Nothing is mine.

Another day in paradise...

The Girl in the Garden

The sea breeze stirred the white sand sloping down into the gentle waves, sending small grains bouncing up the beach past Percy's legs. He stared out over the sparkling blue to where it blurred into the sky and released a long sigh.

Somewhere out there, everyone's trying to stop Luke. Percy reached for the sea, tugging at the tide.

The waves crept up to his toes, bathing them in cool clear water, and slipped down into the white foam of the surf where the faint shapes of fish flitted.

A shadow fell over him. 'You look troubled, brave one.'

Percy leant back and stared up into Calypso's soft smile and dark eyes. 'I thought you were looking after your moonflowers?'

'They only need a little water in the heat of the day to make sure they don't wilt,' she said. 'How are you feeling?'

'I'm not so tired anymore. It's been weeks now.' He wiggled his toes in the sand. 'I feel like… like I could be ready to go back.'

She flinched. 'So soon? Is my garden so horrible you would leave it as swiftly as you're able, Percy?'

'No!' He jumped to his feet, shaking his head. 'I love your garden. I love your home. I do. Ogygia is so peaceful and it's really pretty. It has everything I could ever want one day. And you look after it so well. I can imagine Zoë looking after a place like this. Not all the time, I think she would seek adventure away from it sometimes, but…'

'But?' Calypso stepped forward across the sand, her bare toes brushing his.

'But when I was feeling guilty and lost and angry, she was really kind to me when she didn't have to be. She was a lot like you underneath,' Percy muttered. 'Caring. I could see her looking after somewhere like this.'

'I could care for you a little longer.' Soft hope hovered in her dark eyes. 'I wouldn't mind. Not at all.'

A warm glow settled on Percy's heart, sending it trembling like little ripples across clear water in the sunlight. 'I would like that, but it's just… I left all my friends behind to fight against Luke. I should be there fighting with them.' His fingers strayed to the slim line of Anaklusmos in his pocket. 'I promised I would make Zoë proud. I gave my word to Artemis.'

Calypso's eyes strayed to his pocket. 'My sister's sword.'

'Everything she was,' Percy said. 'She gave it to me. She believed in me. She thought my fate would be even greater than hers.' He shrugged, a small smile creeping onto his lips. 'I don't really see how that's possible, but she also told me that impossible was just a word for those who've given up.'

'But you've already done so much,' Calypso whispered. 'Is it fair for you to do more? Are there not others whose turn it is instead?'

It doesn't have to be you. Aphrodite's words echoed from the back of his head. You get to choose, remember?

'I don't know.' He offered her a helpless smile. 'Zoë was the one who knew. I just do my best. Maybe destroying the forge and Kronos's blade was what I was meant to do. Maybe stopping Luke is for someone else to do and I've done my part.'

Calypso's lips quivered. 'You could stay here with me, Percy. I will be everything you ever need. Friend. Lover. Wife. Ogygia is a paradise for two. I will love you,' she whispered. 'I already love you.'

Love.

Percy gulped. 'You can't love me already, can you? It's only been a month.'

'I know what love feels like,' she said, reaching out to take his hand. 'I'm not deaf to the voice of my own heart. Stay. For me. Please.'

'I don't know if I should…'

'Do you want to stay with me?' Calypso whispered, her dark eyes wide and full of soft, fragile hope.

His heart fluttered and bobbed like white sea foam floating over sunlit waves. 'Yes. Yes I do. Of course I do. You're incredibly beautiful. And Ogygia is just as perfect, but…'

'My sister's not waiting for you, brave one,' she murmured. 'She would want you to be happy.'

'I don't know,' Percy muttered. 'It feels selfish of me to stay and let others fight, but Theseus left Ariadne because of his hubris and that was selfish too.' He wrung his hands. 'I don't know. I'm sorry. I don't mean to hurt you. I don't want to ever hurt you.'

'It's okay, brave one.' Calypso drew him into her embrace. 'I know.'

He breathed in the scent of moonflowers. 'Will you hate me if I leave?'

'I will love you if you leave,' she whispered in his ear. 'How could I hate a hero like you? But I will be heartbroken that you left me behind.'

Ensnared by dreams, he left Ariadne, who gave up everything for her love for him, and sailed away. Zoë's words rose from memory, bittersweet on his tongue. Love will not keep thee from destiny.

Percy swallowed a bitter lump, the weight of the world hanging from his heart. 'Do I have to choose?'

Why is it always me who has to choose?

'It's your choice to make,' Calypso murmured. 'I will not force you to stay. I cannot.'

So choose well. Aphrodite's breathtaking red lips curved into a soft smile before his mind's eye, tangled amidst Zoë's quiet advice like knots of seaweed. And live or die without regret.

Calypso's arms tightened around his chest. 'I don't mind if you want to take time to make your choice. Every single second you stay with me is paradise. It's too soon for you to leave me, Percy.'

'You said that before. When I asked about leaving.' Percy leant back.

Shining trails of tears trickled down her soft cheeks; strands of her dark hair clung to them as she gave him a trembling smile.

'Is this what always happens?' he asked.

