Hi! I've literally been trying to publish this since four days ago after I finished the story and I just haven't had the time! Now, finally, here it is!
The original idea for this came when I got mad at Rosa Valdez for treating Leo the way she did, and at first all I wanted was to read fanfiction about them, but I couldn't find one that pleased me, and I also realized that when they made Leo go back so he talked to Rosa, it was always alone, and that bothered me because, well, he isn't alone anymore. I guess that all I really wanted was for the others to be there so he could see how loved he is, maybe all I was looking for was that, but I couldn't find it. So, after a while, the dialogues just started appeareing and I simply had to write it and share it with you! I hope you like it!
Blood and Family
The trip had actually started pretty normally, for once.
Frank and Hazel had arrived to Camp Half-Blood two days before, but Percy and Jason had been planning that trip for weeks.
After the war with Gaea had finally ended, the demigods from Cabin 9 had taken the task to rebuild the Argo II –now known as the Second Argo II because Leo had a very wide imagination rank–, getting some help from the Roman sons of Vulcan, which had worked very nicely in favor of letting both camps know each other.
Currently, the Second Argo II remained anchored over the Big House, projecting its enormous and imposing shadow on the strawberry fields, but upon knowing that the arrival of their Roman friends was getting closer, Percy and Jason had decided to give the flying ship some use, even if it wasn't a warlike one anymore.
The plan was to leave Camp Half-Blood early the next day and fly to Florida, spend five days as normal, common teenagers, enjoying the beach and each other's company as they hadn't been able to do the last time they had been together, a little too busy saving the world.
After that, they would return to the Greek camp so that Hazel and Frank could leave a day after and reassume their responsibilities at Camp Jupiter.
The plan had actually been approved by Chiron and Mr. D., but not before they threw a fuss about how they should travel with Coach Hedge too.
That was nonsense, Percy had pointed out. Some of the people aboard the ship had saved the world not only once, but twice, they were responsible teenagers that could actually do such a thing without doing anything that justified the presence of an adult. And, on the other side, Coach Hedge was busy with his family and it would be unfair for him to be asked to leave his wife and son to keep an eye on a bunch of adolescents.
In the end, and after swearing over the Styx River that they would not do anything that they would have not done in the coach's presence, Chiron agreed to have them set sail with no supervision.
Things had been carefully taken care off, perfectly scheduled―this time, no end of the world and no immortal goddess would be able to ruin their trip. Things would go perfectly well, and nothing was going to stop them from having a good time.
However, they were demigods, so they probably should have known better than to believe things would actually go as planned.
–*–*–
The things had started to turn out wrong around six hours after they had left the Greek camp.
Ever since Festus had regained his original, separated-from-the-ship body, he had gone back to living the camp's woods, and even when they all felt really happy for their bronze friend, that also meant that the cruise control wasn't as exact as it had been before, which probably explained why they ended up somewhere that was not the one place they had planned to arrive at. Either that, or the Fates were simply having more time to spare than they should have.
It all started when an alarm went off in the ship, announcing they had reached their destination, but when the crew came out to the gunwale what they found were not the idyllic beaches of Miami, but what came to welcomed them were the old buildings of what seemed a Hispanic neighborhood.
Percy was the first one to wonder aloud what they were doing there, but it wasn't until Jason asked the question directly to Leo that they all took note of the Latino's lost gaze.
"Leo!" Jason repeated, finally getting the boy's attention. "Do you have any idea of where we are?"
"I-I don't know" he stuttered, fidgeting nervously. "I think I know but… it can't be…" he muttered, more to himself than for the others to hear as he let the rope ladder fall over a side of the ship and rapidly ran down it, graciously landing on the ground.
Still, on the Argo's gunwale the remaining six heroes could only share confused glances before wordlessly deciding to follow their friend and descend.
"So" Piper said, talking to Leo even when he didn't seem to notice it. "Do you mind explaining where we are?"
"You could start with the state we're in" Frank suggested from behind Percy, who was directing curious glances to the street they had stepped into.
"Texas, I believe" Leo finally answered, absently. "But it can't be where I think …" he murmured, just before he trailed off.
Right then, Percy and Annabeth shared an inquisitive look, which only turned even more confused when they saw that Piper and Jason sent each other a knowing glance.
Ignoring the rest of the group, Leo turned slowly on the street, staring observantly at the buildings around them, recognition shinning in his dark-brown eyes.
Slowly, as if in some sort of trance, he started to walk, scanning the place, as if searching for something, until he finally decided to start running, to what his friends could only look at each other in puzzlement before setting off to try to reach Leo.
Hurriedly, the son of Hephaestus turned two times to the right on a corner, and then continued to run as fast as his legs would carry him, leaving his friends behind, same friends that started to fear that they might lose him, until he stopped suddenly, staring unbelievingly at a humble workshop.
