orenda [leo valdez]

xix. Annabeth: the Strict Chaperone

It was three months after the meeting where the camp had decided to let Jason, Kira, Piper, Leo, and Annabeth go off in a warship to find the roman camp.

The warship was halfway done. Leo had worked long and hard at it, and it was coming along really well.

Kira worked out and practiced sword fighting as much as she could. Clarisse seemed to be slightly impressed by her quest, so much that she didn't even dunk her head in a toilet.

Will tried to teach her archery and healing, but Kira found pretty quickly she wasn't meant for that.

Clarisse had given her glares when she first woke up, but once she learned she wasn't interested in going to steal her spot as Ares' counselor, she backed off.

Most of the time, she sparred with Clarisse, or someone else from the Ares' cabin to get tips or learn pain tolerance, but she often practiced with Connor and Jason as well, and sometimes even Piper, Annabeth, and Leo.

Annabeth had given the four demigods clay necklaces, just like hers. She explained that every year they were at camp, they got a new bead with an illustration of the most important event. The camp had decided to go with a flying dragon.

Clarrisse showed Kira one of the Ares' children's abilities, telumkinesis. They are able to adapt to using various types of weapons quicker than normal. They have the power to curse their opponents' weapons and transfigure any object into any weapon.

Kira found it kind of scary, but she learned how to use them slowly.

Annabeth had turned into Kira's older sister, she gave her advice, reminded her to not slack off during training, and was always there to have a shoulder to lean on.

She also found that she was extremely good at volleyball, and the Apollo's cabin loved having her on their team.

And, Leo and Kira had been dating for three months.

He had officially asked her out on their way to dinner with some flowers he stole from the Demeter cabin, so after she said yes, they had to run to the hearth so they didn't get their fingers chopped off with gardening scissors.

Their first kiss had been under the stars on the beach. She still smiled thinking about it.

She was currently practicing with Sherman Yang, one of the older campers in the Ares cabin.

He was not easy on Kira, nor did she want him to. They had been going at it for hours, and Kira's arms were full of tiny sword slices.

Jab, block. Slice, block. Attack, parry. Kira had grown into one of the most feared warriors at camp, but she still maintained the sweet, humble girl that she used be outside of the ring.

She was everyones friend in camp, but still, everyone respected her and knew not to challenge her.

There had been a few new campers show, and Kira helped them feel at home, just as she wanted to be.

"Go, Kira!" The yell of support had distracted Kira enough for Sherman to jab his sword hilt into her gut, and she fell back, coughing for breath.

"Hi Leo," She groaned, feeling the bruise forming.

"That wasn't fair!" Leo called, frowning at Sherman. He just shrugged, helping Kira up.

"Break?" Kira asked, wiping some sweat off her forehead. Sherman nodded, stalking off to find someone else to fight. Leo jumped onto the mat, smiling adorably.

"Sorry 'bout that chica," He said. He was covered in soot and grease from working on the ship.

Leo was 5'7, was a few inches shorter compared to Jason, but Kira was only 5'4, so Leo was still pretty tall compared to her.

Leo kissed her forehead, moving her off the mat.

"Wanna go for a swim?" He asked. "I gotta get this grease off, and you're pretty sweaty,"

"Gee, thanks, Valdez," Kira said, shaking her head. But she was smiling, she knew Leo was right, she was sweaty.  "Sure," She turned her sword back into her mother's necklace, and tried to put it around her neck, but she couldn't reach. "Sure,"

"Here," Leo said, turning her around. "I got it,"

He closed it around her neck and kissed the top of her head.

"You're affectionate today, huh?" Kira asked, smiling up at the boy.

"I can't kiss my girlfriend now?" Leo asked, grinning.

"Shut up and give me five to change into a suit," Kira told him, running off to her cabin.

It was a simple black bikini, and it wasn't too showy so she could still swim around, but it still showed off her figure pretty well.

Annabeth probably wouldn't approve of them goofing off instead of training, but they were just kids. They had to have fun sometimes.

She didn't dare change in the Ares' cabin. She ran into the bathroom, changing in a stall, and throwing one of Leo's old shirts over so no one stared at her.

She didn't want anyone to stare at her except Leo.

She stole a lot of Leo's clothes, but she probably would have stole more if he had any more. Since they had come back from the quest, they hadn't been allowed out of camp.

She skipped to the beach.

Kira had never been this happy in, well, her entire life. She was living her life in a camp with her boyfriend, playing volleyball, and hanging out with her friends, even if a giant quest was looming above them. Life had never been this good to her.

She met Leo at the beach, where she took off his shirt to reveal the suit.

Leo couldn't help but stare. With all the working out, Kira had extremely toned body, and she was still quite curvy and slim. He stared, but respectfully. You know. Obviously.

He took of his shirt as well, chasing her into the water, both of them laughing loudly.

If anyone heard them, no one told on them to Annabeth, who probably would have scolded them for wasting time.

Kira knew Leo's favorite thing wasn't water, but he always seemed to enjoy swimming with her.

They stayed in the water for a long time, waving to the occasional water nymph, swimming laps, and splashing each other.

Both of them needed it after the long day of training and building a war ship. Like normal 16 year olds did.

Leo smirked before flipping her under. She came up laughing, shoving water in his face, but it only became steam as soon as it got close.

"Aw, you're no fun Lava Girl," She pouted. Leo just laughed.

Once they got back out, they wrapped themselves with towels from the camp store, decorated with different famous demigods and Camp Half Blood written in orange in the middle.

So they sat there, shivering from the cold ocean, watching the sun set. There were no words, because there didn't need to be. They relished in their silence, it was like the wind spoke for them.

Kira leaned into Leo, her eyes fluttering shut onto his shoulder, the beginning of a dreamless sleep. She was safe with him. He made sure nothing hurt her when she couldn't defend herself.

The bell for dinner went off in the distance.

"I'll steal some for us later, monada," He whispered to her as she smiled, her mind content with Leo Valdez, sitting in the sand.

For now, life was good.

Here's a little fluff chapter for you guys, just because I'm so in love with these two characters. It's short, but I thought it was cute and I wanted to add it.