Fireworks

by randomnessonhigh

"...times like these make me wish that this scene would just freeze and I would just hold on to it for as long as I can." One-shot about the 4th of July Fireworks. Happy New Year everyone!

It was midday on the fourth of July. It's been a pretty peaceful summer so far – well not counting the war that happened. Nevertheless, it's been an easy ride.

Right now, I had archery with Chiron and the Aphrodite Cabin. Archery was supposed to be a relaxing sport. They said that when you release the arrow, you release all your worries along with it. Yeah, right. If you're me, you don't release your worries – that is your worry.

Unfortunately for me, Archery was probably one of the sports that I really sucked in. Well, sure, there was that odd activity that you do in gym class where you try to climb a rope to ring a bell at the top – the kind that only genetically-enhanced humans are able to do. But for semi-humans like me, that was impossible to do like archery.

The Aphrodite campers drew their bows while I was having trouble placing the arrow right considering my hands were sweaty and shaking resulting in my dropping the arrow. Some of the Aphrodite girls giggled as I dropped the arrow for the third time. My face felt hot as I picked it up. I took a deep breath and drew my bow.

"Fire!" Chiron yelled.

A volley of arrows shot into the air. The Aphrodite campers were pretty good at it, most of them hitting the bull's eye. Lucky them.

In fact, I suck at it so much, when Clarisse passed by, my arrow almost hit her in the butt. She yelled at me of course.

It's not my fault I suck at it. I mean, what on earth would a son of Poseidon – or even Poseidon for that matter – would do with bows and arrows under the sea?

"Well done heroes, well done," Chiron said cantering to the targets. "We will continue this session tomorrow. You are dismissed. Now, please return the equipment to its proper place."

All of us went to our targets and plucked out our arrows. I was pretty sure Chiron saw me glaring at my bow and quiver as I went to place them back in the equipment shed. He cantered to me.

"Percy," he started gently, "do not be discouraged. You will be able to accomplish many things in due time."

"My bow and arrows hate me," I blurted out.

Chiron laughed. "Well, yes, there's always that." He tried to humor me. "Well," he clapped my back, "I suppose the fireworks tonight might cheer you up."

Oh yeah! The fourth of July fireworks was tonight – duh. I can't believe I almost forgot that.

"Well, practice makes perfect, Percy," Chiron said as he started galloping away. "I have the utmost faith in you!" With that, he trotted towards the Big House.

I sat on one of the benches that lined the basketball court. I inhaled and exhaled heavily.

Okay, I'm the hero of Olympus and yet I can't even shoot an arrow at the target. That's all I ask. I want to shoot it at the target not at someone – well, not complaining about Clarisse really.

I shook my head and slumped, closing my eyes. I just need to cool off for a while.

Just then, somebody sat next to me. I opened my eyes to look. Her princess-curled blonde her was in a ponytail that swept over one shoulder. She wore a red cap and her usual attire of the camp T-shirt and jeans.

"Hey Seaweed Brain," she beamed at me.

"Hi," I said with a halfhearted smile. Annabeth studied me.

"What's wrong?" She asked, inching closer to me.

"Oh, nothing," I lied.

"Come on Percy," she said placing her hand on my shoulder. She smiled, "I know you too well."

"I know you might think this is shallow but," I hesitated. I took a deep breath, "well, I just really suck at archery." She laughed. "Hey, you're laughing," I said reproachfully.

"Well, I didn't say I wouldn't." She reached up and started stroking my hair. I eased up a bit. I like it when she does that.

"You're cute that way," she added.

"Well, for a hero of Olympus not really," I grumbled. She stifled a giggle.

"You know, nobody's perfect," she said looking into my eyes. "Not the gods, much less the demigods. Don't stress about it. You've battled tons of other things without the use of a bow and arrow."

"Yeah, which is why I wonder why we need to learn that," I muttered.

"You never know when these things will come in handy. The camp just tries to sum up all the important survival skills we'll need."

"I really wonder why archery," I crossed my arms. Right now, I feel like a kid that didn't get his candy.

"Hey," Annabeth took both my shoulders, "Percy, chill. It's just archery. If you want I could help you with that."