"It's still here" Leo muttered under his breath, looking at the advertisement that announced the place, same that was so worn away that the words written in a bright red became almost impossible to read. Or maybe it was just the dyslexia, Percy thought, narrowing his eyes in a vain attempt to read the letters.
In another outburst of hyperactivity, Leo stepped into the place, from what his friends could tell from his tensed muscles, straining to not run.
Shortly after him, and still panting slightly –not because of the effort of running, but mostly because of Leo's unexpected acting– the six demigods entered the workshop as well, walking past a blue car with its hood opened up and what them, not mechanical experts unlike Leo, could only think of as the motor missing inside.
The march was headed by Piper and Jason, who were closely followed by Hazel and Frank, and it was then closed up by Annabeth and Percy.
They silently approached Leo, who was already standing on the right corner of the building, facing an empty desk that was placed in front of the blue car. His gaze wandered the discolored walls of the place, as if trying to remember or as if trying to find similarities between that place and whatever it was he was thinking of.
"Good afternoon" a woman with an oil-stained apron greeted, coming out from a door none of them had noticed to Jason's left, making them all flinch in surprise before Jason could walk up to Leo and ask what this was all about. "What can I do for–?" the woman trailed off, her dark eyes fixing on Leo for the first time and scanning him with the same intensity the boy was examining the place.
Turning his own eyes away from the empty desk to face the woman, his body ever so slightly stiffening, Leo shifted his body to meet the shop assistant.
From where they were standing, Jason couldn't see his friend's features, but he was familiarized enough with Leo's body language to know that a look of fear had most certainly crossed his eyes, darkening them as he met the newcomer only before Leo stepped back unwittingly.
Suddenly, Jason stopped paying attention to Leo and let his eyes fall on the salesperson, just in time to see her eyes darken with recognition as she, too, stared back to Leo expectantly.
Only then did the son of Jupiter notice how the woman's petite figure seemed a little… known to him, for lack of a better word. She had tan skin and long hair, only a few shades darker than Leo's, same that curled up at the ends held behind her back, as she had it pulled back in a pony-tail. She had Latin strokes, such as her dark-colored eyes and hair, her small turned-up nose and pointy ears.
However, Jason's ponderings were suddenly cut off when the woman spoke again, and not in the solicitously manner one would expect from a store clerk.
"You!" she muttered hatefully through her gritted teeth, snapping Jason out of his thoughts. "How dare you come back after what you did?"
They all turned to look at each other in mute puzzlement, expecting someone in the group to be able to explain one another what was happening, but being unable to find an explanation to the woman's rude acting.
Only Jason seemed to notice how the woman was ignoring them all, only focused on Leo.
"Sorry?" Hazel dared ask in a low, almost fearful voice, but the woman utterly overlooked the girl, her eyes still facing Leo, they supposed because he had been the unlucky first one to enter. By then, Jason became absolutely certain that Leo was holding the woman's gaze with something that was midway between fear and fascination.
Once again, it was the woman's hoarse voice what pulled them all out of that confused trance.
"Are you not going to say a thing? ¿Nada*?" she asked harshly. "No 'lo siento'*? No 'I didn't mean to?'" she continued, raising her voice with every word she said, mixing English with what Jason recognized as Spanish thanks to having heard Reyna speak in it once.
Again, all the demigods there but Leo turned at each other, awaiting some sort of explanation, but getting none.
The son of Jupiter now recalled Leo telling him that he'd seen himself forced to steal sometimes, in order to continue living in the streets as he had, and given how the son of Hephaestus had lived in Texas for most of his life before being sent to the Wilderness School, it only made sense that the workshop they were standing in had been one of his robbing spots, but if it was so, then why an auto repair shop instead of a grocery store? Why coming back now, taking on account how it had been Leo the one who had dragged them all in that sort of fascinated trance to the place? And why, oh why, had Leo entered the workshop when the woman so obviously recognized him, and when Jason was certain that the same could be said from the son of Hephaestus, who so glaringly knew who the woman in front of them was?
It was then that Piper met her eyes with him and Jason realized that the daughter of Aphrodite was thinking the exact same thing he was.
"No?" the woman wondered aloud again, gesturing with open arms to the place, as if she wanted to include the whole workshop in a harsh embrace. "Doesn't this place remind you of something, you bastard?" she exploded, and then, when none of them answered a thing, she continued. "Let me enlighten you then, I'm the sister of the woman you killed, you pyromaniac devil!"
Probably he had been disastrously mistaken, Jason thought as a massive gasp of realization sound across the room, but the son of Jupiter noticed, all that Leo let out was a muffled sound akin to a whine.
"Of course" Hazel muttered guiltily. "How could I not notice?"
At least some of them seemed to have an idea of what was going on, Percy assumed, because for what he could tell, Annabeth and he were at a complete lost, since even as their friends seemed to have come across something important in the woman's words, all that the son of Poseidon and the daughter of Athena could do was turn to look at each other, confused as ever. Well, Percy was also thinking that this woman was a complete hysteric.
