September 2013

It was hard to be excited about something when just the previous night had been such a wreck, Piper thought as she stared blankly into the bathroom mirror before her.

Of course, it wasn't her bathroom mirror because- that's right- she didn't have a bathroom mirror anymore. Or a bathroom, or a house, for that matter.

Piper's sigh echoed across the bare tile walls of the school bathroom. She'd be living in this place for a while, along with all the other people whose lives had been destroyed by the tornado. Because a fair amount of the town would be living in the school, that meant that no one could go to school- which meant that the students got to go to school longer into the summer.

Though Piper hated living in New Rome, she had to give the city some credit for being as disaster ready as they were. Almost immediately after the storm had passed, the town victims were sent to places of safety and cover, such as the school buildings and churches.

Nathalia's house had been spared and she had offered Piper to let her stay at her house for a while, but Piper figured that she should stay with her parents. After all, Annabeth hadn't let Percy out of her sight since the incident.

Much to Piper's displeasure however, the homecoming festivities were still on. Not like they normally would be, seeing as they were now mostly a fundraiser for the citizens without a home, but nevertheless still happening.

It was hard to be excited for homecoming before. Now- impossible.

Piper grabbed her bag of clothes and huffed out of the school facility just as some other unfortunate woman walked in. The walk from the bathroom to Annabeth's classroom, where the family of three was residing, was short since the bathroom was just around the corner.

She opened the classroom door and took another deep breath. It seemed the classroom had gained another family, because she didn't recognize them from the night before. Each classroom in the school was holding at least 3 households depending on the sizes. Annabeth, being a woodshop teacher, had a classroom and a shop with a small office in between the two. That meant that they had twice as many households as the other rooms.

Piper had to consider how lucky they were, however, since they had a bit of privacy staying in Annabeth's office unlike everyone else. She was glad they hadn't gotten stuck in the boys' gym lockers where Percy's office was, anyway. Piper could only imagine the smell.

As of current, the Jackson family had little to their name. They had both Percy and Piper's cars (since they'd been left at the school) and that was about the most expensive things left. Annabeth had rummaged through the mess after it had been declared safe for her to do so and found a few photographs and home items- nothing too special- though Annabeth had cried over the photos she did find. They had no clothes except for the ones donated to them.

But most of all, Piper had lost her only way of communicating with Jason. She felt...empty, she supposed. But then again, was that what losing something felt like? Nothingness? She thought that losing someone meant aching and pain that almost seemed would never end, but she also felt like she had just been waiting for something like this to happen. Nathalia had warned her that it wouldn't last.

But Jason was something more to Piper. He was so important that words couldn't even begin to describe what was between them. Everything about Jason just felt so...right and perfect and like it was meant to be that way.

And how exactly was she expected to react to this? It's not like a lot of people knew about it- just Thalia and Sally to be exact- so it's not like Piper could express how she was feeling about the situation. Nathalia, though Piper's best friend, would basically tell her I told you this would happen and Sally's had better things to worry about- like the wreckage of her house.

Piper knew she should have confided in other people, but it was hard. So now Jason was gone, leaving Piper to worry about what he would think when he never received another letter again.

Would he think that Piper had gotten bored with him? Or that she'd given up hope? Or would he somehow know that something had prevented them from ever communicating again?

It was all too much. Maybe it was better that Piper felt empty.

Piper's hand rested on the cold metal knob of Annabeth's office. She turned it slowly and tried not to pay attention to the depressing details of the state of her parents' lives. A small air mattress with sparse blankets consumed the entire office aside from the desk shoved to the corner. A makeshift hammock was strung across the shorter length of the office for Piper to sleep in.

Percy was gone, but Piper couldn't gather the strength to ask where he was for fear of him being at the ruins of their home. Annabeth was sitting on the air mattress with the laptop that had previously sat on her desk in her lap and a calculator in hand, apparently trying to figure something out. The pictures she had found last night had not left her side.

"What are you doing?" Piper asked, throwing her bag of clothes on the desk and closing the door.

