Sparks Fly (A Jasper One-Shot Love Story)

JM 10. Norway

Well, the last chapter ever! Sad, but necessary. The connection to, say, chapter 3 in SF! Enjoy!

*****
*5 years after the departure*

The cold bit at her skin, so cold that it went to the point of numbing a part of her brain, as she walked, rather, hobbled from the hotel to her tiny little house. But Piper didn't complain. In some ways, the cold helped get rid of painful memories for a short period of time. And she welcomed it.

Once she reached the stone house, she locked the door and threw all the horrible layers and layers of clothes away, welcoming the central heating. Never the one to have been used to winter, Norway was almost like a shock to her. Days were constantly dark here for 6 months a year, or so the locals said, with some part of the sky getting a little change in its lighting scheme. The sun came bright and strong but never seemed to provide any warmth, not like it used to in Malibu, her childhood home. It made her almost homesick for LA, but she remained here.

The beautiful part were the northern lights-a hue of blue and green, occasionally a smattering of deep magenta. She and Josh would sit out in the balcony and watch these displays, and she would make stories about them, and he would laugh. 

She checked on him and found him peacefully sleeping under a bundle of thick blankets. She ran her hand through his blond hair and kissed him on his forehead. He didn't stir even once.
Looking at his face, a pang of sadness and want went through her. With his eyes closed, he looked exactly like Jason- just without the scar. Tears pricked her eyes and she got up and went, determined not to cry again. Somehow, that would wake Josh up and she didn't want to disturb his sleep.

She went to make a cup of coffee. As she did, she kept thinking about her life till now, despite not wanting to. It was almost like a reflex, like, anytime her mind was free, she was attacked by the memories. So many of them, enough to drown her, but she stood her ground.

It had been 5 years since she'd left him. That wasn't planned. Hell, she'd been willing to give him a year off, so that Josh could at least know his father. But the more she travelled, the more she felt at peace.

Of course she knew the truth she was denying. She didn't want to go back because she was terrified. Her first year had been occupied with how to evade him and her friends at all costs- getting a daughter of Hecate to block all Iris messages, anything- live a hobo like life. She continued her interior designing on the side and was paid well enough to survive on her own. 

Then she just, well, lived. Went from place to place. It was a good life, not an ideal one, but good enough not to spiral into depression. Occasionally it got awkward, like when Josh would ask about his father after spending a day with his school friends. She always lied and told him that he wasn't there anymore. She couldn't exactly tell him that Jason was dead because she wasn't going to hide forever. 

She had heard about his efforts though, the first year. It was as if Aphrodite had sent her a dream vision of what was happening- it wasn't clear enough to give a look of his face, but clear enough to show what he had been doing- running from one place to another, one camp to another, contacting anyone who had details. At those moments, she felt horribly guilty. But then she remembered what he did and that feeling went away.

She saw him slowly give up. A part of her was happy. A part of her panicked. Jason had always been a fighter, never the one to give up, even when everyone thought Leo was dead he'd stood his ground and believed that Leo had something planned. And now, seeing him giving up hopes on ever seeing her again crushed her in her sleep. She so desperately wanted to go back to him after 3 years of solitude, but then the fear came back and she didn't make a single move towards home.