PJatO || Nicercy || PJatO || The Life Guard and the Guardian Angel || PJatO || Nicercy || PJatO

Title: The Life Guard and the Guardian Angel – How Nico Found his Soulmate in Hawaii

Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus; soulmate AU

Disclaimer: All rights reserved to Rick Riordan for he created the awesomeness that is Nico di Angelo. And everything else related to Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus. Aside from the Gods, they belong to the old Greeks. This fanfiction and its OCs on the other hand are entirely mine. No money is made with this, though reviews are more than welcomed.

Warnings: shounen-ai, soulmates/soulmarks, fluff, hetero

Main Pairing: Nico/Percy

Side Pairing: Jason/Reyna

Percy Jackson Characters: Perseus Jackson, Nico di Angelo, Jason Grace, Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Will Solace, Mike Kahale, Leo Valdez

Summary: Nico visits as many beaches as he can – because when he turned sixteen, his soulmate-mark appeared and it was a beautiful pattern of tidal waves breaking for a merboy. He concluded that his soulmate must live at some kind of beach. The problem was that there are a lot of beaches all over the world. His friends help him as best as they can and together, they go to Hawaii.

When Percy turned sixteen, two beautiful large black wings appeared on his back. Ever since, he had been searching for his soulmate, for his guardian angel. He's working in a surf-shop in Hawaii.

The Life Guard and the Guardian Angel

How Nico Found his Soulmate in Hawaii

"Brah, just because you keep starin' into the sky won't make an angel drop down into your lap."

Percy heaved a sigh and averted his eyes from the beautiful blue sky to look at his friend and business-partner Mike Kahale. "Mahalo, Mike. Very wise advise. What would I do without you?"

Mike laughed and clapped Percy on the shoulder. "Just sayin'. Never met a guy as hung up on finding his soulmate as you are. You can't force fate like that. Let go of it and it will all work out."

Huffing beneath his breath, Percy turned away from Mike to return to their surf-shop. He reached one arm over his shoulder, gently caressing it for a moment. It wasn't his fault. He was twenty-six and he still hadn't met his soulmate and he had no idea how to even find his soulmate.

Everyone always eagerly awaited their sixteenth birthday, because that was when a person's soulmarks appeared. A symbol on the inside of their dominant hand's wrist that represented them and another symbol somewhere else on their body that represented their soulmate. Not everyone had a soulmate, not everyone had a second mark, while others might even have multiple marks and thus multiple soulmates. Percy was one of the lucky ones who did have a soulmark.

On Percy's sixteenth birthday, he woke up with a blue merboy on his wrist, swimming in a perfect circle and the space between the circle created by the merboy's body filled with waves in a tribal style. And on Percy's back, two giant, black wings unfolded, stretching the whole length of his back.

Since then, he had been desperately looking for his guardian angel, his soulmate.

Part of the reason he loved his soulmark was that it covered his whole back, because his back was covered in scars from his abusive stepfather. Percy had grown up in New York, with his mother and a man who had not been what Sally Jackson deserved. As much as Percy loved his mom and as glad as he was that she had gotten divorced from Gabe and found someone worthy of her in the form of the high school teacher Paul Blofis, Percy still couldn't stay in New York. After all, he now knew that his mother was well-loved and well-taken care of. So he could finally leave New York and all of its bad memories behind. He decided to move on to his dad's home – Kaua'i.

He went to college there and started working at one of his dad's surf-shops part-time. After graduation, he took over one of the shops that Poseidon Jackson managed on all islands of Hawaii. And Percy was happy with that, working in the 'family business' (his older half-brothers Proteus and Triton managed two of the other shops). He had found a very good friend in his employee Mike, but what he hadn't found yet was his soulmate, regardless of how much he looked and longed.

/break\

"Dude, you need to relax. This? This is a vacation. Not a soulmate-hunt."

Nico grunted and rolled his eyes, trying to shrug the clingy blonde off. Jason Grace would not allow to be shrugged off. Jason never allowed himself to be shrugged off. Nico didn't know why, but he had done something in high school that had caused the lost, human-sized and human-shaped Golden Retriever puppy to follow him home and since then, Nico had not yet managed to get rid of him.

Which was kind of a theme when it came to Nico and his friends, really. He had been partnered up with Reyna in high school for a partner project by Coach Hedge and she had refused to leave his life ever since. Okay, part of why those two stuck around was that they had met through Nico – Nico had helped those two soulmates to meet and they now felt like they owed him something. Particularly; they left like they owed him to help him find his own soulmate. The two had been rather active helpers on Nico's relentless hunt for his soulmate.