Calypso nodded and buried her face in the crook of his neck, her warm tears soaking into the hem of his t-shirt. 'It's my curse. A long time ago I let the war and Kronos's tyranny pass me by for love of my father, so now love passes me by. And every time I hope. Every time. And you… you have no wife to go back to, no lover… My sister is in the stars, you could stay…'

'I could.' Percy held her close and stroked her back; her hair flowed through his rough fingers like silk. 'You and your home are everything anyone could ever wish for.'

Should I stay? He glanced at the sea out of the corner of his eye. Dad?

I can't tell you what to do, Percy. His father's words came in on the gentle rush of the tide, breaking on his ears like soft white foam. This is a choice for you to make. It was placed before you.

'Percy?' Calypso's fingers curled into his shirt. 'Will you stay?'

'I need to think,' he said. 'It's not just about me. If it was just about me, I think I'd already have said yes.'

She stepped back, her heart in her wide dark eyes. 'I'll give you time. I won't… I won't try to push you. I - I can tend to the garden. Take as long as you need.' Calypso took a deep shaky breath and turned, taking small slow steps up the sand into the shade of her fruit trees.

Percy flopped onto the beach and closed his eyes in the sun's gentle heat. The waves lapped at the sand beyond his feet in soft washes, whispering up the shallow slope.

What's the right thing to do?

A warm breeze fluttered through his hair, rustling the leaves of Calypso's garden.

I should fight if I can fight. I can't stay here in paradise while they all fight. That's selfish. Percy sighed, listening to the nearing footsteps through the sand. And yet, I can't just leave her. I might have done my bit. What if it's just my ego and I'm leaving her for nothing?

'You're scowling, brave one,' Calypso murmured, sliding her fingers into his hair. 'Come—' she dusted the sand from him and lifted his head into her lap '—there, that looks more comfortable.'

Percy cracked open an eye.

She chewed her lip, her dark hair veiling her eyes. 'I was having trouble thinking about the garden while you were here thinking about us. I'm not trying to push you, I promise.'

'It's okay.' He offered her a smile. 'This is much more comfortable.'

'The afternoon sun is warm and the sand is soft.' Calypso cupped his face in her hands. 'It could be like this forever, Percy.'

'I know,' Percy whispered. 'But is it selfish of me to say yes and stay? What if they all need me?'

They all seemed to think it would be me. Zoë. Thalia. Even Artemis.

'There are other heroes, brave one. You gave your life once already to destroy that scythe. Is it not their turn now?'

He reached up and slid his fingers into hers. 'But I don't know that. I don't know anything. All I know is if I go back I haven't left my friends to fight alone. And if I stay, I haven't left you to be alone. How am I meant to know which is falling?'

'Why must one be falling?' She leant forward over him, her dark hair slipping from behind her ear to tickle his cheeks. 'I know nothing that happens beyond these shores that I am not told by my guests, Percy. All I know is that if you stay with me, Ogygia will be our paradise forever.' Calypso pressed her cool lips to his forehead. 'I know which I want you to choose. If you ask me, I will only tell you to stay. How could I not?'

'I don't know,' he muttered. 'I don't feel like I'm anywhere near important enough that I have to leave and break your heart. Zoë wouldn't want me to break any girl's heart because of that.' Percy let his head slump into her lap and closed his eyes. 'But Zoë wouldn't want me to selfishly choose love over everyone else either. And what if they do need me.'

It doesn't have to be me. Aphrodite's words hung on his tongue, heavy as all the weight of the world. But what if it should be me?

'Rest, my brave one,' Calypso murmured, shielding his eyes from the sun. 'You do not have to choose at this moment and I will hold onto every sweet second you stay with me.'

'But the longer I wait…'

'My sister told you fate was made from your choices. Whatever you're going to choose, you were always going to choose.'

'I suppose.'

'Then it takes as long as it takes for you to decide. Time is different here on Ogygia, you will return when you return.' She ran her hands through his hair, leaving little tingling lines where fingertips traced his head, and began to sing. Her voice drifted out across the waves, soft and sad as lonely white wings soaring above a still sea; the tune tugged at his heart and a hot little lump swelled in his throat.

'Hey…' Percy sat up and took her hands, giving her fingers a gentle squeeze. 'I've not left yet.'

Calypso gave him a small tearful smile. 'Not yet, my brave one.'

He wrapped her up in his arms and drew her close, breathing in her soft flowery scent as she clung to him.

'Would you—' she lay down on the sand and pulled him down beside her '—hold me. Just for a little while. Like there's no choice to make. Like it's just us in the garden together forever.'

No choice. Percy took a long deep breath into her hair, letting the slow wash of the tide smooth his thoughts out like wet sand beneath the waves. And no consequences.

'Of course, Calypso.' He slid an arm 'round her slim shoulders and held her against his chest; her warmth soaked right through him, melting his heart. 'Like this?'

'This is perfect,' Calypso whispered into his shoulder. 'Don't let me go.'

AN: If you like what I write, do check out my profile, it's got all my other stories, and handy links if you like the idea of early access chapters or want to support me as an artist!