Homecoming

by Jonathan Priest

After the war with the Giants, Percy and Annabeth are struggling to overcome everything they've lost by clinging to what they've gained. Meanwhile, Sally, determined to help her son cope, begins to understand that she is no longer the most important woman in Percy's life. This story is set to examine the hurt, pain and healing of those closest to Percy. Please R&R

8. Treasures for the Future

Homecoming

Part 8: Treasures for the Future

Christmas Day had always been a festive celebration in the Blofis household. Tinsel and colored streamers had been strung around the house, the tree was decorated and glistening in the lights that twinkled merrily against the emerald backdrop of the celebrated tree. And of course, the wrapped gifts that set in preparation to be torn open in surrender of their treasures inside.

It was a day that had always brought joy to Sally. For years, no matter how old her son had gotten, he would bounce out of bed as early as 5 a.m. and, his ADHD eager mind moving and shuffling the packages as though to organize what he estimated was the best gift in his soon to be possession. So it had come as no surprise that Sally was already up and preparing a feast for breakfast when, at 9 a.m., the two over-stressed and equally exhausted demigods had shuffled into the kitchen. They had sat automatically at their designated spots, Percy laying his head down on his arms upon the tabletop while Annabeth had placed her hand on his back, her attention fixed solely on him.

Sally turned as they entered the room, offering a heartfelt "Good morning sleep heads," to which they replied with guttural grunts. Sally however could not hide the expression dancing across her eyes, and was deeply thankful neither teen had paid her much attention since entering. For so long, she had been holding out for this day, expecting that her rambunctious, eagerly bouncy son would have acted no different this year than in years past, and yet, here he sat, as though he were an old man barely able to drag himself out of bed to enjoy a day that he had previously cherished. For Sally, this was just one more reminder of the loss of her son's innocence, the loss of too much that had stolen away what little joy he had.

She allowed her body to inflate and shrink upon itself in the effort of releasing a silent sigh from her lips before turning her eyes towards Paul. He had not known Percy for the majority of his life. Those early years when they were alone, and then later, when she had saddled herself in a loveless marriage with Gabe to hide Percy's aura from the world, Christmas had been a refuge for them. It had been one time when her beast of a husband was cordial and treated Percy with a modicum of appreciation. It had been their special day.

And yet, Percy had flopped his head upon the table as though this were an ordinary day, in no need of ceremony or celebration. For Paul, he had read the heartbreak in his wife's posture, and his eyes softened as he looked at her, yet she merely tightened her jaw and returned to her preparation of the feast she was preparing.

She had so desperately wanted this day to be like every other Christmas, with Percy eagerly scarfing his food and then rushing to the tree to divvy out presents. Yet this was one more reminder of how so much had changed for all of them.

Covertly dabbing at her eyes, she turned with a faux smile as she addressed her family. "Breakfast is ready," she said, moving aside to show the buffet she had made. Eggs, bacon, ham, sausage, biscuits, pancakes, hashbrowns, cinnamon rolls and orange juice was all laid out on the kitchen counter with plates at the ready to heap on what was widely known to be the best breakfast feast in Manhattan. "Grab a plate and help yourself. Afterwards, we have a big day of presents to hand out, Percy's got two years worth after all."

"Huh?" Percy asked as he raised his head to look at his mother before understanding dawned on his features. "Oh, right." His simple response seemed to cause his posture to slouch a little further as he pushed himself from the table and stood to collect a plate.

He had eagerly piled on a lot of everything, collected two forks and returned to his place. Handing one utensil to Annabeth, the two began to methodically work their way through the mountain of food, while Paul smiled at Estelle who had only started sitting in a high chair, before he went to gather up a plate for himself. The breakfast was broken up periodically by corny jokes and silly stories. As all family meals had been, there was a general sense of love that permeated within this home, yet it could not be denied that a cloud had seemingly settled over Percy.

At last, as breakfast was finished, Percy had stood up and placed his plate in the sink, rinsing it off before placing it in the dishwasher before heading into the living room. Paul followed suit, gathering up Estelle as he left, however Sally had rested her arm on Annabeth, requesting the young woman to stay a moment while everyone had already retired to the living room.

With worried eyes, Sally looked at Annabeth before asking about Percy's mood. "Did he have another nightmare?" Her hands were twisting in apprehension of the answer as she pleaded with the blonde demigod for some reason for Percy's behavior.

Annabeth seemingly deflated, her eyes softening as she looked at Sally and shook her head. "No, we're working our way through those just fine, but..." she paused, turning her attention over her shoulder to where Percy had disappeared, "It's guilt."

Confusion crossed Sally's features as she furrowed her brow. "Guilt for what?"

