Back From the Light

An Iolaus and Hercules story that picks up where "Revelations" leaves off.

It had been an unusually long and emotional day for Hercules. His dear friend, Iolaus, had been given another chance at life, thanks to the Archangel Michael. Getting to the point where Iolaus was actually given a reprieve from The Light was excruciating to both Hercules and Iolaus, as both of them were afraid that Iolaus would be taken away at any minute.

Now, as Hercules and Iolaus approached a clearing where they mutually decided to camp for the night, Hercules was feeling....he couldn't quite put a finger on what....Joy? Elation? Disbelief? Certainly all of those things and more.

Iolaus was exceedingly happy and had been babbling since they left the village. Hercules didn't mind. He was so happy at having his brother back at his side that he didn't care what Iolaus did or how much he talked. Iolaus set about gathering wood for a fire, just like he used to. Hercules left the campsite for a short time, then returned and surprised Iolaus with a rabbit for dinner.

As evening approached, they sat on opposite sides of the campfire. Hercules was content to let his best friend babble incessantly about being hungry again and about the 'other side'. Finally, as the rabbit was minutes from being edible, Iolaus suddenly stopped talking, looked at Hercules and said, "What?"

Hercules, lost in thought, said nothing.

"Herc?"

"Hmm?"

"You're staring at me."

"I am?"

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry, Iolaus." Hercules could hardly say that name again with this Iolaus in mind. "It's just that...."

Iolaus waited for Hercules to continue. "That what, Buddy?"

How Hercules loved hearing Iolaus call him 'Buddy' again.

"It's just that....I'm afraid that when I wake up tomorrow you'll be gone."

"Where would I go?"

Iolaus glanced off to the side, and in that brief expression, Hercules couldn't help but think how much this Iolaus reminded him of the other Iolaus. "Well, you know, back to The Light."

Iolaus drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Hercules, Michael said I can stay here."

"I know, but I can't get over the feeling that he didn't mean it."

"Come on Herc, he meant it. If I had to go back, I'd be gone by now."

Hercules thought about this and said, "Well, I guess you're right. It's just that....I've missed you, more than you could ever know. I mean, I'm sure you had a wonderful life on the other side, but I was left here to carry on and it was....difficult."

Iolaus saw the heartbreak in Herc's eyes. It also seemed that his friend had aged during his absence. "Hercules, I'm sorry."

"For what, Iolaus?"

"Well, for causing you so much....I dunno....grief! I'm sorry for the whole Dahak thing. I never meant to hurt you."

"Iolaus, the Dahak thing wasn't your fault, and the only way you hurt me was when you were killed, but even that wasn't your fault. You died a hero, just as you had lived, but I never got over it, even after all this time. I never should have let you go to Sumeria."

Iolaus let Hercules' words sink in a minute, then said, "When were you ever able to stop me from going with you if I wanted to?" Changing the subject somewhat, he said, "You know, where I've been, it's like time is fluid. I don't even know how long I've been gone from here."

"It's been seven months," Hercules answered immediately, "Seven of the longest months of my life."

Iolaus nodded. "So um, what have you been doing?"

A tear fell down Hercules' face and he quickly brushed it away. He looked at Iolaus and forced a faint smile. "Well, quite a bit, actually. I'll have to fill you in as time goes by."

"That much, huh?"

"Yeah. I had to keep busy for fear I would go mad."

Iolaus was beginning to see exactly what his death had done to Hercules. "I can't wait to hear all about it." There was a brief silence. "Do you remember the last time we saw each other?"

"How could I forget, Iolaus? We said good-bye to each other and off you went. We said we'd see each other around and now, here you are."

Iolaus nodded at the wrenching memory of that moment. "Yeah, here I am." Iolaus looked down and laughed at the irony of being able to come back to this life he loved; the life where he belonged, at Hercules' side. "But no, I mean after that."

Hercules stared at Iolaus. "You mean in that cave?"

Iolaus nodded.

Surprised, Hercules said, "That was you? You were really there?"

"Yeah."

Hercules looked away, vividly recalling those few minutes with what he thought had been an apparition. "I was never sure whether that was really you or my mind playing tricks on me."

"It was me, and I meant what I said, that I wouldn't trade the life I had as your friend for anything."

