Disclaimer: This is Uncle Rick's world.

AN: Since I finished reading The Tower of Nero I wanted to expand on those feelings that Apollo had at regaining his godhood. Enjoy!

One Year

It had been a year. One whole year that normally felt like a minute in the life of an immortal god but Apollo felt every single day. It had been an entire year since he was Lester Papadopolous, a year since he defeated Python in Tartarus, a year since he regained his immortal status. Apollo looked back on those six months of punishment as the most rewarding and life changing time of his entire 4,000+ years. He was back on Olympus yes, but Apollo was forever changed by the experience and he knew it was for the better.

Apollo remembered everything about those six months. He remembered his father's terrible anger, he remembered his fall from Olympus, and he remembered everything about his life as Lester in startling clarity. He remembered his sorrow, his fear, his anger, and annoyance at being made a mortal human. At the time it had felt so unfair, so unjust, and now Apollo could see clearly how much he deserved everything he had to deal with.

Apollo knew he had been a horrible god to humans. He had rained arrows of destruction and pestilence down on those who annoyed him for millennia. He killed so many people for minor insults and the slightest dig at his pride, and he was ultimately responsible for his own failures. Apollo knew how arrogant his past godly self was, how vain and selfish he was. Becoming a mortal changed all that. It changed the way he thought, the way he reacted, and the way he treated everyone, god and mortal alike.

Since the time he regained his godly status he also looked on his family in an entirely different light. His father Zeus was a tyrant and the worst kind. He had recognized it that first day back to the Olympian council. Things wouldn't change of course, they hadn't in over 4,000 years and nothing Apollo said or did would change that. He was now closer to some of his siblings more than he ever had been before. Artemis especially, they both realized during their absence just how much they loved and cared for one another. Artemis of course would always be so independent and Apollo loved and respected that about his twin. He was also closer to his half brothers especially Dionysus. They commiserated about the horrible father they had, and about their punishments. It was nice for Apollo to know that someone knew a little about what he'd been through though their punishments of course were very different.

At first Apollo had a hard time adjusting back to his old life. He wanted nothing more than to hand with his friends at Camp Half Blood or Camp Jupiter. He wanted to spend time with Meg in Aeithales which was definitely her own little piece of heaven. But as much as Apollo wanted all of that, he also knew that him being a god again changed everything. He was no longer mortal, no longer on the same level as Meg and the rest of his friends. It hurt knowing that time would never come again, but as Apollo reflected he was just so glad it happened.

Apollo still enjoyed the things he always had as a god. He practiced archery (at targets) reflecting how as a mortal he was not always able to fire so accurately. He sung with the Nine Muses at their daily concert but his old bravado was gone. He sang for the love of the art, the way he had when he first became the god of music, and he felt that made him better at his job. Now he pretty much always sang with his ukulele. Apollo also wrote down his entire memoirs of his trials, full of haikus. Apollo enjoyed flying the sun chariot even more than he used to, and marveled at just how fortunate he was to be able to do this every day. In essence he was humbled by his experiences being mortal and he couldn't regret that.

As the first year rolled around there were so many changes he wanted to implement. For one thing he took a bigger interest in his children. Zeus never liked for the gods to spend too much time with their children because they were gods and there had to be separation. Still Apollo pushed it as much as he could. He wrote letters to his children, and had Hermes deliver them. He sent them magical items on their birthdays, and when he could he sprung the occasional visit. During one of his visits to Camp Half Blood he took Will, Kayla, Austin, and Will's boyfriend Nico for a ride on the sun chariot and it was pretty memorable in the best of ways.

Apollo never forgot Jason, he never forgot Jason's last request and being human even for the short amount of time he was, was something that he treasured dearly. He swore that as his endless years continued, that he would never take humans or demigods for granted. And that he supposed was the best lesson he held on for the entire year.