ARUNA

~•♡•~

aruna didn't regret her night in the city, even if it meant she would forever have to wear a disguise outside of camp because she was now on the most wanted list in the tri-state area (technically ashley rhodes was wanted, but as soon as she was detained, it just meant she'd also be charged with fraud). she'd had a lifetime of fun in one night; she ate sushi for the first time, leo reprogrammed the jumbotron, she played hide-and-seek in a mall, and she even encountered a few ghosts in an abandoned building and almost got killed! how fun!

and, she was finally coming to terms with the fact that she really liked leo. she wasn't going to pursue anything, but this wasn't like her little crush on piper when they first met. eventually, that resolved to mere platonic feelings. this was a lot more serious.

but she wasn't ready for a relationship. she didn't even think that leo really liked her, but that wasn't why.

she just couldn't accept the idea that love was for her.

it was around 3p.m. by the time they returned to camp. a few campers looked at them weirdly, but it was mostly the ones who hadn't gotten to know who aruna was very well. the ones who had gotten used to her shit gave a simple head-nod, and went on about their day.

"oh, hey, runa." kayla knowles waved. "need some help on the eye?"

"nah, get tu hermano first."

so, she grabbed will solace, waved goodbye, and hauled the drained son of apollo off to the medbay.

jason looked a little concerned, but when aruna and leo started walking to the dining pavillion while singing songs from 'the nightmare before christmas', he eased up a bit.

"wait! runa, don't you want to spend time... together?" piper asked.

aruna just looked at piper with a small smile.

"how about later?" aruna suggested. "we can all have board game night in my cabin."

piper looked startled. "are... you sure?"

aruna nodded confidently and waved piper off. "you guys should go and do valentine's day things. around- say, sundown- come over to my cabin. we can destroy our friendship then via monopoly."

piper chuckled and nodded. "okay. take care, runa."

"you too, pipes."

and they went in opposite directions.

~•♡•~

aruna and leo had to make a second stop to medbay just after dinner. the children of apollo did some quick healing, to the point of aruna and leo looking almost exactly the same as they had before. only difference was both teens were covered in a bunch of small scars all over (adding to their collection) and aruna now had a very massive, noticable scarred red ring on her wrist barely hidden behind her bracelet.

leo whistled. "hardcore."

"i'm always hardcore."

leo and aruna found that very funny, and cackled the whole way back to the amphitheatre.

"so, the dionysus and apollo cabins are doing a play." leo explained as he forced aruna into the crowded stands.

"yeah, i don't like plays." aruna huffed. "lot's of people. and it's valentine's day, so it's probably romantic."

leo and aruna sat at the top, where the selene banner usually is. aruna noticed jason and piper under the zeus banner, laughing as they ate from a heart-shaped box of chocolates.

for once, she wasn't envious. she smiled as she watched piper kiss jason happily.

"maybe." leo nodded as he unzipped his jacket. "but, we can judge it together! have some fun, will you?"

"i do have fun." aruna retorted as she pulled her silver cloak across her chest. she conformed it to fit more like a blanket, and she spread it over leo's legs.

look at aruna being kind. such character development.

"for example, i get into fights with a bitchy korean son of hebe, and i train with clarisse, and i enter women's rights protests and try to kill people. very fun."

leo snorted. "yeah. so fun. it was especially fun when you didn't know how to use chopsticks, even though you are literally asian."

"i'm more of a barbaric, eat-with-my-hands kind of girl. it was one of the few acts of defiance against my grandmother."

leo froze, and turned to aruna. his rustic eyes seemed sad as he knit his eyebrows.

"does... does she know where you are?"

aruna shrugged. "chiron said he sent a team of aurae to collect some of my things. i suppose she knows to some degree, but i think he told her that i'm off her shoulders now."

leo looked sad. "why doesn't she care?" he asked softly, so as not to catch the attention of the people close to them

aruna sighed. "well, after, y'know, my dad found out what my grandpa had done to me, and killed him, my grandma wanted all remnants of the two discarded from our lives." she explained. "she stopped being catholic, which she had converted to after marrying my grandpa, and i was only allowed to practice buddhism. spanish was forbidden. she actually didn't even like it when i spoke english, so we mostly spoke korean in the house. i wasn't allowed to celebrate dia de las muertos, but, y'know, i had a secret ofrenda under the bed."

leo huffed slightly, a small smile displayed on his mouth.

