Skipping Stones
Reyna sat upon a rock, gazing thoughtfully at the water below. The lake at Camp Half-Blood had become her go to spot when things got stressful, and for the past few weeks after the war, everything was stressful to her. She looked at her reflection and scoffed, who had she become? She hardly recognized this worn girl. War and battle had been a common occurrence for her, it was a part of daily life. Never before had she had ever felt this exhausted, and she had been handling her praetorial duties singlehandedly for months now. If she was honest with herself, she knew it wasn't just the war and the carnage. If she was really honest it wasn't even the destruction of New Rome. The issue weighing her down was Jason, and she hated it.
Her silence and inner turmoil was disrupted by footsteps. Reyna tensed, ready to defend herself at a moment's notice.
"At ease soldier." Annabeth said, and Reyna relaxed. Annabeth had become a good friend in the past few weeks, and Reyna no longer felt at odds with the girl, even if she was jealous of her relationship.
"Is something wrong with camp?" Reyna questioned, suspicious of the girl's motives for being there.
"No, no. Nothing's wrong. I just came to talk with a friend. You Romans do that right?" Annabeth asked teasingly. Reyna tried to push away the warmth that flooded her, when Annabeth called her a friend. She hadn't been good at keeping or making friends. Her group had fallen apart when Jason left, and she hadn't heard the word in a long time, especially being applied to her.
"Of course we have friends." She said rolling her eyes. She didn't add that it was just her who didn't have any. "What is it that you wanted to talk about?"
"Oh you know, a little of this, and a little of that." Annabeth said, striving for casualty. Reyna's eyebrow rose. She was a very good lie detector, and she was surprised Annabeth had even tried to lie to her, much less so terribly.
"Come on Annabeth. You can't lie to me. What do you really want to talk about?" She questioned.
Annabeth at least had the decency to look somewhat abashed. She shot Reyna a small smile before speaking.
"Ok, you got me. I'm worried about you. I can tell you're deeply upset. I've seen that face. I've even worn it before, when Percy was missing, and I had begun to lose all hope. I might not know the specifics of what has you down, but I might know more than you think." She made eye contact with Reyna, and held her gaze, smiling a bit at her shocked expression. "I know you aren't very open with your feelings Reyna, and I know talking about it seems like the most ridiculously unhelpful thing you could do, but if I hadn't had friends to lean on and share my pain, I don't know what I would've done." She paused looking off, reminiscing on those dark days. "What I'm trying to say, is that I'm here for you. I'm your friend, you can trust me, and I'll help you to the best of my abilities."
Reyna was shocked, floored even. Her face always so carefully concealed behind a mask of indifference, was now so openly in pain. She felt the tears prick her eyes, their salty sting too familiar. She swallowed loudly and looked down, blinking rapidly to keep the tears at bay. When she looked back up, she caught Annabeth's empathetic look. A look that understood, rather than pitied, and she broke.
"It's Jason." Reyna started, slowly, not used to the trusting idea. Annabeth nodded. "Of course you knew that, I'm an open book. " Reyna said, brushing off the tear that had gathered too much water, failing at subtlety. Annabeth shook her head, and smiled softly.
"Not at all, in fact, you have a very good poker face. I could only ever imagine someone being in this much pain if they had lost someone so close to them, as I can imagine you and Jason were. It's the logical choice." She comforted.
And Reyna found herself explaining everything to Annabeth. All of her and Jason's memories. The time the first met, and the time they first sparred. Reyna had barely beaten him, but it was a victory all the same. He had challenged her to another match, and they had continued sparring until his disappearance. She told her about the time she found out Jason could fly during her second war games, and how he had won it for the team. She told Annabeth about their picnics when she would get extremely upset or stressed, and only he could calm her down. He had taught her how to skip stones on the river, though of course he was better, and she had taught him to make daisy chains, and hers were always prettier. She relayed their first time leading a mission together, and how Jason had almost died trying to save a member of their team. It had worried her to death, and when he arrived back safe, she had kissed him on the cheek. Jason comforted her whenever she missed her sister, and she in turn helped him when thoughts of his missing past surfaced. She told Annabeth how he stayed by her side when she was injured in the line of duty, and refused to leave until she was better. She had done the same multiple times. She spoke of their promotion to Praetors, and how she couldn't believe how lucky she was to be in a position of leadership with her best friend.
