Author's Note: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO PIPERELLA/PIPSQUEAK! Pi, you may be so much of a procrastinator that it drives me mad, but you're still an awesome friend I've known since my early days on FF. So, Happy Birthday! :3 (Then I will hunt you down for an update after your day is over.)

So, I recently watched Les Miserables the movie because it aired in my country much too late. It was pretty amazing, to be honest. But the singing... well, I prefer the 10th Anniversary version. That makes me literally leak just by listening to it. Yes, I'm saying that most of the singing didn't impress me, except for the Les Amis, Eponine, and maybe, Marius. And sdfghjkl; Samantha Bark's On My Own gave me so much feels I could die. So, to express my love for this musical, I felt inclined to write and angsty drabble which escalated to a oneshot.

Disclaimer: Well, RR refused to give me the rights on my birthday two weeks ago, so...

"Cut!"

Drew untangled herself from her unbelievably hot co-star with a dazzling smile at their director, "How was that?"

"Perfect! Absolutely perfect." The director praised approvingly. "Now, everyone take a break! We start filming the next scene after 30 minutes!"

"So, Tanaka," her co-star drawled with a devastating grin, "you feel like practicing our date scene maybe tonight?"

She turned around with a smirk, "Well, pick me up at six and we'll see." She traced his jawline with a teasing finger and whispered in his ear, "Oh, but don't let it get to your brain."

Her black hair whipped the air as she strutted off the set, swaying her hips just a bit more than she usually does.

"You did great, Tanaka!"

"I totally loved that part when you-"

"You looked gorgeous, darling-"

"I know, I know," she replied absent-mindedly as she passed the fawning crew members.

She let out a long breath in her personal van.

There was hot pink all over with leopard prints and zebra prints. She had a mass of the best and hottest stilettos with more expensive and sexy clothes. There were roses from admirers all over the world and a few pictures here and there from her previous photoshoots.

A supermodel and a rising Hollywood star, it was only fitting that Drew Tanaka had the best of everything, as she IS the most beautiful girl anywhere. (Well, almost.)

"Have you heard? Tristan McLean's daughter made an appearance at last!"

"I know, right? She's such a beautiful and kind girl. Not to mention her boyfriend is as hot as anything."

"Ugh, it's a shame she doesn't do acting. Otherwise, she'd be the best actress ever. And the prettiest, too."

"Of course she would. She's Piper McLean!"

Drew felt something as bitter as bile in her mouth when she heard the whispers from the windows of the van. Pretty, perfect Piper McLean. Words cannot describe the acid-like sourness in her heart at the mention of the name. Always the most beautiful, always the best, always the oh-so-perfect princess that everyone loves and wants to be.

Her gaze flitted towards a perfectly framed old picture. It was a picture of herself, at the age of 15, and a beautiful woman, more beautiful than any mortal could be. Her mother, Aphrodite, of course. She remembered when she told her she was going to be the best, the most beautiful, the favorite daughter of the goddess of beauty. Her teeth sunk into her lip, causing a tiny flow of salty blood to flow into her mouth. Her perfectly manicured nails gripped the frame so tightly that deep scratches were made. She shoved the picture into a drawer and slammed it shut with such a force that the perfume bottles shuddered a little.

Of course, she could never beat little Miss Perfect, pride of Aphrodite.

Drew dreamed a dream that it was her who was the favorite of her mother.

Leo looked down at the city of Chicago from his top-floor office of his own company's skyscraper. It was holiday season and a lot of his employees were going home for Christmas in the following days.

"Sir? I finished editing the document, should I leave it here?" A young voice asked tentatively.

His attention left the view of the white city before him to his new, workaholic assistant, who was barely less than 5 years younger than he is. "Of course! Of course! Say, Jim, do you have any plans for Christmas?"

Jim scratched his hair with a half-smile, "Um, well, I'm going home for Christmas."

Leo raised an eyebrow with a laugh, "No girlfriend?"

Jim shook his head bashfully, "Not really."

"Same here," Leo nodded appraisingly, "Spending Christmas with your family, I assume?"

"Yeah, with my mom. She's been ill for a while and I want to spend as much time as I can." Jim answered sheepishly.

Leo bit his lip and stared off into space for a brief moment. He remembered when he was young and had a mother to come back to. He remembered when there was a time he can look forward to a Christmas with a family. His family. The only one he's ever known in his childhood. He had a found a new family among his friends, but just wasn't quite the same since…that fateful day.

But before that, there were Christmases when the snow would fall ever-so-lightly and not even the wind could burn out the candles' flames. He remembered the laughter and the gentle clicks of their Morse code messages. He can see them, just his mother and him, putting up their hand-made decorations on their humble little Christmas tree. He was so happy back then. He felt loved. Sure, he will always be loved by his friends. It just wasn't the same.

