A/N: How Poseidon reacts to Percy's skating.

Poseidon had never expected his son to turn out how he did. He had many children with mortal women before in his life. Since the pact, he had been very careful to never have children to protect himself from his brothers' wrath.

He adored Sally. He wanted to make her his queen. She was gentle and caring and Poseidon never had imagined a kinder soul to exist. The months he had spent with Sally had been the best he'd had in many millennia. It had never been his intention to subject his Sally to a demigod child. Sally did not deserve the stress and anxiety that came with the birth of Percy. He was the prophesied child, and he told his Sally of her child's destiny shortly before he left her.

Sally had been entrusted to give his son a normal life. He hoped it would prepare his child for the responsibility of his destiny. Percy would have to die to save the world. It pained him to have told Sally that, but she simply nodded her head and accepted it. Or, he thought Sally had accepted it. Percy would be sent to camp when the time came for it. It would be a place his son would belong. With the track record of most modern demigods, he hoped Percy would love it and find a home at Camp.

Percy's first quest went off swimmingly. His son survived and thrived on the quest. He saved his mother from Hades, made a few friends, and took to a sword with ease. His child was extremely suited to the life of a demigod, and he had hope that Percy would survive the impending war. His brother had told him he was not allowed to talk to his son when Percy returned the lightning bolt to Zeus. He complied for the time being. He wanted to tell his son how proud he was of him.

He debated knocking on the door. It was the end of July, shortly after camp ended for the summer. Zeus had moved on from his constant surveillance of Percy, so Poseidon considered it safe to visit his son. He gained his courage and knocked twice sharply on the door of Sally Jackson's apartment. Poseidon waited a few short moments before turning away just when the door swung open.

"Sally," he said, turning to her. Sally's beauty hadn't dimmed, but she had aged. Poseidon wouldn't be surprised if it was due to raising a demigod on her own.

"Don. What are you doing here?" she asked. She wasn't angry, but there was very little emotion in her voice to give any look at her emotions.

"I wanted to talk to Percy. He did so well on his quest, I wanted to tell him in person," he said to his former lover. "Please. I know I haven't done much for you and our son, but I want to form some sort of relationship."

Sally gave him a look. It appears he was not out of the doghouse yet. Poseidon had done nothing to save her from his brother's domain.

"Sally, please."

"Percy isn't here right now. He's with his mandarin language and Chinese culture tutor this morning, and he's busy until late tonight," Sally said. "You can come back sometime during the fall if it really means that much to you."

Poseidon blinked for a moment. "Is there any way I can see him sooner?"

"Percy leaves tomorrow for Russia for a month. If it was that important to you, you would have made more of an effort to talk to him earlier. He was at camp until earlier this week. You had easy access to him then."

"It seems like that to you, but my brother-."

"Your brother nothing, Poseidon," Sally growled. "He has no control over you, no matter what you may think. You could have done so much for your son in his life, and yet, you cower if your brother even lifts a finger towards you."

"Sally," he tried again.

"Next time he is in the country or at camp, you may speak to him," Sally hissed. "Not a second sooner." Then she slammed the door in his face. If it were anyone else, they would have felt the wild rage of the sea god. But it was Sally. Only Sally could do that to him.

Percy went to camp for two days over the winter break. Chiron convinced him that an evening at camp would a good time to see Annabeth and Grover before the next summer rolled around. The centaur knew exactly what Percy's life was like, and he knew what kind of busy weeks the rest of the winter held for Percy. Between competitions and practice, Sally agreed to send Percy for a couple of days to take his mind off the stress of his sport. After he made the international circuit, it was that much harder for him. Percy loved it, but he never took a break.

It had been the first time Percy had seen the glowing beauty of the ice on the lake at camp. He knew he wasn't supposed to be skating, but long after lights out that night he went over to the lake with his skates and took the ice.

At some point Chiron came over and watched what he did on the ice. Percy didn't mind the audience. He trusted Chiron a lot, and it would be nice to have someone around who knew of his passions and his career. He stepped off the ice and sat next to Chiron.

"You are one of my favorite students, Percy," Chiron stated after Percy was done with a bit of free skating. "Most don't survive, and if they do, they hadn't even thought of what they want to do with the rest of their lives. You came with a future already laid out in front of you."

"That's not what he should be doing with his life." Both Percy and Chiron jumped slightly at the words.

"Lord Poseidon," Chiron bowed.

"Father," Percy said. He then recalled the words his father just said. "What do you mean?"

"You are a demigod. I do love you, my son, but you cannot throw your life away with this."

Percy stared in shock. "How long had you been watching?"

"The entire time. I can tell from your movements and those skates that this isn't something new. The last thing I want is for you to become distracted and leave my world behind."

"What the? You want me to leave my life and what, move to camp permanently? I am not your perfect little soldier. Isn't it enough I have risked my life once to save your hide? Figure skating is my life!" Percy shouted at his father.

"Poseidon, your son has a point. Percy is talented and smart. You should be proud of him. Don't make him give up everything he's worked for his entire life because of some stupid idea that every child of the gods are some pawns and soldiers you and your siblings can play with."

"Chiron, you are supposed to train them!"

"I am supposed to teach them to protect themselves. I am not raising soldiers, Poseidon. Most of the gods understand that. I don't understand why you and Ares have yet to get that through your thick skulls," Chiron shot back. Poseidon couldn't do anything to Chiron, even if he wanted to. The centaur had too much of a reputation through Olympus, one that held the sea god back.

"I am not a soldier, father," Percy seethed. He untied his skates and marched through the snow. "I'm going to sleep. You'll be lucky if you ever see me again!"

Poseidon looked as if he was going to scream at his son. This wasn't what he intended on doing. His son had a duty to Olympus, and Poseidon would be damned if Percy didn't fulfill his destiny because of some silly hobby.

"Your destiny lies here, Perseus!"

"My fate is up to me, father. No one can take that from me," he said, meeting his father's eyes and slamming the door to his cabin.

It was the last time Poseidon would speak to his son for a long time. The next was the day Percy turned fifteen, and there was much tension when encounter took place.

It took longer than that for him to see how he had wronged his son. It wasn't until the winter Olympics when Percy medaled that he saw how horribly he screwed up with Percy as a father.