"And now," the Warrior Princess
looked at Gabrielle, "Hera knows that Apollo's daughter is
alive."

"Yes, and in spite of all her talk about
her change in attitude, I feel that we can't trust her."
Artemis faced Gabrielle. "That is why I made your mother tell
you the truth. While you are here in this village, Hera
wouldn't dare attack you. But once you leave the boundaries of
Amazonia, she could do whatever she wished. I wanted you to know
what you may be up against and why."

"So either I stay here and have to deal
with my family or I leave and may have to deal with Hera. What kind
of choice is that?" Gabrielle looked around the hut as she
felt the walls closing in on her. Even though she did not like it,
she knew what she had to do. "Fine, I'll stay. But
Artemis, you must do me a favor. Tell my mother and Apollo to stay
away from me."

Artemis stared at her niece. "If that is
the way you want it…"

"It is."

A moment of awkward silence past as Artemis
peered at her niece. She lowered her head to the ground, "I
wish that things could be different, but I will respect your
requests." In a ball of light, the goddess of the hunt was
gone.

"Wow, I still can't believe that my
sister is a half-god," Lila gushed.

"Shut-up Lila." Sophia rolled her
eyes at the Amazon princess. For two days she had watched as Lila
stared in surprise and wonderment at her older sister. For two days
Sophia had to deal with a talkative Lila who didn't seem to
know when to keep her mouth closed. Both Xena and Sophia tried to
run interference, knowing that Gabrielle didn't need Lila's
quizzical questioning. "Can't you see that this is hard on
your sister?"

"Hey, this is hard on everyone. Mom
barely comes out of her hut anymore. Can't you do something
about this?"

"What do you expect me to do?"

"You are a guardian, aren't you? This
is up your alley, isn't it? Or do you only deal with
couples?"

Sophia crossed her arms and silently counted
to ten before speaking. "First of all, I dealt with all issues
when it came to love. And second, I'm a former guardian, so
back off."

Lila lowered her head and stared at the
ground. "I'm sorry. I just want to help her."