"True words, Jason. This? No stressing about your soulmate. Just kicking back and relaxing."

Nico grumbled as a second blonde attached himself to Nico. Will Solace was Nico's other best friend, aside from the above mentioned ones. And the blonde was just as stubborn as Reyna and Jason, even though they had only met in college where Will had studied to become a doctor and Nico had studied to become a lawyer. They had been roommates and since then, you guessed it right, Nico had another attachment he couldn't seem to be able to shake off.

"Who are we kidding? Nico is still going to hunt for his soulmate", sighed Reyna pointedly.

When Nico di Angelo had turned sixteen, he received a set of raven-wings on his right wrist and beautiful tribal-styled waves on the left side of his body, a cute blue little merboy breaking through them kind of The Little Mermaid style. Ever since, Nico had been desperately fishing for his little merboy. He took as many vacations as he could – thanks to the family money – and visited as many beaches as he could, because that was literally the only clue he had to go by. Waves. The ocean.

Alas, so far, no luck. He was growing frustrated and, apparently, also frustrating. Which was why Reyna, Jason and Will had staged an intervention. Which was what brought Nico, Jason, Reyna and Will to Hawaii, or more specifically to Kaua'i. A 'vacation'. Hah. Like Nico was going to just sit around and do nothing; he had a little merboy to catch, after all.

/break\

Percy yawned widely and stretched. He was exhausted. Sure, he loved his job, but he sometimes overworked himself. All the time, if one was to ask Mike. After all, he managed a store, he taught surfing classes, he raised a child all on his own and he was still looking for his soulmate.

"Da—addy, look", gasped said child.

Percy turned to look at Leo, his adorable little foster son. The six-year-old Latino tugged on Percy's hand and pointed straight ahead. Percy frowned as he watched the commotion at the pool. Him and Leo had just eaten lunch at the Dare Hotel's restaurant – the up-side of his friend Rachel owning the hotel. Lifting Leo up and carrying him, Percy hurried his steps.

"What happened?", asked Percy seriously.

"These drunk idiots crashed into the loungers and some of them crashed into the pool, hitting people", sighed a gorgeous Latina, rubbing her own sore forehead.

It had basically been a chain reaction of loungers crashing into each other, four of them going into the water. The pool's life-guard was currently busy pulling a crying little girl out of the water, but Percy spotted a guy bleeding from his head, floating unconsciously.

"Leo, I need you to stay right here and not go anywhere, okay?", stated Percy firmly.

His boy nodded obediently and Percy dove into the pool to pull the unconscious man onto land again. Gently, Percy pushed the wet curls out of the man's face. It was only a mild cut on his forehead that was just bleeding badly. After assessing that, Percy started giving the man CPR. Dark-brown eyes fluttered open as the man gasped for breath. He was gorgeous.

"Hey there", whispered Percy gently. "How do you feel?"

"Like I got hit by a bus", sighed the man, voice rough.

"Sorry, was apparently just a lounger", chuckled Percy amused.

"Nico, man, you're bleeding!", exclaimed a blonde guy panicky.

"Thanks for pointing it out, Jason. I would have never noticed otherwise", groaned Nico.

He hissed as he touched his forehead, hand coming back bloodied. Leo walked up to Percy and tugged on the adult's now wet shirt. Percy smiled sweetly as Leo pulled one of his super-cool Iron Man band-aids out of his pants pockets. Leo had a talent of getting hurt, so Percy had put band-aids into Leo's pockets for emergencies. Smiling and taking a large band-aid, Percy carefully applied it to the bleeding wound to stop the bleeding. Nico blinked blearily up at him.

"You need to keep him conscious, to make sure he doesn't have a concussion", stated Percy.

"Oh, honey, I know. I'm a doctor", sighed a second blonde as he limped over to them. "I think I sprained my ankle. What. A. Mess. Nico, don't you dare pass out. And you, thanks, honey."

"Percy. It's Percy, I'm not food", smiled Percy a bit amused.

When it got a little more crowded with the ambulance arrived, Percy shouldered Leo and disappeared in the masses. Leo didn't like being crowded in. The little one smiled as he clung onto Percy's neck tightly. Percy returned the smile and kissed Leo's cheek.

"Daddy saved a life", hummed Leo happily.

"Yeah, daddy did", laughed Percy amused. "But it's getting late. We should get home, mh?"

Leo hummed contently and snuggled up to Percy sleepily.

