So, soooo sorry I didn't post yesterday like I promised. I was sick. :( And we got home later than planned. As an apology, I shall double update today, so I hope you guys can forgive me.

This is an extremely fluffy chapter that I had a lot of fun writing. Honestly, I think it's my favorite, even though it's a little shorter than the others I've been writing lately.

WARNING: Contains exremely extreme epicly awesome Percabeth :)

It might seem a little OOC, so I'm sorry if it is. But I thought Percabeth deserved some happiness.

Chapter XL

Annabeth

The stars are bright tonight. Annabeth thinks. And they are, each sparkling like a polished diamond, glowing like silver fire. They're beautiful.

She turns her head to look at Percy, laying on the blanket next to her, and she can tell just by looking at him that he's thinking about Bob, and his last request. He would have loved this night. The sky is so clear and beautiful.

She remembers how Bob's silver hair gleamed, even in the darkness of Tartarus. It was the same color as the stars.

Tears build up in her eyes, and Annabeth blinks rapidly to keep from crying. It wasn't fair. Bob didn't deserve his fate. And neither did Damasen.

Percy squeezes her hand tightly, and when she looks at him, he's already looking at her, smiling softly, a look of understanding in his eyes. He knows her just as well as she knows him. She smiles back at him and rolls onto her side to kiss him on the cheek. He turns his head at the last minute and kisses her on the lips instead.

Annabeth definitely kisses him back, but she pulls away early and mock-glares at him.

"Percy," she scolds. Before she can continue, however, Percy pulls her in for another kiss.

Annabeth doesn't protest. Percy pulls away first this time, and looks deep into her eyes.

"I love you, Wise Girl." He whispers to her, his lips barely an inch from her own.

"I love you too, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth whispers back. He pulls her closer, and she nestles against his chest, listening to his heartbeat.

Annabeth thinks that the sound of his heart might be the most soothing sound she's ever heard.

Suddenly, he sits up, pulling her up too. Then he climbs to his feet, letting go of Annabeth's hand.

"Percy?" She says, confused. He just grins. Then he bows, sweeping an imaginary hat off of his head. He holds out his hand.

"Would you care to dance, my fair lady?" He asks, completely poker-faced. Annabeth smiles, but doesn't take his hand just yet.

"There's no music, Percy." She points out.

"Who says we can't pretend?" He counters. Annabeth laughs, shakes her head, and then takes his hand, letting him pull her to her feet. He laces his fingers through hers and puts his other hand on her waist. Annabeth puts her free hand on his shoulder. She waits for Percy to starts, unsure how he wants to dance.

He starts to sort of sway in a circle, moving across the deck. Annabeth follows his lead, keeping it simple. Surprisingly, he doesn't step on her feet, like he did at the dance where they found Nico and Bianca, and the celebration on Olympus after they freed Artemis. Although it has been a few years since then.

Percy starts to move a little faster, and then, without any warning, he pulls Annabeth to him and leans her backwards in a dip so far down that her hair brushes the deck.
She wants to protest, but the truth is that she's enjoying herself.

Percy spins her, and her hair, free of its usual ponytail, swirls across her face. Percy takes his hand off her waist to brush it back behind her ear. His fingers brush her cheek, and he pauses to kiss her before putting his hand back on her waist and resuming his dance.

He twirls her around, and the stars spin above her head, blurring together and creating beautiful new abstract patterns. She laughs in delight and Percy pulls her back into him, pulling her to his chest. He lets go of her hand and wraps both arms around her waist instead, and she wraps hers around his neck. He smiles down at her, and she smiles up at him, and Annabeth wishes they could stay in this moment forever. Because it is, beyond a doubt, perfect. She doesn't know if there's any way it could possibly be any more perfect.

Percy pulls her even closer, and she feels so safe and secure in his arms that she just buries her head against his chest and closes her eyes, letting herself pretend, for a moment, that they aren't on their way to fight to the death against an army of giants and a goddess who might possibly be the most powerful Primordial of all time.

She sighs happily, and feels Percy rest his head on top of her own. They stand that way, quietly breathing each other in, still swaying in slow circles.

Annabeth pulls away slightly and tilts her head back to look up at him again, and he's already looking at her with a look so open, so full of love and understanding and happiness that his beautiful green eyes are shining with it, brighter than the stars. She knows her own gaze mirrors his, because in that moment and every other, she loves him so much that it's almost physically painful. She hugs him as tight as she can, and she knows he feels the same way as her, is more sure about it than anything else in her life, because he hugs her back even tighter, and she can feel the love between them.