"He..." beginning slightly uneasily as if not sure how to explain to Sally the root of Percy's mood, she twisted her lips in a weirdly curved frown that looked partially contemplative while Annabeth appeared to be chewing on her bottom lip. "It's stupid really...not Percy, but this whole situation. He's blaming himself that he wasn't here last year."

"That wasn't his fault," Sally said in hushed tones, hoping their words would not carry to the other room.

"I know, you know...he knows," Annabeth offered a sad smile at the understanding of the situation, "But we both know Percy and how he is. Even if it's out of his control, he still feels he should have been here. I'm doing my best to help him understand that but..."

"Annabeth," Sally interrupted, placing a hand on her shoulder while offering a supportive smile, "you are the best to help him through this, okay? We'll get you both through it."

"I know," the teen replied, her eyes flashing with determination as a smile parted her lips with excitement, "Athena always has a plan."

Sally was slightly confused by the response, watching Annabeth leave the room before eventually following her into the living room. As she entered, Percy was seated on the couch holding Estelle while Paul had positioned himself in a chair near the gifts in preparation of handing them out. As she entered however, Sally collected her daughter from Percy's arms and took a seat beside him on the couch.

"I think we should hand out the gifts from last year first," Sally said, smiling at her husband who responded in kind. "That one right there, that's one of Percy's" she stated, pointing to a lumpy package that was handed to the young man who offered a slight smile in response. As he opened the gift, he found it was a new blue and silver hoodie. Though, belatedly, Sally had realized that he had grown since last Christmas, it was unknown whether the garment would fit him now or not.

Annabeth came to the rescue before any awkwardness could arise, snatching the sweatshirt from his hands and pulling it over her head before offering a dazzling smile. "What?" she asked in mock defense, "I steal most of your hoodies anyway..."

With a shrug of acceptance at her reply, Percy continued to open the gifts that had remained from last year, when it was his time to hand out his own gifts. He first started with his mom, giving her a small gift box that she opened to reveal a small, heart shaped charm strung upon a single chain. The charm and chain were both crafted in Celestial Bronze and upon opening, there were place holders for which to slide photos in. "I...uh, didn't put any pictures in there, thought that you would know which ones you wanted to keep in the locket."

"Oh sweetie, this is beautiful," she said, kissing his forehead as she smiled at the intricate craftsmanship.

"I actually had Jake Mason from camp make it," Percy said by way of explanation, "I was going to get Tyson to do it, but he was busy with the weapons for the war with Kronos and all..." he paused, his thoughts halting him as he remembered the horrors of last summer and the building war that had to be fought. Annabeth reached over and gripped his wrist, pulling his mind back to the present before he offered a self-conscious smile, "Sorry." And by way of apology, handed Paul his gift that was the complete collection of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

At this point, Annabeth and Percy each exchanged their gifts from last year, Annabeth providing a finely wrapped box, for which she seemed particularly nervous about while she received a crumpled package that was soft and squishy.

"If you don't mind Seaweed Brain, I'll open mine first, there's...quite a bit of story with yours," she said cautiously. With a smile and nod from Percy, Annabeth ripped open the package to find a beautifully crafted throw blanket with a picture of the Parthenon on the front. As she opened up the blanket, her eyes dancing with amazement at the image, a book fell free from the center of the cover. She moved the material aside, finding a book on Russian architecture.

"I uh...I wanted to get you a book on Greek architecture, but wasn't sure which one's you had, so, while looking over the books in that section, I saw a picture of the Kremlin on the cover and thought the domes looked really neat, and then decided, well...maybe it might be cool to study more than just one architectural style. As for the blanket, I know you always wanted to see the Parthenon, that was before we actually went to Greece, so I, well...I hope they're okay."

In response, Annabeth lunged at Percy, giving him a full tackle hug while kissing his cheek. "You did great Percy, I love them both."

Relieved that he had made a good decision for what would have been their first Christmas as a couple, he smiled sheepishly as he turned his own attention to the package in his hands. Opening it up, he found a plain, white box that, upon opening the lid, contained an intricately beautiful desk fountain. Removing it, he saw the largest point was a craggy, rocky surface of a cliff side. Positioned flush against the rocky surface was a trident, angled at a 65 degree angle. Upon the highest prong of the trident was perched a perfectly sculpted barn owl.

"Okay, so, story on this," Annabeth began as she spent some time delaying the beginning of her tale by spreading her new blanket over her legs. "So, last summer, I know we had a really bad year and things were really weird between us...so, I decided that I wanted to show you what you meant to me. I mean, if you weren't going to make the first move, then I would have to...of course, back then, not sure if you'd have picked up on my intentions even with something as obvious as this."

"Hey!"

