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title: Hercules' Day - the sequel to "Iolaus' Day" by Mare
author: Mare
author's email: MTaylor256@aol.com (Note: Mare is in the process of moving and 
will be changing ISP's. If you would like to send feedback to this author you 
may send it to: ceryndip@juno.com and I will save it for her.)

*****************************************************

The two best friends walked along the path, heading nowhere in particular on 
a familiar path they had walked many times before.  The sun was shining, but 
barely reached the ground through the canopy above them, making the 
surrounding air cool enough that Iolaus shivered.  He unfolded his blanket 
part way and wrapped it around his shoulders.  They wouldn't feel the sun's 
warmth until they broke free from the forest a mile or so up ahead.

There was a comfortable silence between them, broken now and then with a few 
words spoken by one of them, but the two just enjoyed walking the path 
together as they always did.

Finally, Iolaus spoke an idea aloud.  "Herc?  Remember a while ago when you 
surprised me on my birthday with a day that I could do anything I wanted?"

"Sure, I remember."

"Well, I've been thinking.  Why don't we do that again?  Tomorrow can be your 
day.  I mean, it's never too soon to take another vacation."  He shrugged his 
shoulders for emphasis.  "We sure don't take enough of them!"

"But it's not my birthday."

Iolaus glanced at his taller friend and gestured, flinging his arms out from 
his sides from under the blanket. "It doesn't HAVE to be your birthday.  Just 
think of it as...I dunno...a non-birthday ...surprise...thing."

"A 'non-birthday surprise thing?" Hercules repeated, smiling.

"Yeah.  We don't have to work every day of our lives, you know.  We deserve 
some time off now and then.  We deserve more time off than we ever take.  Why 
don't we take another week off?"

Hercules nodded, thinking about the possibilities.  "You're right.  Okay, 
thanks."

"So, what do you want to do?"  Iolaus' excitement was already evident in his 
voice, as well as the fact that he was walking more quickly now, turning to 
look back at Hercules who was struggling to keep up.  He couldn't wait to 
hear how his friend would like to spend a day off: rabbit hunting, fishing, 
boar hunting...the possibilities were endless.

Hercules, however, had a completely different agenda.  "Well, I haven't seen 
Iphicles in a while.  We could..."

"Iphicles!" Iolaus exclaimed.  "Herc, this is time off for YOU, not time to 
spend with...relatives."

"What's wrong with visiting relatives?  I haven't seen Iphicles in ages."

"It's just the rule, Hercules.  You can't have a whole week off and spend it 
with relatives."  Iolaus couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"But Iolaus..."

"But nothing."  The blond cleared his throat and stopped walking, looking up 
into the taller man's eyes to make his point.  "Look, Herc, you need to 
broaden your horizons, think of something...I dunno...FUN, not...relatives."  
He said the word like it was distasteful.

"In other words, you want me to do something YOU want to do?" Hercules smiled 
down into Iolaus' eyes.

"No, that's not what I mean.  I mean...look...isn't there something you'd 
like to do that you've put off because you haven't had time to do it?  Well, 
now's your chance.  There must be something."

Hercules looked over Iolaus' right shoulder into the distance and thought 
long and hard.  "Well, yeah, there is one thing."

Iolaus grinned from ear-to-ear.  "Good, now we're getting somewhere.  What is 
it, Herc?"  He rearranged his blanket tightly around himself, waiting to hear 
something exciting that his friend wanted to do.

"I want to go see Iphicles."  He could hardly keep from laughing out loud as 
he started walking away from his stunned friend who simply stood where he 
was, dumbfounded.

A minute later, Iolaus ran to catch up with him.  By now Hercules could 
contain himself no longer and was laughing. 

"Oh, ha ha ha, Hercules, that's very funny," Iolaus chided.  "Okay, if you 
want to go see relatives, then FINE."

"What's the problem, Iolaus?  We can send a messenger to tell him we're 
coming, and you know that he'll put out a meal fit for the gods when he knows 
you're going to be there.  I've never seen you turn down a meal."

Iolaus rolled his eyes and moved his head from side-to-side in a gesture of 
surrender.  "Okay.  Boy, Herc, you sure don't know how to have a good time," 
he mumbled softly.

"I heard that, and yes I do," he said as he leaned over and practically put 
his face right into Iolaus' face.  "It's just that I sometimes like to do 
different things than you."  He thought another minute as he stood up 
straight again and added, "In fact, if you'd rather not go with me, why don't 
you go fishing or something?  You love to fish alone."

