Disclaimer: I only own the plot and my OCs. Anything you recognize as not mine belongs to Rick Riordan, Greco-Roman mythology, and/or their otherwise respective owners.

Author's Notes: Hey, guys! Hope everyone's doing okay.

I decided not to add on to the TLT chapters because of how I wanted things to be covered, but we're getting into SoM territory soon. :) For previous readers, things are going to look...similar, but also very different than what you could probably guess I'd been intending. I'm very excited for it.

As for this chapter, fixed the dialogue and prose. I like it a lot better now. :)

Hope you enjoy, and until next week,

~TGWSI/Selene Borealis

~The Finding Home Saga~

~Finding Home~

~Chapter 26: My Perfect First Date~

"Uh...Luke, just where exactly are you taking me?" I asked my boyfriend a few minutes after he had led me away from the spot where we'd watched Alabaster and Silena get together.

We were talking down one of the many paths which snaked through camp, which wouldn't have been that weird, except it wasn't one of the ones which led down to the beach or nearby. No, instead we were walking down one of the paths which led to the woods, which was odd. Very odd.

...And admittedly, I was a little nervous about it. A part of me couldn't help but wonder if Kronos had found out about me becoming a champion of Demeter and had pushed Luke's August deadline up to now. I didn't think I had swayed him over back to the gods yet, or would be able to do so on such short notice.

However, that part of me was slightly dampened by the look Luke gave me after I'd asked my question. There was a slight smile on his lips, and his icy blue eyes were alight with amusement and mischievousness. I didn't feel like they would be that way if the time for confrontations was now instead of later, because he seemed so happy, so safe. Not angry or bitter, like I expected he would be when the time inevitably came.

"It's like I told you before: the place is a surprise, Percy," he said humorously.

My face scrunched up at that, and I couldn't help but ask, "Well, what if I don't like surprises?"

The shift in his expression was immediate as he stared at me. "Do you not like surprises?"

Instantly, I felt bad. Here he was trying to be nice, and here I was being a dick. As per usual.

"I like most surprises," I answered him. Unwillingly, images flashed in my mind of all of the surprises I hadn't liked, courtesy of – you guessed it – Gabe. But, I wasn't going to let him interfere with my happiness for long, as I hurriedly pushed those thoughts aside. "I'm just...antsy, that's all. I mean, don't we have to go to somewhere near the beach in order to get a good view of the fireworks?"

"Not necessarily," he said, shaking his head. "I don't...I don't really know how to explain it, You'll see what I mean, though."

"...Okay," I replied. "I trust you. Lead the way, mighty steed."

My boyfriend snorted in response, but didn't say anything else as he continued leading me down the path, all the way to the edge of the woods. When we got there, he nervously peered in at the forest, where we both knew several monsters could be waiting for us. Granted, none of them would probably be that bad for the two of us, but still...

"You have your sword on you, right?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, of course."

"Good," he said. "I mean, I do have this, but it's not the same as a sword..."

Trailing off, he pulled out a four-inch celestial bronze dagger – well, more like a knife at that size, really – from out of his pocket. "Oh, that's cool," I said, looking at the blade incredulously.

I didn't comment how I was one-hundred percent sure Riptide was over a hundred times cooler.

He flashed me a grin. "You think? I was going to give it to Annabeth for her birthday. She came to camp with me, you see, along with..."

He trailed off.

Thalia, my mind supplied regardless. I frowned then, the revelation not quite sitting right in my stomach.

If I did the math correctly, Annabeth must've arrived at camp five years ago, since that was when Thalia had died. She was twelve now, which meant she must've been only seven-years-old then, maybe eight. And she was one of the year-rounders at camp, like Luke, Katie, and Clarisse.

...Suddenly, a lot of her behavior towards me was easily explained. Both Katie and Silena had said I'd been pretty obvious about the fact that I liked Luke in a romantic way, which they said Annabeth also did. And the attention he gave me in return had probably made her jealous, which would've been compounded by how I hadn't let her come on my quest with me.

This didn't excuse her actions, but like I said, it did help explain them. It was no wonder she didn't like me, even if most of her dislike towards me had been brought on by herself by her own actions.

With these thoughts in mind, I did my best to give Luke a small smile. I could play nice with Annabeth, if only for him. "That's a very thoughtful gift for her, I think."

The way his grin widened at my words let me know I'd made the right choice. "Really?"

"Yeah," I agreed. "Really."

"Well, I'm glad." He put the knife away. "But don't think I've forgotten about you, because I haven't. I remember you told me your birthday is in August – "

"It's on the 18th," I quickly interjected.

" – and it's on the 18th," he amended himself, laughing slightly, "and I have every intention of getting you a birthday present, too. So don't freak out, okay?"

"I won't," I promised, even though on the inside I was all but screaming with joy. "But can I ask what you're going to get me?"

He winked. "That's a surprise."