"Thanks, Iolaus." Hercules searched his thoughts for what he was going to bring up later, but decided now would be as good a time as any. "Do you remember when you were grabbed and taken through that portal to the alternate universe?"

"Boy, do I ever. The people there were crazy."

"Do you remember seeing the other Iolaus, the Jester?"

"Sure, but just for an instant. They thought I was him and forced me to entertain the Sovereign. They even threw me in a prison cell." Iolaus wondered why Hercules was asking him about this incident. "What brings all this up, Herc?"

"I went back to that world later on to rescue the gods from this world who were being held captive there. I ran into the other Iolaus and ended up bringing him back to this world with me."

"That's great. Where is he?"

"It's a long story that I'll save for another night," Herc said.

The smile quickly faded from Iolaus' face. "He's alive, isn't he?" He suddenly remembered that when someone dies in this world, their counterpart dies in the other world.

"Oh yeah, he's alive. He's just not....here right now."

"What do you mean?"

"Another time, Iolaus. I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted. And you know what? I may sleep better tonight than I have for, oh, about seven months."

Iolaus' smile lit up the evening, even from across the campfire, although he wondered why Hercules would suddenly mention the other Iolaus, and then just as suddenly stop talking about him. He shrugged his shoulders, content to let Hercules unravel his thoughts as he wanted to.

Hercules made himself as comfortable as he could on the hard ground. "Iolaus, it's so good to have you back, Buddy."

"Thanks, Herc."

"Promise you'll still be here tomorrow?"

"I promise. And oh, by the way, thanks for the rabbit."

"Anytime, Iolaus. Anytime."

Iolaus laid down too and said, "I don't know if I can sleep. I'm so wound up about being here, and when I was on the other side, I didn't have to sleep. This ground sure is harder than I remember." He shifted around, trying to find a comfortable position.

Hercules was already snoring softly, so Iolaus stopped talking. It was his turn to stare at his friend. He had missed Hercules too, and promised himself he would tell him tomorrow. "Hercules," he whispered, "You can't imagine how glad I am to be back!"

Very early the following morning, before the sun was up and before the birds were singing, Hercules awoke from a strange dream and sat up quickly. He had yet another dream in which Iolaus....his Iolaus....was back with him. After several seconds, he suddenly jerked his head to his left and was stunned. There he was for real, the best friend he had ever had. This Iolaus wasn't wearing the jester's clothes; he was wearing the purple vest, the medallion; the clothes his own Iolaus wore. He was lying there on his back, his chest rising and falling. Without even being consciously aware of it, Hercules smiled and said softly, "Iolaus."

He added wood to the fire for extra warmth in the chilly morning air, then laid down again, afraid to take his eyes off this special person, still fearing he would disappear. He laid there reviewing the many events that had occurred since he lost Iolaus. He had stories to last for many days, or until Iolaus got sick of hearing them.

He decided that the two of them would take time to fish or just do whatever Iolaus wanted to do. For now there would be no running off to save villages....not yet. Hercules was worn out, not just from the previous day's events, but from the previous months of non-stop travel to Sumeria, Eire, the land of the Vikings, back to Greece, and just the emotional toll that Iolaus' death had taken on him. He hadn't allowed himself to rest enough, and now realized it was catching up to him. It would be wonderful to spend time with Iolaus again, even as he realized how unbelievable it was that Iolaus was back. A great burden was lifted from his shoulders and replaced with such sheer happiness that he would never be able to describe with mere words.

While watching his friend sleep on the other side of the fire, Hercules fell asleep again. When he awoke the sun was shining brighter than it had in months. He looked to where Iolaus was and smiled. He realized, in fact, that he had hardly been able to stop smiling since the previous day when he pulled Iolaus from that small pool of water, and after a few minutes and much convincing from Iolaus, realized this was really Iolaus, not one of Hera's tricks.

But now the smile erased itself quickly from his face as he realized Iolaus wasn't there. "Iolaus?" He looked around. "Iolaus?" He stood up quickly. He screamed, "IOLAUS!" Had it all really been a dream? He refused to allow himself to believe that, but there was nothing around the campfire to indicate Iolaus had ever been there. Almost convincing himself he was losing his mind, he followed a narrow trail from the campsite, calling Iolaus' name. Then from behind a clump of trees came the sweetest music he had ever heard.

