I sat cross-legged Percy's bed, his favorite sweatshirt in my hands. He had just gotten it recently. He said that the color reminded him of my eyes.

Salt water leaked out of said eyes, and my despair overwhelmed me. I sobbed, quietly at first, but soon I was racked with terrible, shuddering sobs and tears that had no end. I hugged the sweatshirt close, breathing in the salty fresh scent that was so wonderful, so utterly... Percy.

I didn't notice when the door opened and Tyson strolled in. He sat on Percy's bed next to me, XXXL tears spilling over his single eye. We cried together for a bit, and he rubbed soothing circles on my back. This simple gesture made me sob even harder, considering it would probably be something Percy would do.

Tyson eventually left, but returned soon with a water bottle and large jar of peanut butter. I put on Percy's sweatshirt and gratefully took the water from the cyclopes. When I had drunk my fill, I dipped my finger in the peanut butter jar. I slowly licked all the creamy protein off of my finger, savoring the taste.

His sweatshirt and peanut butter were the only things that got me through those torturous months that he was gone.

I stood on the deck of The Argo II, impatiently waiting the time we would land. I couldn't see the camp from here, and we seemed to be moving at a snail's pace. It must have been the ADHD part of my brain slowing things down.

I heard a distant ding. I rushed to the galley where the timer had gone off. Good, it's cooled. I honestly don't know why I set a timer for a cupcake to cool, but I like things planned out, okay?

I took the cupcake out of the fridge, (don't ask us how we got electricity on here, it's a really long and tedious story) and I grabbed the blue frosting I had made. There was a deep finger trail etched into the icing.

"VALDEZ! I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU NOT TO TOUCH THIS FROSTING!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. I heard a colorful curse from somewhere downstairs through the vent. I snorted. I grabbed a butter knife out of a drawer, then slowly spread the electric blue frosting over the surface of the chocolate cupcake.

When I was done, I still a lot of extra frosting, so I took the bowl and cupcake up on deck. I didn't trust my treasured cupcake with Leo still downstairs. I took a toothpick, a piece of paper, and a sharpie with me too. I climbed up into the crow's nest. There, I would have some peace and quiet, and most importantly, I would be the first one to see the Roman camp.

I set the cupcake down, (it had a paper cup thing on it so it wouldn't be touching the floor) and I grabbed the sharpie and paper. On it, I drew an owl holding hands with a horse. It was a crude picture, but the point was clear for the most part. I stuck the toothpick through the paper and jabbed the toothpick into the cupcake. I stood up, and glanced towards the way we were headed.

"I SEE IT!" I shrieked excitedly.

"Annabeth, if you fall off of there, I'm not so sure you'll be okay!" I heard Jason call up to me.

I ignored him and leaned over the edge anyway. As we drew closer, I climbed down the ladder carefully, and clutched onto my cupcake for dear life. I stumbled over to the edge of the boat, and Piper came on deck to join Jason and I.

As we leaned on the railing, I noticed Jason's hand rested on Piper's. I smiled a bit, but I was sad too. Nobody had held my hand too long. I sighed and watched the landscape drift by. I don't know when Leo joined us, but all I remember is that he kept trying to flirt with me and steal my cupcake.

"Wow, Annabeth, I'm impressed. I didn't know you could actually show this much emotion," he commented. I suppose I must have looked funny, considering that I was bouncing up and down, my eyes were wide open, taking everything in, and my hair was windblown. I didn't let him get to me. His teasing reminded me of Percy, but it wasn't the same.

The ship lurched as we landed, and all of us clung to the railing for dear life as Leo steered. A large crowd of Romans and a Greek had gathered near where we landed. I hid the cupcake behind my back.

Jason walked down the ramp first, followed closely by Piper. Leo saluted to me, then walked after them. I had to make sure to get to stable ground before I scanned the crowd for him, otherwise I would end up falling flat on my face and making a complete fool of myself.

I tried my best to look dignified. First impressions are very important. I stepped off the ramp and scanned the crowd for black hair, sea-green eyes and a big ego.

What do you know, there he was, standing up front in... a toga? Oh, Gods, I had to get a picture of this. I bit my lip. It took all of my self-control not to push the babbling Jason out of the way and run into his arms. I saw Piper glance at me out of the corner of her eye, and suppress a smile at my expression.

He had been transfixed with Jason until Piper giggled. He seemed to notice me for the first time, and his green eyes widened.

I took one hand from behind my back and waved a little. He gave me a wonderful lopsided grin in return and blew me an air-kiss, much to the annoyance of the girl standing next to him.

