A/N
This oneshot is for Cassiopeia3 and her sister, who own Leara Eatern.
I hope you enjoy!:)
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXX
Leara Eatern stuffed a last pair of tie-dyed tights into her duffel bag, then zipped it up. She sighed and gazed around the Fourth Cohort's quarters, taking in the place she had called home for the past 12 years.
After a long moment, she turned back to her overstuffed bag and slung it over her shoulder, then she walked out the door without a second glance.
She walked over to the main bridge of the Little Tiber, where Octavian, Dakota, Gwendolyn, and Hazel were waiting for her.
"Well, I'm all ready," she announced. Everyone except Octavian looked a little downcast.
"We're going to miss you, Leara," Hazel said sadly, giving her a hug. "Be safe."
Leara returned the hug tightly. "Don't worry about me, Hazy, I'm going to find the alleged
Camp Half Blood, and I'll be back in a few months. Look after yourself, alright?"
Hazel sniffed and nodded.
"Dakota, Gwen," Leara started, looking at each of them in turn. "It's been great. Watch out for each other, I'll be back before you know it!" she said, throwing her arms around both of them.
Octavian cleared his throat loudly. "Don't you have somewhere to go, Miss Eatern?"
She smiled sweetly at him. "Yes, I'd better be on my way. See ya, teddy bear murderer!"
Octavian gasped, and started sputtering, while the rest of the goodbye party laughed. "Why, you-you rotten- what a horrible thing to- I do not murder teddy- oh, get out of here!"
"Bye," she called to the group, turning on the heels of her combat boots and hiking off. "See you all in a few months!"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Leara Eatern was the daughter of Bacchus, member of the Fourth Cohort. She had been at Camp Jupiter for 12 years, ever since Lupa and the wolves had taken her away from her Arizona home when she was 5.
When she first entered camp, one of the first people to greet her had been Octavian. He still held a grudge against her for her 5-year-old ADHD-9influenced comment she had made to him as soon as she saw him: "Wow! You look like a teddy bear murderer!"
No one had blamed her- Octavian had been surrounded by decapitated stuffed animals at the time, and the current praetors had thought she was adorable,
But not Octavian.
Ever since then, he had made it his personal vendetta to make her life miserable. That one comment had squashed all her chances of going on a quest. In all her years at Camp Jupiter, Octavian had made sure that not a single quest had been issued to Leara, and he always thought up an excuse as to why she couldn't join others on their quests.
So, Leara had been confined to camp all those years, but she didn't mind. She made friends with the people who were also left behind on the quests, people like Frank, Hazel, Dakota, and Gwendolyn. She was close to all of them, and saying goodbye to them had been harder than she had let on.
But after having lived most of her life at Camp Jupiter, she was ready for a change. She wanted to start a journey, a new chapter of her life, her own quest. She would be 18 in a few months, and she wanted to be able to say that she'd gone places and did things by that time.
Now, Leara felt a sense of independence as she started her journey east, feeling confident in her newfound freedom.
Of course, she got lost almost immediately.
"What is wrong with this thing?" she muttered to herself, turning her map around and flipping it over. "I've passed that tree like, 8 times! Now, if I go right..." she trailed off, then stopped in her tracks. She heard a rustling sound in some nearby bushes, and she froze, worried that it was some sort of monster.
She grabbed a knife from the arsenal attached to her belt, and stood on guard.
Leara heard the bushes sigh, and she frowned in confusion.
"Hello?" she called out to whatever was lurking. "Uh, could you please come out here, whatever you are?"
The bushes sighed again, then Nico DiAngelo stepped out of them.
"Nico!" Leara exclaimed, sheathing her knife and rushing over to him and ruffling his hair. "How are you? What were you doing in the bushes?"
"Hi, Leara," Nico said flatly, obvious displeased that he had been caught. "I, uh, didn't expect to run into you way out here."
"You didn't come say goodbye to me this morning," she pouted, and he sighed for a third time, while running his fingers through his messed up hair.
"I'm sorry, I was busy. Where are you going again?"
"To the alleged Camp Half-Blood!" she announced. "It is my own personal quest, I must see it for myself!"
