GO FORWARD AND BE EATEN.
GO BACK AND REGRET IT FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE.
NOT MUCH OF A CHOICE, IS IT?
First off, Iwant you all to send your prayers to Percy, who has been sleeping on the couch ever since the Nico/Kyle incident. We feel you man.
I was listening to Nickleback while writing this. Mostly Far Away, If everyone cared, Saving me, Never Gonna be Alone, Gotta be Somebody, and How You remind me. Their music is the best, but the music videos are too sad. This is pretty much pure Percabeth fluff, so there won't be any problem's. This is just what I want to happen, and what should happen. This is what they deserve to happen!
Annabeth's P.O.V.
I didn't know what to think
The whole journey had been a blur, and now I was about to see him for the first time in eight months.
What if he forgot me?
I don't think I would be able to stand it if he just glanced at me with his cute little faintly confused smile, and then have his eyes slide right over me as if he never knew me.
What if he found a new girlfriend and I was only coming here to have him break up with me?
I wouldn't be that surprised. There were plenty of girls who would love to date the savior ofOlympus, and the scrawny kid I had first met when we were twelve had turned hot enough to make Apollo jealous. Don't tell him I thought that. Either of them.
Eight months is a long time. Most people change over time. What if he was a completely different person from who I fell in love with?
It wouldn't stop me from loving him, but all my reasons would be gone. It would just be a crazy feeling tying me to him, and it would drive me mad until I wouldn't be able to be in his presence without feeling sick.
All these thoughts and more kept swirling inside my head.
Then I jumped as a loud voice cried, "HOLD ON EVERYONE. WE ARE ABOUT TO LAND. STAY CLEAR OF THE RAILING."
"Dammit Leo, you don't have to shout! We're all right here," Piper yelled.
"You guys, stop fighting," Jason said. He looked a little sick and a little excited. Now times that by ten and you know how I feel.
Then a jarring jolt shook the ship.
"We've landed," said Leo unnecessarily.
Jason took a deep breath. "Okay, Leo, open the gang plank and we'll all go out together. But I'll be in front so they don't shoot you."
"You okay?" Piper asked, straightening my sweater. The Aphrodite cabin had forbid me to see Percy in just my usual tee-shirt and ratty shorts. They had packed some new clothes for me, but Piper had watched them do it, so she would have vetoed anything she knew I wouldn't wear. They had even IM'd us earlier, to make sure what I had on was appropriate. Piper had helped me pick out a clean white long sleeve shirt with a scoop neck and short jean shorts with a brown belt for my knife. That and a long sleeved cardigan with wide green and white stripes and my hair in its usual ponytail.
"Yeah," I lied, "I'm fine."
Everyone started off, but before I stepped out into view, I put on my invisibility cap. Piper saw and raised an eyebrow, but to my relief, didn't object. I had to know what Percy remembered before I knew how to act towards him. Jason's memories had pretty much completely returned, but I wouldn't put it past Percy to still not remember his own name.
We all walked down the plank and as soon as our feet touched the ground, a girl in what looked like a purple bed sheet ran up to us.
"Jason, it is very good to see you again," she smiled, but her eyes were wary. "Please introduce the Greeks to everyone."
Everyone?
That's when I saw about 500 kids all coming towards us. Most of them looked a little suspicious and had their hands on their swords or other weapons, but some merely looked curious. Well we did just park a giant battle ship with a bunch of people who have been their natural enemies for the last thousand years.
"Hello Reyna, good to see you too. This is Piper, daughter of Aphrodite or Venus." He pulled Piper up beside him by her hand and didn't let go.
"Hey, you're obviously Reyna. And you must be Praetor. It's nice to meet you."
Piper's voice wasn't quite on charm speaking mode, but there was a definite soothing quality to it. That and her polite manners seemed to make Reyna soften a little.
Then Piper was bowled aside by Leo.
"I am Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus, or Vulcan, to you," he said, grabbing her hand and kissing it gently. "Enchanted to meet you, querida."
