Percy had always been rather fond of the winter. In spite of him being a son of the sea, there was a beauty and majesty in a gentle snowfall that just didn't exist in the other seasons.
He especially had always loved Christmas. Some of his oldest memories were of him and his mother just taking evening walks around New York, enjoying the display of festive lights and revealing in the Christmas spirit.
While Metropolis was not New York by any means, that didn't mean that it wasn't festive in its own right. Many citizens had deigned to hang lights from the balconies of their apartments. The city had even gone so far as to decorate the streets themselves. Each street light was covered with festive ribbons of Christmas lights, and were capped off with their own little Santa hats. There was a large Christmas tree in the middle of downtown, similar to the one in New York.
In Percy's opinion the one in New York was prettier, but maybe he was a tad biased.
Kara seemed to enjoy teasing Percy about his joy in decorating for the Christmas season. He'd decorated his town-house as best as he could. Just as he had done every year with his mother for as long as he could remember. He'd hung up Christmas lights, like streamers, in every corner of the building. Tinsel and holly were wrapped around the staircase heading up to his second floor. He had gone out and bought a miniature, fake tree, and he and Kara had spent a cozy evening together decorating it. While Percy didn't have a fireplace, he had taken the liberty of purchasing a pair of stockings to place on his wall. He had even gone to the length of learning to stitch well enough so that he could sew his and Kara's names onto them.
Kara had teased him about it, but he knew that she not so secretly loved it.
Still, in spite of his love for any and all things Christmas, this time of year was always especially hard on him. All of the holidays centered around family hit him harder than normal. Thanksgiving had been better the last few years, ever since Kara had begun taking him to the Homestead, but Christmas was always harder.
He didn't have as many memories about Thanksgiving as he did about Christmas.
Kara, bless her, always understood exactly how hard this time of year could be for him, and so she indulged him whenever he wanted to do something a little silly or cheesy. Whether it was spending a weekend making snowmen and drinking hot coco, or going ice skating on one of the many outdoor skating rinks, she was more than happy to spend with him and help take his mind off of things.
Still, she couldn't always be there. Her duties with the League kept her busy, and there were many nights that Percy had to spend alone. Laying cold and lonely in his bed, with nothing to occupy his mind or distract him from the penetrating thoughts of his life from before.
It was early on the first morning of their Christmas break, when Percy was abruptly pulled out of his sleep by his phone ringing on the nightstand beside his bed. Groggily, Percy reached out and plucked the phone off the charging port,
"Hello," said Percy, his voice deep and husky with sleep,
"You sound pretty hot in the morning, you know that?" Said Kara, and Percy grinned,
"Hey babe," said Percy, "You're up early,"
"And now, so are you. Now hurry up and come downstairs,"
Percy arched an eyebrow, intrigued, but complied nonetheless,
"Sounds like you have a plan," said Percy,
"Of course, I even have your bag packed and everything," said Kara cheekily,
That got Percy's attention,
"I thought we weren't going to the Homestead until the twenty-third?"
"We aren't," said Kara, "This is something special though. Now hurry up and open the damn door, it's cold out."
"You have a key you know," chuckled Percy as he walked downstairs,
"I forgot it," she whined,
"You can literally break the sound barrier in less than a second," said Percy as he walked down the stairs,
"Just hurry up and open the damn door Percy!"
Chuckling to himself, Percy ended the call and opened the door. Kara, holding a pair of large suitcases effortlessly in her hands, was glaring at him as she shuffled past and into the house.
"Took you long enough," she grumbled,
"Can't you fly in space? How are you even cold?"
"It's the principal of the thing Percy," said Kara as she dropped the suitcase at his feet and gestured up the stairs, "Now hurry up and go pack,"
"Okay…" said Percy, feeling both amused and confused, "Mind telling me what I'm packing for? And where we're going?"
"Nope," chirped Kara brightly, as she tugged the wool cap off her head and fluffed her miraculously perfect hair, "Just pack for similar weather as here."
Knowing better than to argue, and also incredibly intrigued, Percy followed the direction and trudged up the stairs,
"How long am I packing for?" He called down the stairs as he began tugging clothes out of his closet,
"Four days!" Kara called up, and Percy nodded to himself. His packing only took a couple of minutes, and soon he was trudging back down the stairs with a full suitcase in tow.
"So should I assume that you don't plan on telling me where we plan on going?" Asked Percy, as he plunked the suitcase down on the couch.
"And ruin the surprise and the chance to see your face?" Kara scoffed, "Not a chance, now hurry up and get in the car. Come on, chop-chop!"
Percy laughed as his excitable partner shoved him and their suitcases out the front door.
Kara had him driving nonstop for the next several hours. She refused to tell him where they were going, and only gave him enough information to direct him to the right exit or road. Percy was familiar enough with the route that he knew they were heading to New York, he just didn't know why.
A strange lump formed in his chest, however, when he recognized that they were diverting away from the city and towards…
"Montauk?" Said Percy, his voice coming out a little hoarse,
"Keep up on the next left," said Kara by way of an answer, "And just follow the road for the next couple of minutes, it should up ahead on the left."
Percy could have gotten them there on his own, however. The route had been engrained in his memory for as long as he could remember, but try as he might, he just couldn't bring himself to believe what was happening. There was no way.
But sure enough, he was wrong.
As they pulled up the small, painfully familiar driveway, a lump formed in the pit of his chest and he found it suddenly hard to breathe.
It was the house.
The house he and his mother had escaped to every summer.
The little beach house that had been their getaway from Gabe, just for the two of them. It looked exactly as he had remembered it in his memories. The front porch, the time-rotted and yet still immaculate wood-framing. The way the window by the front porch refused to stay in place properly.
It was exactly the same.
But that…that had to be impossible.
Percy parked the car, and leaned against the back of the seat, his face an expression of shock.
"…How?" He rasped out,
"Well, you talked about it so much that I did a little digging. I guess even among universes some things are constant, huh?" Kara was smiling at him, and she reached over and gently caressed his hand,
"I remembered you talking to me about this place and how you and your mom used to come here." Percy gripped her hand tightly, "So I looked into it, and rented it for the weekend." She suddenly became a little bashful, as a worried expression flashed across her face,
"I…I hope didn't overstep or-or anything…I know this was a personal thing for you and your mom but I just thought that maybe this would…I don't know, give you some new happy memories now to go with the ones form before and I-"
Percy cut her off as he leaned across the middle of the seat and drew her into a deep kiss. His hands fisted through her hair as he tasted salt on their commingled lips.
He realized with a start that he was crying.
He broke the embrace, gently resting his forehead against hers.
"You're incredible," he whispered, his voice coming out hoarse, "Thank you."
"I just want you to know how loved you are, Percy," said Kara, reaching up and caressing the side of his face, "And how much you mean to me,"
"I love you," said Percy,
"I love you too," smiled Kara, "Now come on, let's head inside."
The following four days were some of the happiest in Percy's living memory. With every passing day, Percy became more and more thankful that he had been blessed with having Kara stumble into his life.
And he would fight like hell to keep his newfound happiness.