Of Gardens and Broken Hearts

A/N: As of late, due to vacation, I've found myself more interested in writing one-shots. I also haven't visited the world of Percy Jackson in a while. So I wrote this fluffy little one-shot. It's PJ/Calypso, for those who care about the pairing. Anywho, enjoy.

For those awaiting an update on Serpentine Virtues, it's at around 2.5k words, aiming for around 4.5k.

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians. All rights go to Rick Riordan. Also, I did not have a beta for this story, so all mistakes are mine.

oOo

Calypso cursed Percy Jackson. She wasn't proud of it. Thinking ill thoughts about one of her many loves that had come to the island wasn't something she did often.

Yet, Percy had been different. He had somehow hurt her...well hurt her more than any previous hero had done.

She couldn't pinpoint
what it was about Percy. He was handsome, but then nearly every hero that had landed on her island had been fairly attractive. He was exceptional with his sword, but that was true with nearly all the heroes that had fallen on her island as well. He was kind, sweet, and...oh she could go on forever.

But the heroes before him had been like him as well.

It was Percy's farewell that had resonated with herself more. He'd seemed to genuinely...regret leaving. He'd honestly had half a mind to stay. She could see it in his eyes.

And that made his departure all the more painful.

She'd always suspected that Hephaestus had pulled some trick into convincing him to leave, despite his insistence otherwise.

'He was given a choice'? Yeah right, she snorted.

But Calypso couldn't help, but feel that she'd lost something precious when she watched Percy go. Watched him sail off into the distance on that accursed magical raft. Back to danger, to war, to his precious Annabeth.

And something snapped within her.

She never even thought about that moment. Partially because she was ashamed of herself. Partially because she was worried. Worried that she might've killed the hero she loved the most.

Those thoughts were anathema to her. So she pushed those thoughts to the back of her head. She tried to return to her normal way of life. Greeting the birds every morning, talking to animals, and tending to her garden. She'd lived this life for millenia, not that she could really count the days on Ogygia.

Sometimes, small things would remind her of Percy. Planting moonlace at night would bring back their conversation in the garden. It was one of her most treasured memories.

Unfortunately, other memories weren't so pleasant. A Coca-Cola can (she never drank Pepsi, ever since Hephaestus had shown an interest in it when he was there. She still thinks Hephaestus caused him to leave her.) opened too suddenly, spraying brown, fizzy liquid all over her dress.

She didn't mind the dress so much, but it brought back Hephaestus's visit. And that memory wasn't as pleasant, especially considering his subsequent decision.

But she managed to forget, or at least pushed thoughts of Percy to the back of her head. Almost.

Until Leo Valdez came.

Now, she had to admit, Leo came in a fairly unique and, she grudgingly admitted, spectacular way. Flying some weird sort of contraption straight into her dining table certainly hadn't been done before. And Calypso had been on the island for millenia.

She hadn't been happy with him. First of all, Leo was the son of Hephaestus, and any mention of the fire god didn't sit well with her. The fact that he was "special", blessed with the fire powers of Hephaestus, hadn't helped. He had also destroyed her dining table, and then brought back memories...of Percy. Leo talked about Percy, how he was happy with Annabeth. Leo also talked about how Annabeth had dragged her one true love into the pits of hell itself. Tartarus. And she hated absolutely every minute of it.

She'd learned they were on another quest, and realized that Percy could be in danger. So she helped Leo. She wanted him to get back to their quest.

But then Gaea came, and messed with her head.

She'd offered Percy as a "reward" if she killed Leo. Spilled Leo's blood on the stone, and helped Gaea rise.

She admitted that she'd been sorely tempted.

Still, she couldn't.

She wanted Percy to be with her; to hold her; to love her.

But above all, she wanted him to do it willingly.

She'd learned that forced compliance to stay with her was a terrible idea. Her seven years with Odysseus taught her that much.

Odysseus had been quite unhappy with her during most of his stay, and they'd fought often.

She'd been angry and bitter throughout a lot of those seven years, so much so that she didn't put up much of a fight when the Gods ordered Odysseus's
release. (Not that a fight would've made much of a difference)

So she'd done what she'd once seen one of the Gods do, a three-fingered claw over her heart, before pushing her hand towards Gaea.

She'd overheard that it was the sign to ward off evil.

Then, she'd helped Leo with his preparations.

And during those preparations, she thought she'd fallen in love with the wayward mechanic.

After over two thousand years on Ogygia, any falling hero onto her island was appreciated, despite the fact that they always ended up breaking her heart in the end. Any novelty in the personality of the hero in question was even more interesting (although not always welcomed).

Leo Valdez was that novelty. And she'd believed she was in love with him. Perhaps it was the Fates meddling, like they always did, or perhaps it was too soon after...him... and she craved human companionship.

She'd known, almost instantly after Leo had gone, that kissing Leo was a mistake. She didn't feel anything special for Leo, and when she compared her feelings for Leo with him, there was an obvious, noticeable difference.

And she'd fallen back into her depression.

Percy was in danger in Tartarus, but he was happy. He was with his precious Annabeth. And she was alone.

She would take Tartarus any day to be with him. At least that's what she told herself.

Then one day, Hermes appeared to her. Olympus had won! They'd triumphed over the Giants in the Second Giant War.

