WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR: Forgive and forget

12. Forgive and forget

"Hera!"
"Io!"

Their first reencounter was polite and reserved, almost a bit strained. Like none of them really dared to take the first step towards reconciliation. Io regarded Hera, she was looking more regal than ever before with her dark hair in a complicated hairdo adorned with pearls and silver ribbons, and a dress which looked like it was tailored just for her. It was made from a textile that looked purple in certain lights and blue in others, and added with silver sequins and lapis around the linings. The dress was knee length and tight and showed off Hera´s generous cleavage. A very flattering dress of the kind Io was certain she would never dare to wear.

Hera didn´t come alone of course, she had and escort of nymphs  following her and she brought her young son Ares. Perhaps, Io thought, to have someone to hide behind when conversation died. A reason for distraction. When Hera presented the boy Io kneeled and said hello to him.
" Hi," said the boy, regarding her with curious brown eyes, much like his mothers. He had curly dark-blond hair of the kind which would turn brown when he became older, and a slightly sullen look.

" I hope it´s OK I brought him," Hera said. "He was in need of a change in environment after all."
" Certainly! All children like that. And he´ll have playmates here." Io was on the brink of saying ´a brother´ but she bit off those words at the last moment. Better not remind Hera. Instead he asked the boy of his age.
" Seven," Ares replied and started looking out of the window, showing that this was the end of the conversation topic. Io turned to Hera.
" He´s tall for his age."
" Yes," Hera nodded, "like his father."

" Ares," she turned to her son, If you like you can go down to the other children in the courtyard and play.
" Kay..." the boy said and was off in a whift.

How they trotted like the proverbial cats around the hot dish. Tensely avoiding the strained subject. Io invited Hera up to the terrace, offered nectar and small food and inquired about mutual acquaintances and Hera in turn wanted to know what it was like living here and teaching children.
" It´s fun, always something going on with those little ones. They are so full of ideas and dreams and hopes. Tell me when do the children´s sparkling imagination and fantasy die?"
" I don´t know," Hera said. "Hopefully never. "

Then Hera decided it was time to stop stalling. She looked at Io and said:
" Let´s settle this once and for all, Io. I don´t know what´s on your mind, but I want to make sure you know that I´m not angered with you anymore. It wasn´t just your fault, and I overreacted. I guess I would have been less angered if you had told me from the start what had happened. But I can as well understand that such a thing is far from easy to tell. I wouldn´t know how to break it. And I guess if you hadn´t become pregnant no one would´ve known.   "

Hera sighed and went on:
" Zeus has been... He has hard to be – faithful to the promises of marriage. You were not the only one he trapped, there were others later whom I found out about. And it drove me crazy. I could´ve left him then but I have taken upon me so many responsibilities as a Queen of the Gods. Things I want to do with my position, projects I´m involved with. These are things you don´t just give up and let go of. The promises I give to help somebody, to make things happen, those I cannot just walk out of because my husband cheats on me. Faith knows that it´s far from easy all the time but I have learned to cope. And no, it´s not that I´m accepting what Zeus is up to, far from it. I´m at him for it, but when he comes and beg for forgiveness, I have so hard to be really mad at him. Then there´s Ares. "

" Yes, I can understand that you don´t want to break up his family."
" Sure, he´s a bit of an unruly child. Short in temper and hyperactive, but with a sensitive and emotional mind that people unfortunately don´t see. I hope when he get older, he´ll calm down and learn compassion and empathy. But then it´s up to me and Zeus too to give him that guidance. And we can´t do that if we should break up. "

Hera sipped on her cup and admired the view a bit, staring out over the ocean, just like Io had done the first time she came her for what felt like eons ago.
" How about you, Io?" she asked then. "Are you willing to leave this sad event between us behind? You have a son with Zeus there´s no way to deny that. And I hope Zeus will take some kind of responsibility for the boy. This leaves ´us´."
" How about ´us´?"
" I´m not going to deny that it hurt for a long time, but I can get over it – if you can!"
" Hera! We can´t let a man come between us. There have been so many years, and I guess that´s because we both are proud and stubborn women. "
" Zeus talked with me, and I know he has been talking with you too. He did what he could to make right wrong. Then it´s up to us. "
" I´m ready to revive ´us´, Hera. "
" So am I!"