"How long are you going to be gone?" he asked eagerly, but Leara didn't seem to catch on.
"Oh, three, maybe four months," she said, and Nico grinned.
"Then let me help you out," he said, taking her by the hand and running straight for a tree.
"What, Nico, AHH!" she screamed, as it looked like they were about to crash.
They stepped into the shadows, and instantly the world around them twisted and disappeared, and was replaced by a different forest.
"Nico," Leara asked shakily. "Did we just shadow travel?"
"Yupp!" Nico answered, brushing himself off. "And here we are, Camp Half-Blood is about half a mile that way."
Leara whirled around. "Seiously? Thanks, Nico! I didn't really wanna walk this far, and this way I didn't have to stop and figure out how to do laundry!"
Nico sighed. "You know, you really should figure out how to use the washing machine sometime. It's really not that hard-"
"I know," she rushed on, cutting him off. "I just get distracted by all the buttons and knobs, then I forget what I'm doing."
Nico rolled his eyes. "Well, since you're here, I probably won't get to see you for a while," he said, starting to walk away. Leara bounded forward and wrapped him in a hug, which he reluctantly returned.
"I'm gonna miss you Nico!" she squealed, ruffling his hair again. Nico looked relieved when she finally pulled away from the hug.
"Uh, yeah, I'll miss you too," Nico said, running his fingers through his hair once more. "Just, take your time. Don't hurry back!"
"Bye Nico, be safe!" she called to him, already on her way up the hill.
Nico smiled ruefully at her retreating form.
"Have fun, Leara."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXX
It had been a week since Leara arrived at the no-longer-alleged Camp Half-Blood, and she was adjusting wonderfully. The campers had greeted her warmly, and accepted her without a second thought.
Here, people looked out for one another and helped each other in any way possible, which was something she wasn't used to. That was one of the major differences in the two camps, as she was beginning to find out. People from Camp Half-Blood hardly ever visited Camp Jupiter, and when they did they were treated with hostility. However, at Camp Half-Blood, things were totally the opposite. Most of the people she had met greeted her with a hug or a firm handshake, and they included her in all the activities she wanted to participate in. She made friends with most of the campers already, but she had immediately clicked with two campers in particular.
Today was a beautiful Wednesday morning, and she was meeting the Stoll brothers behind a row of cabins.
"So, what's the plan?" she asked, looking back and forth between the two brothers, who had identical evil glints in their eyes that she wholeheartedly approved of.
"Well, I had this brilliant idea-" Travis started, but Connor cut him off.
"Dude, it was my idea!" he said incredulously.
"Uh, no way, little bro. I said it first, it was my idea," Travis insisted.
"But I was the one who came up with the plan!"
"I'm the one who's making the plan possible!"
"Idea thief!"
"Liar!"
"Losers!" Leara cut in, reaching out and flicking them both on the forehead with her index fingers. "Just get on with it, tell me what we're doing back here!"
Travis rubbed his forehead ruefully. "Alright, alright. Well, anyway, we found the water pipes!"
"Hence that hole in the ground that the hose is coming from," Leara noted, gesturing to the described hole and garden hose. "So what?"
"So," Connor continued. "We've done some research. Yesterday, we tested our theory and spied on Percy in the morning while he got ready. Let me tell you, he is one lazy hero. The dude doesn't turn any knobs when it comes to water! He just waves his hands at the sink or shower or whatever and the water comes through. If the pressure is too low, he'll adjust it."
Leara started to grin, realizing where this was going."
"Yesterday, we shut off Percy's water to see what he would do if no water came out of the faucet," Travis continued. "He just kept using his powers to try and force the water through until I turned it back on and the water obeyed him."
"Henceforth the hole in the ground and the hose," Connor picked up. "Any moment now, Percy is going to wake up and take a shower. He's going to unknowingly fuel the water pressure we need for this prank. We've connected the hose to the pipe that usually would run to Cabin 3, and we're going to stick it in that open window right there." Connor pointed to the the slightly ajar window of the Apollo cabin, a few feet off. "So when Percy tries to turn on the water, and no water comes out-"
"He'll just try harder and harder, blasting the Apollo campers with a cold, wet surprise," Leara finished, grinning. "Let's do this!"
