Annabeth was walking along the beach barefoot with her denim shorts and camp shirt on, enjoying the sunrise. Her hair was in a ponytail with a few stray strands on the side. Percy would push the strands behind her ear while they took these walks. The sweet memory made her shiver. Percy was on another mission for the gods and had been gone for three weeks now. She hated that he had to go, but he'd promised her that he would be back in eight months. Annabeth smiled at that. She was so wrapped up in her memories, she almost didn't notice one of her least favorite gods in front of her. Of course, his hissing serpents made it impossible to miss him.
"Hey, Annabeth!"
"Got a rat?"
"George!"
"What?"
"Hermes?" He was wearing his FedEx jumper suit and his hair rested underneath his sun hat. He had an envelope in his left hand and his staff in the right.
"Hello, Annabeth. Now I know we haven't always seen eye to eye-"
"You blamed her for Luke."
"She insulted you."
"You threatened to smite her twice."
"And insulted her."
"And you almost hit her."
"Thank you, George and Martha," Hermes mumbled. "However I'm here on a favor. In exchange for his services, Percy has asked me to deliver this." He handed her the envelope.
"Thank you, Hermes," Annabeth managed. The envelope was addressed in Percy's handwriting to her. It said:
Annabeth
a.k.a
Wise Girl
The girl in question opened it and the letter read:
Dear Annabeth(Wise Girl),
Hi. I know you're probably wondering, wait, never mind. I know you're wondering why I didn't just Iris message you. I thought that if I wrote you a letter that you would always have something of me if I ever had to leave again. I hope I don't have to leave again. I miss you way too much to leave without taking you with me. Am I rambling? Sorry. Anyway, it doesn't matter when you have to read this letter; whenever you're not with me I feel like I'm missing the most important piece of my life.That's probably because I am. You are the calm to my sea. The anchor to my life. The shield to my sword(that one was bad huh?) You're the grey to my green(that was even worse.) Above all, you are the Wise Girl to my Seaweed Brain.
I know that I can't be there all of the time, but that doesn't change the fact that I will drop everything to be there for you. I know that you'll just chastise me(look, I used one of your words!) but I'll just look forward to it. You are the most beautiful person I've ever met and I'll never stop loving you. Did I say I love you? Well, I love you. Yeah, I stink at the whole romance thing, but you put up with it anyway.
I'll always come back to you. Somehow. Always. And don't worry, I'll do my best to come back in one piece.
Always loving you,
Percy
Annabeth felt a tear trickle down her cheek. Percy may not be the most romantic person, but he sure was the most thoughtful. She loved him for that. Somehow, she know he'd used Riptide to write it. Annabeth looked up and saw that Hermes was gone and she was alone on the beach. She held the letter close to her chest and deeply inhaled. The salty smell of the sea seemed to comfort her a little bit more. Annabeth knew that Percy would come back, he always did. She took a deep breath again and headed back to the cabins.
Annabeth was in a good mood all day. She didn't even have to heart to fight as hard as she could during dagger practice that day. Of course, she still won all of her battles. Percy's letter had danced in her mind and left her somewhat light-headed. She almost didn't tackle the Stolls when they pranked her by putting a plastic spider in her ice cream. Almost. She was now sitting in the dining pavilion alone facing the sea, thinking about how things between her and a certain green-eyed boy changed forever right here. She was holding his letter. Annabeth heard someone sit down next to her, but she didn't want to ruin the view of the sea she had. Then she realized the scent of the sea got a little stronger. She turned around to see none other than Percy Jackson sitting there, smiling like an idiot.
"How long did you plan on staring at me Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth asked, unable to suppress her own smile.
"For as long as I could. I see you got my letter," he replied.
She set the letter on the table and put her arms around his neck. "It was beautiful."
He put his arms around my waist. "Not as beautiful as you."
"That was almost as bad as the comparisons in the letter."
"Whatever you say, Wise Girl."
"I missed you."
"I missed you too."
And it was pretty much the best above water kiss they'd ever had.

© archaios <3