A/N: For the time being, I've decided to make this a twoshot. Stay tuned. This is mildly AR; Chris and Clarisse were not a couple. Rather, Clarisse/Silena is hinted at.

Please Note: I haven't finished HH, but most of what takes place is an open secret. This is Alternate Ending (to the series, not to HH), more or less. Between this and that, I will be contradicting canon.

Warnings: Femslash. Don't like, don't read. It's not explicit just yet (most of this is build-up), but it's going to be.

Chocolate Is (Not) Universal

Since Reyna and Nico (and Coach Hedge) had returned the Athena Parthenos, tensions had cooled off between the camps... somewhat. Jason defecting to Camp Half-Blood had raised a lot of questions, and even a few months later, the dust hadn't really settled. People didn't know what to think about Jason leaving his camp for another one. It made everyone question the trustworthiness of the Greeks; that girl who was always with him, Piper, was a charmspeaker. Had she forced him to switch sides?

And there were many who were unsure of, or felt resentment toward, a probatio rising to praetor almost immediately. Percy had been one thing—a special case. He was powerful, a son of one of the Big Three; he had Juno's recommendation; and he'd found and restored the Legion's standard. Neptune may not have been the most popular god in Camp Jupiter, but Percy's election had been unanimous.

It was true Frank was a son of Mars, and he'd earnt his father's blessing. He was a loyal Roman, unlike Jason. Reyna would prefer him to Octavian any day, but that was true of most of the Legion. Even with his increased confidence, a lot of people saw their new praetor the same way: for many, he was still Crybaby Frank. If Reyna was being honest with herself, uniting the camp and convincing them to work with the Greeks... even with Frank's help, that had been hard. And the present situation was by no means perfect, either. But at least, with Gaea defeated, it wasn't as easy for people like Octavian and Drew Tanaka to stir up suspicion and paranoia amongst the campers. Reyna and Frank had been working with Percy and Annabeth to ensure the present peace between Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter was a lasting one.

Now technically speaking, Reyna wasn't avoiding Jason. That would be unprofessional. She knew Piper, like her sister Drew, had a way with sorcery; but she didn't believe the rumours, the ones claiming Jason had been forced to switch sides. It was hard for Reyna to admit, because she loved her camp so much—it was her home—but Jason had never been comfortable there. She'd ignored it, convinced herself it was her imagination. Jason had always done everything he could for Camp Jupiter—was there more proof he felt the way she did? Reyna hadn't thought so. Not until... Well, not until she'd been visited by Lady Venus, who had warned her that she and Jason walked different paths.

"He is not who you think he is," Venus had told her, "and it would be childish to continue to insist that I am wrong."

Reyna hadn't understood back then, why it was Venus and not Juno who came to her. It was usually Juno who delivered warnings, maybe Mars or her mother. The war gods, in other words. Why the goddess of love had appeared to Reyna, with news that made it sound like Jason would betray them to Saturn... It made sense now. It had been a matter of love, after all.

Reyna didn't really know Jason—not the way she thought she did. She'd never really listened to him or paid attention to his needs, back when he was still in the Legion. She'd expected him to be a leader, just like everyone else. She'd pushed on him a future he didn't want—and she'd never thought twice about it. When Venus confronted her with the truth—that Jason was not the person she wanted him to be—she felt ashamed, and lonelier than ever.

Her only friend, and he'd never been honest with her, never opened up to her. He'd never felt that he could rely on Reyna. Trust her, maybe, but it wasn't the same thing. When she realized that the bulk of their friendship was built on lies, that it was one-sided on her side... she distanced herself.

She didn't know Jason, and now she wasn't sure she deserved to. By the time she built up the courage to get to know him for real, Piper McLean had moved in, and Jason had started to distance himself from Reyna. He'd made friends, even met his sister, since going to Camp Half-Blood. He was happy there; she'd have to be an idiot not to see it. But just because she wasn't blind to Jason's real self anymore... that didn't mean she liked how things were. She'd managed to become friends with Annabeth, but seeing Jason still left her feeling hollowed out.

She wasn't avoiding him, but she was doing everything she could not to think about him. It helped that, as praetor, she was as busy as ever.

