I really needed to write this. Don't ask me why, there isn't really a proper reason behind it. Well, besides the fact that it has been nagging me consistently in the back of my mind, that is. And this would be, it seems, the first time I myself write in first person about Class of the Titans fics, if my memory isn't faulty and not counting Journal Entries. First off, it was inspired by Anastasia, a movie, or rather a song (see my story, Let the Music Play On) and also Becky Sky, and then finally The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks. With so many influences, how could I refrain from writing this? Haha. But rest assured I will try my best to get my other fics done, and I won't leave them hanging. Yes. This story will be more of the long-winded kind, instead of cutting it short because I feel like being more detailed now. Alright, without much further ado, I shall begin writing.

Disclaimer: I have never claimed to own COTT, and even if I try to buy the rights, I doubt they would be accept a dollar for it. I shall stick to just watching it, then.

To Sail

It was undoubtedly morning when I arose. I may not have wanted to get up, but my mind had other ideas. Stirring, I reluctantly crept out of the comforters and into the life of living reality.

The light wasn't even out yet, and neither was the sun. It was entirely dark, either; no, it was just beginning to get bright. Still, I knew that the chances that the others were up with zero to none. Anyway, it would come as no surprise to them - I was an early riser and a late sleeper. I got a lot less sleep than anyone else on the team, but it didn't really matter to me...

...Okay, actually, it did. I yawned, feeling the effects of ungodly-hour sleeping seeping in. I shuffled up to my desk, staring at my plans. Cronus was on every one of the agenda, not surprisingly. He was, I could call him, an enemy. And it wasn't easy to defeat him, either. The sheaf of papers were littered and scattered all over the table, and I made a quick mental note to tidy it up later.

I carefully opened my room door. No one was awake, as I had guessed. I grinned to myself and slipped into the bathroom, carrying the clothes I wanted to change into. An easy advantage of early mornings was that I could avoid the long queues, namely started by my blond-haired, face-loving friend, Neil.

After a quick bath and cleaning up, I returned to my room and I promptly tidied my things. An uncluttered desk would make the mind feel 'cluttered', my mother would always say back at home. In more ways than one, she had rubbed off all her morals on me, whether I wanted to or not.

As you have already guessed, I am Jay, more notably the leader of the seven titans destined to save the world from evil destruction. My friends - Archie, Atlanta, Neil, Theresa, Odie and Herry - would no doubt describe me as, what, methodical? Or perhaps obsessive, though I prefer to know it as hard-working. To them, at times I seemed a little boring, but isn't that the nature of my job? Being the leader has never been an easy task for me. I have of course my doubts - about myself, not the team. If I had been a little bit more talented, just like the rest of them, maybe I would be a better leader. They would probably gawk to see that I have such imminient self-doubts that come on so strong. And they do. But as time has gone by I have learnt to accept that I'm not perfect. And neither is anyone else. (A/N: See With Everything to Fear when it comes out.) I can say I'm thankful that I've put it behind me now. Alright, maybe not fully. But partially, and maybe one day I'll rise with more confidence.

Despite of all this inner troubles, I don't hesitate to say I am privelleged to be with this gang of mine. Never will I trade for anything else. Anyway, these are my best friends. The best you can ever get. Sure, Atlanta and Archie might argu- uhh, disagree on some things, Neil might be wrapped up in his own reflection and Odie in his tech gadgets, and Herry in his food, but still, we are the best team ever. And Theresa - she was the one who seriously kept me sane. For these two years, it had been a rough ride, but she'd been the first I'd turn to and the first to help me out. I'd initially not wanted to start anything with her, but in the end we were now dating.

And make no mistake, I loved her.

It had started with infatuation (I don't believe at love at first sight), then admiration, and finally love. I loved her as much as I did my parents and sister, maybe more. She was beautiful. Beauty was usually the first thing that attracted someone to something, but in the long term it was other attributes. Okay, so I sound technical and practical. But it was true. And she was a beautiful person, both inside and out.

She had proven time and time again to be fiery in both in passion and courage. And although she might not show it often, she was always willing to go the extra mile for her friends, and even willing to sacrifice herself. Throughout the span of two years, she'd grown and matured. So had everyone else.

