Note: Alright! This chapter is basically just tying up loose ends! I hope I didn't forget anything! 0.0 That would suck! And then, the epilogue is coming up! :D Gah! Okay, I promised myself I wouldn't cry, but it's hard!...
Anyway, enjoy the chappie!
Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson or Leo Valdez! :(
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Chapter 10
The first thing Thalia had to do before setting off with her crew on The Huntress was talk to Luke Castellan.
She knocked on the door of Cabin Eleven. Travis opened the door, surprised. "Thalia?"
"Is Luke here?" she asked.
"No. I guess he went over to the strawberry fields or something." The son of Hermes answered.
"Oh, thanks," she said.
Turning her back on the door, the daughter of Zeus made her way towards the strawberry fields. She wondered, not for the first time, what was she going to tell him. Why did she want to talk to him in the first place?
The smell of the berries assaulted her senses, and sure enough, Luke was sitting in the middle of the strawberry batches. Thalia Grace took a deep breath and approached him.
"Hi."
He glanced up at her, before turning his gaze forward. "Hi."
"So, um, what are you planning to do, now that everything is over?" Thalia asked, shuffling her feet.
Luke shrugged. "Nothing. I'll probably be watched every now and then, so I will be staying at camp…"
"No one really finds you a threat anymore."
"Jackson doesn't trust me."
"…"
Thalia didn't know what to say to that. True, although Luke had helped Annabeth when she was at her most vulnerable, Percy still didn't trust him. Not that Thalia could blame him—with what happened with Gaea and Kronos before…
"What happened to you, Luke?" Thalia whispered her voice breaking. "Before, when we were young and running for our lives, you were so happy. So carefree. You just wanted to stay away from all the tangled webs the gods weaved, and yet…"
"When we were younger," Luke laughed bitterly, "you were still there. You were still my best friend."
Thalia's eyes widened.
"And yes, we didn't want to get tangled in the webs they weaved. We wanted to stay free and away. We wanted to just escape. We promised that we will be together till the end…" he looked up at her, his eyes bitter and angry. "What happened to you, Thalia?"
The daughter of Zeus bit her lip. "Luke…"
"I felt so betrayed when you left to be a Hunter of Artemis." He informed her, his eyes looking forward again. "Betrayed, angry, and I wanted to let it all out. All of it. And Kronos presented that opportunity for me, and we all know how that went—Jackson was there to stop it. And again, when I was given another chance to let go of my anger, Jackson stops me again."
Luke sighed. "But now, after all this, I am not…angry anymore."
"I am so sorry, Luke," Thalia whispered, blinking back the tears. "I…I never knew that my leaving will affect you that much…"
"I can't say that you leaving didn't drive me to do what I did," he said, shrugging. "I think it just pushed me over the edge, that's all."
Silence descended upon them and, for the first time in a long time, it wasn't awkward. A few minutes later, Luke looked up, his blue eyes clear.
"You have to go."
Thalia nodded. "Yes."
"Good luck. Don't be a stranger."
"I won't." she reached out, squeezed his shoulder. "Goodbye, Luke."
"Goodbye." He replied, watching her form disappear from view, and regretting not telling her the things that mattered all over again.
-.-
Reyna's eyes widened.
Piper almost fainted.
The pink smiley face seemed to grin wider at the two girls. Piper sat down on the bed, clutching her abdomen. "Oh gods…"
The Roman praetor sat beside the daughter of Aphrodite. "You should tell him."
"I can't," Piper whispered horrified. "Before, it was just a possibility, a fleeting one, but now it's real. It's real, Reyna, and I can't..." she looked up at her, kaleidoscope eyes wide and frightened.
Reyna sighed. "I thought you were over the fact that he would leave. Besides, from what I heard from him, you are going to be travelling with us after two days."
Piper sighed. "Don't announce that publically. I still don't know how to break the news to my cabin or Leo or Annabeth…"
"Well, I know that you have to break this—" Reyna waved her hand towards the small stick in Piper's hand, "—to Jason. He deserves to know."
"Yes." Piper nodded.
"Now."
"Now?! What—? No!"
"Yes, now!" Reyna said, pushing Piper out of the room. The latter stumbled forward and balanced herself on the railing in front of her cabin.
"But—" she tried.
Reyna simply pointed towards Cabin One before she closed the door of Cabin Nine. Piper stood there, speechless. She was kicked out of her own cabin! And she was counselor! She's definitely not allowing Reyna to get her way with her when she moved to Camp Jupiter! Ever!
Disgruntled, the daughter of Aphrodite made her way to Cabin One.
Okay, Piper, you should just stay calm and pray to your mother that nothing will go wrong. You are a sensible twenty year old woman…
She knocked.
Jason opened the door, his blue eyes shining when he saw her. "Hey."
"Hello," she said, quietly, shuffling her legs. "May I come in?"
"Sure." He opened the door wide, and stepped back inside the cabin. She could see him rampaging in his backpack. She gulped, closed the door, and sat down on one of the many bunks in the room.
"So, what's up?" he questioned, then paused, looking back at her with wide eyes. "You are not here to tell me you changed your mind, right?"
"What? No!" Piper shook her head. "Of course I didn't change my mind. I am still going with you. It's—" she paused, bit her lip, and looked down.
Jason moved over and sat beside her. He took her hand, and ran his thumb over her knuckles. "Pipes, you know you can tell me anything. What's wrong?"