"Just telling the truth Percy, you were pretty oblivious, no matter how hard I tried to show you I wanted our relationship to be more." Annabeth said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear while waving off the statement as she continued. "So, I asked Selina for help, and she recruited Beckendorf to help make this. I designed it, Charlie crafted it, and Selina and I spent hours chipping off coral and underwater stone and finding shells for the facade of the cliff, and some feathers generously contributed by Guido for the owl.

"So, here's the thing, its sculpted out of Celestial Bronze, and Selina, being amazing at arts and crafts master, helped to 'beautify it' as she called it. I was going to give it to you on your birthday, but...we just got out of the war, and," Annabeth's eyes began to water as her voice hitched in her throat at the root behind the delay for its delivery. "We had just lost Selina and Beckendorf, it hurt too much to think about them. So, I held off on giving it to you, but after we started dating, I figured, Christmas...but then...well, Hera," her eyes grew bitter at the thought of the queen of the gods manipulation, yet she smiled beautifully at the young man who possessed her heart. She was never one for such sentimentality, but then, when remembering her two lost friends who had shown her the depth of love, and their part in the gift she had given to Percy, she couldn't help but allow that little bit of romanticism to show. "Anyway, this was last years gift, the owl and the trident together...you know, like us."

She reached out, her fingers touching the bronze trident before gliding over the sculpted owl as she had a wistful smile adorning her softened features. Percy reached out and captured her fingers, bringing them to his lips and kissing each one. "It's beautiful," he said hauntingly, yet his eyes never left Annabeth's face. It was but a pure declaration, and one that held every meaning shared between the two young lovers.

Smiling wider, Annabeth leaned forward and captured Percy's lips with her own, a soft, chaste kiss as a way to respect their two lost friends, and to honor each other. Neither said the words, they were not needed, but this gift, crafted by their two wonderful friends, would become the first of their family heirlooms and would be deeply treasured for the remainder of their lives.

"It's a beautiful piece," Sally said, breaking the emotional moment, not to separate the pair from expressing their love, but rather to divert their attention from focusing too much on those who were no longer here with them. "Can we see it?"

"Sure," Percy replied, and despite the expert craftsmanship, he gingerly handed it off to his mother. Pressing a concealed button on the fountain, it began trickling water over the rock face.

"Annabeth this is...this is really beautiful."

Smiling self-consciously at the praise, she moved to stand up and began making her way around the packages as she selected a few gifts and began handing them out, yet a mischievous smile adorned her face as she handed the first gift to Percy.

Staring at her suspiciously, he opened the package to find a pair of swim trunks, a snorkel, and swimming pool floaties. Annabeth couldn't help the giggles starting as she handed Paul a present that was a novelty necktie that had a variety of neckties printed on it. But it was Sally's gift she was most eager to give. As she opened the package that contained a small cage with a little running wheel, Annabeth rushed quickly into the bathroom and collected a second present, this one with holes punched in the box as she opened it up to extract the little pet she had happily placed in the cage.

"Wait..." Percy said, his eyes fixed upon the brown and white animal. "Is that?..."

"A guinea pig? Why I believe it is, in fact a guinea pig Seaweed Brain. He even already has a name," she said, as more giggles bubbled up from her.

"Don't..."

"His name..."

"NO!"

"Is Seaweed Jr…." The laughter erupted from her in fits of near hysterics as she smiled cheekily at her boyfriend's stunned face. Percy however, leapt to his feet and wrapped his arms around Annabeth's waist before the two fell to the ground. Sally and Paul's eyes grew wide as laughter burst from Annabeth's lips, her legs and feet flailing as Percy proceeded to tickle her. It was such a silly, yet teenage thing to do, that Sally's eyes shimmered with the sheer joy to be found with these two teenagers just acting like a couple of goofy kids in love.

If Sally were to be truly honest, this was the best Christmas gift she received this year. Placing her hand over his mouth to hide her own laughter, she turned to Paul, a smile on his face as he relished the happiness Annabeth's gag gifts had provided. Still, the two opted to rise from their seat on the couch and move to the kitchen to make some hot chocolate.

"Okay, okay...stop, stop, stop, stop, stop..." Annabeth gasped between fits of laughter, trying to catch her breath from the assault of Percy's fingers.

"Do you surrender?" He asked pointed, yet the smile she wore only spread further across her features.

"Never!" she replied in over-dramatic manner, prompting him to tickle her further until she could hardly breath and the stitch in her side from the laughter causing the beginnings of an unpleasant pain. When Paul and Sally reentered the room with a tray of hot chocolate, the two demigods simply were simply laying on their sides, eyes focused fully on each other as Annabeth stroked Percy's cheek, while he absentmindedly played with a loose strand of her hair.

