Gabrielle paced back and forth in the room that she and Xena were provided with for their stay on Mount Olympus. Xena sat on her bed and watched her with a raised eyebrow. "Do you mind?"

"Xena, the contest is in one hour! Do you think Joxer can win? Yeah, silly question! Of course he can win. But then again, making the Gods believe! They make their own faith..."

"Gabrielle, will you stop ranting? It's getting on my nerves!"

Gabrielle stopped her pacing and stared at Xena, a blush staining her cheeks. "Uh... Oh. Sorry, Xena."

"It's all right, Gabrielle. Look, why don't you go down to Joxer and Jett's room and see him before the contest?" Xena suggested.

"Yeah. Jox could use your company."

The two women turned around as Jett entered the room. "Hi, Jett. How's Joxer doing?" Gabrielle asked.

Jett frowned a little. "He's fine, but I think he's a little nervous. Right now, he's singing." He paused for a moment. "It's kind of sad in some parts. I had to leave before I lost it," he admitted quietly.

Gabrielle quickly left the room. If Joxer's singing a sad song, then he's definitely upset, she thought to herself. As she hurried down to his room, she heard his voice as it drifted through the halls. She then stopped and leaned against the wall to support herself as her knees grew weak when she realized that the words to the song told a familiar tale.

Steeling herself, Gabrielle pushed away from the wall and walked towards Joxer's room. She slowly and quietly entered his room and saw that Joxer was sitting on the bed facing the wall with his head bowed. She listened as Joxer sang and her eyes welled with tears as she listened to him singing about how she had become an Amazon.

Joxer slowly realized that he wasn't alone in the room and he stopped singing. He raised his head and turned around to see who was with him. His face turned even paler than normal and his eyes grew wide.

"Why did you stop? It was so beautiful," Gabrielle whispered.

"Gabrielle..."

The bard walked over to Joxer and sat down on the bed next to him. "Joxer." Gabrielle couldn't find the words to continue, so she reached out and held his hands.

He smiled sadly. "I guess you're wondering about the song?" he asked.

She nodded.

"Well... You see, I'm not a fighter like you and Xena and I needed another way to make money since I gave gambling up," Joxer slowly began. Gabrielle squeezed his hands gently and waited for him to go on. "So, I began to sing your stories for other people. It brings in a good crowd."

"How do you know them so well?"

Joxer scratched behind his ear, bit his lip nervously and gazed at Gabrielle. "I've got this sort of curse, at least that's what Father calls it."

"Curse?"

"I can hear something once or twice and remember it word by word."

"Joxer, you never told us you could do that."

Joxer pulled away from her. "It's a curse, Gabrielle. Why would I tell you about a curse?"

Gabrielle gently pressed one hand against his cheek while still holding his other hand. "Joxer, having the ability to do anything that beautiful and wonderful isn't a curse, no matter what your father's told you!" She looked at him. "Please sing another one for me," she requested.

Joxer looked at her and gently squeezed her hand. "Are you sure?" he asked.

Gabrielle nodded. "Yes. I'm sure."

Joxer nodded and softly sung the very first story Gabrielle ever told him. As he sang, Gabrielle found herself moving towards him, putting her arms around him and holding him close to her.

A throat was cleared and the two turned around to see a female servant standing in the doorway. "I hate to interrupt, but the contest is ready to continue," she told them.

"Thank you. We will be there soon," Joxer said. The servant nodded and left them. Joxer looked at Gabrielle and sighed. "Gabrielle, how I make my money has been my secret for a long time," he said quietly as he rose to his feet.

Gabrielle smiled at him as she rose to hers. "And now it is ours. I promise that I'll never tell anyone - not even Xena. It's your choice to tell it when you're ready."

"Thanks, Gabrielle." Joxer sighed. "Well, we better get going."

The two walked into the hallway. "Are you nervous?" Gabrielle asked.

"I'd be lying if I said no, but I came this far and there's no turning back now," Joxer replied.