/break\

Nico was not good at vacations. He was a very busy businessman, who never managed to relax and just have some good time all on his own. Which was why Reyna, Jason and Will had come along to forcibly make him have fun. All the times he traveled to beaches alone, it was always just him looking for his soulmate. Now? Now, he was also looking for his life saver.

"...Seriously. We take you on a vacation and you end up with two obsessions", sighed Reyna.

Nico flushed and put the folded band-aid back into his pocket. It wasn't his fault. An angel had saved his life – how was he supposed to not be obsessed about that? Two days ago, some drunk morons had crashed into the pool-side with their car and pushed some of the loungers into the pool. Nico had hit his head on the side of the pool as he went in and he could have drowned if not for his guardian angel. Granted, the halo had probably come from the oxygen deprivation of his brain, but Nico could swear that this gorgeous human being had been an actual angel.

"Okay, so here's a deal", stated Jason firmly as he sauntered into the hotel room of his and Reyna.

Will lifted his head off Nico's lap, staring curiously at the other blonde. Will was still limping slightly and he was very pouty about that. After all, this was Hawaii and he wanted to enjoy his vacation, instead he had to keep his foot leveled for at the very least another day. So Nico, who had excellent magical fingers, had the duty of running said fingers through Will's hair to sooth him.

"Deal?", asked Reyna intrigued as she pulled her soulmate into a brief, gentle kiss.

"Yeah, deal", nodded Jason seriously as he turned toward Nico, waving a piece of paper in front of the Italian's face. "You will not relentlessly search for your soulmate this vacation. You will just have fun. With your 'guardian angel', as you put it."

"So you want him to relentlessly search for the angel instead?", snorted Will unimpressed.

"I have his address, number and full name here", countered Jason smugly, pulling the paper out of Nico's reach as the lawyer lunged for it. "Nope. You will enjoy this vacation and instead of allowing your soulmate to hijack your entire life, you will enjoy this vacation by enjoying this pretty life-saver of yours. Go on a couple dates, make out with him, whatever, just... have fun for once."

"How would you even get those?", asked Nico suspiciously.

"Well, I asked around, thinking he might work for the hotel. Which he doesn't. But a nice redhead told me his name after I told her that my handsome friend has a crush on him", stated Jason.

Nico frowned and glared. On the one hand, he would love to see the pretty guardian angel again, but on the other – what kind of soulmate would he be to not continuously look for his soulmate? Taking a shaky breath, Nico made a decision. He had spent the last ten years relentlessly searching for his soulmate. He was allowed a short break, right? Just two weeks. Just a bit. And then he would continue searching. Besides, he did owe it to his savior to say thank you.

"Fine, you got yourself a deal, Grace", grunted Nico reluctantly.

/break\

Percy smiled in a slightly tired way as he heard the chime of the doorbell. It was getting late and he was tired. He'd love to wrap things up and pick up Leo from the babysitter. Silena was a goddess among mortals and Leo adored her and her husband Charles. Still, Percy was really looking forward to picking his Leo up and curling together with the little one to read the Avatar comics to him.

"Buona sera, mio bell'angelo custode", drawled a dark, velvety voice. "My name's Nico."

Percy opened his mouth to say something but failed. It was the gorgeous guy he had pulled out of a pool two days ago. Only, he looked less drowned and less bleeding – which suited him quite well. What suited the gorgeous guy even more was the expensive looking three-piece suit.

"Aloha, Nico", grinned Percy. "Brah, you know you're not dressed for Hawaii, right?"

"...I have been told so repeatedly. By random strangers and... very particularly so by the... owner of a shrimp truck?", grunted Nico and frowned before shaking his head. "I'm not the kind of person to walk around in swim-shorts. Anyway, I came here to say thank you. For saving my life."

"No need to thank me", chuckled Percy with a small smile and leaned forward on the counter.

"So... you're... a life-guard?", inquired Nico curiously, also leaning in some.

"On the side, yeah", confirmed Percy, amusement dancing in his eyes. "I own this shop and if you teach surfing classes, it helps if you know how to reanimate the idiot customers who think they can learn how to surf without knowing how to swim. Which, yes, happens more often than you'd think."

Nico smiled charmingly and tried taking Percy's hand in a way to get closer, only to realize the young man's hand was wrapped in gauze. "What happened to your hand?"

"Oh. I cut it cooking dinner last night", laughed Percy a bit embarrassed. "So... you wanna buy a surf-board while you're here, or did you just want to say thank you?"

