Gabrielle eyed the god suspiciously. "Really?"

"It must be. Your spirit picked it." He looked over at
his future daughter-in-law and saw the confusion in her eyes.
"Gabrielle has a fiery spirit and yet she is very gentle. In
other words, a paradox. A hawk is the same way." The Sun God
took the bird and then released it, watching it as it join the
others. "A hawk is beautiful, graceful and elegant in the air.
But when you see it up close, you can see the fire in its eyes. And
it can be very deadly, but only when necessary. That is why your
spirit picked the hawk. Besides…" he glanced over at the
Warrior Princess, "I've heard that you are very good at
taming wild things without breaking their spirit."

Xena scowled at the god's comments. *Keep it up Apollo, and
you'll see how tame I am.*

Apollo returned his attention to his daughter. "Gabrielle,
you have done a lot today. Are you up to the next step?"

Gabrielle watched until the hawks disappeared from view. Her
spirit soared as high as the birds. "Let's do it."
But as soon as she took a step, something went wrong. The world
began spinning as the ground rushed up and blackness overtook
her.

Xena watched as the color drained out of Gabrielle's face
and rushed to her side, catching her before she hit the ground.
"Gabrielle?" She looked at Apollo with alarm in her face.
"What's wrong with her?"

"Calm down Xena." Apollo brushed the hair from
Gabrielle's face. "Everything's fine. She just did too
much today. Her body and mind isn't use to this type of work.
She exhausted."

Xena gently picked the Bard up. "This won't happen all
the time, will it?"

"No. Once her mind gets use to it, she will have no
problems at all. Right now, she needs rest." He watched as
Xena carried Gabrielle to the pelts, gently placed her on them and
watched over her. He walked over, bent down and caressed the
sleeping Bard's cheek. "This is the first time I've
ever seen her sleeping."

Xena looked at Apollo and could see the guilt in his eyes.
"You know, she understands why you left. You shouldn't let
guilt eat away at you."

The Sun God walked away. "Has she really forgiven me?
I've haven't forgiven myself."

"Is that the reason you've haven't come around a
lot?"

"It was what Gabrielle wanted."