"Well, maybe I will."  Iolaus was growing more depressed with each passing 
minute.  He was crushed that after he had chosen to spend his birthday and 
the whole week off that followed with Hercules, that now Hercules seemed to 
just want to go off by himself for a week.  Then his imagination ran wild for 
a few minutes, picturing a feast that Iphicles would provide, but he wanted 
to do something other than visit Hercules' relatives.  He began to wish he 
had never brought up the suggestion.  He shuffled along, shoulders hunched 
over, looking down at his feet as he walked.

Hercules couldn't help but notice the change in Iolaus' demeanor.  He felt 
guilty that he mentioned doing something that didn't interest Iolaus.  Then 
he thought about what Iolaus did on his birthday, when Iolaus had insisted he 
go back to the beach near Syros and Delos, go out into the water on a flimsy 
board and try not to drown.  That had to be the same sort of torture for 
himself then as forcing Iolaus to visit his relatives now.  'Sometimes 
paybacks are fun,' he thought as he smiled to himself.

Iolaus happened to glance up at the moment Hercules smiled.  "What?" he asked.

"Oh nothing, I was just thinking about your birthday and how much fun you had 
while I nearly drowned."

"But that was FUN, Herc.  It was something we never get to do.  Besides, I 
told you I wouldn't let you drown."

"I know you did, but I went along with it because it was your birthday & I 
had told you that you could do anything you wanted to.  That's what you 
wanted to do, so that's what we both did.  So why are you so dejected now 
about doing something I want to do?"

Iolaus took a deep breath and let it out.  He couldn't argue with that.  
"Okay, you're right.  I know you didn't want to go surfing and I made you go, 
so I guess I owe you one."  His mood didn't change, however, as he continued 
to shuffle along slowly and quietly.  "But you did have fun that day, didn't 
you?"

"Well, yeah, I did.  I have to admit, Iolaus, you do know how to have a good 
time."

"Well, there you go.  We could do so many things besides..." he lowered his 
voice, "visit relatives."

Hercules just grinned and slapped Iolaus on his back.  "Come on, Buddy, it 
won't be so bad.  We'll get plenty to eat, not to mention soft beds to sleep 
in for a change.  Sometimes I need to give my back a break from sleeping on 
the hard ground."  He thought a few seconds, then added, "And sometimes I 
need to give my stomach a break from your cooking."

"Yeah, yeah," Iolaus agreed half-heartedly.  Suddenly he perked up.  
"Hey...hey, I just realized, we're several days' travel from Iphicles.  We 
can't get there tomorrow."  He almost jumped for joy at his startling 
revelation.  "That means that tomorrow, we can still do something else."

"We will be doing something; we'll be walking to Iphicles'."  

"Aw, c'mon, Herc, where's your sense of adventure?"

"I have a great sense of adventure, Iolaus, and I'm glad you suggested taking 
another week off.  We owe it to ourselves."

The pair finally left the forest and welcomed the heat from the mid-day sun.  
They continued on, walking at a steady pace until evening when the sun was 
setting.  They caught some fish and made camp for the night.  Neither had 
said much all afternoon, Hercules thinking about a soft bed in a castle and 
Iolaus thinking about a table full of food, but not really wanting to go to 
Iphicles'.  He silently wished Hercules had a more adventurous side, and 
could come up with something else to do.

Soon after eating, they laid on opposite sides of the fire.  Iolaus laid on 
his back, his fingers entwined under the back of his head.  He stared up at 
the stars and thought about how selfish he had been earlier, and promised 
himself that tomorrow he would show more enthusiasm about this trip.  He 
decided that even though he didn't want to do that, if Hercules did, then he 
would go along and try to enjoy himself.  He also realized that visiting 
Iphicles wouldn't be so bad, and he knew that Hercules was right, a soft bed 
would be a welcome change to the hard ground.  He rolled over onto his side 
and fell asleep, while wondering what kind of food Iphicles would welcome 
them with.

Hercules laid awake staring at the stars for a while.  He knew Iolaus was 
right, that he had no sense of adventure.  He couldn't think of anything to 
do that was as outrageous as surfing, but he decided to spend the night 
thinking about it.  He didn't really have to go see Iphicles.  It was just 
something he thought of on the spur of the moment, and when Iolaus reacted 
the way he did, he couldn't resist the chance to make Iolaus think he was 
repaying him for the day he spent underwater with half of the sea in his 
lungs and ears.  He thought back to that day, and realized it actually wasn't 
so bad.  Sure, he spent more time under the water than on it, but he enjoyed 
seeing Iolaus have such a great time, and he wouldn't deny him that for 
anything.