"You killed her, don't you understand?" the saleswoman, sister-of-the-woman-you-killed continued to scream, taking a menacing step towards Leo, pointing him with her index finger. "You killed her and you still dare come back? What for?" she accused. "To burn me too, maybe?"
Percy might not have understood a thing of what had happened in the last fifteen minutes of his life, but by the way Leo's body painfully flinched at the crazy woman's words, he figured out all he needed to know to step to the front, the sudden movement attracting the dark-haired woman's attention to the group of demigods for the first time.
"Hey, ma'am, chill down" Percy began to say, forcing a care-free grin to his face, but only to be cut off by that harpy's hysteric tone.
"¡Tú no te metas*!" she snarled at him without caring he probably didn't understand a word in Spanish. True was, Percy hadn't understand her words, but by the tone in which they had been said, he automatically stopped talking.
Startled by her high-pitched voice, and even more confused than before, if that was even possible, Percy stepped back again, asking what to do next with his sea-green eyes.
"Aunt Rosa?" Hazel finally dared ask tentatively, placing herself next to Piper. Leo nodded, almost negligibly, his eyes still focused on the woman, not having moved an inch since she had appeared.
As the name had yet to mean something for them, all Annabeth and Percy could was try to look for an explanation in their friends' features who, unlike them, were now totally aware of exactly whose sister the woman standing in front of them was.
It was then that the woman, now identified as Rosa, finally turned away from Leo to look at the other demigods that awkwardly shifted their weight from one foot to the other behind her nephew, piercing them with her strong gaze. Lastly, she focused on the dark-skinned girl that had spoken, her eyes sparkling before she narrowed them and raised her eyebrows with mocking amusement.
"This girl's your girlfriend?" she spitted coldly. Behind Jason, Frank emitted a throaty sound akin to a growl. "Beware you don't burn her too!" Rosa warned sarcastically before she blurted laughing cruelly.
At the mention of the verb 'burn', as well as noticing his friends' presence by hearing their voices seemed to snap Leo out of the trance he apparently was in, helping him crack a smile and regain his care-free demeanor, even when the tension in his shoulder blades was not eased in the least.
"First thing, lady" Leo said, forcing a cool tone in his voice. "She ain't my girlfriend, she's got her man and all that" he explained, pointing to Frank, who nodded in recognition. "Second thing" he continued, dangerously lowering his tone. "I don't think you get enough costumers with that attitude, do you?" he asked quietly, almost as if his words were a warning, his expression turning grim. "It wasn't like that when my mother ran the workshop."
Rosa allowed herself an expression that was halfway between indignant and diverted, but that past adjectives aside, was completely cruel.
"You sayin' I'm in need of money?" she accused sarcastically. "Now, now, of course I am!" she hissed. "I had to rebuild this place after you burned it to ashes, you diablo*!"
"I didn't–" Leo managed to say through his gritted teeth. "I didn't kill her."
"You could've fooled me!" Rosa spat spitefully. "With that guilty expression in your face! Don't you think I know things, diablo? Don't you think that I warned my sister before you–"
"Enough" Frank ordered, stepping to the front before he could even second-think his action.
"Exactly, ma'am" Jason seconded, giving one step forward so that he covered Leo from Rosa in an almost protective manner so that he could face the Latin woman but was giving Leo his back. "No one talks to a friend of mine like that and then walks away with it" he said, piercing Rosa with his own gaze.
"What are you going to do, huh?" Rosa inquired, taunt and sarcasm spreading in her voice, just as a grotesque grin placed itself in her lips. "Burn this place down again just as this devil did and then kill me? Go ahead!" she challenged, as she leaned down to reach for an adjustable wrench that until then had been resting in the floor, a darkened, almost grim expression in her features. "I won't take pity in you like Esperanza, ever so stupid, did!" she threatened.
Until then, Percy had followed the word exchange with confusion, but he knew enough to recognize the name of Leo's mother and the fact that this Rosa, whoever she was, indeed was talking in an unkind manner to a friend of his, and that was enough to make him join Frank and Jason and step ahead once again.
"Ma'am, really, you're mistaken" he said, almost expecting her to change into a harpy that would most certainly try to eat them all. "This is all a misunderstanding."
"Don't tell me!" Rosa snarled. "¡No te creo nada! Or haven't you told them, diablo that you burned your mother to death in this very place?" she asked, again directing to Leo. "Haven't you told them how you locked her in here and then–"
"We know enough" Hazel piped in with a quiet voice, same that still managed to be heard perfectly in the place.
"She's right" Annabeth said, opening her mouth for the first time since they had arrived. "We know enough to realize you're just mistaking the real killer."
"¡No me digas!" Rosa spat, baring her teeth as she laughed cruelly. "I don't think so! I know who the killer is, and he's standing right in front of me!"
