A/N: sorry I haven't updated, school is keeping me busy. I don't own PJO.

REVIEW PLEASE!

I suppose you could say that Piper was a morning person.

She walked around camp, hours before anyone else was up. Leo referred to it as 'the ass crack of dawn.' Piper just rolled her eyes when he said that.

This morning was no different.

Piper got up at 5:30 am, watched the sunrise, doodled in her sketchbook, practiced her charmspeak, and took a walk along the beach all before 7:00 am. After breakfast, Piper would go to lessons, and walk around camp in between.

During one of her 30 minute breaks, Piper walked along the cabins, inspecting each one. Not inspection as a chore, necessarily, just for fun. First, she walked past the Zues cabin.

Tall, white, marble. That was about it. It crossed Piper's mind that perhaps Annabeth should design some... adjustments for them. She filed it into the back of her mind to ask later.

The next cabin was a lot like the first, only with more intricate carvings, and a bit smaller. Hera.

The cabin after that one Piper didn't recognize. It was low, a lot lower than the previous two, made of a stone that looked weathered, almost beaten, but still strong. There was coral jutting out at random, and when opened the door, the smell of the sea hit her. It wasn't unpleasant, like rotten fish and seaweed. More like fresh air and sea salt.

Piper had opened the door, and after the smell hit her, she noticed the things inside. And the someone.

Yes, the lump on the bed was Annabeth. She was sleeping, fortuneatly, so Piper didn't have to explain why she was creeping. She also had her back turned to Piper, her golden curls splayed all over the pillow, and the rest of her was under dark green covers, like seaweed.

Piper took a hesitant step in, then another. There was a salt water spring in the corner, bubbling happily. Hanging on the wall was a very sharp horn, broken off at the base. Hanging from the ceiling were miniature mechanical whales, dolphins, and... fish horses? Piper shook her head. Just these small mechanical wonders were enough to make her impressed, let alone the rest of the cabin.

There was a bulleton board on the wall by the bed, so Piper stealthily snuck over, careful not to disturb the sheets that littered the floor.

She looked at one of the pictures, and saw Annabeth hugging another guy, with gorgeous sea-green eyes and black hair that defyed gravity. That must be Annabeth's boyfriend, Percy. So this was his cabin. Piper had absentmindedly wondered why Annabeth didn't sleep in the Athena cabin.

In the picture, Annabeth was still Annabeth, but it wasn't Annabeth. Piper looked into Annabeth's eyes, and noticed they seemed to be several shades lighter. So, no longer an oncoming storm, but steel instead. Still intimidating, but more playful. Annabeth's hair was golden and lush, if not a bit windswept. Her face seemed to be glowing. Both teenagers in the picture shone with happiness, love, and comfort.

Piper compared the picture to now.

Under Annabeth's eyes were dark purple marks from lack of sleep. She was thinner, but not in a good way. Her eyes were like blobs of Mercury, encased in a dark coating of onyx. There was no playfulness. Her blonde hair no longer looked like threads of gold, more like stiff pieces of straw.

It was unhealthy, and Piper was worried. But underneath all that pain and suffering and loneliness, there was something else. Can you guess?

Hope.

Hope that one day she would see Percy kept Annabeth going. That was why she drew the Argo II blueprints in three days, getting absolutely no sleep. That was why she rushed her building jobs, but still managed to do everything perfectly. It was why she slept in his bed, sat on the dock for hours on end, ate peanut butter by the jar, and never failed to sit at his table at dinner, even with everyone (including Chiron) sending her disapproving looks.

Piper quietly exited the cabin, careful not to disturb anything.

Only a couple more weeks until Annabeth was whole again.

I know, it's not my best work, but I was feeling lazy.

Review please!

IMPORTANT: I TAKE PROMPTS/SUGGESTIONS! I'm starting to run out of ideas!