Hercules cradled his friend easily as he ran along behind Sorrow toward the location of the temple, and she could focus on nothing else but leading him there. With both so distracted by their mission, neither one spied two of Testacles' scouts hiding in the brush just a short distance off each side of their path, nor did they see the two silently signal each other and part company, one following his target and the other heading straight back to Testacles with the news. Both men were well-pleased with themselves, and were certain they'd be well-recompensed for their excellent tracking skills - never mind that they had technically only been lucky enough to be in the right place at the right exact moment the two Olympians passed by them.

The scout who stayed to follow them did so most surreptitiously, although he had no real need to fear that he would be spotted by his targets, or even heard by them for that matter, for they were far too intent upon saving the slowly-fading life of their friend. They simply did not have the time to do anything but move toward the little temple, and the scout was more than happy to keep to the shadows behind them.

After a long trek, a minor sense of relief flooded over both Sorrow and Hercules as the brush finally opened up to reveal the temple to them. It was set against the side of a mountain, and consisted mostly of stacked rocks with mortar layered in between. Encountering the sanctuary was usually an unsettling experience for Sorrow, as each stone radiated with the sadness related to the women who strove to build the temple, but this time she only felt Hercules' relief mingling with her own.

"This way," Sorrow directed, and Hercules followed her immediately into the temple.

It was but a one-roomed temple, with no statues of the young goddess available to decorate the sparse sanctuary. However, in the midst of the room was set a rather substantial altar, made from a great slab of unpolished grey marble and littered with the dusty remnants of devotional gifts left behind for the Goddess of Lamentation. Sorrow waved her hand as she approached the altar and all the bunches of dead flowers, melted candles, small clay idols, and other trinkets disappeared. She quickly pulled her hooded cloak from her shoulders and spread it across the cold marble just in time for Hercules to lay Iolaus' limp body upon it, both working together to ease his head gently and safely to the hard surface.

"Okay . . . Hercules, you watch the door, and I'll tend to Iolaus," Sorrow suggested soberly, nervously rubbing her cold hands together in a futile attempt to warm them.

"You got it - let me know if I can be of any help," Hercules agreed, and went to stand where he could keep an eye on both the situation inside and outside the temple.

After checking to see that the outer courtyard of the temple was seemingly secure, Hercules glanced back at Sorrow just in time to see her lean down and kiss Iolaus ever so softly on his unresponsive lips. She lingered but a moment, but the lack of return emotion caused the look of incredible guilt and sadness to become even more pronounced upon her face, and a tell-tale tear escaped her eye. However, feeling a serious disregard for herself, Sorrow callously flung the pearl of her sadness away, took a deep breath, and closed her eyes.

As he watched what happened next, Hercules became more and more aware of the incredible maturity of his young cousin, and he suddenly no longer saw her as the innocent child she had once been. While he had always known how sympathetic Sorrow was, he also knew that most any young goddess - or human girl, for that matter - might have chosen to run from their responsibility in this situation instead of accepting it, as they should. But not Sorrow. Seeing her take on the full liability of this situation, regardless of her innocence in its cause, gave Hercules a sense of renewed faith in at least one member of the godly side of his family.

After a few moments of serious concentration, Sorrow began to pass her pearlescent hands slowly over Iolaus as she had earlier, but with healing intent as she did so this time. She would pause now and again as she had before, wincing at each hesitation as she focused her entire body, soul, spirit, and love toward repairing Iolaus' many internal and external injuries. As she worked, she slowly and methodically willed each bruise and cut to heal and disappear - even older ones not obtained in that day's battle.

Hercules watched with great admiration and fascination until Sorrow finally began to treat Iolaus' massive concussion. The pain and agony evidenced on her face made him glad that Iolaus was unconscious and unable to experience what she was obviously channeling from his body into her own. However, in the midst of her ministrations, Sorrow suddenly grew very pale and began to sway uneasily. Taking but a second to check outside first, Hercules ran to her aid just in time to catch her as she almost swooned.

"Hey! Whoa, there!" Hercules exclaimed as he caught her by slipping his arms beneath hers and wrapping them about her waist for support. "Are you okay?"

