had been correct.

"He eez a tyrant." Suddenly, Xena arrived behind him.

"Hey Gab," she said. "Who's your friend?"

"This is Poitza, Xena."

"Pleasure," she said nodding in his direction.

"Ze pleesure eez mine," he replied, grinning.

"He's willing to tell us about Amdus. Did you find anything?"

"The soldiers went to the temple. I couldn't follow them in there." The warrior smiled crookedly. "Maybe some other time, when I'm in a worse mood. I think Amdus lives in there."

"It eez true! Eem and ees soldiers!" Gabrielle looked slowly at Poitza.

"If it's so bad here, why don't you just leave?" Poitza looked at them earnestly, then drew a singular finger across his throat.

"Ah." said Gabrielle.

"I'm guessing our best bet is to go in there and kill him," said Xena.

"You are against eem?" asked Poitza.

"We are against anyone who deprives people of freedom," said Gabrielle.

"Zen you weel try to stop eem?"

"That's the plan," responded Xena coolly.

"I do not seegest zat you storm ees paleece..."

"Why not?"

"At my count, zere are only two of you." Xena arched an eyebrow.

"'E has many soldiers."

"I'll bet. Don't worry, I can take them."

"Eet eez not you I am concerned about. Every time someone has mounted an assault, he has sent countlees soldiers eento ze street and keeled our people."

"Then we'll think of another way. What exactly can you tell us about him?" asked Xena. Poitza broke into song, and his accent seemed to disappear.

"He...

"Thanks for your help," said Xena, turning to leave.

"Ladies," he said to their backs. They turned around to face him, stopping in their tracks. "If you can geet reed of eem, I weel geeve you a fine silver necklace, free of charge."

"Thanks," said Gabrielle, then she and the warrior headed back to the inn. After a while, Gabrielle turned to Xena.

"What's a 'thunderball?'" Xena shrugged.

"Lightening?" she guessed, unsure.

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Gabrielle was fast asleep. Probably was expecting a big day tomorrow. Maybe some stalk and kill. Xena however, didn't think that assassinating Amdus was the solution. No matter how much she wanted too. These people had been broken. They needed to regain themselves, or else they would just fall victim to the next tyrant with a bad attitude and a lust for money. No, there had to be a better way to help these people. But to tell the truth, that wasn't what Xena was thinking about at all. She looked slowly at the sleeping bard, and decided to leave the room. Silently, she exited and headed down the inn's stairs. The tavern was deserted save a half-awake guard that nodded to her as she stepped out into the chill night air. The stars twinkled brightly in the blue velvet of the night sky. The street, the entire village was empty. Not a sound could be heard. She clenched her jaw as she caught site of the palace in the distance. Though she had never met this Amdus, he was already her enemy. She detected footsteps behind her, and swerved to see one of Amdus's soldiers approaching her.

"Hey!" he yelled at her. "There's a curfew, you know."

"Hm." The warrior princess pursed her lips in mockery. "I'll bet there is."

"The punishment for breaking that... is three days prison in Lord Amdus's Dungeon." He eyed her up and down. "...But I'm sure we could work something else out." Xena raised an eyebrow and then smiled sensuously, as she stepped towards him.

"I'll bet we could..." she placed a hand on his chest. "Like this!" she kneed him in the groin and knocked him out with a punch to the jaw before he could even react.

"Minions..." she muttered darkly under her breath, walking away from the unconscious heap. Silently, she wondered who would let this happen. She let her thoughts drift to the God of War.

Xena could suddenly tell that he was near-by and any thoughts she was still holding that didn't revolve around him vanished.

"Somewhere after midnight

Xena turned around to meet the ex-God arrive in Aphrodite's golden light.

"Ares," she smiled darkly.

"You can still feel me when I'm mortal," he cocked an eyebrow. "That's gotta be worth something."

"Maybe..." she said sensuously, as she placed a hand on his exposed chest. Ares looked down at her, first surprised, then skeptical.

"Xena..." it was spoken as a warning. Xena looked up at him, and he caught the look of determined passion in her eyes that he hadn't seen since... Their lips met of their own accord, their tongues battling fiercely as they melted into a passionate embrace. Ares moaned her name into her mouth, and she his. Ares pulled back for an instant to meet her eyes.

"Xena," he smiled, and for once, she smiled back.

"XENA?!?" Ares and Xena both turned quickly to the voice. Gabrielle looked in shock and horror from one to the other.

"Gabrielle!" Xena pulled quickly away from Ares.

