A/N: that awkward moment where what you meant to be a really short chapter turns into the longest chapter so far…

Also, I forgot to mention in the last episode that I really hope you're all okay with a little Solangelo. They're probably my favorite pairing and I would have totally written a solangelo fanfic...if only I could write them well. I'll try to throw some in here and there, who knows, I might start a separate Solangelo story. Maybe. I could be persuaded...

Lol, anyways, enjoy!

Leo Valdez was one proud mechanic. To think that just a few months ago he'd woken up sitting on the back of this very same dragon with absolutely no idea what his name was or what in the world he was doing was mind-blowing. And now here he was, having rebuilt this dragon, and joined by the world's most beautiful goddess. A goddess, mind you, that had actually, legitimately fallen in love with him. Life really couldn't get any better than this, could it?

He felt Calypso's arms tighten around his waist and smiled to himself, her grip had been tightening progressively ever since they'd flown out of Ogygia. After being stuck in that island for so long, he was sure that Calypso was experiencing some strange emotions. He only hoped that she didn't regret leaving.

Calypso's grip tightened again, painfully, and he heard her stifle a gasp.

"Hey, everything okay Sunshine?" he tried turning to look at her, but she held fast and made it difficult for him to turn.

"I'm fine, just keep flying." Her voice sounded tight, almost pained.

This time, he loosened her arms around his waist and turned fully, concerned, "Calypso, you're white as a sheet! What's wrong?!" He looked at her worriedly, she looked flushed and her eyes were shut tightly, and when he put his hand to her forehead she felt incredibly warm.

She opened her eyes slowly, they were bloodshot and full of unshed tears, "I'll be okay, Leo. Don't worry about me." Her voice was a mere whisper at this point and it looked like she was about to faint.

He whirled around to Festus's command board, trying to get a read on their location to find the nearest place to land; Calypso most definitely did not look well. "Okay, we should be able to land in about ten minutes. Just hang on."

Calypso made a small noise to indicate she'd heard him, then he felt her head rest against his back, "Okay." Her breathing was short and shallow, like she'd just run a marathon at full speed and couldn't quite catch her breath. What in Zeus's name was wrong with her?

The next ten minutes were probably the most stressful ones in Leo's life, Calypso's body temperature continued to rise and her breathing continued to be irregular. When he finally saw land in the distance he almost screamed with relief, he had to get Calypso to land to see what was wrong with her.

"Alright, hold on Sunshine, we're almost there."

He angled Festus downwards and tried to make the landing as smooth as possible. They ended up in an abandoned island somewhere on the south side of Italy, there was nothing but beach going in either direction, but he landed Festus near the coast and hastily carried Calypso down to the sand.

As he laid her down and looked at her fully he grew more worried, she wasn't responding and had grown paler still. There was a sheen of sweat over her—in all the time he'd known Calypso and seen her work for hours he'd never seen the goddess sweat. Did goddesses even have sweat glands? Worried, he retrieved some waterskins that Calypso had packed into their provisions and tried to get her to drink, but she moved her head to the side and refused to drink.

"Calypso," his voice sounded like it was on the verge of breaking, "please tell me what's wrong? How can I help?"

Her eyes opened and her vision seemed to sway before it settled on him, "Leo." Her voice was so soft he had to lean in to hear her, "It's okay. I'd give it up for you any day."

"Give it up? Give what up?! Calypso what did you do?" he asked her desperately, but Calypso's eyes rolled to the back of her head and shut once more, "Calypso? Calypso, please wake up!"

He tried shaking her desperately but she was completely unresponsive. What on Earth did she mean "give it up"? What had Calypso given up for him?

'She can't mean…' he looked at her worriedly and placed his hand on her wrist, trying to feel for a pulse—was she supposed to have a pulse? 'Her life? Is that what she gave up?'' He was so desperate he felt tears prick at his eyes; could Calypso have actually sacrificed herself to get him off that island?

"Calypso, please just answer me! What's happening to you?" was that even his voice? It sounded so desperate, so broken…he collapsed forward and couldn't hold back the sob that came out. After all the time they'd spent working on getting out of the island, was this really how it would end? How could she not tell him that it would hurt her to leave the island? He would have gladly stayed there for her if it meant she could live!

He tried to think of ways to help her, but he had nothing. All his knowledge of machines and mathematics and nothing could help Calypso feel better. Gods, did he feel so useless!

"She won't die today, Leo Valdez."

He sat upwards quickly and looked around wildly. His gaze finally settled on a woman standing a few feet away from him—how had he not seen her before? The woman was incredibly beautiful, and it seemed like the longer he stared at her the more she resembled Calypso. It was almost like she was trying to mimic her features but not quite getting it right.

