It was just another day on the Argo ||. Cole and I were playing around. I splashed him with water. Crazy pressure hit my legs with such force, I fell. Cole caught me before I fell.

"And you said I couldn't catch," Cole whispered in my ear.

"Stupid wind powers," I mumble under my breath. He laughed. I wished I could live in this moment forever.

Then, the Argo || blew up.

Next thing I knew, I was falling. I was crashing toward the sea. I felt a body press against mine. Strong arms wrapped around me and, suddenly, I'm floating.

Cole's voice is frantic in my ear, "We have to find the others."

I nodded. We began to fly faster. I saw a black blob bobbing in the sea.

"Cole. Stop," I yelled over the wind. We slowed down a little bit.

"Why?" Cole asked.

"Nico is down there in the water," I said. By the expression on Cole's face, I didn't think he cared.

"Oh well," he said. We began to fly faster again.

"Cole!" I yelled. We stopped. He gave me that look. Oh my Gods! I hated that look!

"Why do you have to be such a good person?!" He yelled. He looked at me. I used my eyes to beg him to go back and get Nico. I even pouted a little.

"Fine!" He screamed. We flew back towards Nico. "Get on my back!" Cole shouted. I obeyed. We swooped down towards Nico. Cole grabbed him.

We have one down, six to go. I then noticed we were rapidly loosing altitude.

"Cole!" I screamed. Cole gave me look, his eyes apologized. Then, he dropped Nico. "Cole!" I screamed again, but my voice was lost in the wind. He dropped Nico to save us. He stopped. I could tell he was about to apologize, to try to explain himself, but I wasn't having it. Without thinking, I pushed off his back and went into a free fall.

Cole cursed. I saw him take a dive toward me. Crap! I can't out fall him. I folded myself, trying to be like a torpedo shooting straight down towards the ocean. I was close, but it was already too late. Cole's body crashed with mine.

"Why in the name of the gods did you just do that!" he yelled in my ear. He released me, only to flip me over and face him. His hands gripped my waist. I grabbed his shoulders to keep from falling backwards. "What were you thinking!"

That's it. What was his problem! I don't need him to protect me! "Why do you keep trying to protect me! I'm not a fragile little girl! Stop babying me!" I yelled at him. His expression changed. He looked angry, but there was hurt in his eyes.

"It's just... I ... um-" he stammered. Oops! Now he thinks I don't want him to take care of me, to love me.

"Cole, I'm sorry. I just can't comprehend what it would be like if you got hurt trying to protect me," I said gently. He seemed to consider this for a while. I ran my hands over his shoulders. He winced. I lifted my right hand. there was a thick, red liquid all over it. Blood. I pulled his shirt down to find where the blood came from. on his left shoulder, there was a bloody gash.

"Cole," I said looking at him.

"Jade, don't worry. I'm fine. It's just a cut," he said, trying to consul me, but it was too late. I was already worried.

"We have to find Annabeth. The cut has to be cleaned. It could get infected. I-" Cole put his hand over my mouth. His green eyes were staring at mine.

"Relax," he said, "I am okay. Please, don't worry about me, worry about you." He lifted his hand off my mouth and pressed his hand to my stomach. Now it was my turn to wince. Cole's face turned worried.

"Where are the others?" I asked trying to turn the attention away from the cut on my stomach.

He didn't say anything. His face was still full of worry when he started flying. We suddenly dropped. We landed on a wave. Percy was carrying Annabeth, Nico was laying unconscious behind them. Percy whispered something into Annabeth's ear, then set her down. He came up to me and gave me a hug.

"Percy," Cole said as we broke away, "She's hurt."

Percy looked like he was about to murder him. "You were supposed to protect her," he yelled.

Cole remained scary calm. "I wasn't expecting the ship to blow up," he said.

Percy was about to lunge at Cole. Thankfully, Annabeth intervened.
"Boys! Stop it!" she said, her voice full of authority.
Then, I saw my sister.