"she hated me." aruna nodded. "she didn't like me much even before. she considered me a 'bastard child' because i was born out of wedlock. to make it worse, i had no mother in my life. but, then everything happened, and she pretty much got away with anything she wanted."

"that's bullshit." leo muttered angrily. "being on the loose in the city is better than any of that."

aruna shuffled forward. "i think life just fucked us both." aruna admitted. she rested her head on leo's shoulder, as she had come to do many times in recent weeks.

"but, i think we should make the most of it all."

leo wrapped an arm around her and laid his own head atop hers. it felt natural- right even, to feel the warmth of his body so very close to aruna's.

years of her life had been spent hating physical contact. years spent refuting any type of affection. years spent either cowering away from men, or finding herself trying to hurt them before they hurt her.

and yet, she found herself drawn to leo. she hadn't realized how cold she'd been all those years, how sick and empty she had felt. for once, that longing sense lurking within the pits of her soul was being resolved. the iced over insides of her heart seemed to thaw with every look at leo.

the lights dimmed, and leo used his other hand to root around in his coat pocket. he pulled out a small, red box, and gestured it to aruna.

she pulled away, and opened it. within were 16 identical chocolates.

aruna flushed red, thankful for the low lighting. she looked at leo, and he offered her his crooked grin. the tooth he had lost had grown back now, though there seemed to be a little gap now.

"final present." leo said. "oh, and they all have the strawberry filling, because i know you like strawberry the most."

dozens of butterflies fluttered through aruna's body. the feeling wasn't just concentrated in her abdomen. her head pounded. it felt like something was trying to break through her legs, arms, chest, every part of her. she felt hot all of a sudden, but she managed a smile at leo.

"thank you." she smiled.

"anything for space girl!"

aruna picked up one of the chocolates, and handed it to leo. he frowned, and looked at aruna through his eyebrows.

"i don't think you understand-"

"we share." aruna insisted. "after everything we've been through together, we share."

so they shared. the lights on the stage came on, and the play began.

~•♡•~

everything was great until the play ended, and rather than lights kick on and torches relight, the lights short-circuited and left everyone in the dark, literally.

"um." was all leo had to say.

"uhhhh." was all a son of dionysus had to say.

"ermmmmmm." was all a daughter of apollo had to say.

"what's going on?!" clarisse yelled.

"hey, how about you use lamer to light everything up?!" one of her brothers snickered. clarisse then began fighting him.

"ugh, make it work!" drew yelled.

"shut up, drew!" piper yelled back. "guys, it's fine. let's just-"

aruna's face fell and her gut sank as every single torch relit, but now they were a blue-white. several demigods started chattering nervously, looking around for the cause.

"um." was all leo had to offer.

a shimmering apparition appeared in the center of the stage. it was small at first, rather transparent. but it began to form into a longer shape, and glow brighter and brighter than before.

chiron drew his bow, and every single child of ares held their weapons, which they brought everywhere for some reason.

aruna gulped, already knowing what it was. two arms formed, now turning to a semi-natural pale shade of skin. aruna began to rise, ignoring leo's protests as she made her way to the center steps.

then, selene was fully formed. she stood seven and a half feet tall, dressed just as she had in the dreams aruna had seen her in, and as she had in the statue that lay in the selene cabin.

she held a torch in her hand, and her cloak billowed around her. the demigods began getting louder and louder, freaking out slightly.

"hello, daughter." was all selene said.

nobody knew where to look- selene, or aruna. aruna bit her lip as she trotted down the center steps, her fists clenched.

selene smiled. "it is so dear to be able to be here today."

"uh- i-" chiron was at a loss for words, but aruna was not.

"yeah, wanna explain that?" aruna asked. "i thought you were condemned to greece."

selene smiled. did she even feel anger, like, ever?

"once you built the cabin, and the statue, and word of my existence spread, you've helped fuel my power." selene smiled. "now, i visit you on the night of your sixteenth birthday."

aruna froze as piper shot up.

"IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY?!" she screeched.

"no. she's lying."

selene tilted her head. "what would i gain from lying about your date of birth?"

"IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY?!" jason screeched as he shot up. his voice was probably as high as piper's.

"no!"

"but it is." selene frowned.

"mom!" aruna groaned like a whiny child. "i didn't want them to know!"

"why?!" jason shrieked again, his voice somehow another octave higher.

"well, y'know, after some home issues-" aruna sent a dirty glare to selene. "my birthday sucked, and i don't celebrate it."

selene sighed. "well, if only we could change your feelings about it."

"not we." aruna said. "i have changed how i feel about it, no thanks to you."

"runa!" piper scolded.

"no, i have a right to be pissed!" aruna retorted. "because while daddy and grandpa went world war III, mommy did nothing!"

several demigods looked confused. nobody actually knew aruna's full story- only leo (and really, he was lacking details). even piper was at a loss.

"and i regret that with every passing day." selene said solemnly. "hera forbade my involvement until the second great prophecy began. now, even if i am not allowed to do much, i wish to do my best."

aruna stared. "well... like what?"

"um." was all selene had to say.

"you've put me on the spot." the titaness admitted.

everyone went silent. after what felt like millenia, aruna began laughing. it broke into a fit of hysteria, with the young teen clutching her stomach and squinting her eyes to prevent tears from falling.

"i guess we aren't too different." aruna giggled as she began to settle down.

selene smiled, and gestured her hand to the left.

"i do come with a gift."

in her hand, a frame of some sort appeared. aruna took it (snatched it, really) from her mother's hand, raising an eyebrow as she studied it.

"this is a sock."

aruna could hear leo snickering from somewhere in the stands. everyone stared as selene looked confused, and snatched the frame back.

"oh. i think i took the wrong one."

"mom, how the fuck did you accidentally grab a framed sock?"

"who frames a sock?!" jason screeched.

selene continued staring at it, even flipping it around, upside down, and shaking it. "this isn't even your sock."

aruna crossed her arms. "where did you even get this?"

"el paso, of course." selene said, though her face was still confused.

"where in el paso?"

selene squinted as she stared at aruna. "um" was all she had to say.

"you took a random framed sock and thought it was a good present?" aruna deadpanned.

"you must understand- mortal cities are very small in the grand scheme of things! and, i also haven't left the ancient lands for centuries!"

"where did you get this?!"

"that funny building with the weird, mean men in the suits. they had these adorable boxes on their shoulders that talked!"

aruna gasped in horror. "that sock is evidence in a case or something! you have to give it back!"

"oh, don't be ridiculous. who needs a sock?"

"WITH THAT LOGIC, WHY WOULD YOU GIFT IT TO ME?" aruna desperately clawed at her face and groaned loudly.

"really, i do not understand why this is so important. it's impressive i even remembered when you were born. you should be a little more gratefu-"

"give me the damn sock." aruna sighed. aruna threw her hand out, and selene hummed happily as she handed the sock to her. aruna shook her head at the thing in her hand and let her hands droop to her sides.

"lovely to see you all." selene said calmly. "i don't imagine i will be back until my daughter dies or something! good luck!"

she vanished in a plume of white and pale blue particles. aruna stared at the spot a minute, and shook her head.

the amphitheater was silent

"happy birthday to-"

will solace was subsequently silenced by austin, who only shook his head slowly. will's shoulder's sagged and he nodded sadly. austin let him go with a heavy sigh.

"this is depressing." clarisse grumbled. "what color is the sock?"

aruna looked at it. "white... but unwashed. like someone ran a hundred-meter dash and then handed this in to the police- i- this is so fucking nasty."

leo cupped his hands over his mouth, and shouted, "HOW DO WE KNOW IT ISN'T A CUM SOCK?"

several campers gasped, several laughed, and several shook their heads in disappointment.

"LEONIDAS VALDEZ!" chiron scolded.

"HE HAS A POINT!" travis barked.

"THAT IS BESIDES MY POINT."

"BUT IT'S MINE!"

"IT'S HIS!"

"SILENCE!"