"Hercules? Give me a minute, Buddy." Iolaus came walking out from where he had been. "I promised I'd still be here today, Herc," he said.

"I know. I was afraid I had only dreamed you came back."

"Well um, I haven't....you know...."gone"....for seven months," Iolaus said, slightly bemused.

Hercules suddenly didn't know if to laugh or cry.

"You're not going to be a mother hen, are you?" Iolaus laughed.

"No, Iolaus. This is just going to take getting used to again." He thought to himself about those days when he and the other Iolaus were getting used to each other. 'Same voice, same face.' Now, here he was going through it all over again, only this time with a man he knew very well.

They returned to the campfire where they sat down and Iolaus put his hands near the flames. "Boy, I forgot what it's like to be cold."

"How about some leftover rabbit?" Hercules asked.

"Sure."

"I thought that's what you'd say. I'll have some too."

"Herc, you look like you've been eating pretty well." Iolaus gestured teasingly at Hercules' stomach.

"What are you saying?"

"You've put on a little weight since I've been gone." In a jokingly sarcastic way he added, "What about running....and stretching....and your five-hundred sit-ups every day?"

Hercules smiled and stirred the fire with a stick while getting the rabbit ready to heat up. Nothing Iolaus could say was going to make Hercules mad. "The other Iolaus is an excellent cook."

"So you spent some time with him?"

"Yeah. He stayed with me for a long time while he got used to being in this world. At first, he reminded me so much of you that I almost thought he WAS you, but the more I got to know him, the more I realized the two of you are quite different. I told him stories about you...."

"Uh oh."

Hercules smiled, "No, they were good stories. He said at first that he didn't want to hear them because he was convinced that I was trying to replace you with him. Once he realized that I wasn't and that I liked him for who he is, I think he enjoyed hearing about you. Besides, I think he was just a little jealous of you."

"Jealous! Of me?"

"Well, you had been a warrior, a hero, and in Iolaus' mind, you had a much better life than he had. He had no friends, no family. He liked hearing about our friendship because the Sovereign stopped being his friend and became his constant tormentor years ago." Hercules lightened the subject a little. "Of course, a few nights of sleeping on the hard ground and he realized that you and I didn't have it so easy."

Iolaus smiled and nodded. From what Hercules had already told him about that Iolaus' past, and from what this Iolaus had experienced in the brief time he had been taken unwillingly into that nightmare of a world, he could understand how Iolaus could be envious of someone else's life. "So what happened to him?"

"Well...." Hercules hesitated, lost in thought. He decided to hold off telling Iolaus about the Sovereign's death and the evil empress until another time. "It's a long story."

Iolaus looked around and threw his arms up in the air at his sides. "I have all the time in the world," he laughed.

Hercules smiled at him. How good it felt to be sitting here talking to this Iolaus again and hearing that laugh. "The other Iolaus had an awful life, forced into a life of nothing less than slavery. He's a brilliant man, an excellent cook, an inventor. The Sovereign made him work as a jester for his own amusement, and abused and tormented him on a regular basis. So Iolaus asked me if I'd bring him to this world with me and give him a second chance at better life. We became great friends." Then Hercules laughed.

"What?" Iolaus smiled.

"Can you believe that in Iolaus' world, Falafel was an excellent chef? He's the one who taught Iolaus to cook."

"No, I can't believe that," Iolaus laughed. "Well, I'm really glad he's your friend. I'm curious, though. What happened to him?"

The leftover rabbit was hot and ready to eat, so they each helped themselves while Hercules thought about how he would describe recent events to Iolaus. "One day, just recently, he met a girl named Nautica. She's a very pretty young woman and it was love at first sight for both of them."

Iolaus smiled broadly. "That's great! So they married and are living happily somewhere?"

Hercules nodded. "Yeah."

"What? There's something you're not telling me."

"You'll find this hard to believe, but Nautica's a....uh...." He lowered his voice and mumbled, "Mermaid."

Iolaus' smile suddenly turned to a look of bewilderment. "Did you say what I thought you said?"

"Yeah."

"She's a mermaid?" Iolaus started to laugh, but saw that Hercules was serious.

"Like I said, Iolaus, it's a long story."

"Come on, Herc, tell me!"

