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Anne's POV

I barely got one toe in the door of my cabin before I felt Scott's glare like a laser beam. He was sulking on his bed in the corner, following me with his eyes. Now, the proper big sister thing to do would be to go rub the victory I pulled off (all by myself and without him within a hundred-foot radius of me) in his face. But I didn't feel like it. I was too tired.

I dumped my armor on the floor and stuffed it under my bunk. I changed into my pj's, which were the same ones I wore the night I met Leo. Around me, my cabinmates were settling into bed. Will called lights out and flipped the light switch off.

I could still smell the grease and smoke on my shirt as I got into bed. I pulled the covers over my head and inhaled deeply. If I closed my eyes, I could imagine Leo sitting next to me, both of us wrapped in his jacket like we were almost twenty-four hours ago.

I could hardly believe the events of the last day. For years, back in California, I had been the girl who always passed on school dances to go to horse shows, the girl who cut her hair with horse clippers (which I did not!). I'd never accepted a date; not that I'd gotten too many offers anyway. The only boy I'd ever kissed was my horse, and not in a romantic way. That would just be gross. The old me had yet to kiss a human boy.

That was the old Anne, the California Anne, the two-years-ago Anne. The Camp Half-Blood Anne was a daughter of the Greek god Apollo, the laurel-holder of Capture the Flag, and the girlfriend of Leo Valdez. The current me wasn't afraid to jump a seven-foot gap or sprint through the woods at top speed dodging attackers coming at me with swords. The current me had a boyfriend.

I smiled when my mind conjured up a picture of Leo. With the lake behind him and the symbol of my father shining down and glinting off his hair, I couldn't believe this guy belonged to me. Everything about him was awesome: his playful grin, his dark curls, his awesome way with tools and machinery. And especially his personality. I loved his sense of humor, his honesty, and his easy confidence. But on the inside, he was a lot more sensitive, and I didn't mind that at all. It was like gentling an abused horse. "Let them know that you're on their side," my mom had told me. "Let them know that you will never harm them, not for any reason. And I do mean any."

Well, Mom's advice worked great for horses, but I realized that it had worked for Leo too. I remembered telling him that he could tell me whatever he felt comfortable saying, without even thinking of Mom. And he had taken me up on that offer and told me about his insecurity about not being as good as Jason and Piper. He had known then that I would never hurt him, and my heart had glowed when he spoke those words to me outside the infirmary.

"I'm sorry, Leo. I didn't mean to upset you."

"I know you didn't. I know you would never do that."

His words echoed gently around my mind as I succumbed to sleep, the soft scent of smoke tickling my nose.

Leo's POV

I was dreaming.

I was sitting at a table at a sidewalk café alongside a quiet street. The air was pleasant and warm, and azaleas bloomed nearby. The smell of eucalyptus trees. California.

"Hey, I've been here before," I muttered, looking around. It was the same place we'd visited on the quest after meeting Aeolus. I remembered now. Piper's mom had given us all a makeover. I'd been wearing awesome new clothes (which Piper had made fun of), and sadly I wasn't wearing them now. Piper hadn't liked her outfit quite so much; she'd woken us up by screaming when she discovered what she was wearing.

"Please, don't remind me," a voice said. "I thought she looked good!"

I jumped so bad my knees banged into the table. "Jeez, what's your prob—"

I stopped short when I laid eyes on the woman sitting across from me at the table. Whoa.

Can you say gorgeous? This lady made the most beautiful actress I could think of look like Ma Gasket's nicer twin. But I couldn't decide what color her hair and eyes were, as hard as I tried. They shifted from one shade to another, but there didn't seem to be any color that wouldn't look good on her.

Part of me that was still sane knew that I was staring and that I should probably stop, but I was still dazed. I had to focus all of my willpower into forming a sentence.

"You're Piper's mom, Aphrodite," I managed at last, trying to stop gaping at her.

She smiled, showing perfect white teeth. "Yes, I thought bringing you here would make you remember me."

"Who could forget you?" I murmured, admiring the sun glimmering on her hair.

"Leo Valdez. Aren't you sweet," she beamed, smiling warmly at me. "I'm sorry, honey, I can't stay long. I just wanted to have a quick chat."

"About what?" I said distractedly, gazing at her eyes. They were so beautiful: clear and shining, like sunlight on water or—whoa. Snap out of it, man!

I blinked hard, trying to resist her aura. She wasn't doing anything, just sitting there, but I was having a hard time concentrating on anything else.

She focused her eyes on me, and I had to force myself not to look deeply into them. "I understand you suspected me of forcing you to meet that Anne girl."

