She looked at me, like she was drinking in the fact that I was still there. And I realized I was doing the same thing. The world was collapsing, and the only thing that really mattered to me was that she was alive. - The Last Olympian, pg 338
They sink, deeper, deeper, until almost no moonlight reaches them from above the surface of the lake, until the campers' shouts are silenced, until Annabeth begins struggling for breath; and only then does Percy create the bubble, more easily than he's ever done it.
Annabeth takes a huge gulp of air. Still holding on to him, starting to smile, she gasps, "Nice thinking, Seaweed Brain."
It's all she has time for, because Percy is kissing her again, more hungrily, greedily now, as if to make up for all the time they lost letting things like jealousy and fear get in the way of what they both finally realize they always wanted.
He's still cautious, though, tiptoeing into uncharted territory, testing the waters before diving in; her hair is wet, and he tangles his fingers through the damp curls, then slides his hands to cup her face and back again –
And it takes him longer than it should to notice that Annabeth's face is glazed with tears, that she is clutching at him like she's drowning.
Even though he'd like nothing better than to continue kissing her, he summons up his willpower and pulls back, just slightly.
"What's wrong?" he murmurs, and his voice bounces of the walls of the bubble so that it echoes.
She buries her face in his neck, her hold on him crushing, and he hugs her, somehow understanding that all she needs right now is for him to be here with her.
"You almost died, Percy," she whispers. Her lips are right next to his hear and he can't suppress a small shiver. "I thought you were going to die."
Percy doesn't know what to say, so he doesn't. He tightens his grip on her and tries to delay his own relief, fully aware that it'll hit harder when it comes later but content, for now, to hold Annabeth and help her through hers.
This resolution breaks, however, when she says, "I thought I was going to lose you."
He says, "I know," before he can stop himself, because he thought he was going to lose her, too. Annabeth looks at him, her eyes searching for things he knows she'll find, whether now or in a day or in a year –
Then she kisses him, still holding tight. One of her hands finds his and she laces their fingers, and they are very much alive.
a/n: am i good at finding loopholes or what? percy says it was the best underwater kiss of all time, but he never says that there was no talking involved. and as much as rick tries to gloss it over, war is war, and war is scary, and they're all just kids, and percy almost died... he's almost died before, sure, but this is different. annabeth knows this.
reivew?
~whispered touches
disclaimer: i do not own percy jackson, or the excerpt at the top of the page. it all belongs to rick riordan.