Together, the trio snuck up to the side of the Apollo cabin and fed the hose through the window.
Suddenly, a light came on in Cabin 3.
"This is it!" Travis whispered gleefully, holding the hose steady. "One... Two... Thr-"
He was cut off by the sound of water rushing out of the hose, and a lot of it. Seeing that Travis was about to lose his grip, Leara grabbed the hose with both hands to hold it steady and keep it from shooting itself backwards out of the window.
Screams and surprised yells issued from the victimized cabin, and the mischievous trio grinned at each other.
Suddenly, they heard the cabin's front door bang open.
"Run!" Connor yelled, scrambling away, as Travis did the same, leaving Leara holding the hose. She reacted too slowly and froze when a tall, soaking wet blonde guy stepped out from around the corner.
Leara's jaw dropped.
"What're you doing?" The demigod asked, more confused than angry.
"Oh. My. Gods," Leara said loudly. "You, my friend, are attractive!"
The boy looked taken aback. "Uh, excuse me?"
Leara gasped and clapped her hand over her mouth. "Oh, was that my outside voice?" she questioned. "Dang it!"
The boy looked even more confused. "Do I know you?"
Leara knew she should probably be embarrassed, but she didn't blush.
"I'm Leara!" she announced, holding out her hand for him to shake. Unfortunately for the stranger, she held out the hand that was still holding the hose, and she sprayed the boy full in the face.
"Oh gods, I'm so sorry!" she apologized, tossing the hose aside while he sputtered and coughed. "I know you look attractive soaking wet, but I didn't do that on purpose, I swear! Ohhh, was that my outside voice again? Darn it, I didn't mean to say that either! You know what? Just ignore me. Ignore my words from now on, Mr. McHottie. Dang it!"
Once the teen had coughed up all the water, he gave her a strange look, and Leara couldn't tell if he was amused or smug.
"I'm Michael Yew," he said, holding out his hand. Leara grabbed it and shook it a little over-enthusiastically.
"Great! And I'm Leara! Oh, I've already said that, haven't it?" Leara replied, still shaking his hand.
Michael chuckled a little and nodded. "Yes you have, Leara." He put his other hand on top of their clasped ones to stop her handshake from escalating out of control.
"Now, as head counselor, I must ask," he continued. "What were you doing?"
"Of course you're the son of the sun god," Leara said, as if receiving a revelation. "That's why you're so hot! That's funny, isn't it? Son of the sun. Haha!"
Michael looked bewildered, and Leara realized that her side of the conversation wasn't making much sense.
"Oh, yeah, sorry," she apologized again. "Back on topic. Uh, see, I'm pretty new here. I'm from Camp Jupiter, a daughter of Bacchus. You know, the wine dude? Anyway, I've heard all about your camp, so last week I decided to come up and see what it was really like. I'm not gonna stay forever, probably just a few months, so for now I'm in the Hermes cabin."
"Why not the Dionysus cabin?" Michael wondered.
Leara made a face. "They drink diet coke," she said disgustedly.
"So?"
"So, diet coke is nasty! Diet pepsi, however, is a different story, but the Dionysus kids hate it for some reason! But how could you not like it?! I mean, diet pepsi is what dreams are made of. Diet pepsi is what babies cry for, but we give them milk instead. Diet pepsi is the foundation of the entire univer-"
Michael cut her off. "On topic, remember? What were you doing?"
"I'm staying with the Hermes kids."
Michael gave her a "go on" look.
"Travis and Connor are Hermes kids."
"Ah," Michael realized, rolling his eyes. "They were here too?"
Leara crossed her heart with two fingers. "I will never betray my fellow comrades! But, yes, they were here too."
Michael sighed and ran his fingers through his golden-blonde hair. "I'm going to have to have a talk with them," he muttered, staring in the direction of the Hermes cabin. Then he looked back at Leara and smiled. "Anyway, welcome to camp! I hope you enjoy your time here."
"I think I will," Leara answered with a sly smile. "As long as uppity head counselors don't get in the way of my having fun!"