Annabeth barely looked up. Her curly blonde hair was carelessly thrown back in a horrible ponytail and her eyes had dark circles beneath them. "Mostly wishing we'd gotten better house insurance because honestly, they're not going to give us all that much at all. Definitely not enough for me to design my own house again and still not enough to buy a decent home...I'm trying to not take any money out of your college fund...it's just so hard…"

She was trying not to cry, that Piper could tell. Piper gently sat down on the air mattress beside Annabeth and touched her arm. "It's okay, just do what you have to. I mean, I can get a job, right? You told me to anyway after I spent all that money on that s-stupid desk," Piper pointed out, stumbling over her words.

After that, Piper wasn't sure what happened. Maybe the stress of the situation took over. Or maybe it was the fact that their entire world had been turned over and destroyed...or maybe just because it felt like that had happened. In any case, before Piper could realize what was happening, both she and Annabeth were crying their eyes out, halfway attempting at conversation but failing.

Piper could only imagine what it was like to be Annabeth. The woman had gone through so much in her lifetime. . .she hadn't exactly had a wonderful childhood to start out with. Annabeth had worked so hard to get where she was, endured the depression of not being able to bear her own children, and then finally, finally, gotten to a good point in her life. And now, she pretty much had to start over.

Piper silently prayed through choking sobs that her parents would have to deal with no more hardships.

The New Rome graveyard had been left untouched, for the most part. What was going to change the most about it because of this storm was the addition of the victims caught in the tornado.

Piper tried not to look at the newer section of the field too much as she continued driving down the old, worn, muddy path. Eventually, she pulled her car over to the side and started to travel by foot instead. Her falling apart tennis shoes protested against the slick mud, but Piper carried on.

She did not need to look at the distinct map showing the exact location of the section reserved for the Grace family, as Piper had studied it top to bottom while Nico drew it (with the help of Thalia). The air was humid and muggy, forming beads of sweat on Piper's forehead as she walked along. The trees lightly swayed in the sticky wind.

She avoided looking at the wearing gravestones she passed. Some of the dates made her feel sick, especially those of small children.

Piper found the family section with ease. It was not hard, a large tree with a metal sign grown into it stated, "HERE RESTS THE FAMILY GRACE" with an almost elegant pride. As she passed the proud tree, Piper started paying attention to the dates. The earliest dated into 1849, just a mere year after New Rome had been officially established.

Jason had told her in one of his letters that his family had once been considered one of the most esteemed founders of the town. However, because a few of his older family members committed some disgraceful crimes (he hadn't stated what, exactly) the Grace family had been forced into a somewhat exile, which was why they lived outside the city. He'd also lightly stated that his mother had gone a little crazy, so his father moved them farther away to avoid attention to his dysfunctional wife.

Looking at the quality of the gravestones themselves, Piper could tell the ups and downs of the family. The older ones were more carefully crafted. Jason's mother? Forget it, Piper couldn't even make out what her first name was. Piper wasn't so sure that Jason and Thalia hadn't buried her themselves. However, Piper could tell when the family came back to rise- and the technology of the stones had gotten better- Jason's descendents.

Piper's eyes landed on the furthest tombstone away. Her legs felt numb as she stumbled through the dry grass and fell right in front of it.

Jason Grace

July 1, 1921-

April 22, 1999

"Have Faith"

Piper had to look away into the breeze for a second and tightly close her eyes. She didn't know what to feel. Anger? Sadness? Happiness? She wanted to scream, she wanted to cry, but she didn't know what to do either.

Have faith? Have faith? Really, Jason? Have faith?

She knew that was directed to her and her alone. Maybe no one else understood why he'd wanted it on his tombstone, but Piper knew. It was the last thing Jason had said to her in his last letter.

But how was she supposed to have faith? Along with that, what exactly was she supposed to have faith about?

Okay, Piper knew that things would be alright. She would get a home again, she would get more possessions. But she would certainly not get Jason back, just like she wouldn't get her desk back. It was destroyed. So how was she supposed to have faith about that?

"Oh, Jason," Piper murmured to the lifeless rock, "if only time could tell me how to get you back."

And just like that, Piper broke down for the millionth time that day. She started telling the tombstone everything, from her earliest memory to the present moment. Even if Piper had already told him something, she did so again. She told him how she didn't even know who her biological parents were and how blessed she was to have Percy and Annabeth. She told him what it was like to be made fun of for being Native American and how no one believed her because they "weren't really discriminated against". She told him how uncertain she was of her future and all her deepest fears that she'll fail in the adult world. Everything.