Then he winked and smiled at her.
"Oh, um, okay, I'm Reyna . . ." She sounded flustered and unused to the attention.
Piper rolled her eyes, but smiled. Jason simply looked stunned.
I was keeping one eye on the exchange, and one on the crowd, looking.
Suddenly, a new fear gripped me.
What if he didn't make it here? What if he was dead somewhere and I would never see him again?
I know he had the curse of Achilles and everything, that's why I never worried about him proving himself to the Romans and getting in. But he wasn't immortal. Just invincible.
Then there was a commotion in the back of the crowd. Someone was shoving their way to the front.
"Excuse me, pardon me, please move, I'm Praetor, oh for Poseidon's sake, GET OUT OF THE WAY!"
A familiar tousled haired boy stumbled out of in front and looked around wildly. He ran towards us and stopped in front of Jason.
His sea green eyes scanned us and then widened with panic.
"Where is Annabeth!" Percy Jackson cried.
Jason stuck out a hand.
"Hi, I'm Jason, you must be Percy," he said.
Percy looked down at his hand and blinked, then took it.
"Uh, yeah, I'm Percy, but where is Annabeth? She's supposed to be here."
I couldn't take it any longer. He obviously, at least, remembered me.
Just as Jason was about to answer, I took off my cap and shoved it in my pocket. T here was a collective gasp from the crowd as I appeared, but right then I didn't care.
"Percy?" I called softly, in a tremulous voice.
He turned to stare at me and as soon as our eyes locked I felt a shiver run down my spine and tears form in my eyes. We just stood there, five feet apart, taking the other one in. He looked taller and tanner then I remember, and a little bigger. He was wearing the same bed sheet thing as Reyna and looked pretty stupid. But he was all I could see. Everyone else just disappeared.
Then he smiled, a little worriedly as if I might attack him, (not that it hadn't crossed my mind,) and held up his arms slightly as if for a hug.
I flew at him so hard he stumbled back a few steps, wrapped my arms around his back and pressed my now tearstained face in his shoulder.
He wrapped one arm around my waist, the other around my shoulders and said into my hair, "Oh gods Annabeth, I thought . . .!"
"You are in so much trouble Seaweedbrain," I mumbled into his shirt and hugged him tighter, until he laughed softly in my ear and whispered, "Careful, agapimeni, I'm not quite as invincible as before."
At this I looked up and, whisper/shouted, "What the hell Percy? What do you mean you are not invincible anymore? Where have you been for the last eight months? Do you have any idea how worried I've been . . .?"
But he wasn't listening. Instead he gently cupped the side of my face and whispered, "Gods you're beautiful," before kissing me.
Percy's P.O.V.
Annabeth's tall thin frame fit against mine like puzzle pieces, and I was home. It was like I had been holding my breath for the past month without her, and now I let it out, feeling waves of relief wash over me. Like when you miss a step going down the stairs and your stomach drops for a terrifying second, but then your safe at the bottom.
As soon as I kissed her, everything righted itself, as if the world had been set at a crazy angle and the colors were all blurry and faded. My mind was clear for the first since I had woken up, and I could remember every second of my life before Hera kidnapped me. I felt like there was fire in my very bones, but it didn't hurt. I could feel her warm body pressed close to me, her soft lips engaged in a slow dance with mine, and felt one of her hands gently tangle in my hair. I gently licked her lower lip asking for entrance which she granted, and our tongues wove together in a complicated pattern. My hand slipped down her waist to her hip and I pulled her even closer.
I don't know how long we stayed like that, it might have been a few minutes or a couple centuries, but I never wanted it to end.
Then a voice in my head said, "Get a stable you two."
We broke apart, breathless and I glanced behind me, and then looked back at Annabeth, grinning even wider.
"You didn't."
"Well," she said smiling, "he insisted."
"Darn right I did," the black Pegasus behind me said.
He came and gently bumped me with his nose.
