Here's one of the long awaited songfics! This is Drops of Jupiter by Train, but I did it with Taylor Swift's cover, which replaces the he with she. Not my best work, but it's hard to write for repeated choruses. But I tried my best, and here is the end result! Oh, and there's that theory about Piper's kaleidoscope eyes that I believe I am Thalia daughter of Zeus suggested, so credits to her, since I used it a little bit in here.
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Again, I don't own PJO or HOO, or the song Drops of Jupiter. Rick Riordan owns the series, and Train owns the song.
Drops of Jupiter
Now that he's back in the atmosphere
With drops of Jupiter in his hair, hey, hey
Reyna holds her breath when she sees Jason walking off the ship with his familiar grin on his face, and she has faith in the whole world again and all she can see is him. Despite the orange t-shirt Jason's wearing, Reyna can see how his clear blue eyes are still the doors to his thoughts, almost hear the sizzling of the lightning he controls, and she can feel the powerful aura around him that can only mark him as the son of Jupiter.
"Welcome back, Jason Grace, son of Jupiter!" Reyna announces, the legion staring at their lost praetor, silently cheering. "We have missed you."
He walks like summer and talks like rain
Reminds me that there's time to change, hey, hey
She sees how different this Jason Grace is from the Jason Grace she knew eight months ago. He still has the powerful, brave, and Roman aura around him as he walks, but the way he thinks now, is a complete mix of Roman and Greek. As she observes him, smiling at his legionnaires (because he's still praetor in everyone's eyes) and hanging around with the Greeks, she is reminded that maybe it's time for a change that could save the world.
Since his return from his stay on the moon
He listens like spring and he talks like June, hey, hey
"The Greeks mean no harm to us!" Jason shouts, grinning that stupid grin Reyna had always hated (loved). The blonde slowly walks over to Reyna, his eyes scanning her, and a pang of pain passes through her. He looks like Jason Grace, has the same confidence as Jason Grace, but he isn't the Jason Grace she knew and liked (loved).
Because he doesn't remember her.
But tell me, did you sail across the sun?
Did you make it to the Milky Way to see the lights all faded?
And that heaven is overrated
Reyna has so many questions going through her mind. Do you remember me? Do you remember all the times you tried to get me to like you, but I locked you out? Do you remember BARF? Why didn't you remember me like Percy remembered Annabeth? Did you forget us? Where did you go? Was it better than here? Why didn't you bring me with you?
But she keeps her calm and doesn't say anything, nodding politely and stiffly. "If you don't remember, I am Reyna Rossland, praetor of the Twelve Legion. Welcome back."
Jason's eyes are filled with mixed emotions as he replies, "It's good to be home, Zombie King."
Tell me, did you fall for a shooting star?
One without a permanent scar
And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there?
"Hello," a quiet voice says, snapping Reyna out of her daze. Her eyes finally focus on the shy girl standing beside him. Holding his hand. The dark-haired girl swallows the words she was about to say and settles for a small smile as she tries to control her breathing. Jason had been gone for eight months, and one of the first things he does is fall for a pretty girl that probably hasn't seen a lot of fights. It's not like she's judging the girl or anything, but does she have the scars Reyna has from saving her family and friends? Has she suffered the pain and loss Reyna has felt for the last few years, or even just the last eight months?
The praetor glances down at her arm, tracing the faded curved scar as she tries to find something to say. She remembers how desperate she was to save Jason, and even now, she couldn't believe how stupid she had been to shove her arm in front of Jason, just over his throat as a last ditch effort to save him.
When the female praetor looks back up and sees Jason trying to remember how she got the scar, she smiles sadly because he couldn't connect with her as he did before. He's got a girl on his arm, and no obligations now; he didn't miss this place.
But now he's back from that soul vacation
Tracing his way through the constellation, hey, hey
He checks out Mozart while he does tae-bo
Reminds me that there's time to grow, hey, hey
Reyna doesn't speak as she silently observes Jason's battle with Xavier, and can't help but notice how his technique has changed since living with the Greeks. Instead of the traditional way of Roman fighting when you stab, he blocks and fights with a combination of the two, making him a more unpredictable and stronger opponent.
Xavier's gladius clangs to the ground and the Roman looks at the blonde in disbelief. "But that's not a Roman move!" Xavier exclaims, picking up his weapon.
Jason shrugs. "I learnt it from the Greeks."
The daughter of Bellona sucks in a breath when she fights the son of Jupiter herself and realizes he's not as predictable as he was before, and she didn't know who this was in front of her.
But now he's back in the atmosphere
I'm afraid that he might think of me as plain ol' Jane
Told a story about a man who is too afraid to fly so he never did land
Reyna has Xavier's identical expression on her face when she's disarmed by Jason, her mouth slightly agape. "Teach me that, now," she says, looking at the smirking Jason with determination. Sure, it wasn't a Roman thing to do, but she's a daughter of war, and can't help but wonder how exactly did the move work.
