Annabeth POV
The Sirens showed me my greatest desire…and my fatal flaw.
It started out in two visions. The first was of me and one other person: Percy. It was amazing how much we'd grown. We must've been at least sixteen. He looked as good as ever, his black hair a little longer than its normal short look, but not Fabio long. It was cute. His sea green eyes sparkled in the meadow that we were in. His whole face smiled when he looked at me, something I didn't know was possible. We didn't say much of anything; we simply sat there and smiled at each other for a bit. Then he said those crucial words that I knew I'd someday want to hear directed at me from him.
"I love you," he said while smiling and still managing to look serious. He then enfolded me in his arms and embraced me for a long time. He swayed a little bit, as if we were on a dance floor dancing. I buried my face in his neck and mumbled, not quite as loudly, "I love you too, Percy."
When he heard these words, he looked up, a bit surprised at first, then so marvelously happy that it almost broke your heart. It certainly made mine feel full, almost to bursting point. He then kissed me so passionately that the vision broke and changed into my second vision, the one Percy later admitted to having witnessed. When he first admitted seeing what I saw, I probably blushed so violently that I looked like a tomato. But then I realized…he only saw the second one! I was in the clear, especially since I didn't even know a part of me wanted that first part to come true.
The second vision showed a beautiful picture, if not quite as perfect and complete as my first vision. I saw my parents together on a picnic blanket with Luke. My father had happiness about him that I hadn't seen in a long time. In fact, I don't know if I'd ever seen him that happy. Sure we'd made some repairs over the school year and I was going back next year, but it was nothing close to this pure happiness I saw. He was laughing, holding hands with my mother.
And speaking of happiness, let's talk about my mother. Athena was never one for smiles and laughter, but it sure did suit her well. She was as beautiful as I'd ever seen her, just by adding a smile to her face. She was wearing all denim and some hiking boots, but I doubt Aphrodite could've pulled it off as good as my mom did.
Then there was Luke. Honestly, he kind of came as a surprise to me after my last vision, but he was there none the less. Even though I knew now that my heart would lie with Percy, I could tell that there was something about Luke, something that said we were just friends here, nothing more. Nothing more would ever have been accomplished between us. The age difference was too great and my heart was with someone else. Still, it was wonderful to see one of my oldest friends there, knowing that I could save him from a certain horrible fate.
In the background, there was Manhattan, but it was completely rebuilt to my specifications. I knew that, if given the chance, I could rebuild the city better than any God could. That was my fatal flaw. Hubris. I knew it later on, but right now, all I could do was look at the glory of what I had built and marvel at how perfect this vision was.
That was when Percy pulled me under. At first, I was disoriented. My perfect world was snapped into underwater wreckage. Then, I submerged into air and my perfect paradise was reinvented. Then, as quickly as I'd gotten up, I was pulled back under again. I tried to swim to surface to get air, but Percy pulled me down further. I looked at him, quite confused and horrified. Was he trying to drown me? Then he put a bubble around us and I was able to breathe again. After I'd regained my breath, I sobbed like I'd never cried before. I cried because I wanted it to all come true. I cried because I wondered if I'd ever have that perfect bliss with Percy. I cried because I wanted so badly for him to be holding me now as more than a friend. I cried and cried and cried until he said that he'd get us back to the ship. I remembered about the wax in his ears, so I took not so big risk and simply said:
"I wish my vision with you would become a reality, Percy. I know I'll eventually grow to love you, I just hope that you can eventually grow to love me."
And with that, I let him pull me upward to the light of day.
A/N: So, this is pretty much the shortest fanfic I've composed, which is saying something. I'm totes glad that I was able to write this about their eventual love, even though this is from the second book. It did say that she muttered something he couldn't hear, and who said all she saw was that day in the park? Ah, I love loopholes. It is truly the gift to any fanfic writer.
You know what else is a gift? REVIEWS! Those seriously make my day more than anything else…well unless you were to gift me with a million doll hairs (dollars). If you'd rather do the latter, that's fine with me, but please please please do one of them!
~Mooon River and Me