"I will be soon . . . ," she almost sobbed in her weariness, but then added determinedly, "Please let me go, Hercules? I can't stop now - I've got to finish - "

"But, you almost passed out just now," he argued gently.

"Please, Hercules . . . Iolaus won't survive this if I don't, and once Uncle Hades has Iolaus' soul again, he's sworn to never let it go!" she implored, looking up to him with eyes filled with intense desperation. "You've always been able to save him in the past, Hercules, but this time, I'm afraid only I can help him . . ."

The sensible hero took no offense for his ego, for his own humility had a great deal to do with his admiration for Iolaus. Hercules was completely awed by his best friend's extreme courage and fortitude despite his obvious lack of stature. He had always heard that it was not the size of the dog in the fight that counted, but rather the size of the fight in the dog, and for Iolaus, it was definitely a case of the latter. Iolaus had never been one to just lay down and take abuse because his lack of height put him at a disadvantage, and Hercules had learned a lot about human courage through their friendship, and it was this same friendship that kept his ego in check. This time, he knew he could not make much of a difference for Iolaus, but he could for Sorrow.

"Then, let me hold you up," he offered in return for her sincere devotion. "You can focus your strength on Iolaus' wound, and I will be here to take care of you both when you're done."

"Thank you, Hercules," Sorrow answered gratefully, feeling his great arms begin to take on the full responsibility of holding her up, and she was once again free to treat Iolaus' battered head. She focused her entire reserve of remaining energy on the potentially-fatal injury, and felt her own consciousness slowly beginning to wane as she worked. She doggedly held on, and just about the time she began to feel that she was nearing the completion of her labor of love, Hercules felt her go limp in his arms, and he knew she had passed out from the extreme effort.

"Sorrow?" he tried to rouse her as he gently shook her, but her body was like that of a ragdoll in his tremendous arms, and he knew she was out cold. Despite his concern, Hercules looked over at Iolaus' still-unconscious form and quipped wryly, "Bet you never considered yourself a ‘knockout' before, eh, Iolaus?"

Not knowing what to do to awaken the weakened goddess, Hercules did the only thing he could. He lifted Sorrow up into his arms and placed her on the marble altar next to Iolaus, then returned to his post to watch for bounty hunters.

"Lord Testacles!" hailed the reporting scout, who had run nearly the entire way back in order to tell of "his" discovery. He was prepared to report to his commander how he had commanded his comrade to follow the goddess and her friends while he had returned to make the ordered report, and he was quite certain that whatever benefits were extended to Testacles would also be given to him by the God of War for his quick actions.

"What is it?" growled Testacles, now on the verge of becoming seriously drunk. He had not ceased celebrating his good fortune, and despite his extreme happiness at being chosen by Ares, the wine was slowly turning him back into the foul leader he had come to be known as by his men.

"The goddess - I know where she is!"

"Where!?" Testacles slammed his cup to the table, the gleam of triumph quickly flooding back into his cold, black eyes.

Not five minutes after the scout reported the full scale of what he had seen and done, Testacles bellowed for Meridius, and a small group of selected soldiers were sent off to the south with the Lieutenant and the scout to go find the trail he had seen the goddess and Hercules running along. The only thing hindering their effort was the coming darkness, and Meridius did not harbor any hope that they would find the path before the sun went down. There would be no tracking them in the dark, but he dared not tell that to Testacles. The drunken leader was in no shape to be hearing such things, especially if Meridius wanted to keep his title, and his life. So, Meridius led the men away from the camp in the late afternoon, each man running for the same reasons Meridius ran.

To their credit, Meridius and his men found the opening of the trail just as the last bits of sun were disappearing from the horizon, but Meridius dared not go hunting for the goddess and her dangerous friends in the dark. His men were far too tired from running as it was, so they certainly weren't up to any confrontations should they arise.

"Make camp, and we'll hit the trail first thing in the morning," he announced to the grateful soldiers, praying to Ares that he would not end up paying for their gratitude.

