Okay, so this is kind of weird for me, but I wrote a piece of fanfiction. I told a friend that I would work on a ouat piece for her, but I promised myself that if I ever started writing fanfiction my first piece would have to be for my all-time OTP. So, here is my first percabeth fanfic. It didn't quite go where I was expecting it to, but I like it all the same.
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Percy watched as the stone sunk to the bottom of the lake, dispersing tiny fish in its path. He picked up another flat stone, and launched it across the lake, sighing as he dropped his arm back to his side.
He knew he should be happy to be back at Camp Half-Blood. He was still alive and Annabeth was still alive, but they had lost so many good friends along the way. With new faces of young demigods adding to the mix, camp was starting to feel strange and unfamiliar. Percy didn’t know if he could ever look at this place like he had the first few years of his life as a demigod: exciting, comfortable, home.
He bent to pick up another rock, but he dropped it when he heard a voice.
“The campfire’s about to start and you’re here throwing rocks in the lake?”
One corner of Percy’s mouth lifted slightly, her presence just having that effect on him, but his frown quickly returned when he processed Annabeth’s words.
“I’m not really in the mood to sing,” he sighed as his gaze returned to the water.
“Well, I hate to tell you this Seaweed Brain, but no one’s ever really in the mood to hear your singing,” she jests purely out of reflex as she steps up behind him. But immediately she drops the dry humor from her voice and places her hand on his arm, knowing him well enough to read the signs.
“What’s wrong, Percy?” The question is accompanied by a slight squeeze.
His eyes hesitantly flicker to hers, and her heart clenches at the look in them, the sparkle that she’s come to cherish diminished by a weariness that she tries to stave off with the pressure of her hand that she slides into his own.
“Do you feel like you belong here Annabeth?” He doesn’t look at her as he asks, and she can feel the chill of his tone. And really this conversation had been too long in coming. They had talked about so much more for their relationship and their future while they were in Tartarus, but since returning neither had wanted to broach the subject, too afraid to dredge up the touchier points of that time, which still haunted their dreams.
Percy’s fingers flexed slightly against her own, and it gave her the strength to say what she didn’t want to admit.
And his head snapped back to look at her, surprise at her frank and unexpected answer taking over his concerned expression.
“I don’t think there is anything left for us here,” she continued. “I know Chiron loves having us here to train the new demigods, but haven’t we done enough leading for a while?” She leaned her body into Percy’s with the confession, and just like that she felt lighter as he shared both her physical and emotional weight.
“So…are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Percy breathes lightly, giving her a moment to think before continuing with more strength, “Reyna says we are more than welcome.” And Annabeth’s heart clenches at the thought that she could be abandoning the place that took her in all those years ago when she was just a scared, little girl. Leaving the place that gave her love and laughter and a pretty tough skin to face whatever was waiting for her in the world. But as she glanced at the boy that was at the heart of all those points of strength she knew it was time to move on.
Smiling gently, she took one last deep breath to steel herself before saying, “I think it’s time we make our own way, Percy. I want to start living my life with you.”
And the blinding smile she saw flash across his face before it was buried in her hair was all the reassurance she needed. Percy gently kissed the top of her head and squeezed her more tightly against his side.
He felt the guilt of wanting to leave camp evaporate with Annabeth’s words. Leaving didn’t mean Camp Half-Blood wasn’t important; it would always be a special place for both of them. But they had a new adventure waiting for them, and like practically every adventure they’ve had since they were twelve, they would do it together.
Annabeth slowly peeled herself from his side, keeping their fingers locked, and tugged him away from the shore. “Come on, Seaweed Brain. We have one last campfire to attend.” Her smile was slightly sad, but her eyes held a fire that told him it was all right.
And as they quietly made their way toward the boisterous group of demigods in the distance, Percy thought maybe it was silly to expect one place to always feel like home. After all, it had never been the strawberry gardens or the obstacle course or even the shore of the Long Island Sound that made it home, but the people that he spent time with in all these places. As long as he had Annabeth by his side, no matter where their lives brought them, he would always be home.
