Okay, so I haven't written a fanfic in a while. I actually started this one last spring and then never finished it. But just recently I rediscovered it and read over it. I still had an idea of what I wanted to do with it, so I decided to finish it. The first draft was pretty rough. Really rough, so after editing and stuff I came out with this. It's just a little oneshot, as are most of my stories.
Summary: Annabeth wakes in the middle of the night, unable to sleep. She tiptoes out of bed and goes down to the sea in an attempt to relax. Percy finds her there and they exchange a few words about their lives and the prophecy. But Annabeth seems to not be herself that night.
At about one o'clock in the morning, the rain falls heavily outside the borders of Camp Half-Blood. Inside the camp not a drop of water falls, making this safe haven seem so distant from the mortal world, like the inside of a bubble.
At about one thirty, Annabeth Chase will tip toe out of her bed. She throws the covers off herself, and then pauses, debating whether or not she should get out of bed and sneak out of her cabin. She has never done this before. Usually Annabeth follows the rules, but lately she has been feeling more risky, like Thalia, she thinks to herself. Like Thalia, who marches to the beat of her own drum. She had seen what happened to Thalia.
After debating for a few more seconds, Annabeth finally decides to get out of bed. She wears yellow pajama pants, almost golden, that match the locks of hair that rest on her shoulders in big ringlets.
The shore. This is where she will go. Her mind is in a jumble, her thoughts coming at her way too fast, before she even has the chance to process them. Her usual solutions have failed her. She tries a different approach. Something he would do.
As she walks down the small pathway to the sand, past the cabins of other campers, she feels no regret for what she is doing, nor is she nervous. Later, she will curse herself for not taking her total feeling of relaxation as some sort of warning sign for what she is getting herself into.
The sand. It is at her toes now. She looks down, and squeezes her toes tightly together, smushing the sand tightly together, letting it grind on her feet, messaging her skin.
She lies down on the sand and looks out at the beautiful picture in front of her: The Long Island Sound. She would never say it to him, but truthfully, the ocean appealed very much to her. There was something about it that was soothing, yet dangerous. It was so mysterious, so large, never ending. The sky was enormous as well; however there was one characteristic that separated the two completely: the sky was huge, and so free. The sky was open. The sky had no secrets. You could see everything it possessed. The sea was filled with beings and creatures, hidden treasures and troves that one would never discover.
And so she sat there. Actually, she was not making progress. If anything, the presence of the ocean was making her more alert rather than calming the thoughts that raced too fast in her mind, but at the same time, she loved it. It almost seemed like she could not pull herself away from it. Something about the sea felt so forbidden, which made it feel more exciting.
"I couldn't sleep either." There is a voice behind her. At first, she feels as if the sea itself is speaking to her, starting a conversation. Then, as the shadow approaches, she see's who it is.
"What are you doing out here?" she asks, though she knows why.
"I always come out here. The sea. You know, it helps me think. It relaxes me. How about you? Why aren't you asleep, or why couldn't you sleep?" His voice sounds innocent and curious, and Annabeth wonders if this is really how he is, or is he faking it? She decides that tonight she will not be untrustworthy and suspicious like she has been for so long. Annabeth has always found it hard to trust people. Except Luke. Luke was an exception. She told herself this over and over again. Tonight she will try a new approach to life. She decides this maybe because she is tired of feeling like everyone is out to get her, or maybe her brain was too tired to think about what she was doing.
"Oh, I don't know. You know, just things. After a quest," she turns to face him, and finds she is being watched through two eyes the same color of the ocean right before a storm. "Sometimes I have trouble sleeping. I mean, the events that took place, the things that we saw, they come alive again in my dreams."
"Well, what can you expect being a half-blood?"
She does not reply. She is not in the mood to talk about this. However it is hard for her to be around Percy without being reminded of who she is, what is coming, and how it will end.
"The prophecy," he starts to say. Just that word alone is enough to make her have a nightmare while she is awake. "What if, Annabeth, what if you get hurt? What if one of us dies?"
Why did it always come to this? Their conversations could never be just normal. They weren't normal.
"Percy, it won't happen. We cannot let it! Choose something other than the prophecy, Percy. You don't have to be brave!" Annabeth is suddenly yelling, and in her voice Percy can hear something like anger, and underneath all that anger, he can sense something that Annabeth is usually pretty good at hiding: fear.
"Annabeth, I can't. I know that sounds dumb, but I just can't. I hate it! This thing that has come into my world, threatening to take my life, the people I love! But I will claim it. I have to. I feel it. I know it is me, and it can only be me. The answer runs in my blood, in the sea. I am constantly reminded of it. No matter what I am doing there is always something in the back of my mind, a force, him, telling me, whispering to me softly, 'It is you. The war is coming. Your decision is coming.' But lately, the words, that voice, it has been getting louder. Pretty soon it will be shouting. As the time–my time- grows near, the voice that reminds me will shout until I cannot escape it. I will be forced to accept my fate and our future. It's like knowing, Annabeth . . . like knowing when you are going to die, yet you cannot do anything to change it. You can only watch it come."
Suddenly, with no warning at all, it is all too much for her. She hates being a daughter of Athena. Annabeth secretly hates her bravery. That is her deepest darkest secret. Everything she is, her personality, it is just a cover for what she really feels. Scared. Hurt. Betrayed. At heart, Annabeth is still nothing but a little seven year old girl that wants a mommy who loves her. All her life, Annabeth Chase has wanted nothing more than the permission to cry.
Once the tears start, they don't stop. Percy gets to his knees and reaches out his arms. On any other occasion Annabeth would have turned away, however tonight she cannot. She lets herself go towards him, and for once she lets her heart lead the way, giving her brain a rest.
"Shhh . . ." Percy says in an attempt to calm her. He is about to tell her that it is okay, that there is nothing to cry for, but then he stops himself, realizing exactly how rare it is for Annabeth to cry. He has only seen her cry two other times in all three years they have know each other, which is not a lot considering how many dangerous situations they have been in together.
For a while they sit there, alone. Annabeth allows her head to rest on his shoulder. She is out of breath and tired. She has just cried in front of someone who she has always tried to look strong in front of. Later, she will blame all the things she does tonight on lack of sleep and post traumatic stress.
She reaches over to his head and touches his hair. Then she takes her hand and runs it down his chest. This makes him very nervous, and he pulls away. When she is done she lets out a deep sigh and lets her head plop down next to him. He places his head down next to hers. The two of them lay there for about five minutes, their faces only a few centimeters apart.
She moves over and rests her head on his stomach. They will lay there for what seems like an eternity. When the first light of day comes they will sneak back into their cabins. They will never mention anything that happened that night to one another or anyone else for that matter. It will almost seem erased. As if it never happened. And did it really happen? Did Annabeth really get out of bed that night and sneak past the cabins down to the beach, or was it all in her dreams? Annabeth will be confused when she wakes up that morning to find tear stains on her pillow. Percy will be confused when he wakes up that morning to find sand between his toes and the feeling that he and Annabeth are closer than they were before. Both of them will wonder if the other one remembers, but they will never ask.
Well I hoped you like it. Please review. I love criticism, anything to help me improve! Thanks!
-thegodsarealive