By that time, Piper had noted how Leo's hands were turned into fists, his nails most certainly digging into his skin as his knuckles had gone pale, his jaw clenched so tightly that the daughter of Aphrodite almost feared he'd break his teeth, the tension in his back and arms so much that it almost seemed to be the only thing stopping Leo from shaking. Perhaps it was.
And that sight was all it took for her heart to tie itself into choking knots and forced her to step forward in an attempt to reach for Leo.
"Mrs. Rosa" she interrupted politely. "I think it's time for us to go" she continued sweetly, as she coquettishly blinked her hypnotic eyes to bring the woman's attention to her, just as she directed her right hand to Leo's left wrist carefully, but tightly, trying to wordlessly remind the son of Hephaestus that he wasn't alone.
"Yes it is" Rosa agreed in a nebulous tone, her eyes still narrowed spitefully, her jaw clenched in a way that made obvious that those hadn't been the words she'd been planning to say. "Yes it is."
Noticing how Percy and Jason seemed ready to jump on the woman and that the only thing that held Frank back from doing the same was the grip Hazel had on his wrist, Piper decided to take keeping Rosa from saying anything else upon herself.
"Why don't you talk to me about this Tahoe's motor?" Piper proposed sweetly, as she oh-so subtly gestured for Hazel to take Leo and leave the place by pointing to the door with the side of her head. The daughter of Aphrodite didn't let go of her friend's wrist until she was sure that the Roman girl had taken Leo's other hand.
"It's a Yukon" Rosa pointed out quietly.
"Oh, I see" Piper replied, not really having listened to what the Latin woman had said. "I have a better idea, why don't we stay silent for a moment?" she continued, thankful that her charmspeak was so strong that even Jason and Percy stepped back a little confused. Only Annabeth remained rooted to her place, her eyes denoting contempt in Rosa's direction, her hands firmly placed on her hips.
The tension in Piper's shoulders didn't quite ease until she was able to see out of the corner of her eye that Leo was already out of the building, Hazel having required some help from Frank as she dragged the shaken son of Hephaestus out.
"Boys" Piper went on, looking over her left shoulder and into Jason's eyes, but still able to keep an eye on Rosa with the corner of her right orb. "I believe it's time for you to go as well, don't you agree?" she inquired.
"Right" Jason nodded, but only to be cut off by the son of Poseidon.
"What?" Percy murmured, shaking his head confusedly. "No, man. We have things to do" he said, pointing to Rosa.
"Percy's right" Jason seconded, blinking the trance Piper had induced him into away. "We cannot leave the things like―"
"Boys" Piper repeated, a little more sternly this time. "I think it's time for you to leave as well."
If Jason or Percy were even thinking of replying something else, the complaint died in their throats when they took notice of the glare Annabeth was shooting in their direction.
The son of Jupiter tried, not very successfully, by the way, to swallow his fear, but Percy simply nodded, shrugging his discomfort away.
"We're leaving" they decided in unison before them too, headed for the door.
As they fled, Piper directed the most venomous stare her gorgeous features could manage to Rosa. If Annabeth hadn't known her friend as she did, she might have been scared as well.
"I've seen a lot of things" Piper said in a low tone, her voice lacking any type of magic this time, as she wanted Rosa to be able to remember her words exactly as she had said them later on, her eyes as sharp as daggers. "But I cannot believe such a person as you exists" she murmured, already turning on her heals as if she had decided that Rosa Valdez wasn't even worth her time.
The daughter of Aphrodite left the workshop elegantly, her steps normal-paced, unlike the ones of her friends, who had almost run in their hurry to leave the place. She didn't look back, not even to check if Annabeth was actually following her.
With no more magic influence to keep her from speaking what she really thought, Rosa reassumed her scowling and regained her rude expression.
"Why are you―?" she started, but rapidly trailed off when her eyes met with Annabeth's stormy gray ones.
"I don't think you are in a position to actually give orders to me" Annabeth stated calmly, slowly and gracefully turning on her heals, sending Rosa a terrifying glare from over her left shoulder.
The way her eyes seemed to want to reap each part of Rosa apart until the woman shouted an apology could have been enough to make the Hydra step back, but not satisfied with that, the daughter of Athena absent-mindedly –or she at least had the decency to make it look like that― pulled the dagger she had replaced after hers had fell into Tartarus from its place on her waist.
"Oh, I almost forgot" she said, while she gently brushed the tips of her fingers against the cutting edge of her weapon. "Next time you feel like being rude and careless towards a person please try for it not to be someone with friends to cover his back while holding sharp objects, could you?" she warned, more like threatened before turning to the front again and running to the door.
It didn't take much for her to catch up with the group of half-bloods, as they had practically regrouped themselves just after turning the first corner so that they could keep the workshop out of eye-sight but were close enough to the place so that the last ones to come out of the building would not get lost.
