This is to blueper, because questions were asked, and I feel the need to answer them.

THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR FAVORITES, FOLLOWS AND REVIEWS! They make me all warm and fuzzy inside.

Warning: I'm not gonna put these anymore; you know the drill. OOCness and such.

Disclaimer: Fanfiction. I am a fan, thus not being the author. 'Nuff said.

First Thing You See

Katie Gardner's POV

February 18, 2005.

To say Katie was a nervous wreck would be a total lie.

She was trying to keep calm—not knock out the doctors and nurses and drag her best friend, Percy Jackson, out the door—while at the same time act cool and collected for said best friend. It wasn't working out too well for her.

She'd "accidently" tripped three doctors, broken three bags of donated blood, and ripped off the crisp white jackets of nurses off of some nurses.

What? She liked the number three; it was good luck.

Well, she also broke one IV, but that doesn't count. She was positive the doctor was going to stab her with it! Even though he was twenty feet away…

Yeah, Katie Gardner does not do hospitals.

She clutched Percy's hand tightly as the clock ticked by—one second closer for each tick. He was actually doing better at staying calm than she was, and he was the one who was about to get operated on! He squeezed her hand back calmly, like he wasn't flipping out, which she knew he was; whenever he was really angry, sad, upset, panicked, nervous, or anything else of the sorts, he grew stony, like he had never even heard of the word "emotion."

"It's going to be okay," he said, rubbing his middle finger and thumb together, another antic Katie knew; he was thinking of something to say, loop-holing all his words.

She took his hand in both of hers and played with his fingers. "How do you know?" she asked, but she already knew the answer to that.

Percy gave a weak grin. "Now that's a stupid question." He turned to face her, like he was already looking at her, but that wouldn't even begin to happen for another thirty seven minutes and four seconds. "I just know, okay?"

She nodded and released a deep breath of air. "Okay, you're right. It'll be fine."

After that they began talking to each other about random things that popped into Percy's ADHD brain, like how he loved berries but could not eat a large portion of them or he'd break out in a bright red rash. The time passed by too quickly for Katie, and soon a doctor came striding in, kicking out everybody in the room.

Before the doctor could shove her out the door though, Katie rushed to Percy's side and took his hand. He turned to face her—he always did—and she forced him to look however much he could in his imagination at her face. "Perseus Jackson, I swear I'll be the first thing you see, whether you like it or not.

He popped his thumb knuckle and gave the tiniest of nods at her. "Thank you," he whispered.

Then Katie rushed out the door.

Waiting felt like an eternity, and she finally knew what Percy felt like during boring events—like the world had stopped rotating and orbiting. During her long wait however, she did get to talk to Sally Jackson, AKA Best Mother Ever, who she didn't get to see very often. They were conversing about what Percy did at the other's, what he acted like, etc., when Ms. Jackson brought up a very… uhhh… kept quiet question.

"So how did you two do it, raise all the money?" she asked, fiddling with her fingers.

Katie's eyes glanced at the closed door leading to Percy's operation room, an idea forming in her mind, the way Percy taught her. "We begged." It wasn't a lie, not at all; it was more truth than things kept hidden.

Because information isn't a secret if nobody's asked about it.

"Oh." Ms. Jackson's brows furrowed. "Okay."

Katie could not help the small pang of guilt that wrapped around her heart; yeah, they'd begged, but by telling the sad, sad tale of Percy's life and how he was a poor blind boy who only wished to see his mother once again. It worked the charm, and the duo had raised more than enough money to pay for many operations on Percy's eyes. But it didn't make it all right. The played the people on the streets like a piano—sometimes one at a time, sometimes more, but still getting what they wanted all the same.

And just like that, she didn't have to say anymore, because the doctor came prancing out. "You all can go in now," she told them, yanking off her jacket and heading for the cafeteria.

She practically broke down the door sprinting into the room, but Katie didn't care—she had made a promise, and a promise is a promise.

She leaned over his head, to where their foreheads were only inches apart.

Then he opened his eyes.

That was the first time Katie Gardner ever saw the sea green eyes of Perseus Jackson.

Percy Jackson's POV

Before the operation, Percy had been a nervous ball that was about to explode through the door and smash everything in reach.

Now, he felt slightly—what's the word?—loopy. The world seemed like this magical happy place where everything was perfect and everyone was perfect. It's a good thing that only lasted a very short moment; that sort of medicine wore off him quicker than normal people.