They both rose and hugged on the terrace. For a long time they stayed like that. Then Hera said:
" Now I want to hear about your adventures. About those crazy Eastern gods and the latest lunatic invention of that dickhead Prometheus. And what became of that Aegyptian you met. "
" The last thing is easy to answer: Nothing."
" Oh, I´m sorry."
" Well it wasn´t meant to be anyway I guess. Tereanos was tender and compassionate but not ready to defend our relationship when his pantheon head showed that he was less than pleased with it."
" That´s sad, Io."
" Oh, Hera, there are more gods out there. Then the rest is quite a story. "
" Tell!" Hera urged. "From the beginning! "

Leto begun her story but fifteen minutes in it Hera changed attention the way only a mother can.
" Ares! What is he up to now?"

Then Io heard it too, angered children´s´ voices echoing from the courtyard. Caryad and Hera´s son.
" He´s fighting again! I don´t know why he can´t leave other children alone." Hera rose and started down the stairs and Io was soon after. They turned the corner, passed through the arched portal and entered the courtyard where the children had been playing peacefully until just a moment ago. Now Ares was sitting on top of the older boy who was trying to get his hands free from Ares´ iron grip.

" Ares! Get of Caryad!" Hera raged and the next second she was lifting the boy in the air and away from Asteria´s son. At the same time Asteria came hasting from the other direction and Epaphos came running up to Io and grabbed her legs.
" Now what exactly is going in here?" Leto´s sister wanted to know.

In reply all the children started to talk at the time, but it was Larella who made her voice heard:
" Cary pushed Eppie, he wanted Eppie down from the marble horse. And then Ares attacked Cary and wrestled him down to the ground."
" I was riding the horse first," Epaphos pointed out.
" But it was my turn," Caryad returned. Ares wrinkled his brow:
" I don´t want anyone bullying brothers of mine no matter what clever or stupid reason they give."
" But you can´t fight everybody for that sake," Hera told her son while Asteria was enquiring Caryad if it was true that he had pushed Epaphos off the horse.  
   
Meanwhile Io bent down and lifted up her son:
" Can´t you let Caryad ride a little while? "

Epaphos didn´t reply, he only looked at Caryad with dark eyes. The other boy was climbing the marble horse now when there was no other child in the way. Then Ares turned to Epaphos:
" Screw that marble thingie, I have a real horse back home. "
" Really!" Epaphos said with awe in his voice.
" Yeah. Why don´t you come with me and check him out? You can ride him too, you know. But I must warm you, he can be a bit wild. "
" I´ve never sat on a real horse before," Epaphos said. "Mother can I go please?!"

Io looked at Hera who returned her gaze. Hera shrugged and smiled:
" It´s fine by me, he can follow us back home. "
" You sure?" Io whispered.
" Perfectly. I guess we all can benefit from learning from the directness of childhood."
" Then you´re off to Olympos come tomorrow, dear," Io told her son.

At those words both Epaphos and Ares started to cheer and then the latter started talking fast about all the things  he wanted to show his brother at Olympos. Io and Hera continued to pass glances:
" Thank you my friend," Io said, suddenly feeling so light at heart.
" You´re welcome. And Eppie too. Then he need to sample a piece of his father´s benefits too. It´s only fair to let him have that. "

Once again the friends hugged while the children had started a new game, the formerly so important marble horse completely forgotten as well as the animosity between Ares and Caryad.

¤*¤*¤*¤

Hera stopped her narrating and turned to Astraea and Rhode asking:
" Now did that story teach you anything?"
" Yeah," Astraea said and looked first at Hera then at Rhode and then back at Hera again:
" What?" Hera smiled.
" That Ares was a fight-picker already as a kid," Rhode smirked.