The idea of having a child to raise was not what bothered Xena. In fact, while in the ethereal state, before returning to life
after Higuchi, she had toyed with the idea of raising a child with Gabrielle. After seeing how much her soulmate loved and
cared for Nadrah, the cabin girl, she was certain that her lover would make a perfect mother. But that was the difference
between then and now. Any child they would have had would be theirs, and they would be the babe’s mothers – not
grandmothers.
"You ole warrior, just admit that this is what is bothering you the most. Not the idea of having children around, but
knowing that you’d be their grandmother," she mused as she moved away from camp, her thoughts plagued with this idea.
When she glanced back and saw the movements of her family, she released a tired sigh, "Face it, Xena, you’re just going
to have to get used to the idea that somewhere down the road, someone will be calling you grandma," the warrior
conceded with a frown as she moved further into the woods. “I only hoped that it would be Eve first, after she found
someone special to share her life with,” the warrior groused under her breath as she entered the wooded area.
Hopefully Ari’s cycle was such that no child would result from her conduct because although the girl was her oldest, the
warrior knew that in maturity, her child was far younger than Eve. "No, we’ll just have to hope that fate will still be on our
side," she thought as she turned her attention to finding food for her family.
By the time Ari finished brushing down all of the animals, she returned to find only Xena in the camp. With the fresh kill of
pheasant cleanly gutted and over the fire, the older woman smiled at her entrance and returned her attention to cleaning up
the bloody mess. Seeing an open space between the bedrolls, the tall girl took her pack and began to set up her own
bedroll.
“I hope your mom makes it back here in time, I wouldn’t want to be responsible for burning our dinner,” the older woman
smiled and winked at Ari. “Did you have any troubles?”
Ari only shook her head as she tossed her bag to the head of the bedroll. “N-No trouble,” she managed to say as she sat
down on her bedroll and watched her mother at the campfire. In an unconscious manner, the dark haired girl pulled her
boots off one at a time and wiggled her toes, then set the boots aside before returning her attention to Xena.
“Good… good… hey, listen, keep an eye on this, all right? I’m going to go and hurry your mom along, maybe hop in the
stream myself,” Xena sniffed the air, then grimaced as if smelling something foul. The warrior lifted an arm, sniffed and
mockingly made a gagging face, then smiled. “Yep, I’m definitely going to hop in the stream!” she winked as she stood up
and turned away from the girl.
Ari watched as her mother disappeared on the path that led to a nearby stream. She quietly sat as the sound of the wind
and birds reached her senses. In the distance, she heard the slight rustling of leaves that were being broken on the ground
by the forest animals. As she glanced around the camp, she noticed the orderly manner in which everything was placed.
When her eyes fell on her sister’s pack, she saw the slight edge of the parchment poking out of a pocket on Eve’s bag.
With a curious arch of a brow, the dark child turned toward the trail in an attempt to detect if anyone was returning. At
the continual silence, she slowly crawled over Eve’s bedroll toward her bag. Sitting on her knees, Ari carefully pulled at
the small scroll and slowly opened it and marveled at the smooth, clean lines. The slight swerves and curves of the
pigment seemed to flow easily across the parchment. Amazed at its intricate beauty, she stared at it with open mouth as
she lightly touched the ink on the parchment.
“Ari!” Eve’s deep voice startled the girl. Surprised by the intrusion, the teen dropped the scroll as she jumped up and
turned around. The anger on the prophet’s face was clearly visible as she stomped across the camp and retrieved her
parchment from the ground.
“You were reading my scroll?” Her sister angrily accused.
“Eve, honey, calm down,” Gabrielle moved close to Ari, her hand resting in the tall girl’s arm.
“Mother, you’re always defending her! How can you defend her after you saw the same thing?” Eve held her scroll up and
shook it in front of them. “Mother, she was reading my scroll. This is personal, its – its private! No one has a right to read
what I write down on my personal parchment!”