"Why am I not surprised?" he murmured under his breath.

"No..." said Gabrielle slowly, shaking her head and backing away. Xena advanced forward, but the bard backed away further, before fleeing down the abandoned street. Xena gave a pained look to her God, but ran after the bard.

"Gabrielle!"

"Hm." said Ares, arching an eyebrow, as he watched his chosen chase after her friend.

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Xena finally caught up to Gabrielle once she stopped in her room. She was curled up on the bed.

"Gabrielle," Xena reached forward lightly to place a hand on her friend's shoulder. Gabrielle snapped away from her like she had been burned. Xena decided to just talk to her friend.

"Gabrielle, listen --"

"What were you thinking?!?" yelled Gabrielle at the warrior princess, her eyes dark with fear, rage and concern.

"I--" Xena stopped and reasserted herself. "I was doing what I wanted to. It's my choice Gabrielle."

"Yeah," Gabrielle said, her voice oozing cruelty. "It is."

"Gabrielle, please."

"No, Xena. You've made some bad choices before -- I have too. But this the worst. The absolute worst!"

"Is it?" Xena asked harshly. "He saved your life, you know. Yours and Eve's." And with that, Xena turned and left for her own room, leaving Gabrielle in silent shock.

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Xena sat on her bed, sharpening her sword, when she heard a knock on the door.

"Come in," she said, continuing to slide the rock across the blade's surface. She didn't bother to look up when the door opened. She knew who was there.

"Hello Gabrielle."

"Xena, I--" Xena heard her inhale deeply, searching for the right words. She raised an eyebrow but still didn't lift her gaze from the sword before her as she slid the rock up and down the surface.

"About last night... I'm sorry. I don't like it. I never will. But... I'm sorry." Xena finally met the bard's eyes, and gazed steelily into them.

"Good," she said quickly. "We have to find a way to help these people." Gabrielle nodded formally, like a soldier being told and order.

"But, maybe some food...?" she was beginning to return to her usual self.

"Tavern?" Asked Xena.

"Tavern," Gabrielle agreed. Xena returned the sword to its sheath, and then the friends headed down the inn's stairs to the tavern below. The first thing that they noticed was that there was a good deal more noise coming from the tavern than there was the day before. As soon as they entered, they found out why. Ares stood, surrounded by a cheering crowd of villagers, travelers, and soldiers alike, facing off against one of Amdus's soldier-boys.

"Nothing like a fight to bring out good spirits in people, eh Gabrielle?" Gabrielle just bit her lip and raised her eyebrow. Xena strode forward and placed a hand Ares' shoulder.

"Ares..." she hissed a warning. Ares looked behind him, and relaxed a little, but he didn't stay relaxed for long.

"Hey!" cried the soldier that Ares has been facing, and Xena noticed he was sporting a huge purple bruise on his chin. "That's her! That's the bitch who knocked me out last night!"

"Uh-oh. Time to fight," said Xena smiling as every soldier in the bar closed in on her and Ares. The villagers watched, mesmerized as the two warriors began slaying one soldier after another. And Gabrielle watched in horrified awe as she saw that the warrior princess and the God of War really did fight like they were one. Their blood-coated swords moved in rhythm with each other, almost like a well-choreographed dance. When the fight was over, and the soldiers lay scattered lifeless across the tavern, both warriors were breathing heavy. Gabrielle was snapped out the trance that watching them had induced. She mentally kicked herself for not helping.

"I always love a good fight!" Ares said loudly.

"So do I," Xena agreed quietly. The villagers looked up at them wide-eyed with fear and respect. It was then that Xena realized what these people needed.

"These people have no power over you!" yelled Xena.

"They could kill us!" came the call of a pessimist from somewhere in the crowd.

"One at a time yes," Xena told them "But if we band together, we can defeat Amdus and his pathetic minions!" There were negative murmurs from the crowd.

"Dammit!" Ares yelled, pointing his sword towards them, joining in his chosen's cause. "You're strong enough to defeat him!"

"What you're proposing is all out war!" came the voice of the pessimist again. Ares' lips curled into a smile.

"Yeah," he grinned. "It is."

"We're not gonna take it!" Xena sang to the crowd in the tavern, raising her sword to the ceiling. Gabrielle ran up onto the table beside her and Ares.

"No, we ain't gonna take it!" Ares and Gabrielle joined in with Xena, raising their weapons in defiance. Soon, the whole tavern had joined the song.

"We're not going to take it anymore!

We're not gonna take it anymore!"

