#ff mine

Xena huffed in frustration as Gabrielle sat across from her, sighing and staring dreamingly at Aphrodite.

“Aphrodite you gotta fix this!” The warrior spoke finally breaking the silence.

It had only passed a few hours since Cupid’s arrow accidently hit the bard just as Aphrodite appeared to them. The goddess was going to ask Xena for help to figure out why her powers weren’t working, but now all Xena could do is wish the deity had better timing.

“I don’t know, Xena. I gotta admit I kind like the attention.” Aphrodite answered with an amused smile as Gabby gazed lovingly at her. “Besides, there’s nothing I can do without my powers!”

Rolling her eyes at the bard, Xena let out a frustrated breath. ‘This is going to be a long day!’

“What was Cupid doing shooting an arrow at Gabrielle anyway?!” The warrior asked in annoyance.

“Oh, no, the arrow was meant for yo-I, I mean… He missed it!” Aphrodite quickly tried to cover up her almost slip, but needlessly, seeing as the warrior didn’t even seem to have listened to her answer. She was apparently too occupied with her moping -eyes unfocused, in deep thinking.

“Xena, sweet pea, why are you so worked up about this?” The goddess asked in feigned innocence. She knew why, but she wanted Xena to figure it out herself. Since Cupid’s arrow had missed its target, she might as well try and get the job done herself.

Xena seemed reluctant to answer and was grateful that she didn’t have to, as Gabrielle interrupted the two. The bard sat as close to Aphrodite as physically possible, wrapping her arms around the other blonde and resting her chin on the goddess’ shoulder.

Aphrodite smirked as she watched Xena grow red with anger. It didn’t help when Gabrielle started doing humming noises as she gently brushed her fingers against the taller blonde’s arm, causing Xena to finally snap.

“Could you stop?!” The brunette growled in anger.

“Sorry, but no.” The small blonde stated simply. “It’s so soft!” she sighed contently causing the goddess to beam at the compliment. Her skin was something she took pride of... Along with mostly all her body parts.

“You know, Xena, she’s not wrong! Milk baths will do wonders to one’s skin!” The deity shot the warrior a meaningful look and grinned. “You should note that, you know, for future reference.”

Xena absentmindly touched her own cheek. ‘Maybe my skin could use a bit more of care…’ She forcefully shook her head dismissing the thought. ‘Gabrielle doesn’t care about my skin! We’re just friends... soul mates, whatever!’

“Alright Aphrodite, do you have any idea of what could have caused you to lose your powers? Anything unusual happened to you lately?” Xena asked just wanting to get this over with so she could go back to her normal routine with the bard, away from unwanted thoughts.

Aphrodite – who was now lying on her stomach with Gabrielle straddling her waist and massaging her bare back – looked up to Xena in deep thinking. Then realization hit her.

“That gothic little hoe! I’m going to kill her!” Aphrodite said- eyes narrowed in anger.

“Who?” Xena inquired.

“Discord! Who else?!” the deity answered. “I should have known that that wasn’t a peace offering!”

“Okay Aphrodite, what are you talking about?”

“Well, we had this running bet on who was the most powerful between the two of us. Then one day she came to me and said she realized she could never be as powerful or beautiful as me, and that she would be honored if she could at least call herself my friend.” Aphrodite began to explain.

“And what did you do then?” the warrior asked anxiously.

“I said ‘friend’ would be a stretch, but I could try not to ruin everything she does just for the thrill of it. And she said it was good enough, so we drank this weird beverage she had in her to celebrate our truce!”

“And all of this coming from Discord and you didn’t get even a bit suspicious?!”

“A little at first. But then I thought about it and she seemed to make perfect sense” The goddess explained further. “Well, excuse me for believing people can be better!”

Xena rolled her eyes. She did not have patience for all this Aphrodite crap!

“Do you think you can reverse whatever spell she casted on you?”

“Maybe… I would need to get a few things in one of my temple, though.” The goddess answered.

“Fine. Where’s your nearest temple?” Xena asked excited that they were making progress. If all went well this could be solved before nightfall.

“A few miles south.” Aphrodite complied. “It’s not a very pretty one though. People there have no talent for building temples… And the town is such a bummer! Ooh, and don’t even get me started on the offerings, like really-”

“Does it have what you need?” Xena cut the God’s ranting short – her patience running lower with every touch Gabrielle gave the goddess as she worked on her back, massaging flawless pale godly skin – only to be scolded by said bard.