Piper wasn't sure how long she was there. She didn't know when she'd stopped talking and started listening to the wind blow through the grass and trees. Piper had been so absorbed in losing herself that she hadn't noticed how horribly sweaty and sticky she was.

Even so, she continued staring into the distance for quite some time, lost in her own thoughts, speechless.

Piper was jolted out of her trance as she heard movement behind her. She turned, startled, to see the offenders. There were two of them on horseback, though Piper could not yet identify who they were. However, Piper had a gut feeling that Nathalia was one of them.

She stood to meet them, and sure enough, the one on a sturdy Appaloosa was Nathalia. "Figured you'd still be over here," Nathalia yelled, pulling her horse in front of her companion's and abruptly stopping right in front of Piper.

Nathalia jumped off her horse and held loosely to the reins. "I have a surprise...of some sort...for you," she muttered, walking both herself and the horse to Piper's side, opening up the view of the other rider.

It was a man, that much was obvious from his sturdy and muscular build. Until he jumped down as well, Piper could not decipher much else due to the sunlight in her eyes.

And then Piper got the full view of him. She lost her breath. She couldn't speak she was so stunned. Piper forced herself to look over to Nathalia, who was watching her carefully for her reaction.

Nathalia cleared her throat very awkwardly. "Um. . .Piper! This is my older brother Jasper. He looks very much like some other Grace family members, does he not?" Piper did not dare to attempt at words. Nathalia turned over to her brother. "And Jasper, this is my best friend Miss Piper McLean."

Neither of them moved. Nathalia huffed. "Well, usually this is about the time normal people shake, after they've been introduced. Don't get too excited now," she stressed, motioning for the two of them to associate.

Jasper reached for Piper's hand first, giving her the chance to fully look at him for the first time. It was stunning, completely unbelievable how much he looked like Jason. Same blonde hair. Same sky blue eyes. Same odd scar on his lip. Same clear-cut jaw line.

"H-hi," Piper stuttered, immediately turning bright red with embarrassment.

Jasper narrowed his eyes. "Have we. . .met before?"

Piper's heart stopped.

"Okay, so maybe I didn't think that through as well as I thought I did," Nathalia admitted to Piper.

"Oh, you really think so?" Piper retorted sarcastically. "I mean, I've always wanted to just. . .you know, faint right in front of someone the first time we meet!"

From fainting at the graveyard after meeting Jasper to now, not a lot had happened, well except for Piper panicking about how big of an idiot she was. She'd woken up a few minutes later to a very worried Jasper and an almost laughing Nathalia. Yes, she had wonderful taste in friends.

Completely avoiding eye contact with Jasper and generally just not looking at him at all, Piper stumbled to her car and drove back to the school. It was probably dangerous to operate a vehicle after passing out just moments before, but Piper had been too mortified to care.

Once Piper had gotten back, Annabeth fussed about how late she was and how little of time they had to get her ready for the fundraising football game and dance. The football game? Uneventful for the most part. Piper felt like dying because she had to go in her dress; thankfully it wasn't cold. New Rome lost the game, but they still got the money for it.

For a change of tradition (and to probably get more people to give charity), the Queen and King were not to be announced until the kickoff of the dance, which was in a few minutes. Nathalia got to announce the winners, but she would not know until she stepped up to the microphone.

Consequently, the two of them were standing around in a circle in the school gym. Everyone else was dressed up all pretty and such, many students had donated older dresses to those who had had theirs destroyed last night.

A senior girl named Lacey had been the most generous. She was one of the few people in the school who'd actually been nice to Piper when she had been bullied. Lacey came from a pretty well-off family, but she didn't act like it. Piper hoped she won Homecoming Queen. Well, Piper pretty much hoped anyone but Drew won.

"You'll get over it," Nathalia laughingly told her.

People chattered nervously for a while with other students while music lightly played in the background. Piper was kind of glad Thalia went alone to the dance also, just so she had someone to talk to. Nathalia had said if it wasn't for school protocol, she would've forced Jasper to come along. However, Jasper was 21. Also, there was no way that they could've turned in the out of school date form in time.

Finally, Miss Calliope pushed her way over to Nathalia and handed her the revealing paper and the microphone. Nathalia pursed her lips and stepped into the middle of the crowd.

Piper gripped the sides of her deep blue dress. She watched as the other candidates did other nervous movements as well.