He cleared his head of the memories and studied the younger boy, barely a man, with intent eyes.

"Go."

"Huh?" Jim frowned with scared eyes. It wasn't possible that he was being sent away, right?

"I mean, your presence is not required until the end of the holiday." Leo cleared his throat with a broad grin.

Jim protested fervently, "But, sir-"

"That's an order." Leo cut in half-sternly, "Go home, spend time with your mother, and don't you dare do any work during Christmas! And don't call me 'sir', I'm barely older than yourself."

"But," Jim's eyes were starting to water up in gratitude.

"I can manage on my own. You're not my only assistant, you know?" Leo sighed, shaking his head in an amused fashion. "Always the worrier, eh? Right now, you just have to worry about getting out of here to go home."

"Thank you, sir!" Jim gripped his boss's hand, shaking it wildly with a grin that would tear his face in halves if his grin could widen even more.

"Go! Off with you!" Leo laughed, shoving his employee out his office door. He watched the youthful assistant practically skip into the elevator with a bittersweet smile on his face.

Leo dreamed a dream that he was also on his way home to spend Christmas with his mother.

Kayla's heart pounded loudly against her rib cages to the tender beat of 'The Wedding March' as she glided across the bright red aisle with an arm tucked in her father's. Apollo looked barely ten years older than her, but no one seemed to mind as he IS an Olympian after all. The sun was radiant and filled the simple temple with warmth and light. The temple was decorated with the white of freshly fallen snow, and alabaster rose petals flew in the air. Aphrodite gave her blessing, obviously. The goddess loved nothing better than a good love story, and this one was certainly destined for a happy ending.

All of the campers from Camp Half-Blood were present as well as a considerable amount from Camp Jupiter. They both knew it was better if only certain Legionnaires, the ones who experienced war alongside them, came, after all, the Roman population still outnumbered the Greeks vastly.

She passed many familiar faces, exchanging the happiest smiles with her friends and family while restraining the tears of joy that threatened to drop. This was her moment, this was their moment, this was a moment that was theirs to cherish and guard for infinity. She took a quick glance at her father. Through his dark shades were blue eyes that shone with pride and bittersweet joy. "You look a lot like your mother," Apollo observed quietly, flashing a smile at a swooning waitress.

"Thanks," Kayla's voice quivered like liquid moonlight as her grip on her father's arm tightened unconsciously.

Then, they were at the altar all too suddenly.

"Take care of her, young man." Apollo told Hank sternly, a flash of gold glinting in his usually blue eyes. "I've had a few millennia's practice of blasting men who mistreats my daughters."

"I will keep that in mind, sir," Hank laughed softly as he took Kayla's hand with a smile filled with adoration at her.

As the preacher started the ceremony, she couldn't help but take a glance to her right, where her various siblings were sitting. There were plenty of new faces, compared to the people who have been there for her most of her life growing up. She loved each and every one of them, and they loved her just as much. In Camp Half-Blood, the family bond has always been strongest within the Apollo cabin. There was a warmth they all possessed that, and like the sun, drew in and shed light on everyone. The tears were closer to spilling as ever as the bits and pieces of memories of her life at Camp flashed through her mind, brief as the glimpse of sunlight on a cloudy day.

There was a sudden pang of melancholy in her heart as she gazed at the row of empty seats in the front, reserved for guests that would never make it to her wedding on time. And yet, they were still there. She could feel it in her veins. As her eyes met Will's, she knew immediately that they all feel it, too.

It came to her attention that the time for her to say her vows was near. Will gave her an encouraging grin and a proud thumbs up, as if to say, Don't you worry. I'm proud of you. They're proud of you, too.

A heartfelt smile graced her slightly trembling lips as she turned back to face the preacher.

Kayla dreamed a dream that Lee was sitting right there, at the first seat of the front row, giving her a cheeky wink with a vow to put an arrow through Hank's head if he ever hurt her.

Reyna smiled as she made her way down the road. After finally retiring, she can go to college and be herself at last, like now. With a casual purple t-shirt and her hair falling freely down her back, she walked down the alabaster roads of New Rome.

People praised her and congratulated her for her selfless service to the city and its Legion. "The fearless praetor who lead the Legion through war alone..." No one could deny that she deserved the honorable retirement she recently went into. But she liked to think the only reason for their incredible admiration of her was only because they needed someone to look up to. Someone completely Roman, who had always been and forever will be faithful to Rome. True, Frank and Hazel earned much respect and love of the Legion for being part of the Seven, but they weren't traditional Romans like most of the Legionnaires. Perhaps it was just her nature, perhaps it was because her mother doesn't have any Greek counterpart. Whatever the case was, she was thankful for their support, and they, for her contributions.

