Xena sighed and cast a look over to where Gabrielle seemed to be stuffing an endless supply of trinkets mixed with a fair selection of pots and pans into a knapsack. Her frown became something more of a glare as her eyes narrowed and she told herself firmly, - If she thinks Argo's going to lug that lot around she's got another think coming! -

The bard caught her look and gave her friend an artfully contrived smile, "I know what you're thinking," she told her, "but don't worry, most of this stuff I'll give to your mother ... but I want the frying pan and the cooking pots as a backup, because a certain Warrior Princess I know has a habit of destroying cookware faster than I can acquire it!" she mock frowned.

The dark warrior bent her head down to hide her grin knowing that her younger partner was quite right on that point. As Gabrielle continued her packing, her thoughts returned to the problem of Autolycus. There was something about the thief that pulled deeply at her .. something that made her keep him at arm’s length in a way that she never had with Hercules. Her thoughts skittered back to a moment on a night-shrouded roof in Rome when the King of Thieves had brushed past her defences, gathered her into his arms and kissed her deeply and unexpectedly. She could still feel the static buzz on her lips, when she thought of it, and her fingers drifted towards the spot almost involuntarily.

"You okay?" questioned Gabrielle, noticing the far off look in the warrior's eye.

Xena mentally shook herself and offered the bard a smile, "Yeah, just thinking."

The bard could tell that her frequently taciturn partner didn't really want to talk about what she'd been thinking, so instead she announced, "Well I'm packed .. time we went and put your mother's fears to rest." Nodding her agreement, the warrior reached for the bulging knapsack, intending to swing it over her shoulder, only to have her hands slapped away by her friend. "You may be fit enough to be back on your feet, Xena, but that wound in your shoulder still hasn't fully healed. It was really a bad one and I don't want to take any chances that it will open up again." She could see the larger woman was about to protest, but put an end to the argument with a firm, "Humour me on this one ... please?"

The Warrior Princess threw her hands up into the air with a resigned sigh, "Just don't come complaining about an aching back because you've packed everything into that bag including the ship's bath tub!"

"The ship doesn't have a bath tub," answered the bard a little confused.

"I know," breathed Xena with a grin eying the sack.

She earned another backhand blow to her stomach and a growled, "Funny, Xena, very funny!"

Smiling, and exchanging insults, the pair made their way back up on deck where Toris was waiting impatiently for them, "How long does it take to pack a few clothes?" he demanded.

"Ask her majesty here," the warrior pointed to the bard, "I've only got what I'm standing up in." She eyed her brother judiciously, "Thought you might have gone to tell Mother that we were here," she stated.

Toris nodded his dark head and looked at her with those blue eyes that were almost a match for her own, "Thought about it," he admitted, "But decided that if she saw me without you two she might get the wrong idea."

Xena returned his look before slapping him on the back and acknowledging, "Good call. Don't want her any more worried than she probably is." Her look strayed to the wharf that was beginning to be crowded with Amazons, before shifting across to the grass verged street where it appeared the local militia was assembling. She arched an incredulous eyebrow, "Just what in the name of Hades do they thing they're doing?"

Her brother turned his attention to where she was looking, "Give me strength!" he hissed,"Let me go and talk to them and just let them know what's going on, okay?" He gave his sister a warning look, "Don't do anything ... outrageous."

"Me?" she inquired innocently.

"Yeah, yeah!" he answered with a tight smile, "Save it for someone who doesn't know you."

"I am so misunderstood," she grumbled lightly, grinning as the bard elbowed her in the side, "What?" she demanded.

"The problem here is that we understand you all too well, O Warrior Princess of flamboyant intimidation. Just behave yourself and let Toris sort things out, okay?" Gabrielle instructed firmly.

Xena sighed, rested her arms on the railing and watched as Toris ran down the gang plank, pushed his way through assorted Amazons who were starting to look defensively at the Amphipolis militia, and strode purposefully up to the man in charge. - Why is it never easy coming home? - she asked herself wistfully.

As they waited, Hercules and Iolaus came over and joined them, "What's going on?" asked the blonde sidekick.

Waving a hand in the direction of her brother the warrior answered, "Seems like the militia is getting a little bit worked up by the amount of Amazons suddenly appearing on the wharf. Toris has gone to calm things down before it gets out of hand."

"Why did Toris get the job?" asked Iolaus confused, thinking that Xena's impressive reputation would be far better to back up assurances that the Amazons were just passing through and heading for home.