And in all ways, we were a great, practically inseparable team.

I sat myself down at my desk, looking through my plans. Nothing was really going into my head. There wasn't any reason not to be able to concentrate, but I just felt distracted. Leaning back on my chair, I sighed. The first rays of sunlight were starting to break through the thin film of curtains that loosely shadowed my windows. The others, I could guess, would be up soon. Well, except for Neil, that is. It was always something about beauty sleep, but it was also something I didn't bother to listen to.

I bit my lip. Then I got to my feet with the intention of heading down for breakfast. A slight pinprick of guilt prickled me. I should be doing my work, but I wasn't. Lately I hadn't been all that productive as I used to be. And, according to my friends, I had somewhat learnt to "loosen up". Yeah, right.

I had plans later, which meant no time for Cronus. But still...

Finally, after a long five minutes' of battling it out with myself, I went downstairs. Athena, the other early riser and second only to me, was already flipping burgers. Seriously, sometimes when she pulled out her long-bladed sword and chopped bread, I could imagine her chopping, but instead of bread, people.

I gulped as I saw her slice the bread. It had never failed to get me a little nervous. Just a little nervous.

"What is it going to be, Jay? Toast? Burgers? Sausages? Egg?" Athena asked, tossing sausages, eggs and pancakes (she forgot to mention that) into the air at the same time.

I leaned back and sighed. "How about a couple of sausages and a scrambled egg?" I suggested. Three seconds later, the plate slid across the table to me. "Thanks, Athena," I called above the ruckus of pots and pans, and she nodded briefly.

It must have been the smell of food that lured Herry downstairs. Said friend was down in a jiffy and into the chair beside me. If there was something Herry loved, it was breakfast. And lunch, of course. Not forgetting dinner, too. In general, it would be food that attracted him.

"Athena? Could I please have-" Herry started.

Another plate slid by mine and over to Herry before he had finished speaking. I saw eggs, sausages, pancakes, toast, burgers - so much food, in fact, that I felt a little sick. Of course Athena knew what Herry wanted. Partly it was because she was the goddess of wisdom, and the other half would simply be because Herry wanted everything.

Little pieces of egg flew as Herry dug into his food. I preferred to keep my eyes on my own plate. Herry might be my loveable, teddy-hugging friend, but there were some things that were just too scary to look at. I instead looked in the other direction, just in time to see Archie and Atlanta in their PJs, arguing. Somehow that wasn't very surprising. And it was times like this I decided to shut down and avoid getting caught into their argument.

"You took my notes, didn't you?"

"Like real I did! Why would I want your notes?"

"They're waay better than yours!"

"Oh yeah? Well, that's so untrue!"

And the banter went on like that until Athena silenced them with some breakfast. They both ate quietly, but occasionally shot each other death glares. This quarrel, I could tell, would last till dinner. The frequency of such things could always tell one the magnitude and "life-span" of each quarrel. And, for all my amateur skills, I guessed this one would not be any better than the last (of which shook the earth, to say the least).

I grinned behind mouthfuls of food when I saw Theresa emerge. She was already dressed in her normal clothes, and she looked like she had a good sleep. Which was good, considering how we were going sailing later, the plan mentioned earlier. She slid into the seat beside Archie just as Odie came down as well.

"One burger, please, Athena," Theresa said with a smile.

I never ceased to wonder at how snappy Athena was at cooking. A few quick, good flips and patties were done. Then the buns went covering the patty and a burger was done. I could cook, but definitely not as well as Athena. On a random note, I thought about asking her to teach me once this whole Cronus business was over.

Odie asked for the same food as me. No one waited or anticipated Neil's arrival, since he usually got up at ten on Saturdays. After finishing up the last of my sausages, I stood.

"I'll wait for you downstairs, okay?" I said to Theresa, and she gave me a thumbs-up.

And I went upstairs to fetch my sailing gear. Lately I'd actually been going sailing, much to my team's surprise. In addition to that, I've also been taking Theresa along, and sometimes the team, except Archie refused to get onto my boat anytime soon. I was actually 'chilling out', for once. And taking their advice into consideration, I think I felt a lot better. Some people run away from their problems, but I suppose I'm the sort that meet them head-on. And that is supposed to be good, but my friends end up making it out to be a bad thing.

