Chapter 12

"You've really never been on a beach before?" Percy asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked over at Piper.

"Never," She agreed, laughing a bit and looking out at the water. It really was incredible, to be able to just look out and not see anything on the other end. To actually see all the way to the horizon. She had been able to do that a few times before, but there had always been something else along the way, a house or trees. Now there was just ocean.

"I can't imagine never coming out here," Percy shook his head, before looking back at the water himself. It was obvious that Percy loved it here, even without him telling her. Everything, from the way he looked at the waves, to the way he spoke about it, to the way sometimes he would just stand still and seem to listen. "This is my favorite place to come."

"It's incredible, and you were right about the view from my window, it was beautiful," Piper smiled, stopping to just look out over the waves for a moment, trying to take it in. She had known it was going to be huge, but that hadn't even begun to prepare her.

For a moment they just stood in silence, letting the sounds of the ocean wash over them. The two had made their way a little ways down the beach, though they were careful to stay in the line of sight of the others to keep Jason from freaking out. They were far enough away that with the sound of the ocean, there was no way to hear them though. If she looked out at the water, Piper could pretend that they were completely alone.

After a moment, Piper's eyes shifted away from the water and over to Percy. For the first time since she had met him, Percy seemed completely relaxed. Completely himself. As handsome as he had been before, there was something better about the wind tossed hair and simpler clothing. He was clearly more comfortable. More genuine somehow.

They must have stayed like that for at least a full minute, Piper's eyes shifting between Percy and the horizon, Percy's firmly locked on the ocean. Finally though, Percy sighed and turned to head down the beach a bit further. Taking the cue from him, Piper fell into step beside him "Do you come out here a lot?"

"If I had it my way I would never leave," Percy replied, letting out a small laugh a small smile lingering on his lips as he spoke, his voice softer as he added "My mother used to take me out here whenever she could get away for the day. We would spend the day just building sand castles, and running in and out of the water. It didn't happen often, but god were those days great."

Biting her lip, Piper looked over at Percy, hesitating for a second before softly saying "I'm sorry to hear about your mother. From what I understood she was a great woman. I was surprised to be coming here so soon after her death."

She watched Percy carefully, not wanting to push it or upset him. Honestly she had no idea how he would react, as he hadn't mentioned his mother at all before now. To her surprise though, Percy didn't appear sad. Instead he looked confused, before a look of realization hit him. All of it happened in a matter of seconds, and a serious expression quickly took the place of realization, but Piper had seen it. It was like, for just a moment, he had forgotten his mother was dead.

"Of course, thank you. It was sudden, but my father wanted to move past it. Show the kingdom that we are strong, even after my-" There was the slightest of pauses, the slightest clench in Percy's jaw "After the queen's death. That's why he rushed this I think. To throw himself into it and not have to think about her passing."

"Still, I'm sorry," Piper said automatically, but her eyes were still scanning Percy, trying to read him. Something wasn't right, but she kept the curiosity off her face "It's good that you have a place like this where you can go to think about her."

"Yeah."

It was the only reply that Percy gave, and for a moment he looked out at the ocean. Then he just shook his head and seemed to snap out of it. Looking over at her he raised an eyebrow, voice surprisingly light as he spoke "Any places like this for you? I mean, obviously it's not the ocean, so it can't be that great, but I'm still curious."

Piper laughed at the teasing, glad that they were now on lighter topics and she could just focus on getting to know him again, rather than over analyzing every motion "My father used to take me out in the woods sometimes. My mother always disapproved. Unlady like. I always loved it though. So I suppose that would be my version of your ocean. Out in the middle of the woods, where you can't see or hear anything but nature around you."

"You'll have to show me sometime," Percy said, smiling now as he looked over at her "I never spent much time in the forest, and even then it was usually with my friends and we were to busy messing around to really appreciate that there was no one else around."

"Really?" Piper asked with surprise, looking over at him curiously "But you must have been hunting and things, and isn't a big part of that being quite enough to not scare away the animals?"

"Oh! Of course," Percy said quickly, in a way that made Piper sure that he hadn't thought about that at all, and in turn made her think he wasn't being honest about it "But that's different. I mean, yeah it's quite, but you're completely focused on what's happening, so I don't think it would really be the same as what you're describing either."

"I see," Piper nodded a bit, before smiling as she watched Percy reach down to pick up a rock peeking out from the sand. A moment later it was skipping across the water.

"Could you show me how to do that?"

"I can try," Percy replied, smiling again as he looked over at her "We just need to find another rock."