SPOILERS FOR BoO
Leo had no idea where he was.
He thought they might be near Spain, but the last time either of them had spotted land had been hours ago.
"Incoming!"
Leo jerked out of his thoughts just in time to see Festus vaporize another storm spirit.
"You alright?" He glanced back at Calypso, and was rewarded with a small smile, though she quickly covered it up.
"Fine. How far out are we? You mentioned a camp?"
"Yeah. I need to get back to camp to make sure my friends are ok, but I'm having issues getting my bearings. This is worse than Hazel's labyrinth." He mumbled the last part as he studied the clouds below them, trying to see through for some landmark. He still couldn't see anything. He was about to check their GPS coordinates when Festus took a dive.
"WOAH!" Calypso grabbed his waist as they dove. Leo glanced back and saw what his dragon had dodged. A flock of harpies appeared out of the clouds and gave chase.
It took a few minutes, but Festus finally flame broiled the leaders and the rest decided they weren't worth fighting.
Once safely away, Leo went back to determining their location.
Piper was having a rough day. Four and a half months since Leo had died, and she still hadn't gotten over the guilt. The first month had been the hardest. Someone making a corny joke, mentioning dragons, or sometimes even just seeing one of his siblings grin was enough to make her fight back tears.
Jason had taken it almost as bad. He had refused to go near the Hephaestus cabin or the section of woods near Bunker Nine for over a month, and any time someone mentioned the battle, he got this pained look on his face and left the room.
Today, everything seemed to remind Piper of Leo. First, Aphrodite and Hephaestus cabins had teamed up for capture the flag, and a few of them had very similar looks to Leo. Then, she went for a walk to clear her mind, and ended up at the docks where the Argo II had been built. Eventually, she gave up trying to clear her mind, put Lacy in charge of her siblings, and went to the cabin.
Digging under her bed, she drew out a collection of photos taken before the war, back when they could pretend the war was still a long ways off and just be friends.
She heard a commotion outside, and peeked out to see Percy, Annabeth, and Jason greeting each other. Percy and Annabeth had decided to go to the city for school and they were back for break.
The couple never separated anymore. Tartarus left them with night terrors, and any time someone forced them to sleep separate, they screamed the camp awake. Chiron eventually granted them permission to stay in the same cabin, and last time Piper had visited with Sally, she had mentioned the two slept next to each other.
She watched Percy, Annabeth, and Jason talk a few minutes, but went back to her bed when she noticed them glancing at her cabin. She stared back into her pictures.
"December already? Wow I missed a lot."
Piper jerked awake, having fallen asleep on her scrapbook. She turned quickly to see Leo grinning.
Not bothering to check the wordless scream, she launched herself at him.
He chuckled, "I missed you too, Beauty Queen."
"Where have you been? Nico said—" She couldn't finish.
Her door opened. "You ok, Pipes?" Jason asked, poking his head in. Then his jaw dropped.
"Leo!"
Suddenly, Jason was the one crushing Leo in a hug.
"Hey, man," Leo said gently. "I missed you too. Calypso's waiting at the pavilion. Let's go there and I'll explain."
They left Piper's cabin, but she steered them toward the Poseidon cabin first. Leo gave her a funny look.
"If you think Percy and Annabeth haven't missed you, you must have hit your head harder than I thought." Leo grinned, making Piper step back a bit.
Leo wanted to just barge in, like he had done to Piper, but they made him wait for Percy to open the door. When they heard steps coming, Leo ducked out of sight, then Percy opened the door.
Piper half-smiled at him, not wanting to ruin the surprise. "Hey, Percy." She gave him a hug.
"Hi, Piper" He turned toward the back of the cabin and called out, "Hey, Annabeth! Piper and Jason are here." He turned back to Piper and Jason, probably to invite them in, but Jason spoke before he could.
"Actually, it's not just us. We happened to run into someone earlier who you'd want to see." Jason gestured someone over, and Percy had to grip the doorframe to stay upright.
"H-how?" he stuttered. "Nico said—"
"The physician's cure," Leo replied. "Don't you remember? I know Hazel told you about her trick with the Mist."
"But you were alone. Someone had to administer it." Annabeth came up and gave him a hug, followed by Percy, who came out of his daze.
Leo shrugged. "Festus had it. You saw how smart he got after Piper woke him permanently. But, come on! I'm starved. Calypso is waiting at the pavilion."
"Calypso?!" Percy and Annabeth said in unison. Leo wasn't sure if they were going to hit him, so he took off running. They followed.
"So, we flew around a while, trying to find our way out of Magical Middle of Nowhere," Leo said as he ate some pizza. "Greece, Italy, and Spain were our first stops, and we had to fight off or avoid large groups of monsters, but we finally made it back. I knew Piper would be in her cabin, so I headed there first."
They walked around camp for a while, just catching up.
After a few minutes, they steered toward the Big House, and Piper picked up the phone to dial the praetor's house.
"Hey, Reyna. It's Piper. Is Hazel there?" She paused to listen to Reyna say something. "Her day's going to get a lot better. Just get her on the line."
Piper waited a second, then waved Leo over. Asked she passed the phone, everyone faintly heard a "Hello," on the other end.
"Hey, Miss Metal Detector," Leo said cheekily. "Found any bronze shields recently?" The squeal on the other end was answer enough, but everyone could also here Hazel calling "Frank! Frank, get in here!"
They set it on speaker and, after Leo explained where he'd been, they simply enjoyed being friends again.
A couple weeks later, Reyna granted special permission for Hazel and Frank to visit Camp Half-Blood, and the seven of them celebrated the New Year together. Percy even managed to drag Nico to the party—for a few minutes anyway. They rang in the New Year with hope and with friendship. Their family was complete again.
**Ducks thrown objects** I know you want more Life of a Demigod, and I'm working on it! I promise! But this story grabbed me and demanded to be written. I don't think I quite got Leo's character, but tell me what you think?