A/N: Thanks to all those who read 'Zit is What It Does To You'. I'm only 13 and an inexperienced writer too, so thanks to those who would give me suggestions to improve on my writing. Please review and enjoy.
You only realize she's important...
When she walks away...
And the next thing you know...
She's gone...
The wind howled against the breeze, dark clouds started to roll and gather into the sky.
She trotted across the field, taking small, dainty and painful steps. The grass started tickling her bare foot. But she could not feel them now. The quaint drizzle did not soak her or touch her white, sleeveless dress. She was immune to nature's forces now.
She closed her eyes at the pitter-patter of the rain.
Drip.
Drip.
Pit.
Pat.
Pat.
And there he was, laying at the meadow she never thought existed in the outskirts of Long Island. He was alone. He looked relaxed… and agitated at the same time; his whole body calm but breathing uneven.
Percy was miserable. Her hero was suffering. And she couldn't do anything about it.
Drip.
Drip.
Pit.
Pat.
Her knees buckled and she sobbed horribly, choking down painful gobbles. She cried for the hero who snared her heart. She cried for the boy who changed her too much. She cried for the tears that would never come.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
She took those slow, painful movements again toward him. The sunlight was barely illuminating the meadow. Annabeth could still see him. But he couldn't see her.
Drip.
Drip.
"Oh, Percy," Annabeth croaked. "You haven't changed a bit."
She stroked his hair softly, the rain slowly saturating it. To her surprise, a faint smile tugged on his lips. She fell back into a shock. This wasn't supposed to happen… He wasn't supposed to…
"Annabeth," Percy faltered.
Annabeth pulled her hand away abruptly, astonished. He wasn't supposed to hear that. He wasn't supposed to feel her. He wasn't supposed to know she was here. How come he acted like he knew?
"I don't know if you can hear me. I don't know if you're the drizzle or if it's you in the faint breeze," he said. "But I know you're here."
The trees started to sway. The green leaves gleaming against the afternoon sun.
"I am hallucinating," he muttered.
Annabeth chuckled and continued stroking his black hair, smoothing out the gray streak in his hair.
The day when he trekked across the country to hold up the sky... for her.
He sighed contentedly. "I miss the way you do that, even though you've never touched me like that before."
Annabeth giggled again.
"I - I'm sorry, Annabeth."
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
"I'm sorry that you suffered because of my choices. I'm sorry that I'm a coward and that I lead you to this, that I ran away every time from difficulties. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you what I wanted to say to you for a long time. I'm sorry that you have to step up and fix my decisions and that you paid your life because of it. I'm sorry that you even met me."
"And I'm sorry," Percy's voice broke at the end."That I wasn't strong enough to save you. That I wasn't good enough -"
"Percy -"
"It was all a lie, Annabeth. Every time I told you that I didn't want you… I figured out that I didn't mean that. I was lying to you. I was lying to myself. I'm sorry for being a coward. I'm sorry for being a liar. I'm sorry for being a stuck-up, no good – "
"Please Percy – " Annabeth couldn't bear him confess. This was Percy Jackson. The Percy Jackson that fulfilled the prophecy. The Percy Jackson that saved the world. He has nothing to be sorry for.
She has.
"You know, camp wasn't the same since you left," he closed his eyes tight, his voice heartbroken and his whole body was shaking. "It feels like it rains in camp all day long. Nothing's like it was before. You took everything away with you. How – how could you leave us like that, Annabeth? Why did you have go?"
Annabeth strained herself and choked down tearless sobs. The rain started to pour again.
Drip.
Drip.
Pit.
Pat.
Pit.
"I wasn't lying to you when I told you that you bring out the best... and the worst out of me, though," a small smile. "You – you surprise me when you drag me into one of your crazy, impromptu ideas, you make me feel stupid when you make those sardonic comments, you annoy me endlessly when you blab about architecture and when you call me 'Seaweed Brain' or 'Kelp Head'..."
" I feel... happy when we would laugh out loud and crack a joke together, I – I hate I it when you talk non-stop about Luke," his voice turned soft. "And you always break my heart every time you walk away without a backward glance. When you leave without saying goodbye."
The chill in the air became prevalent, Annabeth's broken sobs and Percy's ragged breathing carried across the wind.
He gradually opened his green eyes. "I wish I could see you again."
"You really are stupid, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth tried to smile. "You know that's impossible."
Percy smirked. "Yeah. Just checking. I may be delusional, right?"
Moments of silence passed between them. The afternoon sun slowly melts away.
"Say something..."
"How do you know I am here?"
"I – I'm not sure," he pouted. "I can sense it somehow. Or maybe I just lost my sanity for all that it is worth."
Annabeth fell silent again.
" Are... are you coming back?"