I pulled the backpack up off the table and onto my shoulder. The Cronus plans were calling out to me, but I tried to ignore it. And I had to, because the next second Theresa was in my room, gathering up the Cronus plans and shoving them into the drawer.

"Hey!" I protested, pretending to be offended.

Theresa shrugged loftily, locked the drawer with the key on the table and faced me with an evil grin. "If you don't come with me right now and don't stop thinking about Cronus, you won't be too happy after sailing."

"And why is that so?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow though I already knew.

Theresa gave me a totally innocent smile. The key was instantaneously pocketed into her jeans pocket. "Because you won't see this key again."

I sighed. "Alright, alright, let's go."

Leaving Neil sleeping, Herry and Odie eating and Atlanta and Archie quarreling, we climbed into Theresa's car and drove off to the port.

I practically hopped into the boat. It was an easy task, since I'd been sailing for almost forever. I knew Theresa would have a little more problem with it, though. So I reached out and carefully helped her on as she clambered unsteadily on board.

In no way was the sea not peaceful today. The aquamarine blue waters danced with a certain calmness, and the waves gently lapped up the shore in an almost therapeutic way. The sky was clear, and a pretty blue. No dark clouds hovering above, which was a good thing in sailing. I smiled as Theresa seated herself.

Then I cast off the boat, essentially releasing it from the bond of the thick rope joining it to the port. There was no point in raising the sails right now; the wind, although soft and soothing on the skin, wasn't blowing the right way. I let the boat drift out awhile aimlessly under the cool temperature. Thankfully, the sun was searing down on us - anyway, we had sunblock on.

I joined Theresa on the deck, sighing. The salty sea breeze was comforting.

"The weather's just nice," Theresa commented. She likewise took in a deep breath of the fresh air, smiling. Although not as fond of waters like I was, she did appreciate nature a lot too.

I nodded silently. There was really no need for words at a moment like this, and we quietly enjoyed the scenery and each other's presence. Nowadays we had evolved to a deeper relationship, one that we could communicate without really using words. Did that make sense? No doubt it didn't sound like it did. But it seemed we had progressed to a closeness where we could understand each other. And I had no question either that Archie and Atlanta had gone somewhere there as well (you could tell from the way they understood each other's glares).

She gently slipped her hand into mine. Again, we spoke none. The boat was drifting out to the wide open sea. To my surprise, there wasn't many boats around today. That could have something to do with the Fashion Parade going on downtown and for that I was glad. You could say it was because Theresa had decided to skip the parade to join me. For that to happen, it would have to be a miracle or that she simply thought that the activity she was doing in place of that was more important. I believed it was the latter, which was the reason of my gratefulness.

In our proximity, it was pretty boat-free. There were boats, of course, but lesser than normal. Usually, on Saturdays, there were tons. It was easy to imagine it was just the two of us, alone, and enjoying the beauty of the ocean.

The wind started to pick up, and in the right direction this time, too. Reluctantly, I knew it was time for me to do a little bit of manoeuvring. If not, we would be just lazing around for the whole day, which on the other hand sounded like a pretty good prospect. Still, there would obviously be no adrenaline at all.

After a long while of hesitation, I stood, releasing the hold on her hand. Theresa looked up at me. For a second, I thought I saw a little bit of sadness for breaking the moment. Then I saw it melt into understanding, and smiling, she got to her feet to help me raise the sails.

The boat began to move more swiftly, as wind speed was starting to pick up. Feeling the wind whip into my face was refreshing. Tilting my face slightly to the left, I observed Theresa. She was grinning and that orange hair of hers was flying behind her. Wavy, long and... Beautiful. Those green eyes were so entrancing; mesmerising, even, and I could get lost in them forever. She was beautiful, and to put it in simple terms, I loved her.

The boat coursed through the water, and not surprisingly, water flew up into our faces at some time, splashing us. Leaning over the edge was great if you wanted to fall into the water, but if I had attempted anything like that, I would be able to see through the clear, sparkling waters and into the coral reefs and shoals of fish swimming close to the sea surface. Not that I actually tried it.