That was when he noticed the world was dark, there was still nothing. Panic arouse within him. He should be able to see at least a little bit now! Didn't he just have eye surgery, for his eyes, so he could see?

Wait. His eyes were closed.

Maybe not all of that medicine had worn off quite yet.

He creaked them open slowly, still not quite believing that he would be able to see. He blinked again. Okay, he had been told that the process would be slow and that he would need several eye surgeries. But there was just a big blob in front of his face.

Then the blob spoke. "Hey, Percy, you alright?" Katie. The blob was Katie Gardner.

He saw a change in the lighting and shadows and realized that she was waving, and he could see it. Barely—he could see it barely, but it was more than not at all! He snatched up her hand and waved it around. He could feel the smile stretching across his face. "I saw it!" Percy exclaimed.

Katie snickered. "Told ya I'd be the first thing you saw."

XxXxX

Percy opened his eyes every time to Katie.

Each time he saw more and more of her face—her thick brown hair, tan complexion, and grass green eyes. Secretly, Katie and Percy were examining how quickly his eyes were improving, since he healed way better and faster than the average human. They were right to do so, too, because with each surgery, his eyesight improved twice as much as it usually would.

Now, he could actually see—see light and shadow and color. It was a tad-bit blurry, but he could deal; it definitely trumped over being completely and utterly blind.

He had missed seeing so much. And he could finally see snow (but he had to wait, because it wasn't winter), his drawing and paintings, his best friend that he had never seen before, and his mother. Wasn't that sad, that he didn't get to actually see his own mom for the longest of times? It was to him.

Percy was walking in for his final eye surgery, and by now he was pretty used to it all; he was not by far loving being in the hospital, not even liking it, but he knew the doctors would help. A hospital was not the same an asylum, that's for sure.

He stepped into the room, squinting in the particularly dim light. His doctor clopped in behind him. "Hello, Mr. Jackson," she said while keeping her eyes attached to her clipboard. "I see that this is your last surgery. And don't worry about the lighting. We'll brighten it up.

Percy only nodded mutely. Here he goes.

Katie Gardner's POV

Katie held the gift-wrapped present tightly in her arms.

It was the day before Percy's eleventh birthday, and the day of his last operation. It was driving her insane, just waiting. She had, of course, been there when he opened his eyes, but she had to leave right after to help set up her house for Percy's birthday celebration. He could not come because the doctor had wanted to speak to him and his mother. Stupid doctor—he was fine, better than fine!

There was a knock at the door, and she immediately went on high alert; no one could be too safe if they spent time with Percy. Probably Ms. Jackson, she thought. Percy never knocked; he simply barged in like he owned the place, but he did spend a good portion of his time in her small little home right on the outskirts of the city.

"Come in. Come in." Her father waved them into the house by the front door, and she held her breath as Percy, ever the dramatic, took slow, meaningful steps into the house. Then he stepped out from beside his mother and gave a tight smile, holding a small brown paper bag.

Katie laughed.

Percy scrunched up his nose. "Don't laugh," he whined. "It's not funny."

"Yes—it is," she choked out.

Propped up on his nose were the thickest, widest, geekiest glasses she had ever seen. They were overly large and kept slipping down his nose, and the outside was rimmed in broad pitch black plastic. Like a nerd's from a movie. All he needed were braces. For any other person, it wouldn't be all that funny, but they were on Percy Jackson, who had previously worn only sunglasses; it was a dramatic change in style.

He was about to launch his paper bag at her, but thankfully Ms. Jackson stopped him, holding onto his aiming arm. "Percy, no," she ordered. "These are your medications. They'll help you, remember? And they are very expensive, and unless you want to be paying for them, I advise you do not try to hit Katie with them." She gave him a hard, warning look.

Percy sighed. "Yes, ma'am," he mumbled, then looked up at her—actually looked at her, like never thought possible—a devious smile making way across his face. He decided to make one last argument: "Hey, Katie, did you realize that you weren't the first thing I saw with these glasses? I thought you said you would always be the first thing I saw?"

Katie fumed silently. "Then I guess we'll have to fix that."

Wow. This is pretty short for me; it's not even two thousand words yet.

Anyway, REVIEW!

Peace and all that other stuff.

~XxxXGreek GeekXxxX