I'm Coming Home... I'm Coming Home...
His entire battalion stood at attention as he boarded the airplane, a couple crying, more than a few saluting, eyes misting over. Percy Jackson would be returning home for the first time in almost 13 months with two of his comrades, so close to when his tour would have ended too... The entire situation was hilarious in some sort of delirious form of humor. The plane trip home was rather uneventful, save for a few spots of turbulence. And as he got off the plane a small smile was upon his lips,
Tell the World I'm Coming Home...
Annabeth had been sleeping when they knocked at her door. She rubs the sleep from her eyes, and glances at the alarm clock on her bed stand. 2:49 am it read, and she mutters some rather colorful words to herself, wondering who could be at the door, not realizing just who could be at the door. She slips into a bathrobe and slippers before walking to the door slowly. Another round of knocking hits her front door. "Coming," she shouts groggily, still not fully awake. She maneuvers through the living room, trying not to hit any furniture on her way. Her hand finds the doorknob and she opens the door… and her heart stops... two Marines stood there in formal uniforms, and solemn countenances...
Let the Rain Wash Away All the Pain of Yesterday
As cliché as it was, it rained the next morning, while Annabeth sat numbly on her couch, still draped in her robe, sipping at a cup of coffee absentmindedly. Her phone was ringing and a message pops up, notifying her that she had five missed calls, ten voicemails, and 12 new text messages, and yet there she was, completely unaware of her surroundings, she's daydreaming in some far off world... There he sat laughing as she blushed at something he had said. It must of been something to do with the birthday cake she and Tyson had made for him. He had said something about it being a brick of chocolate cake with blue frosting for mortar. And then they were kissing, while lying beneath the stars in a field somewhere in rural New York, so blissfully ignorant of their futures. In an instant the scene changes, and Percy was leaving her for boot camp, he had enlisted the day after he turned 18... And then he was back again, laughing and they were happy once more... but then he's deployed to Iraq on his first tour, and when he gets back, he's different somehow, more mature, slower to laugh, and almost foreign to her, but they still go out on their adventures. And beneath the stars they had once camped under he proposes, and of course she says yes. But then he's deployed again, to Afghanistan this time... and now, now he wasn-. A barrage of knocking on the door rips her from the pleasant little dream, her coffee now cold. She takes a little while to get up, but opens her front door with a smile, only to find a group of her dearest friends frowning at her. Piper stood in front, Jason just behind her, and there was Frank with Hazel and Leo in the back, and of course Grover and Juniper were up front with Piper. And in their hands rest black umbrellas. Annabeth' smile vanishes, and a single tear leaks down her cheek, Piper hugs her... and now she's sobbing uncontrollably into her shoulder. The rest of the group stands there awkwardly, watching as Piper cradles her friend. Juniper comes forward, and then Jason and Leo, and Hazel, and Frank helps Grover up before joining himself, and they stand there, embracing in a group hug, crying silently as Annabeth grieves...
Percy comes home, to his mother's house, just three days later. Annabeth sits on a sofa, dressed in her best black clothing, dabbing away tears from her eyes. Sally is with Paul in the next room, where Percy now rests, a flag draped over him. A sob echoes through the empty house. Sally and Paul walk out, Paul holding his wife as she leans upon him, tears streaming down her face. Paul glances at Annabeth, before leading Sally down the hall to their bedroom. It takes a moment but Annabeth stands, and walks into the room. It had been cleared out to make room for him, and there he lay, photos of his childhood, his favorite sweatshirt, a few candles, a pair of swim goggles and all his medals and ribbons, all surround him. She walks up to him slowly, before folding the flag back, and opening the casket to reveal him. His face was serene, almost full of life, and a small smile graced his lips. She traces his chin with her fingers absentmindedly, before stopping herself. It had been too easy to forget, for there he lay, looking as though he were simply asleep. She stands there silently for a moment, before bending over to lay her head upon his chest, trying desperately to hear a heartbeat, to feel a pulse or the warmth of life, but there was nothing. Suddenly he didn't look so peaceful... she closes the casket quickly and re-drapes the flag over him, before sitting down next to him, crying softly, trying to keep her sobs quiet, so Paul won't worry and come to find her...
Percy's funeral was on a Sunday, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. It was a rather small event, only his mom, Paul, Annabeth, and his friends attending. It seemed almost as though he had been alive and well not too long ago, but now, there he was being lowered into the ground, and just as the service began it seemed, it was over. Annabeth, picks up the first handful of dirt, and drops it in, followed by a single red rose, before she returns to her seat, where she is presented the folded flag that had covered him not so long ago. She clutches it is close trying desperately not to cry. She drives herself home numb that day, laying the flag down with utmost care upon a table, before walking silently to their... no, her, bedroom and slipping out of her dress clothes and into one of Percy's old sweatshirts. She curls up on the bed, breathing in his scent; however faint it was, and gently lulling herself to sleep.
I Know My Kingdom Awaits and They've Forgiven My Mistakes
It should have been a routine patrol, no one should have died. And yet Percy was on point when the shots rang out. He hit the ground, a horrible red flower blooming across his chest. Someone yelled "Man Down!" in the distance, but Percy could barely hear him. He was suddenly very tired, and beyond that, he was the coldest he'd been in his entire life. Blackness starts to encroach on his vision, and so what? Was it so bad if he simply slept a little? He was tired after all. As the last speck of light vanishes and all fades to black, a horrible sense of dread consumes him. He may very well never see Annabeth again... but light fills his vision, and there he is sitting next to Grover on a class fied trip in middle school, silently admiring her from afar. If she ever caught him, he would never see the light of day again, and yet, he couldn't help but be drawn to her beautiful blonde curls, bouncing as she laughed at something one of her friends said, glancing around every now and then, her grey eyes vibrant and full of life. And suddenly there they were, dancing slowly to some song he couldn't fully remember at a school dance. He had kissed her that night, the first real kiss they had ever shared. Even though he passed high school, if only barely, no one wanted someone like him, no career and no college... it was what brought him his fate. So the day after he turned 18 he had enlisted. It had been hell, but he made it through, always carrying the memory of her with him. Not too long later he had deployed to Iraq. His first confirmed kill had been an old man, gray hair and full beard. His second was a boy, probably no more than 15 or 16, something that haunted him for the rest of his life. Then he was proposing to Annabeth, grinning like an idiot the entire time, they had been married for two weeks when he was deployed. And now here he was, lying on the ground, bleeding out slowly on the floor of a jeep, his friends trying desperately to save him. But when they brought him to the infirmary… he was already dead.