"What?" Michael pouted, pretending to be hurt. "I thought I was Mr. McHottie!"
Leara made a face and smacked the back of his head.
"Wow, your hair is soft!" she exclaimed, reaching up to touch his blonde waves once more. "Wait, I'm supposed to be mad at you!" she remembered, and she lightly smacked his head again.
Michael grinned. "Well, I'm going to go help them clean up. I forgive you for the mess; you actually made my day. I'll see you later, okay?"
"If you're lucky!" Leara called back as she skipped away.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"What took you so long?" Connor demanded as she walked into the Hermes cabin moments later. "Did you get caught?"
"Yeah, but it was okay. The guy was hot!" Leara announced, as the boys' eyes glazed over. She sighed and waved her hand in front of their faces.
"Oh, sorry!" Travis said, snapping out of his daze. "It's just, as soon as you start talking about hot guys, we tend to space out."
She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. But if you had told me Michael Yew was that good looking, I would've pranked their cabin way sooner."
"What? Michael caught you?" Connor sputtered. "Oh, we are in so much trouble! You didn't tell on us, did you?" he asked anxiously.
"Well, actually..." Leara started, then trailed off.
"Oh no! Remember the last time he caught us? The whole making us speak in rhymes thing?" Travis said to his brother, both obviously distressed.
The three of them jumped as they heard a knock on the cabin door.
"It's him!" Connor exclaimed. "Hide!"
He and his brother both dove behind the closest bunk, while Leara went to answer the door. She opened it, and was surprised to see before her none other than Percy Jackson. He was holding a towel, a bundle of clothes, and a toothbrush.
"Hey, sorry to bother you guys," he started. "But the water went out in my cabin. Could I take a quick shower here?"
Travis and Connor snorted with laughter from behind the bunk, and Percy glanced towards them confusedly. Leara bit her lip to keep herself from laughing as well.
"Sure, come on in," she said, opening the door wider and gesturing him forward. "Just don't use any of the pink shampoo- it turns your hair green. The blue shampoo is fine, though."
"Thanks," Percy said, smiling.
"While you're in the shower, Travis and Connor and I could try and fix your water problem," Leara offered, still trying not to giggle.
"Really? That'd be great," Percy said, nodding. "By the way, I'm Percy. I don't think we've met."
"Hey Percy, I'm Leara! I'm new here," Leara informed him.
Percy smiled again. "Welcome to camp! Let me know if there's anything I can do to help you out," he added as he headed for the bathroom.
"Oh, you already have," Leara whispered to herself with a grin, as the Stolls stood up from their hiding place.
"Nice going, Leara," Travis said. "We'll put the pipes back to how they were, and he'll never know the difference. By the way, you do know that it's the blue shampoo that turns your hair green, not the pink one, don't you?"
"I know," Leara said impishly, and the boys both gave her a high-five.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXX
That week was a whirlwind of mischief and pranks. On Thursday, the trio crept into the Hypnos cabin and hid alarm clocks under all the camper's bunks; on Friday, they painted the door of the Ares cabin hot pink; Saturday they snuck into the Aphrodite cabin and replaced all their cosmetics with cheap knockoffs that wouldn't come off their faces; on Sunday they secretly glued the books in Malcolm's bookshelf shut, and on Monday they hacked into the camp's computers and rearranged everyone's schedules, so that the whole day was completely chaotic.
Finally Chiron had enough.
All of that trouble, combined with Percy's green hair, earned them each a stern lecture from the ancient centaur.
"One more step out of line," he warned, "and you three will be cleaning the stables for a month!"
So, free period found Travis, Connor, and Leara sitting in a field, trying to think of something to do.
"I'm bored," Travis sighed, flopping back onto the grass.
"Me too," Connor announced, copying his brother and lying back.
"Now, guys, we have to stay out of trouble, remember?" Leara reminded them. "Let's hold off on the pranks for now, Chiron said we'll be in big trouble if we cross the line one more time."
"I know," Travis pouted. "I just can't think of anything we can do that doesn't involve causing annoyance or headaches to others!"
"Well, I need to do something!" Leara announced, getting restless and standing up. "Someone race me to the top of the climbing wall. Ready, set, go!"
