A little thing I made. Kinda based on How To Save a Life by The Fray. Listen to it whilst reading and you'll cry:'( This turned out longer than I thought. Leave a review and I will appreciate it forever.
Disclaimer: Anything you recognise belongs to Rick Riordon. You know, the one who's ripped all of our hearts up.
"I'll keep guard."
The head lieutenant of the Hunters waved the other girls off, insisting they sleep first so she could take the watch. After much persuading and ordering, the rest of the Hunters decided to listen to Thalia and set up a couple of tents to sleep in. Rounded off into groups to sleep in, Thalia lent against a thick tree on the side of the clumped-together tents. Her bow and arrows lay on the floor beside her, only a mere miliseconds away to grab and shoot when necessary. She listened to the last rustles from the tents faded and the silence follow from the Hunters' restful sleep.
She rested her mop of spiky dark-hair against the trunk of the tree behind her and plucked the silver circlet she wore off her head. Her fingers fiddled delicately with it as she looked thoughtfully. How far she had come... Could anyone say they had any clue what her life was like? Even halfbloods could not say they went through the aspects of her life. Run away from home, living in the woods for years, sacrificing herself for her friends and turn into a pine tree, be brought back to life and finding the only one she truly ever loved was... Gone. She remembered how she had vowed she would never ever become a Huntress under Artemis, vowed she could never leave her friends like that. Never leave Luke like that. Yet, look where she was. Lieutenant of them all. Then again, so much had changed since then. Luke, for one. It seemed he had left her this time, instead.
The night echoed willowing silence and Thalia could hear her own breathing. Suddenly, she knew something was wrong before anything else could register and she had her bow and arrow notched, up and pointing in the distance. The clumps of trees and branches barely moved, nor rustle, but Thalia didn't lower her bow. Eyes narrowed, she held her weapon fast. That was when she saw the white flag. The flag of truce. She wondered for only a split-second of who it could be before she caught sight of the holder and she swore her heart nearly stopped.
Luke.
Her breathing hitched when she was reminded of his familiar face. His sand-coloured hair. The scar across the face she had grown accustomed to already, in the past year. His clear, blue eyes which once promised her the world. He looked more tired than she had ever seen him before and he looked... Fragile. Weary. He stood, the flag of truce held in his hand and he jerked his head. She understood immediately what he meant- he wanted her to come closer- but she had to force herself not to.
'He wasn't Luke, anymore,' she told herself firmly, keeping her bow raised. 'He isn't your Luke, anymore.'
He jerked his head again and Thalia realised he couldn't do anything under the flag of truce now, anyway. After a silent debate in her mind, she glanced back towards the group of tents which held the sleeping Hunters, and she walked hesitantly a few steps forward. She never lowered her bow and arrow. Closer she walked until she made sure he was a safe distance away.
"Luke..." Her voice held definite longing but she had to be strong. She had to keep reminding herself he wasn't the same. "What do you want?"
The demigod raised his hand but, before he could do anything else, he felt the tip of her arrow pierce him in the centre of his palm. Thalia hadn't let go of the arrow but only shifted the point to his palm. She clearly thought he was going to hurt her.
Withdrawing his hand, Luke let out a low, sad chuckle. "Don't trust me?"
"Would you blame me?" she shot back.
"No, I guess I wouldn't," he agreed. He was silent for a moment. "I miss you, Thals."
Her old nickname he gave her felt like a slap in the face. She hadn't heard the name in so long... She felt her bow drop a millimetre down and her grip tightened, willing herself to man up. "Don't," she hissed in a low voice. "You can't just... Just don't. Don't."
Luke opened his mouth and closed it again. It seemed like it took a lot of trouble and effort to speak.
"What are you doing here?" she said again impatiently. "What do you want? Are you here to spy?"
"I came under a flag of truce." He gestured to the flag he was still holding. His eyes searched her face. "I want to talk... To you."
"Why? What's there to talk about? How you betrayed me?" Her voice cracked slightly. "How you betrayed us all? How you almost killed Annabeth? How you're working with the Titans? How you poisoned my tree- me?"
"I- I didn't-," He stumbled along his words. Passion suddenly broke into his voice. "I did this for us, Thals, for you. Don't you remember? All those times we said we hated our dads, how badly they treated us?"
"I didn't mean for us to go over to the Titans," she snapped. "I meant for us to prove ourselves. I didn't mean for... For this."
His eyes held hers for only a moment before hers darted away. "I didn't- I didn't betray anyone. I didn't betray you."
"You poisoned my tree," she said, wondering what type of defence he had now.
"I didn't- only because Kronos said we could bring you back." His face was cleared of emotion but it was his eyes that Thalia could always understand. "And you have come back. It worked. We could still be together, like old times."
"We can't!" She finally let her bow drop to her side, her finger pointing at him in accusation. "You've changed. It's not the same anymore."
"I'm still me," he insisted, clasping her raised hand.
She attempted to wrench her hand away. "You're not! My Luke would never, ever hurt any of us! He would have never kept Annabeth- our little Annabeth- holding the sky of the world and leave her to die!" She faded off, her eyes startling stinging from tears. She spoke quieter. "My Luke would have did anything and everything he could to protect her. Because she was ours. Our little baby. Remember?"
His eyes flashed painfully as if he did remember. Of course he remembered, Thalia knew he remembered. How they promised, how he promised, that they would be a family together. He was the dad, she was the mum and Annabeth was their baby. A dysfunctional but their family. That was the worst part. He remembered and he didn't care. Wanting to shield the shameful tears in her eyes, she turned her back in him, picking up her bow and arrow again. She bit back a sob.