"Our 2013 Homecoming King is. . ." Nathalia paused as she opened up the first paper, "Jake Mason!" she announced proudly.

Piper sighed in relief. At least someone decent had won the King. Miss Calliope placed the red king's crown upon Jake's head and also gave him the sash. Once they were done, Nathalia held the microphone up once again.

Piper breathed in and out deeply. Not like she was expecting to win or anything, but there was a chance. There was a chance for change.

"And your 2013 Queen is Drew Tanaka!" Nathalia announced with less enthusiasm.

Everyone put down their heads, maybe in sadness, maybe to hide their facial expressions. Piper shrugged. It wasn't like she was really surprised. Everyone knew Drew was going to win. Besides, that just put her out of the running for Winter Royalty and Prom Queen.

Piper didn't really pay attention to Drew's crowning, but later on she told Lacey that she was rooting for her. Lacey giggled, said thank you, and went off dancing with her friends.

Piper danced with Nathalia for an hour or so until she got bored. It was fun, but Piper was also tired. "Hey, I'm gonna go, alright?"

Nathalia nodded. "Yeah, go on ahead!" she yelled above the music.

Piper waved goodbye and made her way out the school. Amazingly, the humid air felt good after getting out of the sweaty gym. She took a short stroll around the grass, admiring all that hadn't been destroyed by the storm. It was odd how she'd spent the last four years of her life walking past all this everyday, but had failed to notice all its beauty.

"It's Piper, isn't it?" a deep voice said from behind her.

Piper turned around to meet Jasper for the second time that day. "Yes. . .can't you get in trouble for being on school grounds?" she pointed out, trying to keep herself from passing out again. She was also kind of scared she would call him Jason on accident.

Jasper shrugged his shoulders with his hands in his pocket. "Nah, especially since I'm with you. I get the feeling you're not much of a troublemaker."

"Oh, really? Sometimes I can be quite the dangerous girl. For example," Piper pointed to her shoes, "I'm in heels."

Jasper stepped closer. "I um, also get the feeling that you can walk in heels perfectly, you just don't like to show it." He said this with a sort of cocky smile. It sent butterflies through Piper's chest.

Piper rolled her eyes. "So now you think you know me?"

"Actually, about that," Jasper said a little shyly, "I think I have something of yours," he stated as he reached into his back pocket. He pulled out a bundle of rectangular papers. "Look, this is gonna sound creepy, and I have no idea how they got in my mailbox, but they're addressed from you. . .and I don't really understand this part, but it's almost like they're addressed to my grandfather."

Piper took them speechlessly, shuffling through them and trying to read them in the moonlight. Sure enough, they were her letters. They were worn and torn up in places, but it was in her words and in her writing. "I-I can't believe. . .was there anything else?"

Jasper anxiously put his hand behind his head. "There was a letter to me. . .from my grandpa Jason. It was dated the day he died. There was also a picture of you. I don't even know if I can begin to understand, but I'm hoping you can explain."

Jason had figured it out first. He had deciphered the time curse that their love had been put through and he had figured out how to fix it. He had planned for this moment to happen. How, Piper didn't know, but she was thankful to him for being such a good man.

The two of them were extremely close now. "I can try," Piper said breathlessly. Oh, she wanted to kiss Jasper so bad. It was weird, thinking that Jason had come back to her, just not in the way she had expected. Here he was, and he didn't even know it.

"I have faith in you," Jasper said, grasping her face.

Piper closed the gap, her lips resting softly on his. It felt just like she'd remembered it to be in the dream. "You always have."

Oh my god I know it's been forever. . .and ever. . .and ever. And I still can't say I'm truly satisfied with this chapter. No kidding, I've done it over about 6 times in the past three months. I wanted to give you guys the best that I could! Ugh, I hope it's okay.

But alas, we have together reached the end of an incredible story! And for the Anon who told me that I deserve a happy ending too. . .I love you. That is seriously one of the nicest things anyone has told me. And for the rest of you, I LOVE YOU TOO. You, who stayed with me until the end. You, who was there throughout my increasingly longer updates. You, who reviewed and followed and favorited and just read my story. And I can never repay you for that.

Next on the list of stories? The sequel to Fame and Change, What Fame Couldn't Change! Can't wait to see you again!

Love,

Demitria