Hello! I'm a newcomer to the PJO FF section but I've been reading PJO since before The Battle of the Labyrinth!

I love Nico do Angelo. Honestly, he's one of my favorite characters in the PJO AND HOO books. Percy can be all wonderful, romantic, and dramatic but Nico's the one who keeps it real (and, yeah, slightly hopeless). This is Nico's happy ending at last (assuming he survives The Blood of Olympus). And, as a message: Nico cannot be not homosexual. I refuse to say that he is (there IS evidence of his attraction to Juniper back in the original PJO series). And, through this story, you'll understand why.


The little house was cloaked in night. In a wooden rocking chair sat a young father, cradling his baby daughter. Dark shadows streaked the areas beneath his eyes, cutting through his alabaster complexion. He smiled wearily as he rocked his daughter to sleep and kissed her forehead. His eyes, dark as a bottomless pit, searched the room. His wife's flower box. The pictures of his friends on the mantelpiece. His daughter's toys placed high on a shelf. He'd never thought he would find a place where he belonged - after all, no one welcomes a child of the Underworld.

His back stiffened. This world hasn't welcomed his sister. And now it was too late for her. Silent rage oozed into his heart and he scowled.

The baby began to cry. Startled out of his reverie, he rocked her gently and whispered to her, "Sleep, cara, sleep." Though he had not a drop of charmspeak, she quieted down immediately.

As he held her in his arms, he smiled bitterly, thinking of his long-ago childhood in Italy. He thought of how sometimes his mother would take him and Bianca on holidays to places now ravaged by war.

And, in the arms of the wooden rocking chair, Nico di Angelo began to remember.


Italian

"cara" - darling; dear


It was a short chapter, but it's really just a prologue. Chapters will get longer...I promise. Please review! Your reviews are what keeps this story very much alive!