The Bitten Hero

Chapter 11 - The Reuniting

- 3rd Person PoV -

Percy closed his eyes as once he realised what was happening, only opening them when he knew for sure that he had stopped moving. He looked up in awe at the sheer amount of books in Athena's library, then again theres no reason to be surprised seeing as she is a God who likes to spend her free time reading. He made a mental note to congratulate Athena on the size of her library. As soon as he was over the initial shock of the room, he started to look around for the Daughter of Athena he knew he had to talk to; apologise to.

He spent a decent 20 to 30 minutes wondering around the large room, looking for the girl. Only to find her sitting with her knees pulled up to her chest, hugging them tightly, in the far corner of the enormous library, staring intently at the wall as if expecting something large to come barrelling through. She knew she could find peace and quiet here, hence she chose to sit in here, of course requesting permission from her mother first.

"Annabeth?" He called out, when he got no reaction he slowly started to walk over. Sitting down next to her, he decided Annabeth would talk in her own time, he knew it would be a shocker.

Eventually, she slowly muttered out a barely audible "You...You d-died..." Then she whispered out even quieter "You shouldn't be here... You can't be here..."

"I know" He calmly spoke as he reached to rub her back soothingly, hoping she still loved the feeling of it. "I'm so sorry, Wise Girl"

"How are you here?" She spoke a bit louder this time, just getting to grips that he was actually here.

"I have my ways" he replied casually as he smirked his lopsided smirk. Thats what broke her though, she burst into tears, not expecting to see that exact smirk ever again after so long. She started crying heavily, leaning into Percy's chest relying on him to keep her up. He slowly wrapped his arms around her, enveloping her in a comforting hug. They stayed like this for a long time, unmoving, just enjoying each others company in the peaceful quiet of the room.

"I missed you a lot, you know" She spoke up, breaking the quiet.

"I know, I missed you too" He replied quietly.

"Where did you go?"

"I just travelled, here there and everywhere. All over the USA, really..." She asked questions whilst he answered them, it continued for a while until she was happy with what she knew, he had asked a couple of things he had wondered about over the years, but he was content with mainly answering to the Daughter of Wisdom.

It took them a while, but they eventually ran out of questions, apart from the one that had been eating away at the back of her mind ever since word of his return reached her. "Then... Why? Why didn't you come back?" Questioned Annabeth after a few minutes of silence.

He waited, wondering on the right words to say, until he finally came up with "I couldn't... Not until it was time. I kept my distance, to protect you and everyone else. Believe me, I never forgot about you. I'm here now though, I'm here for you. I... I still love you." He almost whispered the last sentence, she deserved to know but he was still scared of her rejection. He figured she didn't deserve him, that she deserved so much better.

Annabeth was happy with that answer, she smiled into Percy's chest, slowly moving her head away so that she could lean up and kiss him. She missed his lips, the crispy sea salt taste of his that met hers lips and made her so happy, the smell of him that made her smile so much, his untameable hair that just made her laugh when he tried to control it. She was truly smiling now, a smile no-one had seen in so long. She was happy again, glad she had her love back, overjoyed that they were reunited. 

They pulled away after a while only for air, but Percy decided to speak up "So... What does this make us now?" That just made Annabeth laugh though, a deep hearty laugh which made him smile wide. They had truly missed each other after so long. 

"Seaweed Brain!" She cried out, still laughing, eventually she was able to say "Well, what do you want us to be?"

"You're right... Wise girl, will you do the honour of being my girlfriend again?" He responded with a cheeky grin.

"Well... I don't know. Im thinking no?" She replied, deciding to play with him a bit.

He feigned a hurt face, putting a hand over his heart in mock pain and sadness, crying out "But... But our love!" This made both of them smile brightly and burst out laughing, this day had truly returned the sorrowful girl once known as Annabeth Chase to her old self, her bubbly yet serious personality.

"Of course I will be your girlfriend!" As soon as he had heard 'Of course' he was standing up and pulling her up with him, embracing her in a tight hug. He didn't want to loose her, not ever again. But she didn't want to loose him either, after all they had only just found each other again.

They had finally been reunited.

A/N: Its short, sorry, but I really wanted to get this chapter out there.