A/N: My goodness, I have not posted in FOREVER. I hope to get back into the swing of things soon. :)

This is for ExceedinglyPeculiarChick, who is exceedingly pretty and awesome and schist. (Please like me.)


He holds her face in both hands, not trying to hide the tears. They run down and mix with her own, staining their camp t-shirts, the sleeves just visible through unscathed armor. Outside his cabin, there are the sounds of weapons sharpening and the orders barked by the heads of all the cabins. But where the two are now, all is silent.

They don't have much time.

She takes a deep breath, "Whatever happens out there…"

He chokes on his words. "No, don't say that… everything will be fine…"

She knows, in her heart of hearts, that success today is not likely. This is their last chance to be together before the proverbial fire and brimstone begin to fall. The last time they will cry, for their tears are too precious to waste on the numbness and emptiness that comes with war.

For her, all hope is lost.

She takes his hand in her own. "You know I love you."

"Yeah, I know. I love you, too. More than you will ever know."

They breathe together, as one. "But Percy, your love won't save all the innocent people that are dying. It won't help us win." She begins to sob again.

"No." He holds her close, against his chest. "That's where you're wrong. We will not fail. We will not die. Not tonight."

She looks up at him with eyes that betray the clouds in her spirit. "What makes you so sure?"

These are, in all likelihood, their last words to each other. The last time they will ever stare into each other's eyes. There will be no more fighting, no more suffering. No more dying for a cause that is already lost. But maybe, just maybe…

The first time their eyes met. When they recovered Zeus's Master Bolt. When they sailed in the sea of monsters, and saw each other's souls. When he rescued her from the enemy. When they traveled the Labyrinth. When they kissed. When they fought that great battle at Zeus's Fist. When they fought for New York and Olympus. When they were reunited after a most painful separation. When they sailed together in the skies. When they fended off the shadows of hell. Now.

They have these little moments, these fragments of time that shone in the face of a future as certain as the stars. The smiles, the laughter, the pain, the heartbreak.

He answered.

"Because I have something to live for."