Salut!

I'm gonna try to update more often because a lot of people have asked me too: I'm really, really glad all you guys like my story! I'm also sorry it's sad, but this is Leo Valdez we're talking about! We wouldn't love him if his life wasn't so mysteriously and beautifully tragic, would we?

Sorry about mistakes with the Spanish, I am relying on Google translate for that.

Thanks for reading and for the reviews! I love you guys! Au revoir!

-AOB

Disclaimer: I keep forgetting to put this in. I do not own PJO or Leo Valdez, because let's be honest here. If I did, I would not be posting fanfiction on my own story.

Leo's P.O.V (Oh yes I did)

Leo hated his life.

He had never particularly enjoyed his past, due to Hera. Now she was making him hate his present and his future memories too? Not cool, perra. (Bitch. You cannot convince me that Leo does not cuss in Spanish and Morse code because he totally does.)

He had already had to live this once. He didn't want to live it again, with all of his friends watching. He was slightly embarrassed about the whole "Hakuna Matata" memory, but the sight of his mother's face was filling him with so much grief he wanted to curl up and bawl like he had done as an eight-year-old when she had died. And of course, he noticed Hera had skipped over the memories of her putting him in a blazing fireplace, making him poke that damn snake, chopping jalapenos…

Yes, Leo officially hated his life. But he hated Hera more.

At least these memories were okay. Happy, so far. It was nice to see Jack again. But he had a bad feeling that they were going to get worse…

Before Leo could knock on wood, the next memory began and Leo felt his vision wash in red.

Piper's P.O.V

When the next memory began, Leo burst into flames and jumped up on the table.

Piper yelped and shrank away. Her friends face was set into an extremely scary angry face, his eyes literally blazing.

The memory didn't seem all that important: it was just a frozen image of a square room littered with machine parts. Leo and his mom were sitting at a table, curly dark heads bent together. His mother's eyes were narrowed in concentration, her tongue poking out of the side of her mouth, a red kerchief keeping her hair out her face. Little Leo, who looked about eight, was staring with wide eyes and a look of admiration on his face as he stared at whatever his mom was making.

Older Leo looked ready to murder someone.

"Leo…" Whatever Annabeth was about to say was cut off when Leo started yelling in Spanish, pulled out a hammer, and started whaling on the device.

"Morir! Morir! Morir!" he yelled. (Die! Die! Die!)

Everyone stared in surprise at Leo. Piper was wondering what he could possibly be so freaked out about… and then something clicked.

Room littered with machine parts… mom working… Leo's age…

She remembered Leo telling them the story on Festus's back on their first quest, about how his mom had died in a machine shop fire that he believed he had caused.

Piper's heart hurt for him.

"Por que no romper la maldita cosa!?" (Why won't the damn thing break?!) snarled Leo, still pounding away at the device. Piper stood up, climbed on the table and stood as close to Leo as she could without getting burned or getting hit with the hammer.

"Leo." She tried. No answer.

"Leo, it'll be okay." She let some charmspeak trickle into her voice. Leo whirled on her.

"Do you realize what memory this is?" he snarled.

"Yes I do, and I'm telling you that we are all here to help you through it." She said gently.

Slowly, the flames extinguished, and Piper gently drew him off of the table, sitting him between herself and Jason. After all, they were the only ones who knew what was going on and why Leo had such a strong reaction to the memory. She wrapped her arms around him on one side; Jason did the same on the other. She gave the rest of the seven's confused faces a firm stare and gestured towards the device. The memory started, and Leo, stiff as a board against Piper, shuddered, gave a strangled sob and buried his face into her shoulder, his hands gripping Jason's arms tightly enough to leave red marks.

Leo and his mother sat there as his mother packed up her things with a sigh and an exhausted rubbing of her eyes. Leo held out his hand and touched her shoulder.

"They've got to patent this, Mom. It's genius." He told her comfortingly, his childish voice containing the signature Texas drawl. His mother barely cracked a smile, her forehead resting in her hand. Leo looked thoughtful for a second before his eyes lit up and he nudged her gently.

"Hey Mom, I'm a mushroom."

His mother looked up, very confused. "You're a what?"

"A mushroom. People call me that because, you know, I'm a pretty fun guy!"

The look of confusion became understanding and his mother burst into laughter, pulling him into her arms and burying her nose in his hair.