Whatever Jason had been saying, he finished. The girl standing next to Percy let go of his arm, walked to Jason and shook his hand, very professional-like. Then, she pulled him into a quick hug. Everyone relaxed, and some Romans came up and slapped Jason on the back. He held fast to Piper's hand though, making sure she didn't get trampled.

Percy completely ignored everyone else and walked up to me.

"Open your mouth and close your eyes," I commanded. He complied, a smile playing on his open mouth. He must have thought I was going to give him a kiss. Instead, although it was a good idea, I took the cupcake from behind my back and put it up to his mouth for him to take a bite. He closed his mouth around a little bit of the cupcake, and chewed.

"Mmmm," he mumbled. I almost melted at the sound of his voice.

"Good?"

"Mmhmm." He opened his eyes, and took the cupcake from me. I didn't even notice that everyone was staring at us. He examined the small horse and owl on the toothpick, and he grinned, showing off his blue chocolaty teeth. I beamed back at him.

I think we were both trying to ignore the fact that we hadn't seen each other in close to a year. We were trying to ignore how wonderful it was to see the other one again. We were trying to ignore everyone staring at us. We were trying to forget all the tears and frustration of being separated. We were trying to act like everything was normal, like we had just been together yesterday.

He kept eating the cupcake, and I just watched and grinned like a love struck idiot. He finished, and swallowed. The crowd seemed to be holding its breath, waiting for him to keel over, like I had poisoned him or something. He thumped on his chest just for effect, then spoke, holding up his hand in the air for silence. It reminded me of someone I had seen somewhere...

"I really missed you,

I hope Romans don't diss you,

Can I please kiss you?"

Nobody spoke. Nobody moved. The only thing to be heard was breathing and heartbeats.

I broke the silence and started laughing. There were a few nervous chuckles from the Romans, like "Oh, my Gods, did we just make this guy our leader?" I laughed until tears streamed down my face, and I was doubled over, a painful stitch in my side.

"Well? Was that as good as Apollo?" he asked me. I nodded my head. I realized I was the only one laughing out loud, so I straightened up, but kept giggling.

He bit his lip, holding back his lopsided grin. He held out his arms, and I gladly rushed into them. I put my head on his chest, and he buried his face in my messy hair.

"Gods, I missed you, Seaweed Brain" I whispered.

"Not as much as I missed you."

"Do you want to bet on that?"

"No can do, Wise Girl. I know better than go challenge you... So, can I?"

"Can you what?" I asked.

"Kiss you?" I pretended to think about it.

"Only if you promise not ever to leave me again."

"I promise that the only time I leave you is to go to the bathroom and get abducted by gods." I giggled and stood on my tip-toes. He leaned down, and our lips met.

"GODS, IT'S ABOUT TIME!" I heard Leo say behind us. I could practically feel the tension in the air. I could feel the girl Percy had been with giving me a dirty look. I smiled against Percy's lips. They still tasted faintly of blue frosting. I heard someone else do a wolf-whistle, and assumed Piper.

A single happy tear escaped my eye, then I pulled away, wiping at it furiously.

People started leaving after that, dispersing all over. The girl Percy was with earlier, Jason, Piper, Leo, Percy and I all stayed. I saw two other kids too, but It didn't register until later.

"Well, better start negotiating," I said. His mouth twitched.

"Yeah. But, I suppose since I'm Praetor now, and I'm dating a Greek, we have a permanent alliance until one of us gets fed up with the other's smart-ass remarks," he said. I laughed.

"I'll give it ten minutes."

"You're on."

"I thought you just said that you weren't going to bet me anything!"

"Now I am. I bet five minutes."

"Psh, whatever, Seaweed Brain!"

"I stand by my previous statement." I rolled my eyes and changed the subject.

"Soooo... nice toga, Seaweed Brain." Percy blushed and looked down at it.

"Reyna made me wear it," he said. I glanced at the Roman girl.

"My name is Annabeth," I said holding out my hand. She took it and shook it once.

"Reyna, a pleasure to meet you. Percy's talks about you all the time. It's nice to match a name to a face," she said looking me up and down, sizing me up.

"Do you want me to strike a pose or something?" I asked.

The side of her mouth twitched. "That won't be necessary," she said. There was a silence, but it wasn't awkward. It was more of a challenge of who would back down and talk first.

"Reyna, we talked about this," Percy said. She glared at me a while longer, then looked at him. She definitely had a crush of sorts on him. I crossed my arms. "Big no, no on intimidating our guests." She rolled her eyes and walked away.

"Charming," I said when she was out of earshot. Percy grinned hugely and took my hand in his.

"Come on, I'll show you around!"