An: I was listening to the acoustic of "Burning Bridges" by One Republic when I realized what he meant in the song was that he had a relationship, but he was building bridges (or walls) from his past bad relationship that separated him from her, and he wanted her to "Burn his bridges down" to destroy the old bad life, and "set him on fire" to bring back his passion. I realized this story wasn't where I wanted it and developed it to what I thought the meaning of Burning Bridges was, and that is where the title now comes from.
~_~ Story Begin ~_~
Percy was thinking, which was something he never really did. He was an improviser, always making things up on the spot, and so he wasnt the type of person who thought much about things. The problem was, he needed to think. Annabeth had just dumped him for Jason, because Piper had died somewhere on the mission, and Jason being a son of Zeus seemed to always need a girlfriend. This was the reason Percy was where he was: at the Roman camp, in the praetors house, leading the Romans, because Camp Half Blood had too many memories of Annabeth. Percy sighed as he stepped into the baths. The praetors had their own private baths. Rumors always went around that the praetors have seen each other naked, but Percy and Reyna were modest people, and if they were using the huge private baths at the same time they would look away as the other person entered and afterwards only looked at each others faces. Percy leaned against the wall, letting himself just sit in the soothing water for a few minutes before thinking. Water helped him to think, just like water helped him do a lot of things, him being a son of Poseidon and stuff like that. Water kept him calm, and right now calm was just what Percy needed, because of what Annabeth had done to him. He loved her and gave her everything, and she just dumped him, a person she had known for 7 years, for Jason, who she had known for about 6 months. Annabeth's abuse of his love made Percy feel sick, and never want to love again, and so he began building walls around himself, not allowing anyone in. This led to a cold and emotionless praetor, who was devastating in battle.
Reyna was laying in her bed, thinking. It seemed to be early in the morning. Reyna was a very light sleeper, so it was no surprise when she was awakened by Percy getting out of bed, even if he was in a different room. After all, Roman leaders need to be able to wake up to the quietest of sounds, in case someone was trying to assassinate them. Reyna wondered why Percy was up so early. She knew he was troubled; everyone involved with the quet to stop Gaea knew about what Annabeth had done to Percy. Reyna thought she and Nico were the only ones who realized how much pain Percy was in, because even though everyone knew Percy and Annabeth loved each other, and Percy's fatal flaw was loyalty, so Annabeth leaving him for Jason must have hurt him more than anyone thought it would. Reyna knew Percy was heading to the baths because of two things. One, she saw him only wearing his shorts and carrying a towel outside the door to her room, because the only way to reach the praetor baths in the praetor house was to pass by her room. The second reason was that she knew Percy well enough (and better than even his friends did) to know that he was going to the water to help him sort his thoughts. Perhaps she should go comfort him. Percy seemed broken, and desperately in need of company and someone to help him. Heaving up a sigh, she slipped out of bed smoothly and got ready to take a bath.
Percy was sitting in the water, enjoying just being there, when he heard approaching footsteps. After Annabeth had left him, Percy became much quieter and reserved, which lead to his senses improving by leaps and bounds until all of his senses became extremely sharp. Not just the five main senses of the human body, but other senses, such as Proprioception. He had changed quite drastically since Annabeth had left; after all, she was someone he loved, and she had left him. Looking up, he saw Reyna, who was wrapped in a towel, and quickly turned away as she stepped into the baths. Truth be told, he had always thought Reyna was attractive, but nothing could compare to his "Wise Girl" but now that Annabeth was gone, he found he thought Reyna was even more attractive. However, there was no point wooing her, because he didn't want to love again, and his passion was gone. Hearing a light splash indicating Reyna was in the bath, Percy waited a few more seconds before turning back to face her.
"Hey," Reyna said."Hey yourself," Percy replied in a sullen tone.
"Percy, you need to change back. She," Reyna said, making sure not to say her (Annabeth's) name as to make Percy even more depressed, "is long gone, and would have eventually done it anyway. I'm not saying get over it, as I still am mad at Jason for leaving me, but I'm saying you need to go back to how you were before, because what you are doing right now is taking away the uniqueness that makes you Percy Jackson, the boy who made the Roman army carefree, and into an average person."
"I know I should, but I can't bring myself to do it," Percy replied hoarsely.
Internally, Reyna sighed. This was going to take a while. Percy was quickly building mental defenses around himself, and it would take a very long time to get through them. Percy had been sulking for three months, and it was time to get him going again. It would be much easier for Reyna to get him going with passion again, because, deep down, she knew she liked him. He was good looking and had a great personality and character, and she missed the old Percy, who made her angry self crack up easily. It was even harder for Percy to get back because his love experience had been ruined by Annabeth, and he probably wouldn't want to love again, hence why he was building walls.
Reyna's thoughts were moved back to Percy when he said, "Look, Reyna. I understand it's having a negative impact, but my passion to be all "Percy Jackson" is gone. I'm no hero, just a boy who was there when needed," he said depressed.
Reyna quickly replied with, "Maybe you are a boy who was just there. However, I don't think anyone who was forced to play the hero could do it as well as you did, especially with your rancid smell that monsters seem to love.
At this Percy actually cracked a smile of his own, recalling when he made Reyna smile by saying the monsters said he smelled.
"See," Reyna said, "you're already coming back."
Percy suddenly frowned, thinking of when Annabeth had said something like that. Reyna noticed this, and realized what he was thinking about, and using her quick thinking, swam over to Percy and gave him a comforting hug. Percy recoiled at her touch, but slowly sank into her hug against her smooth skin which was relaxing to be up against.
Realizing what he had just thought, Percy blushed, and mentally scolded himself; however, he stayed in the hug, as awkward as it was. He knew at this point he really liked Reyna, but he couldn't bring himself to love again yet.
"Reyna," he began, "look, I like you, quite a lot. But I don't want you to be in a relationship with me where I am thinking about my past one that ruined my relationship, and I don't want you to be in a relationship where I have no emotion of love for you."
"Percy, I like you too. But you have to realize that I don't care. I know I can get you to love again; I know I can and I must bring the old you back," Reyna said."You know what? Then I want you to help me and bring the old me back, and yet destroy the old me in aspects of love and start a new me. Burn my walls down, and don't let my past experiences ruin it," Percy said.
"If you wish for it, then I shall do it," Reyna said, and she began by tightening her hold on him, to which he replied by embracing her.
~_~ The End ~_~