Hercules took a deep breath. "Well, through a series of events, Discord gave Nautica legs, which allowed her to be on land. That's when Iolaus met her, when she was in a village. I wasn't there at the time because I was off on my own helping some villagers, but Iolaus told me all about meeting her. Anyway, she eventually had to return to the sea, but they met again and it was so heartbreaking to finally see them have to go their separate ways. Aphrodite was here at the time, and I suggested to her that she transform Iolaus so he could go with Nautica."

Iolaus' mouth was hanging open as he hung on every word. "You're pulling my leg, right?" He jerked his head back, "No, no....I mean...."

Hercules smiled. "I know, it sounds a little strange, but it's true."

"So....Iolaus is.....?"

"Yeah."

"Wow! Have you seen him again?"

"No, this just happened a few days ago."

"Have you thought of taking a boat out to find him? You know, make sure he's alright?"

"I suppose I will one day soon."

"It sounds like you two were great friends."

Hercules smiled, recalling memories of the other Iolaus. "Yeah, we were..... I mean, we are. I'll see him again. When I met him, he really needed a friend. He wanted me to teach him some self-defense moves so he could defend himself. Over time, he really got good at it and gained a lot of self-confidence. He ultimately became such a changed person from the timid jester he was when we first met."

"Yeah," Iolaus laughed, "Changed in more ways than one." He looked over to see a look of sadness on Hercules' face. "I'm sorry, Herc, I didn't mean.... You miss him, don't you?"

"Yeah, I do. Like I told him, one of the things the two of you have in common is a kind heart. In some way that I can't explain, he helped me deal with your loss. We helped each other....a lot. I was a constant reminder to him of the Sovereign and the brutal treatment he had received for most of his life, but he eventually came to trust me once he realized I would never hurt him."

Iolaus smiled. "Maybe I can meet him one day."

"I hope so, Iolaus. You'd really like him."

"I know I would, and I'm glad he was here for you."

"Thanks."

Iolaus studied Hercules' face and added, "It sounds like you have a lot more to tell me about what's been going on around here in my absence."

Hercules took a long, deep breath. "Yes, Iolaus, I do. So, what do you want to do today?"

It didn't take Iolaus a second to answer, "I dunno, go fishing? I'd l ove some fish for dinner!"

"You've got it. By the way, have I told you how glad I am that you're back?"

"Well, not today," Iolaus laughed.

Hercules put out the fire and said, "Let's go catch some fish....Buddy."

The two friends spent some quiet time fishing in a nearby river, just enjoying each other's company once again. Every so often Iolaus would glance over at Hercules, knowing that something wasn't quite right with his friend, but otherwise he studied the water intensely, watching for any fish that might swim by. Finally he broke the silence. "Hercules? Is something wrong?"

Hercules, getting ready to grab his third fish, answered, "What do you mean?"

Iolaus, trying not to be impatient, but wanting Hercules to tell him what was on his mind, said, "I didn't mean it when I said you've gained weight. You're in better shape than anyone I know."

Hercules smiled. "It isn't that, Iolaus."

"Well, what then? Come on, Herc, I know you better than you know yourself and I can always tell when something's wrong. Talk to me, Buddy."

"Later, Iolaus."

Iolaus twisted up his face and rolled his eyes. He was going to say, 'You said that yesterday,' but backed off, becoming more fully aware that things were not as they once were. A change had come over Hercules; he was somehow different than Iolaus remembered him. "Okay, Herc, whatever you say." Then he exclaimed, "Hey, you got another one!"

They had enough fish for a fine dinner and walked in silence back to their camp. Hercules had caught all the fish today, but Iolaus didn't mind. They didn't even tease each other about who caught the most, which wasn't normal either. Iolaus got the fire going again while Hercules cleaned the day's catch.

It was mid-afternoon when the sky began to cloud over. They went about their respective jobs while preparing the meal when Hercules finally said, "Looks like it's going to rain. We should look for better shelter tonight."

After a minute, Iolaus said, "Herc, do you have any money?"

"A little, why?"

"I thought that maybe tomorrow we could find a village and get a room at an inn. You know, soft, warm beds, and I want to buy a blanket. I just can't get warm!"

"Sure Iolaus, we can do that. Staying in a cave tonight will help too. It really was cold out here last night. I kept waking up and putting more wood on the fire."

"Tell me about it," Iolaus laughed. "I kept waking up freezing. I added wood to the fire and sat next to it for an hour."