Gabrielle took his hand and together they left the room. Xena and Jett were waiting for them outside. "Well, Jox. Today's the big day. So as I once heard Jace say, break a leg."

Joxer frowned at his brother's words. "Jett, why would you want me to break my leg? That's the last thing I want to worry about!"

"Jox, it's just a figure of speech. It means good luck," Jett explained patiently.

Joxer rolled his eyes. "Then just say good luck!"

Jett snorted with laughter. "Okay then. Good luck."

"Thanks."

"Gabrielle, Jett and I are going to our seats. We'll see you after the contest."

"Let's just all go in together," the bard suggested.

Xena nodded in agreement. "All right, Gabrielle."

The four friends walked down the corridor and entered the great hall. Xena and Jett walked over to their places next to Aphrodite, who gave them a thumbs-up signal and a gorgeous grin as they sat down next to her.

Joxer and Gabrielle went over and sat down next to Apollo. Everyone started talking at once. A servant eventually came out and announced Zeus and Hera. The King and Queen of the Gods entered the Great Hall and everybody was surprised to see that Hera was carrying a birdcage with a raven inside it and it was squawking up a storm. Zeus leaned over and whispered to his wife, "Did you really have to bring him?"

"And what? Have him miss the final contest? Don't be silly," Hera replied. She then took her seat and placed the cage on the stand beside her.

Zeus shook his head and sighed as he raised his hands for silence. "Today is the last contest between Apollo and the mortal Joxer," he began.

Zeus motioned for Apollo and Joxer to stand. Once they did so, he continued explaining the rules. "For this final part of the competition, you must do something that can't be done on Mount Olympus. It may be anything you wish, but you must make the judges believe the impossible and that you did it without anybody's assistance." He turned to the rest of the assembled Gods and Goddesses. "One more thing: we have a new judge - my sister Hestia, who has graciously agreed to take Ares' place. He defied me and was punished for it," Zeus said as he pointed at the squawking raven.

Xena smirked and murmured, "It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy."

"HA! That's nothing! Daddykins should've let me take a crack at Mister War on the Brain! By the time I'd have finished with him, he'd be wishing that he was sitting in that cage next to Cow Face!" Aphrodite sniffed.

Jett gazed at the Warrior Princess and Love Goddess with wide eyes. "I'm glad I'm not your enemy," he mumbled.

Gabrielle looked over at Joxer and noticed that he was flinching. She reached out for his hand and squeezed it in reassurance. He looked at her and smiled weakly.

"Apollo, you may go first," said Zeus.

Apollo stepped forward and began to play as Joxer sat down next to Gabrielle. His music was fast and furious in tone. The wind began blowing hard and the sky overhead became dark and menacing. Then, rain suddenly began pouring down in sheets inside the great hall. The Gods and Goddesses tried their best not to get wet, but for some unknown reason they couldn't.

Xena shouted over the raging storm, "WHAT'S GOING ON? WHY IS IT RAINING LIKE THIS?"

Cupid replied as loud as he could, "IT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO! APOLLO MUST'VE DONE IT WITH HIS MUSIC!"

"'POLLO, YOU'RE DEAD MEAT ONCE THIS CONTEST IS OVER! YOU LIKE TOTALLY RUINED MY BRAND NEW OUTFIT!" Aphrodite screeched, pushing her soaking wet hair away from her face. She squealed indignantly when she stamped her slippered foot on the floor and got splashed by the water from the huge puddle that had formed there.

Apollo stopped playing eventually, but the rain continued to pour down inside the great hall. He walked back over to where Joxer was sitting and gave him a smug look as he took his own seat. Joxer swallowed hard, but stood up and went before the dripping wet judges. He bowed to them in a gesture of respect, and once given the signal, he began to play.

Joxer's music was strong but gentle as the rain continued its heavy downpour inside the great hall. Suddenly the rain stopped and the sun broke through, shining down on everyone. The Gods suddenly began to cheer Joxer instead of jeering him.

