She's back... And she's moving in less than twenty-four hours! You're lucky you're getting a chapter, but I kind of promised it to a very smart young lady who guessed where Percy and Annabeth were going - you're going places, Miss Mandi! - and I know, I promised I'd have it up by last three days ago, but... Stuff happened. Anyway, I just got paid to sit in someone else's house for an hour or so and write - it's called babysitting, and it rocks - so here's the chapter! Enjoy it, it's over three thousand words long!e

Percy and Annabeth sat under the canopy. There was silence, but it was not an awkward silence. It was the silence of companionship, the silence that only those who have achieved true love can manage.

Percy broke it.

"We aren't talking about anything," he said, "while we're on our date. We are going to be normal teenagers on a normal outing with no monsters or cancer or anything."

"Okay. We aren't going to talk about it on our date while we're walking - uh, where again?"

No such luck. "Annie, we are going to Ukraine."

"Duh."

"I'm not telling! Shut up or you'll ruin the surprise!"

"Ok."

Three seconds later-

"So, where did you say we were going, again?"

"I didn't."

"Oh."

Two and a half seconds later-

"So-"

"Annie!"

"Ok, ok, sheesh."

Percy looked away in mock anger, but as soon as he snuck a look at his girlfriend (who was peeking at him from where she had turned away in mock-hurt) they both cracked up.

"Why haven't we done anything all summer?" Percy asked wistfully. "We wasted two whole months."

"We've had stuff to deal with," Annabeth said.

"Taboo," Percy replied.

"What?"

"You are nearing the danger zone."

"Oh. Whoops. Sorry."

Festus touched down, and Annabeth looked around, startled.

"We're here already?"

Percy shrugged. "I guess Leo's upgrades really worked."

"Well, we'll give him a five out of five for efficiency, zero out of five for ambience." Annabeth picked up a stray bolt. "Think Calypso would mind the pigsty?"

"She did seem a bit vain when I was there," Percy mused. "But Leo would never fall for someone so vain. Maybe she's changed."

Annabeth shrugged, indifferent. "As long as you don't care, I don't care. But if she hurts the imp..." Annabeth pounded a fist against her palm as she descended from the dragon.

Percy snickered. "You were threatening his life less than two hours ago."

"That's different," Annabeth replied.

"Oh? How so?"

"I... Oh, shut up."

Percy laughed.

They entered a large, overgrown tunnel. It looked like nothing special. And then-

"Oh, Percy!" Annabeth gasped.

They stood in front of a lush, green passageway. Two steel tracks cut straight through the tunnel.

"Welcome to Klevan, Rivnens'ka-oblast, Ukraine," Percy said. "We're re-trying the Tunnel of Love."

Annabeth threw her arms around him. "You remembered!"

"How could I forget?" he asked teasingly. "You made it into such an awkward situation."

Annabeth smacked him. "That was Hephaestus' fault."

"Oh, no, it was not," Percy countered. "I distinctly remember you saying that you'd never go on the 'Thrill Ride O' Love' with me."

"That's what you choose to remember?" she spluttered. "How about the giant spiders? Or the tidal wave? Or the nearly dying?"

"Or your freakout being broadcasted live to Olympus?" Percy continued. "Or you saying how stupid you were for not realizing that theta was the mark of Hephaestus?"

"That's delta, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said, flicking him on the back of the head.

"The point is, I remember it all, except for the stuff that I should probably know anyway," he said. "Come on. Let's just walk."

"Where are the two of them?" Jason asked. There was no question as to whom he was referring.

Hazel set a fresh key like pie down on the table. "They're on a date," she announced satisfactorily.

"A date?" Jason repeated, incredulous.

Hazel gave him the stink-eye. "He's not an invalid, Jason."

"I didn't say that," he said.

"But you meant it."

"I - yeah, I kind of did."

"They went to Ukraine," Leo said, offhand.

"Ukraine?" asked several voices simultaneously.

"Yes, Ukraine," said Hazel, almost smugly. "And if they went where I think they went, you'll think Percy's awfully cute."

Piper sighed romantically. "They went to the Tunnel of Love, didn't they?"

Hazel's smile grew. "I think so."

