Oh boy- last chapter eeep!

I'm plesently surprised that certain reader friends didn't jump me after the last chapter, but you know, so far so good!

Thank you for reading to the end, whether as I write or in the future, thank you, thank you, thank you, if it could rain cookies on the Internet I'd make it happen for you (and for blackmailing Rick Riordan into writing faster- *evil laugh*). So please, sit back, enjoy, and leave you ('specially about the last line, I'm errr... about it)

Epilogue

Nico took the pictures, one by one off the wall of his bedroom. Some of them made him smile, but it was always a sad smile, which was all that Nico seemed to have managed in the last little while. But it was still better than no smile.

He was careful not to rip the picture while detaching them, and more delicate than demigod custom was for taking the tape off the back. Some of them were worth more than anything else to Nico, no matter who was blinking.

One of them showed he and Sarah sitting at a table, near the dance floor of Eileen's Sweet 16. Sarah's dress was cream coloured with leafy roses all over, a grey trim at the bottom and collar and a stretch of the same fabric around her waist. It would've been really girly and un-Sarah like if she hadn't had a spot of… Nico still didn't know what it was- at random places, and a pair of neon green converse sneakers on her feet. In her defence, they were her 'good shoes' since they had never been spit, drawn, paint, bled or otherwise vandalised on. Nico was wearing a sort-of casual thing, which was the best he'd managed that day (or ever), and they were sitting close to each other, cheeks touching.

Another one with an added Alena –who was wearing a gray banded tunic dress or whatever Eileen had said it was (the fashion terms had all fused together in Nico's head creating one big word essential to all fashion dopes called; whateveritis), and Ian was looking about as happy to be dressed up as Nico was. But he looked happy to have Alena right next to him.

Another one was everyone who'd been to see Sarah, the day before she died. Pizza boxes were open and people were either not looking at Crystal as she took the picture, had their mouths open, or were in the middle of eating pizza and looked up in surprise like 'oh'. She was bundled up in Nico's hoody- the same one she'd been burried in.

Some of them were older; before Sarah got sick, when they were still part of a group at Camp Half-Blood. Their friends from there- Lacy, Nyssa, Shay, Ty, Alena… In the pictures there that included Sarah; the crinkled smile was all out, her hair was still there and flickable, and her blue eyes shinned like the stars.

Nico was actually flicking Sarah's hair in one. Someone had started a yearbook for half-bloods, to make every year count more or something. The 3 photographers that tried had sent back that picture after they'd soon realised that Nico and Sarah together was a hard as hell picture to take.

There was even a rules sheet of paper with an epic drawing of a rabid cat and a tarantula and a bunch of signatures. Ian told Nico that on Friday the 20th, when he hadn't shown up, Ian had been swarmed with questions and someone had decided to make a 'sorry for your loss' card. Things had gone do much better for Nico when he'd gone back to school; he'd decided to keep it.

Some of them weren't even of Sarah at all. Of Ian, Alena, of Ian and Alena, Camp, one of Percy and Annabeth's wedding (with the awesome advantage of having a guy diving into the ocean in the background; nobody knew but it was cool), he and his two cousins in Central Park when they'd gone out to 'bond' (read: beat each other up like they only did to each other), but Nico still treated them like gold in paper form.

"You ready?" Someone behind him asked. He turned around to see Percy.

"Yeah," Nico said. He slipped the pictures in an envelope Annabeth had given him and picked up his bag.

"You know, there's no reason to leave if you don't want to." Percy said, "We're flexible to whatever, Nico."

"Percy?"

"Yeah?"

"Shut up," Nico said. "You know I don't care."

Percy and Annabeth had gotten married, it had been awesome, Nico had had more fun than he'd thought was possible for a wedding even if he'd thought a lot about how Sarah would have loved it.

Now, both of them were moving into another apartment that was closer to where they had to be, a bit bigger than Percy's –where they'd been staying- and they'd offered a room to Nico. Percy was still thinking that maybe Nico didn't want to move or whatever, but Nico wasn't picky. He just wanted to stay around New York, finish high school, help the kids at the hospital finish the PCP, make fun of Ian and Alena, etc. Maybe Nico wanted to be okay after Sarah died. Maybe Nico wanted to live like a normal kid. Or at least try.

"Yeah, I know, but Thalia told me you'll be messed up if you keep going everywhere on your own, and I don't want to have her making a flash mob with my mom and a bunch of eternal maidens." Percy said.

"Gee thanks." Nico said. He looked at his wall, whipped clean of all the pictures and memories that had been displayed like a gallery of Nico's best. He was very proud of himself, he hadn't even ripped off paint or whatever tape did to walls and that Annabeth said would make the apartment buyers annoyed.

