5So, here is a cute one shot I thought of. Now, I ask do y'all prefer my one shots in their own thing like this or in the big ol Practice collection, cause if its the former I will move my stuff out to be their own things if its the latter then I will do that from now on. Anyways now lets get into the story shall we?
I grunted some as I lifted the box of old assignments with a grunt and placed them on my desk with a thud. Gods, how long had I been keeping track of these things for "records" or whatever? Looking at the box, my eyes widened when I saw it labeled 7th grade. Holy Schist! Why was I keeping records that far back? Looking back towards the room that used to be my office, I shook my head.
It was crazy to think how far I had come from then, being the little girl who was too stubborn to admit her feelings for one particular Seaweed Brain, even to herself, and that was after the incident where he had saved me from the sirens! Gods, what even was that vision of mine? My truest desire, once, that image had been burned into my mind, but now it was so foggy that I could only recall that my Mom, Dad were in it...Weird, maybe that meant my truest desire had changed. Strange to think of that, and how much had changed in the years since then.
Looking at the box, then back to the room that was going to become little Kolga's bedroom with a reminiscent smile on my face and hand on my stomach, there was no baby bump yet, but I could somehow feel it. Feel the little life growing within me, the fact that I was having a kid. That I had lived long enough to become a mother excited me! Getting an urge to look at the assignments suddenly, I opened the box and grabbed the first thing. It was an envelope strangely enough, and one with a small wax steal with the symbol of a Cardinal on it. The mascot of George Washington Middle school, from all the way back in Virginia.
"Now, this is interesting...That was the first year I was back with dad, I guess that's why it only goes back that far. Let's see who I was sending the letter too...Probably Percy, but ya never know." Chuckling some, I opened up the letter and took it out, surprised when I read the header.
Dear Future Me. Now, this was a surprise; the letter was for myself, was it? Well then, it would be rude not to read it after that, wouldn't it? I couldn't wait to see if I lived up to all of little Annabeth's expectations.
Alright, I am going to cut to the chase. You and I both know that we aren't too much for super sentimental stuff, but I am always one for planning out and making a guideline. So this is as good a chance as any and gets me a good grade at the same time. Now I think I will set out 10 goals or guidelines for you to follow. If you haven't done one, I fully expect you to start working on it as soon as you are done reading this letter.
Ah, there it was, my younger pride. It was always good to see that I was confident as back then as I am now, I am sure I accomplished her goals set out for me, but it was good to run through the list anyway and check. Just to be sure, and if one wasn't fulfilled, well, I could work on it when Kolga is born.
The guides will be easy enough to follow. Even arranged in ascending order of importance now. Here they are.
10. Get a Dog. I really miss Ladie, she was a good dog before she had to be put down... After visiting Percy's uncle last year, I know that I want to own another one. And another after that, as soon as possible you need a dog. Hearing Mrs.O'leary's artillery bombing of a bark from outside as Percy played with her, I smiled to myself. The hellhound would live naturally for much longer than Percy or I, no need to worry about putting the old dog down anytime soon. So, I got a dog, that was point one fulfilled. This was going to be easy.
9. Whatever you do, do not name any kids after our friends, mythological figures are fine, but no one we know. Let them have their own identity. Point two down! My hand went to my stomach again, thinking of my daughter, Kolga, named after one of the waves' Norse personifications. A little hint to my Norse ancestry(it was weird to think about how Mangus was both a legacy and a son of Frey). While also staying connected to Percy's oceanic origins.
8. Get someone special in your life that you can rely on no matter what. And I mean, no. Matter. What. Three for three! Woo! I looked outside of the window, seeing Percy running around with a large bronze shield he was using as a frisbee, tossing it towards an eager Tyson. The latter easily caught it and hucked it back with his super strength, the thing becoming a deadly discus in the air as it was thrown at mach speed.
Mrs.O'Leary leaped to catch it in her mouth, the momentum enough to carry even her giant form into the stable walls. Making me laugh aloud...Yeah, I had someone I could trust no matter what had them back then as well. Sighing, I turned back to the letter.
7. Find some way to honor Thalia. Point four to Annabeth! Well, I helped bring her back to life, that counted enough for honoring her, right? It did, and because I set these parameters in the first place, then I say it did.
