A/N: So, I wanted to give you guys a cute little Percabeth Christmas fluff, and here it is! I didn't really go over it much, so if it's kind of confusing, that's why. The grammar might be bad, and the punctuation, so ignore that if you can. Longer author's note at the end to explain my schedule on my other stories. Enjoy! And now, 'A Christmas to Remember!'
Disclaimer: I do not own PJO. That is Rick Riordan's characters and plot, and I, a mere reader.
A Christmas to Remember
Percy sighed in aggravation. Twenty-two stores later, and he still hadn't found the perfect present for Annabeth yet. Just great.
He'd spent the last week going into all the possible stores she might like: Barnes & Noble's, Aeropostale, Claire's. Hell, he'd even gone into Victoria's Secret and Hot Topic to see if they had anything gift-worthy. And Percy had come up with zip. Zilch. Nada. Nothing. It was really starting to fall on his shoulders, especially since it was nine o'clock on Christmas Eve.
Sighing once again, Percy walked out of the jewelry store he was currently in and out into the frosty December night. He stuffed his cold hands into his fluffed up jacket's pockets in an effort to warm them slightly. It was snowing again, he noted dully, as the frozen water droplets flurried and danced about, piling up in drifts on the side of packed roads. Percy stayed on the far side of the sidewalks, avoiding all the other people, the couples out for a winter stroll, as he brooded over what the best present for Annabeth would be.
But it shouldn't have been that hard! They'd been going steady for nearly three years, now, and Percy knew everything there was to know about his Wise Girl, and then some. He knew her favorite band—Boys Like Girls—her favorite sweet snack—chocolate covered pretzels with little sprinkles—her favorite song—Debussy by Clair de Lune—even where she kept her precious teddy bear, Mr. Stuffers—in the very back of the last drawer in her closet, under a lock and key.
He growled lowly under his breath. He'd wanted to get his girlfriend the best present he could, but, gods, was he desperate! It was getting to the point that he thought about just getting her a gift card to some book store and calling it quits.
No, he argued with himself. I can't do that to Annabeth. Not after everything that's happened between us.
Percy walked aimlessly through the snow covered town, lost in his mind and pretty much done with it all. He didn't notice where he was walking until he saw the giant Christmas tree in Central Park, all done up in thousands of lights and incredibly festive. Percy sat down on a bench directly across from it, tucking his chin into his coat, trying to stay warm without moving around. He gazed at all the people and tourists, which would have normally put a big smile on his face, but now all he did was scowl. Seven days, nearly two hundred stores, and many frustrated hours later, Percy Jackson was about to admit defeat for the first time.
And he hated it.
How dare the stupid gift for his amazing girlfriend not be right underneath his nose! It almost made him want to drown himself—which, being the son of Poseidon was very much impossible. But if he wasn't able to find Annabeth her gift, he'd surely find a way to do so, son of Poseidon or not.
Percy sat there on that bench, all alone, just staring blankly in front of him, for a very long time. So long, in fact, that many people began to think that he was a homeless man and stopped to offer him a cup of hot cocoa, or a nice blanket, maybe a pair of earmuffs, all to which he politely declined.
It was after the fifth person wished him a warm and happy Christmas that the idea popped into his head. Oh, for the love of Zeus, was he ever so deserving of the nickname Seaweed Brain. Only a head full of kelp would have taken that long of time to figure out the perfect gift.
Hurriedly getting up—or as hurriedly as a half-frozen demigod could after sitting still in snow-worthy weather for a half-hour could—Percy made his way to the nearest hardware store that was still open. After he was finished with this present, it would put all others to shame.
"Percy, where are we going?" Annabeth asked for maybe the hundredth time in the past twenty minutes. She was quickly getting impatient, but, hey, being blindfolded and taken to some strange place at five in the morning could do that to a girl.
Her boyfriend chuckled under his breath at her tone. Taking his hand from the small of her back and grabbing her hand, he gave it a quick, reassuring squeeze. "Just a bit further, Wise Girl," he replied. "But I promise it'll be worth the wait."