"And the worst part of all, is that there is a stigma about the praetor positions. Most praetors end up falling in love, and getting married. Most even end up retiring together. You want to know the tragic thing though? I was in love with Jason before we even got that stupid position." She put her hand in her hands, and Annabeth sat silently, letting her friend take her time. It was silent a few minutes before Reyna collected herself.
"No, you know what? The absolute worst thing about this whole experience, is having him back. There was a time when the whole camp thought him dead. I kept looking though, kept pressing. I prayed to the gods every night, every day, every hour, to bring him home. And then he was there, with her. He didn't remember me. He didn't love me enough to remember. He chose her, Annabeth, and I can't hate either of them for it. Piper is useful to him, more so than I ever could be. She can offer him beauty, grace, and a brilliant weapon. I can only give him memories, and a past, while she gives him the future. I should've stopped looking. I should've stopped praying, and trying so hard to get him back. I should've declared him dead!" Her tears really started to pick up then, coming down her cheeks in a constant stream. And then she dropped the most private secret she ever had. The one she held onto at nights when she was lonely, and truly heartbroken.
"And I kissed him once. The night before he was taken. It was wonderful, the most wonderful experience of my life in fact, but I can never tell him any of this. I could never ruin the life he has now. I love him. I can't take away his happiness because I'm selfish and want him to want me instead. I may not be a daughter of Venus, but I know that's not how love works."
"So instead you'll hold onto it forever alone? And you'll just let him go on and pretend you never loved him? You would put yourself through all of that just so he can continue to be happy?" Annabeth chimed in, looking incredulous.
"I would do anything for him." Reyna said, sincerity ringing from every word. She was surprised at the honesty in her statement.
Annabeth sighed, and put her arm around Reyna's shoulder. The silence of the moment was profound, but not uncomfortable.
"I'm truly sorry Reyna, for everything you've gone through. I can't imagine what it would be like to not have Percy, to watch him live the life with some other girl, that I imagined myself living. It almost happened once, but luckily nothing came out of it, but it was one of the worst times of my life. I can't begin to fathom what you're going through, but I can be here to talk to you about it." She smiled at Reyna, but the smile was sad, and Reyna's smile mimicked it.
"You're a good friend Annabeth."
Annabeth's smile grew more genuine, before it faded into a serious look, as if she were about to say something. A noise from behind them caught their attention. Reyna knew before she turned around it was him. She felt him, and it disturbed her. She didn't even have time to wipe off her tears.
"Rey..." he broke off, she assumed grasping for words. He had heard it all she realized, or at least enough of it to get the gist. Annabeth stood up quickly. She threw Reyna an apologetic look, before mumbling an excuse to leave and running off. Reyna sat in shock, emotions haywire, and turned back away from him.
"Jason." She said cordially, wondering if wiping her tears would draw more attention than leaving them. She fought to put her mask back on, and struggled to think of how to dismiss him. She couldn't face his rejection directly. Not now, not ever. And the pity. Gods she couldn't handle that either.
"Rey..." He tried again, voice still faltering. He was unsure of how to put it to her gently, she knew that face.
"Don't." She warned. "I don't know what you heard, but it isn't relevant. Not anymore. You obviously heard the last bit, so let's just leave it at that and move on ok?" She straightened up, and brushed off her clothes. She held her chin up as she walked past him, and she was almost in the clear, when he grabbed her arm.
"Rey, stop! Gods Rey, don't walk away from me. Please." His eyes were wide, and were a brighter blue than usual. She couldn't say no to those eyes. Even though she really wanted to.
"Rey, your feelings aren't irrelevant to me, you have to know that." He begged her, eyes flashing. She scoffed.
"Not irrelevant? Jason you got off of the ship, and not only did you ignore me, but all of your friends, your entire legion, and your entire home! How do you expect me to believe that I'm...that Rome isn't irrelevant to you?" She said, yanking her arm from his grip, and stepping back. She wasn't bothering to keep her emotions covered now.
"Rey, you have to understand.." He started.
"Oh I understand. I understand perfectly. You chose the life you expected to suit you best, and I understand ok? I get it. So let's not play games, let's be honest with one another, and agree to let this go. Water under the bridge." She tried her best to look indifferent again, as if every word she was saying wasn't cutting into her heart.
