~PIPER~

How long had it been since they'd started falling?

Piper had lost count.

She'd heard from someone - Annabeth, probably - that the fall to Tartarus took nine days. She hoped that wasn't true; the utter absence of light was unnerving enough, more so when you factored in the eerie howling of the wind in her ears, jumbling up her thoughts into a confused ball. She'd tried talking to Leo to pass the time, but the wind ripped her words away, and he couldn't even see her mouth moving. He'd tried a few times to make a small flame to give them light, which had either almost immediately been extinguished, or grown so far out of control that it had singed a few strands of Piper's hair off. She could still taste the burnt smell lingering in her mouth, and feel Leo's and Hazel's hands clenched tightly around each of hers. They were growing numb, the tingly feeling that warned of imminent pins and needles prickling at her fingertips, but she welcomed the sensation; it let her know that she wasn't alone. Short bursts of pain still wracked her body from time to time, side effects from the disownment. In a way, she was glad for it; she had never wanted to be a demigod, much less a daughter of Aphrodite. The goddess was manipulative and cruel, her half-siblings for the most part snobbish and arrogant, with a few notable exceptions.

She squeezed her eyes tight, wishing with all her heart that all of this was just a terrible, terrible nightmare and she would wake up in her bed at the Wilderness School in the morning and laugh with Leo about it.

Flashback: Wilderness School

"Hey, Beauty Queen!"

Piper whirled around, fighting the smile that immediately came to her lips at the sound of the familiar voice, instead schooling her face into a displeased frown. "Valdez! I told you not to call me that!"

"Not my fault you're irresistibly beautiful," the elvish teen smirked, sliding a hand around her waist. She blushed, despite her best efforts, and leaned into him, internally marvelling at how he was now hers, how she'd been so lucky to find a best friend and later, boyfriend, like Leo in the hell that was the Wilderness School to weather the storm with her. Sure, he wasn't what most people would call hot, or cute, or even want to hang out with, but he was her best friend and he was Leo and Piper loved him all the same. She didn't even remember when it started; she just knew that she couldn't imagine being here without Leo. He was one of the only good things in her life right now; her dad was still ignoring her and Jane was still being a bitch. He was the one who had taught her what love felt like, not the pale imitation that she was used to receiving from her distant father.

"Shouldn't you be in class right now?" she teased as they made their way to the library. Since it was her free period, Piper was hoping to catch a few hours of sleep; she'd tossed and turned all night, unable to fall asleep, the vestiges of a dream lingering in her mind, though try as she might she couldn't decipher the fragments in her mind. A man with goat hooves. A blond boy holding her hand, his face scrunched up into a mask of confusion. She shook it off, turning to smirk at Leo.

He grinned right back, smiling that troublemaker smile she loved so much. "Nope!" he said brightly, then leaned in to whisper conspiratorially, "There was an ... ah ... accident with the projector." He leaned away, winking at her, and Piper stifled a laugh. Trust Leo to wreak havoc, again. It happened at least twice a month, though the teachers could never properly pin the blame on Leo. He was just too good. Nevertheless, they always found random excuses to give him detention here and there. Piper thought it was hilarious. She'd been Leo's partner in crime more than once, after all. It was strangely satisfying when a prank they pulled went right and nobody could find out who did it, though they all suspected, of course.

She shook her head at him playfully as they found a secluded table in the corner of the library to sit down at. Piper unslung her backpack and slumped into her chair, letting out a small sound of surprise when Leo plopped down next to her and immediately turned her face towards him to kiss her. She smiled into his lips, returning the kiss with equal fervor, and decided that sleep was overrated, anyway.

And then a boy named Jason showed up on the way to the Grand Canyon and her life fell apart.

It felt like they'd been falling for eternity when the pitch-black of their surroundings lightened somewhat, allowing Piper to catch a glimpse of Leo's face for what seemed like the first time in a few millennia. Honestly, she thought that the fall was a torture device; probably designed specifically for ADHD demigods. She looked down, surmising that the light must have been coming from somewhere, and the light-headedness returned with a vengeance as she stared at the tiny pinprick of light at the bottom of the seemingly endless abyss, steadily growing larger.

She gripped Leo's hand tighter, her heart racing in her ribcage, adrenaline pumping through her body. Without a doubt, she knew that, as taxing as the seemingly endless fall had been on her patience, Tartarus would be much, much worse.

In the dim light, she could now faintly glimpse her friends' faces: Annabeth, being held in a vice like grip by Percy, both their faces pale white, shining like stars in the all-encompassing darkness. Frank and Hazel, both looking terrified, hands entwined tightly. Hazel's eyes were squeezed shut and her lips were moving, in prayer, maybe? But it was futile, because it was, after all, the very beings they'd once prayed to who'd cast them down into this pit in the first place. Nico's face was wreathed in shadow, but Piper could still see his pupils blown wide, the sick look on his face as he stared down to the bottom of the abyss. Her heart gave a pang in sympathy.

