"Oh my gods! Just come on!"

"Xena, I don't think this is a good idea." Ares admits fearfully as Xena holds the new door open for the war god.

"She's not going to kill you. I promise." Xena playfully places her hand over her heart and looks innocent.

Taking one last look at the surrounding forest, Ares sighs and crosses the threshold into the newly built house. He walks in to see Gabrielle gathering scrolls and innkwells on a table next to the large fireplace.

"Well, could you at least take that out of here!" he points to the dagger of Helios hanging above the mantle, the same one Eithne used to kill Menhit.

Looking to the dagger and back to the god Xena smiles, "Nope!" and goes to move the chairs to face each other for the interview.

"Ares, if I was going to kill you, I would have done it already. Besides, you gave us our daughter, returned Xena back to normal, and restored Minona's powers. I think you're fine." Gabrielle assures him as she picks out one of the smaller scrolls for note taking.

"Okay, okay. What is this for again anyway?" He asks as he cautiously sits down on the wooden chair, leaving the more cushioned one for Gabrielle.

"Well first, we want to be prepared for the nightmares she might have about her previous life. Second, her past will make for some great story ideas…" She stated diplomatically, then, turning to face Ares, added "and I'm her mother and want to know what happened to my child."

Coughing nervously, Ares looks around the room to avoid making too much eye contact with the blonde woman or the dark- headed one leaning in the doorway between the new kitchen and sitting room. The wood floors were new and polished nicely with a couple of rugs at the entryways, and a larger one before the fireplace. The hues of red and purple glowing in the firelight.

The three had decided to meet up the day after Theodorus' coronation/wedding to Minona, knowing that the reception would run much longer than the afternoon.

Trying to make chit-chat and calm his own nerves, which were still fairly new to him, Ares compliments "I really like the wall art." nodding his head in the direction of the hung flags and woven tapestry, depicting the scene at the arena a couple of weeks ago.

Leaning around the corner to see what he was motioning to Xena nodded, "Yeah, the local weaver said that she 'Just loved the beauty in the story!' and she 'Just had to make something' for us. I think the entire town sent us gifts, and at least half helped us build this add-on."

"I think they were all really touched by the story." Gabrielle added, turning from her desk and placing the scroll and ink on the table beside her chair, "Evidently, Eithne had secretly helped a lot of people. Sneaking food, fixing things, healing people, and rescuing others. I think this was just their way of paying her back." Gabrielle shrugged her shoulders and went to return the unused scrolls to her large bookshelf.

"We had to devote an entire room to the gifts. We are still trying to figure out what to do with it all. Eithne has been sleeping in a pit of stuffed animals." Xena smiled, thinking of the baby lost among the cloth wildlife.

"Speaking of Eithne, where is she?" Ares asked, looking around, as if the newborn would come running around a corner, knowing fully well that she could barely hold up her head.

"She's sleeping in her room." Gabrielle huffed as she sat down in her chair, and picked up a quill "Now, where do you want to start?" looking at Ares expectantly.

Shifting uncomfortably under the gaze of the two women, Ares kept his gaze down "Uh-um… *cough cough… I- well."

Rolling her eyes Xena walked across the room to the opposite doorway and sighed "Give me a second." and disappeared into the next room.

Gabrielle and Ares were left in an awkward silence, Gabrielle smiling at the god and Ares trying to make his smile not seem nervous.

Spotting the Helmet of Hermes in front of a scroll next to the doorway, Ares tries to make conversation "So, you still have the helmet, ey?"

"Yeah! We ended up getting it back. I have a poem from Sappho behind it. Xena had her write it for me." Gabrielle explained the set-up, remembering the happy day before the issues in Chin.

Not knowing what else to say, they both listened to Xena's footsteps go to the back of the house, go down some steps, open a door, and then make the journey back, appearing in the doorway with the small, sleeping infant.

"Xena, what are you-?" Gabrielle asked as Xena laid Eithne onto her chest, the smell of lavender and baby wafting into her nostrils, immediately stirring feeling of love and tenderness inside. "How am I supposed to write like this?" She looked up at her grinning lover.

"That's not your dominate hand, and I can write if you want me to. You know she'll sleep through anything." Xena looked down at the most beautiful sight she could ever dream of, Gabrielle and their tiny daughter, wrapped in and embroidered lion blanket.

