author's note: Spoilers for Trials of Apollo ahead!
The reunion between Leo, Calypso and Percy.
When Calypso sees Percy, Leo's first thought, Well, my day just took a turn for the worse.
He's aching all over from taking one too many punches, and he's feeling the guilt pretty bad, but all of that takes a backseat when Percy approaches the pair of them with a tentative expression on his face.
Leo doesn't miss the way Calypso reacts. Not one bit. Her eyes widen, flashing through a whole range of emotions in two seconds, her lips part slightly, and one hand flies up to smooth her perfectly smooth hair. Without thinking, he moves in a little closer to her. This is stupid. He's worked out all his anger and jealousy with Percy already, there's no reason to be feeling whatever he's feeling now.
But he's never been able to rid himself of that little nagging feeling of inadequacy, has he? For all the battles he's had to fight, all the fears he's had to overcome… that's still what gets to him. Calypso might have chosen him, and they might have spent six months flying around together, but some part of Leo believes that she'll drop him like a sack of potatoes at any given moment. Hopefully he's wrong, because he's kind of in love with her.
That feeling hits him with full force as he watches Calypso watch Percy. He has no idea how this is going to go down, or how he's going to deal with their history together. He's not mad at Percy anymore, but come on, the guy has six inches on him and he's just helped to save all of camp again (if Percy had a saving-camp punch card, he'd be due for a free coffee right about now). So cut Leo some slack, okay?
"Hey," the son of Poseidon says easily, though his brow is furrowed and he looks anxious. There's something else there, too – if Leo didn't know better, he would say there's a trace of anger. The kind that used to make Leo want to go dig a hole and hide in it.
Calypso says nothing; she only stares at Percy for a good five seconds before Leo breaks the silence with, "Um, long time no see, right, guys?"
Calypso says in a low voice, "Perseus Jackson… I thought I'd never see you again." Her voice is thick with emotion.
"Yeah, ditto for you," Percy responds, and the tension in the air lessens by a degree, though that uneasy look is still there. He pauses for a second, unsure what to say. "I, uh, I planted the moonlace, you know. It's growing outside my mom's apartment. I didn't forget about that."
He doesn't know what Percy's talking about, but Calypso's eyes are glittering. Is that a good thing? Probably not. "Thank you," she murmurs. "I didn't think that you would forget." Leo doesn't dare turn his head to look at her closely. He doesn't want to see if she's got an expression of longing or wistfulness or, worst of all, regret. But then she slips her pale hand into his brown one, and he glances at her, seeing a shadow of pain on her delicate features. It makes something in his heart hurt.
Percy's smile drops off his face. "Calypso – I'm sorry. If I had known they kept you on that island…" He shakes his head. "I thought the gods would keep their promise. I should have made sure."
Calypso breathes shakily. "Of course you would say that. Ever my hero, Percy," she says, no malice in her tone. "Please, do not apologize. The gods, Percy… it wasn't your wrongdoing. I may have blamed you, but I was... I could not think clearly, in my heartbreak. I was foolish. I was stupid. I am the one who wronged you."
Wow, that's a doozy. "My hero" and "heartbreak" in one breath. Whew, gimme a sec to absorb this.
He's so lost in his own thoughts that it takes him a second to notice the storm cloud passing over Percy's features, to see the anger hardening in his eyes. "You were the one who cursed Annabeth. Weren't you?" It's enough to make a shiver run up Leo's spine. "When we were in Tartarus. She couldn't see me. She thought I'd left her."
"Yes. It was. I understand if you hate me," she says. "If you can never forgive me. I cannot forgive myself for what I did."
"She didn't deserve that," Percy says flatly. His green eyes look oddly still.
Calypso looks away. Her grip on Leo's hand tightens. "I know."
Leo's just about ready to step in between them when the anger melts off Percy's face. It's almost scary, how fast the dark, bitter expression vanishes and is replaced by a trademark Jackson grin. "But I forgive you, Calypso. You couldn't have known we would end up in Tartarus. And I was a jerk, you know. Asking the gods to free you and expecting that they just would."
Calypso seems stunned. She finally meets Percy's eyes, and then moves forward to kiss him softly on the cheek, wrapping one arm around him in a gentle hug. Leo stands there feeling like the world's biggest chump before she steps back and looks apologetically at him.
"Thank you. You know…" she hesitates. "I'm not in love with you anymore, Percy. But I'll always love you. I never stop loving my heroes." Her voice is old somehow, but soft.
Percy's kind of red, but he manages, "Yeah. I love you too, Calypso."
A comfortable silence settles between them (at least, it's comfortable for them – Leo's discomfort level is through the roof) for a few heartbeats. "So, you and Valdez, huh?" Percy says finally, smiling as he looks at the pair. "You guys make a cute couple."
Hope you liked it! Haha I needed some closure for this storyline. I really wanted to make it clear that there's no romantic love between Calypso and Percy anymore, hope it came across that way