Blue: A Redo

Author's Note: A redo on my other one-shot. This is what I originally intended: you're not supposed to know what she's been doing until she says so.

Annabeth sighed. She didn't know what else to try…she'd been practically living in the tiny apartment kitchen for the past year, trying to figure it out. Surely baking couldn't best a child of Athena!

It had all started with Percy's twentieth birthday. She had known he loved blue, and so, with Sally's advice, she'd tried it. It didn't really work out—it turned purple instead. So she used Sally's back-up instead, and promised herself she would get it right…eventually. And now, in every minute of her spare time, she'd tried to get it right. She usually did the cooking, and Percy was really rather too slow to really try to work it out, so at first, her time spent in the kitchen went unnoticed.

But then…it had turned to obsession. And while Percy was slow, he wasn't stupid. But when Annabeth had snapped at him (she should really work on her patience), he didn't question her anymore.

And so, she tried again and again. She'd spent the first six months learning how to make something that wouldn't induce severe stomach pain, then moved on to the actual coloring. And while she could now bake amazingly well, she was still frustrated. Because it always, always, ALWAYS was too dark or too light. Usually she'd get a practically white result. Okay, she reasoned. Then a bit more dye. The next batch would be a deep indigo. Alright, a tad bit less. The next batch? A tad bit less white. (This was around the time where the anger began.) The next batch? A tad bit less indigo.

She'd tried and tried and tried…but she never got that one that Percy loved. But this was the last time. It was over a year now! She rubbed her eyes. She was exhausted. All she ever did now was think of coloring. And purple! That goddamn color haunted her every dream, her every thought. It was always there, lurking in the back of her mind.

Annabeth looked up as she heard the door slam shut—Percy was home. She heard him sigh and take of his coat, then look for her. She sighed. All she wanted was the right coloring—what that too hard to ask for?

She began mechanically cleaning up the kitchen when she felt his arms around her waist, pulling her to him. She smiled as he kissed his way from her collarbone to her neck from behind her—he always knew what she needed. She turned to him.

"So, how was your day?" he asked.

She scowled. "Brilliant," she answered sarcastically.

He frowned. "What's wrong?"

She rolled her eyes and shook her head. She looked into his eyes and cringed—there it was. The color that always eluded her.

"Annabeth…."

"It's never blue!" she shouted, exasperated.

She couldn't handle it anymore; she was about to blow. She had to tell someone. She put her head on his chest and was close to sobbing.

She just wanted it to be blue!

Percy let her sob; put his arms around her. "Ummm…should I know what that means?"

She got out of his embrace and glared at him, then spun toward the cookie jar and held the offensive item up to his eye level.

"I've been trying to bake you a blue cookie batch ever since your twentieth birthday!"