CALYPSO WAS GLAD TO HAVE SOMETHING TO DO.

Almost immediately after Gaea's visit, she had started to make preparations for Leo's departure. Food, water, medicine just in case—these all went into a neat pile near Leo's camp. She set to work on a sail, and made rope for the rigging of the ship that was to be made. All this took her less than a day, and before long she found herself with nothing left to do.

Calypso woke up to the sun's morning light and stretched. Letting out a small yawn, she turned and looked outside. She could see the thin pillar of smoke above the treetops, telling her that Leo was still hard at work. She smiled. He never seemed to sleep anymore, after Gaea's appearance on the island. Maybe the earth goddess scared him more than he let on. Or maybe he was just determined to leave as quickly as possible. It was probably a combination of the two.

Calypso stepped outside and basked in the warm rays for a few moments, then walked over to Leo's camp. On the way, she heard the strange whirring and clinking sounds that his tools often made.

"Do you need help with anything?" she asked Leo once he was within earshot.

He looked up from the mess of bronze on his worktable and flashed his trademark smile. Calypso's heart skipped a beat.

"If I didn't know better, I'd think you were anxious to get rid of me," he said.

Calypso shrugged. "That's a bonus," she replied. She noticed that Leo was looking at her with a strange expression.

"Why the jeans and the T-shirt?" he commented, pointing out her wardrobe change.

"Oh, this." So that's what he'd been staring at. "Well, did you expect me to work in a dress?"

"Well, no," he admitted. "But I didn't expect you to wear jeans and a T-shirt either."

Calypso smirked. "So what did you expect me to wear, if not a dress or jeans?"

He threw up his hands into the air. "I don't know. Just not that, I guess."

"Well, to answer your question, I'm wearing these because I realized how much more practical these clothes are for working than dresses. Also, the jeans are new to me so I wanted to try them out."

"That doesn't explain why your shirt is so dirty, though," Leo replied with a grin.

"Picking fruits and vegetables, which are for you, I might add, isn't exactly the world's cleanest thing to do, now, is it?" she retorted. "Unless you would rather I didn't collect all that food for you?"

Leo held up his hands again. "Okay, Sunshine. You win."

He was still looking at her with that strange expression on his face. An awkward silence followed, until Calypso finally spoke up.

"So?" she asked.

He jumped a tiny bit. "So…what?"

"So how can I help?" She motioned toward at the jumble of bronze on the table. "How is it coming?"

"Oh, uh," he said, and looked down at the table. "I'm good here, I guess. If I can wire this thing up to the boat, I should be able to navigate back to the world."

"Now all you need is a boat." So this was it, then. Leo really was going to leave. She felt a strange sensation she couldn't quite explain.

She would miss him, of course. Under normal circumstances she would deny it, but Calypso was done lying to herself. His endless clanging, his smile, and…yes, his sarcasm. She'd miss it all. Leo had become a regular part of her life in the days that he spent here, and it would be strange to have him go. He still needed a boat before leaving, but it was only a matter of time. Soon, he would be gone.

Leo must've seen something in her face, because he cleared his throat and spoke up. "What Gaea said…" He paused for a second. "About you getting off this island. Would you want to try it?"

It sounded a bit too good to be true. "What do you mean?"

"Well…I'm not saying it would be fun having you along, always complaining and glaring at me and stuff," he said quickly. "But I suppose I could stand it, if you wanted to try."

Calypso couldn't help but smile just a little.

"How noble," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "But no, Leo. If I tried to come with you, your tiny chance of escape would be no chance at all. The gods have placed ancient magic on this island to keep me here. A hero can leave. I cannot." She sighed. "The most important thing is getting you free so you can stop Gaea. Not that I care what happens to you," she added hastily. "But the world's fate is at stake."

"Why would you care about that?" he asked. "I mean, after being away from the world for so long?"

Calypso thought for a second. "I suppose I don't like being told what to do—by Gaea or anyone else," she said after a few moments. "As much as I hate the gods sometimes, over the past three millennia I've come to see that they're better than the Titans. They're definitely better than the giants. At least the gods kept in touch. Hermes has always been kind to me. And your father, Hephaestus, has often visited. He is a good person."

Leo's mouth had dropped at the mention of his father. She gently reached out and closed it. Her fingers lingered on his face. They stared at each other until Calypso broke the silence.

"Now," she said firmly, and dropped her hand. "How can I help?"

"Oh." Leo was startled by the sudden sound of her voice. "You know that flameproof cloth? You think you could make me a little bag of that fabric? It shouldn't be too big, enough to hold an apple, maybe."

