Percy (yay)

Today, he was finally eating real food. After nearly a week of slowly building up his stomach to accept real food, Thalia had finally given him the okay. He still hadn't really been able to walk, however. His leg was broken, but that wasn't the thing stopping him. His strength was absolutely gone. He stood on his feet and began to sway after several seconds. Thalia would always have to grab his arms and help him back down.

In the week since his near death experience, he had only managed a few steps. Being on his feet for too long caused him to be lightheaded, and caused his broken ribs to scream in pain. Thalia had been extremely patient with him, helping him sit up, get around, eat, etc. He owed so much to her.

But none of that frustration mattered to him as he sat in the booth of a fast food diner. He couldn't keep the wide grin from being permanently etched on his face. He sat, bouncing like an idiot. This was the first real meal he was going to have in nearly a year. He had dreamed about this for a long time.

Thalia finally came back from the counter, holding bags of salty and greasy junk food. She wiggled her eyebrows at him, Percy's grin being contagious. He reached desperately towards the food, and she held it away from him.

"Uh uh uh. Wait for me to hand it out first." She smiled.

"I've been waiting for a year." He laughed. He grabbed a fistful of fries before the bag even hit the table and stuffed them in his mouth. Immediately, he was greeted by the taste of salty deliciousness. Tears sprang to his eyes and he bowed his head, embarrassed.

"Good, huh?" Thalia watched him with a sad smile.

"I've been eating nothing but fire river water for a year, so yeah. Good. Believe me, this is the only thing that got me through what those monster did." He barely managed the sentence before shoving more food into his mouth. He laughed as he took a bite of a burger, ketchup dripping down the side. He was so carried away in his first meal that he didn't realize the look on Thalia's face. She looked appalled and horrified.

"What?" Percy asked, smile fading.

"What did they do?" She asked him in a low voice.

Now Percy's smile was completely gone. In the past week, they had been primarily focused on his health and preventing him from dying, which was a difficult task. What he had been doing in the past year was not a topic really covered in their conversations. Percy had avoided the topic and Thalia had referred to it as "when you were gone". Percy had accidentally let slip a glimpse of what had happened.

He took another bite of burger. "Uh... well... didn't give me burgers." He have a small laugh. Thalia gave a small nod, letting the topic drop. Percy watched Thalia. It had been a while since someone had cared enough to be concerned about him, and honestly, it scared him. He had kept such a strong shield up while in Tartarus, that feeling it slip slightly was terrifying.

He didn't want to be completely closed off from everyone. He always knew if he ever came back from Tartarus, he would be different, but he always thought that meant paranoid, not shutting himself off from friends. He didn't think he was ready to tell everything, he didn't know if he ever would be, but he could tell Thalia something. If he forced himself to now, it might be easier later. It might be easier with Annabeth.

"They uh... captured me. It got pretty dark for a while. But then I escaped, so silver lining I guess." He forced a smile then dropped his gaze immediately. He shoveled in more food, trying to ignore the fear that had just entered his heart. That tiny confession had caused such intense anxiety in him that his heart was beating twice its normal speed.

"I'm sorry." Thalia said. Percy looked up at her, feeling the need to erase everything that just happened. Not being able to think of anything else to say, they finished the meal in silence. After leaving the diner, Thalia helped him walk down the road. Feeling the affects of being on his feet for too long, Percy started leaning heavily on Thalia.

"Just a little bit further." She muttered.

"Where are we going." Percy huffed, hoping she wouldn't notice the sweat on his forehead and how out of breath he was.

"You'll see." Thalia smiled, and almost as soon as she said that, he knew. He knew the same way he knew his shirt was orange, or that Thalia's eyes were blue, or that there was a tree next to him. An ocean was nearby.

He looked at Thalia with excitement in his eyes. Her smile grew at the sight of him. He hurriedly tried to limp down towards the water.

"Hold on Kelp Head." Thalia laughed as she helped him get to the beach. Percy collapsed a few feet from the water, landing on his knees, unable to stand upright anymore, but he didn't care. For once he didn't care about how weak he was because he was at the ocean. Crawling the last couple of feet, he was kneeling in waist deep water, feeling the sea air on his face. The salty air lifted his too long hair and he closed his eyes. For the first time since seeing Annabeth last, he was truly at peace.

He waded deeper into the water. His pants, gifted to him by the hunters, were soaked. Usually he was able to stay dry in the water, but it seemed that in his weakend state, he was unable to continue that power. He wondered vaguely if he could swim with his broken ribs or still breath underwater, but he found that he didn't care. His survival didn't depend on his own strength anymore, he had someone protecting him.

He turned back and faced Thalia, tears no longer contained to his eyes, but streaming down his face. He gestured for her to come to him and she waded into the water. Percy gave a crazed relieved laugh and angled his face to the sky. Thalia did the same.

"I'm free!" Percy yelled at the top of his lungs, ignoring the pain in his throat. He laughed again, splashing water around him.

"You're free!" Thalia yelled back, splashing him. The water soaked his hair and he was never so happy to feel the sea water on his skin. He stood up and threw his arms around Thalia, laughing and spinning with her in the ocean.

She grabbed his face in her hands, a large smile on her face. "I'm really glad you're not dead, Percy."

A week ago he would not have meant it, but he did now. He said, "I'm really glad I'm not either."

He wanted to stay in that ocean forever. If someone had offered him a chance to live there, he would have taken it. But he heard a sound behind him and he and Thalia whipped around. Two people were standing on the shore.

Thalia and Percy exchanged a look and the two of them helped each other get back to the beach to meet Nico and Jason.

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