My smile faded. She was mad at me. How did that happen? How could I have suspected her of anything? I silently cursed myself. I'd offended her. I had to figure out how to do better.

She sighed and leaned back in her chair. "When you summoned your fire, I admit I let Anne see it from across the forest. She thought it was a wildfire and ran to put it out. A brave girl. But I didn't force you to offer her your jacket or kiss her." She looked offended. "I admit I watched, but I would never do anything further. That would go against the nature of love."

"What are we talking about?" I slurred, trying to focus. But even when a cloud drifted over the sun, her hair stayed shiny. It was the most amazing thing ever.

She heaved a sigh, pursed her lips somewhat apologetically, and waved one finger.

I was trying to figure out what she was trying to apologize for when a café employee who was walking by tripped over seemingly nothing. The plastic water glasses she was holding sloshed their contents all over me.

I yelped and leaped to my feet as the glasses crashed to the floor and the employee walked away without noticing. Suddenly feeling more awake than I had for a while, I swatted the ice cubes off me. I was absolutely drenched from head to toe. How did three glasses of water amount to a gallon or two?

"I'm so sorry, hon," Aphrodite pouted from across the table. "I had to do it."

"Uh, that's okay. I guess," I replied, sitting back down and brushing away the water that was dripping down my face. I shook my head to get the water out of my hair, spraying drops everywhere.

Aphrodite leaned back to avoid the shower. "Sorry," I told her, even though not one drop had even gotten near her.

"Quite all right, dear. Now, as I was saying…" She sighed. "I do hate repeating what I've said again and again."

"Sorry," I repeated.

She waved her hand to get me to shut up. "I was simply saying that I did not use my powers to make you meet that daughter of Apollo's."

"You didn't?" I asked, leaning forward. "Anne and I thought you did." Now my stupid brain decides to cooperate and think clearly, after I've been drenched with ice water.

"I know what you thought, and frankly, I am offended. It would be against the essence of love."

"The what?"

She sighed. "Never mind. I simply cannot believe that you, a friend of my daughter Piper, believed that I would toy with emotions like that."

I couldn't help raising my eyebrow skeptically. "So it was completely by random chance that we met?"

A dainty blush spread across the goddess's cheeks. "Not entirely. I did let Anne see your fire from across the woods. She thought it was a forest fire, so she ran to put it out, but she found you instead. It was a mere push in the right direction, my dear!" She waved one hand dismissively. "Making you two kiss would have been a hard shove that would make you fall down." She pouted. "Why would I want that?"

I leaned back in my chair. "You're asking me?"

She rolled her eyes. "As I was saying, I believe you owe me an apology. I told Piper about the threat that is Gaea; I gave you all new clothes…" She looked up at me, looking hurt. "And you accused me of putting you under a spell."

"I'm sorry," I said, trying to sound convincing. I was sorry, but right now, sitting at a café all the way across the country in soaking wet clothes wasn't where I wanted to be.

She raised one eyebrow disbelievingly.

"I am grateful that you made us meet," I said, backtracking. "Really I am. Anne is a great girl. I'm sorry that I offended you; it's just that normally my luck isn't all that great. I figured it must've taken something huge to—"

I was cut off by her horrified gasp. What did I say? Oh, jeez.

"Not huge literally," I stammered. "I mean important! Godly! Or goddess-ly?"

She glared at me. "Go on."

I clamped my mouth shut. I didn't want to say something else stupid.

"That's what I thought." She tilted her head to the sunshine and took a deep breath. "I should have spoken to Anne." Aphrodite focused her eyes on me. "She would not speak to me quite so rudely."

"She wouldn't dump water on you either," I retorted.

Aphrodite glared at me. Her eyes were now dark blue. "Very well," she growled. "Because you are a close friend of my daughter's, I will leave you alone. Do not make me regret bringing you and that girl together."

"Umm, I'll try not to?"

And with that, my dream vanished, leaving me realizing that just before she ended my dream, Aphrodite had Anne's blond hair and blue eyes.

Please review! Or else Aphrodite will unleash her rage on you! Mwahahahaha!

Diamondsgirl: *points to haters* APHRODITE, ATTACK! THEY AGREE WITH LEO!

Leo: I DIDN'T MEAN THAT! I SWEAR IT I DIDN'T!

Diamondsgirl: *sighs and makes out w/ Leo, forcing him to shut up*

Aphrodite: *waves one finger and the hater people disintegrate*

Diamondsgirl: *shoves Leo away* YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. MWAHAHAHAAAAA! *coughs violently*