A/N: This fic has spoilers! Just finished reading The Mark of Athena, and I had to get this out. There's so much more that I want to comment on, but I'm a little saddened by the lack of LeoPiper interaction. Leo's not as upbeat in this one, and his chapters have a lot of angst in them. And he doesn't call Piper beauty queen anymore. I wanted to hug Leo all throughout the fic, especially when Nemesis called him the seventh wheel. Anyway, enjoy! This is a short drabble on Piper's thoughts after the kiss. (Title is from All Things Must Pass by the Beatles)
a cloudburst doesn't last all day
Soaking wet and shivering, Piper regretted wishing her mother had been paying more attention to her, back in Charleston. Bad things happened when Aphrodite paid attention to you. You'd get love, maybe, but definitely after a lot of heartache. Aphrodite had barely looked at her, but when she had, there had been a knowing glint in her eyes that scared her. What did her mother see in her future? She hoped to gods that it was her and Jason, together, living a long and happy life. But she knew her mother (or at least, she knew the stories and she knew her siblings back at camp). Although she tried to convince herself that her mother ignoring her meant that Aphrodite was done interfering with her love life, she knew it was just wishful thinking.
She also tried to convince herself she was happy with Jason – fine, okay, yes, she was kind of doubting him a bit, worried that, despite his many promises, he would go back to his Roman friends, back to Reyna who obviously liked him, back to his old life without Piper, once the whole saving-the-earth-from-the-earth thing was over and done with. Jason had promised to her that he wouldn't go back to Camp Jupiter, not without her, but Piper knew he couldn't have meant it, not really. He was a true Roman, duty-bound to his people. They looked up to him, and Jason wouldn't be able to let them down. She knew that if Jason had to choose between them and her, he would choose them in a heartbeat. She loved him still, despite that. How could she not? Jason was brave and strong and loyal.
She let herself get lost in thoughts of Jason. She did not let herself think about the reason she was changing out of dripping clothes. Did not let herself think about her sleep-deprived night, all the worry and anxiety and uselessness she had felt, about the relief that had filled every pore of her body as she saw the three bubbles breaking the surface. Did not think about her impulsive dive and the cheek-kiss. Did not think about the brief spark of something she had felt.
She had been so mad when Leo had just laughed off his near-death experience. As if she hadn't spent an entire night worrying about him. And Jason! His best friend could have drowned to death, and all he could say was "These are really good brownies." She beat her anger into submission though. Leo was fine, Frank was fine, Hazel was fine. They were all fine. She absolutely did not allow herself to think about it, about her mother's cryptic words, "All of you are such excellent stories."
She filled her thoughts with Jason and Romans and the future and possible late-night rebelliousness, but in the back of her mind, she couldn't help but think of Leo's laughing eyes, Aphrodite's knowing smirk, and haunting what-ifs. Things were about to get very complicated.
I wrote this because I felt like Piper didn't really spend a lot of time thinking about the kiss, and I wanted to explain why. The kiss gave me so much LeoPiper feels gah. And when Piper and Jason were talking to Achelous about sons of Zeus, I kept thinking, here it comes here it comes, but no. Jason and Piper were so sweet though, it's a little hard to hate them. :C But yes! Expect more LeoPiper drabbly-things from me. I can't get enough of them. If you see good LeoPiper fics (I'm hoping the fanbase will get bigger because of the kiss), please rec them! I'd love to read more.