AN: It's almost Christmas, and as such, I have decided to put out a Christmas story. This is set after The Lost Hero, but before The Song of Neptune, though much of the story is in flashbacks. Enjoy, and Merry Christmas.

It didn't make sense for demigods to celebrate Christmas. Why should they? Demigods didn't believe in Santa Claus, and very few demigods believed in any power beyond the Olympian gods or the various other deities they'd encountered. As such there weren't many demigods that believed that Jesus was the Son of God. So it did not make sense for demigods to really celebrate Christmas. And yet, a lot of them did.

Annabeth Chase was no exception. She'd celebrated Christmas since she was a little girl. Even during the period when she was on the run with Thalia and Luke she had celebrated Christmas. Once she was at Camp Half-Blood, she was able to celebrate with the few demigods who stayed year round. But every Christmas, something had seemed to be missing, no matter how many others she was around, or how much they loved and cared for her.

That all changed when she had met Percy. Every year, Percy had made a point to at least try and talk to her on Christmas. The Christmas after his first summer as a camper, Annabeth was spending Christmas at her dad's house for the first time in a very long time. Things were better than before, but far from perfect. Her step-mother was still mean, and her half-brothers constantly pulled on her and bothered her and were generally brats.

She was so fed up with it in the afternoon, that she locked herself in her room, crying. That was when there was a knock at her door. "I'm not coming out," she had said. Her dad's voice came through the door muffled, and Annabeth couldn't make him out, so she ignored him.

He spoke again, louder, "Annabeth, I know you don't want to talk to me, but you have a phone call."

She was confused, so she snapped the door open. "What?"

Her father sighed. "You have a phone call." He held up the wireless phone. "You know, Annabeth, you really have no reason to-" but she had already grabbed the phone and snapped the door in his face.

She looked at the number. New York? "Hello?" she said, tentatively.

"Um… hi," said a voice. "Annabeth?"

"Yes?" she said.

"It's Percy," the voice had said. "Merry Christmas."

Annabeth actually smiled, which she didn't think was possible in her current state. "Merry Christmas, Seaweed Brain. Why'd you call?"

She could practically see him shrug. "No reason. I wanted to see how things were going with your dad, and I wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas."

They'd talked for a long time, until finally Percy started yawning. Annabeth had forgotten about the three hour time difference. After good nights and one last round of Merry Christmases, they'd said goodbye. As Annabeth fell asleep that night, she'd realized that for the first time, that empty feeling she had always had during Christmas was filled.

The next year, after being saved by Percy and Thalia from the clutches of Atlas and Luke, Annabeth was going to spend Christmas at camp. Christmas morning she woke up to a knock at her cabin. She opened the door to find Percy standing there, out in the snow, wearing a winter coat and gloves. His dark hair was wet, and the gray streak from holding up the sky was still very noticeable. "Hey," he said. "I told my mom that you were planning on spending Christmas here pretty much alone, and we both thought that maybe you would want to come over to my house for Christmas."

"You got up early, first thing in the morning, to come over here and ask if I wanted to come over for Christmas?" Annabeth asked, amazed.

"It's Christmas," Percy said. "No one should spend it alone. Especially not one of my best friends."

Annabeth smiled. "That would be nice."

They'd spent a long and wonderful Christmas day. Percy and his mom had even gotten Annabeth a present. Annabeth felt a little guilty, as she hadn't gotten them anything, but Percy had insisted that Christmas was about giving and that he didn't need to get anything.

Later in the evening, when music was playing, Percy said to Annabeth, "You know, we never really got to finish that dance. This seems like as good a song as any."

Annabeth smiled. "Alright, let's dance."

That night, there was a snow storm, so Annabeth was told that she could spend the night. She and Percy had stayed up far too late watching movies, and when Annabeth eventually did fall asleep, she again felt like that empty hole she'd always had at Christmas was filled.

The third Christmas, Annabeth was sure that she and Percy would not be spending time together and that Percy would be too busy with Rachel to even call her. Not that it mattered to her. What Percy did was his own business. Besides, they were in the middle of an all out war. Who had the time for Christmas?

But Seaweed Brain surprised her. She was up at the Big House, talking tactics with Clarisse, when the front door opened and closed. At first Annabeth thought it was just the wind, but then a voice said, "Ladies, at Christmas, really?"

Annabeth turned. There he was. Percy had actually showed up. "Percy, what are you doing here?"

"I know it's war-time and all," he said, "but everyone deserves to celebrate Christmas."

Clarisse glared at him. "For your information, Jackson, we are at war. There's no room for holidays at wartime."

