SEASBLU- damnit, now i'm gonna have that song stuck in my head!

Maryam Claus- awww no thank YOU! such a nice comment!

radoddish- :DDDD

I hope you are all doing okay. I know these times are uncertain and scary right now, but I hope you can find some comfort in this fic like I do. Don't underestimate the value of kindness during this time- if you're feeling down or scared, look at all the kind acts occurring in the world right now. Be well. We're all in this together.


"So Valdez is gone?" Frank, annoyingly, didn't seem to get personal space. He was right on Rosie's heels as she paced the deck, taking in all the damage of the ship. Piper had managed to defeat Khione and her brothers, but not before Khione used a wind bomb to push the ship halfway across the Mediterranean.

"Frank, bud, I know you're tall but come on, use your eyes." Mainsail- ripped. Rigging- destroying. God only knows what the state of the oars were. Her eyes danced, taking in all the damage. Part of her was mournful; this was, after all, Leo's masterpiece.

"But, where did he go? Is he coming back?"

"I don't know, Zhang," she said as her voice increasingly became more and more high pitched. "He fell out of the freaking sky!"

"Are you guys alright?" Piper appeared, Jason at her shoulder. Jason was still shivering, the color completely drained from his face. "You, uh, still have a little ice on your cheek."

"Fine," Rosie gritted, silently cursing herself as she wiped her cheek feverishly. "Thank god you were here, Piper- you really saved the day."

Piper shook her head, her mouth a flat line. "I could've done more- I didn't stop the bomb."

"Come on, Pipes," Jason said, coming closer. "You saved us. And you woke up Festus."

That was true. They all looked at their figurehead, which was now alive. Rosie would never admit it out loud, but she was happy to see that old, Rosie-hating hunk of metal croaking away again.

Hazel appeared, slinging an arm around Piper. "We can't be too hard on ourselves."

Frank frowned, glancing around the deck again. "This is a lot of damage…"

Hazel sighed. "Again, we can't be too hard on ourselves."

Rosie found herself looking at the railing Leo tumbled over, still feeling the shove he gave her out of the way.

Piper gulped. "There's some things we should talk about."

Jason nodded. "Yeah. Nico and Coach are still below deck- let's meet them in the mess hall."

They began to disperse, heading towards the stairs. Rosie remained in place, still looking at the railing Leo tumbled over. She couldn't shake the dreams she had been having- when it was her tumbling through the sky.

"Rosie?" Jason asked, stopping by the stairs. "You coming?"

She snapped out of her retrieve, finally looking away from the railing. "Yeah, sorry...I'm right behind you."

They met in the Mess Hall, a particularly somber tone in the air. Leo was, after all, the class clown. He'd be the one cracking jokes to lighten the mood- Rosie leaned towards humor to cope, too, but it wasn't the same without her partner in crime. Instead, they all seemed to be glancing uncomfortably at the empty seat where Leo would be sitting. Is that all this quest was now- losing members of their crew, one by one?

"Okay," Piper began with a shaky breath. "So, good news first I guess...Festus is awake."

Nico leaned back, looking interested. "How did you manage to do that?"

Piper shrugged, a tiny smile on her face. "I don't know- I guess Festus has an emotional side."

"Well, Leo will be happy to see that…" Hazel's upbeat tone didn't mask the implication: Leo will be happy to see Festus, if he came back. Rosie pushed that thought away.

"And...and bad news?" Frank asked, worried.

Nico snorted. "Well, for one thing, our ship is falling apart and we've been blown off course by god knows how much."

Rosie glared at him. "Will you shut up already?"

An awkward silence fell among the table, the only sound being Coach's hooves from above deck, where he was on watch duty.

Jason sighed. 'Rosie-"

"No," she shot back. She turned to look back at Nico. "We get it- this quest is the last place you want to be. But for the love of god, Nico, if I have to hear you say one more smart ass remark, I will take your precious scepter and shove it up your-"

"Okay!" Piper quickly cut Rosie off, shooting her a look. "Thank you, Rosie! So- bad news. Boreas has gone full AWOL."

"Seriously?" Jason asked. "He's working for Gaea completely?"

Piper nodded, clearly worried. "I don't know how easy it's going to be for us to travel, even if we do get the ship fixed."

