Okay the next one after this will be of a humorous nature. And possibly the one after that (but I haven't written it yet so...we'll see.)
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Leo scratched his head and looked at the child standing before him.
Eleanor Grace looked uncannily like Piper, all the way down to the little braids in her choppy brown hair. The way she held herself though, was all Jason; calm determination and seriousness.
"Well" said Leo. "Do you wanna…help Uncle Leo build something?" What were you supposed to say to a kid who had just lost her parents?
She shook her head a little and looked at the ground. Eleanor was seven, but small for her age, and seemed smaller in the vast bunker of Leo's workshop.
Leo glanced around. Bunker Nine was dimly lit, and filled with lots of huge machines that he suddenly realized could seem threatening to a kid.
"Say," he said. "You want ice-cream?" Eleanor had always liked ice-cream, he remembered.
"I guess."
Leo winked and walked over to the back of the workshop, to a huge machine with cogs and gears galore. "Now this I built about three years ago. Just you wait…" he yanked on a lever "ah, it's a little rusty…I generally just use my general-food-maker machine, but…" The lever went down. Leo stepped back and wiped his hands on his trousers. "The ice-cream's better from the original." He grinned at Eleanor as the machine sprang to life, creaking and rumbling like a snoring Festus.
She moved her mouth in a way that might have been an attempt at a smile.
Leo's own smile faltered a little. He'd known Eleanor all her life; was her adored uncle. She had always been a cheerful kid who laughed easily.
Man, he was still reeling from the sudden deaths of his two best friends. It had been so sudden, and not a monster attack or anything, but a plain old, regular car crash. And now he was supposed to be a father figure to his niece…
Well. At least he would do better than Aunt Rosa.
He took the ice-cream from off the machine tray and handed it to Eleanor. "There you are, your highness. Chocolate's your favorite, right?"
"Yes." And this time, she did smile.
The next theme is "Stranger."