"Oh yeah," I never thought of that. "So what about helping me right now? I don't think there's anyone at the range."

"No problem. But first you have to know the basics," she started. "Well first of, the arrow is a projectile, so you have to take note of the trajectory—"

"Right," I cut in. "Let's go to the range."

Well, I was right. There was no one at the range. Apparently, the afternoon session, Hephaestus and Hermes, had been canceled considering the two cabins will be in charge of the fireworks display. I had full confidence in the Hephaestus cabin, but the Hermes not so much.

"I just hope the Hermes cabin doesn't pull anymore pranks during the fireworks," Annabeth said as she fastened her quiver. "Last year's prank really made a lot of people think twice about staying for this year's fourth of July."

I remembered last year's prank. They tied a bagful of camp beads to a firecracker so the when it explodes so will the bag of beads so it would shower on us like hard tiny solid rain drops. They practiced it so many times using feathers and other things as decoys so we wouldn't know what they'd actually put into the bag until the actual display. It wasn't really much of a prank actually just a grandeur distribution of camp beads. But things didn't go too well at the actual fireworks display. When the bag had caught fire, the beads heated up and blasted from the bag like bullets shooting down the campers. There weren't any casualties like someone losing an eye or something else more severe. But the fact that the Hermes cabin laughed after the whole thing made people think it was a prank. Although, they were told that they'd never in a millennia participate in the future preparations for the fireworks display. But, a certain wine god had found out what happened and he pardoned the Hermes cabin thinking they could help in his cause of making our lives miserable or "lessening" the campers.

"So, you ready?" She said her bow half-drawn.

"I guess," I mumbled.

Together we drew our bows and on her signal, we would fire.

"Fire!" She yelled.

We shot the arrows. Of course, her arrow hit the bull's eye, what with all the calculations she did in her mind with equations that would've made my brain soup, I didn't expect anything less of it. Well with mine, I was surprised.

"Look!" I pointed to my arrow that was a few yards from the target and not beyond it. I was pleased with myself, though Annabeth didn't look like she was too pleased – or pleased at all for that matter.

"Very…er…good, Percy," she said hesitantly. "Now let's try a few more rounds so you'll get used to it."

So we did. Each round her arrows would crowd around the bull's eye considering there wasn't any more space for her arrows to hit the center. Mine, well, my shots were SO not as good as hers but in the last few rounds they hit the target – they actually hit the target! Well, yeah, some of them hung cautiously around the edge of the target, but one of the arrows was able to hit the white ring, which was a score of one. Well, I can tell you, I've gotten enough zeroes to be happy that I got a one.

I was so happy that my arrows had finally entered the target that I hugged Annabeth, lifting her up in the process and spinning her. She on the other hand patted my back gingerly, as though not sure whether she should feel happy about my little accomplishments or to feel sorry that I only progressed so much.

"Well," she said sighing deeply, "better. Let's take a break."

She sat at the back of the starting line and brought out two bottles of water.

"Nah," I said, feeling a bit confident now. "I think I'll do a few more rounds."

"Okay then," she replied uncertainly.

I shot at least six more rounds of six arrows each. Well in each of those six rounds, at least five out of six arrows made it in and I even got a three! I looked at Annabeth, beaming at her and she would just give me a nervous smile. Maybe she was thinking, I don't know him. Well, I didn't really care much.

"Well," she said standing up and dusting off her pants, "let's do a couple more than call it a day. It's half past two and we have to freshen up for the fireworks."

"Oh right the fireworks," I started, pretending I had forgotten. "Who should I ask out for the fireworks tonight?" I mused somewhat innocently, looking around the range. "Any suggestions?"

She raised a brow. "Really, Seaweed Brain in our first summer together?"

Now, I know what you're thinking: What does she mean our first summer together? Haven't we been at camp together for more than four years? Well, technically, Annabeth and I are together – as in together and this was our first summer as a couple.

I walked over to her, "Will you go with me, miss?" I bowed offering my hand.

She smiled crookedly. "I thought you'd never ask." She took my hand and entwined her fingers with mine. "So, you want to hurry this up now so that we have enough time to fix ourselves before the fireworks?"

