A Lunnabeth Story

[Annabeth Chase]

So I was just listening to this song earlier and was all like OMG LUNNABETH! So I wrote it up. Enjoy.

Disclaimers!: First, the song is the property of Taylor Swift. Second, nothing past immediate Prophecies events is set in stone.

Love LUNNABETH Story

We were both young when I first saw you
I close my eyes
And the flashback starts

Annabeth was tired of running, tired of hiding. Just tired. The 7-year-old crouched in her hiding space in the increasingly dark alley. This was awful; the worst life ever. Always running. Like now.
She heard the footsteps coming down the alley, and hushed voices she couldn’t quite make out. She gripped the hammer in her hand, her only weapon tight, and gathered her wits about her. Someone or something pulled away the metal sheet protecting her and she went with her first reaction: defense. Her nerves were too distracted and stretched to the limit to realize immediately that it was a boy there and not some monster. Not that it mattered. She’d been attacked by monsters that had looked human enough and turned out not to be.
All she knew was he grabbed her wrist and she lost her weapon. That, and there was something seriously scary right in front of her face. She kicked and screamed and did anything not to listen to their tricks. The boy said something and the second scary thing went away, replaced by a now-visible girl, but Annabeth didn’t calm down any.
Not until they said they were like her. Until the boy said they actually wanted her on their team. That both of them wanted her - wanted her - as part of their family. She finally had a home.

I’m standing there
On a balcony in summer air

Annabeth was getting used to this Camp Half-Blood place. She’d been here for a year and half already, and was getting on with her cabin mates well enough, but she still stayed by Luke’s side whenever she could. He was in training now though. Normally she went to watch, but last time she’d gotten told off that she was slacking by one of the stricter campers. So she contented herself with talking with Chiron until she knew he’d be getting out soon. Which was right about now. So the now nine-year-old Annabeth was on the porch of the Big House, the railing she was leaning on the only thing that kept her from falling face-first to the ground below with anticipation.
Then she saw him coming out of the arena. She didn’t care that he was surrounded by his friends. She made for the stairs and jumped the whole way to the ground, not even bothering with the steps themselves. “Luke!” A bright smile on her face, she ran as fast as she could toward him.

See the lights
See the party, the ball gowns
I see you make your way through the crowd
And say hello, little did I know

For reasons Annabeth wasn’t quite sure of, Camp had decided to hold a dance. There wasn’t really much she could wear, and no one else really had anything that could fit a ten-year-old, so she ended up wearing a shirt and blouse that were at least two sizes too big for her. Thus she decided to hang around the edges of the dance. Where normally she would have sought out Luke immediately, she found herself a little nervous. This was a dance after all. And, well, over the last year or so, she’d started developing something of a crush on the son of Hermes. That didn’t mean that she wasn’t looking for him though.
When she spotted him she, she tried in her own little surreptitious way to watch him. Unfortunately, he saw her. Immediately she looked away, a little embarrassed.
Any hope of going unnoticed was gone in a minute though when he managed to get through the crowd to her side. “Hey, Anna. Aren’t you going to dance?” She looked up to see him offering his hand for her. His smile made her not really care how she looked anymore, or that she was possibly blushing a little. Luke wanted to dance with her. Smiling ear to ear she took his hand and hopped down from her seat. “Yeah!”

That you were Romeo, you were throwing pebbles
And by daddy said stay away from Juliet
And I was crying on the staircase
Begging you please don’t go, and I said

Annabeth sat on the stairs of the Big House. Why was this going on? Why had Luke tried to kill Percy and left Camp? Left her? It wasn’t fair. She had no idea he was even thinking about leaving. But it was too late now. He was gone. Why hadn’t he told her anything? She pulled her knees up against her and rested her forehead on them, muttering under her breath for no one to hear, “Luke, come back…”[/blockquote]

Romeo take me somewhere we can be alone
I’ll be waiting, all there’s left to do is run
You’ll be the prince and I’ll be the princess
It’s a love story baby just say yes

Annabeth held on to the lifeboat, watching the water rush past them without word, without even really seeing them. They were headed gods-only-knew where, somewhere into the unexpected nightmare of the Sea of Monsters. But she felt like she’d already been through enough of a nightmare. She couldn’t shake the image of Luke in the stateroom of the Princess Andromeda. His manner, everything about him, was so… not Luke. Where was the Luke she knew before? Despite him being so entirely different, though, every insult she had thrown at him had hurt like an ice pick digging into her. This wasn’t right! They were supposed to be on the same team, but not Kronos’ team! A family. Half her ‘family’ was gone already, a poisoned tree that would die if they didn’t hurry. The other half… no, she couldn’t give up on Luke. Why couldn’t he just see what he was doing and come back? He had to!

So I sneak out to the garden to see you
We keep quiet ‘cause we’re dead if they knew
So close your eyes
Escape this town for a little while

“Why should I trust you?”
“You shouldn’t. I’ve been terrible to you. But if you don’t help me, I’ll die.”
Annabeth glanced over her shoulder to check that they were still alone, then back at Luke. He really did look like he could die any minute. She had to help him. Maybe if she did, he would finally see he needed to come back, that the side he was following was wrong. Maybe he would come back to her. And besides, she couldn’t let him just die. Then the crack appeared and she knew her time to decide was over. She rushed under the sky next to Luke and pushed up on it as hard as she could. She would help him. She would save him.
But he rolled free, away from her. “Thanks.”
She could feel the weight baring down on her so painfully. She needed him, needed his help. Her voice was strained. “Help me hold it.”
Instead of coming to her aid as he had so many times, though, he stood up and regarded her. “I knew I could count on you.”
Suddenly she felt like the sky wasn’t just crushing her, but her heart as well. She shouted, pleading, begging after his retreating back. “HELP ME!”
He didn’t even stop. “Oh, don’t worry. Your help is on the way. It’s all part of the plan. In the meantime, try not to die.”
She had never felt more helpless in her life as his silhouette sank into the shadows and she was left all alone.

