Sophia Jackson: Hero's Daughter

Chapter Sixteen

I smiled at the water from Half Blood Hill; home. I was finally back. After that whirlwind of a journey, I was glad. Yet, of course, now I missed it, just a little... okay, maybe a lot. 

Logan was still adjusting to the fact that Zeus was all the family he had left. He'd live at Camp Half Blood full-time now, unless I could convince my mom to let him stay with us. 

He reached for my hand. It was August, and the summer sun began to dip below the sea in an explosion of red, orange, and gold. 

"It's so nice to be back," Logan smiled, squeezing my hand. 

"Yeah..." I could tell that the burden he'd thought had been lifted off his shoulders was now back, and twice as heavy. "But it wasn't your fault," I reminded him softly. 

"I just wish I could talk to her... Luna, I mean. The real Luna. Apologize for thinking that she'd ever turn on me like that. On you like that. And-" 

Our eyes locked. I shook my head.

"Logan, you don't owe her, or your mom, anything. They'd want you to be happy, as cheesy as it sounds."

He didn't respond, just started dragging me down the hill toward the beach. People looked at us as we walked by, some pointing, some just waving as if to say, 'Hey, I totally know you, be my friend,'

It was weird, this whole 'hero' thing. I'd heard it countless times, I just never really saw it in myself. I saw it in Logan, the way he was a fighter on, and off, the battlefield. He fought for his mom, for his sister, for me, when everyone else gave up on him. So why were they calling me a hero?

We reached the beach as the first stars twinkled out, one by one, like pieces to a puzzle that can never be solved. 

"So, what' going to happen with us?" Logan asked, turning to face me. I wanted to kiss him, tell him that he was crazy for even asking that, but he was right; we were going to be hours apart. 

"We can call, text, FaceTime-" Then Logan did it. He kissed me, and I melted into him, and we were one in the same, under the flickering night light of stars. 

I could taste peppermint on his lips, feel his smile against mine, his warm hands against my cold back. My heart started to beat faster, like the inner clock saying 'Time is running out,' like only seconds remained before it was decided. 

"Logan," I began, my breath heavy. I leaned my head on his shoulder, his arm around me,and I thought that it would be crazy for me to end the one thing that kept me normal. The one thing that kept me happy. His chest moved up and down with the silence of his breathing, his eyes locked on the glistening moonlit waves. He knew what was coming. "I love you. You know that, you know exactly how I feel about you... so would it be crazy of me to ask you if you could just come up and stay with us? Maybe my aunt Thalia could take you in, like she took in Paige. Maybe- maybe you could-"

He stopped me, his eyes sparkling like the stars. They poured into mine all the emotions he was feeling; happiness, anxiety, confusion, ectasy, love.... and I returned the favor. 

"I would do anything to be with you, and I know tht sounds cheesy and corny, but I'm a half blood. I don't know when I'll die, and I don't know how long I have until then. Everything's at stake here. Love's the only thing that really matters in the end. That's what my mom used to say. That's what Luna would've said. I'll put my safety on the line to secure yours. I'll go wherever you are, because that way, you're happy, and when you're happy, I'm more than happy. I'll be okay with it if your parents don't like me as much as I like you, or if you stop feeling the way you're feeling about me. As long as you're happy, I'll be the happiest guy alive."

 I just looked at him at first. How did he come up with that stuff? I felt like everything that came out of my mouth was a complaint or a whine or something cheesy and dumb. "That was beautiful, Logan," I smiled. He took my hands again, while the other played with my hair. We were quiet for a minute, waiting, waiting, the enevitable end seemed to close in on our lives sooner than we could've ever imagined. 

"Sophia?"

"Yeah?"

"There's something I've been meaning to tell you," 

I didn't know what to say anymore. Unkept secrets and unspoken lies covered the ground between us. 

"Go ahead."

"My aunt.... she's really my great-aunt... but she lives in Massachusetts, and she said that since my mom is.... gone.... I could stay with her."

"Logan, that's great! Where in Massachusetts?" 

"Well..." He smiled that smile he got when he was planning some devious plan, the 'I'm an Evil Genuis' face. "I'd be going to your high school."

"Brookside?!"

"Brookside, baby, here I come."

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

This story will be ending soon.... the loose ends are just waiting to be tied up. I'm going to update this, and probably have it finished by the New Year. I know you guys don't want it to end, but I can't drag it on any farther than it needs to. It's better to wish for more than wish for less in this case. 

There's not much to say here (I'm saving my speech for the Finale), but I want to thank you guys for making Hero's Daughter such an amazing thing for me. You are special like the stars in the sky; don't be afraid to shine brighter than the sun. 

Love you guys,

XO

~PercyAnnabeth20owl