I watched Jason try to command the attention of our troops like he once had, and it was still all there.
His silky voice. His good looks. And his message.
But it didn't feel right.
It felt untrustworthy, and Romans didn't like untrustworthy.
He had been with the enemy so long, and he had admitted that he lost his memory. For all we knew, this could be his plan. He could have been brainwashed by the Greeks and used as a pawn for their big attack on us. And, already vulnerable, we couldn't take the chance.
Even if we had missed him.
Percy had already tried, too, but seeing him kiss a Greek didn't help.
I was the only one left…
And Jason was stumbling.
I noticed that the weapons were still poised to fire and that they were mainly pointing at Jason.
I hadn't seen Jason in a long time, and he didn't seem to remember anything about us, which hurt the most. But, at least in memory of the Jason Grace I had known, I couldn't let him get killed, especially not by his own design.
And deep down, I believed him…
Or maybe I just missed him…
As Jason took a step back, standing by me, it was still clear that no one was ready to take their word for it.
I felt sick as I took another step up, shocking everyone.
"What say you, Reyna?" one of my head generals called out, and I had to force myself not to lean back on Jason and have him help me through this.
He had always been the eloquent one…
"I say we trust them."
Everyone's eyes widened, and they all began to scream out in revolt.
"But they're Greek!"
"He's been kidnapped by them!"
"He's been brainwashed!"
"Your romantic feelings can't get us killed, Reyna!"
Everyone else screamed, but my eyes stayed locked on the man who screamed that.
Romantic feelings.
I had always loved Jason. He was… Jason.
I loved the way he could go from the best babysitter in the world to the best solider. I loved how he crinkled his nose when he laughed. I loved the way his voice got softer as he told me about how his only memory of his mother was watching her scream at his older sister violently about nothing. I loved the way he teased me about borrowing his hats and shirts but never took them back and smiled when he saw me in them.
But nothing had ever been romantic.
Nothing had to be.
We had the best of both sides. When I needed someone to hang out with on a Friday night while everyone else was on a date, Jason was always there. And we never had to worry about the dating drama.
I still remembered worrying that I liked Jason because I always got so jealous when I saw him with Suzie, the Venus girl he had sort of been dating. But, when Suzie and Jason fizzled out, everything was okay again.
Another wave of missing Jason hit me hard.
But he was right beside me…
And he didn't remember.
He didn't remember the time we ran away to Malibu for a week and used the money he had collected after his mother died and left him everything to rent a house by the beach. He didn't remember how we used to order coconut cake at restaurants because I would eat the cake and he would eat the coconut. He didn't remember the small things we did either…
He wasn't my Jason…
"This is Jason!" I screamed.
Everyone's jaw dropped.
I never lost my cool.
"Not only was he our best solider, he was our friend. He was here with us," I motioned towards the city, "He went to school in our classes. He babysit our children. He came to the Christmas parties and sang all the songs in his horrible voice. He ruled this city. And he was here for us."
I felt like I was about to cry.
Some people softened, but the others stayed still, resolute not to trust him.
"I put myself on the line."
Everyone gasped, but I could hear Jason the loudest.
At least he remembered something…
But I had done the right thing.
Everyone roared their approval, and I couldn't look at Jason as Percy finished everything up.
Even without the girl on his arm, trying to comfort him, I wouldn't have been able to look at him.
How could he be the same and yet so different?
"To the senate," Percy told us as the crowd began to disperse, but I was already gone.
Sitting on the hill that overlooked the city, Reyna finally felt serene, something that didn't happen very much. She wrapped herself up tighter in her black wool sweater, and she closed her eyes as she imagined that she was back in Circe's palace, tanning by the beach and reading all those books on battle.
Reyna hadn't been used to being cold before she moved here, but she had been in this Camp long enough to be used to it. As she sipped at the hot chocolate, she let the heat warm her body, and she thought back to the first day that she had gotten to camp.
It was a cold day like this, with snow flurries here and there in the December sky, and Reyna was just a kid then. Lupa took her under her wing, or paw, and she began grooming her to one day lead. For years, Reyna had heard about her special protégé, Jason Grace, but Reyna had never taken too much interest in him. He was just another pretty boy…
"You're going to get in so much trouble for breaking curfew."
She looked up and there he was.
Gorgeous Jason Grace.
Even in the darkness, Reyna could see his golden blonde hair and his bright blue eyes.
"And what about you?"
"The tattletale is my buddy," Jason nudged her, and Reyna ignored him.
Everyone was his buddy, which only made sense when you knew him.
But it drove Reyna insane.
For months, I had wanted him back, and he was back now.
But it didn't feel right.
"Reyna."
I froze.
That was Jason.
And he was getting closer.
I wanted to run away to the senate and not have to face him, but I had just put my life on the line for him. And, if that wasn't enough, there were people watching.
He remembered the rules, I knew that. He had remembered the last resort of putting yourself on the line for someone, so he must have remembered our rules. We were Preator's first and people secretly, and that we never dared show weakness, especially not Reyna.
But by running up to me, he was basically asking for me to start crying, another thing the grand Reyna didn't do.
"I wanted to thank you," Jason told her, smiling weakly like he had when I first met him.
I could still remember the way he had been that day. Kind, sweet, adorable. I couldn't understand why Lupa had chosen him, and I made that clear. But then I saw him on a quest, and it suddenly made sense. I knew we needed him, and I worked with him to get ready for the war. But, I still saw him as that pretty boy.
And I had been wrong.
It took a while, but I found the Jason beyond those walls that I loved.
And it looked like I had to start over again, and I couldn't handle that.
