Author's Note:

This request if from fromfirefox. Also, I haven't read Burning Maze or Tyrant's Tomb in a hot minute so it's possible my facts will be a little wrong. And once again, I haven't read ToN, so it's gonna diverge from that.

Cheers!

justapercyjacksonfan

Good

Tears glistened in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. She had done her fair share of crying, and this….this wasn't going to be her legacy. To be the grieving girlfriend. The overly emotional one. The one he left behind, that last footnote in the story of a hero.

They had asked her to speak, but she'd staunchly refused, instead passing on the responsibility to Thalia. Better to let his sister give him a proper send off than her.

Didn't you break up?

Gods, like she hadn't answered that question often enough. She wasn't even as good as Silena, was she? All her talk of not being the typical Aphrodite girl, and she went and completed the rite of passage. Broke up with him.

No. She argued back. The voices in her head had been stifling, trying to tell her it was her fault, reminding her everything she'd ever done wrong. No. That wasn't what it was. Not all relationships work out. We weren't right for each other that's all.

So why was she sitting alone? The pyre had been burned, the smoke cleared away. In the end, it had been a private affair. They had moved Olympus and Tartarus to get all of the seven to California, as well as Nico, Reyna, and Thalia. Practically everyone had tried to comfort her, but she'd pushed them away, preferring to wallow. She felt she deserved it, in the end.

Everyone else had left for the city, to spend a night together before they had to leave again. To remember Jason, yes, but also to be with each other. They all needed it. People like Annabeth, Thalia, and Percy had been through enough battle, lost enough friends before, that they were like rocks, ready to cry with someone if needed, but just as strong and able to comfort. Dependable. Reyna, of course, was as stoic as ever, a symbol of strength, giving everyone someone to believe in. Nico knew death as nothing but an annoyance, but it wasn't as if such things really stopped him from seeing people, unless they didn't want to see him.

But Piper? As much as she was used to being the emotional support of her friends - her status as the daughter of Aphrodite ensured that - she didn't know how to handle herself. She didn't want to depend on any of her more stable friends. She didn't want to be alone. She tried to tell herself it wasn't her fault but the opposite message drummed into her skull like a constant track of self-deprecation and misery.

Piper wasn't certain how long the stranger had been sitting next to her, she'd been lost so deep in her own head. The woman had long black hair, and was dressed like a typical mourner. What gave away her identity was the shawl she wore.

"Lady Hera?"

The sound of her own voice surprised Piper. It was cracked and hollow, and nothing like the voice she was known for, the voice that could convince you the sky was green, or that a square was round. The voice that had gotten her BMWs and helped her survive countless monsters. It just sounded...broken.

"Child."

"Why are you here?"

"To mourn. My champion is dead, the closest thing I ever had to a mortal child."

Piper's voice was more bitter than coffee. "If you really cared, you would have saved him."

"Am I not speaking to the child that once brought the same hero back from the Underworld? At the Wolf House, surely you remember. He died after seeing my true form, and your voice drew his spirit out of Hades. Am I to blame? I watched, certain that you would bring him back once more. And look where I am." She looked up at Piper, tears shimmering in her eyes as she tried and failed to glare. Hera looked back down, and a solitary drop hit the ground. "Comforting the one who could have saved him."

"As if you couldn't have saved him!"

"No, I couldn't. I am not allowed to do such a thing, it would go against the ancient laws, violation of which would bring disaster unlike any you have lived through."

Piper wanted to retort, but bit back the insult. "Of course, Lady Hera." She pursed her lips, considering what she was about to say before continuing. "I'm still angry with you. Your actions have caused so much pain not only to me, but to everyone I ever loved, including him. But...but we had that in common. Loving Jason, I mean. And he...he was good. That's the only way I can describe him. He was good. A paragon. He tried to help everyone no matter what. And if I can ever be as good as he was, if I could ever be as unselfish as he was...then I can forgive you."

"That's what he was, wasn't he? Good." Hera said, looking back up at her. "I'll try to remember him. For two millenia all I've been is bitter, but...but you're right. We may not get along, but we can both try to be more like him."

The tears finally fell. The two women stood together and apart in front of an already burned pyre, crying, but smiling.

Crying, because a friend had died, but smiling, because he was good.

Author's Note:

So...that wasn't very fluffy. :(

Shout-out go to AyaTheDoggo for favoriting and following!

Guest - elaborate please? 'Percabeth and scars' is...a little bit vague

LilBumkin - (autocorrect needs to figure out by now that that is your username) Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy it! See you tomorrow!

AyaTheDoggo - I've always pronounced it Chris-E. Like, the name Chrise and then the letter E. But I might just be wrong, idk. Thanks! I'm glad you liked it!

Guest I Guess - Oh, that's pretty good, thanks. I actually haven't seen that one (but I'm sure the curiosity will get the better of me and I'll look it up after I post this) And also, there's no rule that you have to review (I mean I love reading your reviews, and they make me very happy) but you don't need to apologize for it, especially when it's just my dumb little announcements.

Ummm...I think in my mind Annabeth was not because he can't tell her because she's not a superhero, and neither is Carter. I'm going with Percy, Sadie, and Magnus are all heroes in that AU of that one one-shot, but you could maybe say that there are two heroes from each of the universes instead of one so add in...Reyna, Jess, and TJ are my picks off the top of my head. Then you have an all around balanced fighter (Percy) glass cannon (Sadie) Squishy really good healer (Magnus) tank and damage sponge (Reyna) less good but less easy to take down healer, plus emotional support (Jess) and a sniper (TJ)

Yes. Percy is shipped with literally everyone. Name any character in the books, and he's been shipped with them. Including his mother. Don't go looking for them. I only know this because I was proving a point, (this point actually, that he's shipped with everyone) and it's always smut fics. ANYWAY! Same with the superhero AUs - that's why I wanted to write one, lol, for this one-shot, and for Enhanced. Yeah, the sassy thing is good. And just because I write something doesn't even mean I have to ship it, it just means someone requested it.

SO just means significant other, lol.

PYBooks543 - We love hot chocolate. I'm glad you liked it, and yeah, when I was doing the research for that one-shot I realized you weren't kidding, there's nothing for that pairing on this site. At least, nothing that got tagged.

Hey, I'm also messed up. So yeah, that about checks out with where my mind went.

That's all from me! Have a lovely day!

justapercyjacksonfan