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It was still nap time when Sally Jackson made her way into Sunrise Nursery School. She had gotten off of work just a little early and wanted to spend all the time she could with her bundle of joy. Sure, Percy has a year and a half now, but he never failed to put a smile on her face. Her perfect miracle baby. She meant to savor all the time she had with her darling boy before his patrilineage inevitably brought trouble to him. She didn't think it would start that day.
Percy was sitting up in the nap room already. He had his back turned to the door. There was another small boy next to him.
The two boys were leaning into each other, playing with something, and she could hear their delighted baby giggles as she approached.
“Perseus? Have you made a friend?” she cooed. The other kids had always seemed to stay away from Percy so she was so happy to see her baby with another child.
Percy turned around at the sound of his mother's voice. His bright, sea green eyes landed on her and his mouth gave a giant smile.
“Mama!” He handed the other boy whatever it was in his hand and stood up to toddle over to his mom. He hugged her legs and then tugged her sleeve to get her to bend down. “Mama! Me and Jay-in got toy!”
“Oh? A toy at nap time? How special for you. Can I see it?”
Percy waddled back over and sat back down next to the other boy. They both turned toward Sally. The first thing the mother noticed was how almost startlingly blue the other infant’s eyes were. Then she looked down at what the two boys were holding up and had to hold back a scream.
Each boy was using one hand to hold out a dead rattlesnake so they could show her together, bright eyes and big grins on their faces.
“Oh. Oh. That's .. that's lovely, boys. Can I see it?” The boys handed it to her. “Thank you so much. You two go find another toy. I'll be right back.”
She turned on her heel to go find the caregiver. It only took a moment to find the girl in charge. She made the young woman call the parents of the other little boy to tell them what had happened. She waited until the mother of the boy showed up, watching the toddlers enjoy themselves with plenty of non-deadly or venomous toys.
The other mother strode in with a young girl a few steps behind in a way that screamed that she didn't want to be there.
“Hi. I'm Sally Jackson. I'm Perseus' mother. And you are?”
The blonde woman looked her up and down. “Yes. I'm Beryl Grace. New Star of your favorite soap opera.” She didn't take Sally's extended hand. Instead she just stepped over to the two boys and lifted the blonde toddler up into her arms and began to walk back towards the door even as the boy started to cry and reach out for Percy.
“Jason Atreus Grace. If I ever have to leave work early again-”
Beryl's harsh words were cut off as she grabbed the young girl's hand and yanked both kids out of the nursery school.
Sally was left in stunned silence for a moment before she went to pick up a now upset Percy. She gave him a soft kiss on the head.
“It's okay, baby. Do you wanna go home and get a Popsicle?”
“Boo?”
“Yes, sweetie. You can have blue.”
🌊⚡
Every day when Sally came to pick up Percy, her son was playing with Jason Grace.
Percy was always excited to see his mother, so Jason also became excited to see her.
Every day the pair would run up to her and tell her whatever it was they found important that day. Percy did most of the talking.
“Mama! We made a tower!” was one day.
“Mama! Jay-in bite someting bad!” was another day when the blonde toddler had a new mark on his lip.
“Persee mama, we found a chipmunk!”
Sally watched the two boys become even deeper best friends as time went on. She was glad it was rare to run into small-time daytime television actress, Beryl Grace. Though, she did offer to watch Jason and his older sister whenever she did run into her.
Sally had her suspicions about the father of Jason Grace. The boy was always there when strange things happened to her son. Maybe it was just coincidence because the two were always together. Or maybe things happened more often because the two were together. She wasn't sure, but it wasn't her place to ask.
She just watched as Percy and Jason grew together. They became sure on their feet together. They became better at talking together. They grew in all those little baby teeth together. Right by each other's side. The boys were inseparable.
🌊⚡
Four-year-old Percy was sitting next to his four-year-old best friend, Jason. They were putting together a puzzle with one hand each. It was lucky Jason was left handed because they could hold hands with each other while they did everything! Percy was never afraid to tell anyone that Jason was his best friend. But Jason was usually more quiet. That day in particular. But Percy didn't mind filling the silence alone or just being quiet for a while as long as his best friend was there.
“Percy?” Jason whispered. “Can I tell you a secret?”
“You can tell me anything,” Percy gave a big smile to show him he meant it.
Jason put down the puzzle piece he was working on to look at his friends. Big, scared, blue eyes met the ever earnest, sea green ones.
“My mommy got fired from her job.” His voice was still hushed. “She says we're gonna go away so… so I don't get to go to kindergarten with you.” Tears started to do well in his eyes.
Percy put his own piece down and turned to take his friend's other hand. “Why not?”
“She says we're gonna go far away. And I've got to meet some lady. But I'm not allowed to tell my sister.”
Percy shook his head, “but you're my best friend. You're not allowed to leave.” His own eyes started to well up too.
“You're my best friend. I don't wanna leave.”
The two small boys threw their arms around each other, crying. They stayed there in a hug until Sally Jackson came and even after. Until Beryl Grace showed up.
She grabbed Jason by the arm and hauled him away as both boys still reached out for each other crying. A freak storm had started outside by the time Beryl left without a look back.
That was the last day Percy Jackson saw Jason Grace.
🌊⚡
Percy couldn't forget about Jason even if he wanted to. He started having dreams and nightmares about the boy right away. It started off with Jason alone with a pack of wolves. Percy didn't understand why he even thought of that.