‘Cause you were Romeo, I was a scarlet letter
And my daddy said stay away from Juliet
But you were everything to me
I was begging you please don’t go

Annabeth watched Luke walking away, again. His flag of truce was clenched tight in his fist. He’d tried everything he could to talk to her, to convince her to run away with him. But what could she do? She’d trusted him last time, and she had nearly died for it. How could he expect her to go with him, to trust him again, so soon after that?
And yet, at the same time, she sort of wanted to. In her mind, she was pleading with him not to walk away again. There had to still be hope somewhere, right? Though this time it was her fault. He had tried to talk to her, but she hadn’t listened. She had been scared, uncertain. And now, as Luke vanished to leave the flag fluttering down the street like a piece of forgotten litter, it was too late. What if this was the last time she saw him? She left the doorway of her dad’s house and ran to the street, scooping up the piece of cloth he’d left behind. What if this was the last time she saw him? She held the clothe close against her as if somehow protecting the clothe would protect Luke too.

Romeo take me somewhere we can be alone
I’ll be waiting, all there’s left to do is run
You’ll be the prince and I’ll be the princess
It’s a love story baby just say yes

Luke had pointed right at her. “Spare the girl. I would speak to her before- before our great triumph.”
… But Annabeth would never know what he wanted to speak with her about? Warn her, try to get her join again? Dare she hope, apologize? But it was too late. She’d seen him possessed by the Titan Lord, was still kneeling in the labyrinth trying to get over the images, thankfully left alone by everyone else. If she’d just run away with him to start with, could she have prevented this? She would never forgive herself now.

Romeo save me, they try to tell me how to feel
This love is difficult, but it’s real
Don’t be afraid we’ll make it out of this mess
It’s a love story baby just say yes
Oh oh

Annabeth lay down on the recliner on the balcony of the Plaza Hotel, waiting patiently for her poisoned wound to fully heal while the day was starting to leave in favor of the night again. In favor of another battle no doubt. But for now, finally, she was alone. She’d woken up earlier than she had liked, but at least it gave her time to think. She couldn’t get the image of Luke, possessed by Kronos on the bridge out of her mind. And the full knowledge that practically all of Camp, including one of her best friends, Thalia, believed she was incapable of fighting Luke because she still believed in him. So what if she still thought there was hope for him. In her opinion, it only gave her better reason to fight. She turned to look at the darkening sky and ignored the shot of pain down her arm. “Don’t worry, Luke. I’m going to help you. Whatever it takes…”

I got tired of waiting
Wondering if you were ever coming around
My faith in you was fading
When I met you on the outskirts of town, and I said

Ten years had passed since the Battle of Manhattan. Luke had died, come back two years later, there had been a war with Phobos, Luke had left, and Annabeth had gone her own way without Percy either. Now, at the age of twenty-six, she was alone. Successful in her career as an architect, but alone nonetheless. She was on a business trip meeting with some clients just outside of Paris. With how often she took off anymore, this was about as much of a vacation as it got. Thankfully the long meeting was over with though. She had two blocks to walk to get to her hotel room from the office and she couldn’t wait to sit down with a microwave dinner in a pair of comfortable pajamas.
The sight of an old friend changed everything though…

Romeo save me I’ve been feeling so alone
I keep waiting for you but you never come
Is this in my head? I don’t know what to think
He knelt to the ground and pulled out a ring

It had been a year already since Annabeth met back up with Luke in Paris, learned of his new travelling lifestyle. When he had asked her to join him, this time, she didn’t repeat her mistake from years ago. She cut down her workload to only what she could do on the road, and she had been travelling with Luke ever since. It was like a new adventure every day, seeking out and helping the demigods of Europe. And, most important, she wasn’t alone anymore.

And said, marry me Juliet
You’ll never have to be alone
I love you and that’s all I really know
I talked to your dad, go pick out a white dress
It’s a love story baby just say yes

Annabeth lifted the framed photo from the mantel and looked at it fondly. In the photo, she stood next to Luke, draped in white and smiling to the point where she looked like she could have started laughing any minute for joy. And Luke, standing next to her in his tuxedo, looked just as happy, holding her in his arms. It had been like a day out of a fairy tale, even though they really hadn’t bothered with a very big ceremony, and not many people were invited, and there really wasn’t even much of a reception. She hadn’t cared. She finally had something truly permanent.
A child’s voice, obviously female, cut through the peace. “Moooooommyyyy! Come see what I drew!”
Luke’s voice called out right after, deep and rich, and even his tone gave away the smile that was no doubt on his face. “Yeah, Anna, you better hurry. Artwork this wonderful doesn’t come along just any old day!”
Annabeth Castellan laughed and set the photo down, turning to leave the room. “Coming!”

Oh, oh, oh, oh
‘Cause we were both young when I first saw you.

Their kids were both grown up and long since moved out. Beyond either of their best guess, they’d made it to a fairly old age for a demigod. Annabeth had died first at seventy-four years old, but mercifully, Luke was not long to follow. He could have taken forever for all Annabeth cared, she would have waited. But he was here now, in the waiting room overseen by Charon. Annabeth had returned to the appearance she had held during the war with Phobos: 18, at the top of her game. Luke was back to 23, tall, strong, and as handsome as ever. Charon looked down from his seat and announced the next boat would be leaving soon. Luke reached over and took Annabeth’s hand. It was time. But they were in this together. They were family.