Just an idea that has been fumbling around in my brain for a while now.

I do not own PJO or any of the characters mentioned.

"Do you think that we are living on borrowed time?" he asked as he looked fondly down at her. His sea green eyes swirling with adoration, love, and the slightest bit of fear. His ebony locks of hair ruffled as the wind blew and as the sea reminded the world of its power, the very power that coursed through his veins. He had so much power at his disposal, so much left in him for him to mold and discover. Raw power. But after all this time, despite his abilities, he had remained humble. He had proven himself time and time again to the Gods. He had proven himself to her.

"Hmmmm" She had replied. Turning from the choppy waters in front of her, she faces him, "You sound afraid, my love."

"If it was borrowed, I'd be happy to have had it even if for so short a time just so that I could remember this moment." He strokes her cheek, gazing into her eyes, into her very soul, probing her for an answer to the question that had haunted the pair for so long.

"To answer that, we'd have to know how we got here. Percy, I don't know we got here" Artemis peers back at him. Running her hand through his hair and then lazily down to his lips. Tracing them, as she tries to remember how she had winded up here. How she had let herself drown, only to be saved by the very man that embodied the ocean that engulfed her. He was her doom, but he was also her saviour.

To forever be lost in a moment of time.

How did I get here? She mused as she watched the boy on the terrace. Despite the celebrations taking place inside the throne room, the boy had wandered off from the party with quite a bit of difficulty, it had seemed, as countless Gods stopped him in his tracks to talk to him. She had watched from afar, as he smiled as father, who affectionately whipped him into a hug. This would be the first genuine smile she had seen on the boy since the Athena child had broken up with him earlier that day. Artemis had heard chatter that it was because the girl had met someone else. Others believed that she had simply fallen out of love with him. The most common version was that it was because of some project Annabeth wanted to complete for her mother. A project that could not, would not, allow for distractions. Artemis could smell the girl's hubris from a mile away.

Just as so, it had sent a ripple of shock through Artemis's body as she had learned that the girl had broken the boy's heart. The only boy to have ever won her fallen huntress's favor. Zoe Nightshade would have felt some semblance of pity or sadness for the boy, for she had seen something good in him, something pure. But it often seems that those who least deserve it endure the most pain. The evidence of this was pressed into his face. His broken eyes. His set jaw. His forehead wrinkles. So as he finally managed to peel his way away from the persistent Gods and move towards the terrace, Artemis followed.

She peered at his back, watching the way his shoulders slumped forward, much like when he held the weight of the world on his shoulders, when he gave her an opportunity, a moment of time, to put Atlas back where he belonged. He leaned his arms against the railing, looking up towards the night sky. Zoe's constellation seemed to twinkle upon the pair, offering solace in the darkness.

Artemis watched as he rustled with something in his pocket, uncapping a pen and pulling out his trusted blade. It gleamed in the night as he looked down at it, fondling the handle.

"You said once that you felt honored that I carry this sword" He whispered into the air, an unasked question hanging at the end of his words.

"As she should" Artemis finally pressed forward, interest peaked at the spectacle before her.

The boy whipped around, surprised, and quickly fell onto his knee, bowing his head in respect, "Lady Artemis, I didn't hear you come"

"No need for that, Perseus." Artemis walked forward and stood at his side on the terrace, overlooking the city below them. "You showed her that not all men are bad. To be candid, you have shown me as well. Don't doubt why she gave this blade to you. It would be an insult to her memory."

She could feel his eyes on her as he stood up, feel the heat of his gaze as he debated how to respond.

Finally, "Please, call me Percy. I very much prefer it to Perseus." He stood there shaking his head at the mere thought.

She only looked at him pointedly for a moment, before returning her gaze to the sky. Soon after, she felt him turn and do the same.

They stood there, side by side watching the stars before them.

Basking in the moonlight, our journey begins.

"Percy it truly is not that hard. Please, fix your stance once more" Artemis shook her head at the man before her. She had been training him in the ways of the hunt for one year at his father's request to give his son a new purpose to get over the Athena spawn, and Artemis had saved Percy's most difficult lessons for last: archery.

