Luke fell asleep under that tree. It was a long, deep sleep, but far from 'good', for nightmares of his mother haunted him, along with thoughts of condemnation and hate that his mother might have felt towards him. He tossed and turned in his sleep, eventually falling to his side, shivering as he slept, due to the cool Connecticut weather.
He was jolted awake via a hand shaking him awake, and met with a ghost of yet another sour memory.
"Luke?!" his old friend exclaimed, not trusting their own eyes.
Luke took a second to reply. "Th-Thalia?"
She looked as if she hadn't aged since he last saw her. Then again, neither should he, if she saw him during the Battle of Manhattan.
She nodded and motioned for some Hunters, ordering them to fetch nectar and a blanket.
"How?" she simply asked, still not quite believing her eyes.
"Death was chained, for a period, and I escaped."
Thalia gripped his shoulders, looking into his eyes with concern. "You're not... you know... Titan-y, anymore, right?" she asked, the answer being a simple shake of the head, before she pulled him in a tight hug. "Good, 'cause that was the dumbest thing you ever did," she said, chuckling slightly.
"Even dumber than that time in Chicago?" Luke replied, starting to laugh shakily.
"Hm... I don't know... I mean, that was pretty dumb..."
The Hunters came back with the blanket and canister of nectar, breaking up the couple's moment. They wrapped Luke in the blanket and nervously handed him the nectar.
"Thank you," he said, taking a sip from the nectar, which tasted as it always did, like his mother's homemade chocolate chip cookies, color and warmth returning to his face and hands, but he still couldn't feel his feet.
The Hunters nodded, and whispered something to Thalia, who then looked troubled, or perhaps irritated.
"My mistress requires your presence," Thalia said, and the little color that returned to Luke's face left.