A quickly smothered, pain filled look swept across the Warrior Princess' eyes before she answered the question, "I .. am not well .. thought of here at home," she told her listeners. "We have a truce, of sorts, but ..." she shrugged, "there's an awful lot of old hatred for me here."

"But this is your home .. you have family here, they know you!" protested the blonde, who despite their rocky history had managed to fully overcome his animosity for Xena and counted her both as a friend and someone who could be relied on in times of trouble.

"That's the problem .. they KNOW me. What I was .. what I did. I doubt that anything I do will ever be enough to reinstate people's faith in me here ... well not everybody's. That's okay. I'm used to it, and I earned their hatred fair and square," she told them emotionlessly, her warlord mask firmly locked into place as she informed them of the facts as she saw them.

The two men exchanged glances while the bard tucked an arm around her friend's biceps and told her softly, but with firm resolve, "It's not okay, Xena. Not with me ... and eventually even the people here will see and understand that you've changed. When that time comes, they will forgive the sins of the past." She looked up into the warrior's carefully blank features, "You may not believe it, but that's okay. I told you I've got enough belief for both of us."

The Warrior Princess looked down at the Amazon Queen and gave her a faint, affectionate lop sided grin before she told her, "You have enough belief for the world, my bard."

Eyes turned back to where Toris was obviously losing his temper as he began to gesticulate wildly. Even from their current distance, the small group at the ships rail could hear voices raising as reason began to give way to anger. Xena noted that a large portion of the disembarked Amazons were now standing alert with hands resting seemingly negligently on their weapons.

"Oh this is ridiculous!" muttered the warrior testily as she sprang lightly up onto the rail and selected a suitable rope, leaning her weight onto it to test it's strength.

"Xena!" warned the bard, "You promised Toris."

"Actually, I never did, Gabrielle," grinned the dark haired woman, "You were so busy nagging at me that I never got a chance to," she laughed as she launched herself back across the deck to the far side of the ship gathering momentum to fly past her friends as she swung back past the rail over the side of the ship, describing a lazy loop in the air while rattling out her battle cry and landing neatly next to her irate brother.

"I do not nag!" yelled the bard after her, then repeated firmly to herself, "I don't nag."

Toris could see the nervous determination in his friends and neighbours as they gripped their seldom used, or practised with, weapons. If they thought they were going to take on battle hardened Amazons, and his sister, with their meagre abilities they must have been sprinkling their tea with henbane!

Seeking out Praxedes, the leader of the group, Toris used a couple of hand gestures to try and calm him and the other men down before demanding, "What in Hades do you think you're doing Prax?"

"My job Toris!" retorted the other man. "When we got the alert that we were about to be invaded by Amazons ...."

"They're not invading, you moron, they're just disembarking to head back to their own land. If you keep out of their way, most of them will be gone by noon," the dark haired man told him.

" ... and not only that, but your demon sister was leading them! Well, no one here is about to let her start that game again," finished the militia leader puffing out his chest that was way along the road to becoming flabby.

"Great hairy toads in the morning," growled Toris under his breath. He clapped a firm hold on Praxedes’ shoulder and leaned in close to him, "Prax, old buddy," he smiled, "How long have we known each other?"

The man's florid features looked a little puzzled as he answered uncertainly, "Since we were kids, Tor, you know that."

The raven haired man smiled mirthlessly, "Indeed I do, Prax .. and in that time that we were growing up, do you happen to remember my little sister?"

The other man's Adam's apple bobbed up and down convulsively, "Y..yes," he admitted, beginning to get some idea where this was going.

"Of course you do," agreed Toris affably, "She's the one that regularly beat the crap out of all of us! And you know what, Prax?" he asked conversationally.

"Wh .. what?" stammered the other man, wondering just why he let the head man talk him into this folly.

"She's a hundred times better at kicking butt now!" answered the tall innkeeper, struggling to keep a hint of pride out of his voice.

Screwing his courage to the sticking place, Praxedes drew himself up to his less than impressive height and looked up into the other man's burning blue eyes, "Damn it Tor! That's the whole point isn't it? We can't afford that bitch of a sister of yours to come charging in here like she owns the place. We got burned by her once .. never again."

Toris threw his hands up into the air! "Of all the mule headed, backwards thinking, brain numbing stupidity!" He stopped suddenly and skewered the town baker with a piercing look, "Prax? Just who in Hades came up with that idea?" he asked knowing full well that the pompous little man wouldn't have thought of this himself and so it was logical to presume someone else had put him up to it.

"It's my duty as head of militia ...." began the baker once more.

"Yes, yes .. I've heard that already .. now just who gave the alert?" demanded the tall, suddenly menacing man.

