The days after the battle weren't easy, but being home and feeling safe made Annabeth feel better. The burning guilt in her chest subsided until it was more of a lingering ember. Over the past couple of days, Annabeth had kept herself busy by keeping the peace between the camps with Piper and Reyna while also secretly working on her own private project.

Today was the day the Romans left. More than that, it was the day Annabeth and Percy would be heading to New York for three days. She had sent an Iris message to her dad, who immediately booked the Chase family tickets to New York. It had been so long since she had seen her dad, and it had been even longer since Percy had seen his family.

As the dawn broke, Annabeth tiptoed across the floor of Cabin Three and grabbed her backpack. Ever since they had come back from Tartarus, Percy and Annabeth found it hard to be alone at night. She did her best to be discrete, but she had a suspicion Chiron knew, but he didn't say anything. Her siblings, bless them, kept their mouths shut too.

As she headed for the door, she took a quick look at Percy's face. He looked so content and peaceful. It was hard to imagine him charging into battle. She kissed his forehead and then put on her Yankees Cap. Even though she was now invisible, she was quiet when exiting the cabin. She didn't want to catch the attention of the harpies, or worse, nosey campers.

Annabeth walked through camp, and when she reached the beach, she took off her hat and placed it in her bag, which she rested on the ground. She kicked off her flipflops and put her feet in the sand. She stared out into the sparkling water that glistened the colour of Percy's eyes. When Percy was still missing, Annabeth would come to the ocean to feel connected to him. It made her feel better, albeit momentarily.

Annabeth's eyes fell to the tide that softly lapped at her feet. In the reflection of the water, she could have sworn she was staring at her past self. Her hair was longer, her cheeks were chubbier, and the exhaustion in her eyes was replaced with reckless determination. Annabeth remembered a day, years ago, where she had stood on the shores and watched with curiosity (and, okay, a little bit of fear) as the sky warred with the waves. Lightning struck, thunder boomed, and storm clouds boomed. None of the weather touched the camp itself, but Annabeth could see it brewing, as if it was warning her that there was more to come. She had heard rumours of a theft and wondered what the connection was. Of course, she would find out, thanks to the boy who would arrive at camp the next day with a Minotaur horn in his hand.

Annabeth chuckled to herself as a wave of nostalgia washed over her, just as the image of her former self receded back into the water. It was such a dangerous time, and yet, she looked at it fondly. Some of it anyway. She realized that some of it might be pre-emptive nostalgia, making her long for Camp Half-Blood before she even left it. She had been at camp for a long time. It was her home. She was going to miss it when she went away to New Rome for University.

Before she got too caught up in her emotions, she walked back to her bag and pulled out her roll of blueprints. Build something that is worthy of their sacrifices, her mother had told her.

She unrolled her blueprint for the project she labelled 'αίθουσα των πεσμένων,' or 'Hall of the Fallen' in English. It was rough, but she planned on fleshing out her ideas throughout her senior year and into college. Maybe she would get inspired by New Rome. She had tons of concepts, but she had plenty more buildings she wanted to design anyway. The valley would be able to fit them; she was sure of it.

"Hey there," a voice said from behind her, "Was I snoring that loud?"

Annabeth tried not to smile like a moron. She rolled up her blueprints and wheeled around to face Percy. "No, but the drool on the pillow was pretty gross."

Percy's smile radiated warmth, and the wind blew his long black hair out of his face. He hadn't had the chance to get it cut since waking up from his Hera-induced coma, so it rested just above his eyes. When the breeze came by, it was swept to the side and towards the back of his head. "Cute," he said, as he took a couple of steps towards her. "What have you got there?" he asked, motioning to the blueprints.

"Oh, nothing," Annabeth said, waving the question off, "Just some stuff I wanna build when we're here next summer."

Percy's eyes lit up at the thought of next summer. "You're assuming we don't have to go off and save the world again." He sounded upbeat, but she wondered if Percy was more worried about it than he let on.

"I have a good feeling about it," Annabeth replied.

"Well, I know better than to question you," Percy said as he stepped past her and looked towards the sun's reflection on the water. Annabeth spun around to face the same direction as him, the couple now standing shoulder-to-shoulder. "I could use a nice quiet summer of instructing sword fighting," Percy admitted.

Annabeth wrapped her free hand around Percy's waist and kissed his cheek. Percy followed her lead and put his arm around her shoulders. After fighting for so long, Annabeth felt all her worries fade into the background, at least for now. Right now, she was home. She felt a bit uneasy about leaving her home, but she had Percy by her side. They could face any challenge together, whether it be Tartarus or an assignment deadline. Plus, she'd be back. She would build.

She took a deep breath, and Annabeth felt her entire body relax as all the pressure and stress that had been building up over the past few months melted away. Her eyes wandered up towards Percy, and then she directed them back to the horizon, a smile spreading across her face. In silence, Percy and Annabeth stood with their feet in the sand, watching the sunrise and a new dawn break.