Caught Between Love And Anger
By Illyandria
Her hands dived around his neck as his caressed her body. Their tongues entwined, they never broke their kiss as they fell down onto the forest floor...
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Xena woke up, a hand going to her mouth. Why was she being tortured with these dreams? Oh, it felt so real. So real. She wanted him, and they both knew it. And they knew she wouldn't be able to stand it very much longer.
She stood up. She *couldn't* stand it any longer. No more. No more games, no more lying, no more covering up how she felt. She needed him. *Now*.
Walking into the woods a little ways, she called for him. "Ares?"
She waited a couple minutes...and nothing happened.
"Ares?" she asked again, tentatively. He always heard her the first time she called...and he always came.
Still nothing happened.
"Ares?!"
Nothing.
She sighed, a confused look on her face as she glanced around. What was wrong? Where was he?
Finally, there was a flash of light as a god appeared. No, make that a goddess.
Xena ran over to Eve and picked her up protectively, drawing her sword and brandishing it at the goddess. "Aphrodite, what are you doing here?" Xena asked suspiciously.
Aphrodite put her hands up innocently. "I'm not here to hurt you, Xena. I'm not here to hurt Eve either. I'm totally on your side."
"Then why are you here?"
Aphrodite sighed. "I heard you calling for Ares..."
Xena replaced her sword and rose a brow, while putting Eve back in her crib. "Where is he? Why isn't he coming when I call him?"
"He can't, Xena. Athena, Artemis, Apollo, Poseidon, Hades, and all of them put there powers together to make him mortal. That's why he didn't come." She paused. "I doubt he'd come anyway. He's angry, Xena. He's pissed of at you, especially now that he's mortal. He may have taken the defeat gracefully, like he always does, but he was mad. Your actions - you using him brought on his mortality." Aphrodite frowned. "He knows that you don't care now..."
Xena closed her eyes briefly, and then looked back at Aphrodite. "Where is he?"
"Huh?"
"I said 'where is he?'" Xena said impatiently.
"Um...he's a couple miles away from here..."
"Which way?" Xena asked.
"Hmm....that way...I think..." Aphrodite pointed north.
"Alright then. I'll see you later." She started to head out of camp.
"Hey, hey , hey! Wait a second, babe! He's is extremely pissed off, girl, and you're about the last person he wants to see, ya know?"
"I don't care," the warrior princess said stubbornly. "I'm going to go see him."
"Fine, it's your death wish. But I suggest you leave a note of some sort for Gabrielle..." She disappeared.
Xena sighed, and quickly scrawled on a parchment that she was leaving for a little while, and then left it where Gabrielle was sure to see it. That done, she headed off to find where Ares had set up camp.
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Oh damn. What if he's really mad at me? What have I done? Why did I use him like that? How could I? What if he doesn't care anymore? What if he just doesn't give a damn whether I die or not?
So many questions that she was dreading the answers to.
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As she reached his camp, she was starting to get nervous. She stood on the outskirts of it, looking for him. No sign of him anywhere...
Out of nowhere, the hilt of a sword hit the back of her neck.
She fought to keep consciousness as she drew her own sword. Her balance became unsteady as she pathetically fought with the man. Finally, her vision cleared enough to let her make out who it was.
Ares.
She cursed, a tried to yell out to him to stop. But before she could utter a word, her sword fell from her hand and he swiftly swept her legs out from under her. On the ground, she looked up at him shakily, trying to look into his eyes, trying to convince herself he wasn't going to kill her.
But all she found was anger and bloodlust as his sword raised above his head to finish her off.
"Ares, NO!" she screamed out desperately. "Ares, PLEASE! I'm sorry! I came to apologize! Please," she looked up at his sword frantically, "don't do it. Please... I'd rather die in your arms, not by your hand..."
He looked down at her, brown eyes piercing into her blue ones.
She could see the emotions flickering in his eyes. Uncertainty, confusion, anger...and finally...adoration and love.
He tossed his sword to the ground as he lowered his arm down to her. Pulling her up to stand next to him, he just stood there silently, eyes on the ground, shame in his posture.
"Ares..." Xena said. "I'm sorry for what I did. For using you like that... I'm so sorry."
He finally spoke, eyes on the sword lying next to his feet. "Let's just call it even, okay?"
She laughed a little. "Alright."
His eyes met hers. "I love you."
"I know. I love you, too."
Please e-mail the author of this story with your comments. jackie@exsanguis.net
bleeding-heart[dot]net