"Umm .. well .. ummm Tomas said ..."

Slapping his head in mock disbelief, Toris was almost ready to take on the militia himself and send them packing, "Tomas? TOMAS? What in the blue blooded blazes of Hera has he got to do with anything?" he yelled.

"He's head man here now, Tor! Was elected while you've been gone!" retorted Praxedes beginning to get angry himself, "So if he says get the militia out and arrest the bitch from Tartarus and clear off the harlots, then that's what I have to do!"

Above their shouting came the unmistakable ululation of Xena's battlecry replaced almost immediately by a soft thud as she landed gracefully next to Toris. With ice blue eyes flashing dangerously, she asked in the deepest, coldest voice she could muster, "You gonna try and arrest me, little man?"

The baker was close to peeing his pants. She could see the undiluted terror in his eyes as he struggled to say something .. anything! A distinctly feral grin lit her features as she swept a deadly look over the rest of the men in the militia and it deepened as they involuntarily took a step back away from her. "You wanna tell me what's going on here?" she returned her gaze back on Praxedes.

Finally summoning the courage to speak to the dazzlingly beautiful, but frighteningly scary, warrior before him, "You can't bring your Har ...." his voice stopped suddenly as a hand squeezed his throat.

Still smiling coldly, Xena told him, "They're Amazons ... remember that!" she hissed before releasing him.

The stout man grabbed at his throat as he drew in a couple of long deep breaths before finishing hurriedly, "You can't bring those ... Amazons in here. I have orders to arrest you if you do."

Taking a deep breath, the Warrior Princess growled, "The Amazons will be heading home more or less immediately. I and a few friends will be visiting with my Mother for a few days. I'll vouch for the Amazon's good behaviour while they are here."

"Yeah?" sneered Praxedes, "And just who is going to vouch for you?"

She smiled as she identified a small group approaching behind her, "I'll vouch for her," said a familiar male voice.

The little baker looked up at the giant of a man who had approached with a smaller blonde man and the more familiar looking bard that had been seen in Amphipolis with Xena before, "And just who in Hades are you?" came the almost expected demand.

"I'm Hercules," returned the reply complete with a shrug of the shoulders.

That caught the attention of all the militia. Praxedes struggled with the identification before stuttering, "You .. you're .. um, I mean .. you'll make sure she doesn't get into any trouble here?"

"Oh yeah!" he agreed off handedly. "I'll keep her in line."

"I'll get you for that, Hercules," breathed Xena almost too quiet for even the demi-god to pick up.

"In that case .. erm," Praxedes shuffled trying to reconcile his orders with the latest turn of events.

"Just send the lads home, Prax. There's nothing for them to do here." Toris told him quietly.

The baker moved uncertainly, throwing worried looks at the group before him and the Amazons behind them, "C'mon lads .. let’s get back to work," he said at last.

Breathing sighs of relief, the militia dispersed, leaving the group alone on the wharf road. Gabrielle approached a glaring Warrior Princess and gently rubbed her arm, "Hey?" she questioned, "You okay?"

"Jerks," muttered the warrior glancing after the retreating men. She glanced at the bard and added, "Yeah I'm fine."

"Eph says she'll meet us up at the inn. She'll come up with Poni, Joxer and Sheraya. Why don't we go and see your mother?" she suggested.

Quirking the ghost of a lopsided smile, Xena nodded her head, "Um, Herc? Can you bring Eph up .. just in case of trouble?"

"No problem," smiled the demi-god, "We'll see you in a while."

"Thanks," she told him, before she, Gabrielle and Toris headed up the street towards the town's best inn.

The walk through the street was executed quickly. There were few people to be seen around .. obviously nervous about the intimidating presence of so many Amazon warriors .. not to mention a certain home grown Warrior Princess. The trio didn't speak, but their eyes noted the wary looks they were getting from the few people that had braved the streets.

When they reached the inn, Toris entered first and found his Mother waiting anxiously beside the bar. As her son approached she held her arms open and pulled him in for a hug. "I've missed you," she said, "Is everything alright?"

In answer she heard her daughter's tentative voice, "Mother?"

Drawing away from Toris she looked across the room to where her tall, powerful daughter stood waiting by the door, still uncertain of her mother's welcome, knowing there was still so much past pain laying between them. Smiling, Cyrene started across the room, picking up pace the closer she got and was enfolded in a strong pair of arms as she reached her destination.

"Oh, Xena! I've been so worried. Welcome home little one .. I'm glad you've made it back safely."