Through dreams, he still got to see his best friend even if he was put in strange, impossible situations.
At least he thought they were impossible situations. Until he was attacked by a Fury in the sixth grade and his life changed forever.
At thirteen, Percy met Thalia Grace. He had heard stories about her in the time he'd been at camp. Yet it didn't click. Not until he saw those bright, blue eyes that matched those of his best friend (other than Annabeth and Grover now, of course).
Everyone was standing there, staring at the girl who had emerged from the tree. Percy couldn't stop himself from speaking.
“You're Jason's sister.”
And he was getting just as many stares as the black haired girl.
Over time he got filled in on what had happened after Beryl had been fired from her television show and before Thalia ran away. His dreams hadn't been just dreams. They were snippets into Jason's life alone. And they were still happening.
🌊⚡
So now they were here. The Argo II was hovering above the grounds of New Rome.
Percy hadn't been in the city for long. Even with his empty memories, he had been shaken to his core at all the mentions of Jason Grace. There was something there. And it rattled inside of him until it all came loose.
Percy was about to see his best friend for the first time in twelve years.
Annabeth approached him first, pulling him into a hug. She was his best friend too. And he had missed her.
She gave him a kiss on the cheek and then a gentle shove. “I swear, seaweed brain, if you ever disappear on me like that again, I will mess you up for real when I find you.”
Percy laughed and hugged her again. “I missed you too, Wise Girl.”
She kept talking but the words didn't make it past his ears and into his brain. From over Annabeth's shoulder, Percy spotted him.
Jason Grace was walking towards him and nothing else mattered in the world.
Percy stepped away from Annabeth and began to walk towards the blonde boy. He felt all the people around him holding their breath. They just saw two of the most powerful demigods of this century approaching each other. The former preator and the one who took his position. They didn't know. They couldn't know. Percy couldn't bring himself to tell them he'd been dreaming of their leader for years. That Jason was the first thing he'd remembered about himself.
Him and Jason stopped just a step away from each other, taking a moment to scan each other.
Jason had grown so much. He was bigger than Percy now, not just taller but visibly stronger too. He had scars littering his body, but that one he'd gotten all the way back when they were just kids was still visible on his lip. Percy couldn't stop his hand from coming up, fingers resting on Jason's jaw so his thumb could gently brush over that mark.
“It's really you,” they breathed out in unison.
Electric blue met sea green for the first time in twelve years.
And then they were crashing together, holding each other as close as humanly possible.
🌊⚡
The rest of their short time at Camp Jupiter was a blur. The meetings, the feast, the attack, and the escape didn't compare to the feeling of having Jason back in his life.
After all the chaos, they found themselves alone. Leo was too much in shock and went straight to bed. Hazel and Frank were getting used to the ship (Frank more the physical ship, Hazel more just being on the ship. Percy felt bad that his friend found his domain of ships so off putting). Annabeth and Piper volunteered to take the first watch for the Romans following them.
So Percy and Jason ended up down in the stables, looking out at the stars and just catching up with the amazing and terrible things that had happened to them.
In a moment of comfortable silence, Percy looked over at Jason and reached out to join their hands. Jason's hand was obviously larger now. The softness of baby fat that was there the last time they'd done this was absent- replaced by the rough calluses of years of combat and battle training. But it still felt perfect.
“I've been dreaming about you since you got pulled away from me that day,” Percy didn't think he'd ever heard his own voice so soft and fond.
“Are you saying I'm the man of your dreams, Perseus?” There was a quirk of a grin on Jason's face. That beautiful face that was so different but so much the same.
“Don't flirt with me, Jason Grace. I'll win that contest,” Percy turned his head to look at Jason when he spoke, but looked back up to the ceiling as he continued. “But honestly, yeah. You've always been a part of me. I knew I'd find you again. Like our souls are connected or something.”
He couldn't meet Jason's eyes when he said it. It was maybe too much for this reunion.
“You know. There's a story in Plato's writings of our fathers. About how humans were created with four arms, four legs, two heads. They were powerful beings. But Zeus was scared of them. So he split them into two individual and separate beings. So they would be easier to control. They'd spend their whole lives trying to find their other half. Their soulmate.” Jason's fingers tightened around his own as he spoke.
Leave it to Jason to one up him of course.
“Are you saying you think I'm your soulmate?” Percy finally turned his head.
His breath caught as he met Jason's eyes, full of earnestness and so open to him. This wasn't the Jason the people at Camp Jupiter had talked about. This was the Jason who held his hand while they did crafts. This was the Jason who had always helped Percy up when he fell at the daycare and kissed his scrapes and bruises to make them feel better. This was the Jason who had been dragged away from him while they both screamed and cried and reached out for each other. This was a Jason who had been waiting for him. Only him. And Percy knew he'd been doing the same.
“Everything I've been through. From right after I left and my mom gave me to Lupa to defeating the Titan armies and to going back to the wolf house to save the goddess who took my memories. It was the thought of finding you that got me through it.”
Percy's other hand came up as Jason spoke and rested gently on his cheek.
“Can I kiss you, Jason?” Percy said after a pause.
“I've been dreaming about it.”
Percy used the hand on Jason's cheek to guide him up to gently press their lips together.
Gaea was still rising. The war was still breaking out. The Romans were still after them. But they could do anything. They had each other again.