So what happens when I listen to Adele on the radio at night? THIS. Warning: May or may not cause feels. Though I am a hardcore Jeyna shipper, I realize that Riordan might never change his canons. *Sigh* Don't forget to review!
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING IN THE WORLD OF PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS (COPYRIGHT OF RICK RIORDAN) AND NEITHER DO I OWN ANY OF THE LYRICS BELOW, WHICH BELONG TO ADELE.
I looked down as I shuffled to the house. It was the only one there, so it had to be theirs. A Santa Monica beach house, I should have expected it. A light breeze blew by. Purple shirt, jeans, and a braid down my right? I sighed. I guess old habits die hard.
Twelve years. That's how long it's been since the prophecy happened, since I last saw him. Gwen heard somewhere that he's here, married to that Daughter of Venus Piper.
I knocked on the door three times. As soon as the door opened, my heart almost died. A little girl stuck her head out. She had golden hair and energetic blue eyes. Even the air around her was buzzing with life, just like him.
"Um, hi. Is your daddy home?" I asked. I've never really talked to children that much.
She frowned and cocked her head to the side. "Who are you?"
"I'm a friend of your dad's."
"If you're a friend, why do you have that?" She pointed at my dagger. Damnaret. I never considered there would be kids who could see past the Mist.
"I... um... It's to keep-"
Then her eyes widened suddenly. She gasped. "Or are you like us?"
'Us.' She knows about demigods. Before I could answer, a voice from inside the house called out. "You okay? Who's at the door?"
The door opened wider, and there he was, in a grey tee, blue flannel, and jeans. So I'm not the only one.
"Jason," I greeted. I forced a smile to show.
He looked at me, speechless. "Reyna," he whispered.
Someone else walked into view. Piper placed a hand on Jason's shoulder. "Hey Su-... Oh. Reyna." She frowned momentarily but quickly smiled instead. "We haven't seen you in such a long time!" She came over and gave me a hug.
"Nice to see you too McLean. Or should I say Grace?"
She smiled even wider. "You and Jason probably want some time to catch up, since it's been..." She let out a breath. "It's just good to see you."
"How about we talk outside?" Jason suggested. "Pipes, you want to join?"
"No, it's okay. I have to watch the kids anyways," she replied.
Kids. Plural. For some reason, every word Piper has ever said to me cut through like a knife. Charmspeak? More like the complete opposite.
"So what's your daughter's name? She's a cute kid," I commented.
"Amelia. Piper chose it."
"Amelia. That's a nice name. She's, what, six? Seven?"
"Eight." At that point, something inside of me broke. It didn't take him that long to forget about me after all.
The two of us sat down on the sand, back to back. "So what brings you here to Santa Monica?" Jason asked to break the silence.
"I don't really know. Gwen just told me bits and pieces of what she heard, so yeah."
"How is Gwen? And everyone at camp? I've been meaning to visit, but with everything..."
"Gwen's fine. She and Dakota got married last February, and she's expecting twins in a few months. Lemme see... Bobby is with some Daughter of Mars. Olivia, I think that's her name. Frank is together with a Daughter of Apollo. All six of them are living within City walls. Hazel went to Louisiana with Valdez. And of course there's Percy and Annabeth. They still visit Camp Jupiter whenever they get a chance to leave the Greek Camps." I laughed a little. "Actually giving me a break from Praetorship."
"Et Magister Legatum Apollinis?"
"Adhuc asinum."
He laughed. "So wait. You're still Praetor?" I felt his neck turn a little.
"Of course I am. Can you honestly see me willingly give up the camp?"
"Some things just don't change."
"Yeah. I guess so."
"Do you still hate me?" he asked suddenly.
I thought about a way to say it. "I could never hate you Jason. Heartbroken, sure, but I could never bring myself to hating you. I mean..." I paused. "You were my Saving Grace. I was always waiting for you to come back, even when the campers gave up. But you were never there when I needed you the most..." My voice cracked.
"Reyna, I know I made a promise to you, and I broke it. There is not a day that's gone by that I don't feel guilty about it. I am so, so sorry. But everything happened so fast. And I guess, here we are."
We just sat there for a few minutes, listening to the sound of waves crashing and seagulls calling at each other. Then he turned around and placed an arm around my shoulders.
"It really is great to see you again Rey. You should visit more often, or at least when you get the chance." He gently kissed the top of my head and got up.
Should I tell him? Should I not? I took a deep breath, but still kept my head down. "Jason," I called out.
"Yes?"
"I'm getting married..." No response. "In three months."
"That's great Reyna! Congratulations." He tried to sound happy for me, but I could tell he wasn't. "You better not forget to send us invites," he said playfully like his old self.
"We'll see." Of course. How could I ever forget you? I thought to myself.
By the time he was gone, I would feel tears rising up. I still can't believe how long it's been since my first years at Camp Jupiter. Sure, I'd hated his guts for the entire first year, but by the second year, my first year of being Praetor, I became really close to him. We'd be training, playing pranks on each other or other campers, sometimes getting revenge on Octavian... Everyday, there was something to look forward to, especially as the two Praetors of camp... But that's all past. And now?
I never thought I'd be here today, or ever. I had always seen us being together, ourselves living in New Rome. But then, there are dreams that cannot be. Still, we had something. Whatever it was, it was good while it lasted. If only I'd known this would happen, maybe I would have actually taken up Hylla's old offers and not have to go through all the pain.
Jason was the only one I'd ever really opened up to, the only one other than my sister that actually knows me. I eventually did find someone else, but no one can truly match up to what Jason and I shared. We are demigods. In our lives, things don't go as planned, the gods always messing with us and using us. Nothing is ever as it seems.
We were young, we were free. We didn't have to care about anything at all, being left by our parents and living by ourselves. Then the Second Titan War came. Everyone had changed after that, no one as they used to be. We still made mistakes, as people and as Praetors, yet somehow the best memories always came from the worst of times. I didn't know coming here would bring back all those memories.
This is a changing world. The past is the past, the future is always full of danger and surprises. I could never forget him. Even though I know he might forget me, I still hope he won't.
After some time, something landed right next to me, and I looked up. "Hey Skippy." I got up and patted my pegasus's neck. "Come on, let's go home." As soon as I got on, he spread his wings and carried us back to Camp Jupiter.
The entire time, I kept my face in his mane, tears still coming. Being in love has its ups and downs. There's always that amazing feeling inside when you're around a certain someone, but then there's pain, sadness, loss, regret... Over all, more likely than not, being in love hurts.