Author's Note: So I came to a realization: Annabeth kisses Percy during the course of the Olympian series as a way to congratulate him a lot. The first time because he won the chariot race, the second time was (in my opinion) for good luck, the third time to congratulate him on winning the war as well as to confess her feelings. I wrote this on a bus ride to school cause I have nothing better to do with my life. I've always wanted to write a Percy Jackson story and I hope that I've done this well! No flames, please review! I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Rick Riordan does. I AM recommending Percy Jackson to my friend's little sister though, cause she's got to get into the habit of reading and needs something that's not too hard and fun, so DUH! PERCY JACKSON! I have more ideas so if you want me to write more for Percy Jackson, tell me and I will!
A Kiss For Victory
By Setkia
He's come to the conclusion that if he ever wants a kiss from her, his best bet is to nearly get himself killed.
The first time she kisses him it's on the cheek so that hardly counts. In fact, it doesn't count but he's going to count it personally because it's the first time he's ever blushed so much, or that his heart has beat so fast.
It's probably a high from the chariot race. That tends to happen, he finds, after the adrenaline rush comes the crash and the heart will beat faster, trying to get oxygen to all your cells. While he's gasping for breath, breathing harshly, she comes out of nowhere and kisses his cheek, making his brain rattle in his skull as he tries to properly process everything.
The second time she kisses him, he doesn't even have enough time to enjoy it. His first (proper) kiss is stolen in mere seconds, kissed and then ditched. That has to be illegal, like ding-donging and ditching, kissing and ditching sucks.
No, that's a lie.
It isn't completely horrible. In fact, he'd say he quite liked it.
But give a guy a warning first, why don't you?
He stands there, trying to remember what the hell his name is again (it starts with a P, doesn't it? And he has the initials PJ, like those comfy flannel pyjamas Mom likes to buy him- wait, focus!) and then the monsters come after him and he has to push it to the back of his mind, despite the fact that he's still reeling from it.
When he confronts her, she claims it was because she thought he was going to die (he wouldn't have nearly died if she hadn't taken away his memory and his breath with that kiss). Which leads to him wonder why it is that she had disappeared on him. After all, if she had thought he'd die, why would she leave him there, to be burnt monster and kibble bits?
But at the same time, he has to smile. If the reason for the kiss was because she thought he was going to die, then he can look forward to more of them in the near future, especially with the final battle coming up.
The next time she kisses him, she hands him a brick covered in blue icing and reminds him that he had turned sixteen. It's a surprise, to say the least, having honestly forgotten about it entirely.
They have a brief discussion about his lack of intelligence for refusing the offer to become a god, but over a millennia of being beaten up by his cousin doesn't sound all that great to be honest. There are other reasons and in the end, he never gets to tell her about the river and his link to humanity.
And then she kisses him.
He isn't close to death, he's just escaped it. With his new invincibility, does that mean this is the last kiss he'll ever receive from her?
He's confused, but happy. He's come to like her far beyond the curly haired princess, no, instead he's come to enjoy the company of the tall, tanned blonde haired woman she's become. This is a kiss for his victory over the Titan king, this is his reward.
And then the others come popping out, declaring that this ending has to have taken a million years (probably four years from the first moment she kissed him and his cheeks turned bright red on top of that hill. Actually, four years and twenty-nine days, not that he's been counting), and they're glad that they've finally gotten it over with. They are dumped unceremoniously into the lake, the very lake he remembers so many things happening, including his fall-out with her over his brother.
The first time he kisses her they're underneath the surface, inside his own personal bubble of protection and he has no reason for this kiss. None at all.
Perhaps it's a thank-you for taking the venomous knife, or for saving him when he was a Guinea pig. It could be a way to say that he's sorry about her strange mood-swings around the redhead or the way he had lead her to believe he had died some place faraway. It might be reassurance that he's still alive after all the chaos, or to remind her that he isn't going anywhere. Maybe it's to tell her how grateful he is that she hasn't gone with that son of Hermes, or that she hasn't become a child of the moon. Maybe he's telling her that he liked the way she can't spell hippocampus, or cyclops and it's okay that she had been wary of his brother. Maybe it's to ask her why she decided to hold the sky on her shoulders, (why did she take that risk? Was it for him?) or why he had been missing from her picture perfect world and if she was to see it today, would it change? Would he be there?
But in truth, there is no thank-you, there is no apology, no reassurance or gratefulness. There are no words that are trying to be conveyed, no questions at all.
In fact, if you ask him now, he still doesn't know why he did it.
All he knows was that she looks beautiful in the water, her grey eyes shining, her blonde hair messy and a bright smile on her lips and there's a pulling in the pit of his stomach, drawing him closer.
But she'll tell others it was because it was for a victory. The victory of winning him over and she'll say the reason she kisses him back is to reward him as well. For winning her over in turn.
That oracle be damned, Perseus Jackson is hers and hers alone.
And she'll kiss him all the time to remind others, and more importantly herself and him of her victory.
Edited: June 22nd 2015