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Summary: Xena thinks about Ares shortly after the events of The Reckoning-a slightly altered reckoning and meets with a few surprises. I believe that wasn't their first face to face encounter.
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Someday
By Lasca
The day was cold and miserable, somehow reflecting the mood of the visitor, traveling through the woods outskirting the small village of Traseties. Huge, angry clusters of gray-black clouds loitered across the sky as lightening streaked by, followed shortly by a burst of thunder erupted form seemingly everywhere, effectively forcing all of the forest animals into their protective holes and burrows.
"Shhh-girl, it's alright, you can do it, we're almost there!" the leather clad warrior gently soothed the huge cream coloured mare as she once again steadied herself atop the horse.
Inhaling the deep fragrance of the rain soaked terrane, Xena frowned deeply and snarled wordlessly. What a godsdamn wonderful time to be stuck out in the middle of nowhere. Another bolt of lightening peirced the sky and Argo, right on cue halted suddenly, letting out a low whine as she Xena once again cursed out loud.
"Alright, listen Argo, just a few more minutes, okay? You don't want to have to listen to Gabrielle moan about how we didn't arrive on time, do you? I promised her we'd make it there by dawn..." she cast a worried glance up at the sky, a few raindrops drizzling down into her eyes as she did so. "And it doesn't look like we're gonna make it as it is. Don't be so jumpy girl, I'm here...don't wanna throw me and break my neck, now do you?" She said affectionatly as she brushed back the horses silky white mane.
In response, Argo threw back a short snicker and once again picked up the pace.
Xena's mouth opened slightly as she raised an eyebrow at the horse carrying her. =A0 "I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that, girl!" she warned affectionatly.
Xena, once again, wished that she hadn't sent Argo's bags with Gabrielle when she sent her off to Traseties for provisions. She had been worried that her friend would run into bad weather or something of the sort, and would need the materials. She didn't know that they'd have been of better use with her.
Xena's body quivered uncontrollably as the heavy rain and chilling wind, whipped across her body and face mercilessly. Her tight, soaked leathers didn't help at all. Only adding to the displeasure as she shifted uncomfortably on the horse.
She knew that a normal person wouldn't have but maybe a few minutes before hypothermia set in. With her advanced healing abilities though, she would have at 2 hours...if she was lucky.
The situation that had seemingly been only an uncomfortable change in plans now had the potential of becoming life threatening.
She rode for about half a candle mark, the landscape and weather worsening with every minute. Her body and state of mind weren't fairing any better.
Doing her best to keep the cold from completely consuming her consiousness, Xena focused on keeping herself awake, trying desperatly to keep her body from shutting down.
Soon though, her thoughts changed that focus to center over the events of the last few days.
It was strange seeing him again. It was almost painful to see him, to have him touch her. Yet at the same time, it gave her a strange sense of simplicity to be near him again. It was so nice to be able to calmly surrender to his gentle minstrations, it felt so right.
She hadn't been expecting him there. Or to get over her leaving him so soon. Honestly she had expected him to send more assassins after her. Usually he held quite a grudge, she knew that personally. She had been expecting something like the stunt he pulled when he raised Darphus. That had been, and only in this present situation would she admit it, sort of fun. Ares was so jealous of his brother. She almost felt like she had used Hercules. He was a good fuck, but no-one could compare to Ares. He was superior to other men, mortal, half god, or otherwise in every shape, form, size, and style-definitely style. Xena grinned, a mixture of wickedness and delirium shinning through.
He was the only thing about her previous life that she was seriously missing. 'Ares' her mind whispered wistfully. He had been her everything. He had trained her, stayed with her through thick and thin, and loved her. Ohh, loved her soo much. He had been her everything-and more.
This last time, it had taken a few seconds to figure out who it was she was fighting. Hundreds of questions plaqued her mind as she rushed the stranger. Why was he wearing a hood? What was he doing here? Why is he killing these farmers? He was obviously a warrior of great skill.
It hadn't made sense at first, but it soon did. The way that they fought, it was almost as if they were playing a game of sorts. Albiet a very complicated game with very sharp swords. Thats when she had first guessed it was him...it was obvious the man was good. And no matter how much she pushed forward, he could push back, there weren't many who could do that. He didn't even seem to be giving it much of an effort either. It really did seem as if he was playing with her. Almost humouring her.
When he had appeared in her cell, she was certain. He just appeared out of thin air like he always had. The way he touched her was simply amazing. By all the gods on Mount Olympus, he knew all the ways to touch her. His caresses were so comforting, so soothing, firm and gentle at the same time. It was almost hypnotic. She wanted nothing more than to throw her arms around him and lose herself in his warm embrace. As much as she wanted it though, she knew she must resist the temptation that his presence presented, no-that the mere thought of him brought.
If she was going to have any chance at balancing the creature that she was with the person she was now, it was vital that she kept herself from him.
Life was so damn unfair. Why should she have to give him up? She loved him so much. Sometimes at night, laying restlessly in her bed rolls, the need to be with him was so great that she thought she would go crazy without him.
It wasn't like he had deserved her leaving him. He had always treated her like a queen. His 'dark goddess' as he called her. What they had was so beautiful...they were so close, able to share anything with eachother, be anything around eachother. And then she had to go and ruin the entire fucking thing. It was gone. All the closeness, all the late night talks they'd share late in the night when they would lay together in his bed, gently carressing eachother...it was all gone.
She had been unnerved the whole time. It had upset her more than she let on. The way he had been able to affect her so thourouly, shocked her. No-one could do that. He was so irresistable, more so than anyone she had ever met. It didn't take him more than a few minutes to bend her completely to him. Break through her resolve so easily, so quickly. She sniffled quietly, a sign of the weather affecting her breathing, or her turmoilous thought, not apparent.
And After the way she had fooled him into reviving those 3 farmers...she'd be lucky if he ever spoke to her again.
Xena's head slowly sank into Argo's mane, only to be retracted roughly as she was once again shaken from drifting into unconsiousness.
The change was sudden, and not just physical, but mental as well. It was as if suddenly her body was warm...as if a pile of blankets had been wrapped around her. The recent self-hatred, the regret, and the sadness billowing around her heart was silently lifted, and she felt at peace.
She wasn't sure if she fell asleep, or what, but somehow she and Argo made it to Traseties, awaking just as they reached the first small shops of the village.
Xena shook her head. Did she black-out?
She bit her lip as she once again thought of her love. 'Maybe in some other world, some other time,' she thought. They could have been together...been happy together. A small tear found its way from the moisture residing in the corner eye, and made its way down her cheek, carving a path for the others to follow. Xena reached up quickly to wipe it away, but missed it as it slid off of her face. She frantically blinked back the rest of the tears, ardent in her resolve to not let them fall. She missed him.
///some day
when my life has passed me by
i'll lay around and wonder why
you were always there for me
one way in the eyes of the passerby
i'll look around for another try
and fade away
just close your eyes
and i'll take you there
this place is warm without a care
we'll take a swim and the deep blue sea
i couldn't leave
but you reach for me
some say better things
will come our way
no matter what they try to say
you were always there for me
some day when the sun begins to shine
i hear a song from another time
and fade away
just close your eyes
and i'll take you there
this place is warm without a care
we'll take a swim and the deep blue sea
i couldn't leave
but you reach for me
someone said you try to hard
someone said we try to long
so far so long
so far away
so far so wrong
so far away
away away
some day when my life has passed me by
i'll lie around and wonder why you were always there for me one way in
the eyes of the passerby i'll look around for another try
and fade away and
fade away and
fade away
so long so far
and fade away
so long so wrong
and fade away
some day
and fade away
******
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