So we did a couple more rounds. I made little progress and Annabeth noticed.

"Percy, why don't you shoot some more arrows?" She said, setting her bow down.

"Alone?" I hope not.

"Yeah, I'll just observe." I don't like the sound of that.

"Oh, okay."

I took a deep breath and shot my arrows. Well, one of them hit the target while the other two hit ground below the target.

"I knew it," she said as though she'd diagnosed my disease.

"What?" I turned to her. "What am I doing wrong?"

"Draw your bow."

I drew my bow, before I shot the arrow she said, "Hold it!"

I froze like a statue of an archer, my bow drawn and looking heroically at my target.

She placed her arms around mine, copying my position: our hands held the bow and arrow together. I could feel myself tense. I mean, I hug her and all but this was just weird. It's as if she's a mold I'm supposed to follow. "Relax," she whispered in my ear. Her breath was warm and it tickled my ear and made my arms feel like jelly. "Steady," she said as she anchored my arms so that they wouldn't drop. "Breathe." I breathed. "Release."

The arrow shot and hit the bull's eye. I couldn't believe it. My arms dropped and she wrapped her arms around my waist.

"How does that feel?" She asked, her head resting on my shoulder.

"G-good," I said. I was pretty shaky for I don't know what reason. Maybe it's because I'm so happy that I shot a bull's eye or maybe because Annabeth was finally giving me credit – though she did most of the work, but nevertheless, I was happy to have her arms around me.

She pulled away and I turned to her. I held her waist and drew her to me. She wrapped her hands around my neck.

"Thanks," I said.

"Anytime, Seaweed Brain," she kissed my cheek. We just stayed together for a while until, "Hey, too much love you two!" Connor Stoll called from behind us and a couple of Hermes campers snickered as they passed us. We were both red and we broke off.

"So," she said trying to control her blushing, "see you later let's say four-ish?"

"Why? It won't start until six right?"

"Well, we have to look for the perfect spot. I'm telling you, the Aphrodite cabin will hog all the nice spots."

"Good point," I said, "so four?"

"Yes," she kissed my cheek again. "At the arena?"

Well I spent the last hour bathing and picking out the right clothes – something which I will never mention to any of my guy friends, ever. I was debating whether I'd wear something soft so that when she rested her head on my shoulder she'd be comfortable. Or something fuzzy so it might tickle her face or something warm. But why something warm in July?

Since I have the attention span of a sprinkler, I just picked out my usual white shirt and jeans and headed for the arena.

Annabeth wouldn't be here for another hour so I decided I'd play with Mrs. O'Leary to kill time.

"Hey girl," I said, holding a shield. "What do you think?" I said as I spun so she could see what I was wearing."

"Woof!" She wagged her tail. It must mean something like You look great! Or Can you through the disk already? I'm waiting. I'll go for the first one.

"Here girl, fetch!" I threw the shield as far as I could.

She jogged towards it. In a matter of minutes she came back with the shield, slopping it with drool.

"Good girl," she bowed so that I could ruffle her fur. I held up the shield gingerly so that she could see it. I threw even farther this time.

"Looks like someone's having fun with his dog."

"Oh you're early," I said as Annabeth appeared behind me. Her hair cascaded on her shoulders. She wore a plain white tank top over blue jeans. Her eyes and her owl earrings shined under the light. It was simple, but she had a knack for looking cute in just about anything.

"Speak for yourself," she said. "Let's go?"

I whistled. Mrs. O'Leary came jogging back. She bowed her head so that Annabeth and I could pat her. "We'll be off now, girl." She barked and wagged her tail.

We headed down the shore that edged the arena. Annabeth said that this was the perfect spot to view the fireworks.

"So how'd you figure that this was the perfect spot?"

"I have a knack for those things," as she set down a blanket for us to sit on. "Besides, I've been here a couple of times."

"Oh, really?" I smiled at her as we sat down. "With who?" As soon as I said that, I wish I hadn't.

"Luke," she said. She had a distant gaze over the lake.

"Oh," I said, shifting uncomfortably. "When was that?"

