Xena made it back to Marguerite and Clarisse who
were on the patio off of the dinning hall, Xena sat down with them
and as they talked she was silent as she had things on her mind.
“Is something wrong Xena?” Marguerite asked and Xena
looked at her and shook her head, “no, I just have some
things on my mind,” Xena said and Marguerite nodded.
“Would those things be Ulysses?” She asked and Xena let
out a breath as she played with the food on her plate, “what
do you do, when the one you love most in all the world is hiding a
piece of himself from you?” Xena asked and they looked at
her, “you try to figure out why he’s hiding it from
you.”

 

 

Marguerite said and Xena looked at her, “look
Xena, we all have a part of ourselves that we hide, mostly because
we’re afraid that, that part of us won’t be accepted,
that the one you love most in all the world won’t understand.
That’s why human beings keep secrets and tell lies,”
Clarisse said and Xena thought about that then felt a hand on her
arm. “Instead of being upset with him, talk to Ulysses about
it but also remember you can’t ask of him what you
aren’t willing to give.” Marguerite said and Xena
thought about that and they spent the rest of the day hanging out
with the women they had hung out with earlier that morning but Xena
was beginning to see how some of the women worked and as she
listened to them she got in on some of their lives.

 

 

After Xena left the archives, Ulysses paced back
and forth in the room before he left and headed to find his best
friend. He found Virgil in a nearby hall talking to one of the
servant girls, “Virgil I need to talk to you,” Ulysses
said, “not now,” Virgil said as he smiled at the woman
in front of him. Ulysses looked at him then used a word that he
knew Virgil would understand, “sharing,” Ulysses said
and Virgil stopped talking in mid-sentence and turned and looked at
Ulysses who looked back and Virgil let out a breath as he turned
and looked at the woman in front of him. “Can I come and find
you later?” Virgil asked and she nodded, “I work in the
kitchens today,” she said and Virgil nodded then walked over
to Ulysses who followed Virgil down the hall and into a nearby
closet. “What’s going on?” Virgil asked and
Ulysses let out a breath, “I messed up…I messed up bad
with Xena,” he said as he ran his fingers through his hair
and Virgil let out a breath as he ran his fingers through his
hair.