Xena's plan worked. Ares relaxed, knowing that Gabrielle wouldn't attack if she was holding the baby, and sat up a little straighter in his chair. Clearing his throat, he began,

"Alright, after I thought you guys were dead, I searched for a new champion. I went to Japa, Chin, India, Egypt, Briton, and even to the frozen north. Nothing… well not nothing. I saw a few good fighters, and quite a few bloodthirsty warlords, but none of them seemed right compared to you." Motioning to Xena, who nodded her head in agreement. Laughing a little at her lack of modesty, Ares turned back to Gabrielle, who was writing with one hand and holding the infant to her with the other.

"Anyway, I returned to Greece pretty angry and disappointed, so I visited you guys. I was talking through what was going on and then I had a thought 'What if I could have have a new Xena, but one that wouldn't pull away from me so much. So, I did some research on souls and how to raise new life, which brought me to Egypt mostly. You see they have a belief that the dead have to make the same journey every night so that-"

"Yes, the Ka, the Ba, the Akh, and the Maat Kheru. The preservation of bodies and the journey of the souls to the afterlife." Xena hurried him along, earning a warning glance form Gabrielle that said 'let me hear the whole story.'

"Sorry. We just got back from Egypt. I thought you wouldn't want to hear all of that again." Xena raised her hands in surrender.

"Thank you, Xena. Could you make us some tea or something? I think we might be here for awhile. You don't have to stay for the whole thing." Gabrielle said, knowing that Xena doesn't sit still very well.

Getting up from where she was leaning on the armrest of Gabrielle's chair, Xena goes to the kitchen, Cyrene's store sign hanging above the archway, to get the pot to boil water.

Yelling from the other room "What! And miss you possibly attacking Ares again? No way!" Returning with a full pot and placing it over the fire, Xena reclaims her perch on the chair. Caressing Eithne's head and leaning down to kiss the top of it, she adds, "And she's my daughter too. I want to know her past just as badly as you do."

Feeling her heart melt a bit at her love's admission and her interaction with the baby lying on her, Gabrielle retracted "You're right. I'm sorry. I just want to hear the whole story." looking up into the blue eyes she loved so much.

Placing her hand on Gabrielle's cheek, Xena smiled and joked "That's alright. I do think I needed a task though."

"Is it possible that you guys have gotten even more mushy? You guys are going to need a boy soon to even out all of these female hormones." Ares chimed in, earning a look of fake anger from the girls and then genuine laughs.

"You might be right." Xena agreed, finishing her laugh.

"Yeah, yeah. Alright let's continue. So you went to Egypt and found out about moving souls?" Gabrielle goaded.

Leaning forward and placing his elbows on his knees, Ares continues, "Uh… Yeah, yeah, yeah. Anyway, I come back to Greece, after meeting with Osiris, god of the underworld and afterlife, and Tawaret, goddess of fertility and childbirth. I did them a couple of favors, leading one of their armies and winning a couple of battles, and they showed me some stuff from the book of the dead. It wasn't a direct spell, but it had some bits about splitting souls for protection and combining souls for power. Tawaret had some experience with creating life without mothers, but always using earth.

When I got back to Greece, I met with Athena and Eiliethyia and tried to get some more information about making new life. They couldn't give me much, but I did find out that what the life is created from has an effect on their life. So I decided to use weapons and armor from Hephaestus for Eithne's base, which would make her strong and powerful. I thought that it might make her war loving, but no dice, obviously. I gathered the weapons and armor, and then I visited your tombs.

I said a spell of splitting over the both of you and when the strings of light started rising, I kind of thought that I had messed up because they started to spin around each other and started growing brighter. Just when I thought that the light would burn me and swallow the whole world, it snapped back into you guys leaving a baby-sized ball of swirling purple and yellow light wavering between you two. I took it in my hands, brought it over to the armors and weapons, and said a spell of binding. The ball surrounded the pile and kind of jumble it around, like she was playing or something." He said with a smile, looking at the child, who was tightening her grip around her mother's neck and repositioning her head on her shoulder, making soft baby noises. Getting lost in the soft sounds, Xena cleared her throat to bring Ares back to the story.