"I wanted to ask you out on a date", blurted Nico out, locking eyes with Percy.

"Sure", shrugged Percy with an easy grin. "I'm busy tonight, but... tomorrow I get off at five?"

"Okay", nodded Nico a bit wide-eyed, surprised by how easy that had been.

Mike had been telling Percy to relax and take life easy for years now and that was exactly what Percy planned on doing. Especially when meeting this gorgeous, adorable Italian. How could he say no when Nico had asked him out so cutely? The Italian was only on the island for a vacation, but Percy was going to make the best of it. In the following three days, they had gone on three dates and Percy had to admit, he really enjoyed spending time with Nico. And not just him. Their second date had been a lunch date due to Percy being busy with work but still wishing to squeeze in a date a day due to the time-limit on Nico's stay, so Percy, Nico and Leo had gone to an ice-cream parlor and Nico had been insanely adorable around Leo. When Percy had asked him about it, Nico instantly got his phone out and showed off photos of his little half-sister Hazel, who was around Leo's age and who Nico quite obviously worshiped, judging by the pride in his voice. Normally, meeting Leo chased guys off, because not many wanted to get involved with a single dad. Suffice to say, Percy was kind of falling for Nico – which was not good, because Nico was going to leave again soon. Which meant that Percy was even more determined to spend more time with Nico.

/break\

Nico felt rather blindsided when he arrived at the beach for his fourth date with Percy. When he walked up to Percy, he saw a beautiful pair of black wings on Percy's back, the same kind of wings as he had on his wrist. Though it got even harder when he walked around Percy and Percy stared stunned at the merboy on Nico's chest. Leo smiled brightly up at Nico and yelped.

"Look, daddy! It's your little merboy!", exclaimed Leo, pointing at Nico's soulmark.

Nico watched how Percy subconsciously wrapped his left hand around his right wrist, which was still wrapped in gauze. Nico's eyes widened dumbly as he slowly sat down next to Leo on the blanket, staring borderline helplessly at Percy, who smiled nearly shyly at him.

"So... you...", started Percy before grabbing Nico's wrist and gently tracing the raven-wings in a circle that Nico had there. "You couldn't at least roll your sleeves up?! Seriously, how do you even walk around Hawaii in a suit all the time? I could have seen this days ago. You... argh."

"You're... not just my guardian angel, you're my... my... little merboy", whispered Nico in awe.

"You're my guardian angel", argued Percy, vaguely motioning at his own back. "You literally gave me wings. Oh god. Wait. I'm... I'm dating my soulmate. How is that a thing?"

Nico's eyes wandered down to Percy's wrist, still wrapped and thus covering his soulmark. Percy groaned and threw his head back in utter frustration. Then, both of them resumed staring at each other awkwardly, unsure how to proceed now. Thankfully enough, they had Leo.

"Kiss", demanded Leo and tugged on Nico's arm. "You need to kiss daddy now!"

Nico and Percy blushed furiously before they very slowly leaned in and kissed. It wasn't their first kiss, but it felt so much more intense now that they knew they were soulmates. Percy nearly melted against Nico as he laid his arms around the Italian's neck and Nico sighed relieved into their kiss.

/One Year Later\

"Papà, can we go play with Frank?", asked Leo, tugging on Nico's curls.

Nico, carrying Leo on his shoulders, winced and agreed. He had moved to Hawaii the week after his vacation was over, first staying with Leo and Percy before they got a bigger place together. He still preferred wearing his suits, even though his soulmate and fiance enjoyed making fun of him. Nico opened his own practice in Kaua'i, went to the beach with his lover and their son, he basically just got to enjoy life in a way he never thought. He never thought he would live on an island with the beach in his backyard, a laughing, hyperactive little son and a beautiful true soulmate.

"Tomorrow, bambino. Dad's cooking dinner", argued Nico as they reached home. "We're home!"

"Perfect timing, my boys", called Percy back with a bright smile as he peeked out of the kitchen.

Nico put Leo down and kissed Percy gently – and in that moment, he knew he was home.

~*~ The End ~*~

Author's note: I genuinely kinda feel like this is a bit of a let-down after the soulmate AU I wrote for Shadowhunters? But after I wrote that, I was emotionally drained myself and just needed all the sugary fluff, so I wrote this. And dads!Nicercy are the best fluff there is. I'll end up writing a more heart-breaking and heart-wrenching soulmate AU at one point anyway, you know me, I always write, but for now pure sugar for everyone ^o^v *hands out tiny cuddly Leos*