Percy jerked awake, his eyes searching the darkness. He heard a muffled groan next to him and thrust his arm out, striking someone's head hard with his fingertips.

"Ow." Annabeth grumbled.

"Sorry, Wise Girl." He winced, moving his injured shoulder. "You okay?"

"Mph, sure," the daughter of Athena groaned. Percy heard the shuffling of rocks and feet. Annabeth's voice came from somewhere above him. "Sitting up is painful."

"Moving is painful," Percy griped. Annabeth nudged him with her non-broken leg and Percy hoisted himself up next to Annabeth, uncapping Riptide to cast a faint glow of light on the duo.

"What do we do now?" Annabeth asked the question that was on both of their minds. Percy shrugged, forgetting that Annabeth could barely see him. "Percy?"

"Huh? Sorry." He said. "I don't know. Keep moving, I guess?" Annabeth stayed still. In the dim light, Percy could see the look on her face she always got whenever she was thinking of something.

"Percy, what day is it today?" Percy thought back, counting the estimated nights and days they had spent in the hell-hole known as Tartarus. With a start, he realized what Annabeth was getting at.

"Really?! You're thinking about that at a time like this?" He yelled, a burst of anger coming out of nowhere. Annabeth glared at him. "Okay, okay," Percy said, calming down and lifting his hands in surrender. "I was just saying." Annabeth ignored her fumbling boyfriend and rummaged through her backpack for her baggie of ambrosia. She handed a square to Percy.

"Anna, we might need this-" Percy began, but stopped short at the look on Annabeth's face- equal parts sadness, anger and something else that Percy couldn't quite place.

"It's not a birthday cake, but I thought, y'know, at least we could do something." Annabeth said in a small voice. Percy regretted ever shouting at her. He forgot how fragile Tartarus was making her.

"I'm sorry, Annie. I shouldn't have yelled at you." He kissed her on the forehead. "I just wish we could spend my birthday at camp, by the lake, eating cupcakes and sitting around the campfire singing cheesy songs. Not stuck down here." Annabeth shook her head, nibbling on her own square of ambrosia.

"It doesn't matter. Not really. We're together, just like we were a year ago." She stopped, falling into one of her unexplained lapses of silence that had become so frequent during their stay in the Underworld. It wasn't fair, Percy thought as he stared off into the darkness. He wished more than anything that he could bring Annabeth back to Long Island and fix whatever's gone wrong with her mind. He hated seeing her so withdrawn and closed off, always silencing herself and drawing further and further back into her own mind. Every day he sent prayers to Dionysus for Annabeth's sanity, but he wasn't sure how far the prayers were going.

The two demigods sat in silence until a memory hit Percy like a lightning bolt.

"Hey, Annie? Know what else is today?" Annabeth shook her head silently. "Come on, guess!" Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"I don't know… The anniversary of some stupid stunt you pulled with Grover or the Stoll brothers?" Percy chuckled.

"Not quite, but you're right about the anniversary part." Annabeth thought for a few minutes, then her eyes widened and Percy knew that she had remembered.

"Oh." She whispered, the memories of a picnic in a pavilion and a kiss under the lake flooding back to her. Percy leaned forward and kissed her on the lips. "Happy anniversary, Wise Girl."

Well, that took a different direction than was intended, but I liked it all the same. I feel like this wasn't my best work, but I'm currently being treating for MTHFR (which is a genetic gene mutation), so my brain and creativity are all wonky. Ah well…

Also, I think a public thank you is in order to Mr. R. R. Riordan. Without you, Uncle Rick, I would never know what it meant to be a true hero. I wouldn't be this creative, this brave or this strong. You helped me more than you will ever know. I and my fellow demigods, no matter where we are, salute you.

And happy birthday, Percy. May you share the luck of your namesake. I, we, are so proud of you.

Love,

Mandi/WithPaperAndPen