Author's Note
I'm so sorry it's nearly been two months since I've last updated. I'm really, really sorry. I'm writing on this story as carefully as possible because I've had this plot in my head for what? Two years all ready? If anything, I want to do this right. Thanks so much for the support. It's crazy. I just smile like an idiot every time I open my mail.

You guys are so generous it hurts. I hope you'd enjoy this chapter, and no one's really out of character! Thank you so much for reading and showing your appreciation. If it's possible to give you guys a hug, then I would.

Thank you so much! Have fun reading! :) This is short, but I promise the upcoming chapter will be longer

II

but a cycle to be broken

California is sunny whereas New York is… New York.

For the years Jason has known Percy, he realizes the son of Poseidon probably got his attitude from the city where he was raised by his mother – something Jason envied so much. His mother chose to trade him instead; he grew up inside the quarters of CampJupiter and New Rome. Being surrounded by purely civilized mortals is something he had to adapt during his first year of stay outside CampHalf-Blood, just a year after the Giant War.

Shortly after the war had ended, he tried to get back on his feet along with the other demigod survivors. Enrolling on a boarding school, which was just a two-hour drive away from camp, things sort of went back to normal. Of course, there's the problem they had faced when it came to hiding their lineage, and fighting off the monsters.

But things did start to get better.

Being with Piper and Leo almost seems like an escape route. It's just so – it's just so easy, too easy even, to be with them. They're so warm and caring and supporting. Piper with her kisses and hugs and the right way she seems to say every single thing and Leo with the companionship and brotherhood he and Jason seem to share – it was almost like Elysium, so different from the way things were when he lived in CampJupiter.

Maybe, in another time, he'd chosen to stay there, but during that time… he knew it wasn't the proper choice. California brought too much memories he didn't want. What Juno, what Hera – whatever form she took then – did was the escape he knew he needed. Getting the reset, restart button was the best present he ever got.

Well, of course, that excluded meeting Thalia.

And while he was sorry for leaving his friends behind – Reyna, Dakota, Bobby, Gwen, Hazel – he knew, he just knew, whatever stayed between them-the chemistry!-was now gone. Their confidante was the old Jason, the one overshadowed by his father, by whatever his name brought. Jason 2.0 is the Jason Camp Half-Blood brought out of his old shell – the best kind.

So it didn't matter when one day, years later, he finds himself waking up in a pool of coldcoldcold sweat, terrified by the images of the death of his friends across the country. No, it didn't bother him one bit.

Not at all.

"Hey," Piper greets, leaning over the table to give him a small peck.

Standing beside the table he has reserved in the small diner across the firm Piper is currently working on. Grinning, he takes her cardigan and allows her to sit on the comfortable chair across the table. Kaleidoscope eyes stare a little shyly at him while wisps of chocolate hair fall out of the bun she undoubtedly placed messily.

Her Aphrodite side, the part she tries so hard to conceal, shows through the stylish clothes she has chosen. Obviously, one of her siblings – Lacey probably, went through her wardrobe. Again.

"I missed you this morning." She smiles sweetly as she looks up at him after ordering a plate of their specialty – pasta and some Greek salad. "You didn't tell me you were leaving earlier than usual."

A part of Jason somehow feels a little hazy, like how magic usually works – seeping through his veins without him knowing, almost consuming his entire being. Somehow, he wants to please her. Not that it matters, Piper deserves it more than anyone else. With the love and acceptance she has showered him with… he doubts he's going to be sane after all those challenges without her as a support.

"Sorry," he says, feeling bad.

Twirling his fork with his right hand, he lets himself relax. "I didn't want to wake you up, actually. You look like you're so sound asleep…" Pausing, he lets himself pause a little and breathe. "Besides, Annabeth called earlier. She said she wants to meet with us later tonight for some dinner or something like that."

Piper's smile is dazzling, and that sort of makes him feel better.

"Really?" Excitement is seeping on her tone, making him feel a little lightheaded – that good type of lightheaded where all he wants to do is dance across the sky, granted his father is the Lord of the Skies. "It's been a while since we've seen her and Percy. I haven't even had the time to talk to Hazel too."

Her smile falters a little, and he sort of finds her vulnerability cute, unlike –

"Anyway," Piper chirps happily, "where did they say we'd meet up later?"

"Just somewhere near Marianna's," Jason replies, referring to their favorite restaurant. "Although of course, it'd be a place with no seafood. You know how he nearly used Riptide when we ate a crab."

The memory Percy upset nearly makes Jason shiver every time. It's a wonder how monsters who happen to come across the son of Poseidon even live.

Piper laughed lightheartedly along with him, remembering it too. A part of Jason can't stop smiling as he thought of how lucky he is to have Piper be there for him nearly always. Her trust is so refreshing, sometimes, he expects it to hurt.

But of course, it doesn't. It'd never.

"And well, actually," Jason says, suddenly nervous as he plays with hem of his shirt nervously at the thought of the subject he's been trying to get his mind off for the past few days. He clears his throat and prays to his father to give him enough courage to continue. "And I was thinking these past few days…"

Piper's eyes seem to brighten.

"…you know," Jason murmurs, "I was thinking maybe, it'd be nice if… well, Gwen, Dakota, and a few of my friends from" – he stops himself and tries to find a word to replace home, which is threatening to escape from his mouth earlier – "Camp Jupiter are coming over for summer. They'd spend a couple of days here. Actually, Gwen called me to give me a heads-up…"

Not that Bobby and Dakota would've done that. Jason's relationship with them is wounded beyond – way beyond – repair that it hurts for him to remember.

