A/N: I'm having major ThaLuke feels lately, so I'm writing this. Oh, and Luke never chooses rebirth.
Ever since I kicked Luke off that mountain all those years ago, I've been having trouble sleeping. My sleep would be riddled with nightmares, about me being the cause of Luke's death, never meeting Luke in the first place, or even worse, joining Luke's side in the war. And ever since Luke actually died, they've been getting worse- more graphic, more real.
Today, Wednesday, the hunters and I, being in Wisconsin, ran into a few monsters- the Minotaur, a few hellhounds, and a baby Cyclops. And now, we were eating s'mores (Artemis was on Olympus on official business, so we were allowed to have a little fun, considering that I was in charge).
"Do you ever regret anything?" Phoebe asked out of nowhere.
"Like what?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I don't know. Something big," Phoebe explained.
"Sometimes, I wish that I didn't bully people when I was younger," a new recruit, Alexandra, said.
"I regret not trusting the voice in the back of my head more," another huntress, Martha, said. The Hunters laughed.
"Well what about you, Phoebe? Since you asked the question," Martha posed.
"I regret trusting those Stoll brothers, at Camp Half Blood," Phoebe said firmly. I snorted, then proceeded to laugh very hard.
"Oh yeah? Well what about Ms. Giggles? What do you regret the most?" Phoebe challenged. I thought. My inner conscious was yelling at me. Luke! You regret Luke! But I could never say that- a mere comment like that could get me kicked out of the Hunters. I decided for the safest approach.
"I believe a great movie villain once said, 'I regret nothing'," I said strongly. The Hunters whined.
"Come on, be real Thalia," Alexandra complained.
"You want me to be real? Okay, it's 11'o' clock, time to go to bed," I said checking my watch. The Hunters whined and complained even further, but I didn't want to hear it.
"Phoebe, round 'em up. I'm beat," I said, walking into my tent. Being too lazy, I removed my shoes, and crawled into my sleeping bag, not even bothering to change. And for once, I was about to have an amazing dream.
I was in a white room- white everything, with a floor that looked like clouds. I was confused, until someone started walking towards me from the distance. I kept up my guard on instinct, but I dropped it as soon as I saw who it was.
"Luke?" I questioned.
"T-Thalia? What are you doing here, in Elysium? Don't tell me you're-" I didn't let him finish.
"No, I'm not dead. I'm definitely not dead," I confirmed.
"Then…are you dreaming?" Luke asked.
"I guess…I mean I fell asleep, so yeah," I explained.
"But why am I here?" Luke asked. Deciding to be funny, I said, "Well I mean, if you want to leave…" I trailed off.
"No…that's not what I meant-" Luke started.
"It's fine…it is your birthday, that could be it," I guessed.
"Yeah, maybe…So how are you?" Luke asked. We talked like that for what felt like hours, when he asked me to do something very unexpected.
"Hey…when you wake up…can you go to Connecticut? And tell my mom…that I'm dead. I doubt anybody has, and I'd really appreciate it," Luke said sadly.
"Sure, Luke. I can do that," I said, trying to be gentle. We were silent for a few moments before, being brave, I asked, "So…have you found anyone…in Elysium?"
"Nah…I waiting for a certain daughter of Zeus…she's had my attention for quite some time now," Luke said, smiling widely.
"Luke…Who knows how long until that happens…I'm immortal," I said sadly.
"Unless you're killed in battle…You know, I'm a very patient man. I'll wait for however long I have to…And anyway, in Elysium, time passes slower than you'd ever imagine. One week in there, is years out here. Why, for me, I only died a few hours ago," Luke explained, still smiling.
"I don't want you waiting for me to get stabbed, or shot down with an arrow. I want you to have fun," I pleaded.
"If you want to think about it like that, no matter when you die- if you die next week, or two hundred years from now, I'll have Percy, and Annabeth, and Grover, and everybody else new to keep me company. I heard that you have a long lost brother…maybe I can get to know him," Luke offered.
"I guess…but still," I sighed.
"How about I give you one for the road?" Luke suggested.
"What?" He didn't answer, instead, he leaned forward and kissed me. This wasn't the first time that he had kissed me, but it had been so long, I had forgotten what it felt like. His lips were warm and smooth, and his kiss was light, but hard. It only lasted a few seconds, but like everyone says, it felt like eternity. When he pulled away, he was still smiling.
"That's what you have to look forward too, when you die," Luke laughed lightly. I was still slightly dazed, so all I did was nod. He laughed harder. Then, out of nowhere, there were muffled yells, and sounds of pillows flying.
"What's that?" I asked, extremely confused.
"Well, my best educated guess, would be that that's your fellow huntresses trying to wake you up," Luke guessed.
"Right," I said, disappointed that I'd have to go.
"Hey, it's alright. Maybe I'll see you soon," Luke said optimistically. Instead of answering, I just kissed him again, slowly, as long as I could. When we pulled apart, he stood up, and offered me his hand.
"Well, I better get going," Luke said, beginning to walk off in the other direction.
"Yeah, me too," I turned on my heel. Right before I started walking, I turned back around, and yelled, "Hey, Luke?"
"Yeah?" He turned and responded.
"Was this even real?" I asked.
"Of course it was," he replied, before turning around and walking away. I smiled to myself, and walked towards the white light.
When I opened my eyes, all of the other hunters were staring at me, pillows stopped mid air.
"What?" I asked.
"You're smiling," Alexandra said.
"And?" I asked, confused.
"You never smile when you're sleeping. Usually, you're frowning, or you look really pained," Phoebe said. I stood up, and replied, "Such is the life of a demigod. I just had a really good dream for once. Now, today we're going somewhere else," I said, putting on my boots.
"Where are we going?" Phoebe asked.
"We're going to Westport, Connecticut. I have some business that I need to attend to there. Now, pack up. We leave in a half hour," I said, smiling, walking out of the tent. Sure, I wasn't looking forward to telling Luke's mom about her son, but maybe I could snag a picture of him when he was young.
A/N: Done. Say, review please? Do you like it? Tell me if you want a sequel, where Thalia visits Luke's mom. Thanks, BYEEEE!