"Good to see you still alive boss."
"It's good to see you too Blackjack," I replied in the same way, reluctantly letting go of Annabeth with one arm and patting him.
"Guy's, I hate to break this up, but everyone's staring at you."
I looked around. Blackjack was right. Everyone was staring at us. Sheesh, you'd think they'd never seen two people kiss before.
Reyna, Jason and Repair Boy were all gaping at us shocked. The pretty girl with them wore a smug expression. Octavian however, looked downright furious.
"YOU SEE!" he shouted, "THIS IS A TRAP, A SCAM! THEY ARE ALL IN CAHOOTS!"
Jason snapped his mouth shut.
"Oh shut up Octavian. Go dissect a teddy bear and leave us all alone."
Octavian glared at him and stomped off.
"W-well," Reyna stuttered, "We should . . . should we . . . go to the Senate House . . .?"
"We can do all that tomorrow," I said and swiftly lifted Annabeth on to Blackjack.
"Percy, what the . . .?"
"Need to take a ride boss?"
"I am going to spend a well deserved break with my girlfriend."
"But you can't, your duties!" Reyna cried.
I stared at her.
"Of course I can," in a voice that sounded as if I was explaining something very simple to someone very stupid, "I'm Praetor."
And with that, I urged Blackjack up into the sky.
Jason's P.O.V.
Reyna watched them go with disbelief.
"Ummm," I said, because she seemed incapable of talking, "Maybe I should show Piper and Leo around today and we'll all go decide things at the Senate House tomorrow."
She nodded, still speechless.
"We'll help," said a girl with dark skin and curly brown hair.
"Hazel!" I cried, "I haven't seen you in ages."
"Well, you had better introduce us to the other two and we'll give them the tour. You'll also have to say hi to everyone else, they've been dying to see you," she said, smiling at me.
An Asian boy next to her shifted slightly.
"Oh yeah, this is Frank, he's new in the fifth cohort. Frank this is Jason."
"Hey Frank, this is Piper and Leo. You guy's, these are some of my friends."
There were introductions all around. The rest of the camp crowded around us until Reyna shouted, "Okay everyone, back to your normal schedules! We'll re-congregate tomorrow when our Praetors little vacation is done!"
Everyone but us and the fifth cohort, floated off, and the tour began.
Percy's P.O.V.
"You two just made out in front of the entire Roman army," Blackjack chuckled.
"Shut up," I thought, grinning.
"Can you do that?"
"Do what?" I asked, burying my face into Annabeth's blonde curls in front of me.
"Run off like that. Don't you need to be in charge or something? You said you're Praetor."
"I've never thought a temporary and kind of annoying job should take someone away from their social life," I said, softly kissing her neck.
Annabeth shivered with pleasure and settled back against my chest.
"You have to tell me everything," she instructed, "everything that happened while you were away."
"I will," I assured her, "but first I have to show you some things."
"What things?" she asked suspiciously.
"You'll see," I said mysteriously.
We didn't talk much on the way there. It felt wonderful to have her back with me. I kept my arm firmly around her waist, and I didn't plan on letting go any time soon. Or ever if I could help it. The other hand played with her hair and she leaned back against me, resting her head on my shoulder.
"Hey boss, you need to know, Mistress really missed you," Blackjack said to me.
"Mistress? That's a bit formal. Can't you call her Annabeth, and call me Percy?"
"No, you're the Boss, and I can't just call her the Boss's girlfriend all the time. But really," he said seriously, "You need to be careful. She went kind of crazy after you left. Most of the campers begged for a chance to go look for you for her, just to get away. If it wasn't for her friends and Chiron, I reckon she would of run herself into the ground, literally, by all the work she did trying to find you and build the ship. Most days she didn't eat or sleep, and when she did, she had terrible nightmares. She spent most nights in your cabin so her sibling wouldn't hear the screaming. Your mom helped once, and that pretty girl, Piper, and the freaky oracle girl and the scary Ares kid, the one who was planning stuff to do to you in punishment for leaving with the other hunter girl with the crown thing, Thalia, they helped to. I know you haven't noticed, but Mistress is a lot thinner and more tired. And if I have to hear one of your friends say to a new camper, Well there is on person who can calm her down, but that's kind of the point, again, I' gonna scream."
