Oh my God, I updated! Okay, okay, I realize I owe you all an explanation, and I'm probably gonna get a lot of flames for being gone so long, but this is what I've got: When I finally got my laptop back, It was spring break. Now, I went to Florida, where wifi was nonexistent. When I finally did come back to the land of the 21st century, Percy Jackson (and writing) was just not really my muse. Seriously, I somehow not only got into drawing, but I actually kind of have a talent for it. However, i finally kicked my butt into gear and wrote this chapter for you guys.

Again, I'm really sorry. I'll get started on the next chapter ASAP, which will include that Jason/Thalia moment you've all been waiting for. Any requests on how I do it?

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Heroes of Olympus.

Piper had always enjoyed the strawberry fields at Camp Halfblood. They always held a certain air of peace that couldn't be found at, say, the arena. It might be the lack of swords, taunting, and Stoll brothers that made the peaceful environment of that the strawberry fields held… or maybe it was just the smell of strawberries in the air, but Piper was pretty sure it was the latter reasons.

As Piper looked around, she spotted Katie Gardner, daughter of Demeter, faithfully working away on the strawberry plants. She seemed to be humming quietly to herself, but Piper wasn't fooled. The girl had some lungs, a fact that Piper only knew because Katie used them on a regular basis to yell at Travis Stoll (not that Piper could really blame Katie; Travis was never up to any good, especially when the daughter of Demeter was concerned).

Walking up to the Katie, Piper asked, "Need some help?"

Gardening looked pretty interesting, and the daughter of Demeter did look like she could use a hand. Katie looked up and her, and Piper smiled.

"No thanks, but you can stay." The brunette replied cheerfully. She really is a whole new person whist amidst in her element, Piper mused to herself. Katie looked totally at peace, and there seemed to be a certain spark in her eye. It reminded Piper of the first time she saw Jason fly. He had looked terrified and surprised, yet totally at peace, like he was exactly where he should be.

After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Piper was struck with an idea. Katie would be as good as person as any to ask, and she'd probably be a bit more informative than Nico was…

"Hey Katie?" Piper asked.

"Yes?" she replied, not fully paying attention. The girl was completely focused on the little plant in front of her, her hands moving with sure and steady movements.

"If you had one word to describe Percy Jackson, what would it be?" the daughter of Aphrodite questioned, her voice betraying her curiosity.

The question caught the other girl off guard. Katie had dropped her tools and promptly sat up, forgetting the strawberry plant she was currently working on.

The brunette seemed lost in thought for a while, and Piper wasn't very keen on interrupting her. Her face was a quicksilver of emotions: sadness, happiness, annoyance, and finally sadness again. Apparently, Katie was one of Percy's closer friends. Finally, Katie said, "Brave."

"Brave," after hearing all the things Percy had done for Camp Halfblood, especially since half of them involved a good chance of not coming back alive; it wasn't hard for Piper to imagine. Still, when Piper thought of brave, the first person who came to her mind was Jason. "I can imagine…"

"When the camp is in trouble," Katie started explaining without prompting, "He just steps up, becomes a different person. Percy goes from that goofy kid who sometimes says something funny… to a leader.

"He takes control and he doesn't show if he's afraid or if he thinks we can't do it, he's brave. He'll be the first one to charge an enemy, no questions asked. If he's afraid of the enemy, I'd never know."

"Reminds me of Jason…" Piper said absentmindedly, mainly to herself, but Katie heard her.

"Yeah, they're certainly two similar people. It'll be interesting to see how they react to each other, both being two dominate people."

'What do you mean?" If what Grover had told her was true, Percy didn't necessarily like being a leader, so why would he clash with Jason?

"Percy doesn't like doing what he's told, especially if he doesn't agree with it. Well, scratch that, if Percy doesn't agree with it, he won't fight for it. And as I'm sure you know, Percy is a very defiant person. If he thinks something can be done a better way, whether he's right or not, that's the way he'll do it.

"Percy didn't necessarily want to be a leader, but he stepped to it and he does it good. And I doubt he'd be very used to following someone else, if per say, Jason decides he'll be leading the quest to Greece."

"Oh!" Piper said, realization dawning her, "Jason's the same way. If Percy suspects he'll be leading the quest, Jason wouldn't follow him very willingly, especially being a son of Zeus… er, Jupiter."

"Exactly. It just like with Thalia and Percy. They went on a quest together, and fought most of the way. They're too similar, both reckless and loyal."

An awkward silence settled over the two, as they both realized this wasn't just something to talk about. 7 very different people were going to go on an unlikely quest to try and save the world. There were chances they wouldn't get along, and possibly just end up killing each other in the end.

Finally, Piper drawled, "So…brave…"

"Yeah," Katie sighed, "he's just… he'll be the first person to volunteer for a dangerous quest, no matter the risk. He's brave almost to the point of recklessness."

"Scary combination." commented Piper.

"No kidding." Katie sounded exasperated… Percy must've proved what a dangerous combination it really was on more than one occasion.

Eventually, the conch horn sounded for lunch. The two got up, and headed for the dining pavilion, the apprehension for before never leaving the two. Because there were 7 very different people leading a quest to save the word, and it was quite possible they'd fail. And Piper was one of them.

I addressed a pretty important issue in this chapter. The 7 people going on the quest are all really different and probably won't get along very well at first. It was a little less about Percy I guess, sorry. ): You probably all hate me.

Anyways, like already stated, the Jason/Thalia chapter is next. If you have any requests (or plan on chewing me out), leave it in a review. As for Kitchen Duty And Reactions, I plan on finishing both of those once this fanfiction is done, so hopefully soon. By the way, this fanfiction will have 14 chapters, the last of which is already written. Once I finish all of these, I'll be taking a break from the Percy Jackson fandom for a while, but feel free to follow me where I do go. But don't worry, I'll be back.

Bye, hope to see you soon.