War

7. Smile

"Tell me again," he says, and there's a ghost of a smile on his face – he rarely smiles anymore, not even when they're alone, "what happened in the River Styx?"

She laughs, because this is probably the millionth time he's asked that. "I told you, you never told me." A pause, a thoughtful glance from Percy. "Except . . . you did say that I was what anchored you to the world." (Not true, but that was the gist of it.)

He smiles. (The first smile in a long time – it's like the first dandelion in the spring; hopeful; reassuring.)