Oh gods. I held Annabeth desperately, as if she might vanish like a dream, my mind trying to process the information. The worst thing was, I could totally believe it. I know how I would feel if Annabeth just disappeared without any warning or way of finding her, and if I knew she had lost all her memories. I could also see her throwing herself into her work. I hugged her closer and for the first time, realized how thin she really was. And she had been really light when I had lifted her on to Blackjack's back. Damn. Damn Hera for taking me. Damn Gaia for starting this whole thing. But not again, I decided. Now I had her back, I wasn't letting go, not ever. But that prophecy . . .
Wisdom's daughter walks alone
I promise you Annabeth, I thought fiercely, if you ever do walk alone, it won't be for long. I'll come and find you, whatever it takes. I swear by the river Styx and anything and everything else.
We flew towards the city and landed near the border.
"Hey Terminus!" I said, pulling Annabeth by her hand, "I want you to meet someone.
"This is Annabeth," I continued, "Annabeth, this is Terminus. He guards the city. You can't get in without his permission."
"That's right," Terminus said proudly, "Nobody with a weapon gets past me."
Terminus looked Annabeth up and down.
"So this is the young lady you've told us so much about. I suppose you will be showing her the sights?"
"Yep," I said grinning, holding Annabeth's hand tightly.
"Good, good, now where is Julia, she has so wanted to meet you?" Terminus twisted his torso, trying to look around. Julia poked her head around his pedestal and giggled.
"Here I am!" she cried gleefully.
"Yes you are, now take their weapons so they can go on their date," Terminus said sternly.
Obediently, Julia held out the bowl to us. Then her eyes locked on Annabeth and her mouth fell open.
"Julia, this is my girlfriend, Annabeth," I said, smiling at her reaction.
"She's your girlfriend?" Julia asked, shocked.
"Yep."
"But . . ." Julia protested, her head whipping back and forth between us, as if trying to catch one of us lying, "But she's so pretty."
Annabeth bit back a laugh and Terminus snorted.
"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked, a bit insulted.
"It means, she is too pretty to be your girlfriend," Julia said imperially.
"Yeah, yeah, okay, just take the weapons and let's go," I said, rolling my eyes.
As we walked into the city, I looked back at my girlfriend and smirked.
"What?" she asked, a faint smile lingering on her perfect lips.
"Nothing," I said aloud, "Just happy I'm finally taller."
She rolled her eyes.
"Fine, I'll bite. I'm 5 ft. 11in. What are you?"
"I think about 6 ft. 4 in." I replied smugly.
Annabeth laughed, and I swear I had never heard such a beautiful sound.
When we entered the city, Annabeth looked around in amazement and went off in a state of ecstasy, talking about a bunch of architectural nonsense, but I couldn't stop staring at her. It was like looking into a beautiful sunset. Just being with her made me happier than I could ever remember.
We had lunch at a café and watched the people pass by. My eyes locked on a young couple with a child in a stroller.
"It's so incredible here. Who are all these people?" Annabeth breathed.
"They're demigods, or at least they are descendants of demigods," I said, tearing my gaze from the family.
"All these people have Immortal blood?"
"Yep. The city is the one place where they can lead normal lives in safety, you know, go to school, and raise a family."
"That's . . . that's amazing," she said dazedly.
"It is. And it's a good idea. That's what I want to do when we get back toCampHalf blood. Create a safe place for all the demigods there," I looked at Annabeth, hoping she would agree. I had been thinking about this for a while, but I wasn't sure if it was genius or crazy. Annabeth could usually tell the difference.
