It was a few days after the battle between the Titans and the Olympians. Camp Half Blood was being rebuilt. Lives that were lost could not, however, be pieced back together. Percy woke up from a demigod nightmare. Charlie, Selena, Castor, Luke, everyone who had died in the war haunted him. He slipped out of Cabin Three to see if his new girlfriend, Annabeth Chase was awake. The sixteen year old smiled, thinking of what she would say, "Toughen up, Seaweed Brain." the daughter of Athena would say with a sly smile.

Anaklusmos, or Riptide, it depended if Percy wanted to sound impressive when telling people about it, was in his pocket as usual. You could never, ever, he had learned, be without a weapon as a demigod. The sea green eyed young man reached the gray painted cabin. WHAM! He had run into something, but he could have sworn there was nothing in front of him.

"Ouch!" came a female voice from the middle of nowhere, "Watch it Seaweed Brain!" his blonde haired girlfriend said, pulling off her magic Yankees hat, turning visible in front of his eyes.

"Sorry, wise girl," he replied teasingly, giving her a little shove, "Where were you going? Clarisse's cabin: to have a makeover, gets a manicure, and try on each other's clothes?"

"Oh ha-ha." her gray eyes rolling as the moon quickly lowered in the sky.

"Why were you going to see me?" Percy asked, knowing all along where she was going.

"It was nothing really, I was just thinking about…"

"Luke?" he finished questioningly.

"Yeah," she paused, facial expression getting pained, "Everyone's getting over it so quickly, but I can't see how things are going to go on for me. They're gone, everyone who died."

The sun broke out behind the horizon. The lake reflected the rays, making it seem brighter. The boy's green eyes flicked upward. On the corner of Cabin Six perched a bird's nest. A robin was sitting on her eggs. "Look," he said lifting up her girlfriend's head with two fingers, seeing tears in her eyes, he continued, "When those eggs hatch, the mother will eventually leave them. But, guess what. Those young birds are ok, they live on, even though it starts off a little rough, eventually, they'll get their bearings and will know where to fly."

The tears brimmed in her eyes, and then overflowed, pouring out of the stormy gray eyes. He reached out and they embraced. One of the toughest girls he ever knew softly cried on his shoulder. At that very moment, the robin got up from her nest and the eggs started to hatch. Shrill chirping pierced the silence.

"I love you, I promise things will get better." he whispered.

"Like the robin?"

"Exactly like the robin." Percy said softly. He then scooped up Annabeth and raised her to see the tiny new creatures.

"Let's name them." her gray eyes wide in delight.

"Ok, what's that on the far right going to be called?" he asked, craning his neck to see.

"I think it should be Elpida."

"Hope." he translated to English.

The black haired teen gently dropped his girlfriend, and she nimbly landed on her feet. The gray eyes met his green ones and locked. The young couple came inward. Their lips met in a short kiss. Annabeth quietly slipped back in to her cabin, and Percy sneaked back to Cabin Three. Finally at peace, he collapsed on his bunk, finally knowing that life would get better.