Hercules was surprised that he hadn't known Iolaus was awake throughout the night.

"Well, I can find something to do for someone in the village and earn a few dinars for a blanket."

They had an early dinner while the weather was still clear, but as the wind got stronger and colder, they put out the fire and scouted around for a shelter. Finding a small cave, they quickly gathered wood and added it to a small pile already placed inside by previous visitors.

"I wish I had Iolaus' spark jug," Hercules said matter-of-factly, as he started the fire in the way he was used to.

"You wish you had what?"

"Iolaus....the other Iolaus....invented a gadget for lighting fires. He calls it a spark jug. He gave me his bag of inventions when he...." Hercules stopped, not wanting to say 'when he swam away....' "When he left with Nautica. I left it at my house."

Iolaus asked, "What does this spark jug do?"

"Well, it's a little iron jug that holds oil. You turn a wheel on it and it sparks a fire. Then you can light a campfire with it."

"Huh," Iolaus pondered, "That sounds like a handy gadget to have. Maybe we can stop by your house sometime and pick it up."

The temperature was dropping and every few minutes a cold gust of wind blew into the cave. Iolaus sat close to the fire and hugged his arms close to himself. "Herc, I don't want to keep bringing this up, but you said today that you'd tell me what's eating you. You don't have to you know, but whatever it is....well, you know you can tell me anything."

Hercules stared into the fire, lost in his thoughts. He put his hands toward the flames. Iolaus was right, it really was cold. He felt it more now than he had before, maybe because Iolaus kept bringing it up. "It's nothing, Iolaus, really. It's uh...."

Iolaus jumped in and finished Hercules' sentence. "Something to do with my being killed, isn't it?"

Finally Hercules sighed, "Yeah, Iolaus, it's everything to do with your being killed."

Iolaus remained silent, not wanting to push Hercules before he was ready to talk, but impatiently waiting to hear what was going on with him.

"Iolaus," Hercules began, "You have no idea. The past seven months have been a blur to me. I've been going through the motions of living, but without any conscious thoughts. That probably doesn't make sense to you, and it makes even less sense to me. I'm supposed to be the world's strongest man, but when you died in my arms, a huge part of my heart died along with you at that moment.

I don't even know what happened next. I guess I sat there holding you for a long time until I finally carried you into another room and laid you on a table. I remember pulling that wretched knife out of your chest and throwing it across the room. For all I know, it's still imbedded in the wall there."

He paused a few seconds, then continued. "Your medallion had been broken in half. To me, it represented my heart, broken into two halves, each half never to be reunited with the other. I gave half of your medallion to Nebula and left the other half with you.

Iolaus sadly fingered the half of his medallion he still wore as he listened to his friend.

'"I left Sumeria, but I don't even remember leaving. I was numb. Like I said, I was just going through the motions of living. I made a trip to the underworld to plead with the gods to bring you back, but they wouldn't."

Iolaus, taking all of this in, was stunned to hear Hercules express such deep sorrow. A lump had formed in his throat and he found that he couldn't hold back his own emotions. Tears were forming in his eyes, but he wasn't even aware of it until one rolled down his face. He turned his head and wiped his face with his fingers. He listened as Hercules continued, knowing that Hercules had to get these thoughts out of his system or grief would eat him up. In fact, he was surprised that it hadn't consumed him already.

"I wandered around for a while. I don't know how long, but I had lost the will to live. Everyone I had ever loved was gone: Deianeira, the kids, my Mother, and then you. I had no reason to go on." Hercules was oblivious to the tears streaming down his face as the memories came forth. "I had no one to talk to or to go see."

Hercules tried to keep his emotions in check so he could tell Iolaus everything he wanted to say. "Somewhere in all this grief and turmoil, I got word that the gods from this world were being held captive in the alternate universe. I had nothing better to do, so I went to free them. That's when I ran smack into the other Iolaus again. He showed me where the gods were being held and helped me free them. While all this was going on, the Sovereign was killed, and that world was taken over by an evil empress....Nebula's counterpart in that world. She was much worse than the Sovereign, and Iolaus was even more terrified of her than he was of the Sovereign."

Hercules took a breath and continued. "When the mission was completed and the gods were released, Iolaus asked me to take him out of there and I knew I had to. He didn't deserve the life he had there, and in that moment he asked for my help, I suddenly had a purpose....a reason for living again. I told him later that I was going to offer to take him with me even if he didn't ask. You should have seen his face light up when I told him that!"