Leo furrowed his brow. "Do you have every date spot in the world memorized?"

"Thanks to me mum, they're memorized, categorized, accessorized, and color-coded," Piper said. "Romantic sighs automatically included."

"Jeez, your mom sucks sometimes," Leo said sympathetically.

"Yeah. But I just have to be grateful that I have both parents," she answered. "Most of us aren't so lucky."

The orphans at the table shared a look, save for Jason, who had heard only rottenness about his slacker alcoholic of a mother.

"I guess," Leo finally said.

The subject was dropped.

Leo stood at the forges, making noise. The anvil crashed down on the plate over and over as Leo tried to work the wire to be the exact thinness he needed to rescue his chica.

Nyssa poked her head in and snorted. "Some clothes?"

Leo looked down, and, to his utter mortification, discovered that his fire powers hadn't been so convenient as to leave his underwear on this time. Luckily, Nyssa couldn't see anything that important behind the rock slab upon which the plate had been laid.

"Shut up," he grumbled. "What do you want?"

"Curfew's in ten," she answered. "And Percy and Annabeth are back."

Leo dropped the anvil onto the plate and made to leave. The crash stopped him in his tracks. "Oh. Oops." He picked it up to discover that the wire was now the perfect size. He whooped. "Look, Nys!" He grabbed the wire and bounced to her side.

Nyssa didn't look. In fact, she had her eyes covered.

"Uh, Leo? Maybe some pants?"

Percy and Annabeth walked hand in hand towards the forges, Festus creaking behind them. Annabeth leaned over and kissed his cheek.

"Thanks, Perce."

"Perce?" he snorted. "No prob, Annie."

Annie smacked him. "Shut it."

"Some lovebirds the two of you are," echoed a voice from the forges. "Hitting? Name-calling? Tsk, tsk, tsk."

They entered the forges. Leo was nowhere to be seen.

"Leo?" called Annabeth, walking a bit further in.

Percy followed. "Leo?"

They faced each other, confused. "You did hear him, right?"

"Yes..."

"Yaaaaaah!" screamed a suit of armor, jumping out at them. Within four seconds, Riptide was at the armor's helmet and Annabeth's dagger had found a chink in the arm and sliced.

The suit of armor froze. "Ow!"

Percy lowered Riptide. "Leo?"

Annabeth slid out her dagger. "Aw, dammit."

"You doofus, Leo," Percy sighed. "Thanks for letting us borrow Festus, he's a bit creaky now, let's go to the infirmary please."

The armor marched stiffly to the door.

"Will won't be able to treat you with that armor on," Percy warned.

"I'm not actually wearing anything underneath," the suit said.

Annabeth snickered. "Burn all your clothes off again?"

The suit of armor creaked its head yes. Percy sighed again. "Fine. You go to the infirmary, and I'll go get you a pair of pants."

As the suit of armor tried to walk casually across the dirt path leading back up to the main part of camp, Annabeth called, "Your ambience needs work!"

The suit of armor did a one-eighty. "I'll have you know that that cloth is the most durable, sturdy, flameproof and altitude-proof cloth in the garment industry! It's beautiful!"

Heads turned to see the screaming suit of armor. Hazel poked her head out of the kitchen door, holding a spatula, and cracked up. "Leo?"

"I - oh - curfew's in ten minutes, young lady," it cried, pointing at her. "You, too!" it called to the watching campers. "I, Sir Curfew, report to the great shipmaster and robot builder himself, Leo Valdez! You will be on KP for a week!" The campers scattered, but Hazel remained there, laughing openly at Sir Curfew, now snickering himself as he creaked towards the infirmary.

Percy entered the Hephaestus cabin and keyed in the code to bring up Leo's quarters. He parted the curtain and walked toward the dresser where he knew Leo kept his clothing.

The last time he had been in this room... It was a change of plan with Beckendorf.

The final change in their final plan.

Percy swallowed and sat down heavily on the bed. He stared blankly at the wall in front of him. A photograph stared back at him. The campers who had cleaned out the cabin must not have been able to get the blue of Silena's favorite blouse or Beckendorf's big, calloused hand in her slim one off the wall. Knowing the big mechanic, he'd probably used some super-secret compound he'd invented himself.