She took off running and heard the boys follow her, drawn in by the temptation of a competition. Once they had all reached the climbing wall, Connor took a seat at the control booth and started flipping random switches and pressing buttons. Lava started flowing down the side of the rock wall, sharp rocks appeared at the base, and several of the handholds retracted.
"Hey, stop!" a far-off voice called. Travis and Leara turned to see Michael Yew in the distance, running towards them.
"What's his problem?" Leara asked, buckling herself into the climbing harness as Travis did the same.
"Michael's always in charge of supervising the climbing wall on Tuesdays," Travis explained. "We're supposed to wait for him."
Leara snorted. "No way! You're going down!" she taunted as she reached for the closest handhold. Travis grinned and followed suit.
They were almost halfway up when Michael reached the wall.
"Guys, get down from there!" he called pleadingly. "I need to check your harnesses, you might get hurt!"
"Don't worry, we're fine!" Leara called down to him, stepping on Travis's hand and making him slip down a few feet.
"Leara, is that you?" Michael's voice was panicky now. "Please come down! And Connor, stop pressing those buttons!"
Leara looked down and saw the sharp rocks disappear.
"Aw, come on!" she whined. "Now it's not fun!"
She glanced down again ad saw Connor and Michael fighting over the control booth. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Travis gaining on her.
"Oh no you don't!" she laughed, bumping him with her hip, causing him to swing out and away from her. He grinned, and climbed back over to where she was.
They were now more than halfway to the top. Travis swung over and elbowed Leara in the side, causing her to lose her grip. She let go of the rocks and started falling. She heard something click, and looked down to see that one of the buckles on her harness had come undone, and then her harness fell off completely. She desperately grabbed for another handhold, and managed to catch hold of a small rock. Leara heard gasps and a shout below her.
"Leara, grab my hand!" Travis shouted down to her, panicking.
He reached down as far as he could, then kicked off the rock to try and reach her.
Too late.
Leara's fingers slipped off her small handhold and she screamed as she fell through the air. Travis desperately grasped at the air, missing her hand by inches.
She hit the ground, hard, and heard a sickening crack as she landed on her ankle, then her head slammed into the ground.
Her vision darkened and her senses dulled. She blinked a few times in an attempt to clear her vision, and she tried to sit up.
"Stay still, don't move!" an anxious voice ordered, gently pushing her back down. Leara thought it sounded familiar, and she tried to turn her head towards the person.
"Please, keep still," Michael Yew pleaded, softly placing his hand on her cheek.
"Do I know you, hot stuff?" Leara mumbled, in a daze.
"Shh, Leara," Michael said, biting his lip. "I think you might have a concussion. What hurts?"
"I dunno," Leara responded hazily. "I don't remember. Maybe. It's Friday?"
"Connor, help me!" Michael ordered, and the distressed teen came forward. "Go get the stretcher out of the supply shed, hurry!"
Connor ran off as fast as he could.
"Leara, sweetheart, stay as still as possible, alright?" Michael told her slowly, kneeling by her side again. "We're going to get you to the medical ward very soon."
"Yupp, I like bagels, too."
"She's delirious," Michael muttered to himself worriedly as he stood up. Then he turned to Travis.
"What in Hades were you thinking, Stoll?" he asked through gritted teeth.
"It was an accident!" Travis said distraughtly. "I didn't mean to-"
"You should know better!" Michael burst out, stepping forward and shoving Travis, hard, in the chest.
Travis stumbled backwards and fell to the ground.
"Look, I didn't think-"
"That's the problem!" Michael shouted at him angrily. "You never think!"
Leara stirred at the heightened voices, and Michael lowered his.
"She better be okay, Travis!" he said, still angrily but at a much lower volume.
Luckily for Travis, at that moment Connor came running up, wheeling the stretcher in front of him.
Together, Michael and Connor gently lifted Leara onto the stretcher and secured her in.
"Are we going to the zoo?" she asked, gazing around.
"Uh, no," Connor said, and Michael elbowed him. "I mean, yes?"
He shook his head in bewilderment as the boys wheeled her up to the medical ward.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX
Leara woke up in a strange, comfortable white bed a few hours later.