Hercules smiled at the memory and was suddenly aware of the present. "I'm sorry, Iolaus, I must be boring you." He wiped his hands over his face, and realized it was wet with tears.

"No, Hercules, you're not boring me. Keep talking....please!" Iolaus drew his own hands across his face and took a deep breath. Suddenly he felt like he hadn't even been breathing while Hercules was pouring his heart out. He wanted to hear every word that Hercules had to say. "You brought Iolaus back, and then what?"

"We found a cave for shelter that day and settled in. He was still afraid of me because I look just like the Sovereign. So I just tried not to make any sudden moves or do anything that would give him reason to fear me." He paused, remembering the nervous, timid jester whose life he had saved, and how different he was then from the confident man he became later on.

"Anyway, I woke up the next day to see his back as he was making breakfast." He looked over at Iolaus for the first time since he had started talking. "He's your identical twin, Iolaus. I saw the back of his head, and for a few seconds after waking up from a sound sleep, I thought he was you." Hercules looked back down at the fire. "But it was that morning that I started to see how different you two are." He smiled at the pleasant memory of that morning. "Just when I thought I had no reason to go on living, I realized this Iolaus desperately needed a friend; someone who could show him around this world like he had helped me in his world. He made a wonderful omelette for me....and I found out he doesn't like rabbit."

Iolaus laughed through his tears as he watched Hercules recalling all of this.

"But then he said he wanted to go off on his own. I couldn't deny him that, but my thought was, 'oh no, I'm losing another friend.' I was so glad he decided to stay with me longer than he planned. We just kept traveling around together, and before either of us knew it, a lot of time had passed. It was just last week that he went off with Nautica." Hercules turned his eyes toward the cave entrance and, to Iolaus, those blue eyes seemed miles away, lost in warm memories. "If it hadn't been for him, I don't know what would've become of me."

Iolaus was near shock with what he was hearing, but it was important for his best friend to talk about all of these bottled-up emotions. He said nothing as he let Hercules continue.

Hercules turned back to the fire and continued. "Like I said yesterday, I taught him self-defense, showed him around this world, and he kept me going....gave me a reason to live. Of course, then he met Nautica and was gone. But by then, I was better, and Iolaus was better as well. We had literally saved each other's lives."

"I guess my timing couldn't have been better when I came back yesterday," Iolaus choked, barely able to speak.

Hercules smiled and looked up from the fire to see the distraught look on Iolaus' face. "It was perfect timing, Iolaus. I was so afraid to believe it was you. I mean, all of my pleading with the gods for your return was to no avail. I didn't know what else to do." He paused, then added, "You might laugh at me, but I talked to you all the time....in my thoughts, I mean. I didn't want to believe you were gone and I couldn't let you go. Talking to you somehow made it seem like you were still here. Then yesterday, all of a sudden, there you were! I thought if it was someone's idea of a cruel joke, I would...well, I don't know what I would've done. For a long time I just found it harder and harder to find anything to live for."

"Hercules," Iolaus could hardly speak, "Thanks for telling me all this. And I would never laugh at you. I had no idea what you've been through."

"Well, no Iolaus, you wouldn't have any way of knowing."

"No, but I wish I could've come back sooner."

"You couldn't," Hercules said. "But I'm just glad you came back at all."

"Well, you're right about that. I couldn't come back or I would have. I sure am glad I'm back now, and I'm glad you told me all this. Maybe now your heart will mend itself again."

"Iolaus," Hercules leaned forward, his tear-filled eyes looking right into his best friend's blue eyes, "My heart magically mended itself yesterday when you were given another chance to live here!" He smiled at Iolaus through the flames of the fire, sincerely feeling like smiling for the first time in seven long months.

Iolaus stood up, a sob escaping from deep within his soul. "Come here," he said to Hercules.

Hercules stood up, and the two soulmates embraced just like they had when Iolaus was about to go to The Light. They held onto each other so tight as to not let the other one get away again. Tears flowed, and it was a welcome relief for both of them. Iolaus was relieved that Hercules was able to be so forthcoming about everything he had been through. Hercules was glad that Iolaus understood, although he never doubted that Iolaus wouldn't. It didn't end there, however.

