Sea Green Eyes

Trials of Apollo - Part Four

Cressida quickly set the glass down as she reached for his arms that were flailing about.

"Whoa! Whoa! It's ok, Fish Face. It's ok! It was a dream. It was just a dream. I got you. You're ok," she promised.

His fighting eventually ceased as he gripped her hands tightly, having pushed off the mountain of blankets that covered him, his eyes bloodshot, his nose bright red and his entire face full of fear.

"You-are you- are you real?" he stammered, and her heart broke a little bit at the sheer terror in his voice as she let go of one of his hands to push some of his hair out of his face.

"Yeah, Fish Face. I'm real. I'm right here."

"I-Hera- she...she took my memories again...I couldn't...you were...gone...I –"

"Shh. Shh," Cressida cooed as she linked her hands with both of his again. "No one is ever going to take you away from me again," she promised. "No one can take your memories. Not even a god. Because there is a crap ton of my magic inside your head because no one is taking you from me again. No one except me could forcibly change anything inside your head, and you know I would never do that. You are safe. I'm not going anywhere and you're not going anywhere. Ok?"

Percy nodded, still a little terrified as he gripped onto her.

"How are you feeling, Aquaman?"

He sniffed. "Asides from the panic still sitting in my chest, I can breathe through one nostril now."

Cressida chuckled as she felt his forehead, the sound of her voice and the touch of her skin actually doing wonders for that panic as he threw another tissue onto the growing pile on the floor. "Well, I think that's the last fever dream you'll have because your fever broke. The ambrosia is working."

"Not fast enough," he groaned.

"Here. Drink this," she said as she handed him the glass and he sat up and sipped from it as he furrowed his brows. "It's that orange juice and maple syrup combination you so strangely like. I threw in a little nectar to help push out whatever the nosoi did to you."

"Thanks, Cress," he said as he drained half the glass and then set it on his bedside table.

"You're welcome."

"No, really," he groaned as he reached for her hand and laced their fingers together. "Thank you. Thanks for taking care of me. And not just because Mr D said so."

She laughed again and Percy swore his nose cleared up a little and his throat became a little less scratchy that that hopeful sound.

"Thank you for being real."

Her expression softened. "You don't have to thank me for taking care of you; for loving you. Ever."

She kissed his hand that was entwined with hers and Percy punched both fists into the air.

"I can breathe again!" he cheered, and she laughed again.

"Though, sometimes I think I fell in love with a child."

"But seriously," he said. "Thank you for being my ridiculously hot bedside nurse."

She rolled her eyes, but she was still smiling at him. "You're welcome, Fish Face,' she said as she leaned forward to kiss his cheek and it might have been the nectar in the orange juice, but he swore that the aches in his joints and back began to fade. "Now get some sleep. Your mom agreed to make you soup. I'll wake you when it's done, and I'll make sure you have a good dream this time."

She stood up to leave but Percy yanked on her arm.

"Stay."

How the roles had reversed.

And even if he wasn't sick, she found it so hard to say no to the few reasonable requests he made.

"Finish drinking that first," she ordered, and Percy downed the rest of the orange juice/maple syrup/nectar combo as she slid under the covers next to him. Cressida sat with her back against the headboard as Percy flopped over, resting his head on her stomach and she began running her fingers through his hair and running her hand down his back.

She found herself thinking of Leo and the scroll that he'd managed to send to camp with a half-finished message that he was alive because after all, how it was his scroll that reunited her with Percy last summer.

So, it was Spanish she spoke this time as she thought of her friend and told the story of how they met. And Percy dosed off contently as Cressida's soothing voice lulled him off to sleep and he had the sneaking suspicion that he wouldn't even need his mother's soup to make him feel better.

All he'd need was her.

All he'd ever need was her.

All they'd ever need was each other.