"I am trying" he whined as he attempted to recall how she had shown him to stand.

They had been at it for an hour, and he still was no closer to the target than when he began.

"Oh for the love of- here let me show you once more" Artemis began to move towards him.

Expecting her to stand before him and shoot at the target, Percy jumped when she instead came directly behind him and pressed her body against his. Guiding his hands to grip the bow and arrow and moving his elbows from here to there, she breathed against his back and he found himself shuddering. Despite being in her adult form, he was still a good foot taller than her, something she found incredibly frustrating whenever she walked by his side and he unknowingly called the attention of every female in the room. More importantly, she was angry that she felt annoyed with this at all. After all, it should not matter to her who likes him.

"There" she whispered, "Let go"

The arrow flew in the wind and hit a tree a good distance away from the target.

"You see!" Percy whirled around, "Not even you can help me! My body is not meant to shoot arrows, it is against my nature!" His eyes twinkled at her despite his words, and his smirk widened into a bright smile as he looked down at her. They could feel each other's breaths of hot air, and got lost in pools of grey and green.

Suddenly, they both realized how close they were, and stepped backwards as blush adorned their cheeks.

"Perhaps you are right. You may be a lost cause…" she smiled, "but I am willing to keep trying for however long you wish to learn."

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt me to try again" He cocked a grin back at her, as both realized the implications of their words. Time. They had bought more time together, and neither one could explain why, or at least, neither one necessarily wanted to know why. Neither of them wished to know what they felt for the other. It wouldn't help either of them to know, because there was only one way it could end.

To end it before it began.

Neither of them was strong enough to do that, so they agreed to meet the next day and try again.

Strength fails us as desire takes hold.

Her legs hung over the side of the cliff as she watched the man beside her gaze at the stars. His handsome face looked pensive, and his strong hands shook as he tried to steel himself. Turning to look at her, he was surprised to see her eyes already on him, and more so that she held his stare, that she didn't turn away.

She peered into his very soul, searching for something. Something that he couldn't give her without consequences. Something that was dangerous for both of them. Something he was sure that she didn't reciprocate anyways. He suddenly began shaking his head, eyes wild with the desire to flee.

"I feel it too" She spoke softly.

His body stilled, but he said nothing in return.

"I want it too. Please."

Their lips met in a single breath, and they fell into the whirlpool of each other, knowing full well they were doomed from the start.

But from the beginning, we were doomed to fail.

Artemis smiled as she watched him build a sand castle. She loved when he did such things. The things that made him so mundane, because it amazed her how such little things could make him so happy. When he'd grin triumphantly as he found the tv remote. When he'd get excited after he ate his mom's blue cookies. When he'd look at her like she was his world.

"I love you" she suddenly proclaimed.

His hands paused on one of the sandy towers. He had told her a month ago the very same thing, assuring her that she didn't have to say it back.

He jumped up, sand castle forgotten, and picked her up into the air, twirling her and laughing.

He trailed kisses up from her shoulder to her neck to her lips, repeatedly mummering, "I love you. I love you. I love you."

Still, I fell in love.

"Why did you deny godhood all that time ago?"

The question came out of nowhere as she watched him pack a bag to visit his mother, taking great interest in a picture frame he had of a mortal woman with wavy brown hair and blue eyes. Artemis had great respect for this woman, for this was who had raised Percy to be who he is. Artemis grabbed the picture. Though a different color, Sally's eyes carried the same kindness as her son's eyes.

He looked at Artemis with those kind eyes, which were brimming with questions, as if asking, 'Do you wish I had said yes?'

Finally, he looked down at his feet, his words coming out so quietly that she had to strain to hear them, "I couldn't stand to live on while those who I love wither away"

Artemis understood this well, for it was something she felt very strongly. The very reason she gave partial immortality to her hunters.

A new question burned in her mind. And then others followed.

Would he accept now, if offered the choice? If not godhood, could he accept partial immortality? Especially to be with someone he loved?

She knew the answers. All of them. And she found her heart turned bitter because of it.