At the sound of her laugh, Leo shuddered again and Piper felt her shoulder grow wet. She rubbed his back gently, trying to convey that it was alright.

"Oh mijo, you are so amazing." His mother whispered, kissing his head. "Your father will be proud of you, I'm sure." She gave him another kiss before standing up. "Time to go."

They walked hand in hand through the warehouse to the door, which his mother closed before reaching into her pocket for her keys. A puzzled look came over her face as she realized they weren't there.

(All memory dialogue from this point until the end of said memory is Rick Riordans, not mine.)

"That's funny." She murmured. "I knew I had them." She turned to Leo, who was watching her curiously. "Wait here, mijo. I'll only be a minute."

She smiled at him and walked back into the warehouse.

Leo was sobbing quietly on Piper's shoulder. Jason was holding him tighter and Piper was rubbing his back, both trying to comfort him as best they could. Everyone else was staring transfixed at the device, mouths and eyes wide in horror. It had clearly just clicked as to what this memory was.

The doors slammed shut, and Leo yelped in surprise.

"Mom?" he called. "Mom!?" He ran over to the doors and yanked. When they didn't open, he tapped urgently on the door.

Subtitles appeared beneath the image. Morse code: You okay?

Leo was gasping, trying and failing to catch his breath, clinging to Jason like his arm was a lifeline, crying so hard that he was shaking from head to toe. Piper had abandoned rubbing his back and was clinging to him as hard as she could.

"She can't hear you." A strange voice said.

Leo spun around to see a woman, dressed in robes and a veil of shifting dark soil, her eyes closed and a sleepy smile on her face.

"Gaea!" came the angry hiss from four throats. Piper simply held Leo tighter. Jason was death-glaring the device on the table, which continued playing as though nothing was happening.

"Tia?" Leo asked, looking extremely confused.

The woman chuckled softly. "I am no your guardian. Merely a family resemblance."

Leo now looked scared. "What-what do you want? Where's my mom?"

Again, Gaea chuckled softly. "Ah…loyal to your mother. How nice. But you see, I have children too… and I understand you will fight them someday. When they try to wake me, you will prevent them. I cannot allow that."

If Leo had been scared before, he was now clearly truly terrified. "I don't know you. I don't want to fight anybody!"

Her voice was like that of a sleepwalker in a trance as she murmured. "A wise choice…"

An expression of pure horror crossed over Leos face as he suddenly appeared to notice that Gaea was asleep and her clothes were made of soil.

Gaea continued with her evil villain monologue. "I cannot destroy you yet." She murmured. "The Fates will not allow it. But they do not protect your mother, and they cannot stop me from breaking your spirit. Remember this night, little hero, when they ask you to oppose me."

"Leave my mother alone!" Leo yelled, shrinking back as Gaea shuffled forward.

"How will you stop me?" she whispered, passing straight through a table to loom over Leo, who was standing in front of the doors with his arms held out, trying to shield his trapped mother. He looked absolutely terrified. As he stared at Gaea, something strange happened.

His little hands, clenched into tight fists, caught fire.

There was a gasp of comprehension all around the table.

Gaea's sleepy smile grew, like she had won. Leo let out a desperate scream as the fire spread, washing over Gaea, the walls, the doors. Leo's eyes rolled back in his head and he dropped to the floor.

(You may all take a minute to compose yourselves.

…

Better? Good. Keep reading.)

For a moment, there was silence. Then sweet little Hazel, sitting on the other side of the table, stood up, her golden eyes practically setting off sparks, her hands curled into fists.

"I hate Gaea!" she hissed, before running around the table and joining in the group hug around Leo.

Soon everyone had done so, the image above the device turning black. Piper gently smoothed Leo's hair back as he caught his breath after his violent storm of sobbing, his grip on Jason's arm loosening. Seeming surprised to find himself caught in this web of support, he hesitantly tried for a grin, but couldn't quite manage it with tears still streaming down his face. What he did manage was a wobbly half smile at his friends before he bent his head and rested it again on Piper's shoulder.

"Thanks guys." He whispered. Another moment passed in silence before he added in a slightly louder voice "I don't want to be rude, but Pipes, you're kind of crushing me."

Piper instantly loosened her grip.

Percy's P.O.V

Slowly the group hug disbanded, everyone going back to their seats. Leo sat up, wiped at his eyes, and gave everyone another half smile.

