“No, no
one’s seen Ares around for quite awhile,” he heard the
man say. “Apparently he’s got some new cause in Rome.
Don’t know what he’s planning or if he really is just
taking things easy. But I’m letting him go until I have a
reason to seek him out.” Hercules recognized his younger self
instantly. There was no question now. He was sitting next to his
very own self – a quarter of a century ago -with Xena. Not the Xena
he knew was traveling in the Norselands now – no, this was the
younger one, before they had arranged to go back in time. Herc
moved back into the shadows as he watched.

Gabriel came
back to the table but Hercules motioned for him to keep quiet. The
boy’s eyes widened when he saw a woman of about 23 come in
and whisper to the others. “Uncle Herc, is that
-?”

“storytext”>“Sshhh,” the demigod whispered as he
nodded.Gabriel watched in wonder as he saw his own mother, some 25
years younger, being taken upstairs by a woman that must have been
Aunt Xena. But they were soon out of sight and the only one left
was the other Hercules, who looked very worried.

“storytext”>“They’ll be alright,” Herc observed
to his young counterpart.

“storytext”>“I’m sorry?” the younger Hercules
looked up in surprise but Herc purposely kept his face in the
shadow.

“Your
friends. They’ll be alright. I thought you’d like to
know that.”

“Oh…
Thanks.”

“You
might want to give your sister a call,” he said as he stood
up and left, giving his younger self the clue to put things in
motion. He also figured it was better to get out of there before he
confuses his younger self any more.

Before
following his uncle out, Gabriel spoke as well.

“storytext”>“Don’t be offended by my friend,” he
said to his uncle’s former self. His appearance took the
younger Hercules by surprise.

“storytext”>“I’m sorry, do I know you? You look very
familiar.”

“storytext”>“No,” Gabriel smiled, fully aware of how
closely he resembled his father. “I don’t think
you’ve ever seen me before. But my friend just knows some
things. He wasn’t trying to be rude, he just wanted to
reassure you.”

“Uh-huh.
Um, tell your friend I said, uh – thanks for the
information.” The younger Hercules raised his glass in a
toast. Gabriel nodded and left.

“storytext”> 

"Yes it
was. It's kind of a long story, but I had to let him – me – him
– argh, you know what I mean – know that it'd be
alright."

"Yeah. I
stopped and tried to tell him not to be offended. You knew what you
were talking about."

Hercules stared
at Gabriel. "You spoke?"

"Well
yeah. I mean, I couldn't just leave it hanging
there."

Of course! The
blonde-haired boy that had come up to him at the tavern all those
years ago. Hercules had thought he looked familiar. It was
Iolaus's own son who had spoken to him. Iolaus and
Gabrielle's eldest child had been there from the beginning.
This was what was meant to happen. Hercules felt a strange sense of
completion with this knowledge. Like they had now come full circle,
and this was what was meant to be.

"And that
really was Mom and Aunt Xena," Gabriel concluded.

"Yes it
was. It might be better if you didn't tell your parents about
this. Or your Aunt Xena. It's kind of hard to explain."
Impossible to explain would be more accurate, he
thought.

"Sure,
Unc." Gabriel nodded. "But you will tell me,
right?"

"Well, it
all began about 25 years ago…" As the hero began the story,
he and his young sidekick headed off into the sunset
together.