Piper stares at her half-siblings chatting around the campfire. She sneaks a peek at Jason, staring thoughtfully at the stars, murmuring silently the names of the constellations. Her heart thumps a bit faster as a light breeze flickers across his hair. She quickly shifts her gaze away as Jason moves his eyes towards her.

Her eyes continue to travel around the campfire. Annabeth is chatting animatedly with her siblings, her grey eyes looking a little bit happier than when they first met. Rachel is laughing and singing with the Apollo kids, Will Solace strumming chords on his acoustic. Clovis is sleeping, (but honestly, she's not surprised). Then her gaze reaches the sons and daughters of Hephaestus. But someone's missing. But who?

Leo. That's who. Now she's surprised. It seems Leo would never miss a campfire, one of the few times that the campers could just take a break. Her eyes flicker around but she sees no sign of the son of Hephaestus. The flames flicker slightly, matching her worry, mixed with the happiness of the others.

Suddenly, there's a curse, in Ancient Greek no less. There's another sound, almost the sound of metal clashing against rock. It vibrates and the fire wavers, but no one pays attention. They've seen it too many times, she muses. Grabbing her snow jacket, she gets up and starts heading to the series of yells, curses, and explosions. No one watches her.

Again, she follows the sounds until she reaches Bunker 9. No one's there. But again, there's a curse followed by a slight tremor. She sees flames light up spontaneously along the back. There, standing in a ring of burnt grass is Leo Valdez. His back is turned away from her, and he's fiddling with a contraption that she can't decide what it is. Leo's hair is in disarray and he seems frustrated.

She's confused. What is he doing out here by himself? Piper calls him. "Leo?"

He jumps. The thing he's holding falls mercilessly to the ground, shattering, creating a small tremor. Leo curses, picks it up, and turns away. No word to Piper. This isn't Leo, Piper decides.

"Leo?"

"What Piper?" he hisses venomously. She shrinks at his angry tone. No, this definitely isn't Leo. Leo would have called her a special nickname. Albeit, not the best one, but a nickname none the less.

"What are you doing out here?"

"I never thought you would be so stupid. You're just like your mother. Totally worthless".

Now, she's angry. Aphrodite is not worthless and neither is she. Enough's enough. Piper decides to use her charmspeak. It hurts her to do it, but anger is clouding her mind and Leo's as well.

"Tell me NOW, Leo, what's wrong with you."

He throws his hands up in the air, the figure that shattered fixed but falling quickly to the earth. Leo catches it before it breaks, but it slices his hand, a bright red gash criss-crossing his palm. He curses and turns away. Piper's about to give up shocked that her charmspeak had no effect, but then he talks. Quietly, but he talks.

"My mom died when I was eight. I had killed her with my powers. I never got to tell her good-bye."

Piper looks at him sadly, nodding. "So why are you so mad today?"

"I don't know beauty queen," he says sullenly. "Maybe because today is the anniversary of the day she died. Maybe it's because I received a gift from my dad that I can't fix. Maybe it's because… I just don't know if I'm worth it anymore."

"Hey, you are worth it. You're one of the seven strongest half-bloods out there. No one can take that away from you." She's laying it on thick, but she's speaking from her heart.

Suddenly, a memory flashes through her head. This was from Wilderness School, but this time, the Mist hasn't altered it. It's her and Leo, shaking hands after a day in detention. Piper feels a spark when they touch hands. It doesn't seem so strong, but it's there. She smiles coyly at him, and he smiles sheepishly at her.

Piper shakes her head. Leo's turned away again, muttering curses under his breath. The grass around him starts burning. He's angry. She's afraid to get close, but it's the only way to get to him. Her footsteps bristle the grass, but she doesn't notice. She grabs his hand.

Leo flinches. It's the hand he's cut. He hasn't bothered cleaning the blood, or putting a bandage. They're both pretty sure it's getting infected. Piper keeps her hand there. "Leo," she whispers, "you need to relax. You're not being you."

He feels guilty. He's being mean to her when all she's doing is trying her hardest to make him feel better. He draws his hand away. Turning to face her, he realizes she's a little close, but it's not an uncomfortable feeling. It's like they were fit together.

Raking his other hand through his hair, he whispers, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," she whispers back. The faint sounds of singing and laughter are heard, but none of them turn to go back. He starts to walk away from Piper, but not towards the campfire. Instead, he walks to an area not charred and destroyed from his anger and lies down to look at the stars. He doesn't say anything. She walks wordlessly towards him and sits next to him. They don't say anything.

Suddenly, Leo says, "My mom loved the stars. I remember when I was little; she would point to every constellation in the sky. She would tell me the stories and I would be so entranced by them."

"My dad did that too. I remember how I would love it when he got a few minutes just to point out a bunch of stars and say a story just for me. But then he became so famous. I never saw him that much."

He looks at her, a sad expression over his gentle Hispanic features. She notices (embarrassingly) how his muscles seem to strain against the khaki fabric of his jacket. He's grown. He's not the quirky annoying youth from when they first met, but a strong, if not extremely handsome, son of Hephaestus. Subconsciously she tries to flatten her hair.

Leo looks at Piper. She's beautiful. He's surprised why he wasn't attracted to her when Aphrodite claimed her. But he realizes, maybe it's because he already was. A brief memory unaltered by the Mist flashes through his mind. It's the first prank they pulled together. It was a childish one, and led to detention, but it was fun.

They lay in silence watching the stars. The singing and laughing continue on the other side, but none of them move. It's quiet, but they enjoy the presence of each other.

Then they here a yell, signaling curfew. They get up, their hands brushing against each other. Both of them blush, but it's too dark to tell. "We better go, beauty queen," Leo says, his cheerful mood replacing his dark and angry one.

"Yeah, we should… uh … fire boy?"

"Is that the best you can do?"

"Blah," she says, as she sticks her tongue out at him. He laughs a low but joyful laugh. Hesitantly, he wraps his arms around her petite frame, silently enjoying that he's taller now. She hugs him back nestling her head against his chest. They could stand like that all night, but the sounds of harpies send them out of each other's arms.

Blushing, they wish each other a good night. Piper spots Jason Grace walking to his cabin. Her heart thumps a little bit faster. But then Leo turns around and yells, "Thanks beauty queen!" And turns and enters his cabin. Her heart thumping a little bit faster doesn't even compare to the giddiness and warmth she feels when Leo says those words.

Who knows? She muses, maybe my prince charming isn't a prince (as she glances at Jason entering his cabin), but the mechanic (as she hears a deep laugh that she knows only as Leo's).

She doesn't even feel sad when Jason reunites with Reyna, as she is holding hands with the boy who built their ship and fixed her heart. The stars seem a little brighter as well.

Hey, well this is my first story. It's based off The Lost Hero. I thought this couple was incredibly cute and well, if Jason and Piper got together, then you're pretty much setting up a break up between Percy and Annabeth. Oh! I don't own the Percy Jackson or Heroes of Olympus series. All rights and rewards go to Mr. Rick Riordan.