Riordanverse One Shots

A Lost Love Returns (Greco-Roman)

Requested by: nobody
A Valentine's Day special.
In case somehow you don't recognize the lyrics, the song is "Let Her Go" by Passenger.

Piper hated Valentine's Day. Ironic, considering her mother was Aphrodite, goddess of love. All her siblings at Camp Half-Blood were known for being obsessed with that particular holiday. They would spend the whole day gossiping, going on the cheesiest dates with their significant other, or playing matchmaker. That was part of why Piper hated it.

Luckily, she wasn't at Camp Half-Blood anymore and wouldn't have to deal with it. Ten years after the incident with the Roman Triumvirate, Reyna had offered Piper a house in New Rome. Piper had immediately agreed.

She didn't fit in with the legion, they found that out quick. But she found another way to be productive. Much like her friend Annabeth, who had set up her architectural studio in her New Rome residence and based all her work from there, Piper had gotten a job in the city.

Now, I know what you're thinking. A badass half-blood like Piper who fought in the Giant War and was crucial to the Olympian victory must have gotten a really cool job. You would be wrong. After everything Piper had been through she wanted anything but excitement and adrenaline. She became a teacher.

After all, even with all the legionary duties, the half-bloods at Camp Jupiter were still kids who needed to go to school. So Piper chose to do something she enjoyed and was good at: she became a singing teacher.
She also took every opportunity she could to teach the students about the meaning behind each song and the power of lyrical expression. A power no one understood better than her.
And she loved her quiet job.

But that day was terrible. She woke up with a jolt, drenched in sweat and breathing heavily. She blinked hard, trying to erase the image of the electric blue eyes that lingered in her vision. Ever since that day she had nightmares. The memories of what she had lost that day still haunted her. In fact, it had gotten so bad that she had started having problems distinguishing the dreams from reality. Countless times she had seen the son of Jupiter standing in front of her and had her heart broken when she woke up right after.

She shook her head to clear it and looked over at her nightstand. There was a framed picture that was the most precious thing she owned, despite how much pain it caused her. It showed her and Jason Grace side by side with wide smiles, arms draped over each other's shoulders. It had been taken little time after their victory.

Before she had broken up with him. At the time, she had wanted, no, needed to figure out who she was without the threat of impending doom or the Mist clouding her memories. And she didn't think it was fair to lead Jason on when she wasn't sure that she could give him all the love he deserved. She came to regret her decision most of any other. But now he was gone, and it didn't matter if she loved him with all her heart or not.

"I wish you were here." she sighed looking at the picture.

This, was the main reason why Piper hated Valentine's Day.

*

Piper tried her hardest not to let her sour mood show at school. She was one of the most optimistic teachers, always doing her best to smile. It would raise suspicions if precisely on Valentine's Day she showed up with a scowl.

Luckily, smiles were easy to come by when you had the group of kids she did, her friends' children. Charles Jackson, Bianca Di Angelo-Solace, Maria Valdez, Thomas Zhang and Kinzie Ramirez-Arellano. Granted, Bianca and Maria were the only ones who had an aptitude for singing, but Piper couldn't help but smile when she saw the group all together. It reminded her of her friends.