"Sure, I'll teach you, King," he answers, picking up her gladius and handing it back to her innocently. She grabs it from his hand and glares at him. "I'll cut the nicknames," he promises, sneaking in a grin as he explains the move to her.
"Jason?" A voice interrupts them five minutes later, and Reyna groans. She is so close to understanding every angle of the move, and someone decides to barge in.
Both Jason and Reyna turn around, and a brunette stands by the bleachers, looking as awkward as Reyna feels inside. She recognizes her as the girl who stepped out of the ship holding Jason's hand. What was her name...?
"Piper," Jason answers her silent question, looking slightly lost. "Uh, I was just teaching Reyna some new attacks I learned at Camp Half-Blood. Do you..." He stops, not knowing what to say.
Piper forces a smile and shakes her head. 'No, I'll just go find Leo," she replies, eyeing Reyna. "Later."
As she walks away, the daughter of Bellona can't help but understand how Jason fell for her. The daughter of Aphrodite had everything: her hair was pretty no matter what, despite the choppiness-it looked intentional, while Reyna's looked like a crow's nest if it was out of her braid. Piper's skin was lightly tanned, the kind of tone everyone wanted, a natural kind of tan. On the other hand, the praetor's skin was pale, not as pale as Octavian (but no one is), as if she's never seen the sun. And the eyes, don't even get Reyna started on the Cherokee girl's eyes. They were kaleidoscopic, forever changing colours, drawing every guy in because of the uniqueness. Sometimes they're dark brown, like hers and Hylla's, sometimes they are aqua, but most of the time, they are a bright blue, bluer than the sky.
They remind her of Jason's.
Speaking of Jason, she looks over at him and sees him glancing at the direction Piper had left. She sighs as she sits down. What did she expect? Beside the daughter of beauty, godsdamn it, she is nothing.
Tell me did the wind sweep you off your feet?
Did you finally get the chance to dance along the in light of day?
And head back to the Milky Way
"So." The brown-eyed girl looks at her former co-praetor, eyebrow raised. "You're good friends with the Greeks," she states, not letting emotion show.
Jason offers her a small smile. "Well, they're pretty cool," he replies, his eyes darting from hers to the ground. "But I'm glad to be home," he adds quietly, his blue eyes scanning the field. "I missed the baths."
Reyna rolls her eyes. "Of course. After a quest and helping to save the world, all you can think of is the baths." She looks over at his nervous figure. "When..did you realize that you were different? That you didn't belong with them?" She tries to keep the betrayal and hatred out of her tone, because the graceas seem pretty decent with her, but the Roman in her disagrees.
The blonde cracks a smile. "When the venti started to attack us at the Grand Canyon. I, uh, saved Piper from falling into the canyon from using my wind powers. It was from then when I used my powers and referred to the monsters in Roman form that I knew something was up. Not to mention I remembered being able to fly a lot with a certain somebody afterwards." He looks over at her, and she can't stop the small smile spreading across her face.
And tell me, did Venus blow your mind?
Was it everything you wanted to find?
And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there?
But regardless of all that, Reyna is reminded that Piper means more to him than he lets on. "So, your friends. Leo and Piper, right?" she says, carefully watching his expression.
The son of the sky bites his lip, making his scar crinkle. "Yeah, they're my friends." Jason can see that she didn't believe him and he groans. "Okay, maybe Piper is more than that, but that's only because Juno wanted for that to happen," he defends himself, glaring up at the sky.
"The daughter of Venus swept you off your feet, didn't she?" Reyna asks, smiling sadly. "She's a nice girl, pretty eyes, simple past."
"Reyna-"
Her eyes flash with impatience when he says her name. She knows it's true-Jason is tired of trying to get to know her, so he goes for the pretty and rich girl. She didn't blame him though; if she were him, Reyna would have ditched herself long time ago too, but that didn't mean it doesn't hurt. "I get it. She's so much easier to talk with, to understand." The dark-haired girl chuckles bitterly. "She's the perfect girlfriend, everything a guy would wish for."
Can you imagine no love, pride, deep-fried chicken
Your best friend always sticking up for you, even when I know you're wrong
Jason grabs her hands and pulls her close, his normally bright blue eyes are now dark and filled with frustration. "Reyna Rossland, you look me in the eyes. Yes, it's true that I liked Piper at some point throughout the eight months I spent with her. It's true all I thought about was her, and I wanted to spent every second of my life with her. But," his eyes soften a fraction as his grip on her loosens slightly, "every month of every week of every day of every hour of every minute of every second and of even every millisecond that I spent with her, I felt something at the back of my mind. Pain." A tear rolls down his cheek and Reyna automatically lifts her hand to brush it away.
"Stop." The command is whispered softly by the war daughter, authority and sadness intertwined within that one word. No matter how much Venus may love this moment, both Reyna and Jason are Romans, and the female praetor will not let either of them let their guard down that much.
