Sunflowers and Roses: A Solangelo AU

Chapter 3: Hazel

Hazel Levesque Zhang never realized she would have to worry about her big brother. After all, since she was thirteen years old, Nico had been the one to watch out for her.

Growing up in Louisiana, where the black community is still heavily discriminated against due to the bloody, violently racist history of the deep south, Hazel learned quickly that she needed to keep her head down. Her voice was not for others to hear.

She got a job when she was eleven, working as a dishwasher at a local restaurant that paid her very little. The rest of the kitchen staff were white. The owners were white. She was their charity, feel-good-about-themselves black add on. And they were less than charitable. She worked long hours for little pay, and when she asked for rest, they scolded her. 

You should be grateful. They'd snarl. We don't usually let filth like you into our kitchens.

And Hazel was grateful. As grateful as she could be.

Her mother was a fortune teller, which was the expected job for a black woman in New Orleans. She sold crystals and palm readings and charm bracelets. Hazel had a way with the crystals. She understood the Earth. She felt connected to nature. She spent her time studying the rocks, drawing pictures of them, marveling at the way they sparkled.

Her mother was known as a witch, though. People swore she cursed her products. They swore she was the cause of their misfortunes. 

One night, a drunk man came into the store. He had a gun. He was angry. Violently angry. And he killed Ms. Levesque, because he thought one of her spells was responsible for his son's death.

Just like that, Hazel was ripped from her dead end life in Louisiana. Child services took her away, and after bouncing around for a while, she ended up in Alaska.

No one was racist or violently hostile toward her in Alaska, but where she was, she saw few white people. She was only around natives most the time.

She was no longer a racial outcast, but a racial oddity. They would ogle at her skin. The children would tell her that her skin was pretty, but weird. The elders would ask if she got burned badly, or if she was born this way.

It wasn't until she was adopted by a strange, mysterious man and taken home to a quiet, even more mysterious teen boy in New York that she realized being black didn't make her "filth" or an oddity. She was just another girl who loved horses, loved nature, and loved art. And there was nothing "odd" about that.

Nico was quiet, but he was observant. He walked her to school every morning, but there was a distance between them, like he didn't want their arms to accidentally brush. That made her heart sink. She had always wanted a big brother, someone to take care of her.

She didn't realize Nico was that someone until they were on the subway, and a grumpy white man bumped into her. She started to apologize, but Nico cut her off.

"Hey man." He snarled, "Watch where you're fucking going."

The man stiffly apologized before finding a seat. Hazel then turned to Nico, eyes wide with shock. Why would he do that? Didn't he know how much trouble-

"It's the 21st century." He grumbled. "Rosa Parks did her job well."

She didn't realize he paid much attention to her until one day, three months after she had settled into New York, he sat her down and asked her why she didn't stand up for herself when "bigots" attacked her. 

She explained her history, how she felt powerless in Louisiana, like an outsider in Alaska. His expression softened, and when she burst into tears under the strain of those burdens, he took her into his arms, running his fingers through her fluffy hair as she cried into his shoulder.

After that, he bought her Black Lives Matter shirts, which were such precious gifts she was almost afraid to wear them. She didn't want them to get dirty or stained. He introduced her to Beyonce, took her to memorials dedicated to pioneering black women, and even helped her find clothes and makeup that went beautifully with her skin tone.

She asked him why he did all this.

"You're not black." She said to him. "Why do you care about these things? About me?"

He stared at her. He didn't answered for a long time. Finally, he shrugged his shoulders. "You don't have to be black to respect what the community has gone through." He looked at her. "And you're my little sister, Hazel. If it's important to you, it's important to me."

He introduced her to his friends. 

There was Leo Valdez, a handsome, short, latino who liked to joke and was good with his hands.

 Jason Grace, a blonde superman, and Piper McLean, his supermodel worthy Native American girlfriend. 

Annabeth, a smart blonde girl and her boyfriend, a tall dark and handsome swim team captain named Percy Jackson. When Percy and Annabeth left for California a couple months after Hazel met them, Nico didn't speak for three days.

She graduated early from high school and left for California as well. Nico wasn't happy about that. In fact, it led to a shouting fight between them, but ultimately, he grudgingly supported her. 

She met Frank Zhang, a kind, slightly older Chinese-Canadian Zoology student. She was instantly charmed by his gentleness. She fell in love with him within three months of dating him. She asked him to come home with her for Christmas. She knew he would love Nico.

But when they got back to New York, everything was wrong. Nico was too pale, too thin, too angry. His softness seemed reserved only for Hazel. He was cold, indifferent to Frank. He was too intense. Frank was uneasy. Hazel kept the peace for an entire three weeks before heading back to sunny California.

When she graduated, she married Frank. During her time in University, she made her own friends. Sisters named Reyna and Hylla. A girl named Thalia, who was actually Jason's big sister. A girl named Calypso, who met Leo Valdez and seemed charmed. She even reconnected with Percy, who was now married to Annabeth. Apparently, he hadn't spoken to Nico in a long time.

When tragedy struck everyone's life, everyone decided the best way to handle it was to start over. After everything, everyone wanted to stick together. The friend group split into two. The ones that would stay in California, and the ones that would move to NC.

Reyna, Hylla, Thalia, and Piper stayed in California. Annabeth, Percy, Hazel, Frank, Leo, and Calypso moved to NC. They found a small town, and they called it home.

Nico stayed behind. And she hadn't realized how much he was hurting until he called her that fateful night.

That phone call ultimately led to the plane flight that ultimately led to Nico moving into her guest bedroom.

And now, as she watched Nico play with the little girl that was named after his late biological sister, she realized something.

It was time for her to pay Nico back for all those years his broken angel wings had protected her from the harshness of this world.