THE HEALER| Heroes of Olympus

7

It was the middle of dinner when they returned. They were standing on the Aphrodite cabin's table, and Piper had one foot in Drew's pizza. Sixty campers rose at once, gawking at them in astonishment.

Leo jumped off the table, ran to the nearest bronze brazier, and threw up in it—which was probably not a great burnt offering for the gods.

"Jason?" I said.

Chiron trotted forward. No doubt the old centaur had seen thousands of years' worth of weird stuff, but even he looked totally flabbergasted.

"What—How—?"

The Aphrodite campers stared up at Piper with their mouths open. 

"Hi," Piper said, as casually as she could. "We're back."

Then they told their story. They told us about how they managed to free Hera and keep Gaea at bay and answered a million questions from the other campers, but finally Chiron saw how tired they were and ordered them to bed.

That night Jason spent hours in the infirmary with me. I had been able to heal the various scars and bruises from the quest, and they were healing. His arms and legs were well muscled and tan—distracting as always. I wanted to slap myself for having that be the first thought when I saw him again. Sure, Will and Kayla had made fun of me the past four days for constantly watching the sky for their..or rather his return. But that didn't mean anything. I was simply just concerned for his health. 

"Get any sleep?" I asked him the next morning, I had gone to check on him to make sure he was healing correctly. 

His close-cropped blond hair caught the afternoon light so it looked like it was turning to gold, Midas style. He looked at me as if I'd been reading his thoughts. "Not much. Dreams."

"About your past?"

He nodded. I didn't push him. If he wanted to talk, that was fine, but I knew  better than to press the subject. After all he had just arrived back from the quest. I'm sure he would tell me in time. 

"It's not good news," he warned. "My memories aren't good for—for any of us." 

"We'll figure it out," I promised. 

"We?" 

"You really think I'd leave you losers to fight this Gaea by yourself?" I mused. "Besides I think you'll need someone to fix you guys up since you guys can't go a day without getting hurt."

He looked at me hesitantly, like he wanted very much to believe me. 

"Thank you," he said sincerely, I waved him off. "I mean it. You're the only one who cared enough to genuinely help me with no ulterior motives." 

I smiled at him, "I just knew what it was like to show up at camp confused and be thrown into a battle you didn't ask for. The least I could do was help you out." 

I grabbed his arm and unwrapped his bandages. His arm had healed completely with my powers and the help of some ambrosia. Only a small scar remained.

"Annabeth and Rachel are coming in for the meeting tonight. I should probably wait until then to explain my past.." He said. 

"Okay," I said perfectly fine with his decision. 

Jason studied me warily. His forearm tattoo was faint blue in the sunlight. "You're in a good mood. How can you be so sure things will work out?"

"Because you're going to lead us," I said simply. "From what I've seen in my dreams..." I looked him in the eye. "You won't let us down. So I'd follow you anywhere."