"Back when I was little," she said nostalgically. She smiled to herself. "Before all that happened," her voice faltered.

We fell silent for a while. I don't know how long we were silent but the sun was already setting, so it must've been around four thirty.

"Percy," she said. I could tell that she was nervous because she bit her lip.

"What?"

"Remember when I told you that Luke came by my house in San Francisco?"

I nodded.

Luke had went to her house asking her to help him. Hermes said that she could've saved Luke at that time because that was before Kronos took over his body.

"I haven't been completely honest." Her gaze dropped.

I suddenly have this gut-wrenching feeling that I would regret having even asked who she had been here with.

"What do you mean?" I tried to sound calm.

"Well, since you were honest about staying with Calypso," her voice had a hint of disapproval at Calypso's name. "I should tell you everything I guess. I actually thought about—"

"Going with Luke?" She turned to me. "Well, I figured that you lo—," love is such a strong word, "—liked him, I mean as a brother and all." I emphasized the last part. But she shook her head. I knew I shouldn't have asked. She did love him.

"That's not it. I liked Luke a lot," she said softly, staring at the lake. "I wanted to help so much but I thought about camp and all the trouble we were already in. We couldn't afford to lose any more demigods—not that I was seriously going to help him bring back Kronos or anything."

I just put up a brave face for her despite my organs twisting into tight knots.

"And there's also one more thing." She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply.

I was not liking this at all. I could feel a cold dagger slowly piercing my heart as though waiting for the right time to strike.

"He kissed me."

Okay, I got stabbed.

"Wait, w-what?"

"He kissed me," she said so simply that it bothered me how she could say something like that without feeling any guilt about kissing a traitor.

"So he kissed you?" I repeated. She nodded not meeting my gaze. "Let me guess, that made you want to join even more because your prince charming finally kissed you, huh?" My emotions got the better of me.

She turned to me, glaring. I don't really care right now, she might as well have stabbed me.

"Excuse me?" She said, her voice shaking with anger.

"Yeah, your prince charming," I said dismissively.

"At least I went out and told you!" Her eyes were tearing up. "At least you didn't have to get angry before I told you the truth unlike what you did with the whole Calypso thing!" She was on her feet now and so was I.

"Hey, at least Calypso was not a traitor!"

"Get your facts straight Seaweed Brain! She sided with the Titans!"

"But she never sided with the gods in the first place so she wasn't a traitor, she was a victim!"

"And you don't think that Luke was also a victim? He was a victim, Percy. Kronos used him!"

"He always had a choice like I did, so how was he a victim?"

"Well, did you suffer the same way he did? Did you have a mother that would have episodes that spoke your apparent grim future? Did you have to live on the run because nobody would help you because you always got chased by monsters?" I remembered May Castellan. She had a point – several to be exact.

I kept my mouth shut. I hate arguing with her. I hate arguing with a child of Athena.

"Exactly, that's what I thought," she said as she turned her back to me. "I guess I shouldn't have brought you here."

"Oh, so this was a special spot for you and Luke was it?" I prompted. "Then fine."

"That's not what I meant, I mean—Ugh! You know what? Never mind! Enjoy the fireworks, Percy Jackson – you stupid Seaweed Brain!"

She stormed off.

"Oh yeah? Fine then you Wise girl!" I called out to her. I really suck at comebacks.

I crumpled up the blanket and kicked it. Right now, I just wanted to clear my head. I don't get it! Why does she still care so much about him? Well he died a hero in the end, but he caused a lot of trouble along the way. How could she still see him the same?

I kicked a rock out of frustration. Okay, that hurt. I held my foot and fell down. I sat up and rested my head against the rock.

I really can't believe that she'd compare Calypso, an actual victim, to Luke, a traitor.

I threw my head back and inhaled. I held my breath. I looked up as the sky changed from orange to indigo. I exhaled and stood up. I'm going in the water.

Now, if you're a son of Poseidon, staying in the water is something natural. You could stay there for the rest of life if you wanted to. Well, right now, that's what I want to do. To the Underworld with all these land dwellers!