She looked across and met the electric-blue eyes of Jason Grace, her heart twisting as it almost always did when she saw him nowadays. He offered her a trembling smile, which she returned and quickly looked away. Guilt clambered up her throat and she bit her lip, reminding herself once again that neither of them had been in the wrong. It wasn't Jason's fault that he'd been tossed haphazardly into her life and her memories, collapsing her fledgling relationship with Leo and throwing her headfirst into the world of demigods and monsters. It definitely wasn't his fault that he'd been forced into being her boyfriend by Hera's patchwork of memories, and it wasn't his fault that for nearly a year, Leo had had to watch as she and Jason kissed and held hands, knowing that she was meant to be with him but powerless to do anything about it.

When she'd finally gotten her real memories back, she'd immediately gone to Leo. She had to know if his memories had been replaced too, or if he'd had to watch as his girlfriend cheated on him with another guy, knowing that she didn't even remember doing the same thing with him, unable to do anything but watch.

Flashback:

Piper woke with a gasp, Leo's name still on her lips. She looked around wildly, noting the pink walls and the huddled forms of her siblings sleeping on their bunk beds, and sat up, putting her head in her hands, forcing her erratic heartbeat to return to normal. The taste of Leo, grease and hot sauce and something just distinctly Leo, lingered in her mouth, a flash of his lips on hers, a moan being emitted from her lips, flitting across her mind. She wrapped her hands around her knees, knowing that she wouldn't be able to sleep, yet wishing that she could go back to the dream. No, not a dream - a memory. Piper knew that now; all the flashes she'd been getting of her and Leo, holding hands in the park, sneaking kisses in the library, whispering to each other in the darkness, were memories of their time at the Wilderness School, before all of this demigodly madness, before Jason.

Jason. She felt immediately guilty, forcing herself to recall the last six months of near perfection with Jason, going on dates in New York, sitting in his cabin, watching him work on the new temples for the minor gods. But - it hadn't been perfect, had it? All this time, she'd felt like something had been missing. Something fundamentally wrong, even when she pasted a smile on her face, even when Jason kissed her like she was the only girl in the world when all she really wanted to do was push him away. She hadn't understood what was wrong with her, had thought to wait it out, that maybe it was just shock from her life being uprooted so quickly, but now she knew. Because beneath those Mist-fabricated memories that Hera had forced into her head, there was another set of memories waiting to be unearthed. Memories that whispered, Leo, Leo, Leo, even as the Mist warped it into, Jason, Jason, Jason.

How could she have done this? Even if her memories had been changed by Hera, she should still have known - should have known that her relationship with Jason was a lie, that it would never work. Should have realized what Leo was to her long ago. She imagined the pain he was in, having her so near all the time but still unreachable, and had to stifle a sob.

Without really knowing what she was doing, she flung on a T-shirt and jeans, closing the cabin door quietly behind her. She meandered her way through the woods, not even really knowing where she was going, until she reached a familiar clearing, and realized that her legs had intuitively brought her to the one place where she would be safe, where she always, always felt safe: where Leo was. His secret hideout in Camp: Bunker Nine. Her steps faltered and she almost turned around right then and there, but, as if unbidden, her fists were already raised to knock.

She was about to flee, but then the door opened, revealing Leo, covered in grease and machine oil as usual, blinking surprised eyes up at her.

"Piper?"

She smiled feebly. "Hey, Leo," she said awkwardly. She shuffled her feet, not daring to look up at him, afraid that he would ask what she was doing there. Truthfully, she didn't even know the answer to that question. She couldn't exactly say that she'd been having memories of them; what if he didn't remember, either? But she was pretty sure that he did remember; the gods delighted in torturing them, and Hera would never have passed up the opportunity to torture Leo in such a spectacular way.

To her relief, he didn't say anything more; maybe he sensed that she didn't want to talk, with that unique Leo-sense he had. In retrospect, she should've noticed long ago; he probably knew her better than she knew herself. He just opened the door and gestured for her to come in, which she did gratefully.

She watched him work for some time, her mind set at ease by the fluid motions he made as he reached for a tool or tightened a screw. As if he felt her eyes on him, he glanced back at her and smiled, and Piper's heart gave a pang. His eyes were full of affection and love, and how had she not seen it before? She was a daughter of Aphrodite, the goddess of love. How had she skipped over the tinge of sorrow, of what-could-have-beens lingering in his eyes every time he looked at her?

Impulsively, she spoke. She had to know; had to know if there was at least a small chance of saving them.

"Leo?"

"Yeah, Pipes?" He was leaning against the half-finished contraption he'd been building, all of his attention focused on her.

"I ... I think I've been getting my memories back."

