Well guys, we've reached the end.

There isn't much to say up here, because everything is included in the giant A/N at the bottom (which includes info about a new story!), so...

Enjoy!

EPILOGUE- ONE MONTH LATER

ANNABETH

"Okay, so now you're going to slide these two panels into the corner slot…" I smile, pleased as I hear the click that signifies a job properly done. "Great. So now, what colour do you want the walls to be? Pink or blue?"

"Pink!" One of the little girls next to me demands, jutting a thumb towards a container of paint. I smile and nod, picking up the colour and a couple brushes before letting them go wild.

I'm at the architecture workshop Mr. Blofis told me about last month, leading a kids building class. It's actually ridiculously fun- little kids have the craziest ideas about how things should look. But, most importantly, it's a collaborative course, meaning that I'm not being a bossy dictator the whole time. I move onto the next group, a bunch of little boys who have decided to make a tiny wooden airplane, and assist them in sanding one of the wings.

As cheesy as this sounds, after Camp Half-Blood, I think I became a much better person. Right after I returned, I scrapped the house project that was basically all my idea and helped my group come up with a better one together. That was all the proof Mr. Blofis needed, thus me being here today.

"Annabeth!" The aforementioned teacher, who had just finished giving a seminar in another room, runs up to me. He looks frazzled, but also like he's having the time of his life, much like myself. "It's your lunch now. Could you do me a favour and run across the street and get me a coffee? I'm dying here."

I nod, smiling. "Sure thing." Telling the kids I'll be back in an hour, I walk out into the parking lot, feeling the warm sun on my face as I swing my car keys back and forth. I slide into the driver's seat, glancing at the picture jammed into my console. It's a group shot at all of us at Camp Half-Blood, after the water gun fight. All of us are on the beach, covered in goo and laughing our heads off. Beside it is a smaller one of me and Percy, the two of us asleep together that first night in the woods. We're still dating, and after realizing that our schools are half an hour away tops, it became a lot easier to keep up our relationship. However, everyone else, save for texting every day and a couple phone calls, I haven't seen since camp.

Pulling into the parking lot of the closest café, I park and get out of my car, frowning as I see a familiar figure up ahead.

PERCY

I walk out of the office, clipboard tucked under my arm and a ridiculous whistle- courtesy of Coach Hedge- around my neck. The kids on the junior swim team are all in the water already, grabbing pool noodles from the side to whack each other with before realizing that I'm here and settling down.

I grin at them, snatching one of the pool noodles. "Okay, so we're all good with the smaller races, but when you get up to the longer ones that's where we fall apart. So five laps around the pool, go."

There's a few groans, but all of the boys begin to swim around nonetheless. That is, all of them except one- a small boy that just over two months ago I had locked in a dumpster. He seems to be remembering that moment as he approaches, his face twisted up in fear. "Um, Coach?" He asks tentatively, and yet again I curse myself for scaring so many people before. "I was just wondering if maybe the reason we aren't winning the longer races is because of how much air we're using at the beginning, most of which is unnecessary."

I look at him seriously, watching him tremble for a second. "You know what, that's actually a really good point. Go and call everyone out of the water. They're not doing laps today; we'll be just strategizing today, thanks to you." I smile, and the boy looks ecstatic.

"Thanks Coach!" He shouts, racing off to call the rest of them out of the water. I nod back at him as practice continues.

After practice, I quickly change and check the text on my phone just to make sure. My stepdad, who's at a conference of some sort, wants me to meet him for lunch at a local café in half an hour. I climb into my car, pulling out of the school parking lot quickly. As I drive, my thoughts wander back to Camp Half-Blood. With the exception of Annabeth, I haven't seen any of them in forever. I'd really like to schedule some kind of reunion or something with all of them, but I just don't have the time right now. I was lucky practice ended fairly early today so that I could go to lunch with my stepdad.

As much as I'll deny it, I'm actually really missing camp. The first thing I did when I got back here was quit the senior swim team, and volunteer as captain for the junior one. Then it was simply a matter of breaking off all ties with past 'friends' and hanging out with people who actually accept me for who I am. Still, though, Camp Half-Blood was a life changing experience, and no amount of small changes back in my normal life can compete with that.