Looking up with embarrassment, he continues, "Sorry. Anyway, I then had to light a fire and perform a life ritual, which seemed like it took years. I had to speak of raising life, how gaiea designed life, and then what type of person I needed her to be. Slowly, the metal forged itself into the form of a baby, that baby." Pointing to Eithne, who began to stir a bit.

"Shh, shh, shh." Gabrielle hushed as she rocked and wrote. Xena pulled the blanket more tightly around the infant, earning a small stretch of the hand and a sigh before returning to her slumber.

Getting up, Xena goes back to the kitchen and fetches three cups, putting some tea leaves in each, and returns to the pot of boiling water. She pours the water and hands a steaming cup to Ares, places one on the table next to Gabrielle, and holds one for herself, reveling in the scent of peppermint and lemongrass.

The sun, that had been setting upon Ares arrival, had fully set; the windows showing the darkness and stars outside and the reflection of the warm fire and candles inside. They all took a moment to cool down their teas and take a couple of sips before continuing.

"Thank you." Holding up the cup and taking another sip before setting it down. "I thought that the spell would give me a fully grown person, but I got a baby instead. I didn't have any idea what to do with a baby. I didn't want to tell any of the other gods and I didn't want to keep her with me while I led the army, so I thought of Xena's mother, Cyrene. If she raised the best warrior once, maybe she could do it again, so I popped into her tavern. Evidently, her grandmotherly instincts kicked in because she knew that it was your guys' kid; that one knew too." Motioning to Eithne, who was now smiling in her sleep, the mumble of voices, the crackling of fire, and the scratch of her mother's quill making her feel safe.

"Speaking of which. How do you guys feed her? I know Cyrene knew a wet nurse. Did you guys get one?" Looking at the two women exchange smiles.

Xena answered, letting Gabrielle finish her writing, "Actually, when you brought me back and reset all of our ages, evidently we also physically became her mothers and we both started… providing." Xena grinned, taking another sip, suppressing a giggle at Ares' obvious embarrassment.

Not looking up from her furious scribbling, Gabrielle added "It's pretty convenient, actually. No matter who she is with, she always has food." Knowing that her statement would make Ares blush.

Swallowing, Ares commented "Ah… That's… really great. I'm glad you both get… that opportunity." Not knowing how else to take that information he continued with his story when Gabrielle looked up and nodded.

"Yes. Cyrene. Well, she kept her for two years and a few months, until she could walk and talk enough to take orders. I know Cyrene kept cursing my name for taking so many people away from her. I would hear her very clearly when she did. Maybe it's from how involved we all were." Looking up to hard glares from both women, Ares cleared his throat and moved on from the subject. "I began with a personal trainer for her, my best commander at the time, she showed great skill and actually seemed to enjoy it. She would practice all day everyday. She liked to hang out with the servants, but I didn't see any harm in it at the time, because they took care of her when she wasn't training. Little did I know, she would adopt their moral compass and begin to revere justice. Just like her mothers."

The two women smiled at each other and then at Eithne, who surprised them with open eyes.

"Look who's awake." Gabrielle said quietly, causing Xena to squat in front of them to see the large blue eyes looking at them both, fully awake.

"Were you eavesdropping?" Xena teased, reaching for her as she raised her head and smiled. Picking her up, along with the lion blanket, Xena pulled her own chair from Ares' side of the room over to Gabrielle and sat down.

"Are you done sleeping now? Do you want to listen to Ares tell a story?" She questioned with a large goofy grin, earning a giggle from the squirming child in her lap. Turning her around to face Ares, Xena pulled Eithne up to stand. The happy baby began jumping happily with her mother's assistance; both Ares and Gabrielle watching the adorable scene. The blanket had fallen off and Ares recognized the tiny outfit.

"Are those Eve's old baby clothes?"

Smiling at the blue-green embroidered shirt and pants, gabrielle answered "Yep, evidently Eithne had gathered them from somewhere. She had a lot of stuff from our past. Stuff I barely even remembered. She did her research well." nodding at the giggling, baby.

"Did you do research?! Are you a gatherer? Do you love your mommies?!" Xena exclaimed, raising the child higher and kicking her feet forward, earning squeals of joy.

"I'm surprised you're not embarrassed to do that." Ares observed.

