Leo looked up from the table. Once again he sat there with a trinket in his hands having absolutely no clue how he got from trying work on the ship to this. His mechanic's block has been going on for three weeks now, and it was taking a toll. They planned to leave in three months. Three months to do ten times the work he's done in the past two. Yippee. Maybe- maybe he could find a solution to his problem like he could find the solution to why Buford wasn't moving correctly (answer being, if you haven't already guessed, a needed amputation of one leg). He could translate his situation into something he could better understand! Except, how in the name of Zeus was he supposed to do that? Finally he gave up and left to take a walk. He knew it was clichè but maybe some fresh air could clear his head, even if only temporarily.

Leo stepped out of Bunker 9 into the blinding sunlight and into the dense canopy of the trees. He maneuvered quickly through forest onto Camp Half-Blood's main grounds. The sweet smell of strawberries lingered in the air, no surprise because the strawberry field was just to Leo's left. For a while he wandered endlessly, as long as he was trying to clear his head he needed to stay away from everything Hephaestus-y. That meant as of then he had nowhere to go, nothing to do, and nowhere he truly belonged. Of course he could always go hang out with his friends, Jason and Piper, but now a days he just felt like a third wheel around them, unintentionally on their part. So he strode over the bumps and bends of camp until the breeze blew a piece of paper up against his shin.

Leo almost threw it away but became distracted when he realized that the writing on it was in ancient Greek, the language his brain was hard-wired for and caused his dyslexia with English, and could almost completely understand it! He began reading but was stopped when a hand flew into his view.

"Stop!" A voice pleaded. Leo looked up. Before him was a girl about his age, dirty blond hair that fell in elegant waves, golden eyes, along with gorgeous tan skin. He could have sworn she was the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen. "Don't read that!"

Before surrendering the paper to the girl he asked, "What is it you don't want me to read?"

"Oh, nothing! Just some fictional story I've been working on. I don't like people reading my writing," she told him and snatched the paper out of his hand.

"Leo!" shouted Piper from across the field, "Come 'ere!"

"Uh, I should go see want she wants. Have fun with whatever the hell you're doing, eh..." Leo told the girl.

"Julia. My name is Julia," she said.

"Well, it was nice having a pretty girl's writing fly into my face, Julia. In case you haven't noticed, they call me Leo!" and then he ran off to his friend, leaving her blushing.

That night Leo went back to Bunker 9 and surprisingly the block had vanished. Instead in its place was a longing to see that magnificent girl again.

The next day Leo's longing was temporarily fulfilled. Along the lake he saw her sitting on the grass with a concentrated look on her face an a pen moving at the speed of light in a notebook. He sat down next to her.

"Would you like something? I'm a bit busy," she said without looking up.

"Would I...? Ah, yes! I was wondering if you would allow me to steal some of your papers for a bit," he responded.

"Absolutely not. We went over this."

"Why are you so secretive?" His eyes widen. "Are you writing porn?"

She is in disbelief over his question. Then she starts laughing. "Do I look like the kind of girl who would write porn?"

"Well, not really but I've met some pretty strange girls."

"Okay... I'm just working on a completely normal and appropriate story."

"Where's the fun in that?"

"You know, my siblings are always teasing me about how I belong in the Athena cabin. And about how I should write more poetry rather than prose."

"Poetry so... your parent's Apollo?"

"Yup."

"Weird, I've never seen you at the medic tent."

"That's not really my scene. You go there often."

"Not much for myself, but when I get restless I'll go with one of my fellow children of Hephaestus. They, unlike me, aren't fireproof."

"Wh- I'm not even going to ask."

"So, when will you let me read one of your stories?"

"When I die."

"Come on! At least tell me what it's about."

"Well, its about a girl who finds out her father, whom she never met, was a fallen angel and she develops these strange abilities which are strange because no other fallen angel children have them, not even her twin brother who had always though he was superior to her and she finds out that she was specially chosen by Satan to have these powers and she has to figure out how to use her powers for good instead of evil and... Sorry. I'm babbling."

"No, no, its fine. Sounds interesting."

"Thank you."

"It's a shame no one but you will read it."