Percy shook himself mentally and stood up. He was through feeling guilty about his death.

Maybe.

He opened the drawer and pulled out some clothes. A piece of paper fluttered to the floor. He bent to pick it up, but something caught his eye. He froze.

His name.

He unfolded the paper. Sketched out in great detail was a bionic arm. Color-coded wires on the inside of the sleek metal arm corresponded to different nerves in the shoulder. The prosthetic seemed to be permanently attaching and water-proof.

His name was written in Leo's cramped handwriting along the top.

Percy had refolded the paper and replaced it in the drawer when a hand appeared under a shifted pair of jeans. Percy jumped backward, but when the disembodied hand didn't move, Percy bent to pick it up.

It was a flesh-colored glove.

Percy slid it over his own hand.

It fit perfectly.

It matched his skin tone, his nail shape, heck, he'd bet it had the same fingerprints! Even that one stupid freckle one the base of his pointer finger was there.

Percy replaced everything and sat back on his heels, shaken.

Wow.

He picked up the clothes and hurried out.

When Percy reached the infirmary, Sir Curfew was arguing with Will.

"I am not an idiot!"

"No one ever said you were," Will sighed.

"Yes, you did."

"Okay, Leo."

"You did!"

Will lost it. "All I said is that you were stupid to prank Percy or Annabeth! Especially after-" he dropped his voice "-Tartarus!"

Percy stepped forward and cleared his throat. He handed the pile of clothes to Leo. The latter blushed and walked as fast as he could to the bathroom.

Will looked apologetic. "I-" he began.

Percy sighed, cutting him off. "Forget it."

There was silence, which was broken by a crash from the bathroom and a string of Spanish curses.

Will shifted uncomfortably. "How're you holding up?" he asked.

"I'm great," Percy lied. "I'm hardly feeling the effects at all."

Will seemed relieved. "Oh, good."

Leo emerged with a new bruise forming on his forehead, still muttering under his breath.

"Shut up, Leo," Will said. "Sit your butt down."

Leo sat his butt down.

Will pulled Leo's arm away from his body and looked at it. A four-inch-long cut nearly circled his arm. "You idiot." He grabbed a swabbing pad and poured more rubbing alcohol over it. He smushed it unceremoniously against Leo's arm.

Leo yelped. "Will!" He tried to wrench his arm away, but Will held it firm. "You're reaping your rewards," he maintained. "Shut it."

After applying nectar, Will told Leo to go "lick his wounds". The three boys went their separate ways.

Hazel turned on her heel and went back into the kitchen. Yeah, curfew was in ten minutes, but there was no shot the harpies would eat her. She was almost done, anyway.

The broiler beeped, and Hazel took the now-caramelized layer of rum cake out of the oven. She poured half a cup of batter straight over it and returned it to the broiler. She set the timer for two minutes and went to go wash some dishes.

When the oven beeped, she poured the final layer of batter over the cake and began a simple rum-chocolate ganache. Hot heavy cream and chopped bittersweet chocolate, unflavored gelatin for a shiny sheen and peach rum for a heady kick. She stirred until everything melted, becoming a soft, smooth mixture.

The cake was finished, set aside to cool, and Hazel washed the remainder of her dishes. She chuckled softly to herself as she remembered Sir Curfew. The laugh echoed in the deserted kitchen.

The door banged open and Percy swung in on the door handle. "I had a feeling I'd find you here," he said. "What's this?" He sniffed. "Smells like... Rum. And lots of vanilla. And... Soymilk?"

Hazel laughed. "I'd be impressed, but you're reading the labels of the ingredients on the counter."

Percy pretended to be affronted. "Are you insinuating that I'd lie to you?"

"Uh... Yes."

Percy smiled. "I thought you were. Anyhoo, I want you to yell at Leo to stop trying to scare people. He ends up hurting himself."

"What?"

"We came in to return Festus and say thanks, and he was dressed in a suit of armor because he had burnt all of his clothes off. He camouflaged himself with the other suits of armor, and he shouted at us. He didn't reckon for the fact that he was pranking two demigods who've been fighting since they were twelve."

"Top in their class, too."