Jett stood up and whistled his approval. "I knew you could do it, Jox! I never had a doubt!"

Xena looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Not even the slightest bit of one?" she asked dryly.

Jett shrugged his shoulders. "Well..."

Zeus stood up and raised his hands for silence. "The judges will now leave here to debate about who is the winner of this competition and they will not return until a decision has been made."

It was an hour later before the four returned to the great hall and took their seats. Hestia stood up and faced everyone once the hall was silent. "This was a very hard choice for us to make," she began in her soft and gentle voice. "Apollo and Joxer made us believe in the impossible and both of them played their best in the competitions that were held over these past three days. However, we have chosen Joxer as the overall winner of this musical duel, for he made the sun come out and since Apollo is the Sun God, Joxer shouldn't have been able to do it, but he did."

Gabrielle hugged Joxer tightly and whispered, "I knew you could do it!" as cheers rose up in the great hall and the transformed Ares' angry squawking increased in volume. Joxer smiled and blushed a little as Xena, Jett, and Aphrodite joined them.

The Goddess was bubbling over with joy. "Yay, Studmuffin! Way to go! WOO HOO!" she crowed.

Apollo turned to Joxer and a vial appeared in the God's hand. "Here. Have someone rub this on Xena's hand. She must not rub this on herself. Once this has been completed, the spell will be broken and she will be able to touch her chakram again," he explained.

"What about the Princess Meliai and those men who were turned to crystal?" Joxer asked as he cautiously took the vial from Apollo.

"She has been returned to her father and the men are free, as I promised. Take a look." Apollo produced a scrying mirror and they all leaned around to see a young girl running into her father's arms.

"Oh, my daughter! You're safe!" the king exclaimed.

"Yes, Father. I've missed you so much! Someone came and set me free."

The king held his daughter tightly. "Yes, and the reason why you're safe is because of the great musician, Joxer."

The image then changed to the temple room where all the transformed men were standing in. The group watched in silence as all the men changed from crystal back to flesh and blood and they looked around in surprise. The men were so overjoyed that they were back to normal that they were patting each other on the back. "How?" one of them asked.

"I have no idea," said another one, "but we're free. I'm going home!" All the other men agreed and they left the temple, carrying their instruments with them. Joxer smiled again and the rest of the Gods cheered.

As the images finally cleared away and the mirror disappeared from the God's hand, Aphrodite suddenly grabbed Apollo's left ear. "OW!" the Sun God screeched as she twisted it mercilessly. "LEGGO OF MY EAR, 'DITE!"

"I told you that you were dead meat once the contest was over, 'Pollo! Nobody gets away with messing up my new wardrobe!" the Love Goddess informed him. The two disappeared in a shower of gold and pink sparkles, but not before Apollo let out a loud and painful yelp that echoed throughout the hall.

Jett suddenly took the vial from Joxer and turned to Xena. "Do you mind?" he asked.

"Go right ahead."

Jett opened the vial and slowly rubbed the sweet-smelling stuff on Xena's hand. The raven squawked even louder as Jett rubbed the antidote into Xena's hand. When Jett was done, Gabrielle gave Xena her chakram. Xena held it for a moment and said, "Welcome back old friend." She then placed it back where it belonged on her hip.

Hera stood up, her strange ice-blue eyes shimmering with revulsion as she gazed at the mortals. "This contest is over and if I have to look at his ugly face," she exclaimed, pointing at Hercules, "for much longer, then I won't be held responsible my actions, so you will all leave now!" She waved her hand and all the mortals found themselves back on Earth.

"Wow. When Hera said now, she really meant now," Joxer mused.

"Yeah. Well, if I had to look at her ugly face for much longer, then I would've puked!" Hercules replied with a grin. Everyone else laughed at his comment as he turned around to face Joxer. "I think that you did a great job, Joxer. It's not often that a human beats a God - especially the way you did it - fairly. Congratulations." He reached out and gripped Joxer's upper arm.

