The women had been lying in the grass for some time.

Xena smiled softly to herself when Venus imitated her actions and laid back in the grass. She knew the smaller woman was slowly but surely getting used to her. Xena liked this, as she too was getting used to Venus. Her presence alone was a great deal of comfort for Xena. She couldn't think of anything else that she enjoyed as much as being with Venus, cooking for the younger woman and just taking care of her. Making Venus happy made Xena happy.

"What's your favorite color?" Xena asked, trying to strike up a conversation.

"Black." Venus replied softly, which didn't surprise Xena.

"What do you like to do in your free time?" Xena asked again. She genuinely wanted to learn as much about the woman as she could.

There was a moment of silence.

"I don't know."

This reply filled Xena with a strange sort of sadness.

"Tell me a bit about yourself."

For the longest time there was no reply, Xena turned her head slightly to look at Venus. The smaller woman was lying back, staring up at the sky. Xena was beginning to think that she had somehow crossed the line, that Venus would go back to being completely mute.

"I don't really know what you want to know," Venus suddenly said, "what kind of things do people talk about?"

Xena was taken aback by this response. She got the feeling that Venus didn't really interact with many people.

"Um, anything really." Xena replied, now turning back to stare up at the sky. "What college you went to, what foods you like to eat, your family, anything really."

There was another moment of silence.

"Well... I didn't go to college. For food, I like to eat the food you make and bring for me, and family..."

Xena waited, but Venus had trailed off. It didn't seem like she was going to revisit the topic. But a curiosity had overcome Venus, so she tried to probe a bit more. "You asked me once if I liked the woman that adopted me," Xena began thinking back to one of the earlier interactions she had with Xena. "Was there a reason for that?"

Venus sat up then. "It's getting a little chilly, I think we should go back."

Xena instantly knew that she had somehow hit a nerve. She could see it in Venus' body language. The woman had been so relaxed a few seconds ago, but now she was slowly closing up, suddenly recoiling into herself.

Xena racked her brain desperately for something she could do to stop this from happening. She suddenly heard the light jingle of an ice-cream truck nearby. "Hey, do you want ice-cream?"

To Xena's relief Venus nodded her head. She picked up on a brief excitement in the smaller woman's features.

"Wait here." Xena instructed, before getting to her feet and running to the ice-cream truck.

Turns out the truck was a little farther from where Xena had anticipated. She had disappeared out of Venus' view completely when she finally got to the truck. Furthermore, there was a que and a deep irritation set within Xena.

A couple of minutes passed before Xena finally made it to the front of the line.  "Hey, could I have two ice-creams. A chocolate and vanilla one, please."

The ice-cream man nodded at her and went to make the order. Xena watched a bunch of children nearby eating their ice-creams, which they had basically smeared all over their faces. Xena laughed slightly at the sight before her.

"Here you go." The ice-cream man said, reappearing.

"Thank you." Xena replied, handing cash to him as she took the cones.  She began making her way back to where she left Venus, desperately wanting to run towards the smaller woman. The little ice-cream trip had taken longer than she had expected, but she didn't run for fear of dropping the ice-creams. The walk back now became almost painful.

Xena finally made it within view of Venus. The smaller woman was seated where she left her, but her head was bent over into her arms.  Xena's brows furrowed in confusion. She couldn't understand what was happening.

"Venus?" Xena called out softly once she was in front of her.

Venus looked up, shock was written across her face. But that was not what stood out to Xena. The woman had been crying. Her face was tear-stained, her eyes red and puffy, and her thick lips were swollen.

"X-Xena." Venus stuttered as she quickly got to her feet, her eyes were still as wide as saucers.

Xena couldn't understand what was happening. "Venus, what's going on? Why were you crying?"

Xena quickly scanned the area looking for any signs of danger. Had somebody harassed the smaller woman while she was gone? But that didn't seem to be the case. They had been seated in a secluded area and nobody was close by.

Xena now rested her eyes on Venus, who was still trembling slightly.

"Venus..."

Xena was cut short by the feel of the smaller woman's body tackling into hers. She was embracing her; she was crying loudly into her chest too. Xena couldn't understand anything that was going on, the ice-creams she had been holding had now fallen to the floor.