I waded down the lake until my head was a few feet from the surface. I sat on the ground. I took a lump of sand and just threw at my surroundings. It disappeared with the water. I laid on my back, my hands behind my head. A couple of fish passed me and greeted me.

Hello, my lord.

All hail the son of Poseidon!

Mommy, what's a human doing down here and drowning himself? I turned to the little clown fish that swam next to his mother. I waved and he disappeared behind his mother's back. The mother fish bowed and hit her child with her fin. Bow, Junior. That's the son of Poseidon! The little clown fish bowed.

Sorry, my lord. The young one knows nothing about these waters yet, the mother fish said.

"It's fine," I said. "I'm sure your son will grow into a fine clown fish one day." With another bow, they went.

Being underwater reminded me of many things. For one, there was my brother Tyson working int eh undersea forges. There was my dad. There were the naiads. The hippocampi… and Beckendorf.

I remembered Beckendorf. He was a tall African-American guy with muscles like a pro athlete. He had a permanent scowl and nobody ever called him by his first name, no one – except maybe Silena Beauregard. Yeah, Silena was the head counselor for the Aphrodite cabin during the war and Beckendorf was the head of the Hephaestus cabin. They were a couple the year they both died. It was tragic really. Beckendorf had a died a hero's death by blowing himself up with the Princess Andromeda. Silena on the other hand, was the spy we were looking for. She had a charm bracelet that had Kronos' scythe on it. Luke gave it to her under the pretenses that he was interested in her and after he left, he threatened to expose her. One thing I can say about Silena is that she made things right. She may have impersonated Clarisse to get the Ares cabin in on the war but she died a hero. Just like Luke, a voice in my head that sounded like Annabeth said.

Annabeth? I thought to myself. Nah, it can't be. Could it? I think her voice just got stuck in there because of the many times I've heard her blab about stuff.

Well, Percy, the voice started, don't you think you were wrong about Luke all this time? I mean her did die making things right, didn't he?

He did. But didn't he cause so much trouble before doing something right? Do you honestly think that—

— saving Olympus would cancel out all that he's done? Yeah, I honestly do think that. Even the voice in my head has Annabeth's matter-of-fact tone. Darn it.

I scrunched my face in frustration. Why can't you leave me alone? Didn't you just storm off a while ago?

What do you mean? The voice asked. I'm just the manifestation of reason in your head. I come to clear things up.

I don't get it? I already know what I want to believe. Luke was a hero okay? I get it. He was a victim! There I said it!

Well, why do you keep calling him a traitor then, Seaweed Brain?

Well didn't he betray all of camp to join Kronos? Didn't he betray his father by fighting against Olympus? Didn't he betray me by pretending to be my friend but actually he wanted to kill me? Didn't he—

What? The voice prompted. What else, Percy?

Didn't he betray you? I mean, he said he'd never hurt you but he did! And you still talk about him like he was this great hero! He's tried to kill both of us so many times, and you still…you still…treat…him…like that. My thoughts faltered.

Now do you understand, Seaweed Brain? The voice sounded triumphant. You've been jealous of Luke all this time. You've always been jealous ever since you knew about Annabeth and Luke's history.

And why do I have to know this? I asked annoyed.

It will help you understand that you've been unfair to Annabeth, the voice said simply.

How have I been unfair? I really don't get this "voice of reason" in my head.

Well, it's not like you were ever completely loyal to her, were you?

What do you mean— I just remembered Rachel kissing me in Paul's Prius. It's not like we were together at that time, I said in my defense. It's not like it's really any of her business what happened before we were together.

You're really an idiot aren't you? I can't believe I'm being called an idiot by a voice in my head.

You weren't together with Annabeth when Luke kissed her right? So why explode?

Because! I said pointedly. He's Luke! He hurt you! I have to stop referring to the voice as Annabeth.

So? The voice said. You weren't together. So why should it matter? It's not like you told her about kissing Rachel did you? But I think we should just keep that a secret, right? For once the voice talked sense.

So what's your point really? I can't stand all this internal monologue thing.

All I'm trying to say is that you were unfair. You exploded on her when she was trying to be honest.