"Thank you, Iolaus," Hercules finally said.

Iolaus could only nod, as words wouldn't escape his mouth right now. Finally he said, "I should be the one thanking you. When that knife hit me, I had so much I wanted to say to you and I couldn't. I couldn't talk, I couldn't even move. I tried so hard to stay alive, but I couldn't do that either."

Hercules thought of that awful day, that horrendous event that he had tried to push way down so deep inside him that he would never think of it again. Finally he said, "You smiled up at me and said my name. In just that much, Iolaus, you said it all."

"Yeah, I guess that's what true soulmates are. We can read each other's thoughts. Pretty scary, huh?" Iolaus smiled.

Hercules smiled as well.

Iolaus reluctantly pulled away from Hercules and slowly sat down by the fire again. He moved even closer to it than he had been and put his hands close to the flames. "I don't think I'll ever be warm again."

Thunder shook the world outside while lightning lit up the night sky. Rain pelted down in torrents. For Hercules, it was music to his ears. His senses were returning to what they once had been. His best friend....his brother....was back, and for the first time in months he was beginning to feel like he had before Iolaus was killed.

They sat in silence for a while, thinking over everything that had been said. Iolaus always knew what Hercules meant to him, but now he knew exactly what he meant to Hercules. He had always known, but it felt good to have it spoken aloud.

The evening passed quickly and both men were growing tired. Hercules was glad to not only be able to tell someone exactly what he had gone through the past several months, but to actually be able to tell it to someone who could understand it all. Iolaus had been right earlier; no one knew Hercules as well as Iolaus did. "I'm going to try to get some sleep," Hercules said.

"Yeah, good idea. I'm just going to sit here by the fire for a while." Iolaus replied, a chill crawling up his spine.

"We'll find a village tomorrow and stay a night or two just so you can warm up."

"Oh, and you're not cold, too?" Iolaus joked.

"Iolaus, I'm freezing." Hercules sat up again and moved closer to the fire. "Of course, if you didn't kept reminding me how cold it is, I probably wouldn't even notice."

Iolaus just smiled at his friend. Things were definitely returning to normal, for which he was thankful. Eventually, they both fell asleep while listening to the storm that was moving further into the distance.

Sometime during the night Hercules woke up and put some wood on the dying fire. He thought he was being quiet, but Iolaus turned over and woke up.

"Everything okay?" Iolaus asked.

"Yeah, go back to sleep. I'm just getting the fire going again."

Iolaus got up and grabbed some wood to add to it. "I was dreaming about snow," he laughed.

"Well, I'm not surprised. Don't worry, tomorrow we'll find a warmer place to stay."

Iolaus yawned and laid down again, asleep before his head hit the arm curled under it.

Hercules watched him for a few minutes, knowing that nowhere in the world did anyone have a better friend, then went back to sleep himself.

Morning arrived gray, cold and windy. Iolaus and Hercules didn't bother to make breakfast, but just started out walking. Around noon they came to a small village that had an inn. As they went inside, Iolaus basked in the warmth, happy to be inside. They got a room and settled in.

The first thing Iolaus did was run and throw himself onto the bed, laughing as he did so. "Herc, I can't believe it! A nice warm bed!"

Hercules laughed at his friend. Sometimes he was so much like a little kid, but Hercules loved that about him. He couldn't help but compare his sometimes childlike personality to the other Iolaus. The two of them didn't know each other....yet....but as different as they were, they were alike in a lot of ways too. "Well, would you like to get something to eat," Hercules asked, "Or would you rather just bounce on the bed for a while?"

Iolaus' laughter filled the room as he said, "Let's go eat, Buddy, I'm starving."

They went downstairs to the inn's small restaurant. "How much money do you have, Herc?"

"Enough. Get whatever you want, Iolaus."

"Great," Iolaus smiled. "I'm going to have some rabbit stew, and an ale to wash it down with."

"I'll have the same."

The innkeeper heard them and brought their order right away.

"Thanks, Hercules," Iolaus said reflectively, as he wolfed down the stew, faster than Hercules had seen him eat before.

"For what?"

"Well, I dunno. For everything. Thanks for coming to this inn with me so I can get warmed up, for buying my lunch....this is so good! You know....everything."

