AN: LAST CHAPTER! I'm doing this first, in front of Swept Away so I can focus on it. Plus, Swept Away will have a few references to this. Who thinks I should I should stick to angst? There are a few quotes and references, if you pick them up, you get a virtual cookie! Good for you!
Word count: 1666…
Disclaimer: I probably forgot to put all of these in the chapters, but whatever. I don't own Percy Jackson & the Olympians. Or Camp Jupiter.
They went to dinner, where she was very thankful that her bloodshot eyes that she got from (fake) crying had gone back to normal, and the "puffiness" was practically non-existent.
Dinner was full of nervous chatter.
Battle nerves, she thought.
She had it too, kind of. She was her way of dealing with it. She was calm when she answered questions, and calm doing everything.
That particular dinner was a blur of questions and her calming down all the breakdowns (which were quite frequent) and Jason doing nothing except fussing over them and unintentionally making them panic even more by bringing up comments that he thought would help.
(Keyword: Thought)
Everyone was ashen faced and the vibe of nervousness was rubbing off on her, so she finished her mashed potatoes with gravy in a record time of fifteen minutes.
As you can see, she ate slowly. She knew legionnaires (centurions/praetors, whatever) who could eat at a leisurely place, and still be twice as fast as her even while she was at top speed. (*Cough, Jason, *cough)
She walked on the cobblestone, going back to her villa before breaking into a run. Knowing Jason, he would come soon after her. She opened the heavy front door, covered in bronze and flanked by columns as she kicked her shoes off impatiently.
She pulled the door closed, hearing the click of the lock as stripped her armor off, as well as the toga, leaving the SPQR shirt and jeans underneath. She set her things on the table.
She hated that thing. The toga, that is. Armor wasn't hate-able.
She ran into the garden and flung herself upon the green grass that looked gray in the moonlight. The garden was in the middle of the open atrium. Normally, it would be private, as in hers and hers only. But the villa was interconnected at the garden, a modern improvement, you could say. There were rooms surrounding the atrium, but there was a hole in the middle, containing a door in true Roman style.
You know, besides the fact that it's glass and you can drag curtains across it. But the sides were still wrapped in columns.
Reyna looked up at the starlit night, and thought about what would happen tomorrow.
"It's beautiful isn't? The moon and the stars?"
"Yes," she replied, "it is."
She didn't have to look to see who it was, since she memorized Jason's voice and not to mention the fact that only he could enter, unless she let someone in.
"You can sit down if you want,"
He did, and he lay next to Reyna. They both stared at the stars, entranced in their beauty. They could swear in court that they only did it for five minutes, but if it felt like eternity, it was their secret to keep.
They stared at the ever-growing collection of stars and somehow, the looming threat of death wasn't so scary anymore, it's sharp edges smoothed out.
"So, do you want to come see the stars with me?" Asked Jason, finally breaking the silence.
"That's the usual response people say," said Reyna, jokingly with a slight smile on her face.
"Well, I suppose that we're not very 'usual' aren't we?"
His question was met with a silence. Reyna didn't like admitting someone was right.
Finally, she said, "Yes, we're far from."
Reyna raised her hand and pointed towards the constellation that seemed out of place to her. Reyna told Jason that it was new. She spoke with the wonder of a child.
"It wasn't there before. I swear. It kind of looks like a hunter somehow." Said Reyna.
"Do you want to see it closer?"
She didn't say anything, which Jason interpreted as a yes.
He stood up and held a hand out for Reyna. She took it and he pulled her up. She tried to let go of his hand, but he kept a firm grip on her. She raised an eyebrow, but was met with a reassuring smile.
"What do you mean by come see the stars?" asked Reyna, eyes wide with curiosity and in that moment, it made her look like that young, innocent girl from Puerto Rico, the one who didn't know any war.
"You'll see," said Jason.
Reyna smiled.
There was a beat of silence, when she said "Jason, nothings happening." But then they started to rise up in the air.