She looked around the unfamiliar room and saw several other unoccupied beds and white walls. She figured that this must be the medical ward, as she'd never been in there before.
Then she noticed the cast.
She sat straight up and stared at it for a moment, very confused. Then she remembered the rock climbing race, and Travis bumping into her, and... Falling. Then landing on her right leg, hard.
She scrunched up her nose and flopped back onto her bed, her head pounding. Suddenly, she heard a door open, then Michael Yew was standing by her bed.
"Hey, how're you feeling?" he asked, sitting down on the edge of her white mattress.
"I'm not at the zoo, am I?" she asked cockily, and he smiled.
"Glad you're feeling better, Leara."
"Could you maybe make me feel a little more better?" she asked, and he looked confused. "How long do I have to have a cast on my leg? Doesn't ambrosia, like, fix that?"
"Ah," Michael said, looking down at her broken limb. "Yeah, ambrosia can fix a lot of things, but it's still going to take about a week for your leg to heal completely. So that means, no more dangerous rock climbing competitions," he said sternly.
Leara stuck her tongue out at him. "See, remember what I said about uppity head counselors?"
"Broken bones are fun?"
"Touché."
He grinned at her. "I'll be right back, I'll bring you some dinner."
"Great, I'm starving!" she said. "Oh, could you bring me a bagel? For some reason I really want one."
Michael chuckled. "Sure, whatever you want, Leara," he confirmed, and he walked out.
A few minutes later, she heard a soft tap at the door.
"Uh, come in?" she called out.
Travis and Connor walked in quietly, with identical remorseful expressions on their faces.
"Hey guys!" she said happily, but they didn't seem to brighten.
"I'm sorry for pushing you, Leara!" Travis burst out, once he had reached her bedside.
Leara couldn't help but grin when she saw his expression; he looked just like a little kid that had been caught doing something naughty, and was made to apologize.
She gave him a stern look, and he brought out a bouquet of flowers from behind his back.
"Really, I'm so so sorry!" he said, thrusting the flowers toward her.
"I'm sorry too!" Connor apologized. "I shouldn't have made the climbing wall so difficult. I brought you some chocolate!" he offered, holding out a nicely wrapped box.
"Guys, it's okay," Leara said with a smile. "It's totally not your fault. It was my idea to climb the wall, anyway."
Travis set the flowers on her night stand and ran his fingers through his curly reddish hair.
"I know it was, but I still feel bad," he said, frowning.
"Hey, I'm back-"
Leara and the Stolls turned to face the door, where Michael was holding a tray of food and glaring at Travis.
"Uh, I'm gonna go," Connor said, slipping out the door.
Michael glared at Travis for a moment longer, then ignored him and set the tray down on Leara's lap.
"I brought you some soup," he said, smiling at her and stepping in front of Travis. Travis peeked out from behind his back and wiggled his fingers at Leara, mouthing "I'll see you later!" Then he followed his brother out the door.
"I hope there's no chicken in this," Leara said suspiciously. "Chicken is disgusting."
"Nope, no chicken," Michael confirmed. "No vegetables either. Just plain noodle soup."
"Excellent!" she exclaimed, picking up her spoon. "Now could you get me a diet pepsi?"
"Way ahead of you," Michael said, pulling a blue can out of the pocket of his hoodie and setting it down on the tray.
"Thanks," she said, happily popping the tab and taking a sip of the ice cold soda.
"No problem. But will you do me a favor, Leara?" Michael asked, suddenly serious.
"As long as it doesn't involve getting up or doing work, then yeah, sure. What?"
"Actually, it's two things," he said, suddenly nervous. She sipped her soup and gestured for him to keep going.
"First of all, I know we haven't known each other for very long-"
"About 6 days and 19 hours," Leara interrupted, and Michael looked slightly miffed about being cut off. "Oh, sorry. That was just an estimate, anyway. Keep going, my good man."
The son of Apollo took a deep breath. "Well, as I was saying, we haven't known each other for very long, but... I really like you."
Leara suddenly felt very warm, and she could feel butterflies in her stomach. She put her spoon down.