The song ended and the crowd was ready for war. From there, Xena, Ares and Gabrielle worked together with the villagers to mount the assault on the palace and the tyrant Amdus the very next day.

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"Xena," said Gabrielle on the way up to her room, grateful to be free of the crowd.

"Hm?" Xena cocked an eyebrow.

"What I said -- About Ares..."

"Gabrielle,"

"No, Xena, listen. I don't like him. I never will. But there's something between you that I... That I can't deny,"

"Gabrielle," said Xena, her voice full of sorrow, as Gabrielle began to sing.

"It doesn't matter what I want

Gabrielle slowly stepped into her room, turning her back on the raven-haired warrior, and closing the door behind her. Xena pushed the door open and entered the room.

"Gabrielle," she said, her voice disbelieving. "Gabrielle," she grabbed the bard softly by the shoulders. "Did you...?" She shook her head softly. "I'm not going to leave you Gabrielle."

"Do you love him? Do you love Ares?" Xena was silent for a long time.

"Yes."

"Then be with him."

"That doesn't mean I'll leave you." Gabrielle turned her tear-reddened eyes on warrior. Xena opened her mouth and began singing.

"You've been there for me,

By the end of her song, the bard was beaming happily.

"Go," she told the warrior, who glanced once at her once and then left the room.

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Xena stood outside her door, already knowing who waited on the other side. She pushed open the door.

"Hello Ares,"

"Hello Xena."

"So, I guess you're happy. You're mortal and you've still got a war going."

"Don't try to tell me that you're not looking forward to it. You want this Amdus guy dead, and you want him dead at your hands." Xena smiled.

"It's possible." Xena removed her sword and scabbard, placing them gently on the floor.

"Xena you love war,"

"Maybe." Ares raised an eyebrow. She wasn't meeting his eyes.

"You've always been the best at getting people to rally up for their freedom. But if you wanted to, you could crush that freedom, just like that."

"I have no intention of crushing their freedom." Xena hissed at him.

"I didn't say you did. Your strength is an inspiration to anyone. Including war himself." Xena finally met his eyes and smiled crookedly.

"Yes, I love war." she said. Ares grinned cockily.

"I'm in your blood," he said. "There is nothing more beautiful than seeing you fighting, leading. Oh, don't get me wrong, you're beautiful all the time, it's just enhanced when you fight." Xena had removed her armor while he spoke, acting almost as if he wasn't there. Ares grabbed her arm and pulled her into a tight embrace. He began a passionate and powerful dance with his warrior princess as he sung.

"Meeting you, with a view to a kill

Their dance ended and their lips met in powerful kiss. Ares brought his mouth from her lips to her neck, and they both fell to the floor, tangled in each other. The door to the room burst open and a young villager burst in.

"Xena!" he yelled. "It's Am--" As he caught sight of Ares and Xena, who had stopped what they where doing and were glaring at him, his eyes grew wide and he blushed fiercely. Ares crawled off Xena, who in turn got up off the floor.

"Yes?" she hissed angrily. She was not in the mood to be disturbed. The villager spoke again, refusing to meet her eyes out of modesty.

"It's Amdus. He...uh...found out about our...uh...plans for tomorrow. He's sent his soldiers out. They're attacking us." Xena's eyes grew dark.

"Well then, we'll just have to launch a counter attack. Get as many of the villagers together as you can. Make sure they all have weapons." The boy nodded and left quickly, grateful for the excuse to leave. Xena began replacing her armor and weapons.

"You wanted to fight Ares." Ares smiled and they headed downstairs, stopping on the way to pick up Gabrielle.

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As many people as they could rally sat in the tavern, chattering nevously.

"Listen to me!" Xena called, sending a wave of silence over the crowd.

"Amdus may have gotten the first shot, but that doesn't change a thing! We can still beat him, but it'll have to be an all out attack!"

"We shouldn't have disobeyed him!" Came a voice from the mob, followed by several murmurs of agreement.

"No! If you let him control you, you'll never win! You need to fight him!"

"For freedom!" Yelled Gabrielle, waving a sai above her head.

"For freedom!" She yelled again, Xena and Ares joining her call.

"For freedom!" the whole tavern screamed, and they raced out the doors into battle.

