Hey guys! It's another PJO fic! Yay!

So this contains Blood of Olympus spoilers, so if you haven't read it, you should probably go away now so I don't ruin it for you... :)

So, this is the first PJO story I've posted since BoO, so let me just rant for a second here... What the heck!? I'm sorry, but I was really pretty disappointed. I mean, the last book, ever, and NO PERCY OR ANNABETH POV? And both of them were seriously lacking in awesomeness throughout the entire book. Is that just cause of Tartarus PTSD stuff or what? They seemed pretty OOC to me too, compared to the other books. And the ending with Leo? UGHHHH. So frustrating. The whole book... frustrating...

But, that's what fanfiction is for, I guess. Anyway, this is just a little thing I whipped up. I wanted to post a Christmas fic but I was seriously lacking in inspiration for one, so you have this instead. Maybe next year. However, if you keep up with my Mortal Instruments story(s), I have a Christmasy one-shot that should be up soon for TMI, so keep a look out for that if you're interested. But this is a Percy Jackson story, so enough of that.

Merry (late) Christmas everybody! Here's the story. Enjoy :)

Silence reigned over Camp Half-Blood and its inhabitants as the supernova-like light faded from the sky. Stunned and speechless like the rest of the half-bloods present, I blinked the spots from my eyes, gaping, at what had been a raging battle just a minute earlier. The smoke was still clearing as I quickly took it all in; the fallen demigods, the blood, the glittering monster dust that lay scattered in the half-burnt grass all around. But the ground was still and solid beneath me. Gaea, at least, didn't seem to be a problem anymore.

The clouds were thick with smoke and dust from the battle, and ash fluttered down all around me as I brought my eyes to the sky, my senses still buzzing with battle high, straining to see through the polluted air for any evidence that our friends had survived the explosion, looking for signs of life; listening, as we all were, it seemed, for any noise at all. After a few seconds, to my immense relief, I could make out two limp shapes plummeting toward the earth, the shapes of Jason and Piper. I didn't have time to feel anything but relief as, a second later, two giant Roman eagles swooped in and brought them, unconscious but seemingly unharmed otherwise, to safety. They would be okay. I continued to search the sky but Leo was nowhere in sight. I let that realization settle heavily upon me as the pervading silence broke, giving way to cheers of victory from all sides.

Reluctantly, I turned away from the clouds to meet Annabeth's eyes, who had been fighting with me, her back to mine, and now stood beside me, gray eyes still ablaze with the mirth from the fighting. She was filthy; her clothes dingy and caked with blood, dirt, and monster dust, her face smeared with grime, her blonde hair tangled. I thought she had never looked better.

Her gaze met mine and, slowly, she exhaled and stepped toward me, closing the distance between us. I wrapped her in my arms and released a breath I hadn't known I'd been holding. My grief over the loss of Leo and the many others who had fallen was suddenly replaced by a fierce relief and joy. We'd won. We were alive. We were together. It was okay now.

A familiar bleat broke through the noise and I released Annabeth and stepped back in time to see Grover barreling toward me at full speed. Despite everything, I had to smile as the satyr's body collided with my own, with enough force to send me stumbling backward a few steps. "Grover!" I shouted, hugging my friend back with the same enthusiasm, "Hey!"

"Percy!" a different voice called above the din, followed by another, and another, and pretty soon, all I could see were familiar, smiling demigods, my friends, all making their way towards us. Some were limping or nursing other minor injuries, but they apparently thought the two of us, Annabeth and I, were more important than their health, which was touching.

Grover let go and tackled Annabeth, allowing me time to breathe for all of one second before a different pair of arms were around me, much bigger and stronger than Grover's had been, but I recognized the build almost immediately. It was Clarisse. Clarisse, the last person on Earth I ever would have expected, was hugging me. Her arms disappeared almost as quickly as they had come, and not a second later, her fist connected with my arm. Hard. Even then, I could only stare.

"Jackson, you punk!" she roared, "Don't ever disappear like that again! Do you hear me? Do you know how annoying it was to not have you here? What good is winning Capture the Flag if the other team poses no threat at all? And no one else here is competent enough to spar with me! What is wrong with you?"