"Your Luke, am I?" He was suddenly right behind her and, with a shiver, she felt his breath tickle her neck. For a moment, he really did sound like the old Luke, the one who teased her playfully until she scowled. She blushed at the way he said it. Her eyes still glittering wet, she turned her head ever so slightly and then his lips were on hers. She tried to resist but it was oh-so-familiar and memories flooded back to her. Memories of the first time they kissed when they were on the run, and the ones in between. So she let go; she stopped thinking and just went with it. She kissed back and let the relief become over her. Slowly, Luke pulled away but kept his face only a mere few inches from her, his hands wrapping around her waist.
"Oh, gods," he murmured to her. "I've missed you so much. So much, Thals."
Abruptly, she remembered. She pushed away from him, stumbling backwards in confusion. "I- I can't. I'm a Hunter."
He eyed her bitterly. "I almost forgot. You joined the Hunt, you vowed maidenhood forever. You vowed off us, forever."
"Don't give me that, Luke," she told him almost tiredly. "It wasn't me who turned my back."
"It wasn't me who got turned into a tree."
Thalia studied him for a moment, wondering if it really was worth it. Finally, she gave a rejected sigh. "What did you come here for, really?"
"I want us to run away." His voice came out in a low hush. "Kronos- he's using me. This'll be my chance, our chance."
At first, she didn't believe him. But the pain in his facial expression, the begging in his eyes, and she knew he was completely serious. "To run?"
Luke heard the longing in her voice and he couldn't give up hope now. "Yeah, like old times. Before we had to get to Camp Half-Blood. We could run off and fight monsters again together."
Thalia was almost ashamed to admit that she was tempted. Sorely tempted. How she yearned for everything to be back like before. "And Annabeth?"
"Annabeth could come too. We could persuade her." There was a plea as he said it and she wanted nothing else but to believe him.
"The thing about Annabeth," she said slowly, her eyes sweeping to glance back at the resting Hunters' tents. Reality seemed brought back to her. "-is that she is loyal. She wouldn't abandon her friends, let alone Percy. You don't know how sorry I am to not be able to say the same about you."
For the first time since he arrived under the flag, he seemed angry. "Loyalty? You don't think I am loyal? I waited, Thalia. I waited, even though you turned into a tree. I waited over six years for you and I still had faith in you. I still believed I could find a way to bring you back to life. And you're here. I brought you back. Stop acting like you did nothing wrong. You kicked me off the cliff, didn't you? You fought me, you forced us to fight to kill on Atlas' mountain. You went against me too."
"You didn't bring me back. Kronos did," she spat at him as a retort. She winced as she remembered his body flailing as she kicked him away, away thousands of feet below. "I wasn't aiming to-"
"Save it, Grace."
Maybe it was the use of her surname that ticked her off, seeing as he wasn't supposed to use it. "It just felt like we were fighting for practice, like the old times! I didn't want to fight you, you know! I just had to, even if it had to mean going down with my friends. Sound familiar?"
Luke blanched, as he was reminded of watching her turn into a pine tree to protect Annabeth, Grover and himself. "You could have killed me."
"To defend myself," she said in frustration. "You were going to kill me too."
"Of course I couldn't kill you! Damnit, Thals, I love you!"
Her voice softened. "Too much has changed, you have changed. It's not only Annabeth who's loyal, I need to stay committed to the Hunters."
"How much has changed, really?" His voice cracked in despair.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. He was a 22-year-old man now, and she was forever a day before sixteen. She pressed her lips to his cheek, tears streaming down her face. "I can't do such a cowardly thing."
He should have known. He turned his head, making his forehead rest against hers. "Tell me one thing. Did you ever love me?"
"Of course," she said in a thick voice.
And he kissed her again. But this time, Thalia couldn't let herself fully enjoy it. She knew it was the last. Her salty tears mingled between their lips and it only added to the bittersweet effect.
She pulled away this time and he seemed to sense that it was over. He held her eyes one last time, and she could see the pain and brokenness. Tears only fell thicker and faster as he turned away, his back hunched in an almost defeated-like position. He walked a few steps away before turning back slowly, and Thalia saw the rare flash of fear within his facial expression.
"Thalia-" he started but something cut him off.
Purposely leaning down to pick up her bow and arrow again, she wiped her tears. "What?"
"I just- nothing." He shook his head. "Just a goodbye."
She watched him carefully, bringing her eyes again to meet his. "It's your last chance, Luke. There are still ways to stop this. You still have time."
He shook his head again and she realised that he must know more things than her.
"Are you really going to give everything up?" She demanded. "Are you going to just throw Annabeth and I away? For what, revenge on your father?"
"You're right." He said after a pause of silence. "Maybe I'm not the same."
"No, you're not," she agreed before slinging her bow and arrow over her shoulder.
"I never did meant to hurt you, Thals," he told her. "I promise."
She gave him a sad smile. "It's a shame your promises don't mean much, then."
He opened his mouth to answer back but closed it again and turning back around. "I won't see you for- for a while. Goodbye."
"Goodbye, Luke." She said firmly and she watched until his retreating back was gone. Thalia returned back to her tree, thumping her head on the trunk behind. She closed her eyes, to try and block out the pain, and she could feel yet more tears spilling from her eyes. She sat, still and frozen, for quite a while before Pheobe, her next in command, woke up from her tent and appeared next to her.
"Thalia?" She asked her, startled. "Are you okay?"
She could only nod as a lie in response.
Fortunately, Pheobe seemed to understand. "Go rest. You'll need it, I'll take this shift."
Too weak to complain, Thalia moved towards a tent and climbed inside. Settling nearest to the corner, she curled up and rocked backwards and forwards. Just this one time, she allowed herself to let go with her feelings. She needed this, to let it all out, before the rest of the Hunters woke up. This was her time to escape before she had to be strong. And so, as she thought, the tears just kept coming. She knew she had lied but she vowed maidenhood.
She still loved him.