Disclaimer: I do not own Rick Riordan, the Percy Jackson books, characters, series, movies, or anything else you may recognize.

Chapter Twenty-Five

We Do Canadian Things

An alarm started blaring somewhere beside me. I groaned and pulled the blanket up further over my head. Andee's arm moved to wrap around my torso, her breathing still slow and calm. I thought she was still asleep until she mumbled, "Turn it off."

I reached my arm out to try to find it, feeling different surfaces for it, but failed. "Can't find it."

She moved her arm off of me and started to shift. Before I could process what was happening, she had moved to sit on top of me. I heard her hitting her bedside table before the annoying buzzing stopped. "Mmm, finally," Andee murmured, letting herself slide down until she was lying on top of me. "Time to go back to sleep."

"That's going to be a little hard for me with you in that position," I said and she laughed, the sound vibrating against my body. It was nice to be able to sleep together without having to sneak around like we did at Camp. I gently lifted her face to mine and gave her a sweet kiss. "Good morning, love."

"Mmm, good morning," Andee said, kissing me again. I flipped her over so that I was hovering over top of her, and she moved her hands around my neck in an attempt to bring me closer. Her lips moved against mine and I let my hands wander under her thin pajama shirt to massage her increasingly warm skin.

"Andee, Percy, time to wake up," Val said, knocking on the door. Andee and I broke apart immediately to see Val standing in the doorway, cradling her stomach and looking a little less than impressed. Actually, she kind of reminded of Chiron when we caught us kissing (he had yet to catch us sneaking out of each other's cabins).

"We were just kissing!" Andee said.

"I believe you," Val said, starting to walk away. "You're a smart girl - you would have locked the door if you were doing anything else."

Andee looked back at me and grinned. "Guess we've been caught," Andee said, giggling a little. "Time to get up."

I groaned, which made her smile even more. She wiggled out from underneath me and got off the bed, revealing that she was only in her loose pajama shirt and a pair of underwear. I watched her as she found her discarded bag on the floor and dug inside it, pulling out a pair of black spandex shorts and one of her Camp Half-Blood tank tops.

"Andee, what are you doing?" I groaned as she started gathering her hair into a messy ponytail.

"I'm going for my morning run, and then I'll be doing my sun salutations," she said, picking up her running shoes from the floor and slipping her feet into them. "I have a morning routine, you should know this by now. You should come with me."

"You know, running really isn't my thing," I said.

"I know, I've seen you during the foot races," Andee teased and I gave her a look. "Come with me and maybe there will be a special reward at the end of it."

"See, now that's a good reason to run," I said, bounding out of bed and pulling on some shorts and a t-shirt. Andee led the way on the run, but about halfway through, I could feel my body giving up.

"Come on, Percy, you can do better than that!" Andee said in a sing-song voice upon hearing my labored breathing. She stopped and turned to me, letting one finger lightly drag along my chest. "Especially if you want that end reward."

"Has anyone ever told you that you're a tease?"

She cocked her head as if she was thinking and smiled. "Nope. Just you." She gave me a little peck on the lips. "Now, let's change this up. You're not going to get any kind of reward unless you can catch me."

"That's not fair."

"I'll make it more fair by taking it easy, but you have to step up your demigod abilities."

"I swear you're making those up."

"I'm not!" Andee protested. "It just takes a lot of focus to break that barrier, but after that, it's super easy! Val really worked on it with me because I needed to have full control over myself and to do that, I had to know what I was controlling." She paused for a moment as a couple walked by. She stayed quiet, following them with her eyes until they had gone far enough away that they wouldn't hear what we were discussing. "It's like summoning a power given to you by your parent – in your case, it would be the ability to control water. Think of it like that, remember that wall you felt the first time, and push through it, whatever it takes."

"Okay…"

"Don't be so doubtful," Andee said. "Now let's go!"

She took off about ten times faster than she had been going before (I thought she said she was going to take it easy?) and I shot after her, trying to summon this special power she always went on about. As I saw her getting father and farther ahead, something in me clicked and I was chasing after her a lot faster than I had thought I could run.