"Oh well."

They just sat there talking for what seemed like hours. Then, one of them was needed so they were forced to say goodbye.

"That was a lot of fun. We should do this again sometime," he told her.

"Okay, where can I find you?"

"Just follow the sound of the explosion or the smoke. It shouldn't be too difficult."

The next time they saw each other they shared an experience like the last time. Lots of laughter. Lots of smiles. This time, Leo ended it with a kiss. He said to her, "Look, we're demigods. We may not have as much time as we hope. For Hades' sake, this camp's supposed hero is MIA at the moment. I don't want to waste any time."

"Well then, how about we hope for the best but treat everyday like our last," she responds, drawing him close to her again and kissing him harder.

He smiles. "Agreed."

For three weeks Leo and Julia spent endless hours together. A few days after their kiss Leo showed Julia Bunker 9 and they spent plenty of time there talking while he worked and she wrote. It was amazing. It was happiness. Until one fateful day arose.

It started like any other. They were in Bunker 9 goofing off but Leo decided he had gotten so much work done in the past few weeks that he deserved a break. He pulled Julia out of her chair and told her that they were going to spend the day somewhere else for a change. They wandered across the grounds aimlessly but it was nice.

"I keep forgetting to ask you- When I found one of your papers it was in Ancient Greek, how do you know the language so well? Most of us just know what our brains figure out for us," Leo questioned Julia.

"Well, I'm Greek from both sides. When I was young I broke my leg and couldn't play outside with the other children so I had to stay home with my grandmother. She realized my boredom and decided to teach me her native language, modern Greek. After my leg was healed I still asked her to give me lessons and she couldn't refuse. Modern and Ancient Greek aren't too different so I know more than probably all of the campers. Writing in Ancient Greek feels more natural."

Leo shakes his head. "I can't even believe that you put up with me. No offense to myself but you are waaaay out of my league. Anyways, I was wondering what you thought about seeing if Apollo with team with Hephaestus in tonight's capture the flag. I think we'd make a badass duo in fake battle."

She giggled then contemplated it for a moment before deciding, "Its worth a shot." They decided they would ask the Apollo cabin first since they figured the Hephaestus cabin wouldn't care and their was no counselor that needed swaying.

They arrived at the gleaming gold cabin and went inside. "Wiillll," Julia said in a sing-songy voice.

"What is it little sister?" Will asked as he came into view. Julia glared at him. Leo never noticed how much alike they looked apart from their eyes before.

"Leo and I would like to request that the Hepheastus and Apollo cabins team up for tonight's game," Julia suggested.

"I don't know. Its up to the rest of the cabin," Will replied.

"Would that mean we get Jason on our team, too?" A boy in a bunk asked, recognizing Leo as Jason's friend.

"Probably," Leo responded.

"Let's do it." The rest of the cabin agreed. If they had a demigod of the Big Three on their team they were destined for victory.

"You have your answer," Will said. Leo and Julia began to leave but Will stopped them, "Julia, I need to talk to you. Mom sent us an Iris message earlier. Let's go outside." So Julia and Will were full-siblings, possibly even twins, Leo figured out.

"Okay. Leo's coming with us," Julia said as she grabbed Leo's hand and followed Will outside. Once they were out of the cabin Julia asked, "It's Grandmother, isn't it? She's finally-" she broke off. Will simply nodded. Julia turned to Leo and fell into a hug and started sobbing. Will went back inside, it was probably the only he could do to stop himself from crying as well. Leo was amazed Will could remain so stoical, although, it was probably necessary. He was the cabin's counselor. It may seem wrong, but he shouldn't show weakness.

Julia calmed down just in time for the game. "Are you and Will twins?" Leo asked her, not being able to contain his curiosity.

"Yes," she told him, "But we haven't been to close since we arrived at camp. Our grandmother has- had been sick for a long time. And before you ask, I'm not counselor with Will because I have absolutely no desire to be a leader. Will can do what ever he wants with that but its not me."

Leo nodded. "Its time for the game. Let's go." The teams ended up being Apollo, Athena, Zeus, Aphrodite, and Hephaestus against everyone else. Leo and Julia stationed themselves in the forest. It was pretty dull until they heard a bloodcurdling scream. And then a growl.

