Leave A Message...

Have to write it down, Annabeth thought to herself. Have to, have to, have to…

  These sudden fits of urgency besieged her frequently. Since they'd finally deduced where Percy was and started construction on the Argo II, every single one of her nerves was frayed. As if they hadn't been before. Things would cross her mind from time to time, day and night, and she would have to write them down for fear of forgetting them. They were things she would normally tell to Percy when she was stressed or upset and she had nothing else to do with these thoughts except write them down. Sometimes, she would think of something in the middle of the night, wake up with a gasp, write it down and go back to sleep, much to the annoyance of her cabin mates.
  
  It broke her heart again and again to think that she had no one to tell her secrets to anymore.

  Stop it, she would remind herself. You'll find him.

  Eventually, it wasn't enough to just write down little thoughts and blurbs; she began writing letters to her missing boyfriend. The first two words of the first letter she penned, Dear Percy, brought on a torrent of tears the blurred her vision and the ink, but she kept writing.

  She started writing every night. She would describe the events of the day, tell Percy how the construction of the Argo II was going, and tell him how much she missed him. Then firmly instruct him to never forget her. She would end it by saying that she would gut him like a fish if he even looked at another girl.

  Love and miss you,
           Annabeth.

  That was the general format of every letter. There were times when she would pour out her heart and tell him how much she wished he would hold her, kiss her, just be with her, make his lame jokes and act like an idiot. She deluded herself into thinking that he actually read these letters, and it helped ease the pain. But she still new subconsciously that there was a chance he didn't even remember her.

  So imagine her surprise and relief when he sent her a dream message.

  It started quietly. Just a whisper… Annabeth. As the one word, repeated over and over, grew louder, she realized it was his voice. Then she saw his face. It was him. It was really him.

  "Annabeth!" he said with relief. "Thank the gods—"

  "You're not really here," she interrupted, feeling the tears fall. Strange, she didn't think she'd really be able to cry in a dream unless… no. She wouldn't allow herself to think this was a dream message. No, it was just her mind playing tricks on her. "This is just a dream."

  He shook his head quickly. "No, no it's real, Annabeth. Gods, I can't believe I finally got through! I've been trying so hard to contact you with Iris Messages, anyway I could think of, but Hera kept blocking me."

  "So…" Her mind was still fuzzy, still reluctant. "I'm really talking to you?"

  He smiled widely. "It's really me. I managed to get a message to Tyson and I thought I'd try to get one to you."

  "You remember me, then?" Tears fell afresh. She could hardly believe it. She was so happy she thought she'd explode.

  "I never forgot you. When I woke up, at first all I remembered was your name then after a while I started remembering more. Then after drinking the gorgon's blood—"

  She was suddenly filled with anger and fear all at once. "You did what?!" she demanded.

  Percy looked reluctant to explain. "Yeah, see, about that… um I made a deal with Gaea so I would drink the right one…"

  "Percy are you serious? You made a deal with Gaea? What were you thinking?"

  "I know, I know. It's a long story and I promise I'll explain it all when I see you." He went silent for a minute. "I will see you."

  Annabeth nodded and smiled. "You will. We're on our way to camp… you're not at Camp Jupiter, are you?"

  As she expected, he shook his head. "I'm on a quest…"

  "Where are you, Percy?" she demanded, fighting to keep the frustration out of her voice.

  "Uh, you see…"

  "Percy. Where. Are. You."

  "Um… Alaska."

  She wanted to strangle him. Of course, though, it was only a dream message. She couldn't touch him. "That's way out of reach of Olympus. Do you know how dangerous that is?" She sighed. "At least you still have the curse of Achilles."

  "About that… I kinda lost it."

  "YOU LOST IT? How can you lose a curse, Perseus Jackson?"

  "Like I said, it's a long story." His image started fading and Annabeth's heart constricted. "I'll be back by the time you get there," he said. "Annabeth, I love—"

  Then he was gone. Annabeth snapped awake, and as heart-wrenching as it was to no longer hear his voice, she was still happy. She had really talked to him. And he was the same, evasive person he'd always been, reluctant to tell her that he was on a quest and practically unprotected. Still, he didn't want to worry her, she knew. It was sweet.

  But of course, the feeling she got from the message was nowhere near as amazing a feeling as the one she felt when he finally had his strong arms around her. His lips kissing every inch of her face. The way he dried her tears and held her so tightly she couldn't breathe. She buried her face in his shoulder and inhaled his sweet scent. It was indescribable, actually being in his arms after all that time. It was surreal.

  "I missed you so much, Percy," she whispered, her voice shaking violently.

  He kissed her lips softly, slowly. "I missed you too. Gods, I missed you."

  "You've got a lot of explaining to do, Seaweed Brain," she said, managing a small laugh.

  He laughed too. "Yeah, I guess I do. But you know, in that dream message, I never got to tell you…" He hesitated, looking nervous.

  Annabeth sighed. He would always be like this, wouldn't he? "I love you too, Percy."