A/N: I kind of really like this pairing. Disregard any previous Percy/Annabeth romance from the books.

Heart-Seeker

A soft wind blew through Camp Jupiter, making a small smile grow on Reyna's face as she watched it tousle Percy's hair.

He's so handsome, she thought to herself as a blush began to stain her cheeks. Similar thoughts had been crossing her mind more and more frequently the past few weeks, ever since Percy had returned from his first mission as a Roman camper.

He had been working closer with him as a praetor, and in that time she had come to realize that he was a very good man. Sure, she had thought she had liked Jason, her former co-praetor, but there was something different about Percy…something more that realized she hadn't liked Jason as much as she thought she had. She was actually attracted to him both physically and mentally. He was funny, smart, handsome, and brave, and the way he looked at her with those sea-green eyes…

"Are you my sister or not?" a voice suddenly asked from behind her, startling her.

Reyna whirled around before realizing her cheeks were still a bright red. She went to turn back around, but Hylla grabbed her shoulder and whirled her back so she was facing her. "We are women of the twenty-first century, Reyna. You have to go get your man and make him yours if you truly want him," she said. "So stop staring at Percy and go talk to him." Hylla turned her around and gave her a little push, but she barely moved. "Go, before the Argo II comes. Ever since Percy regained his memory he's been thinking and talking about that Annabeth Chase. Once she gets here, I fear it will be too late for you."

Reyna frowned at this and turned to glance at her sister, but Hylla was motioning for her to go on and talk to him. A determined look came upon her face as she realized Hylla was right and she turned back around, marching up to Percy right as her heart began pounding painfully quickly in her chest.

Percy was standing in front of a weapons rack, inspecting the various spears and swords and what-not with a critical eye. Reyna went to say hi but her words got caught in her throat, and she took a quick calming breath before saying, "So how are those weapons going, Percy?"

She immediately winced. What a horribly odd and awkward question.

Stupid!

He turned and smiled at her anyway, sending pleasurable shivers down her spine, and she found herself smiling back with ease. His eyes…he was so handsome. "It looks like they're just a few short on their spears after the battle. They're going to need to make a few more. Other than that, they're pretty good," he said.

"Oh, well that's good," Reyna said distractedly, nervousness growing in the pit of her stomach as she really thought about what she going to be doing very soon.

Percy furrowed his eyebrows. "Are you alright, Reyna?" he asked.

She shook her head quickly to clear her thoughts. "Um…yeah," she said. She took a deep breath and said, "Can I talk to you please?"

Percy looked around. They were all alone. "Erm…what are we doing at the moment, then?" he asked, still looking at her weirdly.

Reyna's face immediately flushed. She also realized why he must have been so confused. She was usually very professional and confident, along with very mature and on top of things, so it must have been weird to be approached by her when she was so scatterbrained and girly.

So she decided to make him comfortable. She allowed that determined look to take hold of her again and rose to her full height, looking at him with the usual respect she gave him. "We're talking, of course. I was just making sure you were alright with conversation continuing in case you had something more pressing to attend to," she said, thinking it was a pretty good cover up.

Percy seemed to think so to, for he scratched the back of his neck and said, "I'm not really doing anything very important at the moment. What do you need?"

She grinned slyly at him. "So the only reason I'll talk to you is for camp-related business? I just wanted to chat. Get to know you a little better," she said, sure he could hear her heart slamming against her ribcage.

He smiled at her. "I have no problem with that," he said. "What did you want to know?"

"I wanted to know if you want to go out with me," she said, then froze. She hadn't meant to ask so directly or bluntly. "I-I'm sorry," she sputtered, sure Percy would be able to fry an egg on her face with how hot it was. "I mean…I…"

Percy was frozen too, his eyes wide. He opened his mouth, stopped, took a deep breath, and said, "It's alright." He looked away from her though, making her heart drop. "I'm flattered…I really am. You're pretty, you're smart, and you're cool, but…"

Reyna felt tears begin to collect in her eyes. She had never thought the first boy she asked out would reject her. "Annabeth," she whispered sadly.

She heard Percy swallow uncomfortably. She knew he wanted nothing more than to be anywhere but standing right in front of her at that moment. She knew because she felt the exact same way. "We weren't…we were never boyfriend and girlfriend, I know that, but…but I…" he fisted his hair in frustration. "I just…I think I really like her."

