a/n: so, um, this is a little different. i can't really explain my inspiration other than by saying that the words struck at like, 2:00 AM in the dark and i just decided to go with it. also, percy jackson was my first real love and i loved it so much that i was too afraid to write fanfiction about it because i really thought i would ruin that perfect fictional world lol. i've written another, super short one-shot, which i was quite hesitant about – so i'd like to thank jazzybookworm99 and bitchworthy (lol now THAT is a username) for reviewing, and everyone who favorited/followed, for giving me the confidence boost to post this mess of a fic as well. anyway, this is long and rambly, but let me know how you feel about this idea and this writing style! i plan to add chapters specific to each of the seven, actually, but i thought i'd start with my be all, end all: percy and annabeth.


"as i rebuild my life, i remind myself not to relive the past." - chelsea manning


after everything, they stay at camp for a few days, assisting with repairs and healing the wounded. from the first light of dawn, all the campers - romans and greeks alike - work together to bring back the lives they had all built for themselves.

maybe they're fooling themselves. it doesn't matter, really - at the very least it keeps their mind of the nightmares they are all trying so hard to run from.


annabeth joins percy at the poseidon table at their first meal back. the others spare a quick glance, the newer campers whisper curious questions, but there is no protest.

the rest of the seven, and nico and reyna and thalia and grover whenever they're visiting, join them after a while.

they eat mostly in silence - the little they eat at all - but, after everything, there's a familiarity between them that stops them from tensing their hands around their weapons and looking over their shoulders.

they do it for each other instead.


percy shows up at the athena cabin just as annabeth is settling her few possessions onto her bed. the bunk feels smaller, somehow, and almost too comfortable, and as though it doesn't belong to her, never mind that she's been sleeping in it since she was seven years old.

percy takes one look at her, the uncertainty and helplessness on her face clear as day to him and only him, and swiftly informs her brother malcolm that annabeth will be staying with him. annabeth - fierce, independent, powerful annabeth - doesn't protest his speaking for her, because now when he does it's because he knows what she wants before she can even verbalize it herself. malcolm nods, warns them dutifully of chiron and mr.d and the more gossipy campers, hugs annabeth goodnight and shuts the door behind them before their other siblings can see and ask questions.

later, in the poseidon cabin, they lay together on one bunk, not pressed together or tangling their limbs, but facing each other, percy's hand over annabeth's, each clasping the other's with a grip strong enough to hurt.

they're both quietly grateful for the pain. sometimes it's all they can feel, after everything.


a week later and annabeth decides to gently suggest visiting paul and sally. chiron has informed them, and all the parents, about the war and what happened and who was hurt, but annabeth knows sally is dying to see percy with her own two eyes. she's being a little selfish, too, because after everything sally has become the closest thing annabeth herself has to a real family and there's nothing she wants more than to sit at the breakfast counter in her and paul's apartment, eating freshly baked, blue tinted chocolate chip cookies and discussing historical trivia with paul.

percy's strangely apprehensive, and when they're walking along the beach hours later, he quietly admits that he doesn't know what he could possibly say to his mother to make up for what he's put her through.

annabeth stops in her tracks, tugs on his hand to make him face her and stands on her tiptoes, wraps her arms around his neck and buries her face into his shoulder.

they stand, still and silent, unmoving as the waves lap at their ankles and the chatter of campers echoes far behind them.

she loves you, annabeth whispers into his ear. she loves you more than anything in this world.

it's simple and honest and not exactly revolutionary, but it works and it's perfect because it's annabeth and it's percy, it's them and this is how they function.

he nods, and she feels his tears, and when they return to the big house she speaks for the both of them and tells chiron they'll be heading into the city for a while.

percy doesn't protest because now when she speaks it's like she knows who he is and what he wants inside and out.


when sally opens the door and sees them, her entire body seems to sag with the weight of it. her eyes sparkle with tears even as a broad, albeit wobbly grin spreads across her face. percy's own eyes burn and his jaw is so tightly clenched it almost hurts, but all he can think is that it's his mom, it's his mom alive and healthy and safe, it's his mom with those laugh lines and calloused hands and warm laughter and his home.

he wraps his arms around her and breathes deep, responds to her cries with 'i love yous' of his own and only loosens his grip when sally reaches for annabeth, too.

