A/N: Just something I thought of as my friends and I were discussing possible (and extremely depressing) situations that may happen in BOO which is yet to come in 28 days! To be more optimistic, such pessimism can inspire something beautiful every once in a while.

I dedicate this one shot to my beautiful best friend, Cynthia. Happy belated birthday! Stay sexy, stay awesome, stay boss, stay Cynthia. -Love, your sister/hitman/asylum-mate/partner-in-crime/co-ruler of dimensions, planes, otherworlds, galaxies, etc./(fill in the blank).

Embrace

By: TCOOKIES777

He leaned forward, gently grasping the sides of her soot-stained face with his hands. "Look at me." He breathed. "Annabeth… Annabeth, look at me."

Ripping her red-rimmed eyes away from their inevitable, she focused her forlorn look on him. "Percy…." She choked out in a strangled whisper, her voice breaking upon saying his name—her heart in the middle of breaking at the sight she had just witnessed. "There's no one left now…. We—we're all alone…."

Tears streamed down her cheeks, making clean streaks through the grime and blood. But they were like a precious river of jewels to Percy, so he caught a drop to wipe it away with the pad of his thumb. All the while, he kept his gaze on the girl standing before him, in his arms—his life, his light, his love.

"Gods, you're so beautiful." He murmured to her. Their soft breaths tingled against each other with how close they were holding one another.

"Percy," Annabeth whispered, her bloody hands shaking uncontrollably as the ground they stood upon trembled more and more aggressively as their precious seconds ticked by. "Percy, didn't you hear me? We're alone! Ev—everybody left us…."

"Look at me, Annabeth." Percy cracked a gentle smile, his eyes glittering with life like the sea. He took her hand, entwining their fingers as if they were puzzle pieces fit perfectly together, and held it against his chest where his heart beat in resonance with hers. He pressed his forehead against hers and continued to gaze into her eyes. His maelstrom of sea green locking together with her stormy grey in passion.

A sudden gale of wind slammed into them but it didn't have the power to break them apart.

"We're not alone." Without breaking the ocular connection, he brought up Annabeth's hand to lightly brush his lips against her bruised knuckles. "Because we're together...as we always will be. And we can't keep our friends waiting any longer, now can we? Because they're waiting for us…."

"They're waiting for us." She echoed him slowly. Then she nodded, her chapped lips spreading into a smile that reflected Percy's. The ground roared and crashed as it was seconds away from them now. But Annabeth only tightened her hold on Percy's hand, his warmth giving her the delicious comfort she craved—and most of all, the strength they shared. Leaning towards him, she breathed in his scent, the salty smell of the seas, driving away all of her doubts and fears.

"I... I can see our future in your eyes..." Annabeth said in a voice so hushed it was a wonder they could even hear each other over the ongoing catastrophic moment.

Percy's eyes crinkled with unbounded mirth. "Tell me what is there for us."

"I can imagine a nice little cottage I had designed, right by the ocean."

Reaching with his free hand, Percy tucked a soft strand of curly blond hair behind her ear. "Tell me what it looks like."

"The roofing is made of blue bricks." She coughed out a laugh at the sight of Percy's eyes twinkling. "And around the front porch there are sea shells dangling like a blanket of stars singing the ocean's melody for us."

"And what are we doing?" He quietly hummed.

"You're holding me in your arms," Annabeth whispered, "just like right now."

"Well, I guess we're old and crinkly by then, huh?" Percy let out a soft chuckle. "Yet I'm willing to bet you'd still be so beautiful I'd just be in love with you even more."

"Seaweed Brain."

"Wise Girl."

"Percy..." She mumbled. The wind was so strong it was ripping her hair out of it's ponytail. Golden curls flamed about her face like fire. "Are you scared?"

"No." He shook his head almost imperceptibly. "Never. Not when I'm with you."

Despite the tears still trickling, Annabeth's face was beaming with faith, jubilation, and undying love for the sea demigod who tilted his head down to press a chaste kiss on her forehead. Almost as if it was a blessing... or a promise.

Fissures began cracking underneath their feet and a deafening roar was closing in at an alarming rate.

Closer...

Don't let go, they mouthed in unison.

Closer...

And they went on to gaze lovingly into each other's eyes, too absorbed in their own little world of dreams and happiness to even bother anymore with the one being destroyed at the moment.

Closer...

Without speaking, a silent message was passed simply through the bond between them: I love you.

And as the world finally fell away, they fell together... and into the embrace of oblivion.

FIN