"It does feel weird to leave, but I guess change is good." Nico said.

"It is," Percy said. "You've changed a lot Nico- twice now for the better. Keep going and maybe one day you'll be half decent." Nico elbowed Percy and he laughed and shoved Nico back. Nico pushed and Percy got his cousin in a headlock, Nico swept Percy's legs out and they fell, but Percy hooked Nico's legs and pinned him, Nico flipped onto his stomach to stay solid...

"Are you two fighting again?" Annabeth called.

"No!" They both yelled.

"Well then common, we're going to be late!"

"Late? Late to what?" Nico asked. "You're moving, is there a deadline before the new place goes to some hobo or something?"

"You'll see," Percy said, getting back up.

"You sound like an adult. Percy Jackson- maturing?" Nico gasped taking Percy's hand to get up. Percy made a face.

"I am technically over 18, and married."

"I've always admired your sense of observation." Nico said.

They hauled the last few boxes into the car after Percy and Annabeth arm wrestled for who was driving (completely ignoring Nico's 'hey, I can drive too!'), and got going.

Nico soon recognised the route.

"The hospital?" Nico asked.

"You'll see." Annabeth repeated.

Nico rolled his eyes. Surprises- great.

"When did you all become mature adults?"

They parked in the underground lot and took the elevator to the oncology ward.

"I don't get it," Nico said. "Why are you guys coming here too?"

"You'll see, Corpse Breath."

They dragged Nico over to the playroom where something important seemed to be going on.

Clay was standing on an official-looking carpet taking a certificate from a guy in a suit as parents, family, friends, patients, doctors, nurses, the hospital director and even news cameras crowded around. Journalists took pictures of Clay who had 'what the heck?' plastered across his face as he shook hands with the man in the suit. The suit clashed with the bright, happy-coloured playroom draped in the paper chain (which Nico had never seen up yet) and Clay, who still had the Spiderman bandana.

"Told you we'd be late," Annabeth chided softly.

"I don't get it what's going on?" Nico asked.

"Go up front; they've saved you a seat." Percy said. Annabeth shoved him forwards and Nico felt totally left out on some big secret.

Nico did and sat down next to Fredericka. She hushed him when he asked a question, and slapped his knee when he tried to ask again.

"Guinness World Record is proud to present the Oncology ward of Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital with this award for the world's longest paper chain made by hand." The man said. Nico's eyes widened and he had to get nudged by Fred to clap like everyone else.

"Really?" He whispered. "We actually won it?"

"No, we're just posing this to amaze you." she said, rolling her eyes. She'd been cancer free for 2 months now, and her red hair was growing back.

"Honestly, what did you think?" Troy on his other side, said. He'd been declared cancer-free a few days ago- he'd be going home soon. Nico was at least glad that two kids Sarah had hung out with were making it, and Clay had finally gotten the money he needed for his leg amputation, so he'd be okay too.

Clay took the mic from the guy and said,

"The idea for this was by Sarah Barclay so this award is going to hang right there underneath the cardboard sun because she said that it would even if she'll never see it now. We're going to use the prize money for the ward and research for cancer so that nobody is going to have to come to this place again," Clay said in a voice that said 'they told me to say this, this is completely scripted'. "Sarah was an amazing person and she always said that we could do it and now we did because she got us to work all together. She even made Tall guy work."

A few people laughed when Clay burst out in that unscripted comment.

"Tall guy come here!" Clay said. Nico froze in panicked 'uh…' A lot of things Clay wanted to do… Let's just say that Sarah had taught him well.

Doctor Squirt nudged for him to come forwards, and Nico did hating certain technology (such as, say, cameras) a lot more than when he came in.

"Tall guy actually kissed Sarah so it's like his idea too, and Tall guy even came to help when Sarah was gone, so Tall guy should get to get his picture taken too." Clay reasoned. Doctor Squirt leaned in and whispered something to Clay.

"Oh, and Doctor Squirt says that his name is Nico di Angelo not Tall guy and the only reason he kissed her was because they liked each other like Doctor Squirt and Crystal do. But he didn't say that last part- Sarah told me."

Yeah, Nico thought as people laughed. Sarah had trained him really well…

And it was looking down at the people clapping their hands, or nudging their parents, or trying once again to recount the rings on the chain that hung around the room, all over the ceiling, and out into the hallways that Nico realised that Sarah had not only trained Clay well; but Sarah wasn't really gone- or at least not totally.

She'd just let go.

The End

10:24, 17 September 2011

5:55, 24 October 2011