And I'm back with more X/A! I've missed Xena...I have no idea how many stories I've read here these past couple of days...And I needed to write more. Turns out I absolutely love writing Ares!

Title is inspired by the line "Death lies on her like an untimely frost" from William Shakespeare's "Romeo & Juliet".

Unbeta'd, English isn't my native language.

I own nothing apart from my non-ending love for the show (despite its flaws) that changed and shaped up my life. All rights go to their respectful owners.

Third time is the charm, people say. And yet, for him, third time is a curse. Because the third time that he loses her, he loses her forever.

The first time, she poisoned herself and died in his arms. He buried her in ice, made a confession that would never reach her ears, and kissed her cold lips. And he mourned - in secret, because he is the God of War and the God of War feels nothing.

The second time, he was the one who caused it. They fought, they hurt. He threw her in a frozen lake, as if burying her in ice again. And he broke that ice in order to get to her, just as she had broken the ice that surrounded the God of War in order to find the humanity hidden inside him. This time, as a mortal, he didn't hold back, didn't try to suppress his emotions. He let go completely, crying and screaming and hating himself. Because he was no longer the God of War and could allow himself to feel.

Both times she came back.

Not this time.

He knows that she is in Jappa. He can't open a portal to watch over her as that faraway land is not in the domain of the Olympians, but he can sense her. He has no doubt that she is kicking some ass over there because, after all, that's his girl.

And then...it's gone. He feels nothing. There is a void where she once was. Emptiness. There is no place for her in this world.

For a while, he has trouble breathing. He, a god, is panting, trying to get the air properly in and out of his lungs. He feels like a mortal again.

And he is as helpless as a mortal. Because he knows, even as he materializes in that foreign underworld, that there is nothing he can do. He has no jurisdiction here; this is where her soul shall remain and he can't take it back.

There is a surprise for him, something to add to his pain as though it's not unbearable already. The guards of this underworld don't let him see her. He rages and threatens and destroys everything he sees around him; but nothing happens. An Olympian has no power here.

He returns to one of his many temples in Greece and wreaks havoc. He breaks everything. He doesn't use fire balls, only his arms and legs.

Damn her and her righteousness. Damn her and nobility, her need to save people, her choice to always put everyone else before herself, her willingness to sacrifice herself for the good of others. Damn her, damn her, damn her!

Why did she have to die there? She deserves to be in the Elysian Fields, happy and in peace...And he could go see her, if she would have him.

He refuses to let her go. He will see her again. He may find a way to change to guards' mind. Maybe, he will have to wait for these guards to be replaced by others. He can be patient. He is a god, after all. He has all eternity ahead of him. He will wait. For her.