After a few minutes of the devoted attention between Percy and Annabeth, the pair offered a brief kiss before sitting up and looking at the adults seated on the couch. Another change within their behavior Sally had noticed. When they had started dating, being noticed for such a genuine show of affection would have elicited a shy and uneasy blush from the pair, yet now they faced Percy's parents as though the act of revealing their love for one another was simply open for everyone to see. It was a far more mature attitude regarding their relationship than would be expected from teenagers their age, yet, Sally reminded herself, what teenagers have ever fought their way out of hell?

It was inevitable, her son was simply growing up, and for a moment, she felt there were whole gaps of his life that was had missed. Since he had been claimed by his father, she was slowly watching him grow up without her. She didn't know what had spurred that thought, but it was there regardless.

Still, she wanted nothing more than to save these two teens from the pain of their past, and that was fine then, that Sally did not have to partake in every life event in her son's life, but if her job was to support him from the sidelines, that would be enough she reasoned.

"Okay," Annabeth said quietly, almost as though afraid she was intruding on the traditional family role, "I was think I could hand out my real gifts, if no one has any objections." With no rejection to the idea, she stood up and pulled out a small package, setting it in front of Estelle, "Okay baby genius, this is my gift to you," she replied, helping to open the package as Estelle's chubby fingers seemed to just find pleasure in waving around the wrapping paper, but within the packaging was a collection of early reader books with bright colors and silly, cartoon characters on the covers.

Annabeth smiled somewhat sadly at the toddler, rubbing her thumb over her cheek as she studied the infant. "I was thinking, getting something for her to start learning to read...I mean, she's not even a year old yet, but, I really pray she doesn't have dyslexia, because I wish...well...never mind," she said as she sat back and watched Estelle for a moment before looking pointedly at Percy, who was watching her with a wistful expression on his face. While he openly despised reading, he understood Annabeth's logic, and in many ways, he regretted not being able to read without struggling his way through lessons or books. So many times Annabeth would talk about or explain things he didn't understand, things that he truly wished he could follow along, be a better conversationalist with her...but he couldn't. So it was that Annabeth's present was a bridge of hope, that Estelle would not struggle like they did.

He turned his eyes back to his beautiful girlfriend who stared fixedly at him before her eyes shifted to the presents under the tree, a clear indicator of her intentions to pull out the next gifts for Percy's parents.

"So uh..." Percy began, retrieving the chosen present and standing up to hand it to Paul, "The next two gifts are actually joint gifts from Annabeth and me, so Paul, this is yours."

Smiling warmly at his step-son, Paul unwrapped the gift, a laugh escaping from his lips as he opened a first aid kit. "I guess this is because you two keep beating me up?" He laughed, yet his eyes fixed on the almost nervous expression from the two teens, before he turned his attention back to the kit in his lap. It was then that he noticed the plastic wrapping sealing the First Aid Kit had been removed, and so, he opened the casing to see the standard gauze and ointments, however, his eyes fell upon a glint of silver that was sandwiched between an elastic wrap and band-aids.

He pulled the silver object from its hiding place to reveal a beautiful chrome wrist watch with both standard and digital settings. Immediately he placed it on his wrist, admiring the fit and how handsome a watch it was. "Wow, kids, this is...this is beautiful," he said, smiling as he turned his attention to the pair, yet his brow furrowed slightly as they were still watching him expectantly. It then he noticed Percy's eyes shift from Paul to the watch, and gave a little flick of his hand, indicating there was more to the gift.

Turning his attention back to his gift, he unfastened the watch and turned it over to read the inscription on the backing. A breath hitched in his throat as his eyes glistened and he placed his fist to his lips, his attention fixated for several minutes for what was written within. Sally placed a hand on his arm, a slight smile at his reaction as he handed the watch to his wife before standing up and wrapping one arm around the shoulders of both Percy and Annabeth, hugging them tightly and giving each a kiss to the side of their heads. Sally smiled at the display before turning to read the inscription that inspired such a response from her husband. The words were simple, yet poignant and read:

Thank you for being our dad,

Love, P, E, & A

She had always known Paul was often uncertain as to his role with Percy. The step-parent was never an easy position to fill. It warmed her heart to the depths of her soul to see that, despite all of her affirmations of how much Percy cared for Paul, he now had proof of that claim. She was a writer, he was an English teacher, and they both understood the strength of words.

Finally, as the three untangled themselves, Paul returned to his place on the couch as Sally handed him back the watch. For several minutes, he merely stared at it as if it were the greatest gift he had ever received. Smiling his warm, genuine grin, he looked at his wife who returned the sentiment before she leaned forward and kissed him.