"I'm afraid not. This may be the last time you'll be able to hear me again. I'm here because a certain goddess came to my aid. She said... she said that it would be the best if I came here to see you."
"Aphrodite," they both said in unison.
Percy laughed. "I can't believe that there would be a day that I'd owe the goddess of love and beauty."
"But there are rules, though. You're not supposed to hear me, let alone know that I'm here."
"I guess I owe Hades for this one."
Annabeth giggled softly.
"Good thing the rain stopped," Percy shifted and righted himself along the green grass. "I could hear you more clearly."
"What?"
"There's something about the wind. If... if I listen close enough, I could hear the slightest prick of your voice. A little mumbling... A soft chuckle. Or something like that. It's like your voice is being carried by the wind."
"You do know how cliché that sounds," she remarked.
Percy chuckled. Annabeth lay next to him, the wind sending gusts at him as she settled.
"Your invulnerable, you've got powers over the sea and now you've got sonic hearing," she muttered, grinning. "What is it that you don't have?"
His smile melted. "You."
You.
Percy's eyes turned misty. "I want to come with you. I do hope I've done good enough to deserve Elysium..."
"What? No! Please don't say that, Percy!" Annabeth cried.
"It would be like the old times. It would be as if nothing ever happened."
"No, Percy. It's not right."
"Then what is? I already saved this world. I've done everyone a favor. I made my choice. I want to be with you."
"I don't want you to come, Percy. You belong here in the living. Live your life while you still have it."
"I don't know if I can anymore."
"You can't go. You really can't."
"I made up my mind. You're stuck down there in the Underworld because of me. It was all my fault."
"None of this was your fault. It was my choice Percy to give myself up. You shouldn't be sorry. That choice saved me from what I would become. It won't make sense if both of us would die, anyway. Just think about it. Think about leaving. Do you want to leave your mom behind? And Poseidon? What about Grover and Tyson? What about camp? What about Rachel?"
"You're not making this easy."
"I don't intend to make this easy. I want you to live, Percy. Don't give up on life because one of your friends died. If – if you truly care about me, then don't."
"That's not fair!" Percy bellowed.
"Life is never fair," she sniffed. It hurt her to deny him of anything, but she had to try. "The Fates have very well proved that."
Percy averted his gaze to the sky. He was angry at Kronos and at Luke for allowing his minions to kill Annabeth, at Chiron for suspecting it would happen, and not having those horse guts to tell him, at the gods who ridiculed him when he asked them a favor to bring her back, after all he had done for them... He was angry at the world, and at the Fates who had made it all turn sour.
And he was angry at Annabeth, for leaving him, that he lost his chance at everything.
He was angry because he never had the chance to say...
"You don't want me with you, is that it?"
"Well, yes – I mean, no! Listen –"
"Then why?"
"Percy," Annabeth choked down another sob. "Don't be a coward. Don't run away from your problems. You've got to face them. The point is you're still alive and Olympus is safe. That's all that matters."
The boy closed his eyes again, keeping the tears from trickling down his cheeks.
"Why can't you stay, Annabeth?" he said dejectedly.
"I told you. I don't belong here anymore. I can't fight monsters, or have fun at camp, or be with you and Grover and Tyson. I'm supposed to be dead, Percy. And you're not. Please grasp that."
Percy was silent. Conflicted.
"I'll always be here with you, Percy," she whispered. "You won't be alone."
"But it won't be the same."
She sighed. "I know it won't be the same."
"Annabeth –"
"If you do... care about me, you will not put an end to yourself. Don't think about me. I'll be fine."
"I can't do that," he mumbled.
"Then try. Please. For me."
Percy could not see her, but he tried to close in the distance between him and her spirit, the warmth and the soft breeze engulfing him.
"I don't know what goes on from now," he muttered. "Will I still hear you if I came back here again tomorrow? And the day after that?"
Annabeth bit her bottom lip. There wasn't much time...
"I don't know."
She really hated not knowing.
"I think I could stay here forever," he mused. "I miss you, Annabeth."
The ghost smiled mournfully. "I miss you too."
She sat up and kissed him softly in the lips as his tears met with the earth.
"Goodbye, Percy."
And the howling wind died down.
A/N:
I got inspired by a song, thanks to a friend. Did you like it? Sorry that I wasn't able to make it as great as PJO stories should be. I'm sorry to the fluff lovers out there for I couldn't bring Percy and Annabeth to say those three, simple words… It just feels out of character for them. So yeah. Forgive me for that.
If it was too OOC, I apologize also. I don't really know how they would act if either one of them dies. I'm just guessing.
So what did you think? Did you like it? Love it? Hate it? Scorn it? Correct me if there were any errors. Please review! Reviews always make the author happy.
Don't believe that it's better when you leave everything behind-
Don't believe that the weather is perfect the day that you die.
The Truth About Heaven
~ by Armor For Sleep