In truth, Hera had only reminded him of his "engagement" once or twice, and she had probably thought no more of the suggestion after that. How he had even remembered was a complete mystery to himself, but the recent mention of Sorrow's coming of age and a discussion of her destiny had set his mind to working on a scenario, and if only he could find her, he could put that plan into action.

However much he hated to have to do so, Ares now had to admit that he was not going to get any help out of his usual partners in crime, and that he was actually going to have to turn the task of finding Sorrow over to a human. And even there, the pickings were mighty slim. Both Hercules and Xena had put so many of his most loyal warlords out of business in one way or another, and many of the others had been left useless to him.

~ It's a crying shame what they did to Draco, ~ Ares thought bitterly, thinking of the dark warrior who now roamed the countryside aimlessly, trying to find ways to make that silly Amazon bard, Gabrielle, fall in love with him. Having that girl turn Draco into a love-sick puppy was an insult to all who had ever served the God of War. However, Ares was certain that his task at hand would surely vindicate and redeem all his followers, and certainly return a great deal of respect to the war god, himself, he considered with a vast amount of smugness.

Thus, with so little to choose from, Ares randomly selected a lower-level warlord named Testacles for the job. The budding leader had yet to attract the attention of the two heroes Ares despised most, he had a fairly good-sized army, and he was actually located in the exact area where Ares needed him to be - between Mount Olympus and Iolkos.

With the decision made, Ares willed himself to the strategy tent of Testacles, the self-proclaimed "Scourge of Thessaly," and was immediately gratified to find the grizzled warlord on his knees before a tall, marble icon of the war god himself. He waited and listened awhile to Testacles' many pleas for favor and the power to vanquish his enemies, and after many flattering, venerable statements and bold promises, Ares finally decided to address the man.

"Good day, Testacles."

Still on his knees, the war monger turned and beheld the leather-clad god, but had to look back and forth at the icon and Ares himself before he accurately realized who was speaking to him, and his eyes grew large as he exclaimed in reverence, "Lord Ares! I never thought I should be so blessed as to ever lay eyes upon you in person!"

"Consider yourself . . . so blessed," Ares pronounced distinctly. He then moved closer to his loyal subject and looked down upon the warlord's adoring face. "I have a task for you, Testacles."

"Name it, Lord Ares!" Testacles declared, slamming his fist into his chest bravely in salute. "Whatever you desire, it shall be yours!"

Ares smiled satisfactorily at the blind obedience of his current "best" military leader, although he was still somewhat galled by the limitation of his choices for that title. Testacles was certainly no Xena - in no way possible, or even imaginable - , but extreme times called for extreme measures, and the task at hand was not that hard to complete, Ares considered. So, he continued, smiling most ferally.

"Testacles, I need you to find someone . . ."

Iolaus became quite silent as he helped Hercules to hide all evidence of their campsite, which was quite a contrast to his demeanor just minutes before when he'd been laughing and flirting with Sorrow over their breakfast. Now, Sorrow was standing a short distance away from them in the clearing, practicing with her new staff like a born Amazon, and when she left their immediate company, Iolaus suddenly became silent and brooding.

Hercules only let his friend stew that way for a few minutes before inquiring, "You're sure quiet all of a sudden. What's on your mind, Iolaus?"

Never one to hold back his feelings, Iolaus looked up from the fire circle and asked disappointedly, "Herc, how could you send her off to get water by herself like that? What if you-know-who had shown up?"

"Whoa, Iolaus," Hercules put a steadying hand on his friend's shoulder. "She wanted to go, and I'm hardly able to prevent her from going if she wants to go and get water! Besides, she was only doing it to impress you."

"To impress me?" Iolaus echoed softly, his gaze turning immediately to where the beautiful, young goddess was twirling her staff with ease, completely oblivious to their conversation. As he watched her, he suddenly began to confess, "I saw Aphrodite while I was gone, and she told me something . . ."

"Let me guess," Hercules continued in his stead when Iolaus hesitated. "She said that you were Sorrow's destiny. Am I right?"

Iolaus looked back up at Hercules in amazement, "How did you know?"

"I told you; it's not hard to see how you both feel about each other," Hercules explained gently. "And, as I told you last night, Sorrow deserves to know how you feel about her."

Iolaus' face began to burn bright red as he contemplated such a moment, for he still had no idea how he would ever begin to tell her the full extent of what he was feeling, and despite all the godly and demigodly advice to the contrary, he still harbored a small, lingering doubt that Sorrow wouldn't accept his declarations and return them in kind.

Hercules recognized the tell-tale crimson in Iolaus' face, and he urged, "Tell her, Iolaus."

"I . . . I will . . . eventually," Iolaus hedged, still shy of committing himself to such an act.

"Well, just don't let the chance pass you by, okay? Sometimes you only get one."

