This was an unexpected thought, but it felt probable to me. Everyone has feelings.

Disclaimer: I don't own the PJO or HP series.

Sally blinked her eyes slowly. She felt drowsy. Looking out the window through a gap in the curtains, she decided that it must have been close to six in the morning. Usually, she'd be up at this time, but she did feel a bit tired after spending an extra hour on her computer for her novel. Warm tea was the solution for this.

She wrapped her robe around her and walked at a leisured pace to the kitchen. It was a calm space of mind. The Titan War was over and Percy was where he should be. In his room, sleeping peacefully like a six year old boy, instead of a sixteen year old teenager. She made the tea while humming a piano composition softly.

The sound of the steam from the tea pot brought her fully awake. Hoping that Percy didn't wake up, she poured herself a cup and went back into her room and opened her window. The window sill gardening space had seven flowers and all of them were bright and small. She smiled at them and sipped her hot tea.

Then she heard footsteps. She turned around to see Percy open her door and look a little startled. He blinked and said, "I thought you were asleep."

Sally smiled and patted the seat next to her. Percy trudged and sat down. He leaned his head on his hands, staring out onto the New York street. Sally stroked his hair trying to flatten it.

"When did you wake up?" She asked.

"When you opened the window." He muttered. Sally looked surprised.

"You slept through me making tea in the kitchen?" Percy smiled sheepishly. There was a bout of silence until…

"Mom? Am I stupid?"

Sally stared at him, shocked. She vividly remembered him asking this question when he was seven.

"What?" She managed to ask. Maybe she had heard it wrong…

"Am I dumb? Do I look confused all the time? People always call me stuff like that…"

"And you believe them?" Sally asked incredulously.

Percy looked down, "It's not easy to ignore them, if everyone calls you stupid or idiotic at some point in their lives. And everyone has."

Sally frowned, "I have never underestimated your smarts, Pepe. Neither has Harry."

"But Harry sometimes looks at me like he's irritated if I don't understand something that he said." Percy complained looking at his mother.

"He has his own reasons. But has he ever called or implied that you were 'dumb'? She asked. Percy shook his head. "Alright then. Leaving you and Harry, everyone has given me that look that says, 'When did you lose it?' or 'How many times did your mother drop you?' or 'How did you escape from the asylum?' and it… it makes me feel so useless sometimes! It hurts a lot. Yeah, people may say it for the fun of it, you know, to make others laugh, a funny moment but it's not exactly funny to me!"

Sally set down her cup and looked at her son. He seemed really distressed by this, "You're right. It's not nice to have fun at the expense of others. Honey, you know it's only because you're more innocent than them."

Whatever answer he'd been expecting or hoping for hadn't been this. Percy stared at her.

"Innocent! Mom! You know all the stuff I went through! All the fighting and losing and winning at a huge cost! I think I've lost my innocence a long time ago! I mean….not innocence like that…you know…that innocence and this is different and…you know what I mean!" Percy fumbled.

Sally smiled. She pressed her palm to his cheek and looked at him, so lovingly that Percy almost couldn't bear it. At times, he even felt that he didn't deserve such a kind and wonderful role model.

"What I meant was that sometimes, when you think real hard, people feel that you have absolutely no clue of what's happening. It's just your facial expression. No one controls how they look on the outside-"

"Except the Gods." Percy muttered. Sally patted his cheek.

"You look really handsome, Pepe. What I'm saying that people, at first, get a little intimidated by you. Then, when you talk so normally with them, they feel better that they can catch up with you. Later, they notice your expressions and feel that you don't grasp what others do as easily as them." Sally said.

Percy hesitated, "Still doesn't stop them. I mean, you know what Zeus said when he offered me immortality? 'A dimwitted God, apparently', that's what he said, right in front of everyone."

"You were shocked that you were being offered something you'd never like. It wasn't something that'd suit you, was it? Naturally, you were speechless." She said, rubbing his back.

"Even Annabeth. She calls me 'Seaweed Brain.' I mean, yeah, I sometimes feel a bit lost when she talks all those five dollar words, and I kinda like it now, but it hurt at first. It always hurts when people call me that right in my face or behind my back, which I'm sure they do. And when I say something which helps save all of us, they look at me in shock, like I'm the last person to help out." Percy said, sullenly.

"I told you, your expression and what you think are different. People interpret it wrong. Take Pumpkin for example, if he had an emotionless face on, what do you think he'd be thinking of?"

"His duty in the war. That's obvious." Percy said looking up at her. Sally smiled sadly, "He couldn't be thinking about his parents?"

Percy opened his mouth and then shut it, "Yeah-

"He couldn't be thinking about the past? Or about Ginny? Or just about his homework? That boy is one of a kind and so are you. Don't let them bring you down. You should go out there and give everyone a shock of their lives if you want to change. Or you should stand up and be a tall and proud Seaweed Brain."

Percy laughed. "I knew there was a reason I loved you." Sally hit him out the shoulder, but she smiled. "WHat would I ever do without you?"

Percy laid his head on her shoulder, "All sorts of silly things."

Sally grinned and murmured, "It's what you think about yourself that matters. That's how you change people. Just by being who you want." Sally said and kissed his head thanking the Fates, not for the first or last time, for giving her a son who turned out to be one of the most important people in her life.

A bit small, but sweet, right?

Cabba.