disclaimer: I'm not Uncle Rick. *bursts into sobs*

Sally Jackson jerked awake suddenly and looked around with wide eyes. She managed to calm her rapidly pacing heart and took deep breaths. Twice in past five days she had fallen asleep like this, working till her eyes dropped and she dozed off with her head planted neatly upon her desk. She had been working till late on her novel with hastily scribbled ideas, rough drafts and half-finished manuscripts scattered all over her working table. Her head had been resting upon a bundle of haphazard pages some of which contained discarded scenarios and others which contained emotional scenes she had yet to insert in her first draft. With her son being missing for almost eight months she had been coming up with a lot of sentimental, heart wrenching scenes which involved a lot of family bonding or evil characters dying in mortifying ways. She had a character named Hera for instance.

She looked at the clock. Three am. Normally Paul would have forced her to go to bed by then but he was on a three day trip to Washington with his students and she was alone in the apartment She sighed heavily and started to reassemble her drafts. He hadn't wanted to leave with her almost fragile emotional state nowadays but she had finally managed to convince him. Sally flitted through the bundle of papers in her hands and her eyes caught a single sentence written in neat cursive handwriting on the top of a blank sheet.

Dedicated to my son Percy, who has stood by me every little step of the way and will forever remain the one person in the world that I love the most.

She had to blink rapidly to rid the tears that her eyes had conjured up. Almost months ago she had been sitting in the same position, tapping her pen idly as she contemplated the proper words to describe the scene when instead her eyes found the napping form of her son on the lounge sofa. He had his homework sprawled across his legs and snored lightly as his chest rose and fell in a repeated motion. His mane of raven hair was mussed up and he still wore an overused camp shirt that he refused to let her throw away. Her heart had expanded on the sight and instead of completing the rest of her chapter, an idea popped in her head and she wrote the single line on a blank sheet. She had no doubt in her mind who she'd want her first novel to be dedicated too. The question that was left now was simply to get her book published.

Sally hadn't seen her son for eight month and nowadays she seemed to carry an essence of sorrow with her wherever she went. It wasn't like Percy had never been on a quest; in fact he had been on more quests than any other living demigod present. But it was the first time he had been gone for such a lengthy period of time without any forewarning or any contact at all. One night she had made sure he was sleeping soundly in his cabin at camp and the next day he was gone. Her mind was a constant jumble of worry, fear and longing. What if this time her son didn't come back? What would she do then? Over the years she had come to depend on him often like children depended on their parents. When Poseidon had left her, he was the one that kept her sane, when she suffered through Gabe it was the thought of seeing his smile that got her through the day and after that it was he who had given her the courage to restart her life. Even with Paul in her life now, Percy would forever remain the foremost person on her mind and it was a habit that would never change over the years.

She rubbed her temple as she turned off the lights. Did Percy have a bed to sleep in tonight? Did he have a proper meal? Was someone taking care of him? Such thoughts had plagued her mind every single hour of everyday but the one thing that bothered her the most was the nagging question, did he even remember his mother? Annabeth had explained everything to her in great detail, the leader swap and the memory wipe. The poor girl had broken down a little at that point and she had found her own eyes soon following Annabeth's example. Even though she knew that Percy would eventually regain his memory but just the mere contemplation that her son didn't even remember his own mother was enough to break her heart. She reckoned Annabeth was going through the same thing but with the additional weight of acting as the single leader of the whole camp after his disappearance.

As Sally made her way to her bedroom the constant red bleeping of the phone caught her eye. The call was from just after midnight from a number she couldn't recognize. The code looked like….Alaska? She was about to discard the message, probably some business company but she figured, what the heck? Besides she hadn't been sleeping too well without Paul. She was glad that she had insisted he go but her traitorous heart already wished he would come back. With another sigh- she had been sighing a lot lately- she hit the voice-mail button.

"Mom" Percy's hoarse voice cut through the harsh silence. Sally breathed in sharply. Oh, gods, it was Percy. Oh, gods.

"Hey, I'm alive." He said and Sally almost laughed from relief. Her hands were shaking and she clasped them against her mouth. His voice sounded tired and aged. It made her ache to touch her boy, to see him before her own eyes.

"Hera put me to sleep for a while and then she took my memory…" his voice faltered as if he was wondering how he could ever explain all this through a telephone call, whatever mess they were in. She took my memory. But he remembered her, he remembered his mother. That meant he was getting his memory back. Sally's eyes had again begun to water and she hastily wiped the tears away. With trembling hands she held the receiver to her ear as if it would somehow make him seem closer.

"Anyway, I'm okay, I'm sorry. I'm on a quest-" he continued before stopping mid-sentence as if realizing his mistake. Oh no, he was on a quest again? Suddenly all the worries of the past eight months re-hit her with full force. She suddenly remembered when he had come back from holding up the sky, with a grey streak in his hair, his face gaunt and scarred. She remembered when he had come home from the labyrinth and looked like he had left some integral part of him behind and she remembered the battle of Manhattan with vivid clarity. He had looked just like his father, bloody, experienced and his sea green eyes holding something no child his age should ever hold. What was this quest going to take away from him?

"I'll make it home, I promise. I love you." The phone clicked shut and laughing and shaking Sally fell to the couch. He was safe -as safe as he could be in a quest. And he promised to make it home. The words flitted through her head and filled her with indescribable warmth. If Percy was one thing he was loyal and if he had promised to come home, if he was determined to come home than he would come home, no matter what hurdles life threw at his face.

I love you. She recounted the last three words and wished desperately to contact him somehow, to reassure him, to tell him that she would always be there. And to tell him that she loved him too. More than she had ever managed to love anybody. Again Sally wiped the little trails of tears on her cheeks and hit reply. She listened to his voice again and it soothed her heart. For months she had been a cluster of worry and nerves and as she listened to his voice her worry begun to slowly ebb away. She knew he still had a long way to go and a whole lot of big baddies to defeat but in her hearts she believed that he would make it back. He always did. Slowly she dialed Annabeth's number though it was three in the morning and snuggled back into the couch, her hear content.

Her boy was coming home.

Awww. Poor Sally, her son had been missing for months, isn't she the best? I just love all the mother-son mushiness :3

I'm not from the states, do you guys even have three days trips to Washington?

I just had this idea even though MoA is already out but this is the next best relationship next to Percabeth :p I just reallyyy hope that Percy Iris-messaged her in the Argo or something, for her sake. Oh, look an idea, maybe I'll write a story about that :D

Since you're here, will you please also check out my Percabeth in Tartarus story, pweaseeee?

Please review, you'll get one of Sally's special homemade blue cookie, yummm I can almost taste it :3

Thankyou! *distributes virtual blue cookies*