"False," Percy said. "During the civil war, soldiers from both sides stopped fighting to celebrate Christmas. In World War I, soldiers from both side started singing Silent Night, and eventually they met in no-man's land and played a game of soccer. War always makes room for Christmas. Christmas is a day of world peace. So take a break and enjoy the holiday."

"But Jesus was not God," Clarisse protested.

"You don't have to believe that he was to enjoy his message, or to celebrate Christmas," Percy said. "You can do what you want, Clarisse, but I'm inviting Annabeth over for Christmas. Do you want to come?"

Annabeth was going to pretend to be uninterested, and have Percy have to convince her, but he had been so impressive with that display of knowledge. He really was very smart. "Sure," Annabeth said. "I would love to."

Percy smiled. "Great. Come on, Mom and Paul are waiting."

That evening, it was snowing again, and again Annabeth was invited to stay the night. As she and Percy sat up late at night, watching movies, Percy cleared his throat. "So… when we were under Mount St. Helens, you uh… kissed me."

"Yes," she said, nervous about where this was going. "It was… you know… I think I already said that I never thought I would see you again and I thought that… but I didn't mean…"

"Yeah, right," Percy said. "You did already say."

Was that… disappointment in his voice? No, Annabeth told herself. She'd just imagined it. Percy didn't like her like that.

After a few minutes Percy spoke again. "Do you want to see something?" Annabeth gave him a questioning look. "Grab your coat," he said with a grin.

Confused, Annabeth pulled it off the hook by the door. She stood by the door, but Percy motioned her back in the direction of his room. Now she was really confused, but she followed Percy anyway. He led her over to his window and opened it up, stepping out onto the fire escape. Annabeth followed. When she was out on the fire escape, she saw the most beautiful flower she'd ever seen. "Percy… it's…"

"Mom takes care of it," he said, not looking at the flower, but at Annabeth instead. "You know, because I'm no good with plants. That and I'm not exactly home a lot anymore. Anyway, I thought you might want to see it."

"It really is very beautiful," she said.

Percy nodded. He was very close to her. Annabeth could smell him. He smelled nice. She turned away. "We should get inside."

"Yeah," Percy said, sounding disappointed again. No, Annabeth told herself, she was just imagining it.

In retrospect, she realized that she hadn't been imagining things. Percy had meant to kiss her, and she had turned away. Their relationship could have started then and there, and she would have had so much more time with him.

But now it was Christmas again, and Percy was still gone. Wherever he was, he wasn't going to be calling her, or picking her up to go to his house. In fact, he probably didn't even remember her name.

Annabeth spent that Christmas in her cabin, lying on her bed, sobbing. Then there was a knock. Her heart leapt, it was too good to be true, but she bounded up anyway and pulled the door open. But she wasn't greeted by the face she wanted to see most of all. She found herself face to face with Piper.

Piper cleared her throat, obviously aware that Annabeth had been crying. "May I come in?" Annabeth swallowed and nodded, letting her in. "No one else stays for Christmas?" Piper asked.

Annabeth shook her head. "It's just me. The past few years it hasn't… but now…" Annabeth choked back a sob.

Piper sat Annabeth down on her bed, then sat next to her. "I know that Christmas must be hard without Percy. He was your boyfriend, and you miss him."

Annabeth shook her head. "It's not just that. The first Christmas after meeting each other, I was at my Dad's house and I was upset, but Percy called and we talked for hours, and everything seemed okay when I went to bed. The next year I was alone at camp, and Percy pulled me away and we celebrated Christmas at his house. And the year after that, I was working on war strategy, but he showed up and we celebrated Christmas." Annabeth took a deep breath. "Ever since I met Percy, we've spent Christmas together, one way or another. He filled a hole I'd always felt around Christmas time. I had always felt a little empty at Christmas, but because of him, I haven't felt that emptiness for three Christmases in a row. Except this Christmas it's back, and it's worse than ever."

Piper put her hand on Annabeth's shoulder. "Percy is okay. You will see him again."

"But I won't ever have this Christmas again," she responded.

Piper sighed. "I know. And I really am sorry." She paused for a bit. "I don't know if it will help or not," Piper said, "but I know you call Percy's mom regularly. Maybe you should call her today."

A few minute later, Annabeth was standing in the Big House. She'd decided not to use her cell phone for this call. After three rings, there was an answer. "Hello?"

"Hi, it's Annabeth," Annabeth said. "Merry Christmas."

Sally Jackson choked back what sounded like a sob. "Merry Christmas, Annabeth."

AN: If anyone would like to read more of my work, you should read RE: Percy Jackson and the Curse of Echidna. You could read the original if you really wanted to, but there's not really any reason to.