After that day; in fact, after that entire week off, Iolaus was more relaxed 
than he had been in months.  Hercules knew he was too.  Another week off so 
soon would do them both good.

* * * *

Morning dawned cool and overcast, but the breaking clouds promised another 
sunny and warm day.  Hercules was up early and put the leftover fish back 
into the fire to heat up for breakfast.  

As soon as the smell carried toward Iolaus' direction, he awoke and 
stretched.  "Morning, Herc."

"Morning.  Breakfast is nearly ready."

"Breakfast!" Iolaus said. "Herc, I was supposed to get up first and make your 
breakfast.  It's your day off, remember?"

Hercules shrugged and pulled the leaves containing the fish from the fire, 
being careful not to burn his fingers.  "That's okay, I don't mind."  He 
looked over at Iolaus and smiled.  "Besides, I have a surprise for you."

"Oh yeah?  What is it?" he smiled.

"Oh, you'll see.  Come on before this gets cold."

Iolaus sat up, yawned and took a portion of fish, dropping the leaves it was 
wrapped in on the ground beside him before burning his fingers.  After a few 
minutes, he said, "Hercules, I've been thinking..."

"Uh oh," Herc interrupted jokingly.

Iolaus looked up and stared at him, surprised at the interruption.  "You're 
so funny these days.  But as I was saying, I've been thinking that it's okay 
if we go to Iph's.  I know we haven't seen him in a while, and my back could 
use a soft bed too for a change."  He twisted around trying to get the kinks 
out of his aching muscles.

Hercules continued to eat and looked over at Iolaus.  "Well, about that," he 
said, "I've been thinking too."

"You have?" Iolaus said with a mouthful of fish.

"Yep.  During the night, I thought of something else we can do."

Iolaus wasn't sure if he should jump for joy or be afraid.  He couldn't 
imagine what the big guy came up with THIS time.  "Do you care to share your 
idea?" he finally asked, when Hercules didn't volunteer the information.

"Nope, it's a surprise."

"Oh great," Iolaus rolled his eyes.  "Does it involve your relatives?"

Hercules laughed, "No, it doesn't involve relatives."

"Does it involve..."

"You'll have to wait," Hercules insisted.  "If I tell you, it won't be a 
surprise.

"Okay," Iolaus relented.  He wondered what Hercules could possibly have come 
up with.  He thought about where they were and looked around.  They weren't 
near any villages that Hercules would have any particular interest in.  Now 
he was going to drive himself crazy trying to think of what Hercules had up 
his sleeve.  He smiled to himself, 'If he had sleeves, that is.'

"What?" Hercules asked when he saw Iolaus smile for no apparent reason.

"Huh?  Oh, I was just, uh, wondering what surprise you have up your sleeve, 
but since you don't have sleeves...well, never mind."

"You'll see."

They cleaned up after their meal and started out walking in a different 
direction from the previous day.  "This isn't the road to Corinth," Iolaus 
stated.

"I know that, Iolaus.  Like I said, I thought of something else we can do 
this week."

"Well, it better be good, Hercules."

Hercules just smiled and kept walking, "Oh, it is."  He could hardly keep 
from telling his friend what he had in mind, but decided that the look on 
Iolaus' face when he realized where they were going would be worth keeping 
the secret.  

Morning slid into afternoon and the warm sun felt good to both of them.  
Iolaus finally said, "How do I know you're going the right way, when I don't 
know where we're going?"

"You'll...just have to trust me."

"I dunno, Herc, we could end up very lost that way.  You know that I possess 
the better skills at finding places."

"Don't be so sure, Buddy."

Iolaus smiled and continued walking along with Hercules' quick pace.  All of 
a sudden Iolaus saw a familiar bend in the path up ahead.  He stopped walking 
and stood, stunned.  

Hercules didn't see him stop and kept walking until he realized he was alone. 
 He stopped and turned back to see his friend standing still, a bewildered 
look on his face.  "Iolaus?"  He walked back to where Iolaus stood.  "Iolaus?"

"Huh?" Iolaus suddenly realized Hercules was standing in front of him calling 
his name.  

"Come on, the water's going to waste," he said, repeating something Iolaus 
had said to him the last time they were here.  He thought he saw a tear slide 
down Iolaus' cheek.

Iolaus felt it and quickly brushed it aside.  "Bright sun's making my eyes 
water," he lied.

