Rowan → Ethan Nakamura ✔

First In The World

Ethan couldn't sleep. He had slept enough in Elysium – there wasn't much to do in the golden fields, so his days were filled with boredom. The only way to rid himself of such mind-numbing sedentary was to sleep, or look for Rowan.

He did so now, but instead of seeing a murky image as if peering into the bottom of a pond, Rowan was clear, in front of him, and tossing back and forth.

"Ro," He whispered from his own swing. As he sat up, he was reminded of their sleepovers when they were children, giggling and sharing midnight secrets.

Rowan's head snapped up, mistaking his voice for a threat. When she realized it was just him, she glanced at Ethan for less than a second. The she ignored him and jumped off her swing.

"Hey, wait!" Ethan hastily jumped off the swings' platform, following her to the riverside.

Rowan stopped when she was against the railing, back towards him. Ethan walked up beside her.

She stared out at the river. "Go to sleep."

"If you're not, neither am I."

Stony silence. Ethan heard the gentle purring of the city, like a giant cat snoozing. Most of its inhabitants had locked up and slid into bed, but there were always those who were comforted by the dark, daring to brave the night or use it to their advantage.

"I missed you, you know." He said, his voice low. "Not a day went by that I didn't think of you."

"Then why did you leave?"

"If I hadn't, you would have been in so much danger. Camp Half-Blood was the only place where monsters wouldn't be able to sniff me out."

Rowan stared at him, long and hard. It was the first time she had truly looked at Ethan after he had returned. He did not recommend being revived – flashes of dizzying red and black, his spectral heart about to burst, violently shaken like there were invisible strings tugging him this way and that...and just when Ethan thought he was going to die twice it all stopped, and he felt soft linen beneath him. The next time he opened his eyes, he was alive.

"That's not the reason."

Ethan blinked. "Of course that's the reason. What do you mean?"

"We trained together. We fought together. Anything you can take on, so can I."

"We fought in controlled environments, Ro. It's different out here – your enemies won't let you tap out. You fight to kill."

"You fought in controlled environments," Rowan corrected. At his confusion, she continued. "42 house calls. 3 bounties."

Ethan stared at her in disbelief. Rowan smirked, waiting for him to speak as she watched the river flow.

"You're kidding," Ethan said incredulously. "You went behind Old Man Ma's back – ?"

"It was sanctioned."

Another second of stunned quiet. He examined her, a part of him wondering if she was joking. Rowan was leaner, the strength that used to be stored in wire-thin limb made itself known in slender wraps of muscle. She had grown into the eyes that he used to gently make fun of, calling her bug-eyed while she called him short. Her face was sharper, jaw more angular. To him, she had always been a cute kid, but now Ethan realized that he thought she was pretty.

"You passed," Ethan said reverently. "You're a Hunter."

"Like my father and all those who came before him. The first woman in a line of men. If you had stayed, you would have been one too."