"Thank you, Hercules," Joxer returned the grip with a warm smile.

The demigod nodded. "Well guys, it's been fun, but I've got to be hitting the road. Iolaus is supposed to meet up with me outside of Corinth, so take care," Hercules said.

"Bye, Hercules. Tell Iolaus we said hi."

"I will, Gabrielle," the demigod promised. "Bye, Xena. Jett."

"Goodbye, Hercules," said Xena and Jett nodded. With a wave of his hand, the demigod turned around and walked away from the group.

Joxer stood next to Xena as they watched Hercules leave. "Joxer, do you want something?" she asked curiously.

Joxer nodded. "I wanted to say that I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Yelling at you earlier."

Xena smiled warmly. "I've forgotten all about that, Joxer. I'm the one who needs to apologize this time. You did a great job, Joxer, and I'm very proud of you." Xena leaned over and gave him a small kiss on the cheek.

Joxer's face turned beet-red and both Gabrielle and Jett hid smiles behind their hands. "Jeez, Xena! What did you do that for?" he sputtered.

"Because I wanted to," Xena replied.

Joxer gave her one of his famous grins in response. Gabrielle suddenly took Joxer by the hand and he gazed at her curiously. "Joxer, you said up there that you care for me."

"Yeah, I did. I'm sorry, Gabrielle. I had no right to say that."

"Joxer, I'm not mad at you. I just wanted you to know I care about... No, that's not enough." Gabrielle looked directly into Joxer's eyes and said, "Joxer, I love you."

Joxer stared at her for a minute. "You love me. Just like that," he said flatly.

"What do you mean 'just like that'? Joxer, you said that you care for me!"

"I do, Gabrielle - and it's more than just caring about you. I've been in love with you for a long time."

"I know, and now I love you."

"Yeah, but for how long is it going to last this time? Until the spell's broken and you can just laugh at me again for even thinking that we could ever be in love? Until I do something wrong again? Gabrielle, I'm not a toy that you can just play with whenever you want to and then toss me aside whenever you feel like it!"

"What are you talking about? Joxer, where is this coming from?"

Xena tapped Jett on the arm. "I think that we better check on the horses," she said quietly. Jett nodded and followed her, leaving Gabrielle and Joxer alone.

Joxer shook his head. "Gabrielle, I love you. I've been in love with you ever since the day that you were hit by those arrows that Bliss got his naughty little hands on and you fell in love with me."

Gabrielle laughed at that. "Oh, that! Joxer, that wasn't real! We were both under the spell of those stupid arrows!"

Joxer gazed at her sternly. "I wasn't hit by any arrows! My feelings for you were true and you laughed at the idea of us two ever being in love! And you expect me to believe that you love me now? Gabrielle, the reasons why you're saying this is because I beat Apollo and you think that you're making me feel good about myself!" He turned away from her. "Gabrielle, could you please go away and leave me alone?" he asked in a very small voice.

Gabrielle's face turned white. "Joxer, I mean it! I love you! Please, believe me!"

"I want to, Gabrielle, but I can't."

"Why? Tell me why, Joxer!"

"Because it doesn't seem real," Joxer whispered. He walked away then, angrily wiping at his eyes with the back of his hand and leaving Gabrielle alone in the field.

Gabrielle stood in the spot that Joxer had left her in, her body numb with disbelief. She stared ahead, not seeing anything. Suddenly Aphrodite appeared and Gabrielle found herself crying in the Love Goddess' arms. "Why doesn't he believe that what I'm saying is true?" she sobbed.

Aphrodite sighed and snapped her fingers. A delicate pink silk handkerchief appeared and she gave it to the disconsolate bard. "Here. You and I need to have a serious heart-to-heart, Blondie," she said. She snapped her fingers again and two overstuffed pink chairs appeared in the middle of the field. "Take a seat," the Goddess motioned towards the chair opposite her as she sat down and delicately crossed her legs.