As soon as she met with her friends, they all started walking back to the place they'd left the Argo with slow, almost hesitant steps. None of them dared talking, and in a way, that was for the best, because it let each of them focus solely on continuing walking.
The silent atmosphere only transformed into an awkward one after they arrived to the ship, as the whole group escorted Leo to his room, just for them to then stand in the doorway of the room when they realized they didn't fit inside the cabin.
At some point of the march, Frank and Hazel had left Leo in Piper and Jason's hands, which concluded in Piper and Leo sitting on the bed, next to the wires of something that seemed an experiment gone wrong along with some other artifacts and tools that none of them seemed to mind.
Right in front of them stood Jason, seemingly unsure about whether if he should step to the front or to the back.
To the son of Jupiter's left, and a little to the back, stood Annabeth, who had caught her lower lip with her teeth, her eyes critical and stoic, but her jaw held so tight that it was easy to point out her worry.
Behind her, Percy, Hazel and Frank had managed to squish themselves in the doorway and were now awkwardly shifting their weights from one foot to the other.
Annabeth took a deep breath, sending a last glance to the daughter of Aphrodite and then to the way the son of Hephaestus was hunched over himself, avoiding eye contact with any of the other demigods.
The daughter of Athena felt her throat dry at the sight and silently tried to cough the knot that had formed in the pit of her throat.
Noticing how no one seemed to be sure of what to do, Annabeth decided to take the first movement upon herself.
With another quiet cough, this time to reassure herself, she managed to bring Percy's attention to her and then, as discretely as she could, she gestured for him to leave the room by pointing to the door with her head.
When all that Percy retorted was an inquiring look that obviously proved he hadn't got the message, she had to refrain herself from sighing dramatically.
Regaining her composure, she repeated her gesture, her lips tightly pressed together so that Percy knew she was being serious and then pointing straightly to the door.
This time –thankfully enough– Percy's green eyes lit up with realization and he managed to obey her by stepping back. Fortunately, Hazel had also got what her message meant, and tugging at Frank's hand, she gently dragged him out of the place, sharing one last worried glance with Annabeth before leaving.
It was then Annabeth's turn to dwell on how Jason hadn't noticed her attempts to leave the son of Hephaestus with Piper. She bit the inside of her left cheek, stopping a sigh from making it across her lips.
"Jason" she whispered softly, gripping the boy by the wrist to bring his attention to her, who merely blinked at her with something that might have been confusion. Gently, she turned towards the door, hinting what was it that she was trying to say.
The son of Jupiter stared back at her as if he wasn't sure of what she was suggesting, but in the end he looked away slowly and nodded, following her out of the room, shooting one last sad glance in Leo's direction before closing the door.
Noticing the look in Jason's face as they left to catch up with the others on the gunwale, Annabeth couldn't help but feel a little guilty. She knew there was not a thing that Jason, or she, or anyone aboard the Argo, for that matter, wouldn't have done to change what had happened that afternoon or to teach a lesson to that horrible woman, but she also knew that they couldn't change what Rosa Valdez had said, and even as they all wanted to do something, she was aware that if there was someone on the ship –or in the country– who would know what to do, that someone was, without a doubt, Piper McLean.
That was why she had decided to do what she was best at―instructing others on what to do, even when her whole plan rested on someone else's shoulders. That was Piper they were talking about, after all, and Piper always knew what to do on matters like the one at hand, exactly in the ones in where she, Annabeth, did not.
However, that was not what Piper thought when she felt her friends leave the room.
She had to do something, she was aware of that much, she knew her friends expected her to do something, she just didn't know what to do. Just because she was the daughter of love didn't necessarily mean that she had any more clue of what to do when it came to emotional issues than any other did.
Or maybe she did, she thought when she finally dared raise her eyes from her lap to the son of Hephaestus and her first instinct wasn't to run out of the door shouting at the top of her lungs for someone to help her or even to pray for her mother's advice, but to hug Leo and promise him everything would be alright.
Great, she thought. Maybe she knew what to do, but she still had no idea of how to do such a thing.
"Leo, I―" she started to say, but only to be cut off by the one person she intended to talk to.
"I'm fine" Leo interrupted her, in what should have been a scream but that came out more like a shaky statement. "I'm fine, Piper. Fine" he continued to murmur, as he ran his left hand through his curly hair tiredly, almost resignedly.
Piper swallowed dryly, in an attempt to moisture her throat and recover her capacity of speaking. Talking was the one thing she did the best, wasn't it?, she thought. Bad thing she was currently at a loss of words.
"Don't lie to me, Valdez" she replied softly, taking the boy's right hand in hers, which had turned into a fist around the comforter of the bed as she scooted closer to her friend.
Slowly, Leo raised his eyes, allowing the girl to see all the hurt that shone in his chocolate orbs. Really, why was she surprised?, Piper thought. Hadn't she known all that pain would be there just as soon as she had noticed how Leo fidgeted in fear and hunched over himself?
