Alex Jackson could tell something was wrong.

Her parents were being loud and yelling words at each other that she didn't understand. She was just trying to build with her Legos when she heard her mom shout. Alarmed, she looked up from her toys to see her mom looking angrily at her dad while he said something to her, which was then heavily rebutted by her.

But her parents were saying so many big words, they could have been arguing over last night's episode of Jeopardy for all she knew.

Even Alex figured, though, that this was worse than their usual bickering. While Alex was only four, she still knew that her mom definitely looked much more irate than she had ever seen her, and her dad more sad than she had ever seen him.

The fighting continued everyday for a week before it seemed to calm back down. The house was quiet again. But why was mom crying all the time? Why did dad cry everytime he hugged her?

Alex didn't know, but she was getting more attention than usual so she was thriving. Her parents had been spending a lot of time at camp recently, leaving little Alex behind with her grandma. While she loved her doting grandparents, she'd rather be with her parents even if they were a little sad. She didn't know why they were suddenly going to camp in the winter without her because the whole family always went during the summer. It was Alex's favorite place.

Alex was even more confused when she was suddenly included on one of these trips to camp, but excited nonetheless. She would get to see Chiron, who always had candy for her. Her parents were silent on the drive, but the young child was too excited to notice. Her grey eyes sparkled happily once the car stopped, and mom came back to get her from her car seat.

Alex felt like she was dragging her parents behind her, her little legs wanting to reach camp as fast as she could. Her mother and father held her hands between them, watching her excitement with sad eyes.

Once they arrived, Alex was put into the care of Uncle Grover while her parents went somewhere with Chiron. She was overjoyed to be back at camp, where everything was pretty and it was always warm. In Alex's eyes, nothing could ever go wrong at camp.

The next day, Alex was awaken in the early hours by Aunt Juniper. The young child had stayed with them overnight. Uncle Grover had said something about her parents needing "alone time" but Alex didn't know what that meant.

Swinging between the adults' hands, the trio made their way to the Big House. It was still dark out as a the sun had not risen yet. In front of the porch was Alex's parents, Chiron, and another dark horse.

"Pony!" Alex exclaimed once she laid her eyes on it. Finally reaching the group, Alex separated from Grover and Juniper to wrap her little arms around her mother's leg, still staring at the horse.

The horse seemed to look right at her father, who laughed and nodded. The horse lowered its head and stepped close to the girl. Alex tentatively reached her hand out after some encouragement from her father to pet the horse's nose.

"I like ponies," Alex whispered into her mother's leg.

There was some chatter between the adults while Alex stayed tight on her mother's leg. She was too tired to decipher what they were saying. Her mother always told her to listen to conversations so she could learn more words, but, quite frankly, it was hard so Alex rarely listened.

She felt herself falling asleep against her mother when she felt her mother's body shift and she was suddenly scooped up into her mother's arms. Warm and safe, clinging tightly to her mother's neck, the young child felt like nothing could go wrong. Then, she looked up at her mom and was surprised to see her crying. She turned to her dad to see if everything was okay to find him crying as well. Her young eyes went back and forth between her parents, trying to understand the situation. There didn't seem to be anything to cry about, but her parents were crying. Should she be crying?

Before she could trigger the tears that all children seem to have on reserve, her father reached his arms out to take her from her mother. Alex happily switched over, gripping his shirt in her little hands. She smiled at him despite his tears.

She definitely was a daddy's girl, loving his jokes and various storytelling voices. She loved swimming with him because he would make animals, characters, and toys out of the water, and just last summer, he showed her how to do the same with basic shapes. He always told her how smart and strong she was going to be. She was always fascinated with his various scars, often taking a marker and drawing pictures over them.

Her father kneeled down and released her so his daughter could stand in front of him. He held her hand gently and cupped her cheek fondly with his other hand. Alex could feel the roughness of his hand, scars that she had drawn over countless times, against her cheek. It was warm, and smelt of lavender hand soap.

His eyes were shining, but he smiled at her as he silently etched her face into his memory for the millionth time.

Alex reached her hand up and squashed his nose with a laugh. "Hi daddy," she said.

He took in a deep breath, and pulled her into a tight hug, which she happily returned.

"I love you, baby, so much," he said into her ear.

He pulled back to look at her, and Alex couldn't look away from his eyes. She always tried to find a marker that matched his eyes, but nothing could give them justice.

"Alex, I need you to listen to me," he started, snapping Alex out of her daydream about markers. "Daddy is going to be going away for a little while. I have to go somewhere to help camp, okay?"

Alex nodded vigorously. "Vacation?"