Continuing her capers, Xena responded in the same voice she used for Eithne "No one would believe you if you told them, and Ares wouldn't dare tell anyone. Would he Eithne?" turning the baby to face her and shaking her head, scrunching up her nose and eyebrows, which earned another squeal.

"No. No he wouldn't" Ares smiled and leaned back in his chair, knowing very well what would happen if he did.

Laughing at the exchange, Gabrielle butted in "I don't think the world would make it out of that one. So what happened after she became close with your servants?"

"Well, the older slave in the group, that Menhit had gathered, had a wife and Eithne stuck around them a lot. Like I said, I thought it was harmless at first. She did need someone to feed her and make sure she was clothed, so I let her stay with them. The soldiers had direct orders to keep an eye on her and keep her safe while I was away leading my other armies. Evidently, she became insubordinate, not wanting to practice on the prisoners and such, so the soldiers began punishing her like they would any other soldiers. With both of her mother's attitudes, this only made her more difficult. She would slip out and trick the soldiers, remember she was only about six or seven at the time. When I got back, I kept her with me and tried to reassure her that they wouldn't hurt her again, and she stopped acting up. Little did I know it was all an act. I later found out that she would find other armies and tell them our location and the best way to get to us, and she would alert the servants, so they would hide when we got ambushed. We had a hard few years." He shook his head remembering all of the lost battles and looked at the little girl, who was responsible for it all, happily playing with her mother, but he didn't feel any contempt like he thought he would.

Halting her playing with her mother's hand, Eithne looked at Ares and reached for the god, wanting him to hold her.

"You want to sit with Ares?" Xena cooes getting up and walking over to the nervous god.

"Xena, I don't think that is such a great idea." Gabrielle protests, leaning forward, fear making her heart pound.

"Yeah, what she said." Ares agreed as Xena handed the girl to him.

Watching Ares awkwardly hold the baby out in front of him, Xena put her hands on her hips and assured them "Don't worry. Minona found Menhit's notes when she was moving her stuff into the palace. She infused the house with certain herbs and performed spells to prevent anyone who means us ill will or harm from coming in. He also can't apparate in here."

"Really?" They both questioned, as Xena made her way back to her chair and sit down, throwing one leg over the arm.

"Really." she stated, enjoying the looks on their faces.

Looking into the little face that smiled at him, Ares sat Eithne on his lap and let her play with his hands.

"So what happened after all the ambushes?" Gabrielle questioned, still on high alert.

"Well, one of the soldiers caught her heading towards the enemy camp and followed her. He used the information to turn the situation around and we flanked them. After that, she had to be punished. She was whipped." Ares looked down, sadly, at the happy face that had no memory of the moments he was talking about. "If I didn't have her punished, my men would have thought that she more important than them, and who knows what they would have done. Jealous soldiers are never good. I didn't know that, what I was feeling at the time, was guilt for hurting her. I left. I didn't want to watch, so I left. I was gone for months with my other armies, and when I came back… when I came back…" He had a hard time continuing. Eithne, picking up on his emotions, pulled herself up by his vest and held onto his neck.

All three were shocked and awed by her actions, and they all sat in silence for a moment as Ares began to hug her back. Enjoying the warmth, Eithne didn't let go, and instead, laid her head down on his shoulder and played with the metal rivets in Ares' vest.

Beginning to like the comfort of the child, Ares decided that he should get the story over with. "When I came back, They had whipped, tortured, burned, and branded her so badly. I didn't think that anyone could do that to a kid. She was so small, but so full of fury at that point. I demanded that they release her immediately, and when they did, she killed ten men, released the slaves, and escaped herself. I was so angry at the men for hurting her that I also went on a rampage. I left no one in that camp alive. She was about eleven or twelve then." Looking down at the child, who reflected his glance with her large blue eyes and a smile that scrunched her tiny nose. She reached up and felt of his scratchy beard, removing a tear that had fallen into it.

"The rest I had to gather from other sources. I think she found some spell to keep me away from her for awhile. I know she found Cyrene and lived with her for a year or two, before the town turned on her because of the ghosts and Mephistopheles. I don't think Cyrene told her that she lived with her before though. I think she just enjoyed having her back. Once she was gone, Eithne went and found your sister." Motioning to Gabrielle, who was still scratching at the scroll, trying to concentrate on the story and not get emotional.

Xena, who was watching the fire and turning the now empty mug over in her hands, stated quietly, "You know these are from her tavern, too."

