So, this story is pretty much exactly what it says on the tin - a series of oneshots commemorating Annabeth's female friendships. As many of them as I can think of and write about.

And now, onto this particular one: Oh, my friends, Thalia's and Annabeth's relationship is so underappreciated, and it makes my heart ache. Don't get me wrong, I love Jason and Thalia, it was a cool plot twist and a relationship with a ton of potential, but I feel like since she surfaced as his sister her relationship with Annabeth has been totally buried. And I think that, if done right, the two relationships can enrich each other. So here is my attempt.

...

Thalia's heart had been aching ever since they'd met the little girl.

She wasn't sure who the girl most reminded her of – herself or that other person. The name she'd sworn to herself she'd never speak again.

The little girl – Annabeth, she'd said her name was – with her tangled nest of hair and her wide gray eyes, had taken to Luke right away. Which was fine with Thalia, because she needed to take it in, needed to reconcile herself with the truth of the matter before she could look at the girl without feeling punched in the stomach.

She looked to be about six or seven – probably just a little older than Jason (who would be six years and two months old today; not that she was counting or anything). Not that that mattered, because Jason was dead and this girl was alive.

"My family hates me," Annabeth had said, and Thalia couldn't decide if she wanted to weep in relief that she, at least, had made it out before her parents could sacrifice her, or if she wanted to rage that Jason hadn't had that option.

Well, maybe he had . . .

Thalia had been older than Annabeth was now. She could have taken Jason and run away. She was smart, and resourceful. She could have made it. And it was her fault, then, what happened to Jason – because she hadn't run.

Though, with the things Annabeth had been saying all day, Thalia was pretty sure she hadn't been that smart even when she was older than seven. What with the sharp gray eyes and the intelligence, there was no way the girl wasn't a daughter of Athena. Thalia was no mythology expert, but she knew that much.

Thalia was on watch; the other two were asleep. Annabeth was curled up under one of Luke's jackets, which would do as a blanket until they could steal a better one. Luke was sprawled out as he always did when he slept, his blanket only covering half of his body but his face peaceful for once.

"You're Thalia, right?"

The voice startled her, and she turned. Annabeth was sitting up, wrapping the jacket around her shoulders. Her hair was even more tangled than it had been before, twigs and leaves sticking out of it, but her eyes were clear enough to suggest that she hadn't been sleeping at all.

"Yeah," Thalia said, whispering so as not to disturb Luke. The little resentment that she'd felt towards the little girl melted away at one look. It wasn't Annabeth's fault that Jason had – that what had happened had happened. "And you're Annabeth. I remember. Another half-blood?" The last phrase was a gamble, but if Annabeth didn't know who she was, Thalia could explain.

To her surprise, Annabeth nodded. "Daughter of Athena," she replied. "Goddess of wisdom, crafts, and battle strategy."

She sounded proud. Thalia wondered why she'd run away from a father who'd clearly told her all that. It seemed as though she had a pretty good life, compared to Thalia's and Luke's.

"Why'd you run away?" She didn't mean for it to sound so blunt, but Thalia didn't do dancing around things. Annabeth would tell her, or she wouldn't.

"My dad and stepmom thought I was endangering my brothers." Annabeth's voice sounded much older than she looked. "They love them more than me."

That last statement was not the whining of an ignorant child; it was a statement of simple fact. And it was probably true. Thalia's heart twisted. Impulsively, she reached out to ruffle Annabeth's hair, as she would have with Jason.

The girl stiffened at her touch; Thalia drew back immediately. Maybe they weren't quite at that level yet. "I'm sorry, kiddo," she said instead.

Annabeth looked down. "They didn't want me," she said quietly. She looked up suddenly, a little panicked. "You probably don't want me either. I'll be endangering you, too."

Thalia paused. It wasn't that she didn't want Annabeth – well, yes, it was. It didn't have anything to do with Annabeth, but how was she, a twelve-year-old, qualified to take care of a child? That wasn't fair, or right.

But their whole world wasn't fair or right. And it wasn't like they could just leave this little girl in the lurch – not when she seemed as tough and smart as Thalia had been when she'd first run away, not when she had nowhere else to go, not when she seemed so much like –

Thalia stopped that thought before it could go any further.

"We shouldn't have to want you," she said finally. She knew Annabeth was only seven, but she wasn't capable of softening her words. Besides, Annabeth was smart. If she didn't get it, she would eventually. "But we wouldn't leave you behind. People like us, we have to stick together. What Luke said earlier was true. We're family now, Annabeth, and we're not going to let you down."

Annabeth looked back at her, her eyes filled with trust. "Okay," she said, and it was at that exact moment that Thalia's protectiveness radar flared to life.

She looked at Annabeth, and instead of seeing what Jason could have been, she saw Annabeth – a little girl with a strong will and a fierce survival instinct. She saw a girl full of intelligence and overflowing with potential.

She saw a girl who was not her lost brother, but who could be her little sister, if she was willing to let her.

So she reached out to stroke Annabeth's hair again, and this time Annabeth let her. "First things first," she said, as gently as she knew how. "We've got to do something about that hair."