It's Not Dying

by CJ 5.0

At the Doors of Death, the Seven and Nico di Angelo are gathered around the Doors. They know that in order to close them, they must be closed from Tartarus and the House of Hades. But to do that, someone will have to stay behind. Percy understands it has to be him, but Annabeth isn't willing to let that happen. SPOILERS FOR MARK OF ATHENA! One-shot.

Rating: K+

Time Zone: After The Mark of Athena. After Percy and Annabeth's time in Tartarus.

Settings: At the Doors of Death under Epirus, Greece. Later in the Underworld.

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or The Heroes of Olympus.

. . .

They were all gathered around the Doors of Death. All of the Seven, Percy, Annabeth, Jason, Piper, Hazel, Frank, and Leo. Nico was with them, and even though he wasn't part of the Prophecy of Seven, they wouldn't have made it to the Doors under Epirus without him.

They had just reunited with Percy and Annabeth. When they had come out of Tartarus they had looked so tired and worn out. But once they had saw the faces of Jason, Piper, Hazel, Frank, Leo, and Nico, Percy and Annabeth's eyes' were filled with excitement and happiness. Yet, under that you could see the traumatizing fear they had seen in Nico's eyes after rescuing him.

Now they were all thinking the same thing.

Who is going to stay behind?

"Alright, guys," Percy stepped forward, "I have to do it. I have to close the Doors from the other side."

"No!" Annabeth shrieked immediately, stepping forward with him, "I just got you back. I just got out of the deepest pit of Hell with you. I am not losing you again!" Tears were already streaming down her face.

"Annabeth, I have to do this."

She held her head up high. "I'm coming with you," she said, standing her ground.

"That's just your pride speaking. You don't really mean it," Percy said to her, "You are going to regret it."

"That's not just my pride speaking," she said, sternly. "It's me speaking! With all my heart."

The rest of them watched with astonishment. How could anyone be so brave, they thought.

"Aren't you scared?" Percy asked softly.

"What do I have to be scared of?" Annabeth said, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Of dying," Percy answers her.

"It's not dying as long as I'm with you," Annabeth told him truthfully.

Percy rushed over to her, walking the few yards that were between them, and flung his arms around her. He held her tight, as if it was the last time he'd ever see her.

"I love you," Percy told her, "I love you so, so much."

Annabeth struggled to keep the tears from falling but, for once, she let weakness show. "I love you, too," she said.

They pulled apart after a few minutes, and Annabeth turned and looked at her friends. Her calculating grey eyes looked deep in thought as she stared at them for a while. She walked over to Nico and, to his surprise, hugged him.

"I understand," she said, letting go of him. Annabeth didn't need to explain what she meant, they knew.

Percy walked over to the two of them and hugged Nico, too. Not needing to say a word.

"We can't even begin to imagine what you three went through. We can't even begin to understand. But we love you guys," Piper said, speaking for all of them, "And we promise we'll visit you." She looked at Nico, "Right?"

"Of course," he replied.

"Thank you," Annabeth said to her friends, "For everything."

They talked. They promised they would visit each other. They promised to keep in touch. No, they promised they would never lose touch.

They hugged. They hugged each other so tight they could hardly breath. They hugged like they were the last people on Earth.

They cried. All of them, even Annabeth with her hubris. They cried over their losses. Over the unfairness of this all.

"Well, we don't have much more time," Annabeth said sadly.

"Goodbye, everyone," Percy said with one last hug, "We'll see you soon."

Percy grabbed Annabeth's hand and, together, they began walking to the Doors of Death. They entered Tartarus and turned around to close the Doors. The rest of the Seven and Nico walked over to the other side of the Doors, putting their hands' on. While Percy and Annabeth pulled on them, they pushed.

Then there was a loud noise, the noise you would hear when a door was being slammed. It echoed through the House of Hades, under Epirus. And just like that Percy and Annabeth were vanished from the six of their friends' sights. And the Doors of Death were shut.

. . .

Percy and Annabeth held hands as they walked to the gates to the Underworld, going to be judged on how they died. Here, they would be told where in the Underworld they belonged. Their friends told them they would surely be put in Elysium, but Percy and Annabeth were still nervous.

They approached somebody in a black robe with a hood, other people in the same attire around them judging people who had just died.

"Excuse me," Percy said to get the man's attention.

"Oh, hello!" He said with a smile.

"Hi," Percy said kindly, thinking that this man was awfully nice for a dead person. He immediately scolded himself after that.

You're dead and you're not mean or rude, he told himself.

"How did you two die?" The man asked. His name tag said Michael, so Annabeth assumed this was just a random dead person working as a judge, for a seemingly unknown reason.

"Well," Annabeth began, "As you may know, the Doors of Death were open because of the earth goddess, Gaea. The Doors needed to be closed, so that monsters wouldn't reform so quickly, if not immediately."

"These doors," Percy continued for her, "Needed to be closed under Epirus, in the House of Hades, but they also needed to be closed from Tartarus. So Annabeth and I," he gestured to the both of them, "Closed the Doors on the side in Tartarus. And in Tartarus we, died." He said the last part sadly.

Michael gaped at them, shock clear on his face. He quickly tried to cover up his shock, but you could tell he was still very surprised at the two extraordinary heroes in front of him.

"Well," he said, "It is evident you two died heroes. And still are," he added. "As a judge I shouldn't give my opinion, but it would be foolish not to say that you two are truly amazing."

Both Annabeth and Percy blushed at this. "Thank you," they said.

"I declare that you belong in Elysium."

. . .

Percy and Annabeth have lived happily in Elysium for almost a year. They still love each other the same, if not more, than before. Their memories of Tartarus have slowly faded away with each others help.

They know their friends have stayed together. They didn't drift apart, like Percy and Annabeth made them promise not to. They even reunited with their other friends they had lost.

Percy and Annabeth met Silena Beaurgard in Elysium, who squealed when she saw her favorite couple was still together. They met Charles Beckendorf, who was with Silena at the time and had to cover his ears with his hands. They met Luke Castellan, who sacrificed himself to save they world, just like they did. They met Bianca di Angelo who embraced them tightly and shook her head and rolled her eyes at all of Percy's apologizes. And often all of them would get together and have lunch, or dinner, or just sit and talk as a family of heroes.

And of course they never lost touch with their other friends. At least once a week the gang would get together as Nico summoned Percy and Annabeth. They would talk, and laugh and fool around until Nico ran out of McDonald's Happy Meals.

Percy and Annabeth never felt as if they were dead. They never even thought about it. And, in all honesty, they weren't. Not as long as they were together.

. . .

Author's Note:

Well, that's it! I actually first thought of this when I had a dream about it, and I ended up getting out of bed and scribbling something down so that I would remember it. I only wrote a line though, because the whole one-shot pretty much revolved around this line. It was, "It's not dying as long as I'm with you." by Annabeth.

-The C of CJ 5.0