"I understand," Reyna said hollowly, trying her best to keep her tears from falling as she looked down at her feet. The last thing she needed to do in this situation was show how weak she really was.

Percy's finger gently tilted her chin up, and she barely saw through her tear-blurred vision that he was looking at her with concern. "Look, Reyna. You're beautiful, okay?" he said in a desperate attempt to cheer her up.

Just leave me alone. I want to wallow in my misery, but in front of anybody but you.

Percy continued despite her silent pleas. "I'm not good with girls, especially crying girls," he said awkwardly. "But I'll tell you that any guy would be lucky to have you."

Any guy but you, right?

She jerked her chin out of his fingers and whirled around, leaving a stunned and cringing Percy standing in place as she walked away, knowing that it had all gone to hell at the start and only continued to go downhill from there.

Reyna heard him turn and walk away, and once he was out of sight she let a choked sob out. She felt Hylla's arms wrap around her comfortingly, and she finally broke down as she hugged her sister hard.

"Shh, Reyna, it's alright," she said. "Any guy would be lucky to have you, Percy's just too much of an idiot to realize that his statement applies to him, too."

Reyna could barely hear her as she took shaky breaths with her face pressed against Hylla's shoulder, but she shakily said, "I did that horribly wrong, didn't I?"

Hylla couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. Reyna looked up at her, hurt. "You did handle that poorly, sister, but Percy's response would have been the same no matter how you had asked."

There was silence for a few moments, then Reyna whispered, "I'm old enough to legally drink as a Roman."

A small grin began to form on Hylla's face. "Let's go, then," she said. "We can make you forget about it for tonight."

Reyna followed Hylla as she turned around and began quickly walking towards the alcohol storehouse. The pain in her heart was unbearable.

She would do anything to make it go away.

Percy sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. Where were half of the campers, anyway? And where was Reyna? Surely she of all people would be present to oversee the landing of the Argo II and the integration of the Greek campers.

Frank and Hazel stood with him, though, which inspired some confidence in him. He was getting more and more jittery and nervous as the time for Camp Half-Blood to arrive neared.

"You alright, Percy?" Hazel asked quietly from behind him, though he didn't hear her.

He was too busy worrying about Reyna. She had obviously taken it incredibly hard if she refused to meet the Greek campers. She was always on top of things. Surely she wouldn't let something like this get in the way of her praetor duties, right?

A feeling began to worm its way into his stomach as he stood there waiting. It felt like a mixture of apprehension and another feeling he couldn't quite put his finger on. He already felt bad enough as it was, but he could only imagine how horrible it would be to walk around happily with Annabeth right front of her.

Because Reyna wasn't nearly as tough as she acted. He had seen the tears making her eyes glisten when he had tilted her chin up. He had seen the pain in her eyes when they had met his. Just how deep were her feelings for him, anyway?

He ran a hand through his hair agitatedly, the pain in his stomach growing a little.

"Percy, it'll be alright," said Frank, though Percy ignored him once again.

Even with all that, what was bugging him the most was his inability to come up with a real reason for why he was asking Annabeth out. Earlier, he had been trying to come up with more than, 'I like her,' but was unable to do so. Annabeth was Annabeth and that's why he liked her.

Okay, but why would I ask her out over Reyna?

The question caught him by surprise, but before he could even comprehend what was going on he was already answering himself.

Well, for one, Annabeth is beautiful.

That may be true, but wasn't I more captivated by Reyna's beauty when I first saw her?

Annabeth is intelligent.

Annabeth may be intelligent, but only in certain areas. Reyna's just as intelligent in a more cunning, political way.

I've known Annabeth for much longer. My bond with her is much deeper.

Who has ever had a successful relationship based on the foundation of, 'Well, I've known her for a long period of time?'

The voices, for they were undoubtedly two different, warring parts of his brain, simultaneously said, The real question is: who do I have more feelings for?

At first, he had thought it was Annabeth for sure. But this feeling in his gut that was telling him he was making the wrong decision was convincing him otherwise. He had really grown to enjoy Reyna's company these past few weeks, and realized after seeing her cry that he really liked her when she was serious and happy.

"Dammit," he swore as he began pacing, his brain starting to hurt.

