Anne's POV

I couldn't stop grinning. Yes! We'd taken the laurels from the Hecate cabin! That'll teach those magic-wielding wimps a lesson! That had been awesome. I loved running in the woods ever since racing Leo back to the cabins, but racing at top speed with a stolen flag in my hands? That was incredible!

Of course, Leo going for an unplanned swim in the creek wasn't that great, but physically, he was pretty tough. He'd be fine.

"Anne, come on!" Will called. "I'm sorry; I know you probably want to celebrate, but we've got some injuries to take care of."

I sighed, handed my helmet and the flag to Isabel, and jogged after Will to the infirmary, where we were greeted by about ten wounded campers.

"Gods, what happened to the 'no maiming' rule?" I demanded, looking around at the injuries, most of which looked suspiciously like knife or sword marks.

"Tell that to the Ares cabin!" Lou Ellen snapped angrily, clutching her bleeding arm.

I rolled my eyes in exasperation. "Fine, who needs it the most?"

For the next ten minutes, I washed, bandaged, and doled out ambrosia and nectar (not too much!) to the campers. I also discovered that my brother Jesse had a dislocated shoulder, courtesy of Leo.

"How in the world did this happen?" I asked after setting his arm.

When he'd finished yelling in pain, he rubbed his arm fiercely. "Gods, that hurts! It was your boyfriend. He swung his shield at me as I was reaching out my arm. Can you control your man, please?" Jesse pushed his long sandy-blond hair out of his face and narrowed his eyes at me teasingly.

"I'll see what I can do," I said, mock-sighing as I finished putting his arm in a sling.

As if Jesse's words had conjured him up, Leo walked in through the door. His hand was pressed over his right elbow, and blood was seeping between his fingers.

Will and a few more of my siblings had everything else under control, so I walked over to Leo. "What happened to you?"

"It's nothing," he said, drawing his arm in closer to his body.

"Mm-hmm, sure, or else you wouldn't be in here," I said, grabbing his wrist. "Let me see." Leo let me extend his arm, and I winced. He had an inch-long ragged scrape across his elbow that was bleeding. Normally I was fine looking at wounds much worse than this, but I felt responsible for this one. Leo wouldn't have fallen into the creek if it hadn't been for me. Plus, it was Leo. I didn't want him to get hurt.

I sighed. "Jeez. Okay, then." I walked Leo over to the sink, where I ran warm water over his arm until all the blood had been washed away. I was about to give him a paper towel to dry it off when I noticed two more campers coming in the door.

"Dry that off with a paper towel; I'll be back in a sec," I said. I headed toward the wounded campers, but stopped when I noticed my brother Cameron reaching them first. Liberated, I turned back to Leo, who had dried his arm off. I grabbed a bandage and Leo held out his arm for me to put it on.

"Thanks," he said, flexing his arm to adjust to the bandage. "That feels a lot better."

"You're welcome," I said, surveying the room. Most of the campers had cleared out, except for two, which were being treated by Cameron and Will.

"Looks like I'm done here," I said. "I'm going back to the cabin, guys," I called to my brothers. They nodded without looking up.

I walked through the door of the infirmary with Leo at my heels. It was starting to get dark outside.

"I'm sorry you got hurt," I said, taking his hand.

He smiled and squeezed my shoulder. "It wasn't your fault. That was one heck of a victory you just pulled off! I cannot believe you jumped that gap; how did you do that?"

I shrugged. I didn't want to brag. "I did track in California. I was pretty good at long jump."

"Dang; I'll say!"

I lowered my eyes modestly. "You're pretty good too," I said, wanting to give him credit. "You totally almost caught me! You would've, except for whatever tripped you."

His eyes dropped to the ground. "Almost doesn't cut it, Anne."

My mouth twisted with sympathy. I knew he wasn't talking about Capture the Flag. "What happened?" I asked gently.

Leo didn't let go of my hand, but he used his other hand to rub his eyes like he was fighting off tears. "I can't."

A tear formed at the corner of my eye. I knew he was hiding a lot of pain if he couldn't tell me. He'd told me about his feelings of inferiority to Jason and Piper. I could only imagine how painful this would be.

I tilted my chin up to kiss his cheek. "I'm sorry, Leo. I didn't mean to upset you."

He kissed me back and attempted a smile. "I know you didn't. I know you would never do that."

I wanted to hug him, but we were both wearing armor and that would be uncomfortable. Isabel had taken my helmet back to the cabin, and Leo wasn't wearing his either.

"Let's go," he said, taking my hand again and starting to walk in the direction of the cabins.