"I didn't do it for you. I did it for our people," I lied, trying to seem strong in front of everyone.
Jason nodded, having seen that coming.
He must have known, right?
That I would have put my life on the line for him anyway?
He didn't seem to…
"Thank you anyway," he nodded, his fingers brushing over mine as he had to move to make way for the packages coming from the Argo II.
Jason froze.
"Are you okay, Jason?" some girl called out, coming towards us, the one who had been comforting him all day.
Pippa?
Penelope?
No… Piper? It was Piper.
Jason remained frozen, staring at me.
"He's not okay."
As I had been taught, I bowed immediately, me being the only one.
"I always loved you, Reyna," Juno smiled down at me, motioning for me to stand, "You straightened out Jason. You made him a leader. A hero."
I was about to begin on how he was that before, but Juno stopped me.
"Don't be modest! If you hadn't picked him up and turned him around, he'd still be that little pretty boy dating Suzie," Juno rolled her eyes, always having made it clear about her distain towards the girl Jason had briefly been involved with.
I had never liked Suzie either, but Juno had always been adamant about Jason staying away from those girls. And she had always made it clear that she had set me aside for his match, though Jason and I had never addressed that.
I almost expected Jason to say something, to defend the poor girl, but he was still thinking.
"Why so shocked, Darling?" Juno lifted his chin to look up at her, and his blue eyes stared into hers, trying to decide if he was angry or thankful, "It's not that shocking, Jason. You always knew that this could happen."
He gently motioned for Piper, where she couldn't see.
"You've got to make that choice, Jason, not me," she let go of his chin, and Piper stepped up.
"What's wrong with him?"
"Haven't you guessed, Darling? He remembers."
"Remembers?" Piper and I both said it at the same time.
Piper sounded questioning and scared, but I sounded hopeful.
"And now you will, too," Juno set her hand on Jason's shoulder, and I was suddenly back in time.
The Promise
Reyna worked at her desk, and she was about to fall asleep when she heard someone knock at the door.
As she stood from the living room that had been converted into a study, she thought back to how the house had been when she first moved in. Everything had been plush and Roman, with a different living room for different times of the day. Reyna had wanted to keep it that way, but things had changed.
She had one living room now, the one now with the new electronics her budget had allowed. The morning living room with the big windows and soft carpet had been turned into an office for the busy girl, and the last living room was now a gym. The living rooms had always been the focal points of the house, and Reyna felt a little guilty sometimes for not keeping it like that. There was a long room that served as three. Her kitchen in the back, a small dining room in the middle and then her living room.
The only room that remained as plush and serene as when she first unpacked was her bedroom upstairs, which was modeled like a loft and looked out to the beautiful mountains.
As Reyna hurried through the house, she began to wonder who would be seeing her at an hour like this. Reyna had friends, yes, but none of them would come to see her after a certain hour, when they were all off to sleep for their early morning training.
Reyna froze as she opened the door.
Jason Grace.
Her co-leader.
Well, soon to be.
He wasn't voted in yet, but everyone knew he would be.
Lupa herself had supported him, and no one went against Lupa, especially not Reyna. After Hylla was off to the Amazons, Lupa took care of Reyna. So, despite how much she didn't want to, she accepted Lupa's orders to train Jason for leadership.
It wasn't hard, she would give him that credit.
But Reyna still saw him as that pretty boy.
Jason tried not to stare at Reyna like he wanted to.
Though they were almost exactly the same, he still saw her as on another level, a level he wanted to be on.
He had always admired Reyna, and he had been crushed when Reyna didn't return the sentiments. He wanted to prove himself to her, but he wasn't sure how. He would get close, but then he'd take a break and that would be the moment Reyna was watching!
"Jason?"
Her voice brought him back to the present.
"Hey, I just finished this book," he held up a book on the architecture of Rome and its defenses that he had borrowed from Reyna, "And I was wondering if you were done with the other book."
Reyna had to admit that she was a little impressed.
A little.
The other book was the War Book, as the generals called it. It had a name, but no one ever remembered it.
"Yeah, I've got it in my office," Reyna hesitantly opened the door wider for him to step in, and he did so, handing her the book before she led him through the house to her office.
As Reyna put the book he had just given her in the bookshelf, Jason got his first good look at the room.
He had only been in her house once before, when she stopped to get a pair of tennis shoes when they went on a training hike.
Something about it felt just as intimidating as the girl who lived here.
"Thanks," Jason smiled weakly as she handed him the book, and he could tell that by doing that he made a wrong move.
He couldn't seem to get it right.
Being around her made him nervous.
But he had to prove himself.
She just made it so hard…
Reyna nodded, heading towards her desk and silently telling him to leave.
"What can I do?" Jason complained, and he realized too late that he said that out loud.
Reyna looked up at him, her brown eyes wide.
"For what?"
"For you to take me seriously," Jason tried to stand his ground.
"To take you seriously?" she raised her eyebrows.
"I know you think I'm just a pretty boy, Reyna," he crossed his arms.
Reyna didn't deny it. She did think that.
She just didn't think he noticed…
"So, what do I have to do to make you stop that?"
She didn't know.
And, if she did, she wasn't even sure that she could tell him.
Jason would have to figure it out on his own.
"I'll prove it to you, you know," he told her, and Reyna had to admit that she liked his confidence.
But she wasn't sure if Jason really could.
And he wasn't sure he could either.
Jason didn't have a choice though.
It was either prove himself to her or continue on like for their entire careers together, which looked to be long.
"Good night, Reyna," Jason nodded.
"Night, Jason," Reyna kept her eyes trained on him as he left.