"Venus, what's-"

"I thought you had left." Venus suddenly said, interrupting her. "I thought you had left me."

Realization suddenly dawned on Xena. The younger woman had probably thought that because of how long it had taken her to get the ice-creams. But still, the fact that her mind had automatically jumped to thinking that she had abandoned her greatly concerned Xena.

Xena slowly peeled herself from the smaller woman so she could get a full view of her tear-stained face. Her heart was beating fast. She looked hard into the eyes of Venus.  "Why would I leave you?"

Venus was silent, just looking back at her, crying slightly. "Everybody always leaves. Nobody wants me."

Xena didn't think she had ever felt so many emotions run through her in that moment. She grabbed the younger woman, pulling her body straight into hers. The two embraced with Venus still crying profusely.

"I'd never leave you." Xena whispered into the woman's hair.  She slowly brought her fingers, running them over the smaller woman's dark locs. They stood like that, Xena holding the smaller woman tight as she heaved into her.

Xena had never seen Venus be so vulnerable, had never seen her display so much emotion. Just as she had thought, there was something else going on. Venus had definitely experienced something traumatic in her life that had made her the way she was today.

Anger boiled through Xena at the thought of anyone ever hurting Venus. She vowed to herself that she wouldn't hurt her. But Xena didn't even want to do such a thing; she couldn't picture such a thing.

"Let's go home." Xena whispered to the woman whose crying had reduced substantially.

Venus nodded, and they walked back silently together. Xena had her arm wrapped around the smaller woman that was still sniffing occasionally. There was so much emotion that hung in the air, Venus had shown her vulnerable side to Xena. The dynamics between them had shifted.

Xena already felt pretty protective over the smaller woman, but now it was on a whole different level. She understood that the woman's initial coldness was just a front, a way for her to guard herself from possibly being more hurt. So much seemed a lot clearer to her now.

They entered the now dark apartment and Xena let go of the smaller woman to feel for the light switch when suddenly a body collided with hers.

"Venus, what are you-"

She was caught off once again when she felt the smaller woman's lips against hers. It was aggressive, laced with desperation. Xena's eyes widened as she felt the explosion that the kiss had caused within her.

Venus continued to kiss her, aggressively grabbing unto her, tangling her hands in her hair.

"Venus." Xena murmured, breaking the kiss.  She reached over for the light-switch and turned it on as she got a good look at the woman. The tear-stains were still visible on Venus' features, but a look of embarrassment was also spread across her face.

Slowly but surely, Xena grabbed unto the smaller woman, leaning against the wall as she pulled her towards her. This time she took control of the kiss. She kissed her softly, hesitantly. She didn't want to rush anything; she knew how vulnerable Venus was right then and didn't want to take advantage of it. She wanted them to take their time.

Venus occasionally tried to grab unto the woman, to deepen the kiss; but Xena didn't want that, just not then.

She flipped Venus over so the smaller woman was pinned against the wall, then she kissed her, pinning her hands above her head. Everything in Xena wanted to kiss her harder, she wanted to have every bit of her then. It took everything within her to hold back.

Xena broke the kiss, both women breathing deeply against each other. Their bodies touched as their chests rose and fell in sync. "Come on, let's get into bed."

Venus nodded, and they made their way over to her room, hand in hand.

They were beneath the covers, holding each other, kissing each other occasionally. But Xena made sure to keep everything as innocent as she could. She was determined not to rush anything too soon, Venus felt so fragile in her arms, like she could break at any moment. That was the last thing Xena wanted. She didn't want to scare her away.

She watched as Venus' eyes slowly dropped, smiling softly. Just before the smaller woman dozed off completely, her eyes fluttered open.

"Xena?" Her voice sounded distant, it was clear that she was going to fall asleep at any moment.

"Yes, love?" Xena answered, cooing silently over just how cute Venus appeared in that moment.

"How did the movie we watched last night end? Did the beast ever turn human again?"

"Yes. He married Belle, and they lived happily ever after."

"Does that mean there's hope for me?"

Xena's brows furrowed in confusion as she looked down at the woman in her arms. "You're not a beast Venus."

Venus didn't reply, she had already fallen asleep.