No, it’s not anger that colors her words, and it’s certainly
not anything akin to curiosity. Reyna doesn’t know what it
is. But what she does know, is how foolish the words sound
as soon as they are flung into the tense air between them
sharper than she means —sharper than what ought to be
warranted. Because she knows as well as he, (maybe evenbetter?)the importance of duty, of leading, and personal
desires do not have a place there, here.
“And why is it so important now?”
There’s a bite to her words, brought on by uncertainty.
Because she doesn’t know if this new information is better or
worse. She guesses she had just always assumed that Jason
had all his memories back, and he’d just moved on to better
things —no matter how that made her feel. It wasn’t the first time
she’d had to let someone go. And maybe she’d even grown….no,
content wasn’t the word…resigned to the fact. Until now, that was.”Why now, Jason?”
Maybe it’s more a plea now. Those soft curved sounds she isn’t
very good at.
He’s taken back by her words. The memories he had of them never showed her having that type of tone. Even when she was calling out orders or issuing warnings there had always been a calm and smooth feeling to them. The words she was speaking now… well they weren’t spoken by the Reyna he once remembered.
But that’s what happens when you haven’t seen the person in over a year.
Jason knew that was the reason why he wanted to reconnect with his former co-praetor. He wanted to know what set her off, what made her happy, and how those things changed from what he once knew. He wanted to connect the dots from what he could remember seeing but not remember feeling. There had always been holes that could ever be filled thus leaving him empty, and he wanted- no, he needed to fill them.
“Why not now?”
There wouldn’t be a better time; with peace between the camps and no threat to world destruction around the corner it would be the perfect time to settle down and just enjoy the time that they did have.