Sammy sat, wondering if the rumors were true. Even in paradise, people, or ghosts rather, still gossiped like the world depended on it. The topic of the rumor mill at the moment was his beloved Hazel. People were saying that she somehow escaped the Underworld and was helping to save the world at this very moment.

Sammy stared at the little rainbow in front of him, wondering. He wondered, again, if the rumors were true. He wondered if Iris would let him see Hazel again, if he ever got up the courage to ask. He wondered if he should even try. The rainbow sparkled and glistened as he watched. And Sammy Valdez dug around in his pocket for a coin.

Flipping it off his thumb and into the rainbow, he said "Oh Iris, goddess of the rainbow, please accept my offering." The coin disappeared in a flash of rainbow light. Sammy smiled and said "Thank you. Please show me Hazel Levesque." Almost immediately, an image appeared. It was Hazel, exactly as he remembered her. Well, not *exactly* as he remembered her, she was wearing full body armor here and holding sword. The last time Sammy had seen her, she had been wearing the dark dress and buckled shoes the came together to make her school uniform.

She was heaving a saddle on to a beautiful tan roan stallion, which looked like the same stallion she had been riding the last time he'd seen her. As much as she tried, she couldn't get the saddle on with all the armor hindering her movements. Hazel sighed and began to undo her armor so she could put the saddle on. "You need some help?" A voice asked as a young man walked into the scene. The first two things Sammy noticed were these: he was big, and he was Asian.

Hazel jumped and turned towards the boy. "Frank!" She exclaimed, laughing, "You scared me half to death!" Frank, as Sammy assumed his name was, chuckled and held his hands out for the saddle, which she handed over. He put the saddle on the horse easily, and Hazel turned to tighten the girth and all other straps the needed tightening.

"Thank you," Hazel said when they were done. She wrapped her arms around the boy and he returned the gesture. "No problem." They stood like that for a minute, arms wrapped around each other. Then Hazel broke the silence. "Are you scared, Frank?" She asked, looking up at him. Frank thought on this for a moment before answering. "Yes," he decided, "But, who wouldn't be, going into this battle?"

Hazel was silent and Frank let her be. Suddenly, Sammy felt like he was intruding on a very personal moment. Like the time he walked in on his brother proposing to his girlfriend, the first time, the time she said no. That had been awkward. He was just about to slash his hand through the image to cut it off when he heard a voice that was so much like his own that he stopped.

"Hey, lovebirds!" The voice called. And as soon as he walked into Sammy's line of view, he knew who it was. It was amazing, seeing his little stunt double all grown up. Leo looked exactly as Sammy had looked at that age. "I hate to break up the love fest, but we've gotta get going. Percy and Jason are going crazy with the pacing and I'm not sure how much more Festus can take," Leo said, running grease covered hand through his hair.

"Okay," Hazel said, letting go of Frank, "Come on, Frank." She dragged Frank over to where Sammy assumed to be a hallway of some sort or another. "I'll be up in a minute!" Leo called after them. Then, he turned to where Sammy was watching. "Don't worry Sammy, I'll keep her safe. And, just so you know, Frank is a good guy. He's good to her." And with that, Leo left, going to join the others, for Sammy assumed there were others.

Sammy smiled, slashing his ghostly hand through the image. Hazel was alright and his little stunt double was watching out for her.
*LineBreak!*
AN: I got the idea from chapter 32 of theforgetfulalchemist's "Letter in Ink". It shows Sammy peaking in on Hazel from Elysium, and seeing her with Frank. I just loved the idea of Sammy peaking in on Hazel that I decided to write my own, with theforgetfulalchemist's permission, of course. So, Thank You for letting me use your idea!