Despite my shock, I had to laugh. "Sorry, Clarisse. I'll tell Hera to take you next time instead," I said.

All around us, friends had gathered; the Stolls, Katie, Chris, Malcolm, Mitchell, Lou Ellen, Lacy, John, Matt, Eric, Austin, and so many others. Everyone was hugging me and high-fiving me and clapping me on the back, and calling my name. I hadn't felt so welcome and appreciated by so many in a long, long time.

An aura of victory and intense celebration seemed to hover in the air, so thick it was almost tangible. It lightened the atmosphere considerably. Even with the loss and devastation of the past hours, the relief and triumph everyone clearly felt left no room for any other emotion. I hadn't felt this good in ages. Even given the circumstances, gods, was it good to be home.

"Percy! Annabeth!" a voice I would have recognized anywhere shouted and a familiar red-head broke free of the crowd and threw herself at me, hugging me tightly, and, after a second, pulled away with one arm to include Annabeth as well. "Oh my gods, is it good to see you. You have no idea. Tartarus?" She demanded pulling away to look at the two of us, though she was smiling hugely, "Really guys? Is there anything you can't do? And you," she continued, zeroing in on me, her voice taking on an accusatory tone, "Eight months? Eight months and not a word! Did you forget about me?" Her tone was light and her joking, half-hearted, but she continued anyway because she was Rachel Dare after all. "Annabeth remembered me. She sent me a letter. From Tartarus." She stepped back for dramatic flair. "I see how it is," she said and sniffed, "I totally feel the love."

Grinning, I wrapped an arm around her, and the other around Annabeth . "Love you, Rachel," I told her lightly, while at the same time, lifting my hand from her shoulder to tightly grip the outstretched hand of Daniel, fifteen year old son of Apollo, in greeting.

I let Rachel go then and, keeping only Annabeth's hand in my own, high-fived Jake Mason over the top of Lacy's head. "Good to see you alive," he called to me above the commotion.

"You too!" I replied, a smile seemingly glued to my face.

Things grew slightly somber after that as everyone well enough to walk and talk was recruited by Will Solace and the other medics to distribute Nectar and Ambrosia to the injured and bring the severely wounded to the infirmary. This meant accounting for the many dead as well.

Nothing put a damper on things faster than losing friends. Still, it could have been worse. Much, much worse.

After over two hours, the wounded campers were tended to, the dead were prepared for burial, and the camp was as put back together as it would get for the moment. I stood around the side of the Big House, standing casually with my hands in my pockets, gazing out at the scene of Camp Half-Blood laid out before me; the cabins, the arena, the woods off to one side and the Long Island Sound to the other. The place had cleared out some. Everyone was off, scattered, gathering broken weapons, or reuniting with friends, or heading to clean themselves up after the morning of battle. The shroud burning was in less than an hour, but for the moment, things were the most peaceful they had been in a long time.

The air still smelled slightly of dust and sulfur, left over from the explosion, but after Tartarus, it was nothing. The thought brought a torrent of horrible memories flooding to the forefront of my mind: Annabeth, stumbling blind and helpless, believing I'd abandoned her forever; the evil, raw way I'd felt for those few seconds I'd almost lost control of my powers while dispelling the poison; Tartarus himself glaring down at us, ready to squash us underfoot; the look on Bob's face when he realized I'd taken advantage of him. I pushed the nightmarish memories quickly away, though I couldn't help wincing at the nearly physical sting that last one had brought with it. Bob. I felt a pang of guilt for the millionth time, thinking about him. He and Damasen had sacrificed themselves for us, for me. And I could never repay them for that.

A cool breeze blew off the Sound, momentarily clearing away the humidity of August and the sulfuric residue. I took a deep breath of it and let it blow away my guilt as well, though I knew it would be back again. I let it clear my mind completely, and for that one moment, I felt more normal than I had in eight months.

The sound of someone walking toward me brought me back to earth and I turned to see Annabeth approaching me from behind. She stopped beside me and I wrapped my arm around her waist, pulling her close. "Hey," I said quietly. She leaned her head against my shoulder.

"Hi." We were both quiet, staring out across the one place we both called home. Neither of us said anything. There was nothing to say.