I stayed standing where I was, pulling him back. "One question."

He looked at me with apprehension in his dark eyes, like he was afraid I was going to pry and ask him what was upsetting him so much.

"Did you let me win the game tonight?" I had to ask.

He broke into a smile, embarrassed, but extremely cute. "No, I didn't. You totally kicked my butt, Soleil."

I laughed and kissed his cheek again. "You'll get me next time."

"You can't just let me win though," he said, grinning.

"Never!" I said, mock-horrified.

He smiled at me. His beautiful dark eyes were now completely free of pain. He took my hand and gently pulled me forward. "C'mon, let's go."

I let myself be led away back toward the cabins, my hand warm in his and my heart overflowing with affection for him.

Leo's POV

Tumbling face-first into the ice-cold creek? I can deal with that. Getting a big bleeding cut across my arm? Not a problem. But my mother's death was not something I could shake off. Anne saying that I had almost caught her just woke up all my memory of that night. It had just reminded me that almost was never enough. I had been so close yet so far. And now it was too late. Anne's team had won the game. My mother had died.

Anne kissed my cheek. "I'm sorry, Leo. I didn't mean to upset you."

My heart ached. I couldn't believe she was apologizing to me. I kissed her on the forehead. "I know you didn't," I said, feeling awful. "I know you would never do that."

"Let's go," I said, taking her hand and walking forward. But she stayed where she was and didn't budge.

"One question," she said, narrowing her eyes at me.

My heart beat faster. Was she going to ask me what was making me feel bad? I would never be able to talk about it without crying.

"Did you let me win the game tonight?"

I broke into a grin at her question and blushed. "No, I didn't. You totally kicked my butt, Soleil," I said, smiling at her.

She laughed and kissed my cheek again. "You'll get me next time," she said, smiling at me.

"You can't just let me win, though."

"Never!"

I laughed and pulled her forward. "C'mon, let's go."

She followed me back toward the cabins. We walked past the campers straggling into their cabins for bed. We walked past the Aphrodite cabin and I saw Piper in the window, smiling when she saw us holding hands. I saw Nyssa and Jake in the doorway of our cabin. Nyssa snorted when she saw us and went back inside, but Jake grinned at me and gave me a thumbs-up before following Nyssa back into the cabin.

"I'll see you tomorrow," she said, hugging me.

"Not if I see you first," I countered.

She laughed, and I debated whether or not I should kiss her goodnight. I didn't want to blow everything by kissing her in front of people. But she decided for me by leaning in close with a smile on her face. We kissed for a lingering moment and smiled at each other as we made our separate ways into our cabins.

"So, who's that?" Jake teased.

I groaned. Was anywhere safe from teasing friends? "Anne Soleil from Cabin Seven," I said, ignoring the amused grins and laughter from my cabinmates as I took off my armor and flopped into bed.

"Did you let her win tonight?" Nyssa growled, towering over me in my bed.

"I didn't!" I said defensively, holding up my hands to ward her off. "I swear!"

"Fine," Nyssa said, going to her bed. "Goodnight."

"Lights out, everyone," I called, burying my face under my pillow. Somebody hit the light switch and the cabin was filled with darkness. It reminded me of being in the woods the night I met Anne. And that, of course, reminded me of how I was supposed to work on the ship tomorrow. I wasn't going to have much spare time. I hoped Anne would understand. But judging by her personality, it was likely.

I smiled to myself. A little less than twenty-four hours ago, I went into the woods a lowly mechanic and came out a hero. Make that a hero with an awesome girlfriend. Anne was great, fun to be around, and so kind. When I'd spilled my guts and told her about how Jason and Piper were so much more heroic than I was, and she hadn't believed me, I'd thought either she was a total airhead, or she honestly thought that I was a hero too. Now, I'd only known her for about a day, and I knew that Anne was no airhead. She was smart, clever, and understanding. And she was my girlfriend (or something close!).

For a moment, I wondered if this had all been a dream, a trick of the Mist or something. But my gut told me it wasn't. I, Leo Valdez, head counselor of the Hephaestus cabin, was now the boyfriend of an awesome Apollo girl.

How the heck did this happen to me?

Please review! I love you guys!

Scott: Oh my gods you are as gushy as my sister! *gags*

Diamondsgirl: *tasers him* Shut up or I will kill you in the next chapter!

Scott: *goes pale and falls to the floor unconscious*

Diamondsgirl: PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE DEAD BODY ON THE FLOOR! Please review Im not this evil with everyone, promise!