"Percy . . . that is a brilliant idea," Annabeth said. Her shining grey eyes met mine and I could tell she was already planning it.
"Of course, we have to think about where to build it, and the funding . . ." I let her ramble off in her designs, again, not listening. She liked the idea. SHE LIKED THE IDEA. I was giddy with relief.
"Hey, what are they doing?" Annabeth asked, breaking off her mantra.
A bunch of people were all moving in the same direction, like they had somewhere to be in a hurry.
"I don't know, maybe we should see," I said, standing up.
We followed everyone into a beautiful garden where they were all congregating. There were light strung on the tree's and people were dressed up. Some auras were playing strange flute-like instruments, and the guests were dancing slowly.
"It's a wedding," Annabeth realized.
She was right. In the center of the dance floor, I saw the bride in a long white dress, dancing with the groom. They were just swaying to the music, staring into each others eyes, totally wrapped up in their own world.
"Want to dance?" I asked Annabeth suddenly.
She smiled at me.
"Sure."
I wrapped my arms around her waist, and she put her arms around my neck. I let my head rest on her shoulder, and she did the same to me. The light was fading, and the lights were casting a soft rosy glow over the scene. I wanted to make the moment of peace and happiness last forever. This was all I needed from this world. Annabeth in my arms and just being with her, without worrying about the fate of the universe for once.
"I missed you Wisegirl," I mumbled.
"I missed you too," she whispered, "more than you know."
"Trust me, I know," I muttered.
"Yeah, but I had eight months of worry. You just had from when you fist remembered me."
I could hear the sad note in her voice, and tried to imagine eight months of worrying for her. Then I decided not to. It hurt just to think about it.
"You can't remember what you never forgot. I love you Annabeth. I could never forget you."
She stared at me and I saw her stormy eyes sparkling with unshed tears.
"I love you too Seaweedbrain," she said, smiling.
We danced until the wedding broke up, and then started back to camp, waving to Terminus, Julia and her mom, who was picking her up.
As we passed the training grounds, an idea came to me. It was a perfect way of assuring myself that I didn't need to worry so much about Annabeth.
"Hey Annabeth, come fight me."
"What?"
"Before we go to the baths and talk, let's do a practice fight."
I pulled her to the arena, threw off the stupid bed sheet and drew Riptide. She took out her knife and stood ready.
"Ready for the Romans to see their Praetor get beat by his girlfriend?" Annabeth called tauntingly.
"In your dreams," I answered.
I thrust towards her chest, and she parried. She slashed at my side, and I dodged. We weren't really trying to even disarm each other, more just testing the other. Then it got more heated. It was a dance, back and forth, stabbing, swiping, and never touching the other. Sweat beaded our foreheads, but we were both smiling. We were one entity, so close but with the thinnest layer of air between our skins. I had never been so aware of her body, she was all around me, the heat coming from her burning me, but it just made me feel more alive. I could feel other eyes on me, but she was the only real thing right now.
Then, suddenly, she was behind me with her knife pressed to my throat, and her arm around my waist.
"I win," she whispered in my ear, her hot breath on my neck, "you've gotten slow."
I grinned, put my arm around her shoulder, and kissed her temple.
We walked off towards the baths, ignoring all the staring Romans.
When we finally arrived, the place was deserted. I changed faster, so I slipped into the deep end and waited. Soon Annabeth came in wearing a simple one piece grey suit, and sat on the edge with her feet in the water. I swam just beneath her and grabbed her foot, pulling her in. Under the water, she glared at me until I made an air bubble around our torsos.
"What was that for," she sputtered.
I shrugged. "You're pretty when you're wet."
Annabeth blushed. "Shut up."
I cupped her face in my hands and gently brushed my lips against hers, again and again. The kiss was full of an infinite tenderness. She tasted so good, lemony and minty and warm. So warm.
We finally broke apart, smiling at each other. I carried us back up to the surface and lifted Annabeth back on the edge. Then I crossed my arms, leaned them on her legs and said, "So? Talk. What happened while I was gone?"