Her dad smiled. "Yeah, like a vacation. But I need you to take care of mom while I'm away. Make sure she doesn't watch too much Jeopardy."

Alex nodded again. "No Jeopardy. Got it," she said, like she was making a promise to the president. She leaned in close so only her dad could hear her say, "I don't like Jeopardy."

Her dad grinned and pulled her into a hug again. "Be safe. Do what your mom tells you. And don't eat all of the cookies!"

The young child nodded into his chest. He placed a long kiss on her dark hair as he held her, before finally pulling back and standing up. He handed her over to Grover, and watched as her dad hugged and kissed her mother. Once the couple finally separated, her mom took her hand, and led her away from the Big House. This left her dad, Chiron, Grover, and another young man still standing around the horse at the base of the steps.

"Mommy, who is that?" Alex asked, pointing at the unknown person who had the same hair as her dad.

"That's Able, your father's brother. He's going with your dad," she said. "You can meet him when they come back." She took a deep breath for a reason Alex didn't know.

Finally, her dad and Able mounted the horse who then spread the biggest wings Alex had ever seen. Alex couldn't pull her eyes from the majestic creature in front of her. She was entranced by its beauty.

"Mommy, that's a-a peg-a pega...," Alex struggled to remember the name from her father's stories. He had told her of flying horses before, but the name simply wasn't coming to her young mind.

"Pegasus, sweetie. His name is Blackjack. Your dad has known him for years," her mother explained softly, squeezing her daughter's hand.

"Pegasus," Alex said slowly, liking the word on her tongue. She wanted one.

The pegasus and the two men on his back turned to the mother and daughter for one final look.

"Bye daddy!" Alex yelled, waving her hand excitedly over her head.

Her father smiled and waved back, before saying something that Alex couldn't hear. The pegasus suddenly took off, taking a few steps before jumping into the air and flexing his wings, pushing it and his riders up into the air.

Alex's mouth fell open, never seeing something as beautiful.

Yeah, she definitely wanted one for her birthday.

/ One month later /

Her mother seemed really worried all the time, and Alex was starting to wonder if she should be too.

Ever since her dad left, they had been at camp which by no means was Alex complaining. She had free range as long as an adult was with her, and she could see the beach or Big House. Lucky for her, almost all of the older campers and adults loved the little girl (there were a couple mean children of Ares that Alex didn't like) so she could always find someone to join her on her adventures around camp. She loved to knock on the doors of cabins to see what people were up to. She would join campers on inspection rounds, or at the bonfire and volleyball courts. There was never a dull day at Camp Half-Blood for little Alex.

That was at least until winter break ended, and everyone left to go back to school. Alex didn't completely understand what school was, but it was the reason everyone gave her before they took off and disappeared over the hill.

With very few campers left, Alex was left being with her mother everyday. At first it was exciting, being in the same room as Chiron and the ping pong table. She'd climb underneath the table and around the chairs, popping up to scare the adults. They would laugh, rub her head affectionately before going back to work. But soon, all places that Alex could climb around had lost their appeal and whenever she tried to scare someone, they would give her a quick smile and then go back to ignoring her.

Her mom wasn't even as strict with her. Alex would pull on her sleeves, saying she needed to use the bathroom when she really didn't; she just wanted to pull her mom away from the maps and diagrams to focus on her for just one second. Instead, her mother would just smile sadly and say, "You know the way to the bathroom, sweetie, you can go. I'm busy."

It was starting to get on her nerves, and worse, her dad still wasn't home. Everytime Alex would ask while they were getting ready to go to bed, her mom would sigh and say, "Soon." She would then tuck the little girl in before she could even come up with a response. Everyday, that "soon" became less and less convincing.

However, Alex had innocent hope that her dad would return; there was probably just some bad traffic.

They were in the mess hall one day, about a month after her father had left, enjoying some breakfast. Or at least, trying to. Alex's mother was overlooking a map, again, mumbling to herself while she ate some waffles. Alex was sitting next to her, eating some pancakes, now all too familiar with the silence. She knew better than to interrupt her mom while she was busy.

Suddenly, a loud horn could be heard from the beach, signaling that the camp had company. Her mother's eyes widen and she immediately dropped everything she was doing, picked up her daughter, and started to run to the beach. Alex held onto her mom for dear life as they followed the crowd to the beach.

A small crowd had already formed by the time they arrived. Alex could see Chiron in the front, taller than the rest. Her mother slowed and pushed her way through the crowd, keeping Alex close to her chest.

Finally, the crowd broke and they emerged next to Chiron and Grover, who was assisting a young man who Alex came to recognize as Able. Alex didn't notice her mother's frantic searching, but she did feel her chest beginning to heave against her.

