"If that is the way he wants it, then
that's fine by me."

Xena walked up to the bard. "Gabrielle,
don't let your anger decide this."

"Xena, I know what I'm doing."
She turned back to her aunt. "I guess I can't put this off
any longer. Tell him to come in, through the front door. Xena,
I'm going to have to do this on my own."

"Fine. But don't do anything that you
are going to regret one day."

Xena walked through the door and stood next to
Artemis as Apollo headed towards the hut. She watched as Gabrielle
closed the door. "Artemis, can Apollo take no for an
answer?"

"I guess we’ll soon find out,
won't we?"

The air was filled with tension as Apollo and
Gabrielle eyed one another. The Sun God began to regret his brash
decision to force his estranged daughter's hand. "I know I
have no right in demanding this meeting…"

"You sure don't Apollo. Let me tell
you something. You can't demand anything from me. I already had
one lousy father in my life, I don't need another."

Anger flashed in Apollo's chartreuse eyes.
"Don't ever compare me to him." The words stung the
god and he lowered his head. *So is that how she thinks of me?* He
had hoped that he could explain to Gabrielle that maybe they could
start to build a relationship. *But if that is the way she feels,
then we don't have a chance.*

Gabrielle watched as the god's shoulders
slumped and his stance lost its stubborn proudness.

He raised his head and meekly looked at her.
"Is that how you really see me Gabrielle? I'm nothing like
Herodotus. I only wanted what was best for you."

"If I told you that the best thing for me
was for you to stay out of my life, would you do it?"

Apollo thought about it. He looked back on the
years and how his decision caused so much heartache. "No. For
years Gabrielle, I kept out of you and Hecuba's lives and it
helped no one. I learned from that mistake. I will not stay out of
your life. You may never see me, but I will be there, watching over
you like I should have done; but I hope it doesn't have to be
like that. I know I made mistakes, but I willing to do whatever it
takes for us to have a relationship. If I have to prove to you
every single day for the rest of your life that I love you, then I
will. But I'm not budging from this spot until you give me a
chance. And don't even think about going to Artemis, because if
she tries anything, you will have a war right here in this
hut."