A/N Please vote on my poll!

Dedicated to Glittery Sparkles for giving me the idea!

Bear

I sighed contently as my feet sunk into the soft snow. We were having a pretty good night. It wasn't snowing as hard as it usually was, so Annabeth and I decided to go out for a walk. We were just strolling along lazily, not really having a destination in mind. I had been immediately dazzled by the sparkling ornamental lights decorating the streets, although they put out the same ones every year. The contrast between the soft white snow and the colorful twinkling lights was breath taking.

Annabeth and I started heading towards Central Park, where a Christmas celebration had been going on the whole month. There was a huge crowd of people bustling around, carrying presents and shopping bags. Thankfully, Annabeth had helped me pick out my Christmas presents a month before (she loves to plan ahead). The area was packed with all types of stalls and rides. You could smell the hot chocolate in the air coming from the dining area, and hear the sound of children laughing as they tried to pop the balloons with darts at the games stall. In the middle of the whole plaza was a Christmas tree with sparkling white lights, contrasting with all the colorful lights draped around the stall. The Christmas tree was at least thirty feet tall, with silver angels and intricately designed ivory ornaments. On the top was a magnificent star which shone its light across the plaza, like the moon shining across the pitch-black night.

After going on the ferris wheel, we decided to sit down with some hot chocolate and funnel cake (they didn't have any blue ones, so we took strawberry) by the tree and bask in its beauty. It was nice to just relax with Annabeth, and forget about everything that had happened last summer. There was a comfortable silence between us, while we just looked around and took in our surroundings. Soon my ADHD started acting up and I didn't want to look at the decorations anymore. I searched for something to keep me occupied, but my gaze kept flickering back to my beautiful girlfriend.

Although it was warm enough to go out, it was still awfully cold. Annabeth was wearing a furry jacket, black mittens, and a warm hat on top. For once, her long curly hair was flowing down her back, keeping her neck warm. There was a light smile on her face and a gleam of happiness in her gray eyes. She let out a soft sigh and I turned and looked to see what had captured her attention. She was staring longingly at a teal colored bear. It seemed like someone had sprinkled silver glitter on it, to match the lights surrounding the Christmas tree. Feeling tired from sitting down so long, I grabbed Annabeth's hand and sprinted over to the stall carrying the stuffed animal. At the shock of being suddenly pulled, Annabeth let out a giggled, "Seaweed Brain!"

"Come on, Wise Girl, I am going to win you that teddy bear," I said confidently, smiling as wide as the Cheshire Cat. My grin deflated when I realized that to win the little toy I had to shoot a target with an arrow. You see, if I had to pop the balloon get the hoop around a ring, or even sword-fight with a monster, I would win easily. However, the one thing I couldn't do was shoot an arrow. The Apollo cabin tried and tried to teach me, but it was futile. I just could not make the arrow go where I wanted it to.

"Welcome, welcome! Win a prize for this lovely young lady for just a small cost of three dollars! Just hit the target twice for a small prize, and the bulls-eye once for a big one!" the worker exclaimed, gesturing to Annabeth and me. Annabeth giggled at the compliment and I pulled her closer, signaling that she was mine. I examined the rows of prizes. Just my luck – the teddy bear Annabeth wanted was a big prize.

"Good luck, Percy, don't hurt yourself," Annabeth teased. She knew that I couldn't shoot an arrow to safe my life (literally).

"Don't worry Wise Girl; I'll win you that bear," I replied with bravado, though it was obvious she could see through it. I fished in my pocket for some change, and handed it to the person running the stall. He grinned mischievously at me and handed me an arrow and bow.

Forty minutes and twenty-four dollars later, I was still trying to hit the bulls-eye. Hey, I wasn't that bad. I hit the target a couple of times but it didn't qualify me to win a prize (probably because that same round I hit some poor old lady's cup full of burning hot coffee). Now I was down to my last three dollars. Annabeth had told me to stop trying after the first five minutes, but this wasn't just about her. This was about my pride.

I got ready to finally try my last three arrows. I cleared my mind, straightened out my back, and concentrated. One, two, three, and I let go.

Swoosh!

I missed the target and hit an unsuspecting stuffed giraffe. Poor thing... I tried again. This time, it didn't even make it one foot away from me. Now it was my last chance. I had to do this. I hopefully gazed up at the night sky, the moon illuminating the dark sky. Apollo and Artemis, I thought, please help me. With that thought in mind, I let go of the arrow. It struck the red circle with a loud thud. I couldn't believe it! I had won!

"Congratulations," said the man. There was a sparkle in his sky-blue eyes, as bright as the sun. He got the stuffed animal off the shelf and handed it to me. I gave it to Annabeth with a giant grin.

"Aw, thank you, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth praised, "I knew you could do it." She lightly kissed my cheek. I turned around to thank the man, but he was gone. I felt a rush of wind go past me, and I glanced up at the moon, startled. There was a shooting star in the sky, and then it erupted into colorful fireworks. We stared, amazed at the unexpected explosion.

"Where did he go?" Annabeth asked, her voice barely audible over the fireworks.

"I don't know, but I might have an idea," I replied, then pulled her closer.

We sat back and enjoyed the rest of the night together, wrapped in each others' arms.

A/N Do you know who the game stall guy was? Tell me your guess in the review! Also, tell me Pirates or Zombies? ((glittery likes pirates but I like zombies))