Our quick conversation at the edge of the woods over, Luke led the way into them. Both of us remained on high alert as we talked through the forest for around five minutes, looking for any indicator that a monster was coming over to attack us, but it seemed we didn't really have to be too concerned: there appeared to be none around. In fact, to me the woods seemed to be almost too quiet more than anything else, even more so since it was almost ten o'clock at night and monsters tended to be more nocturnal.

But, after our five minutes or so of walking was over with, we came to a halt in front of a strange, ivy-covered rock which was maybe two hundred yards or so away from the part of the forest where the capture the flag games were held in. This was the farthest I had ever been into the woods, which many campers said seemingly went on forever, but I wasn't too concerned.

I had Luke at my side and Riptide in my pocket, and they were all that I needed.

"Are you ready for this?" my boyfriend asked. He was wearing another grin, one which I could barely see through the darkness.

"Ready for what?"

His grin widened. "This," he said, reaching out and slapping a hand against the ivy-colored rock.

Immediately, the rock began to glow a soft, shimmering blue where his had touched it. Then, his hand went through the rock entirely.

My mouth dropped open. "Μὰ θεούς, what is that?"

"Relax," Luke said gently. "I'm not exactly as well-versed in magic as Alabaster and Lou Ellen are, but this is a – ah – secret place, of sorts. I'm not sure how long it's been here, but it's existed for a long time – probably at least a few decades. When I found it, the place wasn't exactly in good condition, but now..."

"...It is?" I finished.

He nodded.

"O – okay then," I spoke after a moment. Now it was my turn to laugh slightly, but more from disbelief than anything else. "Secret places in camp. Why didn't I realize that these probably existed sooner?"

Luke shrugged. "Because demigods don't explore this place like they used to. Too many kids died in the woods, I guess...or something like that, anyways. But enough about that. Let me show you around this place."

With that being said, he promptly grabbed me by the wrist again and pulled me through the rock – which, let me tell you, is a very different experience when you're actually doing it and not watching the kids on Harry Potter do it instead. Even more so when a cold, damp feeling washed over me as Luke and I walked through the rock, as if I was back on the banks of the River Styx all over again.

The feeling, however, was incredibly worth it when I saw what was waiting for us on the other side of the rock. A small cove with a perfect view of the beach and the barge where the Hephaestus kids were going to light the fireworks from greeted us, although I had no idea how. I was relatively certain we were quite a bit of a ways' away from either of those things, but I didn't think about this thought for long, figuring it was just the work of some now-long dead children of Hecate.

Besides, there was so much more I should be thinking about, because this cove was beautiful. It was glowing, quite literally. Everything from the pool of water in the cove to the ivy which grew all over the rocks that surrounded it and this strange, silvery flower growing all around were glowing. Only the sand seemed to be untouched by the strange, ethereal light that had everything else in its grasp, along with a simple blanket and picnic basket which were laid out on the sand a few feet in front of us.

"...Μὰ θάλασσαν," I breathed again, too shocked to dwell on what an utter idiot it made me sound like. "This place is..."

"Amazing?" Luke finished for me. When I wordlessly agreed in response, he chuckled. "Yeah, yeah it is. Now, do you just want to stand there and take it all in, or do you want to come sit down with me? The fireworks are about to start."

Numbly, I took the hand he was offering out to me. Slowly – and with more gentleness than he'd had before – he led me to the blanket and the picnic basket, where we both sat down. Then, he opened up the picnic basket and pulled out a variety of sweets: two slices of blueberry cheesecake, brownies, M&M cookies, and etcetera.

He also pulled out a water bottle filled with a strangely blue liquid. Easily, I recognized it as the blue Cherry Coke that I usually requested with the meals they served at camp, much to my surprise. He pulled out two plastic blue cups, too.

I shifted nervously. "What – what's with all the blue?"

"Well...it's your favorite color, right?"

My eyes widened. "How – how did you – ?"

"In all my years as a camp counselor here, no one has consistently asked for a blue Cherry Coke every meal. No one," he told me with a wink. "Plus, I may or may not have asked Silena about it earlier, when she was picking possible clothes out for you tonight."

He then gestured towards the outfit I was currently wearing, causing me to flush. I didn't think I was wearing anything special, just a dark blue v-neck shirt with a pair of black shorts and the Oceanid scarf I had nicked during my side-quest for Ares, which Katie had picked out and was the only "special" thing about my outfit. But still, Luke obviously appreciated it.

And I appreciated what he was wearing, too: a camp shirt which had been somehow dyed a teal color and a pair of dark-wash shorts.

Then again, I would've appreciated him as-is, too.

He looked like he wanted to say something else, however the sound of something like a missile cut him off. Turning, we both stared out towards the beach and the barge, just in time to see the first of some of the largest and most impressive fireworks I'd ever seen go off.