"Chiron," her mom gasped out.

The centaur turned his attention to the two of them, his eyes sad. "Grover," he said, "perhaps you should take little Alex here for a walk."

Alex looked quickly between Grover and her mom, noticing that both of them were crying. Again, she wasn't sure what they were crying about, but she felt like she was missing something.

Grover wordlessly took Alex into his arms, and started to walk through the crowd which had parted for the duo. No one could meet her eyes. She twisted in the satyr's arms so she could look back at her mother.

Alex could hear her mom as they walked away, for once listening in. She had fallen to her knees next to Able who was still lying on the ground.

"Able, please," she could hear her mom plead.

"I'm sorry, Annabeth, we were in Tartarus and he got captured-" he started, but he was interrupted by the older women's sobs. Alex then lost sight of them, and eventually couldn't hear them.

The little girl was trying so hard to put the pieces together like her mom taught her. Something did not make sense to the little girl, but what?

They had just reached the mess hall when she thought about Blackjack and her dad.

And Able.

Her father was with Able when he left, and now he wasn't.

"Uncle Grover?" Alex started. "Where's my daddy?"

Grover's steps faltered and he came to a stop in the middle of the mess hall. He set the girl down at one of the tables and kneeled down to her level so he could make eye contact.

"Nemo," he started, using his nickname for her due to her obsession with the movie, "something happened to your dad while he was away. That means he's going to be gone a little longer than we thought."

"Is that why mommy is sad?" Alex asked softly.

Grover's composure was starting to crack under the girl's innocence. He took a breath. "Yeah, she's sad that she won't be able to see him soon. But don't worry," he took the girls hand and put it on his chest, near his heart, "I can feel your dad in here. He's okay. He just hit a little bump in the road."

"Just a little traffic?" Alex sniffled.

"Yeah, Nemo," Grover grinned slightly, "Your dad is strong. I know, right now, there's nothing he wants more than to be with you and your mom."

That night, once her mom finally returned to the Poseidon cabin to relieve Grover of his babysitting duties, Alex asked a question.

"Mommy, when is daddy going to be home?"

Instead of shying away, her mother bit her lip and sat down next to her daughter on the bed. She ran her hand through Alex's long, curly locks.

"I don't know, baby," she whispered. Her mom pulled back the covers, and slid into the bed next to her. "I don't know."

Alex cried herself to sleep, snuggled tightly into her mother's chest while her mom silently prayed to every god she could name to bring her daughter's father back.

/ 12 years later /

Finals sucked, but Alex was finally able to walk out the school's door for the last time until the next school year. She was saying goodbye to homework, projects, exams, and annoying lab partners, and saying hello to swordfighting, archery, canoeing, and lava walls. It was a trade she would make any day.

She waved goodbye to her school friends, some of whom she would keep in contact with over the summer, before hopping on the bus to head home. Sophomore year was a drag so she was ready to leave it all behind, ready to enjoy the summer at camp before she had to enter into the deathtrap of junior year.

She arrived back at the Jackson apartment, not surprised to already see suitcases in the front foyer. They were always packed for camp, just in case they needed to leave in a moment's notice. She called a greeting to her mom, hearing a reply coming from the kitchen so she followed the voice and peaked her head into the doorway.

Her mom was making sandwiches for their drive as she always did, and she looked up when she saw her daughter. Annabeth was already dressed in a camp shirt and jean bermuda shorts. "Hey Alex, I'll be done with these in a minute and then we'll be set to leave. You packed everything, right?"

Alex confirmed her luggage and went to her bedroom to grab her things. She came back with her bags and stood waiting for her mother by the front door. Once they gathered everything and headed out the door, Alex made one last call for anything they might have forgotten before they closed the door behind them.

Her mother cursed in Greek and dropped her bags. She ran back into the apartment and emerged a minute later with a picture frame which she handed to Alex while she picked her bags back up.

Alex looked at it for the millionth time while she waited for her mother to be ready. It was an old photo of the family, before her dad died. Her mom and dad were sitting next to each other with Alex on their lap on the young Jackson's fourth birthday. She was wearing a small cone hat on her dark mane of hair, smiling gleefully at the camera while her parents were laughing in her direction.

According to her mom, little Alex had just passed gas and was delighted with herself while the adults laughed. Annabeth claimed to love the picture because it was one of the few where Alex was actually looking at the camera. Alex knew it was because it was the last photo the family took together before her father went missing a few months later. Nonetheless, it came to camp with them every summer.

