I don't own any of the characters or the fan art.
Artemis Pov:
I'm lying down in my silver tent, listening to the calming sounds of the forest, and the gentle breeze giving flight to the whistling birds. I get out of my sleeping bag and step outside. All the other hunters were asleep so I carefully made my way out of the clearing where we had set up camp. Once I was far enough away I turned into a deer, galloping through the forest trying to clear my head. Ever since Zoë had died I hadn't been able to have a single moment where my thoughts weren't about her. I had to hold it together for my other hunters, but at times like this when I was alone I could imagine that she was back here with me, I could imagine that she had never left.
I'm wandering around a lake near where my hunters have set up camp. The lake is crystal clear, with towing trees surrounding the cascading waterfall. I hear a sound. It's small, just the rustle of a few leaves, but in experience the smallest sounds can mean the most danger. It means your opponent is skilled. It means you could get killed if you weren't careful. I whirl around, checking my surroundings. I couldn't see anything. Then a figure in a black cloak walked out from behind a line of trees.
I track every movement they make, not taking my eyes off them. They step towards me and I take a step back shifting into a battle stance prepared to fight. "Who are you?", I demand. They don't answer, instead reaching up to lower their hood. "Zoë?", I gasp.
"How are you here? It can't be you, can it?", the words stumble out and I take several more steps back from the person who is supposed to be dead. The person I have been having nightmares about. Her beautiful hair falling over her shoulders, her circlet around her head. Her alluring eyes focused on mine. The sight of her leaves me entranced, I can barely think. She takes another step closer reaching out a hand to me, and then hesitating just before it connects.
"Artemis, it really is me. Everyone was worried about how you were coping, so they went to Hades who apparently owed Percy a favour for trying to kill him. He allowed me to leave Elysium", as she tells me that I find myself barely listening, I'm shocked, and confused, and overwhelmed. However, the empty chasm that has been eating me up from the inside has closed. In its place is an all encompassing love for my former lieutenant. I just don't know how to tell her.
We talk for a while, me catching her up on what's been happening up in the world of the living, and Zoë listening intently. Once I've caught her up on things we talk about anything and everything. I missed talking to her, I missed her. Eventually we decide we should probably head back. She stands up and offers me her hand, which I take, how could I not? We walked back and I let her explain to the others. They're overjoyed and they welcome her back as if nothing had ever happened.
I convinced them to leave Zoë and let her get some sleep, coming back from the dead could be tiring. She stayed resting for the rest of the day, while I got Thalia and the rest of the hunters to continue hunting Lycaon. I was going to join them, but Zoë asked me to stay with her and I couldn't leave her when she obviously needed someone.
I got her anything she needed throughout the day, like food, but mostly she just needed someone to keep her company. Ever since she came back I had put up the immortality protection that usually keeps my hunters from getting too weak. She clearly still needed some time to recover and get back to her old self. When she fell asleep in the early afternoon I went and joined the rest of the hunters so I could be helping them as well.
Time skip to the end of the day:
When we got back the sun was setting and we all gathered around the campfire Zoë had started while we out hunting. We ate dinner and chatted, we may be hunters but we were also a family who cared about each other and had fun together. We sat on logs and talked until the stars illuminated the sky in an unearthly glow. When the stars first started appearing I noticed Zoë looking up and staring at them, awe in her eyes. Now that they were everywhere in the sky she got up and walked towards the forest. The others were too focused on the conversation, which I think was currently about what song they would choose to play as they walked on to bat at a professional baseball game (I don't think any of them have ever even played baseball). I got up and followed her.
We walked through the forest in silence. I was a bit further back but I was sure she knew I was there, even though she didn't acknowledge my presence. I knew there was a cliff overlooking the forest up ahead, so when I got to the edge of the forest I stayed there watching her sit with her legs dangling over the drop. She continued to stare at the stars. I tried to follow where she was looking and came across my least favourite constellation. It was the hunter in the sky. It was Zoë.
Ever since Zoë had died I hadn't wanted to look at the constellation of her, I didn't want to be reminded of her in any way. Now that she was back and the pain had receded I looked at the stars with her. She looked over at me, smiling gently, "Will you join me, my lady?"I walked over and sat down next to her.
"I missed you", I say. She stops looking at the stars focusing her gaze on mine. "I'm sorry I left you". I knew what she meant. She had gone on that quest knowing she would die. She knew she had to do it. "Zoë, I know you had to go, I'm not upset that you did it, I'm upset that it was necessary". She's stopped smiling now and her eyes are filled with pain. I want to take the hurt away from her. Her return made my life complete once more, but it's harder for her. I glance up at her constellation once more. The hunter appears to be surrounded by stars, not alone. But if you look closely she is billions of light years away from them. I look back at Zoë, she looks just as alone as she does in the stars.
"I don't want you to be alone ever again", I whisper, then I wave my hand up at the sky. At first nothing appears to be happening, but then the stars start to glow brighter and brighter under my watchful gaze. When the sudden light fades there's something different about the sky. The hunter is still there, but now there's a goddess next to her. Zoë's eyes widen as she takes in what she's seeing. "Zoë, you're everything to me, I can't lose you again. Now we'll always be together, I..... I love you", the words tumble out of my mouth, pouring out of my soul, emptying my heart, until the only thing left is Zoë.
She stares at me for a while, still not saying anything and I start to get nervous. Then a grin spreads across her face, "I know", she snarks, then she cups my cheek in her warm hand and presses her lips to mine. When she finally pulls away her eyes have a spark in them that was missing before. "I love you too, Artemis". We continue watching the stars together, her arms around me. At some point she leans in saying "You won't lose me, not again". We stare up at our constellation. Now neither of us will ever be alone.