A flare of interest in his eyes; he took a step closer to her, silently prompting her to keep going. Was that hope she saw in his eyes?

"After you ... disappeared ..." She swallowed back the lump in her throat. "I've been getting these ... dreams. And I only recently realized they were memories, and ... well ..." She looked up, only to see his warm brown eyes less than an inch away from hers, and warmth pooled in her stomach. She licked her suddenly dry lips, the words evaporating into thin air.

"Piper," he murmured, his voice low. She placed a hand on his chest, determined to say what she'd come here to say, even if she hadn't known precisely what it was.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, and a fountain of tears spilled down her cheeks. He reached up and tenderly brushed them away from her face, and her breath hitched. "I'm sorry, Leo, I'm so sorry, I didn't know, but I should have - and I know you'll never forgive me, but I - I love you, and -"

She was abruptly cut off by his lips sliding over hers, effectively silencing the flow of words. A sigh escaped her as she reached up to pull him closer, her arms clasping around his neck. It felt so right, like they'd done this a million times before - and they had, Piper reminded herself - and she knew she could get lost in this feeling, but there was a niggling feeling in the back of her mind ...

She let out a gasp as she pulled away from Leo. His eyes were blazing, his hair more unkempt than usual due to her running her hands through it, and he looked so breathtaking that she wanted nothing more than to delve back into the heavenly feeling of his lips on hers, but there was something she needed to take care of first.

"I'm going to break up with Jason," she said, and she saw Leo's eyes go wide in surprise, then shutter in guilt. He backed away from her, far enough that she couldn't reach for him. She longed for him to come back, but she knew that as long as there was this unfinished business between them, this was for the best.

Leo was pacing, running his hands through his hair, muttering to himself, a steady stream of words that she couldn't decipher. "Piper, I'm so sorry, I just - I lost control. You don't have to break up with Jason, it's fine -"

"No, it's not!" she cried. "Leo, I never felt that what I had with Jason was right. I always felt like it was a lie, that something was missing, and now I finally know what it is - and besides, I can't do that to Jason. I can't keep pretending and lying to him and making him think that there's something there, but there's not. He deserves better. I deserve better! And," she gulped, forcing the words out. "I've been cheating on you with him. You deserve better than me - you should hate me -"

"Piper, stop it," Leo commanded, and now his eyes were ablaze with anger. "It wasn't your fault. Sure, it hurt like a bitch whenever I saw the two of you together, and it was so damn hard to pretend that I was happy for you, but I never thought it was your fault! It was that - that bitch Hera's fault. She didn't have to manipulate your memories like that. Everything would have worked out fine even if it was you and I together - but she did, and there's no changing that, and damn it, Piper, it wasn't your fault! You didn't even know! You couldn't even remember!" he shouted, and there was a wealth of pain in those words. In them, Piper could see Leo, always on the sidelines, aching under the burden of his memories, his feelings, knowing that Piper would never again hold him like she was holding Jason, and her heart went out to him.

"Never again," she promised. "I remember now. I remember everything," and she wasn't sure which one of them moved towards the other first, but all she knew was that she was suddenly sobbing into his shirt while his arms went around her and droplets of his tears splashed onto her hair.

Against all odds, they had found their way back to each other again - and Piper vowed she would never let him go again.

Annabeth's lips were moving, her hands gesturing frantically, but for the life of her, Piper couldn't hear her. She tried to focus on the movement of her friend's lips, but she'd never been any good at lip-reading, and she was at a total loss as to what Annabeth wanted them to do. They were still falling, fast, but now she could see the large cavern, the air tinted blood-red, with tiny specks she suspected were monsters moving about on the ground far below, but approaching fast. Too fast. Piper's heart stuttered as she came to the realization that with nothing to slow them down, they'd crash straight into the ground of Tartarus, and it would all be over. They wouldn't even get a chance to fight; they'd immediately become demigod pancakes, little more than a bloodstain that would be trampled over by monsters. In some ways, Piper was relieved that this was how they'd meet their end. At least they wouldn't have to endure the horrors of Tartarus that had Annabeth and Percy screaming, awful, heart-wrenching sounds that ripped Piper's heart apart whenever they had nightmares.

Leo's grip on her hand became almost painful, even through her numbed hand, and she glanced up at him. I love you, he mouthed at her, and her heart warmed even though she knew they were all about to die. She reciprocated the gesture, but wasn't sure if he got the message as his face scrunched up adorably in a mask of confusion and he mouthed back, Chicken pox? at her. She stifled a laugh; trust Leo to still retain a sense of humour even in the direst of circumstances.

The ground was only a few feet below them now, and rushing up before her eyes. She squeezed them shut and turned away, consoling herself with the knowledge that it would only hurt for an instant. She could feel the hot, suffocating air blistering her skin, and every breath in already hurt her lungs, but she was content in the knowledge that it'd all be over soon.