I laid there silent for a while. I just kept thinking about the bizarre conversation I just had.

So, I said finally, It's my fault?

Yes.

So what should I do?

I think you know.

I grunted as I stood up and made my way back to shore.

One thing that makes me happy about being the son of the sea god is that my clothes don't get wet under water—unless I will it to.

I guess after that odd conversation in my head, you would think that I'd go looking for Annabeth, right? Wrong. I still needed breathing space. I just remembered that I was wearing the watch that Tyson had given me. I looked and saw that it was five thirty—well, assuming that this didn't stop when I was underwater. It was half an hour more before the fireworks.

I walked around camp for a while. I went around the forest, passed the cabins, and even the activities areas where the basketball court and archery range was. I found myself going through the equipment shed looking for a bow and a quiver of arrows.

I faced the target, my bow half-drawn. They said that archery is supposed to be relaxing, in which with each arrow you release your worries and problems along with it. So I thought of Luke. I drew my bow and aimed. Thwack! The arrow had left the bow leaving the string to vibrate. It was dark but I could still see that the arrow had hit the one.

I guess thinking of Luke doesn't help. I mean, we both resent each other and all but we had one thing in common: we would never want to hurt Annabeth – okay, both of us kind of suck at that. For him, he joined the Titans and tried to kill us countless times – well me mostly, but Annabeth was usually brought into it. Then there was me. I guess it took me a while before I realized that she liked me, as in like like. Well it's not my fault. I mean if somebody used you as bait in your first year at camp, would you honestly think that that person would ever like you?

Then, I thought about the first time I ever saw her. I was practically half dead when I first saw her because that was after the fight with the Minotaur. She spoon-fed me Nectar and gave me squares of Ambrosia. For you to take care of someone you hardly met, that was something really—even though she was searching for the one that would grant her first quest. But still, even if my eyes were blurry at that time, I was able to make out her face. The freckles that dotted her nose, her softly curled blonde hair and that wide smile. Nobody could ever smile like she did.

Apparently I was just standing there for about five minutes. When I snapped back to reality, I looked at my watch; it was quarter to six. Fifteen minutes left and no progress – I still haven't found her.

I went over to the target and plucked out my arrow. On my way back, I could've sworn there was a shadow without a figure that stood by the light post on the starting line. I blinked and it was gone. Okay, I guess I'm tired. A lot of things happened today – a lot.

I reached the starting line and drew my bow. I tried to clear my head, but Annabeth kept coming into view. I was angry at her, I wanted to apologize, I wanted to be with her during the fireworks…I just wanted to be with her right now. My arms shook and I almost dropped the bow. For some reason my arm didn't drop. I could feel myself controlling it from dropping—either that or something was holding it up. I was shaking but it subsided when I felt something warm on my hand. I was ready to shoot. Yes, I can do this. When I was ready, I heard, "Shoot." When I heard it, I immediately shot the arrow. Bull's eye.

Annabeth pulled away and dropped her Yankees cap in the process. I picked it up and turned to her.

"How long have you been standing there?" I asked.

"Not that long," she replied with a weak smile.

"So the shadow by the light post, that was you?"

"Me?" She said confused. "I just came by five minutes ago so that couldn't have been me."

"Then who—" Ghosts did not exist in this camp. The magical borders kept us safe. The monsters stocked in the forest never go this far so—

"Chill, Seaweed Brain," she said laughing slightly. "That was me."

An awkward silence hung in the air. I shifted uncomfortably, absentmindedly folding her Yankees cap in the process. She had her hands in the back pockets of her jeans and she looked around nervously.

"So," she started, looking down. "Look, Percy, maybe I shouldn't have—"

"Hey," I said. "It's fine, my fault." I smiled. You know, I didn't think I'd like smiling after admitting I was wrong but seeing her eyes twinkle in the evening light made up for it.

"I don't think I should've told you that today I guess. I mean I could've told you earlier or later but I just…I just don't know really." I inched closer to her. I knew she hated not knowing, I could see it her face.