After another minute, my thoughts wandered again, this time to my parents, to my mom and Paul, who were so close now, closer than they'd been in eight months. I hadn't spoken to them at all in that time, except for one voicemail message I'd tried to leave from a payphone in Alaska a month and a half earlier, and I had no idea if it had even gone through. They had no idea if I was alive or dead. For all I knew, no one had told them anything since the day Annabeth had left on the Argo II to come to Camp Jupiter to find me.

"Are you okay?" Annabeth asked suddenly, lifting her head from my shoulder to look at me, breaking me free from my thoughts. I glanced quickly at her and, after a pause, nodded.

"Are you?"

"All things considered, I guess, yeah." She paused, and sighed, "It's just… Leo…"

"I know," I said, tightening my arm around her.

"I'm just glad you're okay," she continued, "I mean, it's awful, but… I'm glad it wasn't you."

I nodded, staring straight ahead. I couldn't blame her for feeling that way. Mostly because I felt the exact same way. And, gods, I felt terrible about it, but I couldn't live without her. Especially not after this quest, not after Tartarus. I kissed her forehead. "I know."

She sighed again, and after a second, said,"We must be horrible people."

"I'd have to disagree with you there, I'm afraid," a familiar voice said from behind us. We both spun around to find Chiron standing there, smiling sadly. I'd been too lost in thought to hear him approach. "Sorry. I didn't mean to eavesdrop."

"Hey, Chiron," I said by way of greeting, rather than replying.

"Hello, Percy," he answered. Annabeth left my side and turned to hug him. He pulled her close in response. "Hello, my dear," he said to her and, after a moment, held one arm out to me. I stepped toward him and allowed him to wrap me in his fatherly embrace as well. It seemed to please him as much as it did me.

He let us go after a few seconds and looked kindly at Annabeth, placing one hand on her shoulder. "We all have those we can't live without," he told her, obviously referring to her earlier statement, "It doesn't mean you don't care." I still felt incredibly guilty, but his words seemed to help Annabeth some. Chiron shifted his gaze between the two of us, "I must say, it is incredibly good to see the two of you alive and well. I'd be lying if I told you I never doubted you." He smiled. "Thank you for proving me wrong."

I gave a small smile in response to his words. "We seem to be good at that," I said, glancing at Annabeth quickly and back to him, "At proving people wrong."

Chiron's smile remained for another second before fading as he glanced out at the camp behind us. "I do hope the constant battles stop now though. I don't know how much more you all can take."

"I'm with you there," I said.

Chiron nodded solemnly, looking at us again. "We've suffered a great loss, but it would have been even greater if not for the two of you. Thank you, both." He stopped for a moment before speaking again. "And, I have to admit, I, too, am glad the two of you made it. I have to go prepare for the shroud burning tonight, but I want you to know that, if nothing else, you are true heroes. And your actions do not go unnoticed."

Beside me, Annabeth gave a small smile. I did the same. "Thanks, Chiron," she said. He smiled back at us in reply before turning and heading back toward the Big House, leaving us alone again.

We stayed there, together, for a while after that, in comfortable silence. It was almost surreal, after so long of constant going, going, going, to just be able to stand still and breathe for a few minutes.

I couldn't wrap my mind around everything that had happened, even after living through it. After everything we'd been through and seen, just being able to stand there, home again and safe, was almost too much to process. But as unbelievable as it was, it was true, which, of course, made it that much better, indescribably so.

We had actually done it. And now we were here. Together at last. Tartarus had taken a bigger toll then either of us had bargained for, but we would figure it out, like we always did, and it would be alright. We would stay together now, for the rest of forever. I didn't care what happened.

We stayed there until it was time for the shroud burning, and then the two of us made our way toward the amphitheater, where the fire was already burning and campers were gathering, Greek and Roman alike, to say goodbye to our lost friends and heroes forever.

So? What did you think? I actually kinda liked it. Hopefully you did too.

I'd love to know your thoughts. Please leave a review, if you'd be so kind, in the box below.

Also! One more thing, I have another story in the works for PJO. I haven't decided if I'm making it a one-shot or a multi-chapter thing yet, but keep an eye out for that. I should hopefully have it up within the coming weeks. I'm hoping to take advantage of Winter Break while it lasts. :)

Thanks for reading!