"That will only take minutes. Will it help you on your quest?"

"Yeah it might save a life," he said. After a slight pause, he continued. "And, um, could you chip off a little piece of crystal from your cave? I don't need much."

Calypso frowned. "That's an odd request."

"Humor me."

She nodded. "Alright. Consider it done. I'll make the fireproof pouch tonight at the loom, when I've cleaned up. But what can I do now, while my hands are dirty?" She held them up for Leo to see. They were covered in grime and blistered in places.

Leo grinned. Again, her heart skipped a beat.

"Well, you could twist some more bronze coils," he said after some thought. "But that's kind of specialized—" He abruptly stopped talking as Calypso pushed him to one side of the bench, sat down, and starting to braid the bronze.

"Just like weaving," she said, looping and twisting coil after coil. "This isn't so hard." She felt a wave of satisfaction as Leo's jaw dropped in surprise.

"Huh," he said. "Well, if you ever get off this island and want a job, let me know. You're not a total klutz."

"A job, eh?" Calypso said with a smile, her hands still working the bronze into shape. "Making things in your forge?"

Leo shook his head. "Nah, we could start our own shop. Leo and Calypso's Garage: Auto Repair and Mechanical Monsters."

She put the bronze down. Auto repairs and mechanical monsters?. That sounded much better than living for the rest of time on an island with a stupid curse.

"Fresh fruits and vegetables," she added with a smile.

"Cider and stew," he shot back. "We could even provide entertainment. You could sing and I could, like, randomly burst into flames."

Calypso laughed, surprising herself. It had been a long time since she had actually laughed.

Seeing her laugh made Leo chuckle a bit, too. "See, I'm funny," he said.

She cut herself off and forced herself to look serious. That made Leo laugh again, which made not smiling even harder for Calypso. "You are not funny," she said sternly. "Now get back to work, or no cider and stew."

"Yes, ma'am," he answered, and gave her a mock salute. Calypso picked up her bronze and Leo his tools, and together they went to work. It was silent, but neither of them could keep from smiling.

Two nights later, Leo's project was finished.

He called it a "guidance console". Once he connected it to a ship, it would guide him back to the world. Or so he claimed.

Leo and Calypso celebrated the completion with a picnic on the beach. The crater Leo made when he arrived sat not too far away from where they sat. They ate under the silvery rays of the full moon, and lit a campfire, its orange tongues throwing dancing shadows across the ground.

The supplies for Leo's journey were all prepared in a neat pile near his camp. Rope, a sail, food and water were all there.

"All we need now is a boat," Calypso said, her tone light. In reality, she was feeling uneasy. When Leo had first arrived, she couldn't wait until he was gone. Now that he was almost ready to leave, she felt a wave of sadness. How things had changed from that first day.

"I can start chopping wood into boards tomorrow," Leo said. "Few days, we'll have enough for a small hull."

"You've made a ship before," Calypso recalled. "Your Argo II."

He nodded. His eyes got a faraway look.

"So how long until you sail?" she asked. Calypso couldn't bring herself to look him in the eyes while she said this. It pained her.

Leo thought for a moment, fingers twitching as they always did. "Uh, not sure," he said. "Another week?"

Calypso almost sighed in relief. So he had a few more days here before he left. Seeing as how time on the island passed in strange ways, he would probably seem to leave much earlier, but she was glad to have some more time with him nonetheless.

She looked down at the circuit board that lay on the picnic blanket. It gleamed in the moonlight, its many edges and facets glittering like stars. The light of the fire cast dark shapes across the surface. "This took so long to make," she said.

Leo shrugged and gave her a small smile. "You can't rush perfection."

Calypso let a smile dance around the edges of her lips. "Yes, but will it work?" she asked, almost accusingly.

He waved his hand nonchalantly. "Getting out, no problem. But to get back I'll need Festus and—"

"What?" Had she heard him right?

"Festus. My bronze dragon." He blinked in surprise at her sudden outburst. "Once I figure out how to rebuild him, I'll—"

Calypso cut him off. "You told me about Festus. But what do you mean get back?"

Leo scratched his head nervously and half-smiled. "Well, to get back here, duh," he said carefully. I'm sure I said that."

"You most definitely did not." His words rang in her head. Get back here…there was no way he could come back. It wasn't possible.