Hercules smiled. He still couldn't believe Iolaus was back and things were just like they used to be. He silently thanked Michael, the Archangel who was responsible for Iolaus sitting here. Even though Michael had threatened total destruction of the world, it had all been a test; a test to see if any one man would be brave enough to try and save humanity from itself, and a test of friendship between the two men who occupied this inn in this small village in the middle of nowhere.

"You're welcome, Iolaus. By the way, do you mind if I leave you for a while today? There's something I want to do."

Iolaus stopped chewing and looked up at Hercules, puzzled. "No....I don't mind." Of course he wondered what Hercules had in mind. There couldn't be much to do in this place. Suddenly Iolaus' face lit up with a huge smile. "In fact, you know what I'm going to do while you're gone?"

"I can't imagine, Iolaus."

Iolaus laughed. "I'm going to take a bath!"

"You're what?" Hercules couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You're going to do what?"

Iolaus continued laughing. "You heard me, Buddy. I'm going to get some water heated just as hot as they can make it and jump into a tub. Maybe then I'll get warmed up."

"Don't tell me you're still cold?"

Iolaus nodded and took another bite of stew. "Hercules, I haven't been warm since you pulled me out of that pool."

"Well, it sounds like a fine idea to me," Hercules said. "I'll see you in a little while." Hercules left the table and walked out of the inn.

Iolaus watched him go, finished eating, and went back up to the room, but not before asking that a tub and some hot water be delivered. In a short time, he immersed himself into the water, and sighed out loud. It felt so good to sink into the water that was just hot enough to warm him up, but not hot enough to burn him. He stayed in the tub for a long while until the water cooled, then got out and dressed.

He crawled across the bed and looked out the window down to the main street below, trying to see if he could see Hercules out there somewhere. When he didn't, he laid down, took a deep breath and thought about what a lucky person he was to have come back from the other side and find Hercules once again. After what Hercules had told him the previous night, he also realized how lucky Hercules was to have him back. In a few minutes he fell sound asleep.

Hercules returned toward evening, opened the door and started to say something. When he saw Iolaus sound asleep on the bed, he closed the door quietly and sat in the room's only chair. It was too early to go to bed, but he envied Iolaus' ability to sleep so soundly in the middle of the day.

Then he realized that after all of Iolaus' complaining about being cold, he wasn't even covered up. Hercules covered him carefully, not wanting to wake him, and sat in the chair again. He thought about going downstairs for dinner, but decided to wait until Iolaus was awake so he could go too. He sat back and relaxed, letting his mind review what had happened in just two days. His best friend was back and he still found it hard to believe.

Just then Iolaus stirred and woke up. He saw Hercules sitting across the room. "Hi Herc, I guess I fell asleep."

"I guess you did, Buddy." He laughed in Iolaus' direction as he watched Iolaus sit up.

"What are you laughing at?"

"Iolaus, did you fall asleep with wet hair?"

Iolaus put his hands through his wild, blond locks in an attempt to smooth it down. "Yeah, I guess I did. I washed it in the tub earlier."

Hercules couldn't hold back and laughed louder. "Well, it looks pretty wild, but that's okay. It's just so good to have you back that I don't care what you look like. I just wouldn't want you to go out looking like that and scare people."

"What's this?" he asked as he saw the blanket that was over him.

"An afghan," Hercules answered. "I....uh....made it for you this afternoon."

"Hercules!" "Thanks!" Iolaus laughed, and his whole face lit up. "So that's where you went."

"Yeah, that's where I went, and you're welcome." Seven months ago, Hercules had given up ever hearing that laugh of Iolaus' again. Now he couldn't get enough of it. "Like I said when I gave you the other afghan, maybe it'll help you sleep better. "So would you like some dinner?"

"Sure, I'm starving."

Just like the other Iolaus, Hercules thought. "Oh Iolaus, you're ALWAYS starving," Hercules laughed. "Come on, I'm buying."

Before they left, Iolaus studied his purple afghan, folded it carefully and laid it on the bed. "Well, I hope so, because I don't have any money. But I have a new afghan and now I won't freeze. Look! It matches my vest!"

The two friends laughed and joked down the stairs to the same table they had eaten at earlier. The two friends, back together again at each other's side where each of them belonged. It had been a long seven months! It had been an entire lifetime!

End.

This story is continueds inIolaus...I'd Like You to Meet...Iolaus