~~~~~~~~~~~~ 15 ~~~~~~~~~

I blinked, trying to feel more alive. Once a year, I make the effort to get up in time to join Annabeth's siblings for her birthday. Things were still awkward around Annabeth since the whole Luke-fused-with-Kronos situation, but I wasn't going to ignore her birthday. I looked around the Camp - it was still silent, no one else was awake yet.

I waited for a while, then a while longer. I frowned - by now, one of Annabeth's siblings should've come out from the cabin to bring me in. I walked up to the cabin door, but I didn't hear anything from inside. What was going on?

I went to search the dining pavilion - maybe they had started even earlier and were at breakfast? But no one was there. It was like I was the only one awake at Camp. I went back to the cabins and found Annabeth sitting outside my cabin, eating a bagel.

"Truce?" She called to me as I got close, tossing me a second bagel. "No talking about you-know-who today, and it's just like old times?"

"Truce." I agreed, sitting next to her and munching on my bagel. "What happened to the birthday tradition stuff?"

She shrugged. "Everyone's still in mourning, Percy. We just lost people and -" She shrugged. "It didn't seem like the time for birthday celebration stuff. I took my birthday off the cabin calendar, didn't want people to worry about it."

"Oh." I didn't really know what to say. "Did your dad send anything, or…."

She shrugged.

"Got it." I said, staring out across the green as I took another bite. "He didn't remember."

"Didn't expect him to." She said, hugging her knees to her chest. She put her head against her knees as she muttered. "Didn't expect a gift for the day I ruined his life."

"You didn't ruin his life." I protested. "You, uh, changed it."

She lifted her head to give me a look that clearly meant she did not believe that a bit. "Ok." I admitted to myself that going further was probably more dangerous than a field of landmines, so I changed topics. "How about…. We skip all the Camp tradition stuff, go into New York, and have a normal teenage birthday? No talking about monsters or wars or prophecies or whatever."

She gave me a small, shaky smile but nodded and stood up. She went to get Blackjack ready and I went to ask Chiron for permission to leave Camp.

I found him in the Big House, yawning as he left his room. "Percy!" He seemed surprised. "How are you?"

"I'm alright. Uh, I was hoping to take Annabeth into the city for the day?"

He gave me a tired smile. "I think that's an excellent idea. I fear she will not be able to have a happy birthday here, with so many reminders of Luke and the other friends she's lost."

I nodded. "Yeah, that was the idea. Try to have a fairly normal birthday, you know? A mortal birthday."

Chiron's face twitched. "I'm not sure Annabeth's ever had a mortal birthday. Yes, you have my permission, but please make sure to take weapons with you. You can try to forget who you are for today, but the monsters won't forget."

"I know. I'll take care of her." I promised him. Chiron took a breath and I realized that maybe he was more worried about me - I'd had far less training than Annabeth and the fate of the world may rest on my shoulders. I decided not to say anything - I had permission to leave, and that was what I came for. I headed out to find Annabeth and Blackjack.

Soon, we were soaring above Manhattan on Blackjack. Annabeth was riding behind me, so I couldn't see her face, but from the way she held one hand out to feel the wind, well, I figured she was enjoying herself. I took her on a tour of the city - wherever she wanted to go. She went crazy talking about all the different architecture we were seeing from up here. I'm not a building nerd like she is, but I have to admit, New York is just a great city, and it's even better from the sky. But we could've been in the middle of Nebraska for all I cared - seeing Annabeth smile for the first time in days, and gush about something… well, that was all I needed. Finally, when Blackjack was tired, I had him land outside a donut shop so I could get him some fuel. Annabeth got an iced coffee and we headed off to the park to just hang out.

It was the first day Annabeth and I had gotten to really just hang out in…. A long while. It was nice, and reminded me why she was one of my best friends. We could talk about almost anything. We steered clear of demigod subjects today, and instead talked about movies, school, music and things like that. Annabeth has never gone skateboarding, so I promised I'd try to teach her someday. Chiron keeps the DVD player at Camp well stocked with movies for everyone to watch, so Annabeth wasn't totally out of the loop on some great films, though she hadn't seen any new ones recently.

We stopped to grab some pizza for lunch, then went back to my place to hang out.

"Mom!" I called as I walked in the apartment. "I brought Annabeth."

My mom came running out and crushed me in a bear hug. "Percy! Thank the gods, you're alright."

"I did call you when the fight was over." I reminded her, as she proceeded to try to crush my ribs.

"I know, but I just wanted to be sure you were actually in one piece." She pulled away from me and looked me over. "You are, aren't you?"

"Yeah, Mom, I'm fine."

"And you, dear?" My mom had thankfully turned her attention to Annabeth.

"Yes, Ms. Jackson, I'm fine."

"And you two are done fighting." Silence stretched between Annabeth and I. "I see." My mom agreed.

"We've called a truce for the day." Annabeth explained.

"It's Annabeth's birthday." I added.

"Oh! Happy birthday!" My mom exclaimed, then continued to fuss at Annabeth, who was blushing.

"I'll make the cupcakes, you two enjoy your day, ok?"

Annabeth and I went to my bedroom. "You're really lucky, you know that?" She said as I closed the door and she flopped onto my bed.

"I know." I assured her. "I've got the best mom, and the best friends in the world."

She looked up at me and seemed to realize I was talking about her. She blushed and looked away.

"Oh! I almost forgot your gift." I handed her the bag my mom had helped me wrap earlier.

"You got me a gift?" Annabeth seemed stunned - I wasn't sure why, she always sent me a birthday gift, even when she was in California.

"Yeah, it isn't much." I admitted as she opened it. My mom and I had gone to a used bookstore and picked a couple books on architecture, as well as one on travel that just had good pictures. Annabeth traced the covers like they were brand new.

"Thank you. This means a lot, Percy."

"Hey, you're my friend, Wise Girl." She smiled at me and I felt all funny inside. "You know, we never got a chance to see that movie." I reminded her of the day she first came to see me outside of Camp, before Rachel and I were involved in a school bombing. "Do you want to do that now?"

She glanced at me. "Would your mom mind? I mean, she's making cupcakes."

"Cupcakes can wait." I assured her.

After several assurances from my mom that Annabeth was not being rude by leaving so soon, Annabeth and I were off for a movie, with promises of blue cupcakes and sprinkles when we got back.

"Thank you." She told me as the lights in the movie theater went down. "I… I was kinda dreading today, but it's been a blast."

"Oh… uh, yeah, no problem."

She flashed me a grin as she tossed a piece of popcorn into her mouth, and I sent a prayer to the gods that I'd get to do this again next year.