"Reyna, I need to talk to you."
"What about, Jason?"
"Well... in private, if possible?"
Reyna sighed. "Fine, Grace. But don't make it too long, I have other things to be getting on with."
Jason nodded and shuddered, wanting to take her gently by the arm and lead her to where he wanted to go, but the tone in her voice, the one she had all the time, was there and made him frankly too afraid to touch her.
Nevertheless, she followed him with an obvious reluctance as he silently led her to somewhere they could talk in private. Unfortunately, everywhere he found already had people there, swordfighting, talking, eating, anything, really and it took about ten minutes before he found anywhere remotely quiet where they could talk without being overheard.
Eventually, he settled on the lake. He had never liked water much, being a son of Zeus, no, Jupiter, and all. Yet there wasn't a single camper in sight, Greek or Roman, and the water lapping gently at the shore was, in a way, peaceful. The whole atmosphere was still and calm, like it was holding it's breath and was waiting for someone to break through the silence. Jason sighed and sat down onto the stony beach, staring solemnly at the water.
He could feel Reyna's cold gaze boring into his back, before she said, "This better be quick, Grace. It took us long enough to get here in the first place," and sat down next to him, following his gaze.
Jason ignored her. "Reyna, I have a question."
"Well then, get to it. I haven't got all day."
"Before I- well, you know. Disappeared. Did- did you think I, well, loved you?"
Reyna cocked her head to one side and pondered on the question, not seeming at all phased by it. Jason was at a loss as to how much self-control she had. Finally, after what seemed like forever, she spoke. "I am sure you realize I am no good at relationships, and I'm not being biased when I say this, but in my opinion, yes, I believe you did."
Jason closed his eyes and let out the breath he had been holding. "Okay," he breathed. Then he opened his eyes, leaned forward, and began untying his shoelaces as he continued. "Because, I just want you to know, before I continue, that I still haven't remembered if you had any ideas."
Reyna pursed her lips. "I figured from your previous question."
Jason grinned sheepishly. "Oh. Yeah." He had untied his laces now, and was slipping off his shoes and socks. "But, I figured, what I want to tell you, you should be the first to know. I haven't told anyone else yet."
Reyna raised an eyebrow. "Not even Piper?"
Jason sighed and stood up, the stones and pebbles hurting his bare feet. His expression was hard. "Well, you see..."
"It's about her, isn't it?"
Jason clenched his fists and nodded, just slightly as he picked up a stone and studied it in his hand, turning it over and running his fingers over the cool, smooth surface. "She broke it off," he said finally through gritted teeth, glaring at the water as if he wanted to direct all his anger at it.
Reyna paused. "Oh. Why?"
"She was scared I was going to remember," he said, laughing bitterly. "Ironic, isn't it? She knew it would happen eventually, and knew that I would probably break it off when I did, so she decided she didn't want to face the heartbreak and called it off now."
Reyna said nothing. Jason threw the stone, attempting at skimming it, but it made a single, pathetic bounce before sinking to the bottom of the lake. Jason grunted in frustration and sank to his knees, glaring at the water still and the now fading ripples of his stone. Reyna came and placed a hand on his shoulder, bending down and picking up another pebble from the beach. She skimmed it expertly, with a single graceful thrust of her arm, and Jason watched the stone in amazement as it flew first to the centre of the lake before bouncing, one, two, three, nine times on the surface of the water.
Jason sighed in defeat as she sat down next to him, also barefooted as she dipped her toes in the water and hugged her knees to her chest. "How did you learn to do that?" he asked. A ghost of a smile crept onto Reyna's lips.
"Percy taught me."
"Oh."
"How long have you and Piper been- you know. Called off?"
"A month."
Reyna was incredulous. "A month? And you've not told anyone?"
Jason shook his head sadly, stretching out his legs into the water. It was icy cold against his skin, and he shivered. "And you know the funny thing? She said something else as well."
