"It's okay," he said. "We're together." He didn't say , or . After all they'd been through over the last year, he knew that the most important thing was that they were together. She loved him for saying that." --
"And," Annabeth continued, "it reminds me how long we've known each other. We were , Percy. Can you believe that?" "No, he admitted. "So...you knew you liked me from that moment?" She smirked. "I hated you at first. You annoyed me. Then I tolerated you for a few years. Then--" "Okay, fine." She leaned in and kissed: him a good, proper kiss without anyone watching--no Romans anywhere, no screaming satyr chaperones. She pulled away. "I missed you, Percy." Percy wanted to tell her the same thing, but it seemed too small a comment. While he had been on the Roman side, he'd kept himself alive almost solely by thinking of Annabeth. didn't really cover that."
"I'm nobody's sidekick," Annabeth growled. "And, Percy, his accent sounds familiar because he sounds like his mother. We killed her in New Jersey." Percy frowned. "I'm pretty sure that accent isn't New Jersey. Who's his--? Oh." It all fell into place. Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium--the lair of Medusa. She'd talked with that same accent, at least until Percy had cut off her head. " is your mom?" he asked. "Dude, that sucks for you."