Anger engulfed her. He could love her for his entire lifetime, and eventually peacefully leave this world and move on to Elysium. She did not share this luxury. When he was gone, there would be nothing that she could do. She'd have to live on without him.

She also knew that if she asked him to stay, to accept immortality for her, he would. He loved her that much. If she asked him not to put her through the pain of losing him, he would do it in a heartbeat, because he loved her.

But she also knew that she loved him too, and because of that, she couldn't ask him. Not when she knew how much he disliked the idea of immortality, disliked the possibility that he could grow as apathetic as the other Gods over time, unaffected by mortal conflict and arrogant because of it.

The anger left her body as quickly as it had come. Sadness overtook her, and she vowed to enjoy the time she did have with him, the moments that he could be hers.

Angry that it would never work between us.

"Artemis, please, see reason. The two of you will only wind up hurt if you continue this relationship. Please, spare my son the pain and end it now" Poseiden implored the goddess.

She didn't know how Poseiden had found out about them, figuring that he had likely spotted the two during their frequent beach visits when Percy would pull her into the water.

"I love him. I know that you only speak from the worry that you have for your son, but don't doubt that I love him. I won't hurt him."

"I speak out of concern for you as well, Artemis. Will you be able to survive his loss when it comes? You have no way of knowing when that will be. What if he forgets to look both ways before crossing the street? What if he finally faces a monster that he cannot defeat? Life is fleeting for mortals, it is a mere blink of the eye for us. Even so, it is a lifetime for them. Please, in my son's lifetime, let him have a family. Something to pass down. You know that he cannot have this with you. You must end this, for him."

"Why should I?" she snapped, "Why should I give him up? How is it fair to either of us? It's too late. The hurt I will feel down the road when I lose him will be nothing compared to if I know that I let him go without a fight."

"He is already considering immortality for you. You know this goes against his nature. Even if you were to bring him happiness, he'd have to watch his friends die and know that he could never see them again in Elysium. He'd never have children, never pass down his legacy. Artemis, if you truly love him, let him go now when he still has a chance to live the rest of his life in peace and on his own terms. It's not too late. He can find someone else and have a family."

This shocked Artemis, "He- he is considering immortality? For me?"

Posieden hung his head low, "You know that my son is not meant to be immortal. Even I often find myself wishing that he could remain with me forever, but it is not what he truly wants. His love for you is strong, that is why he is considering letting go of his principles for you. Is your love for my son just as strong? I implore you to listen, Artemis. You know that he is not meant to be immortal."

The scent of a sea breeze remained long after Poseiden flashed away, the same scent that Percy's body always carried. Artemis found herself clinging to it.

Clinging to the hope that we could last.

"You realize that I can never give you more than this?" Artemis turned to look at him as he held her in his arms.

They were sprawled over a picnic blanket, her head lying comfortably on his chest while he had his hand over her waist. He had surprised her with a picnic on the beach after she came back with the hunt from successfully trailing and killing a drakon sighted along the west coast.

Soon after eating, they found themselves looking at the stars as they often did, taking special note of Zoe twinkling away above them.

"This is all I would ever need" he said as he grabbed her hand and grazed his lips against her knuckles, "I am happy to have this much of you. I could never ask for more."

A single tear fell down Artemis's face.

But secrets always have a way of unraveling before us.

Artemis found herself watching him from the shadows as he taught the youngest campers how to wield a sword. They stood giggling around him, as he made jokes and imitated large monsters.

Her heart dropped as she came to a realization.

He'd make an excellent father.

With this the turmoil bubbling within her began to boil. Memories of them swirling together as his mortality became increasingly apparent to her.

It's not too late

With these words engrained in her mind she came to a decision. A decision because she loved him. Because she wanted him to have a chance. Because he'd hate to watch those around him die while he lives on. Because even if he'd never admit it to her, even if he'd never ask her, she knew that he'd love to have children.

She couldn't deny him of this.

And love is not always enough.

Aphrodite looked sadly at the goddess of the hunt, understanding her reasoning but hating it nonetheless.