She gasped in a mixture of surprise and delight. Then, she laughed like there was nothing in the world that wasn't fair, like there wasn't a war going on. Like she wasn't the daughter of Bellona and had blood on her hands.
"This is amazing Jason."
"And it's why you should trust me," replied Jason, in his ever-arrogant voice that had somehow, became endearing.
She was wonderstruck with the stars all around her, wrapping her in their black blankets. All she could do is nod as they rose in slow spirals.
When she finally found her voice, she asked, "when did you know that this… this flying thing could be done with two people?"
"A long time ago. I know I told everyone that I could only do it in necessary situations, but all I wanted was to not be treated like a horse, giving free rides to anybody…" He was smiling the whole time.
Reyna's gaze finally met Jason's eyes, and was wonderstruck by his beauty. Under the stars and the moon, his hair turned to the color of spun silver, and his eyes were too. His scar was more prominent than ever, but it made him seem more human, somehow, and less perfect. More… real. Which was better. (AN: awkward)
"Well, then, it wouldn't help if I told everyone then, would it?"
Jason laughed.
Jason took her other hand, the free one, and Reyna started dancing. She stayed calm because this moment was infinite, and she couldn't tell anyone how grateful she is for that little piece of infinity.
"Dancing?" Jason said, "On air? With no music? Sounds dangerous."
"I'm a dangerous girl,"
"That, I believe."
They waltzed around on the air, with Reyna's head on Jason's shoulder. They rose until they were high above the rooftops and trees, and in the cover of night, no one saw them. The only sign they'd been there was the absence of stars in their silhouette.
"It's not fair, you know. Teenagers and kids shouldn't have to be able to worry war and death. They shouldn't be holding swords and daggers, they should be holding wands pretending to be Harry Potter." A tear rolled down her cheek, the first time it ever happened.
"It's life, Reyna. It's ours." Jason put his hand on her face and used his thumb to wipe the tear away. He started to lean closer, and Reyna went still, then she remembered she probably looked like a statue, so she sighed, partly because she had to answer the statement that Jason made.
"It's just that…we're going to lead hundreds of people to battle, and there's a small, miniature chance of winning. I'll be leading people to their deaths. I'm…afraid, Jason."
Her confession lead to a pregnant pause, with their feet whirling around the open air, and both of them acting as one.
"Let's not think about bad things right now."
They danced some more, and burrowed themselves in the comfort of the night and their company and their dancing.
Reyna got tired, and when she said so, Jason jumped backwards.
She screamed.
"What are you doing?" She shouted.
"It's fun, I'll catch you."
"No way."
Jason gave her a knowing look. "It's the last day."
Cue the groan. Then she frowned at him. "FINE."
She pursed her lips, and braced herself for death. She closed her eyes, and jumped up and back. With some reluctance/hesitance.
She landed with an oof. The air felt like a pillow.
"How do you do that? Make it air soft?"
"I just…imagine it."
"Cool." She smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes.
Reyna was feeling childish, so she spread her arms and legs out. She was making an air angel.
"Oh my gosh Reyna, I seriously don't know you." Said Jason jokingly. He lifted his hand and covered his eyes. Then he started to make an air angel too.
She says nothing at all, but simply stares upward at the dark sky and watches, with sad eyes, the slow dance of the infinite stars.
They were right above the patch of trees right now, and the leaves were a meter away from her.
Reyna was marveling at the 360º view when a streak of white light crossed the black canvas of the sky.
"It's a shooting star. What do you wish for?"
"That we'll win the war."
Reyna laughed quietly. She turned her head to face Jason's, and saw that we had done the same. Then she noticed that they were really close.
She started to move even closer, so they were centimeters away. She could hear her heart pounding.
Her eyes focused on his lips that looked grey in the starlight, and back up to his eyes, asking permission.
He closed in on the few centimeters, and kissed her.
It was innocent and gentle, and everything she imagined her first kiss to be like and more.
It was two people, caught in the desperation of the moment, the desperation of war and losing each other. It was two people feeling alive, at least for the moment.
fin.