“Don’t worry about it. I’m used to his ways.
Soon enough you’ll be barking right back at him,” Xena
said, smiling, one hand on Gabrielle’s shoulder.

Gabrielle gave her a small, uncertain smile. “If you say
so.”

All the while Xena was setting up camp, she was aware of
Gabrielle’s restlessness. Finally, she knew she had to say
something.

“Want to talk about it?”

“No. Yes. I don’t know. I’m so mixed up. I
want so badly to do the right thing, but now it seems like whatever
I do is wrong. Some I let die, and others I kept alive. But what if
I Healed the wrong ones? What if I let a horrible murderer live and
let someone die who is honest and good but just got caught up in
the horror of war?”

“I can’t answer that, Gabrielle. Only the Fates . .
. .”

“But don’t you see? All this time I’ve been
controlling people’s destiny and taking it out of the hands
of the Fates! And now I’ve even taken Celesta’s power
of death. I don’t know how to deal with it. What’s
wrong with me?”

“Nothing! Nothing’s wrong with you. You –
you’re still finding your way. Gabrielle, I guess we all
thought being a god was easy, and we never appreciated what being
one demands. Maybe they’ve had to make compromises in order
to, I don’t know, get along? Look, after a good night’s
sleep I’m sure things will sort themselves out.”

“Xena, I don’t sleep, remember?”

“I was talking about me. Sometimes if I go to sleep
thinking about a problem, the next morning things seem much
clearer.”

“Maybe you’re right. It’s been a long day. Why
don’t you turn in for the night?”

“So, what are you going to do in the meantime?”

“I was thinking about making a few visits. I think I
should talk to the experts, you know — Aphrodite, Hades, The
Fates, possibly even Ares.”

“I don’t know about Ares. I think for now you should
stay away from him, at least until he cools off some.  I know
he can’t kill you, but he can make things
difficult.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right, again. You get some
sleep and I’ll see you in the morning.”

The next morning when Xena woke up Gabrielle was sitting on a
fallen tree truck, watching her.

“So how long have you been sitting there?” Xena
asked as she threw off her sleeping furs and stretched.