Disclaimer-I do NOT own any of these characters, they belong to Rick Riordan. I have simply used them here for entertainment purposes only. I do NOT plagiarize- neither from the author, nor from any other person. I do NOT read others' fanfiction at all; so if you see any resemblance, please note that it is PURELY COINCIDENTAL. Anyway, I hope you guys like what you're about to read! Love y'all, rock on!

- fangirl2906

Reyna and Nico – The Aftermath

Chapter 1

Reyna walked down the streets of New Rome, a cup of hot chocolate in hand, trying (in vain) to forget Aphrodite's words. "You will not find love where you wish or where you hope. No demigod shall heal your heart…" Now that the whole Gaia threat was over, and everything had settled down (for now, anyway); she could afford to think in peace. But no matter how much she tried, the words kept swirling around in her head.

She reached her favorite place at Camp Jupiter - the Garden of Bacchus. It was one place she could think in peace. And she did-had to do- a lot of thinking. Reyna took her place at her usual spot and let out a deep breath. All this constant worrying made her feel internally restless. She tried to remember the last time she'd been able to just relax and let go; but she couldn't. Not when you were the praetor of the Roman civilization, of a culture that had existed for centuries. She wasn't alone in her praetoring duties, though.

She (well, Jason, but the Senate had cast a full vote in favor of that decision later) had appointed Frank Zhang of the Fifth Cohort as co-praetor recently, in the midst of the giant war. She had her reasons for it. First thing, Frank was a good person at heart, true to his Roman blood, and to himself. The guy was utterly incapable of scheming. She probably wouldn't have picked him at first, but he seemed to have grown more confident(and powerful) lately. All this for New Rome and her camp- they needed a second praetor. And for a less noble reason, Reyna was quite relieved to have someone share the duties of being a praetor with her. Being praetor was lonely, which only made the job more difficult than it already was.

She sipped her chocolate, so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't see the person who had soundlessly materialized from the shadows. When he became fully visible, Reyna finally noticed him. She jumped, even though she'd know that particular demigod's pale complexion, gothic clothes and dark, intense eyes anywhere.

It was Nico di Angelo.

"Hey." he said, giving her a half smile.

"Hey." Reyna replied, still a little shaken. She usually never let her guard down so easily, but she'd been completely preoccupied with the issues she had to deal with. "What are you doing here?" Reyna knew Nico oscillated between the Roman and Greek camps, and she also knew that he was staying over the weekend; but she'd had no idea that he'd be here. She had hoped to spend some time alone by herself(she was usually alone, but this time she wanted some peace along with her loneliness).

"I've been here a couple of times. It's one place I can think." Nico answered.

Reyna smiled. That was exactly what she'd thought, just a few moments ago. Add that to the long list of things she and the son of Hades had in common.

"Me too. How are things at Camp Half-Blood?"

"They're fine." He smiled. Nico smiled more often these days. Maybe he was finally coming out of his shell.

Reyna sat back down and patted the area next to Nico. He plopped down beside her, and they talked. About their day, about the camps, about their sisters. Reyna marveled at how much her relationship with Nico had changed. In the beginning, she felt uneasy being around him; but ever since the giant war, she realized that they had more in common than they both thought.

Whatever bond of trust and/or friendship had developed between Reyna and Nico, it seemed to have progressed so far. They talked more often whenever he visited; they even walked around camp together, with cups of hot chocolate. (Who knew it was his favorite drink, too?) Nico was a good listener, and he was really easy to talk to.

"...and then Mr.D said Percy's name right", Nico was telling her stories of Camp Half-Blood's director, the Greek wine-god Dionysus. Reyna glanced at the statue of Bacchus, hardly believing that it was of the same deity as 'Mr.D'. She laughed(a rarity), but stopped when she looked around and saw that the sun had already set, and stars polka-dotted the night sky, twinkling brightly.

"We'd better get going. It's late." Nico was on his feet.

They walked back to the Via Principalis, where they said goodnight. Reyna pulled Nico in for a hug; she no longer hesitated about that. Neither did he.

Fifteen minutes later, Reyna flopped onto her bed, and exhaled contentedly. Talking to Nico was always comforting, but as soon as he left, she would be bombarded with sadness. Thinking about Venus's words again, she fell into her usual troubled sleep.