User blog comment:SayuriDarling/The Mark of Athena Official Discussion/@comment-122.164.13.196-20121230050409/@comment-3146930-20121231131840

I liked their reunion, and I don't just mean the part with the judo flip. In a way, The Mark of Athena was their reunion and I mean the entire book from start to finish (minus the last chapter, which was from Leo's POV).

Percy was asleep for most of the time they were apart, but still remembers her and tried everything within his power to get back to her during The Son of Neptune. Annabeth on the other hand has been spending that time trying her best to reach him as well, helping build the Argo II. When they finally do meet again, there is that initial ice-breaker judo flip. The mood is kind of just ruined because Percy said the wrong thing (which is nothing new). When they meet, he starts talking about how great Camp Jupiter is because he is thinking about how it is a safe place to raise a family and go to school, which we find out later in the book. Annabeth sees this more as him liking C~Jupiter over C~Half-Blood, so mood ruined. Then Leo kind of blows up the camp and the two don't really have time to just slow down for awhile.

When they do have time, Annabeth takes him downstairs and the two talk seriously, which basically reinforces their feelings for each other, which ends badly as Hedge grounds them.

The ending is the best however, and I don't mean the part with Tartarus. Percy and Annabeth who have just found each other again are forced to once again part. It is sad and their unwillingness to let the other go just shows how much the two feel for each other after being apart for so long, which ultimately leads to the final ending where Percy won't let her go no matter what. In the end, the two are finally reunited. In a way, falling into Tartarus was the reunion because the two are finally together again, body, mind, and hearts.