It didn't take long for me to catch up to her and when I was right on her heels, I used one final burst of energy and wrapped my arms around her, catching and trapping her in my arms. She started laughing hysterically as she stopped, letting me envelope her in my arms.

"See? You can do it, you just have to activate that part of your brain," Andee said, her hands holding mine around her waist.

"I have to admit, it felt pretty awesome," I said. She turned around and wrapped her arms around my neck.

"And there are so many things you haven't even touched yet," Andee said, a sparkle in her eyes. "I think we all tend to forget that as demigods, we are literally part god, and that potential is something we all need to realize if we're going to win this war."

"No more talk of the war. This is our break, remember?" I asked and she nodded. "Let's go back to your house and figure out what we're going to do today, okay?"

She agreed and we jogged back to her place and started getting ready for the day. Andee and I showered (separately, we weren't that clingy), and when I came out from mine, Andee was in the kitchen with her laptop on the counter as she went back and forth from that and cooking.

"What is my beautiful girlfriend up to?" I asked, sitting down on one of the barstools in front of the counter.

She grinned. "Well, one of my friends has just informed me that she has planned a farewell bonfire for me tomorrow night. Would you be up for that?"

"Of course," I answered, which made her smile more. "Now, if I'm not mistaken, I was promised a reward for catching you."

"I did promise that, didn't I?" she asked. "Well, that would be why I'm using my laptop in the kitchen – I'm making breakfast!"

"Really?" I asked.

"Don't sound so shocked," Andee said with a grin.

"Andee makes the best Belgian waffles," Johnny said as he walked into the kitchen, giving Andee a good morning hug and kiss on the top of her head. He went and sat down at the kitchen table, opening his own laptop and starting to type away.

"You two and your electronics!" Val said, repeating the same actions Johnny had with Andee to both Andee and Johnny. "At least Percy is polite enough to not to use electronics at breakfast."

"Hey! I have an extremely important case I need to work on and it's been bothering me all night," Johnny said.

"He's a lawyer," Andee said to me and I nodded. "And I'm making breakfast so I should be exempt from the rule!"

Val gave her a look.

"I only use the computer for school work and even that is a struggle," I said honestly.

"Dyslexia?" Val asked and I nodded. "Me too. That brat didn't get that part of the lifestyle."

"I am not a brat, I am just lucky," Andee defended herself.

"No, you're a brat. A lovable brat, but a brat," Val said with a smile. Andee stuck her tongue out at her. "Let me show you something, Percy. Come to the office." I looked at Andee for assistance but she was too busy typing and watching the waffle iron. "Don't worry, I'm not going to kill you."

Andee laughed as I followed Val out of the room. She sat down at the desk and started loading up her own computer. "There's an extra chair in the closet if you want to pull that up." I did as she asked. She loaded up a blank word document. "I had a hard time with school growing up because of the dyslexia, as did Andee's mom, so when I was in university, I made this program." She pointed at the screen. "It will translate Ancient Greek into English and vice versa. I even put together a keyboard with Ancient Greek letters to make it easier. It will also accurately transcribe spoken word, so you can just say what you want and it will type it out for you. I can make you a copy, if you want, for school."

"That's actually really cool," I said. "Thank you – that would be really helpful. I really appreciate that."

"It's no problem," Val said, before turning in her chair to face me. "I also wanted to apologize to you, for how I treated you when you arrived. I'm not making excuses, but the Athena/Poseidon conflict runs deep and it's hard to get over at times."

"Annabeth was like that too at first," I said, remembering when I first went to camp.

"It's a weird thing," Val said. "I really worry about Andee. I'm not trying to be rude or anything, but I just want her to be safe and happy, and I don't know how much that is possible with you in the picture."

"I want the same thing. I wish this Prophecy didn't exist, but I got to meet the most beautiful girl that I couldn't be more in love with," I told her honestly.

