The ship landed outside the Pomerian line, and the Romans were waiting.
Annabeth stood in front with Jason. The toga fit oddly; she couldn't help flexing her bare arm, feeling like something had slid off of it, and the praetor's cape draped around her shoulders still felt wrong, like she wasn't right for this position. Jason had explained that Reyna was a daughter of Bellona, and Annabeth knew now that she was fully Greek – a child of Athena, not Minerva. This cape belonged on Reyna's shoulders, not Annabeth's, she knew. But she also knew: better herself than Octavian, so she hadn't protested when they'd hoisted her up on that shield.
Next to her, Jason was rigid. "You okay?" she whispered to him.
"I'm fine," he said, as though trying to convince himself more than her.
She reached down, fumbling aside layers of cloth to squeeze his hand. "It'll be okay," she promised, though she had no idea. Next second, though, she was letting go of him and freezing up herself, because they were disembarking.
Percy was first, and seeing him for real was like a punch to the gut. Annabeth's breath whooshed out of her; she didn't double over, but she did lurch a little. Jason looked over at her, and for a moment their eyes met with perfect understanding, especially when Reyna followed closely behind him, with two others that Annabeth didn't recognize bringing up the rear. The four of them spread out, standing in a line across from the Roman group. They were close enough to speak, but the distance between Roman and Greek was obvious. And too much.
For a moment, no one spoke. Annabeth's eyes locked onto Percy's. He offered her a smile – tentative, hopeful. The smile she'd remembered when almost nothing else was left to her.
"Reyna," Jason started, voice clipped, the need to be formal obviously costing him. "My former colleague," and Annabeth was running.
She and Percy collided at a point about equidistant between the Greeks and the Romans, slamming so hard into each other that they would have bounced apart if they hadn't clung so tightly together. She held him hard, hands gathering fistfuls of his Camp Half-Blood shirt, and pressed her cheek against his. His body was warm against hers, and he smelled like the sea. "Seaweed Brain," she whispered.
He laughed – a choked, half-laugh of disbelief. When he pulled back – still holding her shoulders – she could see that his eyes were too bright. "You remember."
She managed to scoff past the lump rising in her own throat. "Of course I remember."
Now he frowned at her, his hands sliding down her arms to grab her wrists and twist them behind her back, pulling her into a tight hold. There were yells on the Roman side; she could see some of them starting to rush forward, but Jason called out, "Hold! Stand down!"
"Don't ever leave like that again, okay?" Percy sounded angry, but she could hear the edge behind his voice. Worry. Relief. A relaxing of something that had been tight for far too long.
And the same thing happened to her. She laughed, and his hold relaxed as well. "I don't plan on it," she said, twisting out of his grip to lay her arms over his shoulders again. "I missed you, too."
He was leaning closer, she was mimicking his movements, his eyes were half-closed – and the sound of a throat clearing interrupted them. Everything rushed back in, and Annabeth realized where they were and what was going on. She pulled back from Percy just a bit, but he grabbed her hand before she could pull away and held on tight – as did she. She wasn't letting him go again.
They still stood in the middle of no-man's land between the Greeks and Romans, but Percy gestured the other Greeks forward, and Reyna led them, looking around. There was a sparkle in her eyes, like she was glad to be home, and Annabeth understood that with the jealousy of one who hadn't seen her own home in months. "After that introduction," Reyna said dryly.
But then Jason laughed, and moved forward to Annabeth's level. "Welcome home, Reyna," he said, reaching out to shake her hand. "It's good to see you again."
"And you," she responded, holding on for a little too long. "Romans, this is Percy Jackson, who" – She paused. "I would say he doesn't normally act like that, but I suspect opening with a lie would be a poor start to camp relations."
"Hey!" Percy protested, and Annabeth laughed, reaching out with her free hand to shake Reyna's. She liked her already – had liked her since she'd found out who she was.
Reyna gripped her hand firmly, eyes flicking to the cape on Annabeth's shoulders with a mixture of jealousy and approval. "Annabeth Chase, I assume?" she said. "And this is Piper McLean" – The other girl – Annabeth didn't know her, which meant she must have been new to camp – waved – "And Leo Valdez." The boy flashed a peace sign.
"Well," Jason said from beside Annabeth, "it looks like we have a lot to talk about." He glanced around. "Let's set up a feast, so we don't have to do it on empty stomachs."
"Excuse me?"
Annabeth sighed. She'd been wondering when Octavian would speak up. Now he was looking incredulously at Jason. "With all due respect" – he put a heavy emphasis on the due – "you're just going to let them in? The Greeks – our enemies for millennia – who came on a warship to attack us? You're going to treat them as friends?"
Jason sighed. "The Greeks have come in peace, and they've brought our missing praetor back with them," he said. "And we're not letting them into the city. We'll eat here, in the forum."
"Shouldn't you be sacrificing to the gods, anyway?" asked Annabeth. "In thanks for Reyna's safe return? I know you were very concerned about how New Rome was running without her."
Both Jason and Reyna turned to stare at Annabeth – Jason grinning, Reyna with a surprised look of what seemed to be respect. "Good idea," said Jason. "We'll set up the feast here, and you can join us when you finish."
Octavian glared at them, but there was nothing he could do. He turned and trudged off in the direction of the temples.
"Thanks, Annabeth," Jason said.
"Yeah," Percy echoed. "Uh, since when did you start wearing bedsheets?"
"It's a toga," Reyna answered, before Annabeth could. "They raised her to praetor." She met Annabeth's eyes, and before Annabeth could even steel herself, she said, "Thank you."
Annabeth blinked. "For stealing your job?"
"For – covering my shift, if you will," Reyna said. "For being made praetor before Octavian could usurp the position – I assume he wanted to?" The last bit was directed towards Jason; he laughed again and finally reached out to draw Reyna into a hug.
She froze for a moment before responding. "Not very formal of you, Praetor Grace."
"You were always better with the formality than I was," he said easily. Then, quieter, and Annabeth felt like she was intruding, "I missed you."
After a moment, Reyna's eyes closed, and she rested her head on Jason's shoulder. "I missed you, too."
Again, slightly J/R-flavored. Also, I have no idea when I'll update again, because I seem to have lost a great deal of inspiration (which I did predict would happen), so this might be the accidental end of this story. I might come back, but no promises. I hope you've enjoyed, in any case.
