The cold, dark, and damp night couldn't have been more similar to how Sally felt right then. She sat in her living room, staring at the fireplace in front of her. Her shuddering hands tried to warm herself, maybe enough to help her get back to sleep, though Sally doubted that would happen. She hadn't gotten a good night's sleep since 6 months ago, but to her, it might as well have been 6 years. It seemed so long since she had last slept happy, free of worries. Paul had pushed her to go to sleep, but whenever she tried, her son's face flashed to her mind.

Percy was all she thought about now. His absence was almost enough to drive her crazy. She felt like breaking down when Annabeth came to her house and told her Percy was gone. Six months later, he may as well be dead. Still, the 2 girls often got together to console each other. They both had to cling to the piece of hope left for him. She knew how much they cared and loved each other, and that her son's girlfriend was heartbroken, troubled with his disappearance.

Earlier today, Annabeth came by and told her all about the exchange. How Percy was in this strange Roman camp, and didn't remember anything. Percy was always there when she needed him, and now he probably won't even remember her. That's what worried her the most.

What if he came back and didn't know anything about her? Sally couldn't live with herself. She would go crawl in a corner and never come out, lost in pain.

She glanced at Paul's watch laying beside her on the couch. It read 1:03 AM. She sighed and looked around the room. Clothes were strewn all over the place, the kitchen still dirty from the last 2 weeks of dinners, and a few bowls were on the ground from the icecream Annabeth and her ate 2 days ago. The house was obviously not very clean, but Paul was doing his best. Taking care of the house, balancing a full-time job, running the daily errands, and helping Sally cope with her son's disappearance. She knew it wasn't fair to her husband, but she couldn't bring herself to do anything except worry and cry.

Her son's disappearance clearly affected Paul as well. He hadn't known him or his crazy world for too long, but Sally saw him staring at Percy's pictures. The first few months, he even called his name or made breakfast for him, only to remember that he was gone.

Sally got off from the couch and walked to the balcony door. She opened it and immediately felt the cold fresh air tingle on her skin. Though it was far past 1:00, cars were bustling outside and many voices could be heard. The night stars were shining down on her, and it was almost like they were comforting her, making her think about anything else but her son.

She then looked down, and saw the silvery glowing moonlace that Percy had planted about 2 years back. It looked extravagant compared to the small lilacs and tulips planted next to it. He had told her that he got it from this place while he was assumed to be dead for 2 weeks on a dangerous quest in the Labyrinth. He wanted to give it to her, and said that he loved her.

Fresh tears sprung in her eyes, falling down her cheeks and splattering on the concrete floor. Sally ran inside, wanting the pain inside her heart to go away. Maybe she could call Annabeth and tell her to take it out and banish it to Tartarus. Huh, that's probably something Percy would say.

She went to the master bedroom passing Percy's room on the way. All that did was make her cry even more. She collapsed on the bed, weeping her heart out, not bothering about waking Paul. When he woke up, he tried to comfort her, sleepily. That didn't work. At the moment, it was like all of her senses were drowned out. She barely felt Paul's hand on her back or the phone ringing in the background. Frankly, she didn't care. All she wanted at the moment was Percy. To see his black tousled hair and his amused sea-green eyes. To feel his strong hands against her, coming into a tight hug which would always calm her. To hear his bubbly voice saying I love you over and over again.

When she thought that very thing, it was almost like the gods had heard what she said.

"Mom," my head shot up at that one word. Mom. Sally recognized that voice. "Hey, I'm alive. Hera put me to sleep for a while, and then she took my memory and-" Percy. Oh gods, Sally thought, is he okay?

She sprang from the bed and ran to the living room. Paul went after her, and stopped to lean on the door frame. Sally grabbed the phone, fumbling as she brought it closer to her ear to listen to his voice. Gods, it was really him.

"Anyway, I'm okay. I'm sorry. I'm on a quest-" his voice stopped abruptly as if he didn't want to worry her with all the quest business. Oh, she had the most thoughtful son in the world.

"I'll make it home. I promise. Love you." and a second later the dial tone went off.

After that, Sally didn't know how to feel. She was happy of course, but she was worried and frightened as well.

Percy mentioned that he was on a quest somewhere in Alaska. She remembered Poseidon telling her something when Percy was just a few months old. Sally, you mustn't go to Alaska. I can't help you there, none of the gods can.

On all of his other quests, Percy told her that there was some god involved in his success. What would he do now?

But in the back of her mind, Sally knew that he would be okay. He always got himself out of sticky situations whether it was nearly impossible, or just trivial.

She looked at Paul, her eyes swimming in tears. Sally saw a tear rolling down his face trailing into his salt & pepper beard. She knew that those tears weren't tears of sadness, but rather tears of joy.

She took in his words. Love you, he said. She thought of those two words over and over again. He was still alive and well, and even though he was all the way in Alaska, there was still hope. Just enough hope to make her smile and to fill that hole in her heart. Just enough to sleep peacefully that night. Just enough to be happy again.

Percy Jackson had made a promise, and he had never broken a promise. Sally knew that he would come home eventually, and that was enough.

For whatever comes her way, Sally would be okay because Percy was okay. And that was more than enough.

Well, that's it. I wanted to write this one-shot because I felt like my other story, Stuck in the Past, was kinda bad. So, I decided to write this short story to start off with. If any of you people want me to make this into multiple chapters with different scenarios, feel free to PM me or put in a review or something. Thanks guys!

-CC (Cool, right? I just came up with it!)