Percy and Annabeth pretended to root around the presents, giving Paul and Sally a moment to themselves as they finally pulled a large, flat present from behind the tree. As they handed it to Sally, she smiled at the memory of Percy and Annabeth, laughing on the floor, and of Paul and the love shining from his eyes. She thought nothing could be a greater gift than that. She was wrong.

As she unwrapped the present, she found a herself staring at a beautifully pained family portrait. Paul, Sally, Estelle, Percy and Annabeth, standing with a warm glow shining from behind them and illuminating each in a halo of warmth. The painting was done in such realistic imagery that it could have been an actual photo if not for the layers of paint visible upon the canvas.

"I...I wasn't certain about being in that painting Sally," Annabeth said, once more debating her place in this family. Sally and Paul had welcomed her in, and yet, she could not help but wonder at times how much was overstepping that line of propriety. "But, Percy insisted."

"As he should," Sally smiled, her eyes moving from the painting to pair of demigods. "Who painted this?"

"Our friend Rachel," Percy answered. "Normally she likes to paint in...what was it called?" He asked looking to his girlfriend who smiled at him.

"Impressionism."

"Right," he continued, "But we asked if she would be willing to paint a real painting...or...realist, yeah," he answered, pleased that he remembered the art term, which earned him a kiss on the cheek from Annabeth.

"This is..." Sally began as her smile turned watery and her eyes shimmered with the same emotion that overtook Paul just a few minutes prior. "You kids are amazing, do you know that?" And just like Paul, she stood up and embraced the two demigods tightly. It wasn't the gift of the painting so much, as it was that they were together in it. Percy having been kidnapped and Annabeth tearing the world apart to find him...falling into Tartarus. This past year had been anything but kind to the inhabitants of the Blofis household. But this painting was a tribute to the fact that they were together as they should be.

When they had untangled from the collective embrace, Sally just held the two at arms length for several moments, smiling at the pair with all the motherly affection she bore. Like Paul, she kissed of their foreheads before moving back to take her seat on the couch while Percy and Annabeth stood somewhat awkwardly.

"Actually Annabeth, I was, you know, going to give you your gift in private," he said poignantly as he chanced a glance at his parents, only to have Annabeth issue the same statement. A sharp laugh slipped passed their lips as they hugged each other and took a seat on the floor, Percy resting his head on her shoulder as she stroked his cheek with a playful smile on her lips.

"Alright then," Sally said as she moved to the presents then and began collecting the gifts and setting them in front of the pair of teens. "I guess we'll just move on to Paul and my gifts to you. Um...we weren't really sure what to get you, so, this is sort of a collective gift for the both of you." She said as she had slid several large packages in front of them.

As Percy and Annabeth began unwrapping the gifts, they found a set of pots and pans, dishes, glassware and utensils. "Since you're going to be moving to New Rome for college, we wanted to give you some things to help set you up in your apartment."

"Wow, just...thanks mom, Paul," Percy said, standing up and giving them a hug, followed closely behind as Annabeth embraced the couple as well. With the last of the gift giving effectively offered, a sort of nervous energy began to radiate through Percy and Annabeth as they appeared to bounce on their feet, or fiddle with the wrapping paper.

Sally laughed lightly at this, her mind carrying her to previous Christmas celebrations. "It's two o'clock now, I'm going to start on our early dinner. Paul, would you be willing to collect all the wrapping paper, last time I left it too long, Percy had ripped it into tiny pieces, took me hours to vacuum and gather it all up again."

"I was six," Percy protested, only to have his mother walk over and pat his cheek gently before kissing him.

"Which is why I've never left it for later again," she smiled wider. "Merry Christmas you two." As she collected Estelle and moved into the kitchen to begin preparing the upcoming meal, Percy had taken Annabeth's hand and guided her through the sliding glass door to the outside patio. The pair paused only briefly before leaving the residence, allowing Annabeth to collect the brightly wrapped box sitting in the corner.

As the two heroes stood on the wooden deck, their eyes seemed to connect in a way that unburdened their entire story. The hurt and pain of their past swam in their eyes, but more importantly was the love reflected within. "I love you," Percy said into the quiet of the afternoon as he hand held Annabeth's fingers, his thumb gliding over her knuckles as he stared fixedly into her eyes. "I love you so much I don't even know how to say...so..." pulling his hand away from hers, he reached into his pant pocket and retrieved the beautifully wrapped package, the package that Grover escorted him to receive the desired blessings from the gods, and the package that had been returned to him by Hermes, he held it out for her.

She seemed to understand something significant and life-changing was happening, as she set her present for Percy on the porch railing and took the offered gift. She wasn't sure why she was so nervous, but she unwrapped the gift with shaking fingers, revealing the small, wooden box within. Sliding away the top, her eyes immediately flooded with tears as her free hand moved to her mouth, as if covering it to prevent a sob from escaping her.