6. Become an Architect with a reasonable degree. Man, I made it just too easy for myself with these goals. I had gotten my degree years ago from New Rome, probably not the school she thought I was going to attend, but it was good nonetheless.
5. Own your own home, preferably something you designed, don't just live in an apartment all your life out there. I was half done and already got five out of five. Taking the letter in my hands, I exited the room and started to walk around the house, taking every detail of our home here on Long Island. Right between the main city and Camp, a designated safe haven for Demigods and Protectors to stop for the night and rest while on their way to Camp. Five bedrooms, six bathrooms, and three other, smaller rooms for storage, one of those would be acting as my office from now on.
Our backyard was pretty massive. It was about an acre and a half of space for our purposes, built within it was a stable for Blackjack and his friends to live in, a huge dog house for our hellhound and even a miniature forge for Tyson and Leo's visits when they got bouts of creativity. We also had a very small two-bedroom, one-bathroom guesthouse. The very edge of our yard ran into a beautiful and quiet beach with a few benches, and gentle waves lapping at the shoreline. As for how we afforded this? Well, I think that is part of the reason why number four is accomplished as well.
4. Get Mother's approval, have her actually voice her approval to you. Now that had been shaky for a few years. But eventually, I did get her vocal approval, especially when I became the architect that almost all the gods came to first and foremost when they wanted a new temple built or statue or something like that. What can I say? Those beings paid very well when you weren't doing a quest for them.
3. Build something permanent. Well, that was vague, wasn't it? Though I am pretty sure I had accomplished it many times over, from redesigning the Olympus, to helping rebuild New Rome to... Well, there was a sapphire ring on my finger and a matching one on Percy's after all.
2. Find some way to save Luke from all this mess. That hurt. Thinking back then about how desperate I was to save Luke to have him back on our side. I cursed a bit to myself and started to walk down to the ocean to relax. The memories of his betrayals all starting to rush back to me, how he had ordered my death a few times! How...He had ordered the deaths of many other demigods...But, in the end. I had managed to get him back in the end, didn't I? At the very last moment...After he had done so many horrible things. I was so absorbed in these thoughts that I didn't even notice Mrs. O'leary's barking stop. This was one task that I suppose I had only half accomplished...Let's hope the last one isn't as hard.
1. This is the most important thing, even if you fail all the others except maybe 2, make sure you accomplish this one. Keep Percy around, keep him by your side. We both know you have lost too many people to let another go, Percy feels special, someone you and I need to keep around because he keeps coming back. Even when everyone else seems to leave. He strives to stay in contact even now when I am in Virginia with nearly daily IMs. Suddenly, I felt two arms wrap around my waist in a gentle hug, my husband's voice tickling my ear, and it was full of concern for me for some reason.
"Wise Girl? Is everything alright? You looked a little...Out of it there, do you need some help with something?" His kind words almost brought tears of happiness to my eyes as I turned and kissed Percy on the lips, a gentle, loving kiss. One that we shared often, but still, it managed to blow my mind, make me melt, and ground me to the world all at once every single time, even after a decade of being with this man.
"Yeah, I'm fine, just reminiscing. Thinking about how far we have come." He nodded, gently placing his hands on my hips as we started to rock back and forth in a small waltz. Dancing to the rhythm of crashing waves on the beach, his eyes traced my body before landing on my hands. Seeing the title of the paper.
"Oh, a Dear Future me?! Man, I remember doing one of those back in seventh grade. I think I remember what I told myself back then..." That made me raise an eyebrow, sure he had an excellent memory about most things, but I had to remind him almost every year that our anniversary was also his birthday. So forgive me for doubting he could recall that correctly.
"Well, what did it say, Seaweed brain?"
"Um, I think it said something about staying alive. And oh! Making sure that Annabeth is happy. Because you had been through a lot of crap, and you deserved to be happy. I liked seeing you smile and wanted to see it a lot more." Gods, even back then, before we had an inkling of dating each other, he thought about making me happy first and foremost? Ugh, he was going to give me a heart attack from making it race so much! Thinking back to number one on my list, I smiled to myself.
"Well, good news Percy..." He gave me that confused look again, a cute one that I liked seeing on him because it meant I could explain things and blow his mind. Reaching up, I leaned forward a bit so that I could whisper into his ear with a little nibble on the lobe.
"Mission Accomplished."
