Annabeth was feeling better than she had in nearly a year. Since Percy's abduction less than a month after the end of Titan war, she had been on edge: frantic to find her boyfriend and near oblivious to all else. When she was not scouring the mortal world for the elusive Son of Poseidon, Annabeth could be found in the Big House or the Athena cabin, pouring over maps and reports, fiddling absentmindedly with the pearl pendant Percy had given her for her sixteenth birthday. When he gave it to her, she had slipped her father's college ring off her camp necklace for the first time in five years and onto his, an unspoken promise to match the one he gave her.
When Jason, Piper and Leo came back from their quest to free Hera with Jason's memory intact, she felt truly hopeful that they would find Percy for the first time in far too many months. Plans were immediately made to start building the Argo II. Now that they had a concrete destination, they just had to get there.
Six months later and she was sitting on the prow of the Argo II as it flew through the bright, cloud dotted sky towards Camp Jupiter and Percy. Tyson had Iris Messaged them a few days ago to let them know that Percy was at the Camp and that the Romans weren't mistreating him. They hadn't been able to get much more out of the young Cyclops though, before he was dragged away by a hyperactive red harpy who kept chattering about books and spouting seemingly random quotes. Leo had assured her that his "personalised" message, as he called it, had reached the Romans, so Annabeth was relatively sure that they wouldn't be shot out of the sky by the Legion on sight.
Behind her, Piper was practicing her "we come in peace" speech as she paced up and down the deck distractedly, her Roman boyfriend, Jason, had already given up on getting her to sit still. Her ADHD tended to act up when she was anxious and Jason had yet to win an argument between the two of them. Piper's ADHD couldn't hold a candle to Leo's though; the naturally hyper, pyro kinetic son of Hephaestus was a blur at the ship's helm. Unlike most, who would be happy with a simple steering wheel or GPS system, Leo had outfitted the Argo II with as many toggles and appliances as he could get away with, so there was always something for him to do and somewhere for him to be, and when there wasn't, well, Gods help them all.
As the cloud cover broke, Annabeth looked over the side of the ship to see Camp Jupiter spread out below them. She could see the legion barracks and in the city, toga clad and civilian dressed Romans were streaming out of a large building with a partially collapsed, domed roof that Annabeth assumed was the Senate building. Everyone was pointing at the Argo II and yelling to each other. Not wanting to anger the god who guarded the border of New Rome, Annabeth had Leo land the Argo II just outside of the city limits. As the four demigods got off the ship, Roman soldiers poured out of New Rome on one side and the legion barracks on the other, encircling the Greek trireme with suspicion. Both groups of teenagers stilled for a moment, sizing each other up, before whispers broke out among the Romans as they spotted Jason. Their beloved Praetor had been returned to them, but by Greeks?
The Legionnaires parted to let a small group come forward; a teenaged boy and girl in purple cloaks leading the precession. As they neared, Annabeth felt like she'd just been sucker punched. She didn't recognise the girl, but the cloaked boy was one she knew better than any other, she'd know her Percy anywhere. He was leaner and more tanned than the last time she'd seen him, but he still had the same bright, sea green eyes, his camp necklace, and the little grey streak in his inky locks that matched hers from when they'd held up the sky when they were thirteen. Annabeth was so lost in Percy that she didn't notice Jason and Piper going over introductions and stating their peaceful intentions until Leo elbowed her in the ribs and not so subtly directed her towards the hastily set up pavilion where they would be having dinner.
As they caught up with the rest of the group, Annabeth drifted closer to Percy until they were walking side by side. Percy had yet to say a word to her, though he kept sneaking glances at her out of the corner of his eye as they walked and she settled beside Percy on a divan at one of the large tables. As dinner started, the rest of the Camp Half-Blood demigods covertly monitored the pair until Annabeth couldn't hold her worry in anymore.
"Percy?" she started, gaining confidence when he turned to her with an odd look in his eyes, "Is everything okay, Seaweed Brain?"
Giving Annabeth a puzzled and cutely frustrated look, Percy muttered the "seaweed brain" confusedly under his breath before he answered her unsurely, "I'm sorry," he began, "but do I know you?"
The entire pavilion went silent at Percy's question, the Camp Half-Blood demigods staring at the Son of Poseidon in shock and the Romans waiting to see how this new development would play out. His words struck Annabeth dumb and she reflexively touched her necklace and reached out, lightly stroking the ring that still hung between the beads on Percy's worn, leather camp necklace, as she tried to find words. Annabeth seemed to deflate on the divan as she finally found her voice and looked deep into Percy's confused eyes as though begging him to remember.
"Yes." She said quietly, voice cracking and trying her hardest not to let out all the tears she had refused to shed as she searched for her dorky Seaweed Brain, "Yes you do."