Within the small box was a pair of beautifully crafted rings, identical in design with the exception of the center stone. The rings were crafted with Imperial Gold, with the design and detail work being Celestial Bronze. Both rings had an identical emerald and sapphire on either side of the center ruby, yet the center stone was the most unique part of the ring. An intricately carved owl on one ring, and equally beautiful sea shell on the other was the defining characteristic of these two pieces of jewerly. Immediately, Annabeth's fingers gravitated towards the ring with the owl before being stopped by Percy.

"Actually, that one's mine, the sea shell is yours." Puzzled by this, the young man chuckled lightly as he took both rings from the container and held them in his hand. "You and I seem to have the same idea, with the fountain you gave me. The owl and trident, I had actually wanted to do a trident, but I couldn't figure out how to set this up without it looking dumb, so I decided on the sea shell. But, just like us, the owl represents Athena, your symbol, and you've always been there, watching my back, keeping me safe, so that's why, the ring with the owl is mine, because you're always with me...just like the sea shell symbolized me, always there to protect you too...

"Anyway, there's a lot of little surprises with these rings," Percy said as he placed the one with the owl in his pocket so that he could focus on Annabeth's fingers and how this ring operated. "First off, check this out," he said, sliding the ring on her middle finger before removing it and sliding it on her pinky finger. With each finger, the ring seemed to grow or shrink accordingly, providing a perfect fit on the chosen digit. He then gently folded Annabeth's fingers until they made a wedge, to which he slid the ring up her fingers, over her knuckles until it fit perfectly on her wrist as a bracelet. "I asked the Hecate cabin to do so magical tampering with the ring. It'll adjust to any finger you want, and, as you can see, can even expand to be a bracelet or whatever, and only your ring will do that to you, it won't work for me or anyone else.

"Now," Percy continued as he slid the ring off and held it in his hand, "put the ring in your pocket." Uncertain where he was going with this, Annabeth complied, placing the piece of jewelry in her pocket before she was instructed once again to retrieve it. As she pulled the ring from her pocket, Percy had snatched it from her hand and tossed it into the woods behind the house.

A look of shocked alarm passed her features before Percy held up his hand, fingers spread as he smirked in his devil-may-care manner and began lowering his fingers one by one until he had folded them into a fist, before smiling broader and pointing to Annabeth's hip. "Check your pocket."

Sure enough, as her lithe fingers slid into her pocket, she clutched the cool metal of the ring and withdrew it as her eyes widened at what had happened. "I got the idea, mostly from Riptide, but also how you said the Athenian coin kept reappearing in your pocket no matter how many times you tried to get rid of it. So, the Hecate cabin also put on a charm of return, so we'll never lose them. Anyway, want to go over the blessings with you," he said holding his own ring in his hand and placing it on his middle finger before doing the same to Annabeth's ring.

"Okay, I actually found each of these gems while in the water when we were on the quest to stop Gaea. The emeralds I found in South Carolina, the sapphires were found in Rome, and the Ruby, which was the hardest, I found in Greece. The ruby on each ring is actually one ruby that was split in half. It took me a while to actually find a ruby big enough, but it had to come from a single ruby, not two different ones."

"Okay?" Annabeth replied, arching an eyebrow and waiting for her boyfriend to continue as he smiled brightly and held up his hand to show his own ring and point out what he had had done.

"So, first off, these rings have a lot of blessings given. I first had my mom bless them..."

"Your mom? But...Sally's mortal, how could her blessings..."

"No, I know right," Percy continued, though his words made no sense to Annabeth. "But that's the whole point. I realized it last year, before I went to bathe in the Styx, I had to receive my mother's blessing. I had been spending a while trying to figure out why that was so needed until I realized, it's a mother's love that lays the foundation for everything we are. So I had her bless the rings before anything else was added."

"So...Sally knew about these rings then?" her words were a mix of bemusement that Percy had gone to such lengths for this gift, and frustration that she was kept in the dark. She hated not knowing, but still, she was ever charmed by Percy's excitement to explain what he had done.

Waving off Annabeth's question, he continued, "Yeah, kind of necessary for my mom to know about these if she were going to bless them, but this is the best part, because her blessing placed the foundation for all the other blessings to hold. For instance, the green emerald, Grover, somehow, applied the Blessings of the Wild...maybe its because he's on the Council of Cloven Elders, but whatever. Anyway, it will let us know if there is a monster nearby. It works up to a two mile radius, but, it'll give us a heads up if we're about to be attacked. Then, if we are attacked, the sapphire will actually heal us...only once a day, but it'll work like Ambrosia without risking turning our bodies to ash. That was a blessing by Apollo. Then...oh, looks like Hermes blessed the Celestial Bronze, provide us safe travel," Percy said as he removed the small instruction list from the box and read it. "Apparently this can work to help mask our scents from monsters...that's cool.