Gabrielle sat down in the chair, wiped her eyes and loudly blew her nose into the silk hankie. The Goddess wrinkled her nose in distaste at the racket the bard made as she attempted to calm herself down. Ick! Mortals and their wicked disgusting habits! she thought to herself. "Uh, you can keep that."

Gabrielle nodded and sniffled loudly. "Thanks," she mumbled.

"Feel a little better?" the Love Goddess asked softly.

"Yeah," Gabrielle sniffled again, using her hand to wipe the last of the tears streaming down her cheeks away. "I don't understand! Why did Joxer say that?"

Aphrodite sighed heavily as she faced the bard. "Well, my boy Joxer's had his love life messed around with one too many times, so for you to say the one thing that he's always dreamed you of saying to him kind of loses its luster when he remembers that."

The Goddess slumped down a little in her seat while she put her elbows on her knees and cupped her face in her hands as she gazed unhappily at the bard. "And the one time that myself or Cupie don't happen to be involved in some way and you finally get a clue and mean what you're saying, Miss Thing, he doesn't believe you! This royally sucks!" Aphrodite paused for a moment before she continued with a soft, "But then again, I kind of don't blame Studmuffin either. I'm at fault for causing some of this mess, after all."

"Wait! What Joxer said about not being hit by Bliss' arrows... that was true?" Gabrielle asked.

"Yep. Take a look at the goods for yourself right here, honey." The Goddess waved her hand and Gabrielle saw an image of herself and Joxer inside the temple, Cupid standing behind them and Xena standing at Cupid's side. She couldn't hear anything, but she didn't need to. She watched as Cupid took the spell off her first and then he tried taking it off Joxer, to no avail.

The image then changed to her, Joxer, and Xena sitting in front of the fire later that evening after the arrow spell had been broken. She studied the look on Joxer's face after she had left to go to bed. She saw Xena as she rose to her feet then and gazed down at Joxer sympathetically as she gripped his shoulder briefly before she too went to bed. Then, she finally saw how Joxer looked when he turned back to the fire.

"Oh, Gods! I had no idea!" Gabrielle whispered, putting her hand over her mouth. "The next day, he was acting like his normally cheerful self..."

"It's a bit of a rude awakening, isn't it?"

"Yes! But why didn't he say anything?"

"Because he's been pushed aside or laughed at so many times in his life - first off by his family and then by people he thought were his friends but turned out to be otherwise. It didn't help matters at all that you regularly used him as your punching bag or the walking butt of your jokes either, y' know, Miss Bard," the Goddess pointed out. "The boy's got it bad for you, don't get me wrong, but he's got his pride too."

Gabrielle squirmed uncomfortably in her seat and sighed, nodding in silent agreement.

"But in spite of all that, he still loves you with all of his heart," Aphrodite said quietly. "Studmuffin's got the biggest heart full of love I've ever seen in a mortal, and considering the totally nasty way he and his brothers grew up, that's saying a lot." The Goddess paused for a moment as she searched the beautiful bard's face carefully. "Tell me how you feel when you think about Joxer. No flowery and totally boring epic bardic speeches, just whatever comes to that pretty little head of yours."

Green eyes slowly turned up to meet blue. "I'm scared, Aphrodite," Gabrielle said finally. "I feel my stomach turning inside out and my heart feels like it's going to explode through my chest - but it's not a bad feeling..."

"Why isn't it bad?"

The bard struggled with herself as she tried to express her feelings. "It feels kind of like when I was with Perdicas, but it's totally different too! Sometimes Joxer does these crazy things that make me so damn mad at him, then he'll turn around and he'll do something like this... And then there's the little things he says and does to make everybody laugh and forget about the bad things..." Her voice slowly trailed off.