"I think you're amazing," he continued. "You're beautiful, smart, nice, and hilarious. In the short time that I've known you, you've made my life better. You're showing me what fun looks like. I'd love to get to know you better, Leara."
Leara's heart skipped a beat.
"Will you go out with me?"
Leara stared at him for a moment, and he tugged at the collar of his hoodie.
"Uh, I know that was really impulsive of me," he said, biting his lip. "And before I knew you I swear, I would never take things this quickly. It's just, you're so... Amazing. I don't want to have to wait any longer."
For the first time in her life, Leara forgot how to form words.
"Obcaurseiowagowoutwiffyew!"she exclaimed, and he blinked once.
"Uh, excuse me?"
Leara took a deep breath to calm herself down.
"Of course I'll go out with you!" she burst out, grinning widely.
If it was possible, he grinned even wider. Leara hardly ever got surprised, but what Michael did next really caught her off-guard.
He leaned forward and kissed her.
Full on the mouth.
Leara gasped in astonishment, but immediately returned the kiss. It was gentle, yet fierce; passionate, yet restrained. She reached out and twisted her fingers through his soft wavy hair, her other hand on resting his neck. His hands copied hers, and he ran his fingers through her long, orange-highlighted red hair.
After several long moments, they broke apart.
"Wow," she breathed, still a little in shock.
"I have no idea what I was thinking," he smiled to her.
"Whatever it was, I'm glad you were thinking it," she smiled back. "Hey, you said you had two things to ask me. What was the other one?"
Michael looked at her intensely, and gently put his finger under her chin, tilting her head back so they were both looking into each other's eyes; him into her amethyst ones, and her into his bright sapphire ones.
"That you'll let me take care of you."
She nodded.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXX
The entire week Leara was on crutches while the ambrosia took effect, Michael waited on her hand and foot. He insisted on carrying her bags or weapons for her while she hobbled along on her crutches, he carried her up long flights of stairs so she wouldn't have to exert herself. On top of that, every night he brought her a plate of cookies and a glass of chocolate milk, which they ate together on the porch of the Hermes cabin.
Some of the more nosy campers, mainly the children of Aphrodite, whispered to each other that he doted on her too much- that he was being over-protective, and that Leara was acting helpless, and both of them were insane.
They were not insane, though Leara could have easily brought insanity to each of the whisperer's with her demigod powers of Bacchus.
No, not insane.
In love.
When Leara's leg had healed, Michael didn't stop his acts. He held the door for her, gave her massages after long days, and, even though she didn't want to, he made her eat her vegetables.
That's not to say that she completely matured and stopped pulling pranks. Quite the contrary.
She still hung out with Travis and Connor every spare moment she had, and, much to Michael's dismay, every time he turned his back they had gotten themselves into some sort of trouble.
One night, several weeks after the climbing wall incident, Leara and Michael were lying on the beach together, staring at the sea and enjoying each other's company.
"You know, Michael," Leara stated softly. "These last 4 weeks with you have been the best time of my life."
"Mine too," Michael smiled, and draped his arm around her. "Hold on," he said after a moment, turning to look at her. "We've been dating for 6 weeks!"
"I know," Leara nodded. "But the first two were not that great."
"Huh? What was the matter?" Michael asked, confused.
"My broken leg and everything?"
Michael seemed satisfied. "Alright, I'll give you that. Now, how about you name one reason I shouldn't kiss you right now?"
"Because you were just drinking nasty strawberry milk, and I could probably taste it?"
Michael pouted.
"Oh, fine, strawberry boy," she relented, leaning in for a quick kiss.
"Thanks, love," he grinned, leaning forward to give her an extra kiss on the forehead. "I hope the strawberry milk didn't poison you."
"Eh, too soon to tell."
Michael laughed, and just then an enormous falling star shot across the sky.
"Did you see that? Did you see that?" Leara asked excitedly, standing up and pointing.
"Yes, I saw it," Michael affirmed. "You know what I think?"
"What?"
"I think that was a sign of approval from our godly relatives."
"Really?" Leara asked, looking up at the sky again.
At that moment, another falling star appeared, this one even bigger than the first.
