I am SOOOOOOOOOOO sorry!

Things have been extremely busy and… kinda downhill for me lately.

Not only has my mom been diagnosed with Breast Cancer, but I've been trying to drown my worry in the same way I always do: writing and volunteering.

Volunteering has been what I've been doing for the past several weeks, along with a huge essay in English.

And guess what? For the essay, we were supposed to write a creative writing paper on INJUSTICE. So, I rewrote I'm In Love with My Best Friend with different character names and physical characteristics!

I showed my teacher what I have so far, along with the half of the epilogue that I have written, and she told me it's good enough to publish!

This could get me out of my funk and back on top of updating! So? Should I do it?

Again. SORRY!

Disclaimer: *sarcastically* I own Percy Jackson and the Olympians. I also own Olympus, and New York, and that rock over there… (Get the picture?)

Break II:

Piper

I stared at the miniature version of Annabeth as she raced forward and hugged Thalia tightly.

"How are you alive?" she squealed. What?

"Um…" Thalia glanced nervously around her. "Long story. I'll tell you later, okay?"

Annabeth nodded. Then, she seemed to notice her surroundings, and quickly bowed to the gods.

Our-Annabeth smiled and stepped forward. Other-Annabeth stared up at her older self in shock.

Our-Annabeth quickly explained what was going on. At the end, Other-Annabeth sat up excitedly.

"Do we ever become an architect?" she asked. "Do we go on a date with Luke? Do—"

"It'll all be explained later," Older-Annabeth interrupted. "But, in answer to what you just asked: yes, and no. You'll get a different boyfriend that you like much better than Luke."

Other-Annabeth blinked in surprise. "Better than Luke? Who?"

"Well, the him from your time is right here." Older-Annabeth gestured to Percy. "This is Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon."

Percy gave Older-Annabeth a funny look. "I have to say this is one of the weirdest experiences I've ever had. And, judging by my life, that's pretty big."

"How is it weird?"

"Well, I suddenly show up at the palace of a bunch of gods who tell me that one of them is my dad. Then, the girl who happens to be my girlfriend from eight years from now calls me 'Son of Poseidon,' and introduces me to an eight-year old version of her. You've got to admit, that's kind of weird."

Older-Annabeth thought for a second. "Touché."

"Wait, hold up!" Other-Annabeth wrinkled her nose at Percy like he was a moldy piece of meat. "I'm going to date a son of Poseidon? But his dad is my mom's enemy!"

Older-Annabeth sighed. "Percy once told me, and I quote, 'I judge a person by their actions, not by something that happened thousands of years before I was born.' You ought to listen to that, instead of your pride." Other-Annabeth flushed.

"Um… Annabeth?" Percy asked.

"Yes?" answered both, though one answered rudely.

Percy glanced between them, frustrated at the name dilemma.

"Here," Apollo spoke up. "How about we call the eight-year old Annabeth, 'Annie,' for now."

"But—" Annie protested, then shut her mouth. She obviously knew better than to argue with a god.

"Okay." Percy raised an eyebrow. "Well, I'm still asking Annabeth then."

Annabeth turned to face him, "Yeah?"

"Um… no offense to… uh, Annie, but… were you always this annoying?"

Annie glared at him, but Annabeth just laughed. "I mellowed with age."

"Partially," Nico and Thalia coughed into their fists. Both Annabeths turned to glare at them.

"Um…" Leo raised a hand. "Quick question. Why do Athena and Poseidon hate each other so much?"

Annie snorted, "How many reasons do you want? My mother caught Poseidon—" She was cut off by the movie screen glowing and swirling into an image.

(A.N. This is a scene I made up completely on my own suspicions.)

Six figures lay asleep in a clearing around a campfire, with one figure sitting on the hard earth, hugging their knees to their chest. In the firelight, a passerby would just barely be able to pick out raven-black hair and sea green eyes fixed on the stars.

Annabeth sucked in her breath. "Percy." Annie glanced over at the Percy here, but said nothing.

One figure stirred and sat up, rubbing sleep out of their eyes.

"Piper," Leo confirmed. I ignored the eyes on me.

Piper turned to watch Percy for several minutes. Finally, he said without turning around, "You should be sleeping."

She shrugged, "Can't."

He let out a breathy, half-hearted laugh. "Me neither."

She stared down at the figure lying next to Percy. "She was worried sick about you, you know."

With a jolt, we recognized Annabeth.

Percy tore his gaze from the sky to look down at his sleeping girlfriend. Gently, he reached out and brushed her hair out of her eyes. "I'm not surprised."

Piper raised an eyebrow, "Full of yourself much?"

Percy chuckled. "Okay. That didn't come out right. I didn't mean it that way."

"Then what did you mean?"

Percy smiled softly down at the sleeping figure. "She hates it when things are temporary. She hates it when her friends leave her, even if it's because they have to. Why do you think she wants to be an Architect?"

Athena turned to Annabeth. "Is that true?"

Annabeth sighed and nodded, as did Annie.

Piper didn't answer for a while. "To build a monument that'll last a thousand years."

Percy nodded.

Piper was silent for several more minutes. Percy waited patiently for her to speak, calmly stroking Annabeth's curly blonde curtain of messy hair.

When Piper finally spoke, she asked, "Why do your parents hate each other?"

