orenda [leo valdez]

lxxxiv. Their Happy Ending

"Loose curls it is," Piper said, pulling out a curling wand.

As she worked on Kira's hair, Kira stared at herself in the mirror.

The realization had begun to hit her. She was getting married. That was nothing like having a boyfriend, or having a first kiss. She only got one of these.

Luckily for her, she couldn't imagine any one else she would want it to be. Leo was the guy of her dreams, the only person she could ever imagine falling in love with. He was the love of her life, and here she was, actually tying the knot.

She patted at her mascara, trying to not cry. She didn't want to mess up the makeup that Piper had done, but it felt cakey and suffocating. It looked amazing, but she didn't feel like herself. She felt...plastic. What if Leo didn't like it?

Her scar on her forehead had been completely covered with concealer and foundation, but if you looked hard enough, you could see the grove from when Kira had fallen through the roof with Piper, Leo, and Jason in Detroit.

She sniffled, trying to desperately keep the tears in her eyes.

"Don't you dare," Piper warned, dropping a piece of perfectly curled hair. "You're going to ruin the makeup,"

"Piper," Kira whispered, "This is actually happening,"

"Yes," Piper said, a small smile on her lips, but a sad look in her eyes. "It is."

Kira pressed her lips together. "I never thought this day would come."

"You didn't think you two would last?" Piper asked, picking up another small strand of hair. Behind them, Hazel and Annabeth talked quietly to themselves.

"Well, for the longest time, I didn't think I had a chance." Kira paused. "But once we got together...I didn't think we'd survive this long,"

"Not all of us did."

Kira prayed to the Olympians to not let the tears welling in her eyes to fall. "No, not all of us did."

Piper's face was unreadable. Kira could usually read eyes, but they were cloudy. Piper's eyes always used to change color, but since Jason had died, they had settled to a murky brown, not changing.

The silence was unbearable, as Piper and Kira both tried to hold themselves together. Kira thought about all her friends that would never get a day like this. Piper wouldn't, not with Jason anyway. She remembered when she had ranted for hours to Kira about how their wedding was going to be back at the Wilderness School.

Kira knew the feeling she was experiencing. She had thought Leo was dead for six whole months. But, with Piper, Jason wasn't coming back. He was gone for good.

"I miss him, too." Kira whispered. Piper dropped a piece of her hair, lips pressed together. "I'm so s-"

"Don't." Piper's voice was guarded. "Please, I don't want to cry."

Kira fell silent again, wiping at the corner of her eyes. "Sorry."

Piper was silent for a few more moments, twirling a few strand around the curling wand. Kira glanced down at her hands, which shook slightly. She tried to clench them into fists to stop, but they didn't agree with her.

"Remember when we fought Medea?" Piper asked into the silence.

Kira laughed softly. "Yeah, and you had to save all of us."

Piper laughed quietly, taking a new strand. "You helped a tiny bit,"

Kira smiled, shaking her head. "Nah, that was all you. I would have been under her charmspeak if it weren't for you."