“Xena, you should not interrupt the Goddess of Love. Please let her continue talking with her sweet, mesmerizing voice.” Gabrielle said seriously, and then gave the god a kiss on the back of her neck in apology to Xena’s rudeness. Aphrodite giggled at the feeling of the kiss as a few strands of short blond hair ticked her neck.

“You know, if didn’t know Gabrielle’s heart already belonged to someone else, I might even keep her for myself. Girl’s got a magic touch!”

Xena glared at Aphrodite one more time, then realized what she had said.

“Who?” The warrior inquired.

“Who what?” the taller blonde asked distracted by the bard’s touch.

“Who owns Gabrielle’s heart? You said it belonged to someone else!” the brunette pressed.

“Well I can’t discuss that with you. It’s like Gods etiquette or something.”

Xena knew she was lying but didn’t press further. Was she really ready to know the answer to that question?

‘Why am I so scared of what the answer might be, though?’

“Alright, let’s move. Gabrielle please get off Aphrodite, we gotta go get her powers back!” Xena said, hoping her last statement would be enough to convince the bard.

It was. Gabrielle was more than happy to comply.

The walk to the temple proved to be just as infuriating for Xena. Gabrielle clung to Aphrodite, sharing loving caresses with the God and kissing her shoulder every now and then –as it was as high as she could reach.

To say Xena was mad would be the understatement of the year! Her breathing had become erratic as she tried to control the urge to rip the goddess’ head off... It wouldn’t work if she tried anyway.

“Are we here Aphrodite?” Xena asked as they approached something that resembled a temple, though only slightly.

“Unfortunately, yes. Ugh! Isn’t it disappointing?” The blonde complained.

“Your beauty makes up for it!” Gabrielle tried to comfort her - while playing with curly long hair and staring at her with loving eyes.

The goddess beamed again.

“I know, right?!” she squealed.

“Aphrodite, what do you need to reverse the spell?” Xena asked to keep herself from gagging.

“A potion. It breaks any spell or curse. I keep one in all my temples for emergencies!” The tall blonde said as she scanned the place for the object in question. “Here! Found it!”

As she finished the content of the flask a brightness seemed to take over her.

“Good as knew!” Aphrodite smiled. “Now Gabs! Come here babe.” The goddess put one hand on each of the bard’s shoulder. “It was fun while it lasted!” she smirked and winked at her, causing the smaller girl to smile as wide as her lips would allow it! Then small lightning bolts came out of Aphrodite’s hands hitting the other blonde.

“There.”

“Is she back to normal?” Xena asked in a mix of excitement and anxiety. Aphrodite nodded.

The taller warrior walked to Gabrielle crushing her in a hug, then pulled back to look into the bard’s eyes. “Pleased don’t fall in love with anyone else ever again! Deal?”

But before the bard could respond, she felt Xena’s lips crashing against hers in a forcefull kiss. Her surprise lasted a few seconds followed by her grinning against the taller woman’s lips and lacing her arms around her neck, lifting herself up and deepening the kiss.

-------------- A few minute later----------------------------------

When they finally broke up the kiss and finished the loving stare they shared for while, Gabrielle walked up to Aphrodite who was grinning like a little kid who just ate desert before dinner. She grinned back.

“Glad to see you two worked things out!” The taller woman squealed.

Gabrielle laughed and blushed slightly. “Dite, I just wanna apologize for how I was acting earlier.” The small girl stated with embarrassment.

“Sweet pea, you’ve got no complaints from this end. Trust me, you are quite a lover! And that’s something coming from me!” Aphrodite winked.

“What? We never-” Gabrielle stopped mid-sentence cheeks becoming a darker shade of red.

“Honey, Goddess of Love here!” she waved at herself to emphasize her point. “We don’t need to make love for me to know these things!”

Gabrielle looked away and tried to change the subject to a more comfortable one.

“Oh, by the way, thank Cupid for his efforts. Even though he missed the target, it got the job done in the end.” The bard said with a laugh.

“I will. Take care little one.” The goddess prepared herself to leave but stopped to say one more thing “And Gabby, if you ever need my help again you can always ask! After all you are my favorite mortal!” Aphrodite smiled. 

“Thanks Dite!” Gabrille returned the smile.

   Finally she found herself at the destination she wanted. Right outside a big wooden door – shiny details in gold showing that that wasn’t just an ordinary room. She gave another howl, this time much lower than the first, and she could hear someone unlocking the door on the other side. The door began to open slowly not to make any noise. As soon as she stepped in the room she felt herself being wrapped by strong arms.

   “I missed you, Red.” The tone was intended to be seductive, but sounded a bit more like a squeal. Emma moved closer as she hugged the woman from behind. Even though she still called her Ruby most of the times, she found ‘Red’ way cuter in moments like this.

