While traveling through Greece after having returned from the long journey from Jappa, Gabrielle finds herself still in a state of grief and despair over the loss of her friend. She hears voices of Xena all around her and it has been driving her mad for weeks.
Ares shows up with no amount of compassion for her grief-stricken state and sends her into a rant about how he doesn't understand that Xena had to stay dead, and that there wasn't anything Gabrielle could do about it. He's determined to get her back no matter what, though, leaving Gabrielle with her thoughts.
Ares appears in an old temple of his and finds an old chest that holds the contract on Xena's soul from many years before. He believes it will be his way of getting Xena back and so journeys into the Japanese underworld to get Xena back. He's met with resistance by the guardians of the underworld: Emma-ho and his sister, and it's only until Ares tells them that he is an Olympian god and that they'd better not get in his way, that they finally let him pass.
He finds a very unexpressive and sad-looking Xena in some area of the Japanese underworld, as transparent as any ghost on earth. She does not understand why he is there, and seems content to continue out her existence (or non-existence, as it were) sitting in that one spot for all eternity. Only the sight of the contract brings Xena out of her indifferent state and has her lashing out at Ares as if he's come there with the soul purposing being to use some bargaining chip against her. She doesn't believe him when he tries to reason with her, that this is all about a way to bring her back, and, being Ares, blows it again when he makes Xena think he'll hurt Gabrielle or Eve if she doesn't believe what he says. Her stubbornness can be a thorn in his side, more often than not.
He appears in a quiet part of a forest and, in his frustration, begins to shoot fireballs, one of them accidentally hitting an unlucky deer. Ares watches in amazement as the deer falls down between two streams, one of them with water that is black and one with water that is white. The deer's wounds are healed when the water from the black stream splash onto it. Ares finds this intriguing as he realizes these are the Twin Streams.
Gabrielle is writing a dispatch to Eve, to inform her of her mother's death. Ares appears with the proposition that he use the contract to bring Xena's soul back to them but she, like Xena, does not believe him. She thinks he's only out for himself yet again and this angers her more now than ever. She breaks down about how there's no way to bring her back--still intensely grieving over Xena's death--but Ares, too, is hurting and in a moment of weakness, lets Gabrielle know it. Ares wants to bring her back in any way that they can and gets Gabrielle to understand this after she sees how Xena's death has affected him, too.
She agrees to help him, but to do that, they need Eve.
Ares visits Xena once more in the underworld and explains to her how he wants to help, more calm and collected now. Still not believing him, Xena lets Ares tell her of the good times they had had in the past, and how he wants to help her just as she has helped him. He tells her about the Twin Streams and, though she believes it to be a myth, she can't help but smile at his persistence in believing anything is possible.
Gabrielle arrives in the forest where Eve is talking to a group of her followers. They reunite and Gabrielle tells her of the horrible news of Xena's death, but assures her that if they have Eli's help, then maybe they can get through this and have a happy ending. Eve agrees to help in any way that she can.
Ares is in the forest where the deer lies dead, holding two jugs in his hands. He remembers back to the past when he, as just a little boy, had heard Hades and another god talk about the dangers of the Twin Streams if anyone ever found out about them, how they can heal all wounds and bring people back from the dead.
Ares sprinkles some of the white Water's of Life onto the deer and it is brought back to life, bounding away into the forest.
Gabrielle and Eve pray to Eli when Ares appears with the jugs. He hands one to each of them and they take it. Gabrielle sprinkles her jug of the Water's of Death onto Xena's ashes that are spread out on the ground and it creates Xena's body. Eve then takes the Water's of Life in her jug and sprinkles it onto the body. Eli's voice is heard, speaking of redemption and the freeing of souls, and in a succession of clips, from Xena in the underworld, to the freeing of the souls, to Gabrielle and Eve's hopeful faces, Xena opens her eyes and finds herself in the forest, alive and well with Gabrielle, Eve and Ares standing above her.
Gabrielle and Eve reunite with Xena, happy to have her back. Ares prepares to use the contract, to Xena's shock, but instead he rips it up and lets the wind carry it away.
The three of them joke about Xena's outfit (a white robe) and Xena realizes that Ares doesn't give up on her. He disappears and Gabrielle gives the chakram back to Xena where it belongs. The three of them head off, ready for another new adventure together.
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