At that moment, Annabeth starts to hear a hauntingly beautiful, ancient song, one without words, but that's only all the more amazing because of it. The voices that sing it are far more beautiful than even a goddess, as if the stars and sea themselves are singing. The song is a little sad, but hopeful, like the stars and the sea are lamenting all that's been lost while at the same time celebrating all that has come to be.

Annabeth realizes it also describes her and Percy's lives pretty well. They've lost so many friends-Beckendorf, Silena, Luke. Percy lost Bianca and Zoe when he was on the quest to save Artemis-and her, although that wasn't the official reason for the quest. There are so many more, too, far too many to count. They've been through so much, and it isn't over yet. They're still scarred from Tartarus, and Annabeth doubts they'll ever heal completely.

But they still have each other, and they've made new friends, people they might never have met if all those things hadn't happened. And after this war, the Second Giant War, they'll have a chance for a peaceful life. And Annabeth won't let herself believe that they won't win the war, because losing is unthinkable. Losing the war is losing her friends, losing Percy. And she won't let that happen.

"Do you hear that, Percy?" She asks, her voice a little breathless. She looks up at him, and he's gazing up at the singing stars in wonder. Then he looks down at her, and he looks at her like she's the only person in the entire universe.

"Yeah," he murmurs, his voice husky, "I hear it." And then he leans down and kisses her, deeper than the endless night, deeper than the deepest part of the ocean, and he pulls her so close it's like they're one person.

Annabeth loses herself in this kiss, in Percy. There's nothing else; there never was; there never will be. There's only him, and her, and them together. She doesn't feel the deck beneath her feet, or hear the waves lapping at the hull of the ship, or feel the breeze ruffling her hair. She's floating, and they're spinning through time and space and the stars are singing for them and she

is

falling

through the night, but Percy is catching her, and she could swear they're standing in the stars.

Then she pulls back, and they both breathe, but then her lips find his again and their mouths are crushing against each other so hard she wouldn't be surprised if their lips were bruised. But she doesn't care, because she loves him, and he loves her, and this moment is so much more than perfect.

Then they both pull back at the same time, and Percy rests his forehead against hers, and they gaze into each other eyes.

"I didn't know it was possible to love someone this much." Annabeth whispers, still a little breathless.

"Before us, I don't think it was." Percy whispers back.

"I love you, Percy." She tells him, for the second time in less than half an hour, and it's so much more than that, but there aren't any words for what she wants to say. But Percy smiles softly at her and she knows that he understands.

"I love you too, Annabeth." He says back, pouring so much love into the words as he says them that it makes Annabeth shiver, and her name on his lips is like a caress.

She kisses him again, softly this time. He pulls away, keeping his forehead resting against hers.

"We should probably go to bed soon." He whispers, before kissing her again.

"Mmmm." She says between kisses. "Probably." But neither of them pulls away. They just hold each other tighter.

And then, finally, Percy pulls back, and sighs loudly, staring at her face.

"I hate being the responsible one." He murmurs.

"Well, it's about time you took a turn." Annabeth teases, smiling. He smiles back at her, and wraps an arm around her shoulder, kissing the top of her head.

"Come on, Wise Girl. Time to sleep." He says, leading her across the deck and down the stairs. She follows without complaint. As long as she's with him, as long as they're together, it doesn't matter to her where they are.

They climb into her bed, and she nestles against his chest, with one of his arms still around her shoulders. The other arm is draped across her waist. He hooks his leg around hers to pull her even closer and rests his head on the pillow right next to hers, so that their foreheads are touching again and their lips are only inches away.

Percy kisses her once more on the lips before pulling away.

"Good night, Wise Girl." He whispers, his voice soothing and full of love. Annabeth's eyelids start to droop. She rests her hand on his chest, right over his heart.

"Good night, Seaweed Brain." She murmurs, closing her eyes.

She falls asleep instantly.

So, my beautiful readers, what did you think of my wonderfully fluffy chapter? Am I getting better at writing all the sappy romantic stuff?

Another warning: The next chapter will also contain Percabeth, although it will be slightly sad Percabeth that might make you cry. The chapter after that will be a little bit of a filler, with maybe a teensy tiny bit of action, and then we'll get to some action (finally, right?)