A small half-smile appeared on Annabeth's face; the only part that was visible besides her nose. "Alright, Seaweed Brain," she said, squeezing his hand back. "But if we somehow wind up lost, I'm filing for a kelp transplant on your brain."
Percy let out a kind-of-insulted snort, but didn't react in any other way. He just picked up the pace through the woods at camp, guiding Annabeth over stumps and rocks so she wouldn't trip. It was barely five minutes later that Percy came to an abrupt stop in a seemingly random place, at least in Annabeth's opinion. "Are we here?" she wondered. "Can I take off this stupid blindfold now?"
"It's not stupid," Percy retorted. And then, in a much softer voice, he said, "Alright. Take it off, now."
With an amused smile on her face, Annabeth removed the blindfold from around her head. She blinked several times to get her eyes focused, and when she did, her mouth dropped open with an audible gasp. Her gray eyes popped open wide as her hands went to clutch at her gaping mouth.
In front of her was the most beautiful decoration of Christmas lights she'd ever seen. A pine tree that was a good eight feet tall was covered in blue and white lights, wrapped all around it in a criss-crossing pattern. Candy canes and pine cones (both blue, of course) were placed all amongst the twinkling lights, with some silver foil intertwined with the branches. Several long strands of bigger lights ran out from the tip of the tree and to the other trees surrounding the small clearing, each a different type: maple, oak, cypress, eucalyptus, and juniper. Wrapped around the trunks of those trees were twinkling white lights, which winked kindly at her, inviting her to come and join them in celebration.
And right in front of the main tree was a small table, like the kind she'd sit at outside of a café to read, also done up in white lights and silver foil. The two seats opposite each other were done in blue foil with no lights, for which she was thankful for; it would have been pretty awkward trying to sit on lights and not burn her butt. In the center of the table stood a vase filled with blooming poinsettias, Annabeth's favorite flower; a blue kettle and two coffee cups were settled in front of the flowers, including a plate with two sticks of blue candy canes.
But the center piece of it all was the tree topper: a big, shining, silver owl, wings outstretched and glistening like the stars.
It was the most planned out, thorough, and well put together decorations she had ever seen. Not to mention the sweetest, adorable, and most sincere gift she had ever received. Annabeth was, for once, utterly speechless by the love and thoughtfulness Percy had put into this.
She looked at him now, eyes wide and sparkling, as he stood off to the side, hands in his pockets and impish grin gracing his features; his beautiful sea green eyes were twinkling with a sweet light as he watched her reaction. For a moment, all they did was stare at each other before she broke the silence. "Oh, Percy," she whispered, afraid that everything would shatter if her voice was raised. "You did all of this for me?"
He shrugged nonchalantly, but she could see that he was just about bursting with happiness at her delight. "Yeah, well," he said. "I had to find something that could possibly match you in beauty, and this was about as close as I could get. Because nothing will ever be as amazing as you are, Annabeth."
Beaming, Annabeth quickly ran over to where her boyfriend was waiting and wrapped her arms around his neck, planting a kiss on his lips. Percy slid his arms around her waist, smiling into the kiss as he held his girlfriend close to his body, enjoying the heat that radiated from her. When she pulled back, their faces were warm and they were both breathing hard.
Annabeth brought his forehead down to hers as she stared into his depthless eyes. "This is possibly the best gift anyone could have gotten me," she whispered. "Thank you, so much. You have no idea how much this means to me."
Percy grinned and kissed the tip of her red nose softly. "You're welcome, Wise Girl. Now, let's go drink the cocoa before it gets cold."
Smiling, she pecked him one last time on the lips before slipping out of his grip, making sure to have one hand around his, and brought him over to the cute little table. As he poured out the hot chocolate, Annabeth shook her head in wonder. "I still can't believe you did this for me," she admitted to a soft chuckle from her boyfriend. "When did you put all of this up, anyway?"
Percy paused in stirring his peppermint stick in the hot drink. "I started sometime around ten, and finished—oh, I don't know—maybe four, four-thirty?" He said it like they were talking about his training schedule.