Percy paused for a moment, then he sighed. "There are a lot of suspicions, actually. One is that when Athena and Poseidon competed to be the patron of Athens, and Athena won, Poseidon was irritable, and he has been ever since. But I don't believe that. My dad isn't exactly the 'holding grudges' type. That's Hades' job."

Athena blinked in surprise. Poseidon shifted uncomfortably.

Hades just huffed at the insulting joke.

Piper laughed quietly in an attempt to not wake anyone up. "Good point."

"Another reason," Percy continued with a small smile," is when Athena caught Poseidon and his girlfriend, Medusa in their temple, which is really disrespectful. But Athena is the wisdom goddess for a reason. I'm sure she realized when it's a tactical disadvantage to hate for such a pointless reason. She has to know when it's time to forgive and forget."

Now, it was Athena's turn to blush.

Piper looked thoughtful for a second. "You just diffused the two biggest reasons for the longest rivalry in history."

Percy shrugged.

"So," Piper asked, "what's your suspicion?"

Percy pursed his lips. "You know all those elemental mythologies? The ones that pair the four main elements up with a specific characteristic?"

"Yeah. Though I can never remember the actual characteristics."

Percy nodded. He listed off on his fingers as he spoke. "Zeus is the god of the sky, which is obviously the element, air. Air is whimsical and dramatic, and is everywhere at once."

"Dramatic?" Poseidon snorted. "Sounds like Zeus to me."

Thunder shook the building.

"Case and point," Athena agreed with a chuckle.

"Demeter is the goddess of the harvest," Percy continued, "which has to be the earth. Earth is strong, stable, and generally very responsible."

"Sounds like Katie to me," Travis said with a grin. Katie punched him in the arm.

"But what about fire?" Piper asked. "Hephaestus is the god of fire, and fire stands for anger, right? Leo doesn't have a bad temper. In fact, that sounds more like Ares to me."

Percy shook his head. "A lot of people seem to think that fire is anger, because they can only see it as the cause of destruction."

Leo stood up straight. "That sounds like the Hephaestus cabin and their suspicions against fire-users."

"But it's not," Percy continued with a glance over at a short Latino sleeping kid wearing a tool belt. "Fire is more like Hephaestus or Hestia. It's life. Warmth. Creation. Fire is humor, and it never gives up on anything."

Hestia and Hephaestus smiled, and Leo grinned.

Piper smiled. "Now that sounds like Leo."

Leo and I blushed.

"And what about water?" Piper asked. "That's Poseidon, right?"

Percy nodded. "I only agree with part of this, because I don't think of myself that way, but… Water is emotion and imagination. It's daydreaming, loyalty, and compassion."

Piper smiled. "Actually, that sounds a lot like you."

Percy flushed, and the others nodded in agreement.

Percy flushed, though it was hard to tell in the firelight.

"So," Piper continued. "How does that tie in to the rivalry between Poseidon and Athena?"

"Simple. Athena is the physical embodiment of the mind, and Poseidon of emotion. Mind versus emotion. Two opposing forces. Do you get it?"

There was nothing but silence around the screen. It was that easy? Why didn't they see it before.

"I guess," Athena said slowly, "that we've figured that the other reasons were the obvious ones for so long, that we never considered that there might be a better reason. We all had chosen sides, so we all just assumed that the reason that was against the side we were against was the real reason…"

"That sounds about right," Annabeth agreed.

Piper nodded with a smile. "I get it."

Percy returned the smile.

"So, Percy…" Piper glanced between him and Annabeth's sleeping form. "If your parents are two opposing forces, then why do you like Annabeth so much?"

Percy chuckled, and stared down at Annabeth in a way that any girl would want to be looked at. "Because—as much of an annoying know-it-all as she is—she's not completely Athena's smart-aleck daughter. She refuses to take the easy way out, even if it means getting in serious trouble, and she's saved my butt hundreds of times. She's one of the few people I know who can actually put up with my stupid remarks, and she actually laughs at some of them. But… most of all: she's intelligent, definitely beautiful, and she's a good person to watch your back." He bent down and touched his lips lightly to Annabeth's hair. When he spoke again, his voice was slightly muffled, and his breath moved Annabeth's blonde curls slightly.

"I'd trust her with my life."

The image faded, Aphrodite's squealing still echoing around the room. Both Annabeths were blushing profusely, as was Percy.

"So…" Annabeth shifted uncomfortably, desperate to change the subject. "Um… Can we continue the book now?"

Annie and Percy nodded frantically in agreement.

After a bit of arguing, the group settled down around the Hearth again, though this time the order went: Sally, Annabeth, Percy, Annie, Thalia.

Sally picked up the book and read, "I Play Pinochle with a Horse"

Okay. So since I haven't been updating lately, I will update this story again between today and tomorrow.

By the way: Awesome story! I was volunteering at a spring away camp last weekend up until yesterday, and I did canoeing at one point. After I won the canoeing races with me and a six-year old versus a bunch of threesome canoes filled with middle schoolers, one girl told me that I'm like a real life PERCY JACKSON! That's Awesome!

But I also won the archery competition, so I guess that throws out that idea. Oh well. I've loved archery and canoeing since before I knew that the PJO series existed, so… I guess I'm just awesome that way.

REVIEW! POR FAVOR!

Thanks!

AtlantaJackson95