Hours passed without incident, and without either Iolaus or Sorrow waking from their catatonic states. Hercules resigned himself to keeping watch over their bodies as they lay unprotected upon her altar, except for the time it took him to go out and quickly gather wood to build himself a fire. The entire time he hunted for burnable sticks, he did not sense the presence of the scout who watched from his hiding place in the brush, and he returned to the temple without noticing that he was not alone. Once he had a nice blaze going in the temple's fire pit, he settled in for the night in a spot where he was certain he could keep a watch on all sides. However, not long after sundown, he fell sound asleep, and the scout quietly settled into the brush outside to spend the night.

Iolaus finally began to regain consciousness around midnight, and the first thing he noted was that his head was really killing him. Reaching up to inspect the tender spot where he'd been hit, he vaguely wondered where he was and what had happened. Slowly opening his eyes, he saw the dimly-lit stone ceiling of the temple looming above him, and was hypnotized for a moment by the flickering shadows that played across his field of vision. After awhile, he also began to notice a familiar scent coming from somewhere to his left. It was the sweetest fragrance of the ocean, and he turned his head to find Sorrow lying beside him, apparently asleep.

"Sorrow?" Iolaus said gently as he reached out to touch her arm, but she did not respond to the feel of his warm hand upon her cool skin. "Sorrow!" he tried again with much more urgency as he sat up and turned so he could face her completely. "Please, Sorrow, wake up . . . ," he begged anxiously as he shook her again.

He was only half-relieved when she finally did open her eyes, for the deep, ocean-green pupils perceived nothing, and Iolaus could tell she was not truly conscious. But a moment later, Sorrow's sightless eyes blinked a few times, and her cognizance at last returned to her.

"Sorrow?" Iolaus now spoke to her with hesitant elation, and was rewarded by the simple turning of her head toward him. "Sorrow!" he repeated with extreme relief as he reached out to pull her close, saying, "Thank the gods you're alright!"

However, when he took her into his arms, Sorrow suddenly cried out from one of the many injuries she had taken away from him, and he quickly released her again, only to find that she had passed back into unconsciousness as he lowered her to the marble altar.

"Sorrow!" Iolaus cried out urgently. "What's happened to you!?"

"She healed you, Iolaus," came the gentle reply of the son of Zeus, who had risen from his sleep immediately upon hearing Sorrow's wail of pain.

Completely distraught and confused, Iolaus turned to see his friend standing behind him, and asked, "What do you mean, she healed me?"

"Sorrow was apparently born with the ability to heal," Hercules explained as he moved to the other side of the altar to check on the sleeping goddess. "Except I'm afraid it's more of an empathic sort of healing."

"Meaning?" Iolaus questioned warily.

Hercules looked up from Sorrow to see the mixture of bewilderment, anger, and worry reflected in Iolaus' clear, blue eyes, and replied truthfully, "Sorrow took on your injuries so you would not die - "

"She did what!?" Iolaus exclaimed in dismay, and it was then that he began to notice the dark pink bruises that were almost unnoticeable in the dim light. Now, the injuries seemed to leap out at him, along with vivid memories of how he, himself, had received each one. A moment later, the memory of that afternoon's battle returned, and his jaw dropped as his hand once again flew to the back of his head. The site of impact was only slightly tender now, but it was enough to tell him that Sorrow now had the serious concussion that surely had developed from the blow he received - a blow that surely would have killed him. Realizing this, he looked to Hercules and asked plaintively, "Is she going to be okay?"

"She's a goddess, Iolaus," the demigod reassured with a sturdy hand upon the warrior's shoulder. "She'll recover . . . it just may take awhile."

"But, what if we don't have the kind of time she needs, Herc?" Iolaus whispered anxiously, despair beginning to take hold of him as he gazed hopelessly upon Sorrow's sweet, beatific visage, thinking of what - and who - had caused all this pain and injury in the first place. "What if . . .?"

"Don't think that way, Iolaus," Hercules advised firmly. "We've avoided him this far - we'll surely deliver her to Poseidon tomorrow."