And Annabeth talked. She told me about how they started looking for me when I went missing, and how she met Jason and the other two, and how they went on a quest, and when they came back, she learned that I had lost my memory, and that it was Hera's fault, and about Camp Jupiter, all the while stroking my face and staring into my eyes, which made it very hard to concentrate. When she told me how the Stoll brothers and Leo had dyed her hair blue, I did a very bad job of not laughing, earning myself a whack on the head. I noticed how she skated over the parts about how she had missed me, and why she was so thin. I traced the circles under her eyes, and her prominent cheekbones while she told me about building the ArgoII, and traveling here.
"But I wasn't really doing anything. You have to tell me what you were doing for eight months."
I shrugged. "Sleeping mostly."
"What!"
So I told her about waking up, and not remembering anything but her, and training with Lupa, and looking for her, and finally finding the camp, and how I lost the curse of Achilles. I said how Reyna asked me to be Praetor, and how I turned her down. She was happy about that. But she gave me grief for not listening to her in the dream. (Are you real? Was that all you could say?") When I got to the part about Mars, she laughed.
"So, you both just stood there, and you hated each other, but neither of you could remember why?" Annabeth sniggered.
I told her about Hazel and Frank's problems, powers and parentage. She was furious when she realized Nico had known the whole time, but I managed to calm her down by telling her that he was captured by the giants.
"I'm going to kill that little punk," she muttered.
"We're going to kill that little punk," I said firmly.
I recounted the whole quest and she was stunned when I told her about drinking the gorgon's blood, ("Percy, you could have died!") and worried about how sure Gaea was about being able to use me.
I told her about Ella, who she was very interested in, and the prophecies.
"Wisdoms daughter walks alone, The Mark of Athena burns throughRome," Annabeth repeated thoughtfully, "It only mentions Athena, not her Roman counterpart. Interesting."
"But Annabeth, the walking alone part . . ."
"I'm not worried about that," she stated firmly, "We've heard prophecy's about Athena's children that turned out to mean someone other than me."
"But . . ." I started.
"No buts about it," she said and kissed my nose, "And I have an idea about the mark part,"
"What?"
"Athena's blessing," she answered confidently, "I'll bet money that's what it means."
I couldn't disagree with her.
I continued with Frank's gifts from Mars, and Iris's store, and going toAlaska, and falling off the iceberg. Annabeth rolled her eyes when I said my friends thought I was dead. ("Not after surviving St. Mount Helen's.")
I finally got to the battle atCampJupiter, and convincing the Roman's to let the Argo II land.
When I finished, she was quiet for a minute, processing what I had told her while absently tracing the tattoo's on my forearm.
"Well," she said finally, "that must be a new record. All that in only two weeks or so."
"Yeah, compared to that, defeating Gaea will be a piece of cake," I teased, Annabeth laughed. I loved being the one to make her laugh.
We got out of the bath and I dried us off, so we changed and slowly walked towards the fifth cohort, holding hands, not saying anything, enjoying the silence while everyone was asleep.
Then I saw Jason heading towards the Praetor's house with an apprehensive expression.
"I'm going to talk to Jason for a few minutes," I said, "Can you meet me in the fifth cohort? My bed's the lower on the right. Be right back."
Annabeth gave me a quick kiss and left. I walked in the direction of the Praetor's house.
Jason's P.O.V.
I slowly pushed open the door to my old house. It creaked just like it used to, as if it was welcoming me back. Reyna used to say I should get it fixed, but I had refused. When I walked in, I saw that all my old pictures and other possessions were still there, like I had never left. Well, not quite. A clear inch of dust covered everything except for some foot prints on the floor. I ran my finger over the bed post.
"Everything's still here," I whispered.
"Of course," a voice behind me said, "It's your place."
I jumped and drew my sword, pointing it at the throat if the intruder. Then I stared in surprise. It was Percy Jackson. He was leaning against the door frame, not even flinching at the weapon mere inches from killing him.