Once her mom was situated, they headed out into the streets of Manhattan to load up their car. Despite being a single mother, Annabeth made more than enough as an architect for the two to live comfortably in a nice apartment with their own car. After they made everything fit into the back, they piled in and took off into New York traffic.

Her mom left the family picture on the center console of the car as they drove. Alex found herself staring at it again, even though it had been on her mom's bedside table for ten years.

In all honesty, Alex didn't like the photo. Not because of the photo itself, but because it made her realize that the man in the picture is foreign to her. If she didn't have pictures of him, Alex is certain she would not remember what her father looked like. She realized a few years prior that she didn't have any memories of his stature, his eyes, or even his hair. The only memories she had were of his voice and touch. She also didn't know why the scent of lavender made her heart twist painfully in her chest. But if that man walked by her on the streets of New York, Alex would probably keep walking.

These were all secrets she never uttered to her mother. As far as her mom knew, she remembered everything about her father. She knew that he had a scar on his forehead from her memories, definitely not because she noticed it in a picture she was looking at a couple weeks before. Alex hated lying to her mother, but she knew it would kill her if she admitted to not remembering him. Even twelve years later, Alex still felt like she had to protect her mother.

However, in her mom's defense, she had come a long way. Alex does remember all of the sleepless nights they had once her father was officially declared as missing, her mother waking up from nightmares every night. Her mother would hold her close as they cried together. They stayed at camp that entire year, her mom working around the clock on any leads she had. Finally, after one-too-many close calls, Chiron told Annabeth that she was done with quests and putting her life in danger. It was hard for her at first, but, eventually and slowly, she grieved and started to live her life again. They moved, and Alex started school which almost broke Annabeth again as her baby was suddenly in the care of strangers, but Sally helped her through it. While she still looked at pictures sadly and told old stories longingly, her mother was stronger from it. The few grey hairs that poked out from her blond hair (which Alex always teased her for) did not even begin to tell what her mother had been through, and Alex didn't even know all of the stories yet.

Her mother's voice pulled her from her thoughts. "What's the plan for this summer?" she asked as she pulled around a delivery truck.

Alex shrugged. "I want to finally hit a bullseye this year in archery. I came so close last year. And I want to learn more Latin so when I visit Camp Jupiter, I can understand the signs."

Annabeth gave her daughter a quick look with a coy smile on her face. "What about a certain Sierra? What's the plan there?"

Alex blushed and she felt butterflies in her stomach against her will. "Mom!" she groaned, much to her mother's amusement.

Sierra was Alex's best friend at camp since they were nine. As a daughter of Apollo, Sierra was immediately intrigued by Alex's inability with a bow so she declared herself Alex's personal archery teacher at the age of nine. In the past seven years (attached at the hip, according to her mom), Alex was this close to a bullseye, but it wasn't enough for her friend. Sierra told her that if she didn't make a bullseye this summer, their friendship was over.

Much to Alex's embarrassment, both her mother and Aunt Piper noticed the way Alex looked at the daughter of Apollo three years ago. Piper told her, as a daughter of Aphrodite, that she definitely saw it working out and that she shouldn't be afraid to ask her out. Instead, Alex was very afraid to ask her friend out for fear of ruining everything.

"You told me last summer that you would ask her out, and here we are. You have to do something before someone else does!" her mom said.

Alex sunk deeper into her seat. Her friend was also very pretty which gained the attention of many around camp. Alex would never admit that everytime Sierra came back from a failed date, she felt rejoiced. "I'll talk to Aunt Piper when I get to camp, and I'll see what I can do," she muttered.

While she did have, what many would say, obvious feelings for Sierra, Alex was not at all savvy when talking to love interests. Sierra was the first person Alex opened up to about her family situation. Alex could tell her anything, but as soon as Sierra says, "How does this outfit look on me?" Alex was a gaping fish. While she had improved since the initiation of the crush, she had yet to make a move.

"Good because as soon as you two get together, I can finally give you The Talk," her mom said proudly.

Alex covered her red face with her hands. "Mom, oh my gods, please stop talking!" However, once she heard her mom's boisterous laughs from next to her, Alex couldn't help the giggles that escaped her mouth as the traffic finally opened up, and it was smoothing sailing the rest of the way to camp.

/

So here is the start of the rewrite, I hope you guys liked it :)

For people reading this story for the first time, this is a rewrite of my first story on this website. I wrote the old version six years ago, so to say the least, this is going to be a little bit better and also complete. I have high hopes for this story so I really hope you guys like it.

If you are an old person like me who has read my original story, let me know in a review. I would love to know what you think of it.

Sorry for an spelling errors, blah blah blah. See y'all soon.