"Don't shut off from me Rey, please don't shut off. You don't understand." He whispered softly, before regaining his strength. "I was still struggling to remember then. I was grasping at straws. My memory was coming back piece by piece, and I don't know why that is, why it wasn't as strong as Percy's, but that's the truth. I hardly remembered anything, but by the time I got there, to New Rome, I knew who you were. What you had meant to me. I knew what Rome had meant to me, and-"
"And you still chose the Greeks. You still chose Piper. I already know this Jason." Reyna said, turning again. She wanted to run far, far away. Hearing him say all of this out loud, it was too much. She was crying again. He lunged for her, barely grabbing her.
"Yes. I did! But you have to know why. I... I had no memories in the beginning. Piper had fake memories of me being her boyfriend, and Leo had fake memories of being my best friend. They didn't believe for a long time that it was just the mist, and things were awkward. We were escorted here, to Camp Half-Blood, and everything was tense. I was still trying to find out who I was, and they were both good friends to me. We went on a mission together, and we all grew closer. I didn't know you Reyna, I couldn't remember, and I began to return Piper's feelings. It wasn't until a few days after the mission that my memories returned. I began to remember things. You were the first memory to come back. I wasn't sure who exactly you were. I knew your name, and I knew you were important, but I had no clue what role you played. Over the months as we were preparing to come back, more began returning. I pulled away from all of my friends, and became more introverted, but then I decided that I couldn't lose those people. They had come to mean a lot to me. When I got to New Rome, and I saw you, I saw the hurt on your face. That one second of pain, and I knew that I had caused it. It hurt me so much, to think I had caused that to the most important person of my past. Other people, old friends, had the same reaction when they saw me. I was called a traitor, and I understand why. I was a coward, I went with the easy route. The Greeks accepted me, and that's all I thought I needed. But Gods Rey I was wrong. When we left, and went on our other mission, I worried about you. Constantly. You were all I worried about, and it was then all my memories came back. Everything. And I knew I loved you. I broke things off with Piper before the war. We did it subtly, and we didn't really tell anyone, more important things to worry about. The point is, it's you Rey. I'm in love with you. Not Piper, not anyone else. You." He finished, eyes boring into Reyna's.
"What do you expect me to say, Jason?" She asked, voice shaky, tears still flowing. He had just said he loved her, but her mind wasn't buying it.
"Say that you love me too."
"You already know how I feel." She reminded him, trying hard to stop her tears. She hated being weak.
"Then what's the problem?" He said, his face radiating hope, and joy.
"I don't know if I can forgive you." She sobbed, biting her lip hard. She tasted the blood. He put his thumb on her lip gently, pulling it out from her teeth, and then caressing it.
"I would never expect you to forgive me so easily. I hurt you Rey, I'm not blind to the fact. But I love you. I love you, and I can't stand one more minute without you. I thought giving you time after the battle would be best. However, I can see I was wrong. I should've grabbed you then as soon as it was over, and told you everything."
"Yes, you should have." She agreed, a small smile trying to fight its way onto her face. He smiled back softly.
"I'm an idiot. I hurt you so much more than necessary. And I'm so so sorry. For everything. For putting you through all you've gone through. But most importantly, I'm sorry for not telling you that the kiss we shared, was the happiest moment of my life. And I regret not telling you how much I loved you then, because I did, I still do. But you should've found out earlier. I'm not asking for forgiveness, not yet, not so soon. I'm just asking for a chance. And if you give me one, I will spend every day making it up to you, proving to you how deep my devotion is." His words made Reyna warm all over, and she barely noticed her tears had stopped. She wiped the remaining ones away, and gave him a watery smile.
"I don't know. Why don't we skip for it? Your stone skips the most and I'll give you a chance, my stone skips the furthest and I'll decide what I want." She said, raising a challenging eyebrow.
"You're on!" They both picked a stone that suited them, and when they were ready, the skipped their rocks. Jason, true to form, won, and his smile was radiant in triumph.
"Looks like I win Rey." His smile grew wider, but then he became serious. "But I'm not forcing you to do something you don't want to do." He asserted.
"Kiss me you idiot."
She didn't have to tell him twice.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed this story! Please leave a review, and I always accept requests! I love them! It can be for a one shot, or a full story, and I don't mind writing for any pairing. If you would like me to write something for a different fandom, I would definitely be up for it, if I know the fandom, and apologies if I don't! Even if I don't, I can try some stuff out! Please let me know what you think, and if you're interested, check out my Leyna (Leo and Reyna) one shot! Much Love!