Iolaus' head jerked upward to the demigod in surprise, and he shook his head in amazement, "Believe me . . . I won't."

"Good," Hercules pronounced happily. "You'll make beautiful children together, Iolaus."

"Children!" Iolaus repeated, his face turning crimson once again.

"Children?" Sorrow asked, having come up on them unnoticed during their most serious of conversations. "Whose children?"

Iolaus was dumbstruck with embarrassment, so Hercules quickly covered, "Um, we were just saying how important it is that we get you to your father's temple. We were thinking about all the humans who were missing your comfort right now, especially children."

"Oh," Sorrow nodded, sensing a new, strange vibe from both men and not knowing how to take it. Sadness was her forte, but other emotions also came to her in bits and pieces when times permitted, and she was able to experience them unhindered by unhappiness. She had sensed such incredible surges of joy and excitement from Iolaus when she had first encountered him on the road, and then again at the inn. She had sensed it even that morning when she awoke in his arms. Now, something had changed in Iolaus' manner, and his feelings were now coming at her in a mixture she could not comprehend. Each separate emotion overlapped another to the point that she could not discern one from another.

Hercules, too, was dealing with a vast array of emotions and thoughts she could not begin to understand, and it began to utterly frustrate her. The whole situation was changed, and Sorrow frowned in despair as she gasped in assumed disappointment, "You're having second thoughts about helping me, aren't you?"

The moment she said it, Iolaus leapt up from the fire circle and took hold of her gently by the shoulders, exclaiming, "Oh gods, no, Sorrow! That's not it at all!"

"Then, what is it?" she demanded, her heart racing in fear. Her eyes darted back and forth between the two of them suspiciously. "You're both acting oddly, and I can't figure out why."

"We're just worried about getting you there safely," Hercules excused, saving Iolaus from having to confess under such stressful conditions. "Truly, Sorrow, I'm your cousin - I could never abandon you."

"Nor me," Iolaus added, most seriously. "We're in this with you all the way, okay?"

Looking into Iolaus' earnest blue eyes, Sorrow saw only deep concern and his willingness to help, so she nodded in agreement, but still retained a great deal of doubt that reflected strongly in her face as she replied in almost a whisper, "Okay . . ." She then pulled out of Iolaus' easy hold on her and withdrew from them a few steps before saying coldly, "Are you ready to go? I think we've tarried here far too long."

"Sure," Hercules answered as he tossed away the last rock from their fire circle. "Give me but a moment and we'll be on our way. Oh, and you might want to step back just a little more."

Iolaus moved toward Sorrow, but was disappointed to see her turn away and begin to walk directly away from them both, dragging her new quarterstaff behind her. He ended up standing alone and watching forlornly as Hercules began using his great strength to first kick away the ashes of their now-dead fire, then boot fresh dirt atop the remnants of their campsite. While he watched, Iolaus felt panic ensue as he thought of Sorrow turning away from him so abruptly, and despite his despondency, he knew that he could not let her go on thinking the worst of him. He turned and saw where she was now standing with her back to them, and went to speak to her.

"Sorrow," he said as he caught up to her and spun her around to face him. "Please, don't be upset with us - I swear to you on the graves of my ancestors, I will defend you to the death! Please don't leave us . . ."

Sorrow's face now reflected the unhappy confusion that she was experiencing for the first time in her entire existence as a goddess, and Iolaus began to fear that she was going to do exactly what he had sworn he would never make her do - cry because of him. He wanted to pull her into his arms and hold her tight, and somehow make her understand. But Hercules was now on his way to rejoin them, and so the two let the subject drop for the time being.

Testacles was completely stoked for the task he'd been assigned, and the minute Ares had given him his orders and returned again to Olympus, Testacles had called together his best warriors. He now stood before them all, resplendent in his armor that was usually reserved for battle, and he had to forcibly hold back the smile that would have revealed his feelings of triumph at having attracted the attention of Ares, God of War.

Instead, Testacles wore a most serious countenance as he glared down upon the soldiers he had gathered - most of whom were remnants of other now-defunct armies that had made their own marks upon the landscape of Greece. Two or three were even said to have served the Warrior Princess herself, and one of those claimed to have participated in the legendary Battle of Corinth. This task was nothing in comparison to that ill-fated siege, but Testacles considered any service to Ares to be worth the effort.

~ Especially if it earns me the favor of the God of War in battle! ~ he thought gleefully.

After some time of pacing back and forth, and having stared down his chosen men sufficiently, Testacles finally growled, "Lord Ares has a task for us!"

"Hail, Lord Ares, God of War!" chanted the men in response as they lifted their fists to their chests in salute of their unseen patron deity.

Testacles grinned psychotically and began to rub his hands together greedily, seeing only glory and Ares' gratitude ahead of him.