"How, Herc?" Iolaus begged anxiously. "There's no way we can get her to her father's temple in Iolkos in time to save her now, and it's all my fault - I should have never turned my back on the fight - "

"You were looking after Sorrow, Iolaus," Hercules excused his friend summarily. "And, you know what? She felt guilty that you got hurt watching out for her! But, that's what love is, Iolaus - it's caring more about the other person than you do for yourself. It's you taking that chance to make sure she was safe, and it's her taking away your injuries in order to save your life."

Iolaus glanced down at Sorrow, then back at Hercules with a strangely expectant look on his face, and he asked hesitantly, "This is it, isn't it?"

Hercules nodded and smiled confidently, "Yes, it is, my friend."

Instead of the elation Hercules had expected, a new visage of sadness overtook his friend's features as his gaze was drawn once again to the sleeping daughter of Poseidon, and Iolaus said softly, "You know, I never thought I'd ever find anything like this - like her - ever again . . . When I lost Ania, I went for such a long time avoiding it at all costs, and then I wasted so much time chasing every remnant of it I could find. I thought I'd found it once or twice, but now I'm know why those relationships didn't last - for all the affection I obviously felt for them, and they for me, it was never enough. We just didn't complete each other."

"Perhaps," Hercules considered the idea thoughtfully, then suggested, "or, maybe you were just subconsciously making yourself wait for Sorrow? If she's been spun into the thread of your life, then it's highly possible that you've just been slowly working your way to this very moment."

"Perhaps," Iolaus nodded slowly, unable to take his eyes from Sorrow's face. "I'll never forget how happy we were today . . . I was so relieved to see her smile again. I never imagined in my wildest dreams that she could truly love me in return, but at that moment, all that mattered was her happiness, and then we kissed . . ." His voice trailed off as he remembered each kiss after that, reliving the moments and experiencing anew the innocent love they'd tasted through each other's lips. A moment later, he asked seriously, "Hercules, will Poseidon let me marry her? I mean, I know we don't make much sense, coming from such different worlds, but I just know that I'm the only man in the universe who can take care of her and make her happy, and I know she's the only one for me."

"Then, it sounds to me like this is a chance you must take, regardless of what reaction you get from her father," Hercules replied with great sincerity. He then laughed, "Don't worry, Iolaus - I believe he's been aware of you for a lot longer than you've been aware of his daughter, and I think he's probably been expecting this to happen for a good while."

Iolaus blinked his eyes in amazement, feeling quite silly that he had worried so much about it, and had questioned it so much. Aphrodite, herself, had told him straight out that he was Sorrow's destiny, and Poseidon surely had to be aware of that fact, as well. Iolaus was now certain he had only to ask for her hand in marriage, and she would be his to love and cherish forever. It was truly not to be believed, and he was deeply gratified and incredibly honored to be entrusted by the gods with something so precious.

As Hercules checked Sorrow's eyes for any sign of further improvement, he informed his worried friend, "In the morning, I think we had better head straight for the coast and forget about getting her to Iolkos. One of the few good things my father ever did for me was to show me the secret temples of my many relatives, should I ever need to find them, and one of Poseidon's is hidden away in a cave not far from here. The priest there should be able to help us find her father, and as soon as Poseidon puts things straight with Ares, you'll be able to ask him for Sorrow's hand in marriage."

Iolaus nodded again in agreement, feeling encouraged by this new plan. At this point, he knew it was their best chance at happiness, and he somehow felt that the coming day would bring her back to him, and if all went well with Poseidon, he would marry her that very night in her father's own temple. The thought of that moment prompted another idea, and he asked with a sheepish grin, "You wouldn't, by chance, want to stand up for me as my best man again, would you? Providing, of course, that Poseidon doesn't disapprove and zap me out of existence!"

"I can't think of anything I'd rather do more!" Hercules laughed heartily and sincerely as he clasped arms with his best friend in a warrior's salute to seal the deal, happy that Iolaus had at last accepted the inevitable. Their love had been evident even way back when they were children, and it was certain to grow even stronger in the future. However, Iolaus first had to get better, and so Hercules released his buddy's arm, saying, "Now, I think we should both get some sleep. We'll all feel a lot better in the morning."

"You got it," Iolaus grinned back at the demigod, thinking of the coming morning and all it might bring as he stretched out beside Sorrow and drifted off to sleep.