A sudden jerk caused both of us to stumble, but Theresa was the one who almost fell. I grabbed her arm, steadying her.

She continued to hold my hand, probably so she wouldn't lose her balance. "Thanks."

We breezed through the ocean, having a whale of a time. Initially I wondered if I had made the right choice to come and slack while my Cronus plans were beckoning to me back in the dorm, but this seemed like a better idea. Opening up my mind and freeing it from the stress and worry, even if for only a while. Release helped one to clear their mind and come up with improved plans.

Finally, I brought down the sails. An hour had simply gone by just like that; and soon, I would be brought back to Cronus. I would be lying to say I was enthusiastic, but then again, a leader's got to do what a leader's got to do.

The winds were dying down anyway - just ten minutes before we would leave. Theresa yawned, settled down beside me and leaned into my embrace. She was soft, and just so beautiful. Need I say more? As she laid her head on my chest, I didn't quite think that there was anything more peaceful than this. Sure, we had our hard times and our quarrels, but in the end, I loved her, and hopefully vice versa. Her eyes, I observed, were closed. She frowned, then opened those emerald eyes of hers.

I blinked. "What is it?" I asked, slightly concerned.

She cocked her head to one side. "Nothing, really," she mused quietly. "I just want to capture this moment before it's over and you go back to your beloved Cronus." She gave a rather sad smile.

Cronus, as anyone could guess, had been the source of many of our arguments, even if I wasn't so "obsessed" with him anymore.

I returned the expression with a wry grin. "Hey, I do it because I have to," I protested calmly. I reached out to take her hand. "If I had a choice, I'd rather be sailing with you - all day long."

She smiled, a genuine one this time, and I smiled back. The atmosphere reverted back to comfortable silence, and unexplainably, I felt drawn towards her. The unseen magnetic force was drawing the both of us together, and inexplicably the distance between us slowly grew to only a few milimetres apart. And then...

My PMR rang.

It was impossible to turn it off, not because there was no silent mode, for there was, but mostly because it would be outright irresponsible. I was the leader, and usually, the first they would send the news of disaster was to me. While it might sound great to just silence the at-times-annoying gadget, I wasn't about to compromise the safety of the world for my own personal enjoyment. Still, there was one really irritating thing about the PMR...

And that was that it had horrible timing.

In a way, it was my friends - they were the ones who called me and it had nothing to do with the PMR's fault. It was just a gadget at that. But of course my friends also had the duty to inform me, so I didn't quite blame them.

I sighed, moving away, and Theresa sighed too. She had a resigned expression on her face - she was pretty used to this, after all - and didn't bother to complain. She turned away for a second, probably to mask her disappointment. After that she came over to look as well.

Archie was on the phone, and in the background I caught a glimpse of Herry heaving a giant off the ground. Immediately, I knew what was happening.

"Theresa, you hold the PMR, I bring the boat back to the shore," I commanded. In a flash I was behind the wheel, steering.

Theresa nodded, took hold of the PMR and watched as Archie began to speak - shout, that is.

"Jay! Theresa! Cronus has kidnapped Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory! We're in the cordoned area in the State Park, would you hurry get here?!" Archie's yell pierced the calm air.

"We'll be there in 5 minutes!" Theresa shouted back at the PMR. To see Atlanta being tossed into a tree behind Archie was disconcerting, to say the least.

I, on the other hand, didn't even bother to open my mouth and talk. I was too busy steering. The engine roared to life as I veered sharply to the right, in the direction of the dock.

"5 minutes?! We don't have 5 minutes! We need you, now!" Archie's despairing voice came loud and clear over the speaker.

I tightened my hold on the wheel, willing the boat to move faster. I was pushing past the speed limits, but I couldn't really care less. I gripped the wheel so tight that my knuckles turned white. Still, the boat seemed like it was trying to irk me, and with painstaking, supposed slowness we edged on.

The minute we reached the dock, I secured the boat. Three seconds later, Theresa's car was already zooming off in the direction of the State Park, with both Theresa and I in it.