"Also, the Imperial Gold bands haven't been blessed, but there's several gods who have offered blessings for us, guess we get to pick that one," Percy said, looking over the list before his eyes lit up again with excitement. "Anyway, now for the two coolest parts, first," he began, taking Annabeth's wrist and placing his fingers on the ring and rotating it until the underside of the ring was now on top, revealing a perfectly formed crystal. "This is a special prism, Iris blessed these so they'll never break or crack, and..." he responded, raising her hand to the sky so that the overcast sun reflected from the crystal and showed a rainbow without the need of water or moisture. "Any light source can create a rainbow so we can IM each other whenever we need to.

"And now, saving the best for last," replied excitedly as he spun the ring back so that the ruby sea shell now rested atop Annabeth's finger. Bringing his own ring to his lips, he uttered the word, "home". The reaction was instant as Annabeth felt a slight yet consistent tug from her ring. It was not enough to move her arm, but certainly enough to guide her in the direction of Percy's ring. When his smile stretched, he replied simply with "safe" and the feeling dissipated.

"Isn't that amazing, it can track us no matter where we are," he smiled broadly as he looked at Annabeth, hoping his reaction would be mirrored in her eyes. "I asked Hestia to bless these for us, because they'll always guide us home."

Annabeth did not respond so much as she flung her arms around Percy and held him tightly for the gift he'd given them both. "When did you become such a romantic?" she asked, her voice broken by the emotion this had elicited.

"Since you've given me a reason to be," he answered, his arms tightening around her and holding her close. He stole a glance at the sliding glass door to see his mother and Paul smiling knowingly as they both offered supportive nods and moved away from the scene.

"I-I can't believe you've done all this..." Annabeth said as she pulled away and smiled at him to deep affection radiating from her. "How much effort did you put into this?"

"Enough," he said as he kissed her lips, "but you're worth it."

Annabeth moved closer, resting her head on his shoulder as she moved her hand against his chest and admiring the ring he had given her. "You know, this is such a beautiful gift Percy, there's just one thing wrong with it..."

Pulling away slightly to search her face as though wondering what he had done to mess this up, she smiled encouragingly as she moved her hand to take his and bring it up towards chest height. She then took his fingers in hers and moved to remove the ring from her middle finger before sliding the ring finger of her left hand to hover at the entry of the ring. "It'll fit better on this finger," she said, waiting for him to slide the ring onto her hand. "I know you said you'd only propose to me when it was perfect Percy...but it'll never be more perfect than now. I mean, if you're not ready, I don't want to push you, but if you are...then say the words Percy."

For a few moments, he stared at her, his eyes transfixed by the beautiful determination of his precious Wise Girl. He was certain, that so long as he lived, he would never love anyone as much as he did her. She was the second half of his heart, the greater part of his soul, and the entirety of his being. But beyond all of that, they were demigods, their lives were essentially on borrowed time, so it was common that they live as much as they can, in the time that they're given. Sliding the ring slowly up her ring finger, he began, "Annabeth..."

"Yes," she blurted before he could get any further words out. A slight laugh escaped his lips as he shook his head.

"I had a whole speech prepared and everything."

Taking his left hand and moving his ring to his ring finger, she smiled softly. "Still not making things easy for you Seaweed Brain. But...tell me tonight, when we're in bed. I want to stretch out this happiness as long as possible."

"Deal," he remarked, pulling her into a kiss the marked the promise before taking her left hand and studying the ring on her finger. "I think it really suits you."

"It does," she whispered before pulling away to retrieve the package she placed on the banister. "Now to see if my gift measures up." Smiling shyly, she handed the blue wrapped present to her boyfriend who took the gift and tore the paper from it revealing a shirt box within. Removing the lid, he was greeting not by the expected article of clothing, but a stack of graph paper that was resting neatly inside.

Confusion must have danced across his eyes as he looked at Annabeth, as a look of uncertainty painted her features, but the expression was enough to convince Percy that whatever it was he was looking at was of deep importance to her. Redoubling his efforts, he pushed back the struggling ADHD that seemed to cause his eyes to swim around the page. Graph paper was simply too busy for his eyes to focus and he hated looking at, trying to figure out what was written on the sheets, but he knew by her nervous posture that this was something incredibly important to Annabeth.

As he squinted his eyes to narrow his focus, he began to pick up on little details of the sketches drawn on the sheets of paper. Things began to spring out as he shuffled through the pages, words such as Master Bedroom, or Guest Room # 3 began forming a picture of a puzzle he didn't even know he was piecing together.

