Wind whipped through Leo's unkempt hair as he leaned over the prow next to Festus. His hand absentmindedly stroked the dragon's metallic surface which buzzing with electricity. Leo buzzed as well, but with excitement and anxiety as he neared his destination. Sea spray stung his eyes, but it deterred him as much as his forgotten hunger. Dark circles had formed under his eyes, the products of lack of sleep and his neglected health.
When he wasn't searching the horizon, he was maintaining the Argo II. After the war with Gaea, he'd begun planning this trip almost immediately. Despite his friends' pleas, Leo insisted that he make the trip alone knowing the dangers he could face. They had all had more than enough danger in their lives, and he wanted them to enjoy the placidity of the current world with their loved ones. Those of his friends who remained anyway. The lack of a crew often made things difficult, but it was nothing he would let get in the way.
No, Leo was a man a mission.
He couldn't let his mortal half's needs interfere with the fulfillment of his oath.
In the distance, a thin, dark line appeared. Under his hand, Festus began creaking and whirring. There it is.
Leo's eyes widened and he leaned forward as if doing so would bring him closer to his destination. He didn't dare blink for fear of the island disappearing into the ocean forever. Keeping his eyes on the strip of land, his hands fumbled in his tool belt, pulling out a pair of binoculars he'd put together a few lonely nights before. Hands shaking, he brought them up to his eyes and directed them at the oncoming beach.
On it, there rested a dinner table set up for two, a tall candle unlit in the middle. Nearby, a girl sat in the white sand wearing jeans and a simple t-shirt, her gaze directed at the horizon as if waiting for something. Or someoneā¦
The corners of Leo's lips rose higher and higher, forming the first smile they had since before the defeat of Gaea. The victory had come with great sacrifices that seemed to have left him a shell of himself. But that was in the past. There was nothing he could do about it now. But here he was, finally, after months of sleepless nights and countless hours of planning and preparing. There was something he could do about this. Leo lowered the binoculars and spoke aloud, praying to Hephaestus that the wind would carry his words to the ears of the girl upon the beach.
"I told you I'd come back, Sunshine."