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The battle raged. Screams of death could be heard as villagers and soldiers alike fell to a bloody end. Many were running from pursuers. Some were holding their ground. Others were dead. Some were near dead. Gabrielle had killed more this night than she had in any other battle. Blood soaked her hair, and her arm had been crippled by the hammer blow of an enemy. She wasn't sure how much longer she could hold out. A soldier came at her with a sword, but her sai penetrated his skull before he could reach her. As she retrieved her weapon from the fallen soldier, she did not hear the attacker behind her. Her attacker recognized Gabrielle as someone the people looked to. He saw that if she were to die, that the people's spirits would fall. And little by little, they would conquer the village. Unfortunately for the attacker however, Ares saw. He ended the life of the man that he had been fighting with, but did not run to save the bard. He hesitated. After all, she was the root of so many of his problems. It would be so easy to claim that he hadn't seen, that he hadn't known. But Xena loved her, and he wasn't sure what her death would do to her. So he made the same choice he had when he gave up his immortality -- He saved her life. The head of the attacker fell to the ground beside Gabrielle, and his body crumpled at her feet. As the head hit the ground, Gabrielle turned to see the God of War, for he still was truly the God of War whether he had his powers or not, holding his bloodied sword, looking down at her with a dark expression.

"Thank you," she said. For the first time in a long time the bard was at a loss for words. Ares' face hardened.

"Don't mention it." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Xena kill two men with the utter grace that was her warrior spirit, then turn to look at him with a grateful expression. She had seen it all. Then she sliced the neck of another man and ran towards the palace, killing every soldier in her path. Ares glanced back at Gabrielle, then ran after his warrior.

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Xena eliminated the guards outside his door with ease. She slammed the doors open. Inside the room was a throne. On it sat a man who was clearly not concerned. He held his head at a cocky angle.

"You should really get better guards," smirked Xena. He looked past her seeing his fallen protectors for the first time, and raised an eyebrow.

"I really should."

"Amdus, I presume?"

"Indeed." Xena could have thrown her chakram and it all would have been over in a matter of seconds, but she felt that this man deserved a far more painful death. She flipped across the room and landed in front of him, drawing her sword. He jumped up from his throne, his own sword in hand. Xena removed that hand with a swift cut of her sword. Amdus dropped to his knees, clutching the stump of his arm in pain. He met Xena's eyes. She smiled at him before swinging her sword. His head rolled to the ground at her feet. She grabbed it by the hair, looked at it, then arched an eyebrow. She turned to see Ares leaning against the doorframe, wearing his famous grin.

"I've missed that fire," he said, straightening his posture. "That passion." Xena lowered her arm to her side, the head grazing her thigh. She smiled crookedly at Ares, then walked past him to the front of the palace. Once outside, she raised the head high.

"Your leader is dead!" she screamed to the soldiers. The fighting ceased as people turned to see the warrior displaying the head of their scourge.

"No one can challenge you!" The villagers chased the now crushed soldiers out of Porthos. Xena dropped the head as Ares stepped behind her.

"We both missed it," she told him.

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Ares stroked Xena's cheek in the candle-lit room. Xena met his eyes, and touched his face, as though it wasn't real.

"All I wanted was a sweet distraction

You find..." She sung slowly.

"But then we're two of a kind,

We move as one..." He sung staring into her eyes. Slowly their voices merged into one.

"We're an all time high

The song ended, and Xena brought her lips to meet Ares' as they lowered themselves to the bed.

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More notes!

"Lucky" belongs to BIF Naked

"Do It" belongs to the Spice Girls

"Thunderball" belongs to Tom Jones

"Holding Out For a Hero" belongs Bonnie Taylor

"We're Not Going to Take It" belongs to BIF Naked as far as I know

"It Doesn't Matter" belongs to Alison Krauss & Union Station

"Nothing at All" belongs to the Sailor Moon soundtrack

"A View to a Kill" belongs to Duran Duran

"All Time High" belongs to Rita Coolidge

I changed some of the words in some of these songs, so that they fit better into the stories. And like any musical, I cut out some songs. For reasons that I don't understand, I'm telling you what those songs were.

I was going have Xena singing "For Your Eyes Only" but I came to the conclusion that it didn't really fit. I was also going to have Ares singing a song called "Irritating Blonde" to the tune of Fred Penner's "Sandwitches," but I couldn't find a copy of "Sandwitches" in time, and I needed it to fit the words. But if you can just imagine that song, that'll be enough. If I ever write another musical, I'll stick that song in. And I was going to have Xena and Ares singing a song that I wrote called "Guided by the Light of the Moon," but it really sucked, so...

Also (oh no! she's babbling some more!) I have dance scenes in my head for every song, but I couldn't think of a way to write them down, so you'll just have to imagine them.

...h.o.m.e...