AN: I don't own PJO. This chapter is back in time again, with three-year-old Maxine.

Leo and Calypso were trying to explain to Max why she couldn't touch the flame the stove made when it was turned on. She was very stubbornly not listening to them.

"Max, honey, you can't play with fire. It will burn you, and then you'd be sad." Calypso tried.

"Well it might not hurt her, I mean-"

Calypso smacked Leo on the back of the head to shut him up.

Max looked back and forth between her parents with big innocent eyes. "Fire not bad. I no sad."

"Bonita, fire hurts people. You can't touch it because it would hurt, and we don't want you to get hurt. Remember when I told you you couldn't play with my power tools? It's like that." Leo explained. Calypso frowned at him.

"When did that happen?"
"Um, not important." Leo said, turning red. He turned back to his daughter, who was sitting on the kitchen counter and swinging her legs. "Do you understand, Max?"

"Yes." Max chirped. Calypso shook her head, impressed. She still didn't understand how Leo always got through to Maxine. It was like they were mentally linked.

"Cool. Let's go watch TV or something, okay? Not fire-related?" Leo said, scooping her up and carrying her into the living room.

Leo and Maxine sat down on the couch, and Leo flicked the TV on. Ice Age 2 was playing. Leo half-slept half-watched-Maxine as the movie played. Maxine sat in his lap, giggling at the sloth. What was his name? Oh, yeah. Sid.

Leo watched the sloth get carried away by smaller sloths. He was almost fully asleep, when the little sloths all yelled as one, "Fire!"

Maxine burst into flame.

Leo gave a high-pitched scream of terror, picking her up and passing her from hand to hand like a hot potato. Which, in a way, she was.

Calypso skidded into the room. "Leo! What-" She spotted Maxine. "OHMYGODS LEO THE BABY IS ON FIRE."

"I noticed!" Leo yelled.

Calypso tried to take Maxine from him, but drew her hands back quickly. "I can't touch her! Leo put her in the sink!"

Maxine giggled as her clothes turned to ash, leaving her in her fire-proof diaper. Leo had gotten them specially, just in case. Of course, he hadn't thought it was actually going to happen.

The smoke from the flaming baby turned the sprinklers on, and suddenly they were all taking an unplanned shower. Calypso squeaked and Leo spluttered as the hot steam from Maxine hit in the face. The water quickly put Max out, and she giggled watching her parents panic and try to figure out how to turn the sprinklers off.

When everything finally calmed down, Leo left Calypso to dry off their living room. He took Max to the indoor pool in the middle of New Rome. Percy was there, the way he always was afternoons. The two-year-old twins were there, too, swimming around happily in the pool.

"Percy! I need water demigod help!" Leo said. He was carrying Maxine, and Percy immediately noticed that, A: Maxine's hair was smoking, B: Leo's clothes were singed, and C: Leo looked panicky.

"What happened, man?" Percy asked, wondering whether he should panic or start laughing at the terrified look on Leo's face.

"Max caught on fire. On her own!" Leo explained. Max giggled and waved at Percy.

"I did fire like papa!" She said.

"What can I do to help?" Percy asked.

"I was hoping you could be on fire extinguisher duty. I want to see if she can learn to control it, but a fire extinguisher might suffocate her." Leo explained.

"Sure." Percy said. The twins had noticed Leo and Max, and were swimming over. They scrambled out of the water and made a beeline for Maxine.

"Maxi!" Cassie squealed, hugging the older legacy. "You here!"

Charles hugged Max, too, though he didn't say anything. Nobody was sure whether they should be worried that Charles still hadn't talked. Cassie chattered away for both of them, but Charles hadn't said a word. He wasn't deaf, so the doctors assured Percy and Annabeth that he would talk in his own time.

"Hi! Cassie, Charlie!" Max giggled. They tried to lead her toward the pool, but Percy lifted one up with each hand.

"Sorry, Jacksons. Max has something she has to do before you can play. And remember, not everybody can breath underwater like you." Cass and Charles nodded enthusiastically. "Okay. We're going to watch. Ready, Aquaman?" Charles nodded. "Ready, Princess Ariel?"

"Yeah!" Cassie giggled.

"Okay, go." Percy said to Leo. Leo nodded and picked up Max.

"Max, remember how you lit on fire earlier?"

Max nodded. "You screamed."

Percy snickered. Leo ignored him. "Yeah. Though it was more a yell then a scream. Do you think you can light on fire the way you did, bonita?"
Max nodded cheerfully. Then she was on fire. It was all Leo could do not to drop her in surprise-he hadn't expected her to do it so easily.

"Okay, can you turn it off again?" Leo asked hopefully. The twins cowered behind their dad's legs, staring at Max in awe.

Max squeezed her eyes shut. "Me can't!"

"Percy, now would be good." Leo called. Percy focused on Maxine, and the water of the pool lifted up. A light spray of water tumbled over the three-year-old, like being in a shower. Maxine was quickly put out.

"Papa, how come me couldn't stop?" Max asked, looking worried.

"It's hard to control fire, bonita. I couldn't control my fire when I was your age. I was lots of years older when I figured it out, because I had nobody to teach me. But I'm going to help you control it, okay?" Leo said. Max nodded.

Percy watched curiously. He had never heard Leo describe what it was like to use fire.

"I know it feels too powerful for you to control, like it's going to take you over. But fire is a gift, not a curse. You just learn how to talk to it. You can feel the power in your tummy, right?" Leo tapped her belly, making her giggle. Max was crazy ticklish. "You draw from it when you make fire. But to get rid of the fire, you draw it in. Like taking a deep breath. Can you try again?"
Max nodded, catching on fire. With Leo's help, she tried to stop burning. But after ten minutes, she still hadn't managed it. Leo shook his head at Percy, who sprayed Max again with pool water.

They practiced almost another dozen times, Leo trying lots of different tactics. She finally managed it, but it drained her. She fell asleep in Leo's arms. Leo grinned at Percy. "Thanks, buddy. I owe you one."

"I think that could be repaid with ice-cream." Percy grinned.

Leo groaned. "Fine. Hold pyro here." He handed off the sleeping Max.

"Can we have ice-cream?" Cassie asked hopefully.

"Can you say no to these faces?" Percy needled Leo.

"Yes! C'mon, Uncle Leo will get you your fix!" The twins giggled and ran with Leo to find ice-cream.

Maxine stayed asleep, resting peacefully in her "uncle's" arms. The seven, Reyna, and Nico and Will had decided that it would be easiest if their kids just thought of the other adults as their aunts and uncles. It had been "Uncle Leo's" idea, but nobody had argued.

Leo and the twins found their way back with ice-cream, only to find Percy sleeping on the bleachers with Maxine wide-awake in his arms. He was drooling.

"Maxi, did da-da go to sleep?" Cassie giggled.

Max nodded, holding a finger to her lips. "Shh! No wanna wake him up!"

AN: thanks for reading. Please leave a review, ideas welcome.