"Who are you?" he looked more intently at her, "And why do you look like her?"

She smiled, as if she was incredibly amused, "Is that what I look like to you? How sweet!" her voice was on the verge of gushing, "Why, I'm Aphrodite, my dear, the goddess of love."

A goddess? "Do you know what's wrong with her? Can you help her?" he asked desperately, looking back down at Calypso—her breathing only came out in shallow gasps now, and he still couldn't feel her pulse.

"Yes, I know what's wrong with her," the goddess did not elaborate further.

"Well?" he asked sharply, "What is it? How do I heal her?"

She laughed lightly, annoying Leo even further, "There's nothing you can do to heal her, Leo Valdez. She knew exactly what would happen the second she stepped off that island. She made this decision freely."

Calypso chose to be in pain? "Why? Why would she do this?"

"It was the price I demanded," said the goddess, "the price for keeping you alive."

The goddess may as well have punched him in the stomach, "What?"

"There were some issues with your return from the dead, you see," the goddess stepped forward and crouched down in front of Leo, "by the time the Cure was administered your body had been dead too long. You were doomed to die the second you stepped off Ogygia."

"So did Calypso take my place? Is she dying instead?" his voice broke.

"No, Leo Valdez, I am not quite that cruel." The goddess smiled at him and the smile was so similar to Calypso's that his heart wrenched, "I was very moved by your sacrifice to be with Calypso. I do love a tragic ending, but sometimes I like to see a happily ever after."

Leo breathed a bit easier, "So if she's not dying then what's wrong with her? What sacrifice did she make?"

Aphrodite laughed lightly, "Well isn't it obvious? The price to keep you alive was for Calypso to give up part of her own life. She had to give up her immortality for you."

"Her immort—you mean she's becoming mortal?"

"Yes, exactly. It's a difficult process, you know. Calypso was born immortal; she's shedding away her godliness to be with you." The love goddess sighed happily, "Oh isn't it just so romantic? I love a romance full of sacrifices and struggles!"

Leo tried to keep an angry, horrified expression from showing on his face, "So you made Calypso give up her immortality for me? Did I not get a say in this? I wanted to get out of that island but I didn't want her to suffer for it!"

Aphrodite shook her head, "No, you didn't have to know. It was her decision to make, just as you sacrificed your life to be with her she had to make a sacrifice just as great to be with you. There needed to be symmetry in your relationship. Now you two will be bound for all eternity, it's so rare for soulmates to find each other nowadays. It's the perfect fairy-tale romance! Really, I think this is some of my best work!"

"Your best work." Leo's voice was hollow, for a love goddess, he couldn't believe how insensitive she was.

"Oh don't worry, young hero. Like I said, she will not die today. Sure, the process is painful and she'll be out of it for a while, but once it's done you two will be together once more—as equals! Now that you're both mortals you'll be on an even field, you'll be able to have children and grow old together—isn't that what you wanted?"

Leo hesitated, he hadn't quite thought of his and Calypso's future that far in advance, but he could see the logic in Aphrodite's words. Perhaps it would be nice to grow old with Calypso… "I didn't want her to suffer like this." He looked back down at Calypso, tucking a stray hair behind her ear, "I would never want her to feel pain for me."

Aphrodite placed a hand on his shoulder in a gesture that he was sure she meant to be comforting but was simply annoying to Leo, "Oh, dear, that's so sweet. I do love to make these stories interesting. I never expected for yours to turn out quite so good to be perfectly honest. You really surprised me Leo Valdez."

"I aim to please," he mumbled as he continued keeping watch over Calypso.

The goddess stood up, "Well, she should be up and about in a while. It might take her some time to adjust to being mortal, but I wouldn't know since I've never been one…"

Leo stood up hastily, "So there's nothing at all I can do to help her?"

She gave him a smile that almost managed to look sincere, "I'm afraid not…but, well, I suppose I can spare one parting gift." And with that the goddess clapped her hands together and vanished into thin air.

"Hey!" Leo shouted after her, "What parting gift…?"

But when he looked down at his feet he realized what had happened. He was wearing black lace up loafers, slim-fit brown plaid slacks, black suspenders and a white v-neck shirt. 'Is this really her idea of being helpful?' he wondered as he turned back to Calypso.

She was breathtaking.

Aphrodite had dressed Calypso in a simple white sundress that hugged her figure just enough and brown cowboy boots. Her caramel colored hair was down and arranged around her face in loose curls. The sheen of sweat had vanished from her face. She looked like a country princess; clearly, Aphrodite knew Leo was from Texas.

