Oh, hey there, PJO fandom…long time no see…heh. Sorry. I've been occupying myself with the Kane Chronicles archive of late. (Major Zarter shipper here.)

Anyway, I decided I should revisit my first love—Percabeth. This takes place after Percy and Annabeth's reunion but before the big battle with the giants (I'd say it's in MoA but I can't even be sure about the reunion anymore because Rick what are you doing to us.)

No, I don't own PJO. (Sadly.)

O-o-O

According to the myths, the gods tie an invisible red string around the little fingers of people who are destined to be soul mates.

*#*#*

The praetorial house was completely silent, save for the ticking of a clock on the side table and the breathing of the two sleeping children—because they were still only children to her, only seventeen, too young to have seen what they had seen—and, once she entered, the hiss of bare feet on carpet.

As her eyes adjusted to the dark, the sleeping forms took on shape and definition until they resembled human beings. The blond girl was sprawled on the couch, lying on her stomach with her arm dangling off the edge, fingers almost brushing the hand of the dark-haired boy; he was stretched on his back on the floor—how chivalrous of him, she thought, with a smile and a little giggle—one arm folded across his stomach. The boy's mouth was hanging open, saliva gathering at the corner of his lips. The girl snored lightly.

Venus tiptoed across the room, creeping around the coffee table and kneeling next to the boy. She held out one hand, produced a tiny red thread, and smiled at it, admiring the subtle glow in the fibers. Then she whispered into her cupped palm, giving orders to the string, and watched it fly out of her hand, expanding in midair and knotting around the blond girl's pinkie finger as instructed. The thread snaked down, winding around the boy's finger and tying itself firmly at the joint.

The goddess admired the string as it shimmered for a moment and then faded to invisibility, allowing herself a moment's satisfaction before creeping back into the shadows.

She watched as the girl's hand twitched, her ring finger rubbing her pinkie, as though she could feel the slightest trace of the string, then she yawned and her eyes cracked open. The girl grinned and tapped the boy's arm until he groaned, and she whispered, "You're drooling, Seaweed Brain." He wiped across his mouth with his sleeve, and then they were both asleep again—not that either of them had really been awake to begin with.

Venus sighed with pleasure, closing her eyes and breathing, "I'm rooting for you, kids."

Then she dissolved in a shower of rose petals, and was gone.

O-o-O

So, what did you think?

Also, it was Venus and not Aphrodite, since I figure they're at Camp Jupiter right now and the gods don't want to screw with things more than they've already been screwed with.