Still unable to think of anything capable of easing the pain in the boy's expression all Piper could do was open her arms for him, not daring to touch him in fear that Leo might reject her.
Fortunately enough, it only took Leo a second staring into Piper's kaleidoscopic eyes before deciding it was safe for him to near her, as he threw himself to her arms, burying his face in the curve of her neck.
"You don't understand, Piper" Leo choke out, his voice muffled by Piper's skin. "Rosa's right. I killed her."
"Leo, you know that's not true" she replied quietly, circling the boy's scrawny shoulders. "You didn't do it."
"I'm a killer, just like she said. It was I who started the fire, it was I who didn't open the door in time, it was I who―"
"Leo, listen to me" she cut him, a little more roughly than she had intended to, pulling back a bit just so that she was able to look down at Leo's eyes. You're in no way a killer. You're a hero. You saved us all, you built this ship, and it was only because of you were with us that we managed to stop Gaea, Leo. It's only thanks to you that the world has yet to meet its end. You're a hero, Leo, a hero" she murmured in a low voice.
"I'm a killer" he repeated, as if he hadn't heard a word of Piper, incapable of thinking anything else to say.
"Leo…" Piper started to say, but trailed off as she found herself at a loss of words, yet again.
"Don't charmspeak me into believing you" he whispered pleadingly, slumping his shoulder in defeat.
"I'm not lying at you" she assured gently, taking Leo's chin and forcing him to look into her eyes. And oh, how bad did she wish she could make Leo understand, let alone believe the truth in her words. "C'mere" she said, offering him the shelter of her arms once more.
Leo didn't dare touch her, but the only thing Piper could think to do in order to let Leo know how she meant each and every one of her words was to take his forsaken form unto her arms.
Unlike what Piper had feared, Leo didn't retract himself from her, instead, he almost seemed to lean into her touch, letting her do when she smoothly pulled him to her chest, action that gently made him bury his face in the curve between Piper's neck and left shoulder.
Slowly, almost as if with fear, Leo encircled the girl's waist, at the same time that a violent shudder ran down his back. But he wasn't crying. His eyes prickled with unshed tears, but he just couldn't find it within him to force Piper to see how broken he truly was. He couldn't bring himself to let Piper take pity on him.
"I-I will hurt you, Piper" he stuttered, unable to express his thoughts in words. "I'll hurt you."
"I'm taking the risk" she replied softly, giving a tiny squeeze to her friend's body.
It was those words, and the simple, fond tone in which they had been spoken what finally brought the wetness to the boy's eyes.
Piper was kind hearted person, Leo knew, but even someone like she had to have a limit. Piper knew what he had done, knew he had started the fire that had ultimately killed his own mother, and even so, she didn't judge him, and her beautiful eyes still shone with affection and genuineness, not with fear or malice or even pity each time their eyes met.
It was only then that the tremors running down his back transformed themselves into strangled sobs. Unlike whatever he had expected, almost feared, Piper didn't lessen the hold she had around his shoulder; if anything, she only held him even tighter.
"I killed her" he repeated, half expecting Piper to get mad this time, as he had already said that twice, and turn away from him. Now, he knew Piper was a patient person, then why would he expect the daughter of Aphrodite to do such a thing? Because it was him that they were talking about and not anyone else, that was why.
"That's not true, Leo, you know that" she lulled him instead, running a hand through the boy's hair in an attempt to calm him down, her tone mixing the exact bit of comprehension and patience.
"I miss her, Pipes" Leo finally allowed out in a broken voice. He hadn't said those words in years, and he hadn't even concede himself the right to think of them, but right then, when he came to face himself, he had to admit that those simple three words still held the same meaning and throbbing pain that they had held so many years before. "I miss her so much."
"I know you do" Piper whispered softly, forcing herself to swallow down a broken and concerned sigh of her own. "I know you do."
Leo felt his hands turn into fists around the fabric of Piper's shirt, but was almost unconscious of it, same as Piper herself, who didn't seem to mind it at all as she continued to murmur reassurances into the boy's ear, her hands drawing soothing circles on his back.
It probably took more than fifteen minutes for Piper's heart to stop breaking each time she felt Leo shake in her arms as a result of a new sob, and after that, another five minutes went by before Leo could force himself to pull back of Piper's warm embrace, who, after a last reassuring squeeze, let him do without reluctance.
After letting go of her friend, Piper's hands went back to her lap, where she carefully kept them as she stared at Leo in concern, his hands already fidgeting with the comforter of the bed they were sitting on.
"I'm sorry" he murmured softly after a few seconds, hiding his eyes from her. Noticing that almost unconscious movement, Piper reached for his chin and forced him to raise his gaze to her, so that their eyes would meet.
"Don't be" she said, wiping away whatever remains of tears that were left in her friend's cheek with her thumb. "I'm glad you trusted me."
