Empress (a Percy Jackson AU)

Percy's Return

       Annabeth didn't follow Jason back to the palace; she ran ahead of him. She didn't care if it was undignified of an empress; she had spent a month without someone who had been there for her during one of the most challenging periods of her life. Now that he was back, she felt like she had been living without something she hadn't realized she needed.

     Percy standing outside the front entrance of the palace. Hr wasn't wearing his usual armor, but was clad in the soft clothes of an ordinary farmer. He looked tanner than Annabeth remembered and his sea green eyes looked more vivid then ever. When she saw him, she felt a bubble of anger for him being wrong before remembering that she had ordered him — she had trusted him — to take her brothers safely to Greece.

     It was his familiar, goofy grin that broke her anger and drew something else from her that she could not name. She ran forward and without thinking about it, they kissed. It was like taking a breath of air after being held underwater for so long. Annabeth could smell the salty tang of the sea on Percy and he could smell the lemony scent on her golden tresses. They kissed like waves hitting a rocky sea shore — an explosion of passion and power that simultaneously felt like a miracle and the most natural thing in the world.

     Annabeth pulled away from the kiss, their noses touching. "Percy, I — I missed you."

    Usually it was easy for her to find the words she needed, so why was it so hard to string them together now? She felt as if her heart was being pulled in two different directions — towards her dead husband and towards Percy. She knew how she felt she ought to act, but stripped of these messages, how did she really feel?

    "Well," Jason said, jogging up to meet them. "That was something."

   Percy chuckled, his ears red, and Annabeth gave Jason a stern glance. "You have better not tell anyone."

    Jason held his hands up in surrender. "You know I wouldn't. I'm loyal to you and besides, Percy is my brother."

    Annabeth smiled indulgently as the two men shook hands in a very formal matter, though neither of them could keep a straight face. "Mind you," Jason whispered, "I think it would be great if you married Percy. You two are a great team. I know you miss Luke, but you don't have to choose between them. When Ruth's husband died, she married again."

    Annabeth nodded, remembering the Biblical story of the Moabite who had showed steadfast loyalty to her mother-in-law. She turned to Jason. "Maybe you and Piper should get married then, too."

He blinked and shifted. "We did — it was before Ethan's death."

Annabeth widened her eyes, taking in the information. She turned to Percy. "Can we — can we talk?"

He nodded and they spent several hours in the gardens discussing their possible future together.