Disclaimer: In case you were wondering, (which you weren't because, duh.) I'm not the owner of a publishing company, Rick Riordan, Lin Manuel Miranda, a Broadway actor, or a producer.

A/N: Hello, readers. So sorry I haven't updated for a couple weeks -I was traveling, and I didn't get a chance to write. Anyway, updates should be pretty regular from now on.

Just wanted to let you know that there was a typo in the last chapter! I wrote "I want to talk about my father," but I meant "I want to talk about my mother."

Quote: "And when you're gone, who remembers your name? Who keeps your flame? Who tells your story?" —Leslie Odom Jr./Lin Miranda: Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story.

Annabeth POV:

"I want to talk about my mother," Annabeth told Frederick.

"So -you know, then? Who she is?" He asked uneasily.

"Yeah," Annabeth answered, "I've talked to her. I've heard her side of the story. I want to hear yours."

Frederick nodded. "Okay. This had to happen eventually, so no time like the present, I guess," He added.

"Well, Athena and I met at college, as she's likely mentioned. I was finishing up my PhD, she was starting her architecture firm. Once I'd graduated, we decided to get married. Have a kid. That would be you. We were young, we thought we were in love, it seemed pretty… perfect. But then you were such a huge part of our lives, and Athena was around so rarely, that things just kind of… fell apart.

"And one day she was just gone. She emailed me, later. Telling me she wasn't coming back. That it was for the good of the family. The divorce papers came two days later."

Annabeth distinctly remembered the sight of her father, who had always seemed so strong, staring at a letter, and looking so positively… weak. Pitiful. Sad. Broken. It had made little Annabeth want to cry herself.

"What's wrong, Daddy?" Annabeth had whispered, being too young to properly understand the writing on the paper. All she noticed was her mother's signature on a dotted line. She was no stranger to Athena being away, no stranger to not seeing Athena for weeks at a time, but her father had never been so upset about it. He'd always smiled, and said Athena would be home soon.

Not this time. Little did five-year-old-Annabeth know, Athena would never be coming home.

"I have to admit," Her father continued, "Seeing this proof of something I'd suspected and feared, it… it broke me. I thought we loved each other. I thought we could make this work, but apparently I was wrong.

"I neglected you, I see that now. But all I could focus on was how Athena had left me. How she -so it seemed- didn't even care.

"After a while, I kind of woke up. Not fully, I know that now. But I did. I realized I had a life out there, beyond my failed marriage. So, I went back to work. I met Helen.

"She was horrible to you, I know that now. But at the time, it was just a vague thought in the back of my mind. As Athena's fame grew, I began to see reminders of her everywhere. Her favorite styles of buildings, advertisements for her company, news articles, buildings she'd designed, and -"

"And me," Annabeth interrupted.

Her father looked at her with a guilty expression upon his face.

"Yes," he said softly, "And you. So I dove into my work. I talked to Helen, Matthew,

Bobby, but I couldn't stand to look at you without seeing her face in yours. So… I pulled away. I dove into my work. I didn't want to deal with Helen and you.

"And you ran away. That was… somewhat of a wake up call. I searched everywhere. For years and years. Finally, one of the private investigators I'd hired called. They said a girl matching your description had been seen. I immediately notified the police, who sent out some people to get you. When you came home, I was so happy. I'd gotten my little girl back. And I wasn't going to lose her again.

"But then… Athena called. She was so happy. She said she'd been tracking your progress on the news, and was so grateful she'd been found.

"It could have been a great thing, to hear from Athena. But it wasn't, because after the years of not seeing or hearing from her or you, I'd become used to it. After she called, it all came rushing back. And I was so angry at her for not lifting a finger in her fancy Empire State Building office to look for her daughter, and acting like she actually cared, but did nothing to help!

"So I pushed you away. Again. I got wrapped up in work. Again. And it stayed like that until a few months ago when I saw your performance. I was so proud, Annabeth, that despite my horrible parenting you became this amazing, talented, wonderful person. Ever since then, I wanted to say all this to you, but I wasn't sure how. I didn't want to ruin the tentative relationship we'd formed. Honestly, had you not brought it up, I likely wouldn't have ever told you.

"And I'm sorry, Annabeth. For everything."

Annabeth felt tears threatening to spill.

"Dad it's - it's okay," Annabeth said.

But - was it? In the past half an hour, she'd forgiven the two people who had ruined her life as a kid. As weird as it felt, it felt kind of… right. There would be some bumps in the road, that was certain, but they would get there. It was okay.

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Percy POV:

"It's Christmas in a few weeks, Annabeth, and we have to decorate," Percy insisted.

Annabeth shrugged, "It's, like, December 8th, Percy," She said rolling her eyes.

"So?" Percy loved Christmas. His mom made the best Christmas dinner (Really going heavy on the italics there, aren't we), "It's far enough from Thanksgiving for it to count. What's wrong with decorating early?"

"It's just… I dunno. I guess growing up, Christmas was never a big deal at my house. Got a couple presents, watched my brothers get a crap ton, and had a bite of supermarket Christmas dinner."

"Okay, that is, like, pitifully sad. We are going all out this Christmas. You're coming over, we can invite everybody over, it'll be awesome," Percy decided.

"I dunno. I've kind of half made up with my parents, I might want to do Christmas with them," Annabeth said.

"Really?" Percy replied, "That's great. If you want to spend Christmas with them, go ahead. But, if you were interested in spending Christmas with us, you could have Christmas dinner with us, or something for Christmas Eve with us, and Christmas Day with them, or vice versa."

Annabeth nodded, "Yeah, that actually sounds really nice. Thanks, Percy."

"No problem. Now, come on, Finding Nemo is waiting."

Annabeth, in the most classic Annabeth fashion ever, rolled her eyes, and said, "Seaweed Brain."

"Wise Girl," Percy responded.

"That's not even an insult! That's a compliment! So, thanks for the wonderful

compliment."

"Gods, this really bugs you, doesn't it?"

"It does not. All that matters is that I'm winning."

"At what?" Percy retorted, "Since when were we even competing?"

Annabeth sighed exasperatedly. "I swear you will be the death of me," She mumbled into

the couch they were currently curled up on.

"I'm sure the couch cushions are fascinated by your comments, Annabeth. Truly riveting stuff."

Annabeth just sighed.

"Just play the movie, Seaweed Brain."

Percy pressed play, and the familiar opening scene of Finding Nemo began to play.

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A/N: So, I'm pretty sure that was the shortest chapter in this whole story, barely scraping past 1,000 words. Sorry about that. Anyway, uh, yeah, I don't have very much to say here so… review/recommendation time.

Reviews:

019: Thank you! This made me so happy!

Just the Soulmates: Thanks for reviewing! That was a typo - thanks for letting me know :)

Recommendation:

While collecting the stars, i connected the dots by herecomesthepun

in which Percy is a struggling actor in New York for a job, and Annabeth is jaded and wears a lot of pink. Percabeth, one-shot. AU.

s/13591023/1/while-collecting-the-stars-i-connected-the-dots