"I'm glad," Val said. "You seem like a really good kid, and I do look forward to getting to know you better. Andee's happy and that is the most important thing in all this."

"I agree."

"Can you guys hurry up? The waffles are ready and they're going to get cold!" Andee shouted.

"Come on," Val said, struggling a little to stand up.

"Do you want help or anything?" I asked, not really sure what to do.

"I'm good, thank you," she said, leading the way back to the kitchen.

I couldn't have been happier or shocked when I saw what Andee had done. She had made all the waffles blue.

"I remember you told me that your mom liked making blue food and I wanted to make you feel at home and comfortable while you're here," Andee said, a huge smile on her face.

"Gods, I love you," I said, wrapping her in a tight hug before sitting down to eat. Johnny was right – Andee made a mean waffle. She also drowned hers in syrup, which couldn't have been healthy.

"So, I have decided the perfect Canadian thing to do today," Andee said, once everyone was finishing up.

"Oh? And what it that?"

"Playland at the PNE!" Andee exclaimed. "It's an amusement park stationed right in the heart of Vancouver and it's been around for over fifty years! It's so much fun and hello, what could be more Canadian?"

"A lumberjack convention?" I suggested and she glared at me.

"What do you think of my idea?" Andee asked, ignoring what I'd said.

"Sounds like fun," I said.

She smiled excitedly. "Let's go!" She bounded away from the table, running back to her room and grabbing my hand to take me with her. She quickly stuff a couple things in her bag – sunscreen, a hat, her camera – and then led the way into the garage. I just followed behind as she got into a gold convertible VW Beetle. I should have guessed.

"Your aunt – daughter of Athena, goddess of wisdom – is okay with you driving with only a learner's permit?" I asked.

"I've been driving since I was ten, remember?" she asked. "Who do you think taught me?"

Right. Survival School with Valkyrie Floros.

It took an hour and once we got there, it was insane. They had a whole bunch of rides – including a wooden rollercoaster that had been there since 1958 – games, and food. They even had a rollercoaster that had these logs going through water with two major drops, soaking Andee and I completely.

We had so much fun going from ride to ride, game to game (Andee and I both won quite a few prizes – one of the few perks of being a demigod), and we even went through the haunted house. Andee squeezed my hand tightly as we walked through, and jumped at every loud or sudden noise. If I'm being honest, my free hand was wrapped around Riptide the entire time, and I almost attacked a couple of the actors.

By the time we finally made it back home, it was already getting dark. Val and Johnny ordered pizza for everyone – they had already packing all of the cooking utensils – and Andee and I took over the living room, curling up on the couch to watch a movie. We must have fallen asleep because I woke up to a scream of terror in my ear. Actually, I think I may have had a minor heart attack, and that's what actually woke me up.

"Andee, it's just a dream. Wake up," I said softly, shaking her a little to try and get her to wake up. It didn't work. She kept screaming and flailing her limbs as more and more cuts and bruises appeared on her pale skin. "Andee, please," I practically begged. It was killing me to see her like this.

"She won't wake up," Val said calmly from behind me. "She has to fight it on her own."

"I've saved her from this before!" I kind of snapped at Val.

"You know it's not that I don't like you, like I said earlier, you seem like a good kid, but it's my job to protect Andee. She's my daughter and I'll do whatever that takes. Why do you think we're really moving to New York? It's not because I was born there – I was four when I left, I barely remember it. But she needs to be near more demigods and you, and to be able to protect her, I have to be there. If that means uprooting my life, I don't care because she's the most important thing in my life."

"I'm trying to protect her too," I said. "And I will with my dying breath."

"Just remember, Percy, you break her heart and I will break you."

I didn't doubt she could for a moment.

When Andee calmed down, Val left the room to go back to bed. I got back on the couch with Andee, moving a little so we'd both be comfier, but I had trouble sleeping after that. I couldn't get the image of her screaming and being hurt out of my head, and what Kronos had said to me.

The girl is mine. There is nothing you or anyone can do to protect her.