The Goddess said nothing and simply waited for Gabrielle to continue. After a while, Gabrielle slowly looked up to gaze into Aphrodite's eyes. "I once said to you that love was sweet, kind, and gentle and you said I had a lot to learn about love," she said softly.

"Yep. I sure did." Aphrodite rose to her feet then and gave the bard a gorgeous grin. "So, it seems like those words are finally beginning to sink inside that stubborn little skull of yours, huh Blondie?"

A slow smile surfaced on Gabrielle's face as she also rose to her feet. "Yeah. They are," she admitted.

"Just give it time, sweet cheeks. You'll get the rest of it one day, but you're off to a pretty groovy start for now." Aphrodite tossed her curls over her shoulders, snapped her fingers and the chairs disappeared. "The big L thing can be a rocky road at times, but when you get to the smoother sections, it's pretty darn rewarding."

Gabrielle blinked in surprise at Aphrodite's words and the Goddess giggled. "Hey, I am the Goddess of Love, after all! It's my business to know about these things! And speaking of business, I've got some personal business to take care of - namely some with my snookums Hephy, so I've gotta make tracks for now! Remember what I said!" she exclaimed as she snapped her fingers and disappeared in a rose-scented shower of pink sparkles.

"I will!" Gabrielle called out as Aphrodite disappeared. Snookums? she thought to herself.

Aphrodite's voice echoed in Gabrielle's head. And like Pookie is any better, Miss Bard? she asked.

Good point, Gabrielle chuckled to herself. She heard the Goddess laugh throatily in her mind and she shook her head, thinking over what she and Aphrodite talked about. She heard somebody stepping on a broken tree branch then and she looked up to see who it was. The smile quickly left her face as Joxer slowly walked over to her and stopped a couple of paces away from her.

"Gabrielle, I'm not sure if you're in love with me or if it's something else. But if you're ready to try and see where this path will lead us, I'm ready to do the same thing," Joxer told her softly.

Gabrielle gazed up into Joxer's troubled dark eyes and reached up to caress his cheek. "Joxer, I said that I love you and I do. There'll be times that I'll be angry with you, but that doesn't mean I don't love you. So please try to be patient with me, okay?"

Joxer nodded. "I will." He reached up and scratched the back of his neck. "I'm sorry I made you cry, Gabrielle."

Gabrielle nodded and smiled. "I know." She held her arms out towards him. "Hug?" she asked.

Joxer returned the smile and pulled Gabrielle into one of his best hugs, which she eagerly returned. Carefully, Joxer kissed the top of her head, wondering what her reaction would be. Gabrielle simply snuggled closer against him in response and he relaxed, deeply inhaling the soft scent of daisies and vanilla wafting from her hair. As they stood in the middle of the field, arms wrapped around each other with eyes closed, they wondered what the future held in store for them.

Epilogue:

Zeus lay in his bed with Hera as Ares squawked in the cage. "Hera, please change him back! I can't take his squawking much longer!"

"I will on one condition. You never so much as much look at another woman again."

"But Hera!"

"Zeus..."

"All right! All right! Just change him back before I go insane!"

Hera nodded in agreement. "Oh, and make sure that you return his power, Zeus."

Zeus nodded and Hera raised her hands. Swirls of light surrounded Ares and he transformed back to his human form. Zeus then waved his hand and returned his Godly powers.

"You have your powers back. Now leave," ordered Zeus.

"Gladly!" Ares snarled as he vanished.

Zeus sighed. "Maybe next time, he will learn not to defy me."

"No, my husband. The next time, our son will know not to break anything that belongs to me."

Please take the time to write to Susan at sasondo42@yahoo.com, and let her know how you liked the story!

COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER:
Xena: Warrior Princess, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Xena, Gabrielle, Hercules, Joxer, Jett, these versions of the Gods of Olympus, and all characters who have appeared in either series, together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of StudiosUSA and Renaissance Pictures. No infringement of copyrights or trademarks is intended in the writing of this fan fiction. This story is copyright © 2003 by Susan Owens 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.