sally bakes them blue tinted, chocolate chip cookies and they eat at the kitchen counter. percy almost can't believe it's real, and for a second he really doesn't, because he pinches the skin on his wrist, hard, wondering for a moment of panic if it's all part of some daydreamed illusion and he and annabeth are still in that pit, alone and desperate and terrified. before he can pinch harder, however, annabeth catches his hand and intertwines their fingers underneath the counter and percy thinks, it's real and after everything, he's more grateful than ever before.

paul comes home from work, sees the two of them in their apartment and staggers against the wall. seeing him and his worn briefcase and lopsided tie, carrying a bag of cheap takeout from that one chinese place all four of them love just around the corner, annabeth has to fight the urge to burst into tears, which is ridiculous because she's annabeth chase and she isn't the kind of person who just starts bawling every two seconds like some weak little girl, but she can't help it, especially when percy reaches out tentatively to shake paul's hand and his stepfather pulls him in for a hug instead. her heart is so full it might break because this, this right here, this is the family that percy always deserved and he's finally gotten it and, most of all, annabeth gets to be a part of it.

sally senses her train of thought and coaxes the words out of her late that night, and when she says it, her tone melancholy and grateful and near tears again, damn it, she gives her a bittersweet little smile so similar to the one that percy has and says, annabeth. after everything, you're family.


the next few days are paradise to percy and annabeth - paul takes a few days off and they don't do anything extravagant or special or ceremonial - they just live.

sally teaches them her secret chocolate chip cookie recipe and percy is better at baking than annabeth by far (she follows the recipe to a T and calculates the exact baking time and measures perfectly even ratios of every ingredient, but every cookie always turns out slightly charred).

they spend a day at the museum of modern art and annabeth loses herself in the architectural themed exhibit, percy occasionally whining about his boredom but still following annabeth along as she practically skips from room to room rambling about structure and lines and technique (paul is the only one who can even attempt to keep up, although sally tries, and annabeth even ends up learning a thing or two from him).

paul and annabeth watch jeopardy every night and compete with both the contestants and each other to get the correct answer (although it's percy who wins a round about marine life and he won't stop bragging for days).

sally takes annabeth for a girls' day, which apparently consists of manicures and shopping and fancy, trendy meals. annabeth gets a shimmery gold nail polish and sally gets sea green, although they both get a matching fuchsia on their toes and develop a multitude of inside jokes that paul and percy are baffled by (annabeth will never admit it to anyone else, but the day is actually quite pleasant and when percy amusedly tells her the anchor-shaped earrings she bought impulsively are very on theme, she throws a shopping bag at him but hides a smile nonetheless).

when it comes time to return to camp, their goodbyes are bittersweet but percy and annabeth don't linger. he hugs his mother and stepfather for a long time, though, and when they get in the car to head back he waves until they're little more than pinpricks of color on a busy new york street.


they decide, on a whim, to spend a night in montauk.

it's afternoon by the time they reach the cabin, armed with necessary snacks and cheap b-list movies. the sun is warm on their skin and the sand reflects so brightly its as if each grain is made of stardust, colliding with blue ocean water at every tide and looking almost otherworldly.

percy sits on the beach and watches sea foam evaporate with every crash of the waves and says to annabeth: someday, i'm going to bring you here when we're happy.

she looks up from drawing absentmindedly in the sand (her doodles have become greek letters at some point, and they messily spell out percy's name). she teases, a little confused, aren't you happy with me now, seaweed brain?

percy gives her a crooked smile and she rejoices inside.

of course, wise girl, he answers, still grinning but there's something indecipherable in his eyes.

but later, he continues, after everything - we'll do this right.

she looks at him and he looks back calmly. she leans over a pile of sand from her sketching between them and gives him a quick, innocent kiss. when she pulls back her expression are serious and percy sees the change and holds her gaze steadily.

they don't speak but they both understand, and the tide rises and washes over their feet and percy purposefully douses annabeth in a particularly strong wave and she shrieks and he laughs and it feels like whatever the right way is, they're getting there.


time passes. the camps rebuild. percy and annabeth heal.

they are who they've always been, deep down: strong and resilient and stubborn and powerful and funny and honest and in love.

percy and annabeth still sleep curled up in one bunk, pressing their foreheads together or intertwining their fingers or wrapping and arm around each other; and when sally bakes cookies she adds blue food coloring every time, and wipes her happy-sad tears on the edge of her sleeve; and when the seven come to meals they still sit together at the poseidon table with weapons by their side but now wearing smiles and laughing easier.

after everything, they are not reborn nor recovered - but they are undoubtedly, unquestionably, somehow, some way, whole again.