For a second, no firework immediately followed it, but I figured that was so everyone, the children of Hephaestus most of all, could hear the cheering from the beach as our fellow campers prepared for, again, the most amazing fireworks I'd ever witnessed.

I mean, seriously. As a kid who had been raised in New York City for all of my life, I'd always thought that the NYC fireworks were the best ones there could possibly be. Call it pride in my hometown, call it a little bit of naïvety, you'd probably be right on both accounts.

But what the children of Hephaestus had to offer blew theirs, or probably even any other firework show in the entire world, out of the water. They timed the fireworks so fast, one going off right after another, that it looked like there were frames of animation in the sky instead of individual blasts. Scenes from all of the highlights of American history played out, starting with the Revolutionary War. George Washington, who I'd found out had been a son of Athena, made his way across the night sky on a boat like he was crossing the Delaware River. Armies of redcoats and bluecoats clashed in fiery glory. A woman with black hair and a blue dress stood out amongst the latter, her arms outstretched as she seemingly controlled tendrils of water going after the British soldiers in front of her.

Note to self, I thought again at the sight. Practice water-controlling techniques in the near future.

And, of course, there was Thomas Jefferson, another son of Athena, writing the Declaration of Independence. But he wasn't nearly as amazing as her.

After the Revolutionary War, there were appearances of Abraham Lincoln (yet another son of Athena, as if two presidents being children of her hadn't been enough), Theodore Roosevelt (a son of Demeter) and FDR (a son of Zeus) in the night sky.

The highlights of American history were only one of the three segments in the entire show, though. After FDR vanished from the sky, he was replaced by a very familiar-looking fourteen-year-old boy...aka, me. I tried not to cringe as I watched the Hephaestus' kids rendition of my quest, but it was hard not to. They took a lot of liberties with it, like showing me chopping Medusa's head off without the cool sphere of water I had formed over her head, and showing Hades as this gaunt, Severus Snape type of guy instead of the lookalike to Moses from The Prince of Egypt that he actually was.

"This is awful!" I told Luke over the roar of the blasts.

He laughed. "Believe me, it could be worse!"

We cracked a few more jokes over it as we dug into the desserts he had packed, since I wasn't as so awestruck now as to ignore food. He laughed so hard at one of mine that he almost snorted Cherry Coke out of his nose. I tried not to act so smug about it.

I had a feeling I probably failed.

At last, there was the third segment, which was basically the grand finale. Several hundred-foot-tall Spartan warriors crackled to life right above the ocean, and proceeded to fight a battle against what looked to be some Athenian soldiers. Each time one of the warriors and soldiers was fatally wounded, they exploded into a million colors, which bedazzled both the sky and my eyelids whenever I blinked.

By the end of the show, it was almost midnight and I was pretty tired, what with the typical day of camp I'd had before the fireworks. Still, not wanting my boyfriend to feel unappreciated in his efforts for our wonderful date, I sleepily turned to look at him and said, "Thank you. Thank you so, so much. Really, I – "

The sudden feeling of his lips on mine prevented me from saying anything else.

When Luke pulled away, he did so with a light smile. "You don't need to thank me, Percy. Seriously. If anything, I...well, I should be thanking you."

I blinked. "Wait, what? Why?"

"For being you." He accentuated this remark with a roll of his eyes, although I could tell it was because of what I'd said and not because he wasn't being genuine. "For being so kind, and patient, and thoughtful, and just...so inexplicably you, to be honest. It really means a lot to me."

I hummed in response to that, debating what to say. When an idea struck me, I returned his smile and wrapped my arms around his neck. "Does this mean that I get to thank you for being you, too?"

He instantly flushed at my words – he seriously needed more of a confidence boost than what I could give him. "I – I'm not really sure what there is to thank me for," he answered quietly, but also honestly.

His words were like a cut to the gut. I couldn't help but gape at him in disbelief. "Are you kidding me?" When he didn't immediately reply, I knew I had to press on, saying, "Uh, Luke, you're amazing. I know you don't think so, but you are. Look at what you do for the kids in Cabin Eleven: you help out all of them and make them feel appreciated, even when they don't feel that way themselves 'cause of their parents, both the godly and mortal ones. You're nice, too, so nice and thoughtful. I mean, just consider all of the effort you put into this 'date!' So don't beat up on yourself. You're great simply the way you are, regardless of what anyone else thinks."

Luke stared at me. "Really?"

Taking a hand away from his neck, I flicked him on the nose. He let out something akin to a squawk, pulling back. "Yeah, really. Now, as much as I want to sit here and keep chatting with you all night, we really should be going. Don't want the harpies to catch us, right?"

Standing up, he offered me his hand, echoing, "Right."

I accepted his hand and let him pull me to my feet, even though all the while I couldn't help but think, What am I missing here? What happened to Luke to make him as self-conscious as he is?

And yet again, why did he decide to join Kronos?

Word Count: 3,045

Next Chapter Title: The August Deadline Arrives