Rosie perked up. "We will fix the ship." They had to- not only for the quest, but for the hope they would have to travel somewhere to save Leo.

"There's so much damage," Piper emphasized in a shaky whisper.

"We can fix it. I-I can try...I watched Leo build this ship." Time to find out whether all those afternoons spent in the Bunker paid off.

Hazel nodded in encouragement. "She's right, Piper. If we all work together, I'm sure we can figure out Leo's madness."

"Leo's going to be fine, I'm sure of it," Jason piped up, looking over to Rosie. She quickly looked away, not a fan of how that statement was directed at her. "And as far as the winds go, I can try to communicate with the southern venti. Maybe they can help us."

"There's something else I should mention..." Piper began.

Frank moaned, placing his head down on the table. Jason shifted uncomfortably, giving him an awkward pat on the head.

"Khione kept asking me for the astrolabe."

Frank picked up his head. "The astrolabe? The stupid thing Leo's been carting around?"

Piper nodded. "She didn't believe me when I said I didn't have it."

"Leo has it," Rosie said. "I'm almost positive." That thing was attached to him 24/7.

"That's good, at least," Hazel said.

Nico sighed, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose. "No, it's not. It means that stupid thing, whether it's on Leo's person or not, is something wanted-badly- by Gaea. And if Leo has landed somewhere...unfriendly..." Nico didn't bother finishing, staring the rest of them down with a gaunt look. He sighed. "Leo just had to go and be valiant, I guess…" He shot Rosie a look- she decided it wasn't worth it to comment.

"He'll be okay," Jason reassured them. "We know how attached Leo is to that thing...he'll protect it with his life."

"Jason's right," Hazel said. "We don't know why that thing is necessary, but...Leo knows it's important. He kept saying it would be used for something big."

"And the ship….we can fix it," Jason said. "We've got Festus now. And hopefully the southern venti. We can figure this out- just another bump in the road."

Jason met Rosie's eyes, and she knew his words went deeper when it came to her. They still hadn't discussed that night- now that Leo was gone, she probably couldn't avoid it for much longer.

Jason broke eye contact away, and gave a small smile to the rest of the crew. "Well, no better time to start than now, right?"


Frank nervously wrung his hands together, bending down to avoid a metal pipe as he and Rosie made their way into the engine room. "You know, I can now see why I've never been in here."

"Aw, Zhang, you need a hand to hold?"

Rosie could hearly him sharply intake with annoyance. "No," he emphasized, as if Rosie's offer was actually serious. "I just- this place gives me the creeps, okay? It's like being inside Leo's mind...and that's, well...terrifying."

Rosie held in her laugh. "Well, you warm up to it. Just watch out for the rats."

Frank went pale. "Rats?"

Rosie continued on into the dark engine room, stepping over some pipes. "Now, he should be here…" she muttered.

"Uh, Rosie?" Frank stopped behind her, peering nervously into the darkness. "What exactly are we looking for?"

She paused, ready to mess with Zhang. "I haven't told you?"

"No, Jason assigned us as partners and you haven't given much information besides saying 'Hey Frank, let's go into the creepy engine room filled with rats!'"

"You're being a lot of help," she said sarcastically, squinting into the dark. If only she had a flashlight- or a flame from Leo's hand.

"It's cramped back there. I am tall-"

"Will you just help me already?" she snapped.

"Help with what?"

"We're looking for Buford."

Frank momentarily paused, the air fraught with confusion. Then, he gasped. "Buford?!" he exclaimed incredulously. "That evil thing?"

"Don't say that about him, he's going to help us fix the ship!"

"He stole my pants!"

"You should've packed more that one pair!" Rosie yelled back ferociously.

"Well, I didn't think my only pair would be stolen-"

Rosie paused, turning around to face Frank with a feigned, scared look. "Did you hear that?"

She could see the worried look on Frank's face as he tilted his head, listening among the clattering of metal pipes. "No...hear what?"

She shot him a grin. "Nevermind, just a rat."

"Rosie!"

She laughed. Messing with Frank, even if it was new-and-improved Frank, wasn't the same without Leo, but it did always make her laugh.

At that exact moment, Buford the End Table shot out, launching himself on Frank. Frank shrieked, falling backwards and managing to hit his head on one of the metal pipes snaking around the room.

"Ow!"

"Buford!" Rosie exclaimed happily, giving the end table a high-five.