"Nah. There... Well, there was one better."

Hazel left the subject alone. "How was your date?"

"Awesome," Percy said. "I think she really liked it. Either that or she didn't think her boyfriend could be so sentimental."

Hazel laughed. "You did go to the Tunnel of Love, right?"

"I'd ask you how you guessed, but you always seem to know."

"Pretend like I'm an old granny. I am seventy years older than you." She hunched her back and hobbled around the kitchen. "Here, bubbeleh," she said squeakily. "I made you some cookies. You like cookies, ja?"

"And grannies know everything?"

"Sixth sense, boychik!" She dropped the accent. "What I really want to know is, why the Tunnel of Love? She'd be so happy with a museum... There are so many castles, or architectural places she'd love... Why'd you pick such a clichéd spot?"

Percy sighed, remembering. "We were twelve, and on our first quest. Young, naïve, Annabeth hated me, I thought she was spoiled... We were a good team. Grover had to stop us killing each other a couple times."

"Go on."

"We were sent on a side quest. Ares had been on a date with Aphrodite, and she left her scarf on a ride at Waterland. Not the most romantic place to take your girlfriend, but I suppose she'd liked it. Anyway, Ares knew that Hephaestus had wired the Thrill Ride O' Love to broadcast straight to Olympus if anyone went on it, and so they hot-tailed it out of there. He wasn't enough of a man to take it. Annabeth first made a fuss about going on the Thrill Ride O' Love with me, of all people." He put on a falsetto. "Me go with you on the Thrill Ride O' Love? What if somebody saw?"

Hazel laughed.

"So I was all set to go alone, and Annabeth decided to be a martyr and come with me. Well, as soon as the ride started, lo and behold, there was a crash of thunder, a flash of lightning, giant, mechanical spiders, and television cameras. I controlled some water, Annie did some fancy angle-math thingy, we crashed into a whale billboard because she got us maximum - read: too much - momentum. It was an awkward subject for awhile. Now I just think we were cute."

"You were!" Hazel said, getting up and walking to her cake. "You two were the perfect couple from the start."

Percy followed her. "I guess so. My birthday's on Sunday," he said suddenly.

Hazel turned to look at him. "I know that."

"I'm going to be eighteen."

"I know that, too."

"And Annabeth's turning eighteen in March."

"Percy, where are you going with this?"

"You're a granny, you know this stuff. Would Annabeth want me to propose to her, or not because of the uncertainty of my life continuing?"

Hazel slid the cake onto a wire rack. She placed the rack over a large Pyrex pan. "If I knew Frank was dying, definitely dying, and his life was not uncertain like yours is, I'd definitely want him to propose to me. I would want him to propose when he wanted to propose whether he was going to last fifty years longer or two."

"I had a feeling you'd say that." He took a deep breath. "Now I just don't know if I want to."

Hazel lifted the glass bowl of ganache. "You don't want to give her the hope if you don't know if you'll die."

"Yes."

She poured the ganache over the cake, considering her words carefully. This was the first time they had talked so candidly about Percy's sickness.

"Buy the ring, and wait for the right moment. Wait for the doctor to tell you that the chemo is working or that things seem hopeful. And if that never comes, propose when you break the news to her."

"Wait until I have a bit more certainty?"

"Yes." She slid the cake onto a platter.

Percy considered this. "Thanks."

"No problem." She turned and smiled at him. "Now, nearly birthday boy, you want some baumkuchen?" She sliced the cake, revealing beautiful layers, created by the caramelization of the very top bit of each layer.

Percy's eyes widened. "That's beautiful. What is it?"

"Baumkuchen. German for "tree cake". It's because of the layers, see? It looks like the rings of a tree."

"It's beautiful," he said, "but I don't do alcohol."

"There is only a splash in the cake and the ganache," Hazel countered. "You wouldn't get drunk if you ate the whole thing."

"No. The thought of having alcohol... I can't stomach that. I don't want to go near the stuff."

Hazel shrugged. "Okay. To each his own." She finished cutting the cake and plated it prettily. She stuck it in the huge refrigerator and slung her arm around Percy's shoulders.

"Curfew was ten minutes ago," she said. "Come on, let's go."

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