Leara grinned.
"I think you're right."
"Not that we need approval," Michael put in. "But it's nice to know that love can't be deterred by Roman and Greek boundaries."
"Never."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXX
Leara enjoyed many more romantic nights with Michael, and got herself into a lot more trouble with her partners in crime over the fall months. Sadly, however, several months later, in early December, it was time for her to return to Camp Jupiter.
Nico would soon be waiting to shadow-travel her across the country, and she started feeling sad as she pulled her final load of clothes out of the dryer.
Connor was glumly leaning on the washing machine.
"Do you really have to go, Leara?" he asked, making puppy-dog eyes at her. Leara didn't buy the innocent look for a second, mainly because as he did it, he was squeezing a bottle of purple food coloring into the detergent.
"I've been here way longer than I should have already," she answered sadly.
"That's mainly because it took you two months to learn how to work the dryer," Connor pointed out.
"Well yeah," she agreed. "But in my defense, there are-"
"A lot of buttons and knobs," Connor finished, as if he had heard the phrase a hundred times before, which he had. "I know. Which is why I'm proud of you!"
She smiled and shut the dryer door, stuffing her clothes into her old duffel bag.
"Walk me out?" she asked him, holding her elbow up.
"Of course," he said, hooking his arm through hers and taking her bag from her.
They left the laundry building and headed for Thalia's Pine, where Michael and Travis were waiting for her.
"I'm going to miss you so much!" Travis burst out, throwing his arms around Leara as soon as she was within reach. "I hate goodbyes!"
She squeezed him tightly. "I do too. But not as much as I hate strawberry milk, that stuff is gross."
Travis grinned into her shoulder and then pulled away. "Can't you keep a serious thought in your head for more than five seconds?"
"I probably could," Leara said, shrugging. "But you gotta admit, strawberry milk is nasty."
Travis nodded. "I agree."
Leara turned and hugged Connor, who gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"Look after yourself, Leara," he said, tweaking her nose.
She giggled. "You do the same," she responded, squeezing his hand.
Then she turned to Michael, who looked like he was trying not to cry.
She didn't say anything, he just spread his arms out and wrapped her in the tightest, safest, warmest hug she had ever received, and it was a long time before she was able to pull away.
She opened her mouth to say her goodbyes, but Michael put his finger over her lips.
"Until we meet again?" he said, more of a statement than a question.
Leara smiled up at him and nodded, then she stood on the tiptoes of her combat boots and leaned up to kiss him. He returned the short, sweet kiss, and they stood there, frozen in a moment that seemed like an eternity
"Love you, Michael," she said softly, pulling away. He reached out and grabbed her hand, just to hold it for a moment longer.
"Love you more, Leara," he murmured, and she pulled away completely this time, shouldering her duffel back and heading down the hill.
Tomorrow would be Leara's 18th birthday, and she knew she would spend it with her old friends Dakota, Gwendolyn, Hazel, and Frank, in the dining hall with lots of cake. She smiled at the thought, though it felt bittersweet.
Leara was mainly happy, though. She had accomplished what she set out to do- she had started and completed her own personal quest.
Usually, Leara wasn't the kind of person to look back, but she had to steal one last glance at Camp Half-Blood before she got to the bottom of the hill. She turned and waved to her friends, who were still watching her leave.
After that last glance, she didn't feel sad as she started back down the hill; in fact, she smiled.
She knew she'd be back.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXX
A/N
Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it!
Please review, and or follow, and or favorite!
If you would like to submit a demigod, please read the chapter on submitting first. The submission form can be found in chapter 1. I am still accepting requests, and I will do every one. I have to tell you though, I have quite a few to do already, and I probably won't be able to start your story until at least January. Don't let that stop you from submitting, though!:) Keep 'em coming!
However, I'd prefer you to submit a boy, as I have like 10 girls and only 2 boys. You can still submit a girl if you'd like, though!:)
I'm going to spend Thanksgiving weekend in Indiana, at a cabin where I won't get internet service, so I may or may not be able to update next weekend Sorry for the delay!
Again, thanks so much for reading!:) Please review!
Xoxoxo,
EmMarie