The Truth Behind the Scrolls Ares burst into laughter as he watched Crustacea throw the knife at Hagar. "Look what you did to my wall!" only made him laugh even harder. "So did this one really happen?" he asked his companion a few moments later. Gabrielle grinned. "Nope. Remember when Xena suggested that I try fiction? This is one of those. I'm not sure how it got mixed in with the scrolls of my adventures with Xena," she said thoughtfully. They turned their attention back to the TV and finished the episode in near silence- not counting Ares' outbursts of laughter. "If I were to hazard a guess, I'd say you enjoyed it," Gabrielle teased. "Me? No. It was ok…" he trailed off as she tackled him. Then there was a knock at the front door and a still giggling Gabrielle answered. "Hey Ar! It's Xena and Herc!" she called. Ares got up to greet them, grabbing a shirt on his way out. "What's so funny?" Xena demanded upon seeing his face. "Married With Fishsticks," Ares replied, knowing both of them were familiar with the episode. "It's funny how different the shows are to what really happened… and yet they're still so similar," Hercules noted. "Yeah," Ares agreed. "I can't believe they have you chasing me like that," Xena said, punching Ares' arm teasingly. "Tell me about it. Like I would ever chase you," Ares muttered. "Hey!" Xena protested. They all burst into laughter and went in to watch Cleopatra 2525 and discuss the shows some more. "Why do you think they changed my scrolls so much?" Gabrielle wondered, leaning back against Ares. "Probably because the one who plays me is married to the producer and he wants to keep her happy by pairing her with the hunk of the show," Xena offered. "So what does that make me?" Hercules demanded. "Makes you the hunk of your very own show," Xena replied. "Good point," Hercules agreed. Xena laughed. "I still can't believe they found my scrolls," Gabrielle said. "Yeah. Didn't much like the way they did that episode though," Ares said poutingly. "Well what about that episode after Ides of March? What was up with that? Seeing as we're both immortal and quite alive, we don't exactly have reincarnations," Xena pointed out. "Maybe they have really twisted imaginations," Ares offered. "They must. Have you seen the episodes claiming that I'm Kevin Sorbo?" Hercules sounded indignant. Gabrielle suddenly burst into laughter a few moments later, causing the others to look at her. "Care to share?" Ares whispered. "I was just trying to imagine how Lucy, Renee, and the two Kevins would react if they knew that they were actually descendants of ours." After a few moments, the other three started laughing too. "Yeah… Renee and Kevin Smith are distantly related… and we're their grandparents with a whole lot of greats!" Ares laughed. "Well, it is amazing how closely they resemble the four of us," Hercules commented. It was then that they realized they had missed Cleopatra and Jack of All Trades. This launched them into a discussion on the resemblance between Jack and Autolycus, and the girls of Cleo as compared to some other friends. "Well, we promised Aphrodite and Cupid that we'd meet them for dinner, so we better get going," Hercules said a little while later. "Ok. Have fun and tell them hi for us," Gabrielle said. "Will do," Xena promised. After exchanging hugs, Xena and Hercules left. "Do you ever miss it?" Ares asked. "Not really. I'm perfectly happy watching it on TV, more or less exactly the way it used to be. Besides, now I get to be with you all the time and see Xena basically whenever I want, instead of the other way around." Gabrielle grinned. "Do you ever miss your godhood?" she asked a moment later. "Nope. I mean, there are times when it would be useful, but I don't regret it," he replied. Years after he had given up his godly powers to save Gabrielle and Eve, Aphrodite had come up with a plan. She, with the help of Cupid, Persephone and Apollo, could give him immortality. He refused until they extended it to Gabrielle as well. Hercules and Ares had then used their influence to get them to offer it to Xena as well. As soon as all three had been made immortal, Gabrielle and Ares had gotten married; Xena and Hercules followed suit a year later. All four had been present when Virgil married Varia and when Eve married Iolaus' son. The Archangel Michael, having a soft spot for Gabrielle, let them know each time one of their loved ones had died. Now it was the year 2000, and all four were living happily in California. The only problem they'd had in the last thousand years was Velasca's reappearance. They had dealt with that fairly easily. "So what should we do now?" Ares asked. "Hmm…let's go online! We can e-mail Rob Tapert again and demand that they put Ares and Gabrielle together on the show!" Gabrielle suggested. "Sounds good. And then we can read fan fic," Ares added. They both laughed and, arm in arm, headed for the computer. well, thats it for now... going to have another one tonight or tomorrow ~Gabs *Never pet a burning dog*