Oh my gods, I missed the start of Percy Jackson Ship Weeks! Here it is, In Our Hands.

Slowly, the day breaks, apart in our hands.

Week One- Thalia | Luke

In Our Hands

Thalia had never really thought about, well, them.She had never really imagined a life without Luke, but she had never really imagined a life with Luke, either. So why was she, Thalia wondered, thinking about it now?

Perhaps it was simply the fact that they were crouched in such close proximity that she felt her cheeks redden and her heart beat fast in her chest.

Sitting here now, in the rain, she contemplated the idea of her and Luke together. It wasn't a bad thought, really, and Thalia was spurred to remember all the little things about Luke; his bright blue eyes, layered with mischief, the way he bit his lip and his face scrunched up when he was worried, the way his left foot always twitched first in a fight, meaning she could guess his next move and pound him into the ground, when light shone on his golden hair and made it almost radiant, how his right eye always twitched when he was annoyed.

Luckily for Annabeth, that little girl, she had stayed back at the safehouse to figure out sleeping arrangements and where they would eat, as well as whatever shit they hadn't figured out yet as Thalia and Luke had gone out to scrounge for food.

In Aphrodite language, that also meant- AH YOU TWO ARE SO CUTE! YOU'RE ALONE AND YOU SHOULD KISS! Thalia didn't appreciate that bit of advice very much. In her language, that meant she was soaking wet.

And then something in her brain just clicked, and without thought, Thalia leaned in, closed her eyes, and pressed her lips against his.

It was everything that Thalia imagined her first real kiss to be.

Her insides melted as he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her back. She didn't stop, reaching up to tangle her hands in his hair, and they stayed their, lips pressed to each other's.

Prior to contrary belief, her first kiss did not involve dirtiness as speculated by many people. They did not fuck, they did not touch each other, and Luke most certainly did not say anything about her ass. They simply stood, lips pressed to each others'.

Then the lightning flickered across the sky. Small, harmless volts of energy traveled through her body. They kissed again and again, and a small seed of fear for Luke stopped her.

When she broke apart from him, she missed the piece of freedom that he'd given to her. The wilderness. Where she had been falling into a pit, falling into the bright light that was nothing but them. Those few seconds, she didn't need to worry about anything, and her heart had beat, togethertogethertogether. But she couldn't handle that, she knew. Her emotions would spur her powers, and the more they built, the more of a chance Luke could get hurt.

"Luke... I can't do this." She regretted the words as soon as they came out.

"You're going to get hurt." Thalia gestured around them-the rain, the increased lightning, the sparks that seemed to jump on every inch of her body. Luke smiled and stepped closer.

When he was a centimeter away from her, he whispered,"Problem is, Thalia-"

"-I-" He kissed her once.

"-don't-" Twice.

"-care-" Three times.

"Do your worst," he muttered as he leaned in.

Lightning struck the ground next to him as they kissed.

"Thalia," he sang. "Thal-Oh, what the hell am I waiting for?"

Uh-oh. Thalia waited for her punishment.

Rough hands reached for her side. She relished the touch for a second before Luke promptly pushed her, almighty Thalia Grace, daughter of the King of the Heavens, warrior, slayer of monsters nobody bothered to find the name of, the fierce punk girl, off the bed. She dragged her blanket with her and groaned, hitting the cold floor with a thud.

"Luuuukee..." She moaned. "Why push me off the bed?"

Luke laughed at her bleary-eyed state.

"My blanket is my friend. It gives me warm blanket hugs.." She crawled back to the bed and snuggled back into her warm position.

"Oh, come on, Thalia. Would you really prefer blanket hugs over kisses from moi?" Thalia laughed at his miserable attempt to sound sexy, which was failing, and proceeded to shut him up by throwing a pillow at his face.

Thalia was astonished. "Wait...Jason, you can fly?"

That almost scared her half to death. To rely on the winds, to rely on somewhat of an uncontrollable power... That would terrify her. If that were to fail her... She would be falling.

Truthfully, Thalia only disliked heights. What she was really afraid of was falling.

When she fell, she would fall, fall, fall, fall until she hit the dark ground in her mind, fall until she saw and heard nothing, fall in terror like she would after her mother would hit her, fall in pain after a monster caught her, fall, fall, fall.

She'd fallen many, many times.

Only three stood out.

One, the fall from grace, as her mother took away her pride, her dignity, and beat her, again and again and again. Only Percy had known about this, as he'd gone through a same experience with broken beer bottles and insufferable tempers. Which led to the second, the disappearance of her cousin, Percy Jackson. They weren't really cousins in a sense, but they were close enough. They'd been through so much together, and so much had depended on him; now he was gone. Thalia had vivid, confusing dreams and a gaping hole kept tearing at her chest. And the last... The last had been the most memorable. Luke...

She hadn't regretted the fall with him for one second.

"Do you believe in fate, Thalia?" Her younger brother asked. She kept her eyes on the horizon, watching the sun fade ever-so-slowly.

"I do," she said, not taking her eyes off the setting sun.

"I do. I believe we hold it, fragile in our hands, as beautiful and deadly as day, and we shape it, cherish it, and then break it apart, piece by piece.

"I believe in love, a part of fate, and in hope, and terror, and everything that exists in the world. But only we can control our fate, Jason. I've controlled mine; now you must control yours, too. I like my choices... I hope you like yours, whatever they will be." With that, she turned and trekked up the hill. She rested a hand on the pine tree at the peak of Half-Blood Hill.

"I like my choices, Luke," she whispered. "I love you."

Thalia held her hands out and it would seem that she was holding the sun in her hands.

"I hope you liked our choices, Luke. I don't regret them."

Thalia watched the day break in her hands with a ghost.

Here it is, the one-shot that was supposed to be finished and posted yesterday.

#pjshipweeks, everyone!

Achieving Elysium