Rating: Pretty much G
Summary: Eve and Aphrodite do that bonding thing. (I said bonding you perverts, not bondage.... but that is an idea.)
Note: Total denial of everything after Kindred Spirits, but I couldn't come up with anything better...

"After all that we've been through," she murmured to the wind. She looked up, letting the warm breeze off the Agean Sea dry the last few tears on her cheeks. The blonde pushed her hair off her face as she sighed again.

"I'm sorry," said a small voice behind her. "If it wasn't for me, then none of this would have happened."

Aphrodite turned her soft blue eyes on the young mortal standing behind her. "No, none of this would have happened if Zeus hadn't tried to kill you twenty five years ago. This is his fault, not yours. No matter how much I want to blame you, I can't."

Eve sniffled. "I still killed Joxer."

"I think you have enough people who are going to hate you for that, without adding my name to the list," the Goddess of Love said dryly.

"Gabrielle and Virgil hate me," Eve said as she dropped to the sparse grass at the top of the cliff. "Now that I remember him from when I was a baby, I think I hate me, too."

"Oh, baby," Aphrodite whispered as she sank gracefully beside Xena's daughter. "Joxer wouldn't want you to hate yourself. He loved you."

Eve closed her eyes against the tears that threatened to overwhelm her. "He loved me when I was a baby, in the end I was just the woman trying to kill Gabrielle."

"And he stopped you." Aphrodite wrapped her arms around Eve. "He knew what would happen when he got between the Bard and Livia's sword."

"You say that like I'm not Livia," Eve whispered.

"You aren't. Not anymore anyway." Aphrodite shrugged. "And sometimes to relize that, you have to loose something."

"How do you know that?"

Aphrodite turned her eyes back out to the sea she had risen from longer ago than she cared to recall. "Because it took loosing Joxer to make me relize that without him I wasn't the Goddess of Love anymore."

"What?" Eve pulled away enough to look at her.

"Joxer was the only one who still worshiped me," Aphrodite explained gently as she brushed Eve's dark hair out of her face. "Because as often as I messed with him, I never hurt him, and when he lost Gabrielle and Xena... I helped him find his way back to Meg. So, he was happy. A little. But when he saw Gabrielle again, I got such a power rush. Pure true love is what Joxer died for, and he did it willingly. When he died, my place as the Goddess of Love went with him."

"I don't get it," Eve whispered.

Aphrodite chuckled. "You will, kiddo. You will. There's a lot of Joxer in you. A lot of Xena and Gabrielle, too. So I think you'll be okay."

"I'm glad somebody's sure of that." Eve relaxed back into Aphrodite's hug.

"After all that we've been through, kid? You'd better be okay."

Please take the time to write to Ephiney at ephiney@yahoo.com and let her know how you liked the story!

COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER:
Xena: Warrior Princess, Eve, Aphrodite, Joxer, and all other characters who have appeared in either series, together with the names, titles and backstories are the sole copyright property of StudiosUSA and Renaissance Pictures. The lyrics to "After All" are owned by the appropriate copyright holders. No infringement of copyrights or trademarks is intended in the writing of this fan fiction. This story is copyright © 2000 by Ephiney and is her sole property along with the story idea. This story cannot be sold or used for profit in any way. Copies of this story may be made for private use only and must include all disclaimers and copyright notices.