"That hurt!" Frank whined from the floor.

"Aw, Frank, Buford was just saying hi."

Frank glared up at her. "I'm fine, by the way. I bruise like a peach, but I'm fine," he said grumpily.

She shrugged, lending him a hand. "Consider it my revenge for being the second to find out about Coach's baby."

Frank widened his eyes at her, taking her hand and standing up as Buford scuttled around excitedly. "Wait, you know about that?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yes- you probably should've picked up on that when I stepped in to defend Coach the other night."

Frank's face lit up with recognition. "Oh, wow! Yeah, that flew right over my head."

"I'm aware."

Frank nodded awkwardly, stuffing his fists into his pockets. "So...pretty cool we're the only ones who know this, huh?"

"Uh..what?"

Frank blushed, awkwardly shuffling. "I mean, you and I don't really spend time together, and I just thought...nevermind, it's stupid-"

"Oh my god," she interrupted him with a laugh. "Frank, you want to be actual friends, don't you?"

"No!" Frank protested. "Just, forget it, okay?"

She held her hands up in surrender. "Fine," she said, suppressing a smile. "I was totally ready to start giving each other best friend nicknames, and-ooh- maybe a handshake-"

"Sometimes my dad wants me to kill you!" Frank blurted out.

Rosie jerked back in surprise. "Uh, okay...that wasn't what I was expecting."

Frank reddened again. "Look, I hear my dad, sometimes, okay? But both sides of him-Roman and Greek. And they're constantly fighting with each other, and sometimes they'll want me to kill people on this ship, like you or Leo-"

"So, you decided to befriend me before my untimely death?"

"No! God, Rosie. I just….hearing my dad say those things about you...just hearing him talk so much in general...I don't know, I guess it made me want to become better friends with you," he muttered reluctantly. "Like, I know what he's saying isn't true and I want to prove it. I mean, look at what you've done for Hazel. I have to be honest, you annoy me, so much that sometimes, I do want to kill you, but-"

"You heard from your dad." She said it as a statement, more so than a question. She couldn't keep the curiosity and some sadness out of her voice.

Frank shrugged. "I mean, it's not really great stuff-"

"I haven't heard my dad since I was six," she admitted, having trouble placing the emotion she was feeling. It couldn't possibly be sadness, could it? After all, her father was a monster.

He left, she reminded herself. He killed Max.

Frank smiled sympathetically. "Gods make awful dads, don't they?"

Rosie smiled back in appreciation. "Remember the time we were the only ones who knew about Coach's kid?"

She could only imagine Leo's look of bewilderment at the two of them.


For a first time in a while, she was relaxed- which, clearly shouldn't have been the case considering she was watching Piper and Hazel sword fight. Turns out Rosie's pupil was a teacher of her own- she had been helping Piper learn how to swordfight. It was strangely calming to watch- the methodical movement, the clanging of the swords. Rosie also put on some music, Elton John's Rocket Man softly flowing through the air. She sat on the floor of the deck, knees hugged to her chest and the night sky glittering with stars. Above her, Festus roared protectively.

She glanced at Hazel, who was gracefully moving and dodging Piper's attacks. In a way, it felt like Hazel had gotten closer to both her and Piper. It was a nice feeling. Rosie flashed back to her Wilderness days, where none of the girls would talk to Rosie or Piper, instead shooting them mean looks and whispering around them.

"Good, Piper!" Hazel called out encouragingly. "You're getting better!"

"Am I?" Piper asked excitedly, pausing to wipe the sweat off her face. She turned to Rosie for reassurement.

"Totally intimidating, Pipes."

Piper flopped down next to Rosie with an exhausted grin. "Sweet."

Hazel giggled, joining them on the ground. She looked up at Festus. "I can't believe he was a fully functional dragon at one point."

Piper and Rosie exchanged smiles.

"He was beautiful," Piper said with a gush.

"He really was," Rosie said, almost missing the days on riding Festus' back with Piper, Jason, and Leo.

"I wish Leo could see him," Hazel said.

"He will," Piper said confidently. "And he will be forever in my debt."

Hazel and Rosie laughed, as Festus let out a fiery roar.

"She's right," Rosie said. "Leo will come home."

She stared up at the night sky, comforted by the fact that she and Leo were still looking at the same one.

Come home, Leo.