Disclaimer: The following fanfiction is done for pure entertainment reasons. I am in no way affiliated with the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, Rick Riordan, or Hyperion Books publishing.

As she stood atop the hill next to the large pine, she contemplated the summer before her recently finished school year. Almost one year following the second Titan war, she was still in disbelief. After years of anticipation and anxiety, it was still hard to admit it was over. Everything the small group of demigods had gone through was sometimes still overwhelming to think about. She contemplated how different Camp Half-Blood looked. It wasn't actually so much the establishment (although one could distinguish new cabins for the minor gods in the distance), but the people.

How happy they look, she noticed. Many "veterans" of the war looked a little stressed, but relieved. Most were unpacking their belongings or helping new, smaller children get settled. And they all seemed very content, regardless of the few fights that had broken out because of stolen or misplaced objects. No more were frantic demigods scurrying around the grounds, struggling to get ready for what they thought could very well be their impending doom. She blinked hard. That was the most difficult part of the aftermath of the battle. The lives lost.

Silena, she thought. Michael, Beckendorf.

Luke.

Her heart clenched painfully at the name.

"Annabeth!"

She was broken out of her memories. A blond boy of fifteen was waving to her from the bottom of the hill. There was a huge smile plastered to his face. She shook her head back and forth to clear it.

"Malcolm!" she cried. She skipped down the hill to where her sibling, or half-sibling, was standing and gave him a firm welcoming hug. "How's camp?"

He looked indignant. "What, no 'What's up?' No 'How ya doing?'" he pouted.

Annabeth rolled her eyes and gave a short chuckle. "And how are you, Malcolm?"

"Great," he replied, "Though camp's been kinda busy." He gestured in the direction of the cabins. "We finished those cabins you wanted us to build since Christmas. They're pretty cool… besides the Hades one. That's just creepy."

Annabeth gave a grin, "Good," she breathed, "I was so worried you guys would mess them up if I wasn't there every second watching."

"We probably would've if your plans hadn't been so detailed about everything." He stretched his arms above his head.

"We've got a whole bunch of new campers, and more on the way, but I'll fill you in later. Let me carry something. That bag looks heavy."

"Thanks," Annabeth said gratefully as she slipped off the shoulder bag and began to walk in the direction of her cabin. "So, is Percy here yet?"

"Ah," Malcolm said slyly, "Can't wait to go off and make out with your new boyfriend, huh?"

Annabeth blushed furiously and punched him in the arm, even though she couldn't really disagree. She'd missed her newly attained boyfriend the past few months. They had barely had a chance to talk the past school year, despite Iris messaging whenever they could.

"No, I just- well, he said he was coming to camp this week and-"

He cut her off. "Annabeth, relax. Slow down. He'll be coming soon, I'm sure. In fact," he grinned triumphantly, "I think Chiron might have mentioned something about him arriving tomorrow."

Annabeth held back a squeak of pleasure while her smile stretched across her face. But before she could reply, a little boy dashed up to Malcolm, maybe eight years old. He had a tangled mop of light-colored hair and a splash of brown freckles across his nose and cheeks. In his hands, he held several small items- a toothbrush, tiny tube of toothpaste, hairbrush, etc.

"Malcolm," he said impatiently, looking up at the older boy, "you never showed me where to put this stuff before."

Malcolm examined the child a moment, then dropped the girl's bag to his feet. "Okay, Patrick, I'm coming. Oh, and by the way," he stepped back and motioned toward Annabeth. "Annabeth, this is Patrick, a new half-brother of ours. I've been showing him around. Patrick, this is an old friend of mine, Annabeth. She's the leader of Cabin six."

Patrick looked at Annabeth as if he was just first noticing her presence. His eyes got wide. Annabeth could now tell he was most certainly a child of Athena. She observed the trademark grey eyes under slightly curled blond hair.

"Hi," he said quickly.

"Hello," she stuck out her hand for him to shake. He either didn't notice it or ignored it, because he continued to look only at her face.

"Did you- you fought in the war too, didn't you?" he asked curiously.

"Yeah," Annabeth responded. Smart kid. Definitely an Athena child.

"Alright, alright," Malcolm interjected before Patrick could attempt to interrogate the girl any more. "You've been introduced. Now, how about I help you out?" He started to walk away, the young boy at his heels.

Annabeth piped up, "I can do that for you, Malcolm. All I have to do is unpack-"

But she was interrupted once more. "No," he said strictly, "You just got here. Rest a little. Don't tell me you're not tired from flying all the way from San Francisco. I'll meet up with you later." And with that the two walked away. Malcolm had one hand on Patrick's upper back, another in the air, waving backwards in farewell.

"Fine," she huffed softly to their backs, and proceeded into the Athena cabin. Secretly, she was a little bit thankful for the alone time she could spend unwinding and adjusting back to the camp routine.

Her cabin was exactly what she remembered it looking like, albeit a bit dusty. Her bed was made, her work desk clear of clutter (excluding the blueprints she had left for the campers to complete new cabins), and the laptop with a Greek Delta sitting unopened on her bedside table. One thing you could always count on in the Athena cabin was no one touches your possessions. Well, as long as you didn't rearrange any of their stuff, you should be okay. Annabeth deemed it as a kind of unspoken rule everyone obeyed.

She was extremely glad of this at the end of last summer. Her only small carry-on suitcase for heading home had been completely filled to the brim. It had been difficult to leave the computer behind, but she confided in herself it would be safer here at camp. What use did she have it at home for, anyways? To prevent boredom, she thought to herself gloomily.

Happy to see the gift from Deadalus, she wiped the dust off the front to admire it, and jumped on her bunk bed with her case. She slowly began taking each neatly folded item out. There, in between the scraps of clothing was a small square piece of paper. A picture.

A picture Annabeth held dear to her heart. It showed her, Percy, Grover, Clarisse, and a handful of others that had made it back to Camp Half-Blood soon after the final battle on Olympus. Obviously, nobody had had time to shower yet, because mostly everyone was covered in dirt and grime. Percy and her were standing side by side, with both sadness and contentment in their expressions. Of course, Percy looked more tired than the rest, but he did have the curse of Achilles to deal with, plus he just finished fighting a Titan lord earlier that day.

She propped the photo on her work desk, put the rest remainder of her things away, and sprinted outside in the direction of the Big House.

A/N- Hello. This is my first story. I decided to post this after contemplating long and hard about it, in honor of the new preview trailer out for Percy Jackson I discovered just today. Reviews are extremely appreciated.