Reyna had noticed the Greek camper, Clarisse La Rue, for awhile now. She'd been helping Annabeth oversee the repairs and restorations being made to New Rome for the last couple of months. Leo might have blasted New Rome to smithereens in a day, but building it back up would take time.

It was looking good so far. Reyna had heard Annabeth called the Architect of Olympus, and she was starting to see why she'd gotten the job. Annabeth had a good eye for design. With luck, the Roman campers would have a home to go back to shortly. Until then, they remained scattered in the mortal world.

Except for Reyna. She had stayed at Camp Jupiter, along with her fellow praetor Frank, to help supervise the Romans' teamwork with the Greeks. All Reyna wanted was for things to go right for a change.

Which brought her to Clarisse. The Ares girl was hardworking, and strong, all right. She didn't seem to do anything halfway. But there was this nervous energy about her, like she was always distracted. At first, Reyna had thought it was just ADHD—it was more common with the Greeks than the Romans—and she overlooked it. But after working with her for awhile, the more Reyna got to know Clarisse, the more she began to think there was more to it.

She learned from Annabeth that Chris Rodriguez—Clarisse's closest living friend—had died during the war. Her only other friends had died in the previous one, and Clarisse hadn't taken Chris's death well. Clarisse was a good leader, but she'd been snappy, even tense, like it was taking everything she had not to pick a fight. Reyna had seen her talking to Nico di Angelo in hushed tones a couple of times, and she wondered what that was about; but knowing Nico, she didn't think they were up to anything. Still, Percy had told her children of Ares were more violent and impulsive than children of Mars, and that worried her.

She'd kept an eye on Clarisse, just in case. She didn't like that unstable, manic look in her eyes, though Percy claimed it was just Clarisse's usual glare.

One day, Reyna decided she'd try to talk to Clarisse. Maybe she could defuse the time bomb before it even started ticking.

Clarisse was in her element: ordering other people around. "Hey, Valdez, pick up the pace! Solace, get your butt to the forum! I don't know what for! Because apparently, Annabeth wants a useless—"

"Hello," Reyna calmly interrupted.

Clarisse turned her head to glare in Reyna's direction. "Ramirez? What do you want?"

"Reyna," she corrected. "I don't use my surname."

"Whatever," Clarisse grunted, not really interested. "You have something to say to me?"

"Actually, yes. I was wondering, would you like a cup of hot chocolate?"

Clarisse averted her eyes. "I don't like chocolate," she replied, no hint of an explanation forthcoming.

"Are you sure?" Reyna raised an eyebrow. "It's pretty cold out—"

"Are you trying to pick a fight with me?"

"No." Reyna backtracked immediately. "But you've been working very hard to help restore my camp. I thought I'd show my appreciation by—"

"Yeah, well, noted. Now, if you don't mind, I've got work to do."

Clarisse turned her back to Reyna, and went storming off after a couple of campers who were slacking off, to remind them what they were here for.

"Is she always so..." Reyna searched for the right word.

"Hostile?" Annabeth supplied.

It was evening. They were eating dinner, watching as the sun set after another hard day's work. Aurae were serving food like it was a circus, but Annabeth barely even noticed them anymore.

Annabeth chewed her food slowly, while she deliberated what to say. "It's not your fault," she began. "Clarisse has never taken to anyone straight-away. Even Silena—she was her best friend—had to jump through some hoops before Clarisse really took her seriously. Percy knows her better than I do, I think. We were never that close. But..." Annabeth bit her lip.

Reyna furrowed her brow. "What is it?"

"I think it was because you mentioned chocolate. Everyone knows she hasn't eaten anything chocolate since Silena's death. Silena's dad owned a chocolate factory," Annabeth explained, "and Clarisse and she used to drink hot chocolate together, it was their thing. If I remember correctly, Clarisse made Silena a cup... just before she sacrificed her life for the camp."

Reyna exhaled. "I see. So I reminded her of... her best friend's death," she said carefully, making sure she had the facts right.

Annabeth nodded. "That's my best guess. With Chris's death still so fresh, any reminder of Silena's death would be extra hard on her, I imagine."

"I see..." Reyna replied, sipping her hot chocolate pensively. "So what does Clarisse like?"