"Well, at least now you just look like sleeping beauty," he murmured as he moved back next to her, "Maybe a kiss will wake you up?" he said hopefully as he laid a gentle kiss on her lips.

She didn't wake, but her brows came together and her body twitched like she'd been punched. He reached for her wrist once more, looking for a pulse, wishing there was something he could do to help. There was still no pulse.

Lew was not entirely sure how long he laid there but the sun was dipping low on the horizon when Calypso stilled and stopped twitching at random intervals. Then, he felt a pulse. Slowly but surely Calypso's pulse started getting stronger, evening out to a stable rhythm.

"Calypso?" he asked gently, hoping that the transition was finally over.

Her eyes fluttered open, "Leo?" She tried to sit up, but her arms gave out on her.

"I'm right here, don't move," he laced his fingers with hers, "how do you feel?"

A tear leaked out from her eyes, it was no longer golden, "It hurts." Gods did she sound broken.

Leo shut his eyes tightly, willing his own frustration away, "What can I do to help?"

She ignored his question, "I'm sorry."

"Hey don't worry about me, just focus on feeling better," because once she was better she would definitely get the full extent of his anger—how could she do this without telling him?!

Her eyes closed once more, "I'm tired."

"Go to sleep, I'll be right here when you wake up."

"Okay."

When Leo woke up the next morning the sun was barely rising from the horizon. He sat up and inspected Calypso closely, her eyes were shut and her breathing was even, it seemed as if she was asleep…hopefully she was no longer in pain. It was only when his stomach made a very unattractive noise that he realized that the last thing either of them had eaten was that hasty breakfast the day before. Reluctant to leave Calypso, he ran over to Festus quickly and retrieved some water, bread, and a couple of apples. It wasn't quite a breakfast of champions but he figured Calypso wouldn't be up for a full breakfast anyways.

After he ate his share of the food he nudged Calypso as gently as he could to wake her. Her eyes opened slowly but they didn't look bloodshot anymore, which was a big plus.

"Hey," he said softly, "good morning Sunshine."

She gave him a slow, sleepy smile, "Hi."

"I brought you some food, you must be hungry."

"Thanks," she made to move and then gave up halfway, "can you help me up?"

He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and sat her up as gently as he could, keeping a hand on her lower back when she was in a sitting position. He handed her the water first and she drank it greedily, then he handed her the food he'd brought. She ate slowly, like every bite took an obscene amount of effort, but Leo wasn't satisfied until she had eaten everything.

"How do you feel?" he asked once she swallowed her last bite.

She took a deep breath, "Different. I don't know, I feel…." Her eyes went wide and she pressed a hand to her chest, "Is that…a heartbeat?"

He chuckled, "Yes, Frankenstein, mortals have heartbeats."

"Frankenstein?" she looked at him with that adorable doe-eyed stare.

"It's from a book," he explained, "a doctor named Frankenstein created life from a bunch of dead body parts."

She scrunched up her nose, "That's disgusting."

He laughed, "I didn't say it wasn't."

"But I didn't make a monster, so why call me Frankenstein?"

"Well, nowadays people call the monster Frankenstein."

"How come?"

He shrugged, "I don't know, I guess it got mixed up at some point."

"You modern people are strange."

He grimaced, "Yeah, well, now you're one of them, aren't you?"

She shut her eyes tightly, "Yes, I supposed I am."

"Calypso," he said slowly, trying to keep the anger and the hurt out of his voice, "why didn't you tell me?"

"It wasn't your choice to make," there was steel in her voice.

"I would have never gotten off that island if I knew it would hurt you," he said, "you should have told me."

She laughed a short, empty laugh, "I know you don't remember them now Leo, but you have so many people that care for you in this world…I could never keep you from them. The way you would talk about your friends before…"

He looked down, unsure of how to refute that argument, "You still should have told me."

"You would have tried to stop me," she said softly, "Leo, it's okay. I've had time to think this over and I don't mind giving up my immortality. I've been alive for millennia, but maybe now that I'm mortal I'll finally have a chance at a real life."

She'd given up his immortality for him, how was he supposed to live up to her expectations? Leo may be a decent mechanic, but what else could he possibly offer her that would make up for sacrificing her godliness? Leo would never be rich or dashingly handsome, he wasn't particularly smart or cultured…heck, he didn't even remember most of his life. The weight of Calypso's sacrifice weighed heavily on him, he could never match it….

"Calypso I don't know that I can carry this burden. I hate knowing that you gave up so much for me. I will never be able to make this up to you."

"Do you want to know how you can make it up to me?" she asked with a grin at the edge of her lips.

He nodded.