I pull into the café that I'm supposed to meet my stepdad, a guy named Paul Blofis, at, parking my car and climbing out into the parking lot. A grey Prius drives in as I begin to walk, causing my thoughts to wander to Annabeth, as she has the same car. I'm still lost in thought when I hear her voice, loud and right behind me. Whirling around, I see her, dressed in a bright green 'volunteer' t-shirt and shorts, blonde hair tied up into a messy ponytail. She grins at me, grey eyes sparkling. "What are you doing here, Seaweed Brain?"

I gape at her, before running to crush her in a hug. "I'm meeting my stepdad here for lunch. What are you doing here?"

Annabeth smiles, obviously pleased at this coincidence. "Oh, I'm volunteering at a architecture convention across the street. My teacher Mr. Blofis sent me over here to get a coffee for him."

As soon as I hear the name, I begin to laugh hysterically. "Don't tell me that you're the famous 'future architect' my stepdad, Paul Blofis, is always raving on about."

Annabeth puts the pieces together, pulling away for a second to grin cheekily at me. "Don't tell me that you're the 'troublemaking stepson' my teacher, Paul Blofis, is always raving on about."

I loop an arm around Annabeth's shoulders, beginning to walk inside the café. "My dear, I believe we have been set up."

She frowns confusedly, gazing up at me. "I do believe we have as well. But… for what?"

We get our answer the second we walk through the doors.

ANNABETH

As a general rule, I don't like surprises very much. I'm the kind of person who likes to know what's going them all around them, so when something random, something completely unexpected, gets thrown into the mix… well, I don't enjoy it a ton.

This surprise, however, was an exception.

Everyone from Camp Half-Blood, campers, teachers, and counselors alike were crammed inside the tiny café, all of them wearing bright orange party hats and grinning. I squeal, letting go of Percy and racing to hug my friends as my boyfriend does the same.

"Annie!" Piper squeals, hugging me tightly. "OMG, I haven't seen you in forever!"

"Piper, don't talk like that," Thalia appears from the crowd, grinning. "You sound like Drew. 'Sup, Warrior Princess?"

I step back, surveying my two best friends in shock. "What… but… why…how are all of you guys here?"

"Well," Katie and Hazel appear from the crowd, big smiles on their faces. "Turns out Leo, of all people, has a girlfriend, and her parents own this place. She- her name's Calypso, by the way- managed to get the place for the day and we've kind of taken over for our own purposes. So then we got Mr. Blofis- weird coincidence, right?- in on the plan, and he got both of you guys here, and now… we can finally celebrate."

I'm grinning and laughing, but inside I'm still completely confused. "What? Why are we celebrating?"

"Annabeth!" Percy runs up to me in the crowd, cheering. Someone's tried to place a party hat on his head, and it's hanging crookedly, falling over one ear. "Look at what Chiron just gave me!"

Percy hands me a sheet of- you guessed it- bright orange cardstock. The background is full of pictures we took on the last day, the biggest one being the one Percy snapped of everyone reacting to our kiss. And on top of that, printed in big, bold letters is one simple phrase.

'Welcome, counselors, to the 2013/2014 session of Camp Half-Blood!'

I gape at my boyfriend in shock, scarcely able to believe what I'm reading. "We're counselors?"

"Not only us," Percy grins widely, planting a quick kiss on my cheek. "Chiron's inviting anyone who passed back to be a counselor. That means that with all of us helping out, he'll be able to admit a whole bunch more kids and expand the camp. Plus, they got a ton of money from the whole Luke situation, so there's at least three more cabins breaking ground very shortly."

"And, Miss Chase," Suddenly Chiron's there, sitting in his wheelchair and smiling serenely. "I think Percy here left out the most important part. I've heard a lot about your architectural excellence, so… I would like you to design the plan for expanding the camp. Mr. Jackson here has also requested that I invite more students to participate, as to give more children this opportunity, which I think is a very noble decision on his part."

That, admittedly, makes me squeal a little. I thank Chiron profusely, before turning to face the rest of the campers, who have all gathered around by this point.

"Well, if that's not reason to celebrate, I don't know what is!" Leo says, holding up a large blue cake and a box of matches. "Who wants me to light the candles?"

Everyone protests almost immediately, snatching the box from him. In the end, the Stolls end up lighting it (and then putting three trick candles on the cake), and we all dig in.