It was that statement what managed to bring a smile into Leo's face that for a second Piper almost feared was fake, until she stared into the son of Hephaestus' eyes and took note of the mischievous light that ever so slightly shone in them.
"Hey" he grinned at her, circling her shoulders in a playful manner. "You're my gig sis' aren't you? How could I not trust you?"
"Feel free to do it anytime" she replied gently, as she stood up, pulling Leo to his feet with her, just so she was able to stand on her tip-toes and kiss her friend's cheek. "Now, let's go show the others that more's needed to take down Leo Valdez."
Leo laughed a bit at that, widening his smile. "Don't tell me little Piper was worried about me" he joked, ruffling the girl's hair fondly.
"As Hell" Piper answered, deadpan, which in other circumstances would have received a joke from Leo, given how Piper rarely swore, but the son of Hephaestus stopped himself when he saw how serious, almost fierce, Piper's gaze was. He swallowed down whatever mockery that was left in his tongue before speaking.
"Thank you" he finally replied in a low voice.
"Any time" Piper repeated, already heading –and dragging Leo with her meanwhile doing so– to the door.
If it should have been weird that after standing on the gunwale only for five minutes the other demigods aboard the ship had returned to Leo's door and were waiting for Piper to come out right next to the cabin, no one thought so, which explained why as soon as the daughter of Aphrodite opened the door and let Leo and she appear in their friends' eye-sight, Hazel practically flew to circle Leo's neck, who out of pure reflexes caught her in the air.
Upon all the intelligent things Hazel could have said, like 'What she said is not true', 'Don't believe her' or 'I'm sorry', what she whispered into Leo's ear was only one simple phrase: "I love you."
And it was exactly because of the words she had chosen that they were so meaningful. They meant she knew what he had done, that she knew every tiny little bit of his past he had dared to voice aloud and was still willingly standing by his side. It meant she was aware that, as a matter of fact, he could be dangerous.
But they also meant that she trusted him, trusted him to control his powers, trusted him enough to be around him, to put herself next to that potential danger and yet not fear for her security.
Ultimately, those three words only meant exactly what they had said: she loved him. And love was matter of trust, of trust and of risking and that, precisely, was what made those words so meaningful and important.
"I love you too" he whispered back, giving Hazel a tiny squeeze.
It was then that Frank decided to follow his girlfriend's example and engulfed both Hazel and Leo in a hug, rapidly seconded by Piper and Annabeth, and soon enough, Leo was pretty sure that he was standing in the middle of bundle of the six bravest demigods he had met.
When a couple of minutes after they finally decided to break apart, Leo strained to keep a straight face when he noticed how tight his friends were holding their lips together in a concerned gesture. The look in his friends' eyes only managed to stretch the smile Leo was wearing on his lips.
"Seriously, guys. I'm fine" he said, smiling as he buried his left hand in his pocket. If he noticed how none of them believed him until Piper nodded next to him, still holding his right hand in her left, he didn't say anything about it.
Even after that, Jason seemed to be trying very hardly to pierce the son of Hephaestus with his strong haze, and even though Annabeth was trying to fake her eyes weren't flying to him at least every five seconds, Leo was plainly conscious of the worry that hid behind her semi-cold stare. Sincerely, that girl was always saying she was bad with human interactions, but the truth was that, good or bad at it, she was always understandable.
The fact that Annabeth was trying to let him know she was concerned about him even when she wasn't one to openly show her feelings was so heart-warming that Leo couldn't help but enlarge his smile, fondness shinning in his eyes just like it had shone in Piper's a moment ago.
When he nodded at her, Leo was perfectly capable to see how the tension in Annabeth's body relaxed and her features softened a little.
"So" Percy started after a moment of silence that was close to becoming awkward. "We don't have to burn the place down again, do we?"
To Leo's left, Jason's body stiffened as the son of Jupiter shot Percy a scowl that could be read as 'Seriously, dude?', just as Annabeth, who sent her boyfriend a glare that meant 'You are so dead after this is over'.
Surprisingly enough, Percy's terrified face forced Leo to bit back a laugh that still managed to come out as a coughing fit.
"Nah" Leo answered, with his usual easy-going grin. This time, however, his eyes genuinely sparkled when he spoke. "She can have that old place if she wants" he said, shrugging it off. "I have you, guys" he continued, almost sheepishly as the words still felt weird on his tongue; nevertheless, at the very same time, he knew that what he had said was nothing but the truth.
Maybe the only alive relative he had on his mother's side hated him, but then again he had learned that blood in fact formed a relation, though love was the one thing that made a family and kept it united. And meanwhile he might have shared a blood bond with Rosa Valdez, if he were to be honest with himself, she was not a part of his family―she hadn't been since the time she had abandoned an orphan eight-year old boy to his luck.
He was suddenly pulled out of his thoughts when Jason nudged him softly.