Hercules put his hand on Iolaus' back and pushed him forward a little until 
they were walking once again, toward Iolaus' favorite beach.  

"Thanks, Herc," Iolaus was barely able to say.

"It's okay."

When Iolaus was able to talk, he said, "But this is YOUR day, Herc.  You're 
supposed to do something you want to do, not what I want to do."

Hercules smiled and looked ahead on the path.  "Well, let's think of it as a 
day for both of us.  I didn't like seeing you so unhappy about the prospect 
of going to Iphicles'.  I've had this in mind for a while; you know, coming 
back here again before cold weather hits.  I just wanted to torment you for a 
while about visiting relatives, that's all."

"But you hate surfing."

"No, I don't hate surfing.  I hate when you go speeding past me standing on 
your hands and make me fall off my board.  Iolaus giggled, and Hercules was 
quite pleased with himself.  He always loved to make Iolaus laugh.  

Suddenly the beach came into view, and Iolaus took off running toward it.  He 
yelled back over his shoulder, "Last one there has to cook tonight!"

"Oh no you don't," Hercules muttered and took off running after his friend.  

They reached the water's edge at the same time, just as Iolaus tripped and 
fell in, getting soaked.  He laughed and splashed water at Hercules, then 
stood and tried to wrestle him into the water.  He figured if his own clothes 
were soaking wet, Hercules' clothes may as well be too.  

Hercules tossed their blankets up onto the beach to keep them from getting 
wet.  Then, being the stronger of the two, he had no trouble picking Iolaus 
up and dropping him into the water again.  

Iolaus splashed water toward Hercules even harder this time, determined that 
he was going to get wet one way or another.  If he couldn't knock the big guy 
down, he would send enough water toward him to make him think he'd fallen in.

Hercules was having none of it, however, and grabbed their blankets and ran 
away along the beach.  

Iolaus stood up, drenched and weighed down by the weight of his wet clothes.  
He took a couple of steps and didn't like the squishing of his boots, so he 
took them off, and took off running after Hercules.  "Herc, wait!" he yelled.

Hercules was halfway down the beach by now, still running, with no way for 
Iolaus to catch him.  So Iolaus slowed to a walk and would catch up when he 
could.  He saw his friend way ahead of him now getting further and further 
away.  He laughed to himself, and thought about how nice the fire was going 
to feel once they made camp in the cave.  He figured that Hercules was 
probably already in the cave, sputtering curses at being wet.  Iolaus finally 
arrived at the cave, wet and bedraggled.  He entered it and set his boots 
against a wall.

Hercules couldn't help but laugh.  Iolaus was dripping wet, his hair 
plastered to his head.  Hercules already had a fire started, knowing they 
would need to dry their clothes, their blankets and themselves before 
nightfall and before the temperature dropped.  "So, who gets to cook?" he 
asked.

"I do, Buddy.  It's your day off, remember?  I have to go find something to 
eat and I'll  cook."

"Can I go with you?"

"Sure," Iolaus smiled, remembering that they had had this same conversation 
the last time they were here.  "I'll just leave my clothes here by the fire." 
 He peeled his sopping wet clothes off and laid them out to dry, then moved 
his boots next to the fire too.  

"Are you going surfing today?"

Iolaus twisted his face in thought.  "Nah, I'd rather just stay here by the 
fire with my buddy.  He doesn't like surfing and would rather sit here and 
eat and keep warm."

"Yeah," Hercules smiled.  He put his wet clothes next to the fire to dry as 
well, and the two of them sat there for a while, wrapped in their blankets, 
and enjoyed the warmth the fire gave off.  Their clothes finally dry, they 
put them back on and decided to get something to eat.

Already knowing that this area didn't have much game that they could hunt, 
they settled for fish again.  That evening, after catching enough for a good 
meal, they simultaneously looked out across the blue water.  The sun was 
setting, leaving behind another spectacular sunset.  "This place has the most 
beautiful sunsets I've ever seen," Iolaus said.

Hercules nodded, and they walked in silence back to the cave to cook and eat 
their catch.  

 "So Iolaus," Hercules said, once he started eating, "we have a whole week 
off.  What would you like to do?"

"It's supposed to be your week, Herc, to do what you want to do."

Hercules thought about this and finally said, "Why don't we stay here a few 
days, and then I know of a great place for boar hunting."

Iolaus laughed.

Hercules was so glad he brought his friend back to this beach.  They may not 
go surfing this time, but this place held special memories for them, and 
right now, that was enough.

The end
October 16, 2000


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