A/N: My experience with Percy Jackson fanfic writing is limited to Percabeth only, and plus that was just a one-shot. I shipped Leyna, just for the sake of pairing Leo. And when Caleo came along, I was just a tiniest bit of disappointed. Which was a lot. So I started reading Leyna fanfics in my spare time. And voila, then I started plotting one.

Admittedly, it has been a long time since I read the first four books and the details are a bit hazy. So, forgive me for the minor mistakes.

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In any order you prefer.

Prologue

She was used to being called a cold bitch, or as many referred to as emotionless, ruthless, hard-heartened and the like. She did not have many friends, she hardly had any, and it was all fine with her.

She knew that showing your emotions makes you vulnerable, which makes you prone to getting hurt. She was good at her job of a preator, but at nineteen she knew it was time to retire and give others a chance. She could have always been a legionnaire or part of the New Rome in some way or the other.

She had always imagined her life in New Rome, but now she felt a bit bound by the beautiful and wonderful city.

She wanted to explore, wanted life outside of it.

But if she was being honest to herself, Reyna was just afraid that she would be useless in New Rome after retiring from her position as Praetor.

She knew Hazel would do a wonderful job, alongside of Frank and she needed to step back to let them have their shots.

Another thing she found herself of doing when she was in New Rome, she couldn't help but voice her opinion or demand some changes. So, she did what she found imperative.

She packed her bags and decided to leave for a bigger adventure, namely, college.

It had earned scattered responses from the people she knew and considered her allies, ahem, friends.

But most of them were shocked and surprised.

Shaking her head, she entered her Common English class.

Adjusting to ADHD was difficult but not impossible, especially, if one puts their mind to it. And Reyna had never been the one to back out. The monster attacks were a considerable low since Gaea's defeat and

Admittedly, she had taken English Literature as her major, which was considered as one of the easy ones, but she was looking forward to enjoy the subject.

It was her first day after all, and she had no idea how she was going to feel about the subject.

There's always an option for change, she wondered, but even then she knew that there was no way she was going to give up on a challenge, be it a quest or college.

Of course, she could not be assigned anymore quests, as she was practically an adult, unless, there was a prophecy involving her.

A part of Reyna wanted action, but the other part was perfectly fine with the monotonous life she was to be entering.

Reyna seated herself on the first row.

The room, was painted a shade of light blue, with a white board in front and a chair and desk for professor.

Typical university classroom, she surmised, and flipped open the prescribed textbook.

An Anthology of Short Stories.

She had just made out the title when a voice she hadn't been expecting to hear said, "Praetor Reyna?"

Leo Valdez.

She found herself amazed that she recognized his voice.

Admittedly, she had wanted to kill him the moment he destroyed her city. It was hell of a job to build it back.

"Not a praetor anymore," She found herself saying and she pursed her lips.

Last she had heard, Leo Valdez had left in search of Ogygia, to find Calypso. The girl he loved. He had been gone for good.

Reyna had been envious of Calypso that she gained a loyal and true love like that. And admired Valdez for his determination and devotion.

That had been the end of Reyna's thoughts on the matter.

She had heard nothing further, still a bit miffed at the fact that Jason Grace appeared in New Rome with a new girlfriend on his arm.

She didn't dwell on it much though. Thinking about what ifs, were apparent waste of time. And she didn't bother with them, much.

Leo Valdez, took her reply as an invitation to sit beside her. She rolled her shoulders at that. After the war, only a few people held the Rome and Greek prejudice, Reyna wasn't one of them.

She had been helped a lot by Greeks to save her home, her camp. With the help of Nico she had returned the Athena Parthenos, successfully ending the age old rivalry. And she had to thank Athena's daughter, Annabeth, about whom she had been considerably prejudiced of.

Valdez looked much more mature, had a light stubble on his cheek, his ears were still elfin but not that prominent. He still had an impish expression but it was obvious something had changed.

Curiosity got better of Reyna as she looked at the son of Vulcan and asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Studying, Reyna," He smiled, the dimpled smile making an appearance. Surprisingly, Reyna noticed that his smile didn't quite reach his eyes, and they appeared murky instead of the twinkling she had seen previously.

Of course, Reyna had found the never-ending optimism a bit annoying, but somehow, she missed it. Maybe, she was looking for familiarity.

She had felt extremely lonely the past week in her new town.

"I meant-," Reyna began but was soon cut off by Leo.

"Don't sweat, Lady Praetor," He smiled, but this one was rueful. "You don't always get what you want."

Reyna knew that this had nothing to do with the Rolling Stone song, but she found herself saying, "But if you try hard enough, you might just get what you need."

For a moment Leo Valdez stared at her, as her cheeks turned progressively redder.

Then he laughed and his eyes twinkled.

"This is going to be interesting," He said to himself and Reyne rolled her eyes.

She glanced at him and questions bubbled within her. He seemed like a mystery and she wanted to solve it.

Her mind echoed his words.

This is definitely going to be interesting.