Disclaimer: I don't own the Percy Jackson or Heroes of Olympus series, RR does.

An Apology

„Thalia! Thalia, wait!" screamed a young, blond-haired man chasing a black shape in the forest near CampHalf Blood. It was dark and he kept stumbling over branches and other gods-know-what.

"I should have stayed at the freakin' party…" he mumbled to himself. It was just a few hours before that Argo II came back from a world-saving mission in Greece (with one additional passenger, who "gained another chance because of his heroic after-life actions in The Battle of the Doors of Death", blah, blah, whatever) and Mr. D decided to have a huge gig to celebrate the fact that the two camps didn't have enough time to kill each other off.

"Please, I just wanna talk to you!" The shape didn't listen. It kept going away in an army-like pace. The guy furrowed his eyebrows and decided to take action. He caught up with the running-away and clutched her wrist.

"Let go, Castellan!" snarled a girl with electric-blue eyes and a pissed-off look on her face. She seemed a few years younger than him and wore grey jeans, white undershirt, black leather jacket and a silver tiara on her raven-black hair. The guy thought that he must look like a peasant chasing his queen, with his worn-out jeans and a torn T-shirt. He smirked at the thought, scar on his cheek moving a little.

"What?!" hissed the girl, squinting her eyes.

"What..? Oh, nothing, it's nothing..!" He mentally scolded himself for losing focus. "Then let go and leave me alone!" now she was nearly shouting.

"No, not until you listen to me!" he stared at her with pleading in his blue eyes. She didn't say anything (still with a killing intend on her face), which he took for a good sign.

"Ok…" he sighed "I… I'm sorry…" And there was silence between the two. She blinked a few times with a surprised look on her face.

"That's it? No "I was so stupid" or "Kronos deceived me" or "It wasn't really such a big deal"? The only thing you have to say after all you've done is "I'M SORRY"?!" She snorted. He lowered his eyes with sorrow painted all over his face. She freed her hand but didn't run away. Instead, she began screaming at him.

"You..! You betrayed us! Not only me, Annabeth too! Don't you know how crushed she was after you left? You promised her that we… that we'll always be a family..!" her voice broke and he looked at her. Tears had begun falling down her cheeks, marking her freckles with smudged eyeliner. She nervously wiped them off, took a deep breath and began talking again, her voice shaking.

"You… You destroyed everything we had built before I was turned into a tree… Oh yeah, A TREE! I'd fucking devoted my life for your safety and you..! You decided to throw it away and leave me when I needed you the most!" He remained silent, pain in his eyes.

"Do you know how it is to start your life over?! Do you know how it feels to be lost because all you'd known smashed into a wall while you were a fucking pine-tree?! Do you know the feelings of betrayal and-"

"I DO!" he shouted, looking at her with anger on his face. She opened her eyes wide and stared at him.

"I know exactly how it all feels! You're not the only one betrayed here! Yeah, right-" he giggled bitterly "You gave your life for us and that was all heroic, so you think it's fine on your side but IT'S NOT! You left us! You left ME! You decided to act like a true hero but didn't wonder if I liked it!" With every word, relief was seen more and more on his face, like he was taking a load off his mind that have stayed there for an eternity.

"I wanted to stay, to fight the monsters with you but NO! Thalia Grace had to be the one to save us and die a glorious death! And I fucking hated the thought that I hadn't done anything! That I'd run away like a coward and let somebody die for me AGAIN!" his voice broke and he nearly whispered "And I hated myself the most for letting you go, for not doing anything to save the most important person in my entire life…"

She stared at him with her lips parted a bit, like she had just heard something similar to "Hey, did you know that Polyphemus is going to teach ballet at Mr. D's DanceSchool?". Yeah, pretty similar. "What..?" she croaked.

He sighted and… was that blush?! "I… I'll say it as clearly as I can… I…" he swallowed his saliva "I… I love you, Thalia…" he looked at her shyly. She became surprisingly interested in a big monster-blood stain on his chest. He lowered his eyes, his ears beginning to feel hot.

"I… I'm not going to demand anything from you… I just wanted to make things between us… correct…" a note of regret in his voice "So we could be a family once again…" he whispered. There was an awkward silence between the two, the only sounds being the wind and a wolf's ululation. He sighed quietly.

"So… I think I'll go…" he tried to keep an unmoved face, like her not saying anything didn't stab the remains of his heart with a spear. A huge one, to be honest. He would have preferred her shouting at him, making fun of him or just him being turned down by her but this..? This was worse than any of that. He took a deep breath, preparing to go away and let her go forever. Suddenly, he felt cold fingers on his scar. He lifted his head with surprised look on his face. She was now close, REALLY CLOSE to him, gently caressing the keepsake from Ladon which reminded him of his yet another defeat. She smiled a little and his heart began to beat faster.

"This scar… It's the only thing that differs you from the old Luke, right..? Down there, you're still the same boy that Amalteia took me to… You just made a few mistakes on the way…" She moved even closer, her eyes half-shut.

"You never meant to do anything bad, it just… happened…" He could now see lumps of mascara on her eyelashes. She parted her lips a little.

"Wait" he stopped her.

"What?" she looked at him surprised.

"I… I mean…You… Are you sure you want this..?" he mumbled shyly, his face red. She puckered her forehead.

"What?!" she asked, even more confused.

"You. You're a Hunter and all. Isn't it forbidden to foul one's lips with a guy? I mean, to foul one's heart with ANY positive feeling towards a man? I-" he howled not being able to express himself, his face now in a loud crimson shade.

"I-I just-" he fell silent, feeling her lips on his. It felt like nothing he had ever tried in his entire life. For him, one her kiss was like a thousand doses of nectar, he felt like he was going to incinerate. For her, his lips felt like home. Home she was seeking since he left her, home she thought she found with The Hunt and when she found out Jason was alive. However, it was never enough and she'd realized it just now. Something was always missing, something she had reached when she decided to forgive him. They broke apart for air, both panting heavily.

"I love you too, Luke" she smiled. He returned the smile.

"What about Artemis?"

"Oh, we'll worry about it later, 'kay?"

"You read my mind…" And with that, they resumed the exchange of feelings that have finally found an outlet.

By ZJeM, inspired by Hatred by Skadi 2. Marchking; 14.04.2013

From author:

[My first fanfic ever, please don't be cruel. XD]

I feel like it's just Skadi 2. Marchking's story took by me and rewritten. I'm so sorry, Skadi! T T

Anyway, I enjoyed writing it (even though I won't watch speedway because of it, as I need to learn for that stupid business test ,) and that's probably the most important thing, ne? XD

Also, the part after the first kiss reminds me of a piece of Fire and Ice by conniehdez. Waah! Isn't anything from here originally made by me?! XD

Somehow, when having his little monologue, Luke reminds me of Prince Zuko. :D

Also, I'm afraid the end is a bit corny but I didn't want to continue the scene, nor did I have an idea how to do this. I felt that if I wrote anything more, it would become corny for sure. ^^