She gulped. "Jason, I—well, I kind of—I want to tell you—uh…" her throat was closing in.
What if it was too soon? What if he left? What if he didn't want her anymore? What if—
"Calm down!" he said, gripping her shaking hand tightly. "Pipes, please, what is it? Whatever it is we'll fix it…"
She kept her eyes on their clasped hand. "I am pregnant."
Silence descended on them.
She could feel Jason going still beside her. His hand didn't slacken its grip—if anything it tightened.
Tears built up in her eyes. "I am sorry…"
"Wha—why are you sorry?!" he busted out, his eyes wide and excited. "That's—that's awesome, Piper! Well, I did hope that we could wait till we are married and all, but this is great! Really! I am thrilled!"
Her green eyes widened, "You are?"
"Pluto, yes!" he stood up, gathered her in his arms, and swung her around. Her tears spilled, but they were happy ones. She laughed with him, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"You really are okay with this?" she whispered, smiling lightly.
"Yes." He placed her down and got down on his knees, placing his ear on her abdomen. "Hey, baby, this is daddy!"
Piper laughed out loud. "He won't hear you, Jason. At least, not yet…"
"What makes you think it's a 'he'?" Jason asked. "I want it to be a 'she' so I can spoil her and treat her like a princess and she would have her mommy's beauty."
Piper rolled her eyes, pulling him up. "You're expecting too much."
He just smiled, and leaned down to kiss her.
It is going to be fine, Piper thought, smiling. Everything is going to be fine…
-.-
Annabeth hugged Piper tightly. "I will miss you."
Piper had tears in her eyes. "I will miss you, too, Annabeth. But I will always visit."
"And you can always come visit as well," Jason said, shaking Percy's hand.
Percy grinned. "You bet."
Leo walked over towards the pier, his hands heavy with his luggage. "Come on, dudes! I am ready to set sail."
Leo has decided to go over to the Roman camp—since he couldn't leave his best friends all alone after all. The Hephaestus's Cabin was passed to Jake Mason as well as Bunker Nine. Leo was sure his brothers and sisters would take good care of them.
They all stood around the Rome, hugging and wishing each other well. Octavian, on the helm, grunted, irritated that two Greeks were going to travel with them and stay at Camp Jupiter—but nobody gave him a second glance.
Annabeth smiled at Piper.
"Take care of yourself, okay? I should be the first there when the baby is due!" she said, grinning.
"Of course." Piper grinned back.
Then, she hugged Percy and Annabeth hugged Jason and Leo. Reyna and Percy shook hands while Hazel hugged Annabeth. Frank waved. And then, the son of Poseidon and the daughter of Athena stood back to watch as the Rome sailed towards the horizon.
Percy placed an arm around Annabeth. "You okay?"
"Yeah." She sniffed, wiping her tears away. "It's just…it'll be weird, waking up and not seeing them around, you know?"
"Yes, I know…" he looked down at the water, then up at Annabeth, smiling. "Hey, meet me at the beach after dinner?"
"Okay," Annabeth said, confused. "What do you have in mind?"
Percy just grinned.
-.-
Percy stood in front of the sea, breathing in the salty air. They had come a very long way. Tyson was back to the underwater forge. Grover has set off to visit some nature spirits. Jason, Piper and Leo have decided to stay in Camp Jupiter. Thalia has set off as well, after a conversation with Luke Castellan, he heard. Luke has been keeping to himself, and Percy couldn't help but feel that the guy did need his happy ending as well.
The son of Poseidon sighed.
The moonlight hit the clear surface of the water just as Annabeth's voice echoed around him, "Hey, Seaweed Brain."
He turned around, smiling. "Lay with me."
Annabeth complied. They both stretched against the soft sand, looking up at the crazily, sparkling stars and listening to the sounds of the playful wave. Their hands were intertwined between them.
"This is peaceful for a change," Annabeth murmured, smiling lightly.
Percy turned his head to look at her. Her blonde hair was sprawled all around her. Her eyes were closed and her face glowed in the moonlight. His heart swelled and the words were out before he could stop himself:
"Marry me."
Annabeth's breathing quickened. She turned her head to look at him. His sea-green eyes were sincere and serious. She reached her free hand out and stroke his cheek, smiling lovingly.
"Yes."
-.-
Okay, before I ask for reviews, I want to present to you something. I was writing this chappie while I was in college, and I took a break to get something to drink, so I asked my friend to write the scene where Piper tells Jason she's pregnant. I explained the basics for her and left her to write it while I got my drink! And this is what she wrote! :D PS. Keep in mind she has never written in her life - she's an amazing artist, but a seriously, ummm, amateur writer...
Piper was skipping in joy picking daisies and running in the meadow, she saw Jason standing there confused as fucj.
"Jasooon! Imam babymakin machine!," screamed the soon to be a combination of snow white and hidey.
Jason was certainly thrilled!" wait for me my beloved! And please tell me hes gonna be a macho man lyk his dady!"
As they fluntered around to each other, they bumped their heads and ded.
-.-
The spelling mistakes are intentional! :P Okay! You can kill me now! Or better yet, she says that if you don't like it, she'll haunt my works for the rest of eternity! Well, you can always not like it though! :P That was...something...
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Note:
So, what do you think, on both the chapter and the little alternative scene, please! :D Your opinion matters the most! And stay in tune for the epilogue of Beyond the Horizon! I promise it will be alternative scene written by my friend freee! :D
Keep a weather eye on the horizon, sweets!
Take care! :3