"Before, when you came to my island the first time, you told me that one of your life-long dreams was to open up a repair shop." She told him, her eyes misting over as she thought back, "You told me that once you brought me back to the mortal world we'd open up a shop together, Leo and Calypso's Garage…I think I'd like that. I think that would make me happy."

The ghost of a memory came back to him, "Auto Repair and Mechanical Monsters," he mumbled.

"Yes," she smiled, "exactly."

"It's not enough," he said.

"It is enough," she said firmly.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, tugging on it lightly to vent some of his frustration, "Do you think you can stand?" he asked her, ready to change the subject.

"I think so, help me up."

He pulled her up with him and kept his arms near her shoulders to steady her if she fell. She swayed dangerously but managed to remain upright.

"Huh," she said, "I fell heavier."

He chuckled, "Well if it makes you feel any better, you don't look any heavier."

She rolled her eyes at him, "Ha-ha." She took a hesitant step forward, then another more confident one, "The world seems dimmer…" she turned and looked straight at the sun, then threw her hands over her face, "Ahh! Why is the sun burning me?"

He couldn't help it, he laughed at her, "What the hell was that? Why would you look straight at the sun, you crazy person?!"

"What? Are mortals not allowed to look upon the sun?" she asked as she blinked her eyes repeatedly, trying to get the spots out of her eyes.

"I don't know about being allowed to look at it, but I know that you're not supposed to look right at it! You could have burned off your retinas or something!"

"What?" she asked with dismay, "So this is how you see things all the time? The lighting is so poor, how you mortals get anything done with this amount of light is beyond my understanding."

"Well I've always thought I looked better in soft lighting anyways," he replied with a smirk, "and I think what you meant to say was us mortals. You're one of us now, Sunshine!"

She shook her head, "I suppose I'll grow used to it…It seems all my senses have been dulled somewhat…"

He looked down, feeling guilty once more, "If it helps, you look more beautiful than ever."

"Well I guess that's something," she said lightly. "Hey, don't start going all mopey on me, Valdez. I didn't sign up for a sad, pathetic mechanic!"

"Oh yeah, well what did you sign up for?" he challenged.

"I don't know, but I remember him muttering something about a Captain McFizzle?"

He laughed, "I think you mean McShizzle."

"Yes, that one," she nodded, "the guy with the stupid jokes that aren't funny."

"What?! My jokes are totally funny! Just you wait; once we start traveling you'll realize that everyone thinks I'm funny except for you."

"That remains to be proven." She turned to the horizon, looking out over the sea, "The world has changed much since I've been imprisoned, hasn't it?"

"Yeah," he said, "pretty much everything has changed…"

"The cities without gardens…are there a lot of them?"

Leo frowned, wondering where she'd heard that from, "In a sense, I guess. Not many modernized places leave room for nature to thrive unchecked."

"That's so sad," she murmured.

"Well it's not all bad," he said, "now we have TV and movies and video games and Hot Cheetos!"

She laughed lightly, "Ah yes, I suppose some sacrifices had to be made to give the world Hot Cheetos."

Upon her mention of sacrifices he winced, he couldn't help it.

"Leo, it was my choice to make. Please don't think you're responsible for this."

But isn't that exactly what he was? "Right, sure." He grinned at her to change the subject once more, "So, off to Malta we go?"

"Are you sure?" she looked surprised for some reason, "Don't you want to get back to Camp Half-Blood and get your memories back?"

Truthfully a part of him did, but he figured he could make this particular sacrifice for her. After all, she'd made plenty of sacrifices for him, "Memories, shmemories! I've got all the memories I need right here with you. We can take our time touring Europe, and when you're sick of it we can get to Camp Half-Blood."

She looked at him and tried to hide her eagerness, "But what about your friends? Don't you want to see them?"

"Well I've been gone for a while, haven't I? And I'm pretty sure they think I'm dead anyways so…I don't think they're expecting me. Plus, I have absolutely no idea where Camp Half-Blood is."

"You told me it was in New York before," she said quizzically, "I've told you this."

"Yeah, you have," he nodded, "but New York is a pretty big state. Not quite Texas-sized, but big enough. That's gonna be a really big area to search… We've been working for so long on Festus, too. I think we deserve a vacation."

"A vacation," she smiled at him, "what a completely modern idea."

He grinned, "Well Sunshine, welcome to the 21st century."

A/N: Aww look at Leo making sacrifices for his girl ;)

So while I know what's going to happen in the next chapter, I haven't decided whether the next chapter will be told from Calypso or Leo's point of view…so feel free to sound off and let me know whose perspective you'd like to read from next!

As always, thanks for reading and please leave me a review letting me know your thoughts. Those always inspire me to write more quickly :)