"It doesn't have to be this way. You don't have to be alone. There is a way for part of him to live on after his death, even if he doesn't desire immortality. Someone you can have after he is dead to remember him by. Just imagine, someone with his eyes. His smile. His kind heart. And who knows, maybe the child would not hold its father's views on immortality. You could groom the child to be worthy of immorality, to want it." Aphrodite sounded truly desperate, in a way that Artemis had never before seen.

"You know I cannot" Artemis gripped her arms as her body began to shake, "my vow, it is most sacred. He is willing to give up his mortality for me, even though he loathes the idea of immortality. But I cannot do the same for him. I cannot give up my maidenhood. And I know he would never ask me to give it to him, it is part of the reason why I fell in love with him. But being together, it will bring nothing but pain to us. To have a child with him just so his and my line can live on forever, that is selfish. Not when I can let him go now, to find someone else. Someone who can grow old with him. Who he can meet in Elysium. His line can live on, just not with me."

Seeing that Aphrodite wasn't going to reply, Artemis continued, "I asked Hera to take away his memory of me, begged her actually. A ghost of this regret flickers across Artemis's face alongside remorse as she recounts the moment to Aphrodite:

"Please, Hera. Take his memories. Send him on another quest. Make him think that is the reason why you took them. You've done it before. He wouldn't even question your ability to do so." Artemis kneeled before the goddess.

Hera finally relented, "Ask me again in a month. If you have not changed your mind, it will be so."

Aphrodite clucks her tongue, "You know he would hate you for that, you robbing him of your moments together. For taking away his choice to remember you.

Her words cause another memory to spark up in Artemis's mind.

"You gods think that you can just move us around like chess pieces" Percy angrily retorted, "Well not me, Artemis. Look at me in the eyes, and tell me that you don't want to be together anymore. Look at me and tell me the reason you have for ending this. For ending us. After-" he huffed, "Gods after all this time together… for you to cast me aside like nothing!"

Artemis almost caved right then and there. Of course this wasn't an easy choice to make. But it had to be done.

"It has to be done. So that he cannot convince me otherwise. Convince me that somehow we can work" Artemis feels tears running down her face now.

Aphrodite's pity was now evident on her face, "Did you ask Hera to take your memories as well?"

"No! I- I want to remember. I don't want him to be taken from me completely"

"Artemis, isn't that worse? Won't it be harder?"

"I can't lose him completely. Our time was borrowed. These memories- they'll be enough for me. They'll have to be"

Sometimes we have to let go.

She found the meadow back on a solo hunting trip many years ago, and despite the time, the meadow always remained untouched by human civilization.

She brought Percy here one night, to continue their trend of star-gazing together. It's where he first confessed his love to her, after a few months of seeing one another. It was the perfect spot for it. A perfect spot for them.

It is this memory that Artemis always holds dearest to her heart. The simplicity of lying in the meadow with Percy. Of knowing that he loved her. Of having his arms wrapped around her and feeling completely safe. As if time itself had stopped, and any worries or concerns would just melt away.

Other times, all we can do is hold on to what we can remember.

A gentle breeze always comes through during hot summer nights as the grass moves about and tickles his feet. The chorus of a stream somewhere nearby constantly fills the air while birds chirp away no matter the time of day. At night, the moon shines down on this meadow, as if the goddess Artemis herself is present.

Percy often found himself here for some inexplicable reason. He stumbled upon it one night when he was looking for a source of water after a fight with a Hellhound where he gained a particularly nasty scratch, and he had no ambrosia to make the bleeding stop. The stream took away his pain instantly, and the environment of the meadow itself brought with it familiarity.

He felt peaceful when he was here.

Content.

Happy.

As if he were home, while basking in the moonlight.

But then, even when memory fails us, our feelings stay true.

Something that I think is important about this one-shot is how the Gods often make these choices without truly consulting the mortal that they are affecting by their decision. Could things have been different if Artemis had talked it out with Percy? Did he want children? If so, children can be acquired in more ways than one might imagine (does it have to be a blood child or could they essentially adopt one?), would he be ok with that? Would immortality have been worth it if it was spent with her? There are so many alternative ways that I considered writing this based on the questions aforementioned, but this is what I wound up deciding on.

Thanks for reading and stay safe out there.