Swan Dance • twilight * pjo

.O N E.

THEIA FELT AS IF SHE'D TAKEN A STEP BACK IN TIME. It'd been nearly five years since her last venture beyond the boarder of Camp Half-Blood, longer still since she'd last set foot within the small Washington town to visit the white paneled house that trapped her gaze the moment she emerged from her uncles police cruiser. It looked just as it had all those years ago, minus the snow she vividly remembered blanketed the foliage in a sea of thick, frozen slush. It'd been accompanied by a blizzard, carried upon a chill so strong it froze the front door shut. Her Uncle Charlie had to use an old blow-drier and a space heater to thaw the sheets of ice that kept them barred inside.

  Said man was currently climbing out of the drivers seat, seeming to have not aged a day since she'd last seen him. His signature narrow smile twisting into a dimple on his right cheek as he offered to help with her bags. His right hand rising to run through his thick brown hair that noticeably curled by his ears. A stereotypical cop mustache, matching the exact shade of brown atop his head, brushing against his top lip as he'd spoke. Warm eyes, a shade of brown comparable to bark of the Douglas-fir trees that peppered the state, glistening with a torrent of emotions as Theia glanced between him and the house that contained so many memories. The lack of sunshine and warmth apparent in his alabaster complexion, a stark contrast to the sun-kissed tan that many assumed natural for the golden Swan. Truth was, she just spent a lot of time outside. She flourished in the sunlight - an expected truth considering her grandfather was the Sun God himself. There had to be a joke in her situation somewhere; the prized granddaughter of Apollo, moving to a place of eternal doom and gloom. The irony wasn't lost on her, though that didn't mean she was any less confident in her decision.

  She was going to make this work.

  "You still like blue, right?" Her Uncle asked as he led her into the house. Theia was immediately struck with an intense feeling of Deja vu as soon as she stepped through the threshold of her uncles. It hadn't changed, not that such a revelation was at all surprising to the girl. Her uncle had for as long as she'd known him been resistant to change. Theia suspected it had a lot to do with the loss of his ex-wife, infrequent visits with his daughter, and the failing health of her late grandparents that fell upon his shoulders. He was a man constantly losing everything he cared about, so clinging to what he had was not an unexpected behavior.

  "Yep!" She popped the P as her uncle pushed open the door of the guest bedroom. Her bedroom for the next year or so until she decided on a college. The furniture was all pine, making the room seem more rustic than the rest of the house. The bed itself was situated against the wall that ran perpendicular with the door, full in size with two nightstands on either side of the headboard. The sheets a pale, baby blue that matched well with the watercolor painting hung over the bed. On each nightstand was a lamp, with white lamp shade that matched the mostly barren walls. There was a desk just beyond the foot of the bed, just under the windows that gave the golden girl a great view of the forest below. The closet was just across the room. The two sliding doors shut. It wasn't much, but it was far more than he had to provide. She was over eighteen, he technically had no reason to provide her anything anymore, nor did she expect him too. "Pastel blue is still my color."