"How do you live with that kind of guilt, Leo?" Annabeth whispered. Leo only gave a slight shrug.

'You know it wasn't your fault, right?" Annabeth added, giving him a stern look that said you better know that or I will hurt you. Percy was quite familiar with this look, as it was directed at him nine times out of ten.

Leo, looking slightly scared, nodded so quickly he rather resembled a bobblehead. Annabeth looked mollified, but Percy noticed the slight shift in Leo's eyes. He raised an eyebrow at him over Annabeth and Jason's heads, but Leo shot him a look as the next memory began, a look that said drop it, bro.

This memory appeared to be right after the last one. Leo was curled up on the floor in a corner of what looked like a police station holding room, staring absentmindedly at the wall. He looked up as a little girl around his age was ushered in by a young man who was apparently a social worker. The young man saw Leo on the floor, lifted him up, and sat him firmly in the chair beside the little girl. Leo shot her an apprehensive look. She was sitting slouched in the chair, blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail. She was wearing torn up blue jeans and a white T-shirt with a big silver star in the center. Over this was a green hoodie that made her pretty green eyes pop. The reason for the apprehensive look was that the girl was scowling at the social worker, arms tightly crossed. When the young man, whose name tag identified him as Matthew Jacobs, passed by her on his way to the door, she swung out one pink-sparkly-sneaker-clad foot out to kick him. Her toes barely brushed his thigh. He shut the door behind himself, and the girl noticed Leo looking at her shoes in confusion, as unlike the rest of her outfit, they looked brand new.

"I was barefoot when I was taken into custody." She said matter-of-factly, holding out both feet for Leo's inspection. "They managed to get clothes from my closet, but I was poor before, so I only had one pair of sneakers. Some lady decided she didn't like them, threw them away, and got me these instead." She scowled. "I hate pink. And sparkles. I'm eight, not three. My names Anni, by the way." She added, the scowl disappearing as she held out her hand to Leo. Leo looked slightly dazed by this quickly delivered monologue, but he shook her hand anyway.

"I'm Leo. Nice to meet you." He said.

Anni sat back, swinging her feet, tapping out a tune against the side of her leg, just as hyper as Leo.

"How long have they stuck you here?" Anni asked. Leo seemed slightly more confident when he replied.

"A few days. My mom died recently and I never met my dad." Leo replied. His voice caught when he spoke about his mother's death. Anni gave him a searching look.

"I never knew my dad either." She offered. "My mom said he was lost at sea before I was born."

Percy blinked when she said that. His mom had told him the same thing before he found out who he was.

"What happened to your mom?" Leo asked.

"She died. Cancer." Said the girl shortly. "I was six."

"I'm…sorry for your loss?" Leo said, clearly trying to break the tension. He hurriedly switched to another topic of conversation.

"Why don't you like that guy?" Leo asked, gesturing towards the door. Anni sighed.

"My auntie died a few days ago. She asked the police to take me to the Berkeley Hills in California, but no one lives at the place she described and she was my last living relative, so I ended up here. I used to live in Texas before Mama died." Her voice had the slightest twinge of a stubborn Texas accent.

The two sat there in silence for a minute. Then Leo spoke. "Whats gonna happen now?"

Anni shrugged. 'They'll come back in here, talk to us, and bring in the people crazy enough to want to foster us." she replied.

Percy was slightly startled by Leo's soft laugh. "Typical Anni. A handful of words, straight to the point, throws in an insult along the way." At the six confused stares aimed at him, he shrugged. "What?"

The door opened, revealing Mr. Jacobs and a young couple whose eyes were instantly fixed on Anni, and a middle aged man who smiled at Leo. Mr. Jacobs cleared his throat and settled carefully on the table in the middle of the room.

"Annaliese, the Mason's here would like to meet you. You'll be staying with them for a while." Anni's eyes instantly hardened.

"I prefer to be called Anni, thanks." She said stiffly.

Mr. Jacobs ignored this. "Leo, this is Mr. Lopez. You'll be staying with him and his wife for a while, okay?"

"Come on, Anni." Mr. Mason said, holding out a hand.

Anni hopped down from the chair. "See ya, Leo."

Mr. Lopez smiled at him. "Come on, Leo. I hope you like staying with me and my family."

The memory ended.