Reyna braced herself, even though she didn't know what was coming. "What?"
"She said that I was 'meant for someone else'. Can you guess who she meant?"
Reyna looked out to the lake, not wanting to meet his gaze. She knew perfectly well who Piper had meant. She just didn't want to know what Jason thought on this. But in fact, she did. So bad.
"Oh," she said simply. "Oh."
"But- but I don't think I will remember," he continued, standing up and wading into the water 'til it reached his ankles. "And the truth is, I don't want to."
"Why?" Reyna asked, getting to her feet and joining him in the water, wading out further to her mid-calf.
Jason dipped his hand into the water and picked up another stone. He looked at it like it was his death-sentence, like he hated it more than anything else, before getting into a position ready to skim it. Reyna just watched, waiting for his answer.
"Because I'm scared, Reyna. I'm scared that if I get my memories back, I'll get confused with my feelings now. My feelings for someone."
Reyna nodded with understanding, eyes fixed on his hand as he decided not to skim it and dropped it into the water with defeat. "Ooohh, " she said. "You mean Piper."
He looked at her and shook his head. "No. Not Piper."
Reyna bit her lip. He couldn't mean- no. He didn't. "Mm-hm," she said, not sure what else there was to say. "Mm-kay."
"And I'm scared that if I remember, I'll feel different to that someone. And I don't want to. Because I fell in love with that someone all over again, and think that my feelings for them before my amnesia weren't this strong. My memories have nothing to do with it. I fell in love with this someone now, because of who they are now. Not who they were before. Any advice?"
All over again. Before my amnesia.
"Well, maybe you should ask that someone if they feel the same way," she suggested, trying to keep her voice cool and calm, even though her heart was leaping in her chest. "If you said they were from your past, maybe they do."
"Okay," he said simply. "Thanks."
Then there was silence. Neither said nor did anything, except look out at the lake and not at eachother. Eventually, Jason leant over and picked up another pebble from the bottom of the lake, coming to stand as deep as Reyna, even though he was nervous being this far in water. He was about to make another attempt at skimming it, when Reyna caught his arm. "No," she said. "You don't hold it like that. Bend down lower. It needs to be going at a flat angle to be able to skim, so you need to flick it with your wrist, not your elbow."
"Like a frisbee?"
Reyna chuckled. "Yes, Jason. Like a frisbee. Here, let me help you."
She came over and stood in front of him, placing her hands on his shoulders and pushing him down gently, taking his arm and altering his position until satisfied. "There," she said. "Throw it."
But he didn't. He looked at it, wieghing it in is hand before curling up his fist and standing up straight, looking at her. "Reyna, do you love me?"
She sighed. There was no point making it romantic or dramatic, so she might as well cut straight to the point. "Yes, I do. I never stopped loving you from the moment I realized I did."
Jason's eyes brightened. "Really?"
Reyna frowned. "Yes. Is that so hard to believe?"
Jason glanced away, scrunching up his face into the sunlight. "No- well, yes. I don't know."
"Well, now you know about me," Reyna huffed, folding her arms. "Do you love me?"
He faced her, grinning. "Yes. Yes, I do."
"Well then it's settled," she finished, picking up a stone and skimming it, doing her best to ignore him. When she stood up, satisfied with her skim, she felt an arm round her shoulder. "Not yet."
Then he kissed her. She kissed him back of course, after a moment's hesitation, and ran a hand through his hair. And, she swore, that while one arm was around her waist, the other casually flicked the stone in the other direction, and although neither of them saw it, it skimmed not once, not twice, but nine times across the surface of the water.
A/N: I wrote this due to popular demand after my Telling Reyna story, because people needed some Jeyna. I didn't like this to start with, but I'm quite pleased with it now. I had a hard time deciding on a title though. Hopefully this will reinstate your respect for Piper, because although I support Jeyna, I still like her. I hope you like it. :)
~Franki
