(Time skip: Maddie age14)
At 10 o'clock in the morning the sun was already beating down on the camp. It was only the beginning of summer and already the sun decided that it needed to be blazing hot no matter what.
She had brought her camera along which had made the waiting easier. There's only so many angles of dormant trees during the winter. So she started playing around with different angles and certain settings, anticipating the day she was going to be able to photograph a steller specimen.
It was still another thirty minutes of waiting before she saw the figure making its way over the hill of Camp Half-Blood and down towards her.
She let out an excited yelp and stuffed her camera back in its case before running towards the figure. The closer she got the more she beamed with excitement. His lanky body, his pale skin, his sunny blond hair, his favorite t-shirt, all came into detail as she approached him.
"Thomas!" She practically rammed into him as she gave him a hug. He stumbled back from the impact.
"Woah there Maddie! What's up shortcake?" Thomas said, holding back laughter.
"Shortcake…? I'll have you know that I grew an inch since the end of last summer!"
"Seriously!? Soo that would make you...4'11" then, correct?"
"You still remember my height from my last medical exam!? That's unfair…" Maddie pouted.
Thomas laughed at her reaction. "It's my job as an aspiring doctor to remember everything about my patients! Especially the ones I like." He gave her a wink and her smile returned.
After everything that had happened last summer, Marcus had reluctantly agreed to let her start sparring. She was nowhere near the level she wanted to be at by a long shot. But compared to the previous year when Marcus had refused to let her even touch a weapon, it was progress. Due to this, Maddie had stayed true to her promise to Thomas and they had spent every meal and bonfire together, while also finding time in between her activities to hang out to study more about the gods. The two had become increasingly close. At first, Maddie had felt bad about not spending time with Marcus and the others, but they had started disappearing at random times. Always saying that they needed to go do some secret training. They all refused to let Maddie come with them but always returned with some sort of gift for her, such as a candy bar or some stickers. Just some small little item to show that they still cared about her and hadn't forgotten about her even though they would not budge in telling her where they had gone or done. So, spending so much time with Thomas had made her feel less alone and less worried about her friends. It had worked out for the rest of the summer.
Over the winter months, Maddie had found solace in taking up learning basic medicine and medical procedures. Whenever her friends disappeared for their mysterious "training", Maddie had spent time pouring over medical books and practicing how to bandage wounds. She was still clumsy at it, but she was confident that if a crisis happened she could at least stall long enough for professionals to arrive. She couldn't wait to brag about her efforts to Thomas.
The two began walking back to camp together. Maddie offered to carry one of his luggage bags for him and he reluctantly agreed, only giving her a small backpack to carry.
"Were you waiting all morning for me?" Thomas asked.
"Oh yes! I wanted to be the first to say hi to you!"
Thomas blinked in surprise at her and then a smile spread across his face. "Wow. Heh...well thank you Maddie, I appreciate it. How's camp been?"
"Really good! I've started learning how to do some basic medicine!" She proudly exclaimed.
"Really?!" Thomas's face filled with surprise. "That's awesome Maddie! You and I can work side by side! It'll be perfect to have you help me out. Man, I can't wait to show off my cutest new assistant."
He ruffled her hair with his hand, causing the short bob cut that had grown in to become an unorganized mess. Maddie laughed, beaming with glee that she had gained Thomas's approval and support.
"Oo! I've also been able to do a lot more training with Marcus too! He's been a huge help to me, along with the others of course. We even started thinking of some strategies the two of us can use together! They're not perfect yet but since Chiron has instructed that we keep training together, it makes sense that we would try to come up with some battle strategies that we can use in the future!"
"...I see…" His smile faded a bit but immediately appeared again, "hey Maddie! Do you wanna see about making some combo moves together too? I bet training with the same person all the time gets repetitive and it could get to a point where you've learned all you can from him. It would be fun to mix it up don't you think?"
"Ooo! You're right! I'll talk to Marcus about it!"
"Sounds like a plan. That way too we'll be able to spend even more time together! I'm sure that the two of us together can be an unstoppable team! We'll be the best team Camp Half-Blood has ever seen!"
"Yeah! And once I get Apollo to accept me then we'll be even more unstoppable! Like brother and sister!"
"Ah...haha, right. Well, I look forward to that day. I've missed being with you."
"Same here! There's so much we need to catch up on! Also, I realized a lot of questions about Apollo I forgot to ask last time. Like what his favorite band was in the 90's so I can listen to them on repeat. And if he prefers sunrise or sunset, because depending on the answer I can make sure that I stay to watch each and every one!"
"Maddie, I keep telling you. I can tell you about as much as any history book on Greek Mythology can, I've never met the guy myself. I can't really help with those questions."
"I know I know. But I figured that since you're his son that maybe you'll just know, right?"
"Do you know those answers about your dad?"
"Hmm...no...I guess not. But still! Even your best guess is better than nothing!"
They arrived at the cabins and other campers said hello and welcomed Thomas back to camp. At one point Thomas's eyes narrowed and he casually pushed Maddie's shoulder and forced her to move backwards. He then moved to stand in front of her.
"Thomas? What's up?" Maddie asked to his back.
"Hm? Oh! Nothing." Thomas looked over his shoulder and smiled at her. "I'm still not a fan of how some of the campers look at you. Especially since you're in high school now...Don't worry about it. Just stay behind me for a bit, alright?"
Maddie's eyebrows scrunched in confusion but she didn't argue. Instead, her eyes glanced nervously to either side of them at some of the campers. While none of them were giving her the same cat-like grins that she still vividly remembered from Michael, she couldn't deny that a few of them seemed to be watching her for a few extra moments after she passed. She reached up to play with her hair but slapped her own hand away. Kelly had pointed out the nervous tick to her and ever since she had been trying to force herself to break it.
There's no need to worry. Thomas is here. He'll protect you if anyone bothers me…"
"Alrighty we're here." They stopped in front of the Apollo cabin and Maddie gave Thomas his backpack back.
"Thanks for welcoming me Maddie. It made me really happy to see your cute face so early in the morning." He booped her on the nose and she smiled happily, trying to shake off her previous emotions.
"You keep saying that but it's not true." She retaliated by sticking her tongue out at him.
"What? Being cute? Someone's gotta say it! I rather it me then someone like you know who." He gave an exaggerated face of disgust and Maddie burst out laughing.
"I'm gonna take care of my stuff but should we meet back up for lunch?"
"Huh? Oh! Well...I was going to have lunch with Marcus and Kelly and everyone because afterwards we were going to go to the woods and practice tactical strategies."
His smile dipped a bit at her statement. "For real? I was hoping to at least steal you for a day at least. They got you all year! C'mon, you can skip out on them one day to hang out and catch up, can't you?"
Maddie frowned and kicked at the ground. "I hadn't thought about it like that...I guess you're right." She glanced towards the woods and then back at Thomas. "Alright! I'll talk to them! I really wanna hang out with you! You're my friend too!" Her smile returned, as bright and cheerful as ever.
"I look forward to hanging out with you then. I'll meet you at the pavilion around 12, alright?"
"Will do!"
She gave him one last "welcome back to camp" hug and ran off.