“I know Eve, please, just calm down. Ari honey, were you reading Eve’s scroll?” Gabrielle turned to her daughter her features a
frown.
“I-I…” Ari could only stammer as she struggled to find the right words. When none came to mind, she lowered her head in
shame, aware that she had made another blunder.
“See mother, I told you, she was reading my scroll!” Eve’s voice grew in volume as Gabrielle stood between the two girls.
“I know Eve, please try to be calm,” Gabrielle tried to reason with the girl.
“Stay calm? Mother, she read something that was very personal to me,” Eve’s voice was laced with tears as she tried to make
her point to her mother.
“Ari, you know it’s wrong to read other people’s scrolls without permission, right?” the blonde turned and looked up at her
eldest. The girl could only nod as she turned her gaze away. Then she glanced up at Eve’s fury, before looking away again.
“Then Ari, apologize to you sister and promise her that you’ll never speak of her private thoughts to anyone. Do you
understand?” The older woman took Ari’s chin and forced her daughter to look down at her. At the intensity of the
blonde’s gaze, the dark child registered her mother’s disappointment. As a sense of dread filled her, she gulped and
nodded assent. When silence seemed to fill the air, the girl looked up at her sister as her heart was beating out of control.
“I-I am s-sorry,” Ari managed to stutter, then added softly, “I w-won’t tell anyone.”
“Eve, is that a good apology for you?” Gabrielle folded her arms before her as she looked at her youngest. With a slight
sigh, Eve looked away.
“Yes mother, apology accepted,” Eve looked at her sister, a slight frown still on her features.
From behind them, the slight sound of footsteps pulled at their attention. When they turned, they watched as the warrior
princess entered the camp, her armor over her arm, hair drenched and wearing her white cotton shift. At the silent
reception, Xena stopped drying her hair with a towel as she glanced around the group.
“Did I miss something?” the taller woman asked.
“Just a disagreement, we resolved it Xena,” Gabrielle brushed aside the question as she knelt before the fire and began to
place some potatoes onto the burning wood. With a look of confusion, the dark haired warrior glanced at Gabrielle, then
at her two daughters. In hopes of escaping any further questions, Ari nodded at the trail that lead to the stream.
“C-can I?” she asked softly as she pointed at the distant stream. With an arched brow, Xena nodded, giving her
permission.
“Honey, do you need help?” Gabrielle stood up from the food and looked at the girl with concern. Beside her, Eve rolled
her eyes as she sat heavily upon her bedroll. In answer to her mother, Ari negatively shook her head. When the
storyteller smiled softly, the dark child blinked as she turned away, hoping that she could be away from them before she
embarrassed herself again.
Xena realized the minute she neared the camp that she was walking into trouble. Once Ari left, with head bowed in
shame, the warrior turned her attention to her lover and youngest daughter. With an arch of a brow, she glanced at them,
waiting for an explanation.
“Xena, it’s been resolved,” Gabrielle shook her head as she sat down by the fire, reached into her pouch, and began to
sprinkle the cooking meat with herbs and seasonings. When the wet warrior looked at Eve, she noticed her youngest
daughters grim expression as she frowned into the fire. At the continual silence, Eve finally looked up.
“Mother, I don’t know how you’re going to do it, but you’ve got to get things through Ari’s head. She just can’t go and
do whatever she wants and then get away with it,” Eve’s tone grew deep as she shook her head, the moistness in her eyes
indicated her level of anger.
“Eve, we resolved it!” the Amazon asserted. At her mother’s tone of voice, Eve only shook her head as she absently
brushed a tear away.
“But it doesn’t take away from the fact that Ari has no concept of right or wrong. If you just talk to her, she’s never going
to understand why she can’t go and do things just because she wants to!” Eve argued as she stared at the storyteller.
“I don’t believe in physical punishment, Eve. You of all people should understand my aversion to corporal punishment.
Besides, after everything that she’s gone through, physical punishment will not work with Ari,” the blonde’s voice grew
firm, her expression turning to ice as she faced her youngest child.