The heroes and their charge started out walking single file through the forest on a narrow trail that ran parallel to the main road, with Hercules taking the lead and Iolaus following closely behind Sorrow. As they walked, from time to time Hercules would stop and wave them back, indicating that they should wait while he checked out possible points of ambush that lay ahead.

As they waited, Iolaus couldn't help but notice that his almost-desperate efforts to talk to Sorrow, or even make her laugh, were met with only cold replies or polite smiles that more than indicated a severe change in the young goddess' attitude toward him. It caused him great concern that she had become reticent and distracted, and he knew he had only himself to chastise for it. How many times had he been given the chance to tell Sorrow how he felt, only to let the moment pass or allow something to interrupt the opportunity? No, he had ultimately let his own cowardice and insecurity thwart him, and he had let it happen far too easily. Now, Sorrow was learning to distrust him, and he was powerless to stop or undo it, and worse, he had only himself to blame.

Sorrow, on her part, was now certain that she had been deliberately misled by her cousin Discord, and she chastised herself thoroughly for having allowed the dark goddess to influence her thus, making her think she could actually gain the love of a human. She could see now that Iolaus was obviously nothing more to her than a childhood friend, and she could only presume that, because of Discord's influence, she had either said too much or flirted too intensely with him that morning and scared him away. It had to be so if he now wanted to be done with her and his promise to protect her.

As she trudged along behind Hercules, she did nothing but think of what she could have possibly said to change Iolaus' mind about her, and eventually she pulled the hood of her cloak up and over her head to hide the tears that kept rising to her eyes. She did her best to blink them away, for it would do no good to let Iolaus know that he'd succeeded in making her cry, and yet she could not contain her sadness. In fact, more than once, she almost waved her hand before herself to make herself disappear from their company, resigning herself to marrying Ares after all. She did not love Ares, but since she had come to adore Iolaus so intensely, she could only resolve her problems by marrying Ares and trying to forget Iolaus. However, the very idea of not becoming Iolaus' wife someday hit her quite hard, and she soon reached her limit, unable to contain her unhappiness any longer.

To her dismay, just as she began to truly weep, Hercules suddenly waved them back with such an urgency that Iolaus protectively seized Sorrow and quickly pulled her aside into a secluded area of the brush to hide. It happened so quickly that when she was involuntarily turned to face Iolaus, two milky tears escaped her eyes, and Iolaus viewed them in horror as they rolled down her cheeks, knowing that his failure to communicate had caused her such sadness.

In reaction, Iolaus took her face gently into his hands and used his thumbs to brush away the tears before they could fully become pearls, and he pleaded desperately, "Oh gods, Sorrow, what have I done?"

"Nothing, Iolaus!" Sorrow sniffed anxiously. "You've done nothing . . ." However, she could hold back no longer, and she broke down into gentle sobs that broke his heart completely.

"I've done nothing is absolutely right," Iolaus replied unhappily as he drew her into his arms comfortingly. "I've let every opportunity pass me by, and all that's done is hurt you! I don't half deserve you, Sorrow, but I can't keep it to myself any longer - I love you. In fact, I love you more than life itself!"

Although certainly flabbergasted by the sudden declaration, Sorrow might surely have replied in kind if she had been given the chance, but she had already been pulled into Iolaus' arms, and he spoke for both as he fully embraced her and took possession of her lips at last. She had kissed no other individual in such an arduous way, and though her innocence was quite evident, she quickly learned how to return his embraces with equal exuberance and passion. Instinct, fired by true desire, caused her to throw her arms about his neck and pull him close, and Iolaus responded by deepening the kiss further, moaning softly as he finally tasted the sweetness of her mouth.

He did not need to hear her words to know that Sorrow felt the same way about him - her kisses told him that, and so much more.

A short distance away, Hercules leaned against a tree and waited patiently for his companions to re-emerge from the brush. A sly smile kept creeping across his face as he contemplated what might be going on between them at that very moment, especially since he had orchestrated the whole thing.

As they walked that morning, Hercules had looked back at them many times only to see the unhappiness that was weighing heavily upon both Iolaus and Sorrow. He had previously resolved to let Iolaus tell her how he felt in his own good time, but when he heard Sorrow beginning to cry, he knew it was time for Iolaus to see what his hesitation was doing to the young goddess.

And so, he had suddenly waved them back with such feigned urgency that Iolaus had reacted exactly as Hercules had hoped - he'd taken hold of Sorrow and disappeared into the heavy brush with her in tow, and since he had yet to see any sign of them, he could only assume that Iolaus was finally "tending to business" at last. Hercules gave them a good while alone before deciding that they'd had plenty of time to declare their hearts, and he finally called out, "All's clear! You can come out now!"

A few moments later, Hercules was most gratified to see Iolaus and Sorrow emerge from their hiding place, walking hand in hand and blushing each time they stole small, shy glimpses of the other. They had obviously admitted their feelings at last, and he could not be any happier for them than he was at that moment. He could only hope that their happiness would last.