Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or the Heroes of Olympus. I don't own anything written by Rick Riordan.

Author's Note: This is my second story! Fire to the Rain is a companion to my other story, The Sea's Recovery, however it can be read alone. Either way, I would suggest you read Chapter 1 of The Sea's Recovery for some background information. Anyways, enjoy and review!

Chapter 1

Anthony Chase sat next to Persephone Jackson on the deck of the Argo II, looking up at the stars. His girlfriend smiled sadly, obviously remembering the Titan they had left behind in Tartarus. Iapetus had stayed behind in Tartarus, along with Damasen, to ensure the two demigods would escape the pit.

"They'll be fine," reminded Anthony. "They're immortals."

"I know. It's just... I can't believe I actually left them behind. I shouldn't have. They were our friends. They didn't deserve-"

Anthony cut off the guilty and worried ramblings of his girlfriend by kissing her. This was the part of Percy that annoyed him. The part that wasn't willing to make sacrifices. He supposed it had to do with her fatal flaw being loyalty.

Percy sighed as the two pulled their lips apart and rested her head on Anthony's shoulder. That was another thing that had been bugging the son of Athena. His girlfriend had been far more clingy ever since they had escaped Tartarus - like she was worried he'd be snatched away. It was illogical, and Anthony disliked illogical things. Being a child of Athena, he needed logic in his life.

Percy looked up at him, her sea-green eyes shimmering with unshed tears. Recently, she had looked like that a lot. It was like something had broken inside her during their time within the pit. Anthony wasn't sure, but he suspected she was having a hard time controlling her emotions. It pained him to know that his girlfriend was hurting inside, but refused to approach him for help.

Instead, she somehow always showed up in his room whenever he had a nightmare, whenever he needed help. She always comforted him and helped him fall back asleep. But when Percy had a nightmare and Anthony showed up at her door, she shooed him away saying that she was fine. He didn't like being helpless like that.

"What are you thinking of?" asked Anthony.

"Nico. I hope he made it safely back to Camp with the Athena Parthenos," replied Percy.

Anthony stiffened. "Why are you thinking of him? When we're together?"

Percy immediately picked up what he was insinuating and sat up straight, glaring at the son of Athena. "I don't think of Nico like that, but I do care about him. He means a lot to me, just not in the same sense you do."

Anthony just looked away, unconvinced. His girlfriend had expressed her worries about the son of Hades far too many times during the quest for his liking. And it was no big secret that Nico looked up to Percy. Some of the Aphrodite's kids even suspected he had a crush on the daughter of Poseidon.

"Anthony," Percy placed her hand on her boyfriend's cheek, turning his face towards her. "I'm not lying. You're the only one I'm in love with. I may love Nico, but only as a cousin. As a brother. You have nothing to worry about."

Anthony refused to meet Percy's eyes. "I don't know if I believe that, Percy. You spend so much time worrying about Nico. Even when we were in Tartarus, you mentioned him a couple of times."

"Of course I did!" exploded Percy. "I was worried about him. He'd go-"

Anthony cut her off. "Whatever. I need time to think about this." He stood up.

"Anthony," pleaded Percy. "Just let me explain why I'm worried about Nico. He wa-"

"It's pretty obvious to me that whether or not you know it, you're in love with him," stated Anthony, walking away.

Percy ran after her boyfriend, but Anthony quickly reached his room and locked the door behind him. He could hear Percy hammering on the door behind him, but he refused to open the door.

Instead, he opened the door next to his closet. Anthony had asked Lavinia to build a passage from his room to the engine room. He now ran down the passage way, into the bowels of the ship. He opened a door and stepped into the engine room.

The daughter of Hephaestus that could almost always be found there looked up. "Anthony! What are you doing here?"

"I needed to get away from Percy," replied Anthony, truthfully. "We had a fight, and-"

"It's okay. You don't need to explain," Lavinia broke in, uncomfortably.

"Thanks. So, what are you working on?" asked Anthony, looking at the globe that was lying on the desk in front of the daughter of Hephaestus.

"I was rewiring the Archimedes Sphere so that it could control the Argo II," replied Lavinia, picking up the Sphere and studying it. "I seem to be doing something wrong with the wiring, though."

"Do you mind if I take a look at it?" asked Anthony, holding his hand out and approaching the desk.

Lavinia handed the globe over and leaned back in her chair, closing her eyes.

Anthony guessed she'd been staring hard at the delicate wiring and had strained her eyes. He turned his gaze to the Sphere. Thirty minutes later, he found what he was looking for. "This wire's loose!"

Lavinia's eyes shot open and she gently took the Archimedes Sphere back. Anthony showed her the loose wire and the daughter of Hephaestus quickly began to attach it to the correct spot.

The son of Athena watched as his friend's fingers darted around nimbly. She was so different from Percy, he marveled. She was smarter and much more logical. She didn't cling to her friends, instead choosing to isolate herself so that she could work on bettering their chances of defeating Gaea. Lavinia was sacrificing her momentary happiness to ensure that as many people as possible made it out of the war alive. More importantly, she'd never push him away if she needed help. She'd let him in and tell him what was wrong.

Lavinia looked up, a smile playing on her lips as she finished the wiring. Before he could stop himself, Anthony found himself leaning down and capturing her lips with his. The daughter of Hephaestus froze for a moment, but then responded to the kiss.

A minute later, the two demigods pulled apart, gasping.

"What was that?!" exclaimed Lavinia glaring up at Anthony.

"I'm sorry," said Anthony, his mind whirring as he thought a way out of his predicament. There was no doubt Lavinia would tell Percy. Unless... "I should have asked. But then I kissed you and you kissed back and..."

Lavinia froze, obviously feeling guilty about kissing someone else's boyfriend. "It's fine. But next time you do something like that, I suggest you think about how your girlfriend would feel first," she scolded.

Anthony smirked. "Is that an invitation to do it again?"

Lavinia stared at him, jaw dropped.

Anthony closed it and kissed her again. Lavinia kissed back almost immediately, this time.

"What does this mean?" asked Lavinia, gesturing towards both of them, as they pulled apart.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" asked Anthony, smiling.

"But what about Percy?"

"I'll break it off with her." Anthony waved the question away. After all, since Percy was in love with Nico, it wouldn't really matter to her if they broke up. Anthony deserved to be with someone that would actually love him, not love somebody else.

"In that case, yes," said Lavinia, leaping up to kiss her new boyfriend.

They were interrupted by a small bang. Both jumped apart, looking up at the door. Anthony shrugged, seeing that the door was closed. Something must have fallen on the deck of the ship.

Anthony emerged from the bowels of the ship, intent on finding Percy and breaking up with her. He found her talking with Piper about something. He was about to call her away to break up her, when he realized that it wasn't a good idea to cause a rift in their group so close to the rise of Gaea. So instead, he decided to spend the rest of the week pretending to still love Percy while spending time with Lavinia in secret.

A/N: What did you all think? Am I doing a decent job of portraying Anthony? So far, I think this story is going to be a three-shot, but I may add more chapters as I continue writing the Sea's Recovery. The winner of the title competition for this story is hoOPJO. Please review!