They looked at each other in alarm. "Monster," they whispered in unison. They charged to where they though they heard the scream. They had both drawn their weapons and they saw it- a towering, slimy, scaly beast. Just over a dozen campers had already begun fighting it. Chiron had just arrived with fear displayed across his face. This monster was not supposed to be there. Already there were campers down. Julia began shooting some arrows and Leo was ready with a sword. They ran to the action. Leo slashed and Julia shot until she ran out of arrows. She had panic written on her face but Leo saw her and tossed her a fallen sword.

"Just use it to defend yourself!" He shouted. "I know you're not as good with a sword! Get back!"

She refused. They fought. Leo had lost track of her but there was no time to look. "Leo! We need to stab it in the heart!" declared a familiar voice. Annabeth. Then he heard a shriek and he knew. The shriek was Julia's. He saw the monster swaying. Then falling. The second before it hit the ground it dissolved into dust, returning to Tartarus. The sword Leo had tossed to Julia clattered on the ground. Leo's first thoughts were 'She did it! She killed the monster!' Then he saw her. She was lying on the ground and blood was pouring out of her shirt. He felt for her pulse. Leo was too late.

Julia had been the only casualty that ended in death. Leo had knelt over her body, the world around him a blur. He couldn't believe that this had happened. That he let her die. He had never bothered to imagine a life without her because he never thought one would come. He has silent that night, there were no words he could fathom for what happened. He didn't once let himself cry either, a trance entrapped him. He could barely even hear Will running over, screaming for his sister, demanding to know what happened. He just sat there. After she thought enough time had passed, Piper led Leo away. His heart wasn't broken, not shattered, but burning. He was no longer fire proof. A painful, demonic fire was burning inside of him and it took every ounce of his being to not let it take over him. No special fire-starter power could protect him. The fire burned and burned until all that was left was a bit of ash and gigantic void that may never be filled. He didn't think it would. About two weeks after the horrific night Will stopped him and held out a folder overflowing with papers.

"This was her's," he said, "She wanted you to have it."

That evening after dinner he opened it. On top of it was a letter. With some help from Annabeth he translated:

Dear Leo,

I have been thinking about what you said about us demigods never knowing how much time we have and its all too true. It happened with Beckendorf and Silena. It's kind of happening now with Percy and Annabeth. It could happen to us. I was also thinking of the premonition I had. I know something bad, no, not bad, terrible, awful, unfair, horrific, appalling, whatever you want to call it, it's going to happen. So, if you're reading this, it means I am gone. I am truly sorry for that. I wish we could have had forever together and I hope you'll be able to find happiness after this because you deserve it. If you are feeling any guilt at all for my death stop it. Before I come and haunt you. Of course, I don't know how I would die but I do know for sure it would not be a bit your fault. Remember the first time we really talked? I remember ever word each of us spoke that afternoon. I remember me joking that I'd let you read my writing when I'm dead. With this note is all of my writing. I, Julia Solace, am allowing you, Leo Valdez, to read my writing. Only you. Show this to no one. Except Annabeth. She can see it because that will be the only way you can read it. Good luck, my dear Leo.

Love,

Julia

Leo had cried once in those two weeks after her death. It was the first night. He cried himself to sleep. He hadn't done that in a very long time. Still, no one in his cabin ever mentioned it or even acknowledged it. It was then, reading this letter, that he let the full impact hit him. And he sobbed. This past couple weeks he had been trying to cover up his pain with jokes as he had after his mother's death when he was told to toughen up. There was no use for jokes right now though. So he sobbed more than he think he ever had before, again letting the internal fire incapacitate him.

Leo spent the next months using all his spare time to translate the pages. With each page he deciphered, the more and more he realized what an amazing writer she was. She could have been an world renowned author one day. With each page he realized something- each page, paragraph, word, letter began to fill the void not with Julia herself but her presence, the mark she left on this earth. The pages would not allow Leo's memory to morph his memory of Julia and certainly not allow him to forget his lost love.