"No." Jason's voice is loud, echoing throughout the coliseum, and Reyna has to look up from the ground to watch him. "You need to know. Every second I spent with her, there was pain in the back of my mind. Pain from not knowing what's happening. Pain from not being able to belong. Pain from not knowing who I am. And," he squeezes her hand tightly, "pain from knowing I'm doing something wrong, but not knowing what it is. And when I found out that it was the memory of you all along, when I finally saw you again, only you came into my mind." Jason shakes his head in disbelief. "I can't believe I survived this long without you."
Can you imagine no first dance, freeze dried romance, five-hour phone conversation
The best soy latte that you ever had and... me
The blonde kisses the top of her head. "I can't imagine a day without you. You're my rock, and the reason why I'm me. Did you know I wanted to become praetor partly because of you?" Reyna shakes her head, smiling, and Jason continues. "Well, I did. I've always thought that we could go down as the best pair of praetors in history."
Tell me did the wind sweep you off your feet
Did you finally get the chance to dance along the light of day
And head back toward the milky way
Reyna is still smiling, and Jason's heart skips a beat when he finally realizes it is the smile that she reserves for him, the rare small smile that seems to light up her chocolate eyes, and there's that little faint blush on her cheeks that makes the blonde feel as if he's on top of the world.
"Tell me about Camp Half-Blood," she finally says. "How is it there?"
Jason thinks about his past few months at the Greek camp. "It's different. They're not as disciplined; they do whatever they want. The demigods are divided by their godly parent, and live in a cabin with their siblings. They sing around a campfire at night, and love to have a lot of fun. But," he wraps an arm around her, "here, for one thing, we have amazing baths, like I mentioned before, and well, even though I felt like a belonged there, there's more of a family atmosphere here, with New Rome, and the cohorts filled with different demigods of different parentage. And, of course, there's no you there."
Tell me, did you fall for a shooting star
One without a permanent scar
And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself
The dark-haired girl laughs at his sappiness. "Don't let Octavian hear you talking like this," the war daughter warns him, an eyebrow raised. "He'll think you're not fit to become praetor again and throw you back to the Greek camp with your pretty little shooting star."
Jason rolls his eyes. "Between you and me, I have a feeling Leo fell for the 'pretty little shooting star'."
The female praetor has a thoughtful expression on her face. "Huh. That'll be interesting."
Can you imagine no love, pride, deep-fried chicken
Your best friend always sticking up for you, even when I know you're wrong
Can you imagine no first dance, freeze dried romance, five-hour phone conversation
"JASON!" Bobby's voice rings throughout the arena, and said male sighs as he edges away from a now stoic praetor.
When Bobby, Gwen, and Dakota finally reach the two Romans, Bobby smirks, feeling the intensity. "Is it official?" he asks, bouncing up and down.
"What?" Jason says, acting dumb.
Gwen rolls her eyes. "What? Have you finally made yourselves official yet? Because if you don't some other goddess might snatch you up and then it would stay unofficially official like last time."
"Let the two lovebirds catch up," Dakota suggests, chugging Kool-Aid. "We can hang out later."
"No, let's hang out now," Reyna says, earning a snicker from Bobby.
Gwen nods, smiling. "Okay." She locks arms with Reyna and Dakota, who in return locks arms with Jason and Bobby, and together, the five Romans stroll towards New Rome.
"Bobby and his Roman Flamingoes are back!" Bobby hollers, and Jason groans along with his best friends, and dare he say it? His future girlfriend. Jason smiles at the thought, and he knows that no matter what happens, as long as he has his best friends sticking up for him, and Reyna looking out for him, he's fine.
The blonde feels right at home when he joins in on the cheering done by his best friends. "BARF ALL THE WAY!"
The best soy latte that you ever had and... me
I didn't like the ending too much, as the sections got shorter, and shorter, but I've been writing this for so long, that every time I write a new section, it feels as if it doesn't click. Ah well. I love this song, and I thought it fit Jayna so well, especially with the Did Venus blow your mind, since in my opinion, can represent Piper, seeing she's a daughter of Aphrodite/Venus.
Leave Out All the Rest is almost done too, but it'll take a while. It's freaking long, and I don't know how to end it...but it'll be done before I start school. So later this week.
Okay, so I keep having this idea that is pretty horrible when you think about it, but I have an urge to write it. The story/two-shot (with a bonus) will involve Reyna-bashing and Piper-bashing done by Leo and Reyna (you should know who bashes who), so there will be some swearing and Reyna telling Piper off, and Leo being protective? in a way. It's a Liper and Jayna story. I don't know, it's really weird, and I know I'll get some Piper loving fans flaming me, but it's going to be done sometime. I promise you, after that one, there will be no more bashing of anyone. Weirdly enough, I like Piper more after it, so it's done some good.
And now I'm going to stop this A/N before it gets out of hand. :|
Please read and review!
-DOTE