"I'm not gonna leave you here!" Leo exclaimed. "After you helped me and everything? Of course I'm coming back. Once I rebuild Festus, he'll be able to handle an improved guidance system. There's this astrolabe that I, uh…" He hesitated. "…that I found in Bologna. Anyway, I think with that crystal you gave me—"

Calypso cut him off again. "You can't come back."

His face fell. "Because I'm not welcome?"

"Because you can't," she insisted. "It's impossible. No man ever finds Ogygia twice. That is the rule."

Leo rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, you might've noticed I'm not good at following rules. I'm coming back here with my dragon, and we'll spring you. Take you wherever you want to go. It's only fair."

"Fair…" Calypso spoke barely above a whisper. She lost the meaning of that word long ago, when she was imprisoned here. It wasn't fair when she stood up for her father and was punished, wasn't fair that she had to fall in love with every hero who came to her island, wasn't fair that all of her heroes had to return to the world and break her heart. None of that was fair. Yet it happened, and look where so-called fairness left her. On an island, for the rest of eternity, with a curse that broke her heart on some days and left her completely alone on the rest.

Leo's voice brought her back to the present. "You didn't really think I could start Leo and Calypso's Auto Repair without Calypso, did you?" he asked her gently. "I can't make cider and stew, and I sure can't sing."

Calypso stared at the sand and didn't speak.

"Well, anyway," Leo continued, "tomorrow I'll start on the lumber. And in a few days…" He stopped talking abruptly.

She looked up from the sand. Silhouetted by the silver gleam of the moon, to her unbelieving eyes, was a large wooden raft, floating in the gentle waves.

Calypso was the first to move. Her mind took over, and she sprang to her feet and made a beeline for the stacked supplies.

"Hurry!" she yelled over her shoulder. Leo was still sitting in a daze. "I don't know how long it will stay!"

"But…" He rose unsteadily. "That's the magic raft?"

"Duh!" she said without breaking stride. Calypso snatched up a few bags of food and almost threw them onto the raft. "It might work like it's supposed to and take you where you want to go. But we can't be sure. The island's magic is obviously unstable. You must rig up your guidance device to navigate."

She finished placing most of the supplies onto the raft and headed back to the picnic blanket. The guidance console was still there, gleaming. Calypso picked it up, which finally got Leo moving, and together they ran to the ship and wired the circuit board onto the raft's rudder. They pulled the sail and rope from the beach onto the ship and starting working on rigging up the sail.

In almost no time at all, the raft was ready to go. Already the sail was fluttering with the wind. Leo tinkered with his sphere and muttered something under his breath, and the console on the rudder came to life.

The raft shuddered, and the ropes pulled the sail to catch the full force of the wind. Soon the raft began to move along the sand, reaching for the waves.

They faced each other on the shifting raft, the immortal and the hero. Only a few feet separated them.

"Go," Calypso said.

Leo's eyes held hers, with the same intensity she noticed before, along with an underlying sense of sadness.

He looked around. "The raft finally got here."

"You just noticed?" For a son of Hephaestus, he could be really dumb sometimes.

"But if it only shows up for guys you like—"

"Don't push your luck, Leo Valdez," she said. "I still hate you."

"Okay." He started to turn around but Calypso kept talking.

"And you are not coming back here," she insisted. "So don't give me any empty promises"

Leo turned back. "How about a full promise?" he said. "Because I'm definitely—"

Calypso couldn't take it anymore. He was standing so close. She could smell the soot and fire from here, and for the first time she realized how much she would actually miss him and his sarcasm and his smile and his clanging and everything else she had come to know.

So before she had a chance to rethink what she was about to do, she leaned forward on her tiptoes, pulled his face to hers, and kissed him.

Leo stiffened in shock, and after a moment Calypso let him go. She pushed him away. "That didn't happen."

"Okay." He was still frozen in place.

"Get out of here."

"Okay."

She forced herself to turn away before she could say anything else. So this was it, then. He really was leaving. Tears welled up in her eyes but she wiped them away furiously as she walked away from the raft.

Her lips still tingled from the kiss.

The scrape of wood against sand made her turn around again. Calypso watched the raft caught the wind in its sails and slid off of the shore.

She saw Leo scramble around, aligning his guidance console and trying to keep the craft stabilized. The wind was strong, and before too long the raft was far out into the open sea. The Celestial bronze console glimmered in the moonlight, its glint growing fainter and fainter as the ship receded. Calypso thought she could see Leo turn his head back to the island, but soon even his outline, along with the raft, turned into a dark smudge on the horizon. A few moments later, it sailed over the edge of the earth, and the horizon was once again an unbroken line separating the heavens and the earth. Leo was gone.