I glance around the room at everyone, laughing and smiling and eating cake, all with party hats and orange counsellor invitation as everyone gangs up on Nico for never eating blue cake before now. It's bizarre, somewhat insane, and totally out of the ordinary. But then again, I suppose this entire experience has been. We've been forced to do things so far out of our comfort songs, face challenges bigger than anything we could have ever imagined, and possibly even fall in love.

But now, sitting here, surrounded by my friends and people I care about deeply, I wouldn't take back any of it.

I lean over and kiss Percy, one last time, his mouth tasting like blue cake. Everyone around us is groaning good-naturedly, telling jokes and reminiscing over funny camp memories. It's amazing, really, how close we've all become through that little time spent together.

So yeah, we've had our ups and downs. There have been moments where I've felt like breaking down and crying, and I'm sure everyone else has experienced things like that too. But, in the end, we've overcome it all and came out on top.

And I suppose that's what's really taught us just how To Be A Leader.

Well guys, here we are. Twenty chapters later, you've just finished To Be A Leader. Now, you have two options. One, you can completely skip this ridiculously long note (but please make sure to leave a review on your way out!), or you can choose to read through my last author's note. I won't judge you for either choice.

So… where do I start? Well, throughout this story, we've survived two vacations, three plays, my middle school graduation, the start of high school, various crushes, spazzes, and rants. Admittedly, this period of time hasn't been the easiest time for me- I had some family troubles, friend troubles, and a hell of a lot of boy troubles. This story has been a constant for me during all that- your reviews made my day, and thanks to this story I've met a ton of really amazing people. So, to all of the people who have stuck around since the beginning, thank you. To all the people just joining now, thank you as well. Quite honestly, this is the first big story I've ever shared with the world, and the feedback has been positively overwhelming.

I'll admit it- I know I'm not a fantastic writer. I know there are so many stories in which people get 50 reviews per chapter. Sometimes I get angry and wonder why my story isn't getting feedback like that. Well, the answer's easy. Their fanfictions are so much well-plotted, planned out, and have much better characters than I. I understand that. I realize that. But you know what, in the long run, it doesn't really matter if I get 2 reviews or 200. What happens is that I realize how I need to improve, and TBAL has motivated me so much to accept the fact that I'm not a flawless writer- no one is- and that I need to work hard if I want feedback and reviews on my work. So, for that, I thank all of you.

And now, to name you all individually: OlympusGrl, kim3375, allen r, Midnight Boredom, MunicoNinja11, SuzieDaughterOfHermes, PercyJackson is SeaweedBrain, Miss Semi-Dependent, MissAwesome123, Jazzanimez, Shandia99, KayCee, greekgeek25, xxShafferxx, Flashback From the Future, Qwerty616120, SuzieDaughterOfHermes, Munico Ninja, OlympusGrl, ZoeChase, kinabooextraordinaire, kim3375, allen r, PercyJackson is SeaweedBrain, MidnightBoredom, Jazzanimez, Qwerty616120, Shandia99, Achieving Elysium, Jazzanimez, MidnightBoredom, kim3375, 1908, MissSemi-Dependent, cupcakegirl282, Qwerty616120, MunicoNinja11, Qwerty616120, MidnightBoredom, SociallyAwkward14174, allen r, PJOSeaOfMonstersFan, samanthajesus 1908, Jazzanimez, SociallyAwkward14174, want some nightlock, kit cat, MunicoNinja11, KayCee, Jasonandpiperforever, MissSemi-Dependent, smileyface9, The Girl of the Moon, Qwerty616120, MidnightBoredom, allen r, GlenCoco135, kit catt luvs Percy j, SociallyAwkward14174, MissSemi-Dependent, Qwerty616120, Flashback From The Future, MidnightBoredom, SuzieDaughterOfHermes, Die Hard Fan PL, Supreme98, livvybelle23, Die Hard Fan PL, Cassidy Hunter of Artemis, PercyJackson is SeaweedBrain, Qwerty616120, MissSemi-Dependent, Guest, allen r, Supreme98, MidnightBoredom, Ashley, PercyJackson is SeaweedBrain, Die Hard Fan PL, altec1, littlemixlover17, MissSemi-Dependent, kit catt luvs percy j, livvybelle23, SociallyAwkward14174, OlympusGrl, emily, Guest, Ashley, Supreme98, Qwerty616120, thestoryreader99, MissSemi-Dependent, Darth Crusty, allen r, Die Hard Fan PL, Supreme98, MidnightBoredom, Qwerty616120, Supreme98, thestoryreader99, HiddenBlade, MissSemi-Dependent, Darth Crusty, Guest, Guest, allen r, littlemisspopulargeek, Guest, kit catt luvs Percy j, Jazzanimez, Guest, PJO Guru, TurquoiseTaffy, MissSemi-Dependent, hope is lost in our world22, Darth Crusty, CRAaZYyMOTtIONnZz, Athena'sOwl36, Die Hard Fan PL, Livvy is Perfection, allen r, Guest, Guest, Guest, Guest, Guest, TurquoiseTaffy, Darth Crusty, Olympus97, Guest, Guest, littlemisspopulargeek, allen r, Guest, Me, LivLoveDream, Darth Crusty, MissSemi-Dependent, Guest, allen r, Qwerty616120, allen r, Guest, Guest, Guest, Guest, Darth Crusty, Guest, Musicangel913, LivLoveDream, Musicangel913, Slenderniece-Daughter of Hebe, The name you will never know, Qwerty616120, Darth Crusty, The Ocean BlueDude, MissSemi-Dependent, Snickerdoodle Once Removed, and Kickinit1036. It's been a crazy ride, so thanks.

