Nico walked to the camp's entrance the next day. It was almost sundown, and the air was beginning to soften. Nico stuffed his hands into his leather jacket and waited. He knew Luna would come. He let his mind float from memory to memory-their first kiss, the quest, the endless times he had comforted her, being the protector. He smiled at his sentiment. Luna would come. He knew it. She had to.
The sun set behind magenta clouds, as if saying farewell. Nico still waited. The sky began to darken as night crept over, and Luna still hadn't come. Nico still waited.
Then, he heard it; the familiar ringing in his ears. The only reason his ears ever rang was if someone had died. His heart stopped cold in disbelief. Shock crept over him, mercilessly eating at his vulnerable skin.
It couldn't be. But he knew it; he felt it in the bottom of his heart. She would never come home. Luna Logan had died.
At that moment he did something he hadn't done for as long as he could remember. Nico di Angelo began to cry. He let the tears flow down from his eyes. All the feelings he had bottled up inside of him forever suddenly slipped down his cheeks in the form of tiny, wet droplets. They were free at last.
As if on cue, the sky opened up and started to cry as well. It opened up and poured. The rain fell on Nico's heaving shoulders. It ran through his hair. Nico let the rain engulf him, wishing it could sweep him away. Pain tore at his last heartstrings, and Nico wished the rain could sweep away the hurt as well. The sky still poured. It came to the point where he couldn't tell if he was still crying or if it was rain streaked across his face. The rain kept coming, harder and harder.
And when the rain stopped it had washed everything clean, as if saying to start anew.
And that's just what he did.
.
.
Author's note: Fin. I would like to say a tremendous thank you to the following people for their support of my story: (I apologize if I miss any names) FreshPress, Luna Jackson, Superpear8, Annabeth Supporter, trekkie56, Melbel10, cookiedemon, KayCelestine, Zoe Nightshade, Emokid45, Viggs, PercyJackson-love, Brisingr364, RebeccaBaxter, Violet Westing, gothyjulia, sunwriter55, percabeth15, Goddess-Demetra, Meg, irishalways, Hana Cullen Fowl, mrs. O'leary, Haru158, CotTlover. Maj5ive, bookworm0326, ChildOfAthena, daughters of the big 3, got2lovenico, ginger9297, kana-kai, marialupitadelasnieves96, PercabethFax97, Scarlet Rayvenne, WhenDayMeetsDark, Warriorsqueen, AquaFreez, ThaliaGrace04. Thank you all for either putting me on your favorite stories/author list, reviewing, or giving me advice/criticism via PM. Thank you all so much; I could never have done this without you!