   “I bet you did!” Red replied giggling from the feeling of Emma nuzzling in her neck. Then her tone turned a bit more serious- “Sorry I couldn’t come these last few days. Granny still doesn’t trust me alone anywhere around the full moon.”

   There was some kind of sadness in her voice, that even though she tried to hide acting nonchalant about it, it didn’t skip Emma’s radar. The blonde was good at detecting those kinds of things.

   “Was it bad?” she asked softly.

   “Not worst than usual…” the brunette replied, dismissing the apologetical look Emma was giving her. Ever since she found out about Red’s condition she couldn’t help but feeling bad that her girlfriend had to go through all this and there was nothing she could do to help – she hated feeling helpless. That was the exact reason Red didn’t want to tell her, but Snow had insisted she did.

   Snow had found out about their relationship a while ago, it was a little awkward at first, but she quickly realized that there was nobody else she would trust for either of them. She was very protective of Emma after all the time apart, and now that she remembered she still saw her as her little girl; and she was also very protective of Red because she saw what the girl went through first hand, and she cared a great deal for the younger woman.

   So when she asked Red to tell Emma her secret, it wasn’t just to protect her baby, but also because she knew it was something that needed to be done for them to work out. It’s not a secret one can keep for too long, and it was better she told Emma than let her find out on her own.

   “It’s just painfully frustrating!” Red continued as she saw the look on Emma’s face and knew the blonde wouldn’t let it go. “It’s like- Like every fiber of your being is aching to change, and yet something keeps blocking it!”

   “Isn’t that the whole point of the cape?” Emma asked confused. It seemed like Red wanted to turn into the wolf.

   “It is… And I’m grateful that I have it. But still, it hurts… a lot!”

   Red looked down to the floor. Too ashamed of her own desires – her uncontrollable urges - to look at Emma. The blonde kissed the other woman’s bare shoulder – that wasn’t covered by her sleeveless dress, and turned her around so they could be face to face, then gently lifted Red’s chin with a finger so she could see the brunette’s eyes.

   “Hey” she said in a gentle whisper. “Don’t hide those pretty yes from me, ‘k?” She waited until Red gave her half a smile to continue. “Look, I get it! Something happened to you that weren’t your fault, it hurts and makes you feel things you don’t like feeling. I get it, believe me, I do!”

   Emma pulled Red’s arms around her waist and pushed herself forward to fill the gap between them, putting her own arms around the brunette’s neck and resting her forehead on hers, faces few inches apart.

   “But you got your family back. You got your happy ending.” Red replied not being able to refrain a small smile from forming on her lips at the thought that she was a part of it… a part of Emma’s happy ending.

   “So have you.” Emma shot back matter-of-factly. Pulling her tighter as she continued- “It doesn’t mean that the scars aren’t still there, they always will be. For both of us! And sometimes they hurt, but at least now the pain is worth it… isn’t it?”

   Red had tears falling freely from her eyes as she heard the words her lover was saying. Who would’ve thought that Emma Swan, her best friend’s daughter, the girl that couldn’t commit, would get her better than she did herself?

   “Yes” she said trying to pull Emma closer, though they were already as close as they could get. “Yeah, I believe it is.” She completed as she kissed the shorter blonde.

   “Alright, then!” Emma said enthusiastically, as she picked the taller yet lighter girl in her arms, throwing Red in her bed, straddling her – who had the wickedest smirk Emma had ever seen on her face.

   She leaned in to give her a heated kiss that didn’t end until both of them were about to pass out from lack of oxygen. It was gonna be a long sleepless night… still, to neither, did it seem long enough.

* * *

   In the morning they were both awaken by a knock on the door.

   “Emma, wake up! Come on, you're royalty now, people are waiting for you so they can start their breakfast.” Snow called form the hallway.

   They both looked at each other. Red hadn’t planned to spend the whole night. They were still in awkward grounds with Snow when it came to sleepovers - or at least they thought they were. As Red was trying to find a way to sneak out of the window, they heard Snow shout back:

   “Oh, and ask Red if she wants to stay for breakfast. We already set a place for her.”

   Now that they were both dressed, Emma finally opened the door, finding a grinning Snow waiting on the other side.

   “How’d you know?” Red asked, cheeks colored almost as bright as her hood.

   “The mother always knows.” She said nonchalantly. “BUT-” she continued, smirking. “Next time you two try to be sneaky, you may want to choose a different signal. Wolf howl, dead giveaway.”