LUMINESCENCE [Reynico]

track 09: tenerife sea

Reyna smiled as she walked, the sky above her a dark grey. She wanted it to rain so badly. She wanted to go to the woods and lose herself. No one knew the real her. The super self conscious, shy, timid girl hiding under all of her bold and brave exterior.

No one even knew about the self-esteem issues she had, not a single soul. Except Jason. Just the thought of him made her heart ache. She made peace with the son of Jupiter a long time ago. There it was: acceptance. But there was still the bitterness, the sadness, the longing in her heart. Maybe it'll never go away.

He didn't just lose Jason. He didn't just lose his bestfriend. She lost herself trying to find him. Reyna clinged to him, Jason was the best her anchor. Sometimes, she just needed to get away from it all. From the suffocating grip of her duties.

She always admired the rain. Whenever it rained, she would go out of sight and lose herself in the rain. She was happy she had the escape, that so many people desired. If only . . . if only they knew the real her. That would make her life worth living, instead of living this complex, fake lie.

Reyna slunk into the shadows and grinned as the slight drizzle began. She ran through the forest, knowing everyone was soon to be heading home. She ran through the trees, smiling. She loved the feeling the rush of water gave her. She stopped in the middle of the free open field, and she let her hair down. She outstretched her arms as it began to pour, the rain increasing.

Reyna let her eyes close and sighed. She spun in circles and ran around, singing and yelling at the top of her lungs. This was her escape, the one thing she did while no one was looking.

She carried herself with confidence, and such boldness, because she didn't want anyone to see the breaking, dying, hurting girl inside. She was so terrified of showing people who she really was. Sometimes, she doesn't even know who she was anymore.

Reyna lived a huge fake lie, telling herself she was happy. She wasn't. She isn't. She acts the way she does, because she's terrified to show anyone the real her, in fear they would reject her. In a way, rejection hurt more than pain, and Reyna learned that the hard way. She lost herself as the rain poured down onto her, soaking her in minutes.

Because for only this brief moment in time, she wasn't the a Roman praetor, she wasn't a demigod, she wasn't an outcast. She was purely Reyna.

. . .
. . .

Nico walked home lazily in the rain, the wet droplets splashing on his face in rhythmic patterns. He was secretly watching the clouds. He laid there, in the grass with the blue sky above him, he felt the calm.

He could see Bianca's face, and everyone else's that he's ever lost in his life. He saw them all, and he had longed to see them. It was his one escape to feel free. He felt as peace in the wretched world, full of pain.

It wasn't worth it, to be a demigod wasn't worth it like he thought it would be. He wanted nothing more than to grow old with her at his side, and have children, and fall in love with her all over again every time he looked into her dark eyes.

She made him smile, made him hurt. She was what made him wake up in the morning, and the last thing on his mind before he went to sleep. Reyna was worth it all. Worth the pain, and the suffering. He believed, truly, that if he were to die, he wanted to die by her side.

And only then, when he knew he couldn't do anything more to save her, he would lie beside her, crush her body to him, and die next to her. His life encircled her's.

He whipped through the trees. He stopped and halted his movements. There she was, the same girl always on his mind. She danced in the ran, a smile on her face. Her long dark hair was down and she was soaked.  She was still so beautiful. She yelled and sang and let out all of her anger and pain. And most of all, Nico knew what she was doing. She was being free, if only for a few minutes, she was free.

________

Reyna smiled and stopped dancing in the rain. The sound of the thunderstorm drowned out her cries and her anger. The flashes of lightning her only source of light. She smiled and sunk to her knees. She didn't cry as she often would, but she smiled.

She kept her eyes closed as she looked up at the mysterious dark grey sky, and she sighed in relief. Images of him flooded her mind.

"Too troublesome." She opened her eyes. He sounded like he was right there, and she wanted nothing more than to be wrapped in his arms. The sounds of footsteps made her head loll back into place. She slowly looked over her shoulder and was shocked when she saw the boy she was just daydreaming about. He walked towards her, his hands deep in his pockets, soaken wet. He plopped down beside her, sitting in the wet grass.

Reyna was too frozen to speak. Had he heard her? She looked up at the sky and she smiled as the rain hit her face. Nico just looked up at the sky, watching the clouds shift.

"It isn't easy, is it?" He asked and Reyna turned to face him, lashes slowly opening.  "What isn't?" She asked and Nico laid back in the grass, Reyna following to lay beside him.

"Pretending to be this person you're not. Pretending to be okay, when you're not. Pretending." He whispered and a crack of thunder scared Reyna. She rolled over onto her side in the soaken field. She looked up at Nico's eyes.

She made Nico face her, both of them laying on their sides. Nico was mesmerized by her beauty. Even soaken wet, her eyes all puffy, and her hair sprawled into the grass, she was still that breathtaking girl. Gorgeous. Reyna.

"No. It's not Nico." She whispered and he let his hand run fingers through her hair. It fanned out around her on the grass, and the rain came down, not missing a beat in it's pattern.

"I know how you're feeling. Like, you're constricted, confined." She smiled at his words, and closed her eyes. "Too scared to show the world how you feel, or who you are." She whispered and Nico opened his eyes and met hers.

"You're still hurting Nico. You're still grieving." Nico let a small smile fall onto his lips.

"Too scared of rejection. Too scared to be that quiet girl who loves flowers." Reyna smiled.

"You know me so well Nico." She whispered and he caressed her cheek,
Nico grinned at her."They don't call me a genius for nothing." he said and she scooted closer to him, feeling the warmth of his body. He held her in his arms and breathed in her scent.

"Don't be cocky." Reyna scolded, but she was smiling.

Reyna smelt like the beautiful exquisite flower she was. Like the Gardenia, a beautiful wild flower. Too much sun, and it'll wilt, and too much shade, and it'll die. Nico always told himself he wanted to marry an average girl, and he thought about that for a minute. He shook his head and smiled.

"This is the real me." Reyna paused, closing her eyes. "Is this the real you?" She asked, her voice so soft. Nico kissed her on the forehead. "This is me." And then they kissed, under the rain and the clouds, like it was their first.