"Whoa," he said, gently guiding my sword away from his face with the tip of his finger, "Try not to kill me before tomorrow, 'kay? I kind of bet my life you would agree with everything I said."
"A Roman's word is his law," I told him, sheathing the weapon.
"So I'm told," he answered, smiling slightly.
There was an awkward silence.
"So," Percy started, "I think you wanted to know why nothings changed?"
"Umm, yeah," I said, looking around, "If they made you Praetor, shouldn't you be in here? I don't mind sleeping in the fifth cohort."
"Nah" he said, "The exchange was only temporary. It's your place, like I said. Soon as this war is done, the bed sheet is yours too."
I stared at him, trying to comprehend.
"I wasn't back in time for the Festival of Fortuna," I said slowly, "they made you Praetor. That means it's all yours."
"Just for now," he said calmly, "Look, Jason, I don't want to be Praetor. I'm just not cut out for it. The whole, great big leader, tough guy, above it all, ruthless act, it isn't me. I mean, I love the city, and most of the people here are like my second family. But when this war is done, I want to go home, toCampHalf-blood. And my mom. And all my other friends. I want to stay with Annabeth, you know? Build a life for myself, raise a family. Try and do the same thing you did here with the city."
How did this guy end up with the most prideful girl I know? I mean, turning down being the leader of New Rome? Before, I didn't really believe the stories of how he turned down immortality and all that. But hearing this, I could start to believe it.
"Annabeth and the others did really miss you," I muttered, trying to buy time to think about what he said.
"Yeah, I know," he said, darkly. He looked almost angry.
"So, how will we switch?"
"Easy," he said smiling again, (bipolar much?) "Right now, you act as Ambassador from the Greeks, and I'll be Praetor. We go off toRomeandGreece, do what we do best, then come back switched, and act like nothing is different. No one is gonna complain. It will be like nothing ever happened."
"But we can't just go away and never see each other again," I protested, thinking of Piper. And Leo too of course. Although I could live without Drew.
"No," he muttered quietly, thinking, "we can't do that."
"We'll set up ambassadors to go back and forth," I said confidently, my eyes gleaming, "And anyone can visit the other whenever they want."
"Perfect," he said, grinning.
"Now," he continued, stretching and yawning, "We should get some sleep before tackling Reyna, Octavian and the Senate tomorrow. G'night."
I laughed uncomfortably and he left. Reyna. Yay.
I shook the dust from my sheets and crawled into bed, thinking that Percy Jackson might just be the strangest person I have ever met. But I really wanted him as a friend.
Percy's P.O.V.
I stopped in the doorway of the fifth cohort to appreciate the vision before me. Annabeth was lying in my bed, her golden hair, splayed across the pillow, the moonlight coming in from the window, streaming over her stilled form. I changed quickly and quietly into a tee-shirt and sweats, so I didn't wake her. Then I crawled in beside her.
Annabeth opened her eyes sleepily and moved on top of me, wrapping her arms around my torso, and snuggling into my chest.
"Hey," I whispered, smiling as I held her close, "You not asleep yet?"
"No," she yawned, "I was talking to Frank and Hazel until they fell asleep. I like them, they're nice."
"They are," I agreed, tracing Greek letters on her back, "But you need some sleep."
We were quiet for a minute. Then,
"Percy?"
"Yeah?"
"Promise me that if I go to sleep, you won't disappear like a dream. Promise me you'll be here when I wake up."
"I promise," I whispered, "You own my heart and soul Annabeth. I'll be here when you wake up." Although I'm half convinced you're a figament of my over imagenative brain, and this is just one of my dreams, I added silently.
As I drifted of to sleep after her, I thought about what I said to Jason, the part about raising a family. Yeah, I wanted to do that.
But only with Annabeth.
This is my baby, my precious, so no flaming it. But I worked really, really hard for a really, really long time on it, so please do review.