Furrowing his brow as he turned his eyes to her, he chewed on his bottom lip in frustration that he simply wasn't getting it, the blue criss-crossing lines were making it too difficult for him to focus, and the small writing made his dyslexia nearly impossible to decipher the words.

Smiling as though she suspected this outcome, she took the pages from Percy's hands and pulled out the bottom page before setting it on top of the stack. It was a plain piece of paper with a beautifully rendered drawing of a colonial style house with articulate columns and a very Greek design. What caught Percy's attention most though was the block letters that read "Our Home" on it.

Licking his lips, he looked to Annabeth for explanation as she nodded her head almost nervously at the realization of what she had given him. "This is going to be our home Percy."

Opening his mouth, yet unable to say anything, he turned his eyes in confusion as to how this was possible. "Our house? How? What…?"

A slight laugh escaped her lips as she slowly traced her fingers over the page with the house designed on the front before she explained. "After...well, after I found out about Jason, I reached out to Frank. I wanted there to be some kind of memorial or monument to him in New Rome, so he would never be forgotten. Well, the Senate seemed to have the same thing in mind, so, they've allocated land on the Hills of Victory they called it. Anyway, 105 acres split between seven pieces of property. They've decided to build estates of honor for the seven demigods who saved the world. Even if say, Leo or Piper never see or visit their homes, the New Rome Senate wanted to honor us by giving us this gift.

"Jason's manor is actually going to be a museum, named in his honor and dedicated not only the Roman legacy and the war against Gaea, but also the Second Titan War, the peace that has come between the Greek and Roman demigods, and the legacy of New Rome. As for us, I was given permission to design our own manor. The other house that would just be dedicated to you would be empty because we won't need it.

"Anyway, you showed off these rings, let me show off our house." The two sat on the porch, backs against the railing as they reviewed the pages and all the many features that Annabeth had put into place, such as the sliding bookshelf in the library that would lead to an armory. The master bedroom with an adjoined bathroom that had both a walk-in shower and soaker tub. The accented wall fountain that rested either side of the master hearth that was positioned in the main entertainment room. She had even designated a stable and dog house for Blackjack and Mrs. O'Leary respectively.

Page after page, she pointed out features she was most proud of, and when Percy suggested another hearth in the master bedroom to honor Hestia, she readily complied. It was daunting to the young man how much work she had put in to planning their home, their life together when they arrived in New Rome. Though, with the work needed to clear and level land, as well as the construction, it was estimated the estate would be completed some time in their Sophomore year at university.

"By the gods Annabeth, when did you start working on this?" he said as he continued to flip through the numerous pages. She smiled at his declaration before laying her head on his shoulder.

"I started it as a passion project, back in June...just, if I were to build the perfect house, you know, just for fun." She laughed as she imagined Percy's stunned expression at her idea of fun. "So, when Frank and Hazel told me about the Senate's plan, I asked if I could design our house and they agreed. So I've been working on it off and on, mostly at school when I finished my assignments early. Your mom saw me working on them at the dining room table once though, so I explained what I was working on..."

"My mom knew?"

"You think you're the only one she keeps secrets for?" she laughed again as she laced her arm through Percy's, relishing in the warmth of his body. "Anyway, I just need to transcribe everything on blueprint paper and send it off. But, before that, I want to get your approval, make sure everything looks okay for you."

"You're kidding right?" he said, placing his cheek to rest on the cushion of Annabeth's hair. "It's beautiful Annabeth...though, you only set aside three kids rooms...will that be enough."

"We can always change around one of the guest rooms if we need it," she said as she closed her eyes, her mind floating in absolute peace of the moment. "Merry Christmas Percy."

"Merry Christmas Wise Girl," he remarked, moving for just a moment to kiss the top of her head. "Still, I can't believe how much work you put in to plan our future home..."

"I enjoyed it, besides," she said, moving her head to gaze lovingly into his green eyes while settling her left hand against his chest, just above his heart. "We're worth it."

–

A/N: So, this one was mostly fluffy, but I loved the idea of Percy and Annabeth setting up and preparing for their future. After everything they've been through, they deserve it. I've read a lot of future fics where they move out to New York and try to lead normal lives, I don't see that happening, mostly because Percy alone would attract so much attention with his aura, they'd be constantly attacked. They deserve some peace and quiet and New Rome's the only place for that.

But I really enjoyed this chapter, though might have gone too overboard with the ring, wanted to show how much work Percy and Annabeth put in to keep each other safe.

Anyway, if you're kind enough to read, be ever so kind to drop a review, they are always appreciated.