"Percy!" Hazel suddenly said excitedly, pointing to the sky in awe.

Percy looked up and a grin grew on his face as the Argo II came down and landed on the open field. He walked up to the great flying ship, a smile on his face as Annabeth stepped out.

He had made his decision.

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

Reyna grimaced as she pounded another shot, coughing a little as she slammed the shot glass back on the table. It was incredibly noisy all around her, for Hylla had invited a few people to liven the party up. They were under a giant tent near the very rear part of Camp Jupiter, about half of the camp there as they partied like there was no tomorrow.

"You feel any better yet, sis?" asked Hylla, who was grinning, from her left.

"I don't…what…why is everything spinning?" she slurred as she tried to stand up, holding an arm out for support but grabbing on to nothing.

She promptly fell straight to the ground. "Oh dear," she heard her sister say before she was helped to her feet. "If you can't stand for more than five seconds anymore, I think you should call it a day…and a night."

Reyna looked over at Hylla with wide eyes, trying to put one foot in front of the other without tripping over anything. "But the party's jus' started!" she whined.

"Reyna!" Reyna stopped and furrowed her eyebrows as she heard her name shouted. "Reyna!"

"Percy?" she said as she tried to focus on the sound. The only problem was she had no orientation. She didn't even know where the ground was. Definitely not good for finding someone.

Percy stopped right in front of her, looked at her, looked up to the party, and his mouth quickly fell open. "R-Reyna?" he said carefully.

Hylla narrowed her eyes at him and took a step forward, but Reyna put a hand on her arm. "Don't worry," she whispered loud enough for them all to hear. "I've got this."

Hylla froze, sighed, shook her head, and left, leaving Reyna alone with Percy and the rest of both camps behind him. "Reyna, are you drunk?" Percy said quietly, narrowing his eyes at her.

"Drunk?" she practically shouted before laughing so hard that she fell to the ground. "Drunk," she choked out again.

She saw him turn back to his friends and say, "I don't know what's gotten into her, she's never done this before."

You idiot, she thought to herself, eyeing the blonde Percy was addressing with a critical eye. There was no doubt in her mind that she was Annabeth.

Annabeth's eyes met hers and narrowed, and Reyna narrowed hers back. When Percy turned back to her, Reyna went to stand up, stumbling around as she did so. She couldn't help but feel how hot her cheeks were.

Perfect.

She hadn't actually gotten drunk, of course. That would have been horribly irresponsible and she wasn't one to break any sort of law. She had ended up acting drunk, though, for one to get Hylla off her back and two, in case Percy showed up as he had just now. He was, of course, the reason she hadn't gone to the landing of the Argo II, and she really didn't want to see him right now either.

She furrowed her eyebrows and willed sweat to form on her forehead.

"Reyna?" Percy said, concerned.

"I think…I feel kinda funny," she slurred, clutching her stomach and staggering away from the group, which was left in a stunned silence. There would be hell to pay for this later, she knew, but she didn't care as long as it got her away from Percy.

She staggered and stumbled until she was out of sight, where she abruptly stopped. She let out a loud sigh, stretched, and began slowly walking towards her quarters, looking up and admiring the pretty stars along the way.

She brushed the hair out of her face, rearranged her clothes so they weren't as crumpled, then pulled her hair up into a very messy bun and clipped it into place. She didn't want to have to deal with her crazy, frazzled hair at the moment.

The full moon hung low in the sky, and Reyna found herself staring at it as she continued to walk. How beautiful it truly was, bathing the camp in its luminescence. It amazed her that something so far away could still look so large.

Before she knew what was happening, she felt tears rolling down her cheeks. She was taking shuddering breaths and her throat was burning.

"Stupid Percy," she whispered. "Such an—"

The wind was driven out of her as she walked straight into something, her eyes still on the moon. She would have fallen had it not grabbed her and kept her upright.

She heard a disappointed sigh and looked over at who she had bumped into, gasping when she saw that it was none other than Percy. She quickly went to wipe the tears off her face, but Percy's hands came up and gently grabbed her wrists.

"Look at me," he said softly yet authoritatively.

And look she did, tear-filled, puffy red eyes, red nose, quivering lips and all.

"What are you doing?" Percy said, slightly annoyed. "Who are you?"