Also, to the people who didn't review (or even know how to) but are also equally important, thanks to Zoe and Jaz, for always being there for me and helping me out. These two girls always answered my spazzy emails over whether or not I should include something, edited my work, and are just generally awesome. Thanks to the rest of you- the stairwell group- for pushing me to work harder, even if you were just complaining about me going off on yet another tangent about this story. Ava and Charlotte, your pessimism about the world of PJO was much appreciated in the long run, and sorry for being so distant sometimes. As well, thanks to my epic PM buddies over the course of this story- TurquioseTaffy and SomethingMoreCreative. They're both amazing authors; check them out!

To the boys of 8-2, even though none of you will ever see this, for serving as perfect examples of cocky, player boys that I needed at the beginning of the story. Also, thanks to the two guys I know best, the arrogant douchebag and the girl-obsessed idiot. You two, as much as I hate you sometimes (or most of the time, in the first one's case), have served as perfect models for Percy and Jason, and it's been a horror knowing you both. Oh, and for the record- I can punch, thank you very much, and dude, you will pass Geography. How could you not, with me as your teacher? Also, mega-huge thanks to the lovely Sir Exposition, aka the amazing person who I sat next to at summer camp and realized was also a PJO fanfictioner. Our text conversations are so helpful in the planning of this story, and I grin whenever a new one appears on my phone. Never forget… "you're using coconuts!".

Phew, this is ridiculously long, and I apologize. But seriously, thanks so much for all of the reviews and reads. It's been an amazing experience, so I'm really excited to introduce to you my next big story…

(Untitled) Annabeth Chase knew something was up the second she was dragged out of fourth period Math. She just didn't expect that 'something' to be her supposedly dead mother, who left her with nothing more than a confusing map and a strange coin. Now, she must reconcile with her ex best friend, Percy Jackson, before heading off on the road trip of a lifetime, on the run from horrors worse than they could have ever imagined. And, most importantly, she must obey her mother's crazy warning, the thing that got them into this whole mess in the first place- "Follow the Mark of Athena".

You like? My big focus is going to be keeping both Percy and Annabeth in character, as that was something a lot of people didn't enjoy about this story. The rest of the gang will come in eventually, but it will be mainly Percabeth. I'm expecting it to come out February-ish, after exams finish, but you never know. In the meantime, be on the lookout for lots of one-shots, possibly some adventuring into different fandoms, and maybe a Christmas story. I'm an unpredictable person, so even I really don't know what's coming next.

But I know whatever it is, it'll be a crazy, messed-up, upside-down ride, much like this has been. And yet, just like our protagonists, I don't regret it. Any of it. Thanks to you all, and please, please, please, drop me a review for the final chapter…

So, for the last time…

Thanks for reading,

-Jace ;)