"If you want to go back to the camp right now we could―" he started, but trailed off when he saw Leo grin at him confidently.
"Of course not, man!" the son of Hephaestus replied, smiling. "If the Fates want us to come to Texas, then to Texas we come! You haven't seen all of this state yet!"
Jason directed him one last concerned and inquiring look before finally deciding that the son of Hephaestus was genuinely smiling.
"Annie, you're gonna love our next stop!" Leo announced cheerily, circling Annabeth's shoulders playfully. For once, the girl decided to let go the thing about the nickname.
"Don't tell me" the daughter of Athena murmured, her lips, too, stretched in a curious smile. "Why so?"
"Because" Leo replied "I bet you've always wanted to see The Alamo!"
"San Antonio's Mission?" Annabeth inquired, her eyes slightly widened in amusement.
"The one and only!" Leo replied simply, smiling at her.
"We go on a vacation and all you two can think of is historical building?" Percy wondered aloud, faking an exaggerated yawn.
"Bro, you do understand that those will be all your vacations goals once you marry Annabeth, don't you?" Jason asked, almost causing Annabeth to choke with her own breath.
The daughter of Athena's face started to redden, giving her friends a very uncommon sight, which only caused Frank, Leo and Piper to try to muffle their laughs, same that still came out as loud snorts. Next to her boyfriend's side, Hazel giggled softly, covering her mouth with both her hands for discretion.
On the other side, Jason simply stared back at Percy, with a mocking grin spread on his lips, which Percy returned transformed in a fake death glare, until, finally, the both of them exploded in laughter.
"As long as it is with my Wise Girl I think I'll be able to take that" Percy answered flirtatiously, taking his girlfriend into his arms after Leo had freed her in his laughter attack. Annabeth covered her blushed face with her hands in an attempt to hide her flush, but she didn't reject his touch, leaning into Percy's chest.
Finally taking pity on the couple, and having gotten a hold of himself, Frank stepped forward.
"So what do we do to get this ship moving, captain?" he asked, directing to Leo.
"At last someone recognizes me!" Leo celebrated dramatically. "We should start by weighing anchor, my dear boatswain." Leo grinned.
"Ahoy, my so-called captain" Piper said, rolling her eyes playfully.
"You, gorgeous lady, can take care of the helm, and you, sub-captain" Leo continued, turning to Jason, "you can fly and get the sails ready."
Soon after, the seven of them were busy following Leo's orders, for once giving into his childish game.
If after that, at some point the five demigods that hadn't been with him after Annabeth instructed for them to leave the room neared Leo and asked him if he really was alright even when both Piper and he had assured it, no one mentioned it, and unlike what would have been usual, Leo wasn't bothered by the questions.
Maybe, under any other circumstances, he might have reacted differently, shutting himself away from others, or maybe that much attention should have been bothering, especially when they were all asking the same thing, but the truth was that it wasn't.
It was the fact that even when they knew the answer they approached to ask that question what made the action meaningful. It symbolized that they simply wanted to show him that they cared and that they were worried, and that was enough to make him want to show them how much he appreciated them as well.
Because it was the worry that had shone in their eyes and the way in which each of them had mobilized themselves to support him and to show him how much they cared what really mattered in the end, if not just a silly question.
Because blood was just a word when family was a feeling. And because, after all that time, he had finally found the ones that deserved to be called his family.
Actually, this idea had been in my head for a while, but even when I had the beginning and the dialogues that I loved so much, I didn't know what to do after that, so it stayed in the 'Pendants' list for a long while, until some weeks before right now, when the idea just striked me.
On the other side, I simply love the sibling-like relationship that Leo and Piper share, and they're just too cute not to try to write something with those two.
Something else: even though I don't really ship Caleo, the reason why she doesn't make an appareance here has nothing to do with it. The thing is that the idea first came when I was reading The Mark of Athena and didn't even know what would happen with Calypso, so I had dialogues and scenes for the Seven, but only for them, and then I couldn't change that because that would also mean that instead of being Piper the one at the end, it should have been Calypso, and I didn't want to do that. Sorry.
As for the translations, here we go:
*1: Nada, obviously Spanish, like all of the others, Nothing.
*2: Lo siento, I'm sorry.
*3: ¡Tú no te metas!, ¡Don't get involved!, as in a rude way.
*4: Diablo, well, Uncle Rick made it quite evident, Devil.
*5: ¡No te creo nada!, I don't belive a thing you say!
*6: ¡No me digas!, Don't tell me!
As a matter of fact, and though it has nothing to do with the actual story, I'm Mexican myself and had a lot of fun mixing Spanish words into the story, there was actually this time when I was telling a friend of mine that "Rosa was going to speak in Spanglish because she is Latin and so am I and I am the author and I can make her do it". Just a dumb and useless curious fact for you to know.
So, your turn to tell me something, what do you think about the story? ;)