“storytext”>"Gabrielle, you didn't have
to-"

"I know,
but I enjoyed it. Look, here you already had a small vegetable
garden. I pulled the weeds and you still had enough seeds to start
a new one. And come over here," she commanded, taking his hand
in hers. He followed willingly and tried to stop from smiling too
much at her childlike pride. "I'm not sure what you had
here before, but the wildflowers are just too amazing. I didn't
have the heart to pull them," she explained. He nodded in
agreement. The flowers that had sprouted there really were
beautiful. It sure beat the herb garden he'd once had there.
He'd never planted a flower garden in his life – but now, like
it or not, he had one. "Promise me you'll leave it just
like that," she pleaded.

"I
promise," he smiled. "You did a beautiful job," he
said, giving her a hug. She returned it warmly. "Thank
you."

“storytext”>"You're welcome," she smiled back. She
really had enjoyed working on the garden for Iolaus. He had such a
sweet house, the garden needed to look presentable. And on top of
it, he seems to really appreciate it. She adored Iolaus. She always
had. She wasn't thinking about Xena or the future or anything
else, really. She was just happy right now, helping Iolaus put his
home back in order. She'd be happy to stay here and help him
like this forever.

They decided to
take a break and have lunch. They'd luckily brought enough food
with them from Hercules's to last them a few days. After that
Iolaus would have to start catching something if they wanted to
eat. Afterwards Iolaus returned to the roof and Gabrielle set about
in the house, dusting the furniture and airing out the rooms.
Iolaus was amazed. Traveling bard or not, she was perfectly content
to be looking after a house and staying at a farm. She'd
really make a wonderful wife.

He stopped dead
when he realized what he was thinking. Wife? Marriage? With
Gabrielle? What had put that thought in his head? He'd been in
love many times, never with a thought of marriage. What was it
about Gabrielle that brought that idea to mind? Why was she always
the one he pictured eventually settling down and having a family
with? Just because she seemed to be very at home on a farm? So
what? Her parents were probably farmers. Wait, no.
She was from Potedaea. Town folk. Well, maybe it was from
spending time with Xena's family. They were farmers. Wait,
no. Xena's parents were innkeepers. Then where
did this come from?