"Hey," I said. "I told you it's my fault. I shouldn't have exploded on you like that. I mean, yeah, I've been kind of jealous of Luke—I mean he knew you longer and all." Okay, even now I couldn't admit to her that I've been jealous of Luke because Annabeth cared deeply for him. "I don't know, I guess I didn't understand what you guys had because apparently I didn't go through the same thing that you did."

She frowned. At this point I would've expected her to hug me or say something like, I'm so happy that you finally understand. She went closer and started stretching my face. She pulled my cheeks and my hair. "Ow," I said when she pinched my arm. "What are you doing?" I asked, patting my arm.

"Are you really Percy Jackson?" She asked.

"Uh, yeah," I answered.

"My Seaweed Brain would never admit that," she said frowning.

"Well maybe talking to the voice of reason in his head helped him understand."

"What?" She looked at me weirdly.

"What?" I pretended to not remember what I just said.

"Never mind." She took my hand and just held it. "Promise me," she started. Oh no, if she says no more secrets, then I'll have to tell her about Rachel. Maybe she won't explode too much after all this – who am I kidding, she's a time bomb without proper timing. "Whatever happened before, let's not talk about it anymore. It's shut somewhere in our thoughts. I don't need to know anything about you besides the person you are now, and I hope it's the same with me."

On impulse, I hugged her tight. I'm happy that we don't have to dig up anything else. I pulled away and said, before thinking again, "So do we seal it with a kiss?"

"Hold your horses, son of Poseidon," she said. Is that supposed to be a pun? I mean, horses, son of Poseidon? Okay never mind my brain's tired. "The fireworks haven't even started yet."

Just as she said that, there was a loud whistling sound that filled the air and then a shower of colors painted the sky. The fireworks have started.

I was thinking, since she usually kissed me instead of me kissing her first, why don't I seal the deal?

"Annabeth," I said, blushing – but the fireworks were red and pink so I guess she won't notice. She turned to me and I planted one on her lips. It took her by surprise because she almost pulled away but instead she wrapped her hands around my neck and I wrapped mine around her waist.

Other fireworks shot across the sky but I didn't care – well, maybe the fact that it was extremely brighter here than it would've been there at the arena.

Since my ADHD took over, I peeped open an eye, still keeping my lips on Annabeth's, I saw the fireworks and was amazed. I pulled away from Annabeth and looked up. I pointed above me. We were directly under the fireworks. It looked amazing. It's as if a shower of rainbows fell on us. The different lights, the sparks – just perfect.

We sat down. I held her close as she rested her head on my chest.

"Percy, look!" I looked up and saw a shooting star pass between fountains of silver, green and blue.

"Make a wish," I said.

"Done," she said. I was pretty sure I haven't even blinked when she said that.

"That fast?" Right, child of Athena equals a million thoughts per second. No questions asked.

"You know," she said as she straightened up to face me. "There's one more thing I wanted to tell you." The light caught her face perfectly. I just stared in awe and said something like, "Muh?"

"One of the reasons I never sided with Luke was because there was somebody else out there for me. You know who?"

I thought we wouldn't open another can of worms? So why was she bringing this up?

She looked at my expression and rolled her eyes. I guess she expected me to know the answer but how am I supposed to know? I could understand horses, but I could never understand girls. Never.

"At that time, I never thought that it was possible. But, you kept me here Seaweed Brain," she beamed at me.

This was one of the things I admired about her the most: she had the guts to say or do things I could never do. This made me happy to know that I got her before anybody else could. Sure, sometimes we barely got through a conversation without trying to pulverize each other – though she would've done most of the harm – but times like these make me wish that this scene would just freeze and I would just hold on to it for as long as I can.

"I'm glad I chose you to anchor me to my mortal life. I don't regret it," I kissed the tip of her nose. She went back to resting her head on my chest.

"This is the perfect spot to view the fireworks," she said.

"Yeah," I agreed.

After a while, she started breathing slowly. I looked down and saw that her eyes were half closed.

"Percy," she yawned. "can we just stay this way for a little while longer?"

"I'd like that."

With that, Annabeth pulled my arms closer around her and dozed off. I kissed her head and she stirred, smiling.

"Good night." I smiled as she finally went to sleep.