Piper's smile slips.

"It's just for a couple of days…" she says, her voice drifting off. Her smile is strained. "Whatever makes you happy makes me happy, Jason. Of course, it's fine."

No, it's not.

Immediately, Jason's face falls.

The happy music around them dims a little; in fact, the only thing that seems to snap him back to reality is the sound of the waiter bringing their food to the table, smitten by Piper's beauty.

"They don't have to meet with us," Jason says hurriedly. "I can just tell them we're both busy. I'm sure they wouldn't mind that."They'd probably be delighted, he thinks bitterly.

Piper shakes her head.

"No, no, it's fine, Jason," she assures him.

Her eyes land on her untouched food hesitantly as she takes the fork neatly placed on top of the table napkin with her left hand. "I'd love to meet them." Then she clears her throat and gazes at him, almost expectantly – and oh gods, he's going crazy.

Blue, brown, purple, green, dark brown, black, black, grey, dark brown, black.

Then she swallows. "Will… everyone come here?" she asks almost carefully.

And everything makes sense, at least to Jason – why Piper seems so guarded at the mention of his past life, why she stiffens at the mention of his old friends, why her smiles drop the slightest bit, why insecurities seem to flood her features when even the name of Reyna is hinted, why she seems to change.

Suddenly, his mind snaps, and it registers the message so carefully hidden behind her words: will she be there?

"No," Jason says, his mouth suddenly dry at the mention of the former praetor. How long ago is it since he saw her at the Garden of Bacchus, not long before she resigned and left her post empty? "They haven't heard from her," he continues, shaking his head while trying to look apathetic. "Not since she left, at least. Gwen says even Hylla doesn't know where she's off to."

After Reyna left the legion a year after the Giant War, it's no secret CampJupiter had a harder time getting on its feet. Of course, everyone was trained to be perfect soldiers, but none of them expected the loss of a leader that single-handedly led them to two battles. Apparently, Reyna Arellano's resignation – though it's been approved by the Senate and the Elders – had taken a toll greater than any of them had anticipated.

"Oh."

Jason tries not to squirm. Piper tries not to bring the subject up again, but he can tell she's more relaxed now. But why?, his mind screams. There's nothing for her to be scared about because he's not going to leave her for them. Never. She's his life now. Nothing, not even the gods could change that.

The afternoon is silent as it went by.

For the rest of the week, Jason moves as if he's been doing the same routine for the past months. Everything's going great. Apparently, being a lawyer is something that comes naturally to him. He's smart, charming, and has a way with words even the ones older than him had taken to notice. Within a year, they had said after his first case, people would be begging for him.

This normal life – it's nice, refreshing too, especially him.

Their meeting with Annabeth and Percy has been postponed, seeing there's some dolphin saving that has to be done, and Percy's one of the rescuers. From the phone call, Jason could tell Annabeth was trying not to roll her eyes at Percy who's laughing. He couldn't blame her. While being a marine biologist means being close to the ocean, it's only now does he know that it also includes going to the beach to actually save marine animals.

"He wants to be a marine biologist," Annabeth said proudly once Percy had decided on his course, a few years ago. "Who knew Percy Jackson, of all people, would choose to be a biologist."

Then again, Percy is so into saving lives, Jason can't imagine him doing anything else – even if he's saving animals this time.

"Just tell us when you guys are available, then," Jason says, nodding along as he files the documents neatly on the shelf beside him inside his office. Who knew filing paperwork at the Principia is a useful skill?

He falls into an easy pattern. Sleep at his apartment, greet Piper good morning after making breakfast, phone Leo who's busy with his own thing, go to the firm, eat lunch with Piper, talk to his friends at work, solve a few cases, go back home. Then the cycle would begin again.

Occasionally, with the arrival of his Roman friends coming closer, he feels himself a little queasy, excited even. When he's with others, Piper especially – he doesn't want to upset her further – he'll hide these feelings underneath him. He'll act like the Jason they expect them to be – good boyfriend to Piper, perfect office mate and lawyer for his co-workers.

But when he's alone – gods, it changes him so differently that it drives him crazy.

All he can feel is sunshine and the sweet scent of the ocean. Dakota's jokes reverberate through his mind; Gwen's warmth makes him all fuzzy inside. Bobby's jibes are almost as insufferable as Dakota's. And Reyna – even if she's not there, even if she's probably dead (though he so doubts that), even if she's nowhere to be found – and Reyna, she's just like the anchor grounding him steady.

Which sort of makes him more insane that he thinks he is.

They're not there, yet it's as if they are. They're nothing but shadows of his past – long abandoned and gone. They're nothing but cold stones left when winter's kiss passed by. They're not part of his life anymore. The pieces they left are all ready occupied by the people he met these past eight years, the wonderful people who just wants him to be happy and free. Yes, free – something he never felt when he was ho – at California.

Whatever, Jason tells himself as he pushes the thoughts away. These are fragments of the past. He's not going to come back to that. He has come a long way, made new friends at camp, felt home inside his cabin. He's contented with Piper, Leo, Nico, Annabeth, Percy, Percy's mom – Sally, Chiron, Grover, Coach Hedge, Travis, Connor, Will, Jake, Nyssa, and everyone else, even Mr. Burton, the annoying client he has who's too proud to admit he has nearly around twenty children with three different wives.

Jason Grace? He swallows and reminds himself why he's here, in Piper's arms, filled and surrounded with love, respect, and acceptance the people around him has to offer.

He's happy. He's happy. He's happy.

With that, he walks off as the cycle starts again, trying to write off the strange emptiness he feels inside.

to be continued.