She got angry and tried to push him away, deciding he was just a complete idiot if he didn't know the answer to the questions. He held onto her nonetheless, and she softly said, "Just let me go."

"Not until you tell me why you think it's acceptable to act like you're drunk in front of everyone," he said in a low voice.

She rolled her eyes as best she could and took a deep breath. "So I didn't have to talk to you."

Percy's lips thinned as he pressed them together. "Well, here we are now."

Reyna nodded. "Yep."

Percy let out a small snort. "It's funny," he said. "Here I was, thinking you were the strong one of the two of us." He's just trying to bait you. "Now look at you, setting a bad example for everyone." He's baiting you! "All because I rejected you."

"We have a winner," Reyna replied sarcastically. "Will you let me go to bed now?"

"No," he said, grabbing her arm. She tugged it out of his grip right away, rubbing it afterwards.

"Don't touch me," she whispered.

Percy sighed. "Look, Reyna…" he said.

"Don't, Percy," she said, whirling on him angrily. "I don't need another apology. I don't want nor need your sympathy. Save it for someone who—"

She was cut off for a second time in the past five minutes, though this time it was by Percy's lips capturing hers. She instantly recoiled with disgust, pushing him away as she did so.

"What the hell is your problem?" she yelled, tears making her unable to see. "What, Annabeth said no so you're going for the fallback option? Well guess what? Life doesn't work that way, Percy! So leave me alone!"

She stomped off, though not loudly enough to drown out Percy softly saying, "You're just going to leave without hearing my side of the story? What happened to democracy?"

Reyna stopped and clenched her hands into fists, angrily swiping the tears off her face before whirling around to face him. He had gotten a little closer to her by this point, and said, "I've barely even talked to Annabeth today, let alone ask her out. And I'm not even going to do that. I realized when waiting for the Argo II that I had been blindly chasing her, which caused me to fail to notice the most beautiful, courageous, inspiring, driven, and loving girl I've ever met. I want you, Reyna, not her." He gave her a weak smile. "Please just give me a second chance?"

Reyna stared at him for a long moment. Then she arched an eyebrow in disbelief. "You think I really believe that?" she asked. "You think I'm an idiot? Great cover-up though; how long did it take you to think it up?"

Before she knew what had happened, Percy had slammed her back against the wall behind her, his hands fisting the collar of her shirt. "You can reject me, but don't you dare call me a liar," he growled in her fae. "My feelings for you are real, and I won't let you take that away from me."

"Percy…" she said, a warm feeling radiating from the center of her stomach.

His grip loosened a little but he didn't let her go. "I just wanted to make sure I made myself clear. You don't have to say anything else."

He stared into her eyes for a second more, then Reyna slowly tilted her head up and pressed her lips against his. Percy froze for a second before kissing her back, his grip tightening on her again.

When they parted, they were both blushing brilliantly.

"I was just crying over you, you idiot," Reyna said lovingly. "If I had known you were telling the truth for sure, you think I would reject you?"

Percy smiled at her. "I guess that is my fault for hurting you in the first place," he said, brushing his lips against hers once more. "Go on a date with me on Friday?"

"I'll be ready," Reyna immediately replied, her flush deepening.

"But I haven't specified a time or place yet," said Percy slowly, grinning.

Reyna blushed even harder. "It doesn't matter," she mumbled. "I'll be ready anyway."

"Well I'm glad you're eager," Percy chuckled, finally releasing her and taking a step back. "And I'm glad we got everything cleared up." He grabbed her hand with his own. "What do you say you reintroduce yourself to Camp Half-Blood? I heard there's a party going on."

She smiled up at him. "Or we could just worry about that tomorrow and walk under the moonlight for now," she suggested.

Percy shrugged and pulled her to join him on the footpath. As they entered the thin woods, he said, "It's funny."

"What?" she said.

"At first I thought this totally wouldn't be your type of thing, but after thinking for a second I realized this fits you perfectly," said Percy thoughtfully. "So you really like romance?" he whispered.

This mad Reyna blush harder than she had blushed at any other point that night. "Shut up," she grumbled. "I'm a girl, okay? It's what we like to do."

Percy grinned down at her and she shyly smiled back up, then they both looked up at the moon as they began walking down the long path again, hand in hand.

And neither of them wanted it to ever end.