Calypso wasn't sure if she should be pleased or not.

And then, Hermes told her something that gave her just a little bit of hope.

Hope. Something she'd thought she'd lost a long time ago.

Percy Jackson had survived the battle. He'd been a key element of the Giants' defeat. And he was single.

That last fact had hit her particularly hard, and she'd felt joy. Pure, unadulterated joy that wasn't marred by sadness. Something she hadn't experienced since she'd been placed on Ogygia eons ago.

It didn't matter to her that Annabeth had died in the battle.

Well, okay, that wasn't true. She knew that Percy must've been devastated by her death, and she felt sorry for him.

But he was single. That meant she had a chance. A miniscule chance, certainly, but a chance. It was something she hadn't had for ages.

Still, the rational, practical side of her knew that Percy couldn't find her.

"No man ever finds Ogygia twice." Hadn't that been what she'd been told by the Fates, just before they'd left her alone on the accursed, but beautiful, island for the very first time?

But Hope is strong. And so she waited. Even though she'd been practically abandoned by Percy following the Second Titan War, she held out hope that one day, somehow, she'd see him again, and be given another chance.

A proper one, not one marred by the Fates pulling the strings, or meddling Gods changing the outcome.

What felt like eternity passed, although Calypso knew she couldn't really count time on the island.

She'd kept herself going with the mantra, "Maybe he'll come... Maybe he'll be here today."

It turned out that it WAS possible for a man to find Ogygia twice.

She had Odysseus to thank for that.

But the man who'd found her wasn't who she'd wanted.

Leo Valdez had arrived on her island for a second time, and tried his damndest to express romantic feelings towards her.

They would've been endearing, and perhaps even cute, if she'd actually loved him.

And she might've loved him, in another world, had she never met Percy Jackson.

But she'd met him, and so Leo's attempts to woo her were foiled before he opened his mouth.

And Calypso felt terrible because of it. She knew that the mechanic had led a tough, lonely life. He'd confided that to her.

But she couldn't fight her heart.

And so Leo Valdez left the island, depressed and alone.

Calypso almost ran after him. She almost called him back; almost grabbed him and kissed him for all she was worth.

But she didn't, because Hope was strong. And so she waited. She'd put all her proverbial cards on the table, and now she had nothing to do except wait. And pray to the Gods that he would come.

"Have I not been punished enough?! Have you not taken enough pleasure in seeing me in pain?" she sometimes screamed at the sky.

Screaming did little to help her, but it was the only way to fight the doubts, the anger, and the bitterness that had festered within her for millenia.

And then he came.

And her world was changed.

oOo

He came on a bright, sunny day. She hadn't seen him at first.

She'd been tending to her garden, occasionally saying hello to some bird that would fly down and perch on her arm. It was shaping up to be a fairly normal day.

As she worked, her mind had drifted, thinking about Percy, just like she'd normally done.

And she felt a slight pressure behind her eyes, but shook her head determinedly.

It was too early to cry.

She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn't hear, at first, the footsteps slowly approaching her.

When she did register the footsteps, her heart leaped, but only for a moment. She suspected it was some God that wanted to visit her.

Hermes hadn't come to her island in a while... after all.

So she was quite surprised when she for a calloused hand land lightly on her right shoulder, and drew her on her feet gently, bu firmly.

Spinning around, she saw him, and she took a few steps back, her mouth dropping open as her hand automatically went to cover it.

There was no way he was there.

It had to be a cruel trick by the Gods, or the Fates.

That's what she told herself, until he reached out, and drew Calypso into his embrace.

And when she was in his arms, she knew. She knew it was him.

And she nearly fainted with happiness.

She traced her hands down his cheek tenderly, almost reverently. She still couldn't believe that he was here.

Calypso stared into Percy's sea-green eyes, seeing the happiness there, and was ecstatic that he was happy to see her.

But she could also see the sadness in them, and the pain that he attempted to hide, and she knew that he wasn't completely over the death of Annabeth.

But that was fine, he was with her.

Well, it wasn't fine, but Calypso would do her best to heal him. After all, that was her specialty right?

He bent his head, and captured her lips in a soft, loving kiss. He tasted sweet, and Calypso kissed him back, her arms slinking around his neck.

She'd always believed that if she ever kissed Percy Jackson, it would be for herself.

But she knew that this kiss wasn't necessarily for herself.

It was for the two of them. And it was the first step towards healing all the wounds that they suffered from. The wounds that nobody could see, but they could feel.

When they broke apart they were smiling at each other.

"You came back." she said, still not entirely believing her own eyes.

"I came back." he agreed, his eyes alight with...something indescribable. It made Calypso's heart beat faster, and her legs turn to jelly.

"Are you here to stay?" Calypso asked tentatively, fearing the answer.

"No." Percy replied, still holding her.

She knew it was too good to be true. And she began to withdraw from his arms, tears brimming in her eyes.

"I've come to take you with me." he said, a wide smile on her face as he drew her back into her arms.

"Oh..." Calypso said quietly.

Too fast. This was all happening too fast.

And Calypso wasn't regretting a single moment of it.

Bending down, she picked a sprig of moonlace from her garden.

Percy saw what she was doing, and smiled.

"Let's go plant a garden in Manhatten."

oOo

Thank you for reading. Please review.