When We Were 'Us'

I Think I'm The Luckiest Man Alive- Percy POV

I took a deep breath as the gods stepped away from us.

Camp Half-Blood was hosting Camp Jupiter this time around, and boy were they ready for us. The crowd cheered and the Romans shuffled a bit uneasily.

I chuckled, watching the third family I had built at the California camp re-take in the beautiful disorganization that Camp Half-Blood specialized in.

"Comet!"

"There she is!" I spun around, throwing my arms out. Rachel hit me like a freight train, clinging to me with her arms and legs.

"Gods I missed you." She mumbled as I hugged back and buried my face in her hair. 

"I missed you too, Mira."

Rachel's feet hit the ground again and she looked up at me curiously. "Mira?"

"Yeah." I shrugged, smiling. "You call me Comet so I figured I would follow the trend. Mira is a red star in the constellation Cetus."

"The giant sea monster?" She teased, rolling her eyes. "You really know how to flatter a girl."

A voice spoke up from behind me. "You'll have to thank my husband for that one, sweetheart."

I stepped aside to let Rachel say hi to Carmen and Freddie. The newlyweds greeted her enthusiastically and they immediately jumped into conversation, holding hands.

Looking around, I spotted another set of familiar faces.

Annabeth was holding Luke's hand with one of her own, the other resting on his bicep as she leaned her head on his shoulder. He looked quite a bit stronger, like he'd been fighting again.

It was almost a month and a half since the surgery, and if his physical therapy was going well enough he might be.

I met those ever-familiar grey eyes. For a moment, there was a spark of anger, then Annabeth offered me a single nod.

Silent olive branch. Ironic, coming from the daughter of Athena.

I nodded back and offered half a smile. The corner of her lip twitched upward, then she and Luke turned away.

"Comet, you've got to come see what I've been working on. It's amazing and I've finally gotten it done after like, three weeks." 

Rachel grabbed my hand and I let her pull me through the crowd. Several people said hi, I dodged a couple questions, all in all we got across camp pretty quickly.

"Close your eyes." She grinned at me, taking both my hands and keeping her back to the entrance of her cave.

"Is this the last time the rest of the world sees me?" I joked, chuckling. "You do live in a pretty sketchy hole, I might never come out of here."

"Oh stop it and close your eyes." Rachel rolled her own, grinning.

I closed my eyes and was pleasantly surprised to receive a quick kiss. Then Rachel's hands left mine.

"Hey no, come back here."

I heard her giggle, then it was silent for a few moments.

"Okay, take three steps forward."

"And now we're playing Simon Says."

Rachel snorted. I did as she asked.

"Hmm. Two more."

"Mira."

"It's important, I promise!"

I held my hands out in front of me as I walked, just in case I tripped.

"Okaaaaay, stop." Rachel's voice moved away from me as she spoke. "Wait, wait.... wait."

"I won't look until you tell me to." I promised, smiling a little and shoving my hands in my pockets.

"Good." Rachel laughed. "Okay... now!"

I opened my eyes and blinked a few times, waiting for them to adjust to the darkness of the cave.

"Gods, Rach... that's gorgeous."

There was a huge canvas sitting in the middle of the open area that Rachel used for when she worked on her art. She stood next to it, beaming.

"Is this what I think it is?" I walked forward, looking up at the piece.

Rachel nodded. "I painted it the first time because it was one of my dreams, but I wanted to commemorate it more appropriately."

"So you painted a seven foot canvas mural?" I chuckled. "Looks like I have my work cut out for me when I show you off to the world."

Rachel walked over to me and took my hand as we looked up at the huge rendition of the sunset. Down in the front, directly in front of us, were two familiar silhouettes.

I spun Rachel gently to face me, wrapping an arm around her waist. "I can't wait to recreate that with you as many times as possible."

She giggled, looping her arms over my shoulders. "I wouldn't mind that right now?"

Turns out there are kisses better than those that happen underwater.