“I’m almost sixty.”

“You’re fifty-six.”

“And she’s still twenty-three.”

“Wouldn’t you still want her if she was your age?”

“Of course I would.”

“So you’re prejudiced against her because she’s in her twenties. And actually she’s not. She just looks like she is. In earth years she’s what, about forty-eight? Hardly seems fair to turn her away for looking good.”

“My wanting her is not the problem.”

In the meantime, Gabrielle and Xena were still adjusting to their new surroundings. Of course, the first thought in both their heads was returning home. However, finding themselves at the foot of Mount Etna meant that they were about as far away from their hometowns as they could possibly be. And after a twenty-five year sleep neither of them felt up to that kind of a journey. Instead, they were taking things easy, and after returning to Greece, stayed in Sparta to rest for a few days.

So naturally, when Gabrielle walked into the stable and found Xena preparing Argo II for a journey, she inquired whether Xena had changed her mind.

“Nope,” Xena said as she readied the saddle. "It’s too late in the year to start a journey as far as Potidaea, let alone Amphipolis – Joxer was right about that. We’ll head there later. And anyway, we’ve got one stop to make first.”

“Where?”

“Corinth.”

“Corinth? Why Corinth?”

“Well, it’s in the area. Not too far. Only a couple day’s ride.”

“But what’s in Corinth?” Gabrielle was starting to get irritated.

“Well,” Xena said as she came around Argo II and faced her friend. “Joxer said that there’s a chance that Hercules is in the area.”

“Hercules!” Gabrielle’s eyes lit up.

“Yeah. Apparently he comes through here every year around this time.”

“And Iolaus?” Gabrielle asked, trying not to sound too anxious. To her disappointment Xena shook her head no.

“Joxer said Hercules travels by himself nowadays. And Meg said she thought it was because Iolaus had retired, but neither of them had seen him for awhile. In fact, nobody seems quite sure where Iolaus is.”

“Oh.” Gabrielle looked away. Xena saw her friend’s disappointment but decided not to ask. She opted to change the subject instead.

“Still, I’ll be glad to see Hercules again,” she said.

“Huh? Oh, yes. Of course,” Gabrielle agreed. “You know, twenty-five years have gone by, I wonder if they’ve helped him figure out whether or not he’s immortal,” she observed.

Xena stopped brushing the horse. “I hadn’t thought of that,” she said. She slowly sat down. “Meg did say that Iolaus had retired, but Hercules was still traveling…” Xena thought out loud. “I wonder.”

Gabrielle sighed and sat beside her partner on the bench. “Xena, we’re going to have to come to terms with the fact that our world has changed – a lot. We’ve got to get used to that and can’t keep expecting things to be the same.”

“Yeah, like seeing Joxer and Meg wasn’t proof enough,” Xena snapped without meaning to. But she really wasn’t in the mood for one of Gabrielle’s sermons.

“I know. But they’re normal. We’re the outsiders here.” Xena had to admit that she had a point.