She gazed at him over the rim of her drink. "You stayed up until four—in the morning?" A wondering smile slipped onto her face. "And I thought you couldn't get more amazing than you were before. No wonder you were at my cabin so early; this is the only reason you'd be out of bed before noon."
Rolling his eyes, Percy took a sip from his cup. "So glad you care about my sleep habits," he told her dryly. "But it was worth it to see that look on your face; you looked so beautiful."
A flush came to her cheeks that had nothing to do with the cold. She smiled softly and took one of her hand from her drink to hold his. "Thank you, again, Percy," she said. "This is going to make my gift look like an anthill next to a mountain."
"Ah, don't say that," he replied, giving her hand a squeeze. "I'll love it with all my heart, like I do anything you give me."
"Well, that's good." Letting go of his hand, Annabeth reached underneath her coat to pull out a beautifully wrapped package; there was a shiny blue bow place in the middle. "Because it took me a while to make it."
Percy's eyebrows rose as he set down his cocoa to take the package. "You made it?" he asked. She nodded. "Like, with your own hands?"
"No, Seaweed Brain, I made it with my feet."
"That's even better; it means you've got some talent in those little toes of yours."
She laughed, clear as a bell, and it made Percy's heart flutter like a dragonfly's wings. Gods, he loved her so much.
Quickly unwrapping it, Percy took the piece of cloth that was folded in the box with gentle fingers. It was small tapestry, about two feet long and three feet wide, obviously hand woven from the feel of it, made of a soft silk. The design itself was simple—a glowing green three-pronged trident set against a background that matched his eyes—but the thing that amazed Percy was the writing surrounding the edges; it was in Greek.
Percy, it read, we've had many adventures together, the two of us, and each was more incredible than the last. We've been to the Hades and came back alive; we've journeyed to the Sea of Monsters and came back, alive; you held up the sky for me, and you survived; we traversed the Labyrinth and made it out, almost safely; you defeated Kronos and turned down being a god, for me. And then, the one time I was not there, you travelled to the Alaska, a place demigods refuse to go, and helped a supposed enemy, became a praetor to the Romans, and defeated two giants without Achilles' Curse. Once we were reunited, we flew to Greece, a place I'd always wanted to be, and you did the hardest thing possible for you: you let me face my fear alone. And then we fell to Tartarus, fought tooth and nail for our lives, closed the Doors of Death, and defeated Gaea. Together. I just want you to know that no one could have my back as well as I know you do; no one could have a best friend as amazing as you; no one could have a boyfriend as wonderful as you. I love you, Seaweed Brain. Never forget that. Your Wise Girl.
"It's not much, I know," Annabeth spoke, breaking the silence that had pervaded the air. Percy hadn't said anything as he looked at his gift, hadn't moved an inch or given any inclination that he liked it. "But I couldn't find a single thing that would have been perfect, so I decided to just make the perfect gift. Of course, not that I've seen what you've done for me, it's not nearly as great as I thought it was, and—" She was cut short by a pair of warm lips capturing hers in a tender kiss.
Percy pulled back and drew a hand across her cheek. "I love it," he told her. "And I'll make sure that it's front and center in my cabin and my apartment. Thanks, Annabeth."
Her sparkling gray eyes gazed at him lovingly. "You're welcome," she said. "Merry Christmas, Seaweed Brain."
"Merry Christmas, Wise Girl."
A/N: Thanks for reading 'A Christmas to Remember'! It was just something that popped into my head as I was riding around with my family and looking at Christmas decorations. Just something we do every year on Christmas Eve. And now, about my stories. Since it is Christmas break, you should expect some new chapter to be popping up, thouogh not in any exact order, because I'm horrible with that. Thank you to all of thosepeople who have stuck by me for so long and have enjoyed reading my stories as much as I have enjoyed writing them. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas (if you celebrate i; if not, then Happy Holidays from me to you) and an amazing New Year. And please, keep the families of the children and adults of the Sandy Hook Shotting in your thoughts and prayersas we go into this new year. I love you all!