But the war took toll on all of them, Greek and Roman alike. Their city underwent various renovations and some of their most prized marble and gold statues reduced to broken pieces. They all suffered, emotionally and physically. She can still see their faces, grim, harsh, and worn out. Some of them were even younger than her, not much older than herself when she first held a weapon. And the Legionnaires who've recently joined. They were just children. They didn't deserve to see the only family they've ever known die for a cause they didn't understand. Especially Julia. An unforgiving pang of pain stabbed her straight through her heart at the mention of the now ten-year-old girl who witnessed her mother's death. But Reyna suffered just as much, if not more. Whatever the case was, she was sure that Hylla would be proud of her living through the ebbing pain.

A gentle chime sounded as she pushed open the door of their local flower shop. "Welcome, Reyna," Ms. Vargas said warmly, "what can I get for you?"

Reyna looked up with a tentative smile, "Um, are there any purple gladioli?" She thought about the little flat she shared with Gwen fondly. There was a beautiful glass vase she recently received in honor of her retirement that she'd been dying to use.

"I'll get you some fresh ones," Ms. Vargas nodded kindly, "Anything else?"

She hesitated.

Maybe it wouldn't be too bad to take a detour, after all, she had the time. She could afford a visit to her sister now. It wasn't that far away. "A black rose." Reyna said decisively after her contemplation. "I'd like to have a black rose, please." Ms. Vargas's eyes were briefly splashed with pained understanding before going into the back of her shop.

Then the bells rang again. This time, a younger Legionnaire, around 16 perhaps, walked in with a nervous jitter as he repeatedly ran his hands through his dusky brown hair. It didn't go unnoticed that the highly respected former praetor was also in the flower shop by him and he scrambled to salute her out of reaction, "Praetor Reyna!"

Reyna chuckled and shook her head slightly, "There's no need for that, Gavin," the younger boy's eyes widened with surprise that praetor- oops, ex-praetor- knows his name, "I'm retired, remember? Call me Reyna."

"Yes, prae- um, Reyna." Gavin was pretty much unnerved as a stranger meeting Reyna's dogs for the first time.

"Here are your flowers, Reyna!" Ms. Vargas came back with a beautiful bouquet of artistically arranged gladioli in all different shades of purple and a single black rose tied with a rich golden ribbon.

"Thank you." Reyna forced out, something stuck in her throat at the lonely rose's tragically magnificent stature. She stared at the rose for a few more moments, seemingly unable to tear her eyes off it.

"What can I get for you, young man?"

"I'd like to have twelve red roses, the best you have," the familiar determination of his tone drew her attention as she looked up.

"The best I have?" Ms. Vargas's eyebrows raised in amusement.

"Yes," Gavin nodded earnestly, "I need the bouquet to be perfect. You see…," his cheeks suddenly colored, "…it's for a girl I've liked for ages. I've never told her because she doesn't seem to be interested. But I figured it's worth a try."

Ms. Vargas barely hid her huge smile, "Right, then I shall do my very best."

The stubborn insitence reminded her sharply of someone she knew and could've known. Reyna felt like she could barely breathe as her imagination escaped the bars of her sense.

"I'd like a bouquet of red roses for this absolutely amazing girl, here, or so known as my girlfriend. Please make sure it's perfect."

"Nonsense, Jason, I don't even want flowers-"

"Oh, and ignore what she says because it's not true. I'd like to give her the most beautiful bouquet and that's that."

Reyna dreamed a dream that Jason was walking beside her, down the street, to the edge of forever.

They were all dreamers. They were all demigods who once dreamed a dream.

But there are dreams that cannot be.

Author's Note: Ah, this is much more canon than any story I've ever wrote because of the lack of my usual ships. But I couldn't resist adding the smidge of one-sided Jeyna in Reyna's. (I dreamed a dream in time gone by, when hope was high, and Jeyna's canon...)

And before you asked me what about Nico, I have to say, I don't regret putting him in this. Don't get me wrong, I love Nico, but I think that he could find a sense of peace now that Hazel's here. Bianca is reborn, and because this takes place a few years after the Giant War, he has probably accepted the fact and moved on, which was exactly what Bianca wanted her brother to do. Besides, I already gave the sibling love to Kayla, an Apollo child mentioned, and all her beloved deceased siblings. I didn't want to repitive so Nico stayed out of the miserable.

Was everyone IC? Which was your favorite dream? Writing quality? Canon/tragic enough? Did you like it?

Leave a review if you also love Les Mis and this made you want to sob like a baby. ;3