"Really? How can you tell?" Gabrielle asked, looking up from her writing to look at her melancholy partner.

"She started carving her initials into the bottom when she realized that people were stealing them." She answered, rubbing the well worn carved letters.

Both Ares and Gabrielle picked up their mugs and inspected the bottoms.

"Well whatta you know! They really are!" Ares confirmed. Setting the wooden cup back down he confessed "I always did like her. Very fiery. I thought she would kill us when she caught us at the tavern during the attack." he laughed, looking up to see a glare from Gabrielle and a red cheeked Xena. "Sorry."

"I'm surprised I didn't notice that before. I'm glad Eithne saved some of her stuff Xena." Gabrielle said encouragingly, reaching over and squeezing Xena's hand.

"Me too." Looking over at the, now dozing, child holding the corner of Ares leather vest. "You're never going to get her off now. You know that right?" Xena jested.

"I don't mind. I think she's melting my heart though." Realizing how corny that sounds, he looked up and warned "You better not tell anyone I said something like that."

Leaning back, Xena pretended to zip her lips and throw the key into the fire, earning a laugh from Gabrielle.

"You two are goofs, you know that?" Gabrielle shook her head, amazed at how normal it felt to hang out with someone who was once their enemy.

"I'll be anything this one needs me to be, now." Ares admitted, leaning his head on Eithne's, the smell of baby and lavender removing any amount of machoness he had left.

Feeling the emotion rise in her throat, Gabrielle urged Ares to continue, "She wen to my sister's?"

"Yeah. She stayed with Lila and her husband for about a year, helping them take care of their kid and then went on with Joxer when he went to visit. Again, she stayed with Joxer and Meg for about a year, when she heard that you two were back. She began searching for you guys, but was always a couple steps behind or would get caught up in some villages problems. She ended up meeting Minona again and started traveling with the army she was with. They were some Celtic group that basically let her do anything she wanted. Sometimes she would fight, but most of the time she just cooked and fixed stuff around the camp. Minona said that she like the peacefulness of it and that they became family to her. She trained some of them in close combat and they even traveled to Chin to learn some of their ways. They basically followed the clues of where you guys would go, but when she heard that you had died… She just stopped. She disappeared from their camp one night and eventually got picked up by Theodorus for the job here. When I got a lead on something going down here, I attempted to talk to her, but she wouldn't listen. Since she is partly you, Xena, she also has the power to kill gods, and I think that Menhit was setting up situations for her to kill them for her. That was when I got angry and blew up the tavern. I've stayed close ever since." Ares finished up.

"So you didn't give the orders for the torture?" Xena asked, looking at Ares with a little bit of doubt.

"No. I claimed to for a bit, but I think that she held my heart the first time I held her on Mt. Etna in that tomb. War and peace are both inside her, and I think that's why." He admitted, closing his eyes, feeling the warmth and love of the home and the people in it surround him.

"Why was Menhit so intent on getting power?" Gabrielle asked, hoping to gain some insight on the antagonist of the story.

"Well, she was a minor god and got kicked around a lot. They didn't really respect her and I don't think they even considered her family. Say what you will about my family, but we always claimed each other. I think she just wanted respect and to feel like she was important. She also really hated men, so I think being stuck in a man's body really messed with her head." Ares mused, knowing that people's minds can be affected greatly by the situations they go through.

They all three stopped talking, while Gabrielle wrote the last few ideas down that she would use later to make a great epic. Once she was done, she wiped the quill off and looked up at Xena, who pointed across the room. Looking to where she was pointing, Gabrielle watched as Ares slept, her and Xena's daughter sleeping peacefully on his shoulder.

"She's better than valerian." Xena whispers, as Gabrielle gets up from her chair and goes to sit in her lap, wrapping her arms around Xena's neck.

"You both are like drugs. She makes people calm, and you make people scared… except for me. You just make me happy." She whispers, leaning her head down and kissing the neck that she loved so much.

Xena hummed in response, pulling the bard, and other mother of her child, closer to her.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Xena said, finally, once Gabrielle pulled away and looked into face that her daughter inherited, and Gabrielle's unique green eyes "I love you."

Looking back at the blue eyes she knew and admired so well, Gabrielle leaned in, "I love you."