Hey, I'm back! Thanks for the reviews/follows/favorites, everyone! Now back to Leo in the labyrinth. :)

Disclaimer: I don't own HoO.

The Final Breath

Leo sprinted through Pasiphae's labyrinth, clutching his side. He hated the first monster that had found him. He hated the other monsters that had followed. Most of all, he hated Gaea for getting him into this situation in the first place. The situation that was going to get him killed.

He glanced down to see that blood was still dripping between his fingers, despite how hard he was pressing down. Gritting his teeth, Leo pushed his hand in even more, holding back a yelp of pain. It was bad enough the hellhounds would be able to track him by the scent of his blood. He wasn't about to give them an auditory aid too. Come on, he thought to himself. Hold yourself together. You just have to keep running. Odysseus's astrolabe was in his free hand, the gem at the tip casting a beam of light in front of him.

I'm coming back for you, Calypso. I swear it on the River Styx.

Leo shook his head and dug his fingers in deeper. He made a sharp left turn, following the only light ray ever that defied the laws of physics and didn't have to travel in a straight line. Stupid, stupid, he berated himself. It was stupid of you to say that oath. He had learned a few things at Camp Half-Blood. He knew that breaking an oath on the Styx was worse than death. The stupidest part was, he could have promised without using the river. He could have sworn on his love of mechanics, food, and Festus. So why the Hades had he gone and sworn on the Styx?

Up ahead, the ray veered to the right. Leo followed, still thinking. An oath like his was binding whether he was alive or not. If Leo died before he got to Calypso, the oath would follow him to the grave, and he did not want to find out what would come next. He had to keep his promise, no matter what happened.

An oath to keep with a final breath. Leo almost wanted to laugh at the irony. He had hoped that going on this impossible quest to the Ancient Lands would finally give him a purpose, that being part of the seven would finally make him important, that he would finally matter. Tià Callidà had told him that he would have a substantial role to play, hadn't she? Leo had once thought building the Argo II and sailing his friends around safely would be his big role, but now he knew better. He was fulfilling the prophecy. What role could be more important than that?

Leo snorted, the movement sending sharp pains shooting through his abdomen. Gods. Here he was, running away again. Ever since that workshop fire when he was seven, all he had done was flee his problems. Finding Camp Half-Blood, he'd finally thought he was through with running, but as it turned out, running was the most important skill a demigod could learn. That way, when he or she was mortally wounded and being chased by countless monsters, he or she could at least have a chance of finding the immortal being he or she was in love with in order to keep a promise he or she had made with his or her final breath. Awesome.

At least he would see Calypso again.

Actually, that was the only thing keeping him going. The blood was starting to stream from him now, coating his hand and staining his tool belt—now it was so bloodied no one would ever want to wear it again, despite its epic magical powers, which was a shame because Leo would have liked to give it to Harley if he had had a chance. He could hear barks and growls now, which meant the monsters were catching up. On top of all that, he had no idea how long it would take to get to Ogygia, seeing as the labyrinth didn't exactly follow the rules. In fact, Leo's whole situation was so hopeless that he would have collapsed and let himself bleed out long ago, if it wasn't for his promise to Calypso. And not because of the prophecy line, or even because of the "I swear it on the River Styx" part. No, Leo just wanted to see her again. He wanted to show her that he hadn't been making empty promises. He cared about her. He wasn't like all those other guys who had left her in the past. . . .

Only, wasn't he?

He was going to get to her and then die, wasn't he? He would leave her, just like everyone else had left her. Gods, he was no better than them. Leo skidded to a stop, blinking blood out of his eyes. (He had several other cuts from the monsters, although the gash in his side was the fatal injury.) Would she even want to see him then? Would it be too painful? Would he just break her heart again, but even worse this time? Should he just leave her alone?

Suddenly, something thudded into Leo. He looked down to see a barb protruding from his leg, and when he turned, he could just make out the Manticore's grin of triumph. The pain started a half-second later.

Leo staggered, black spots dancing in his eyes. It was so dark in the labyrinth, Leo probably never would have known if they didn't cover up the beam of ligh—the beam of light. Without another thought, Leo stumbled away as quickly as he could . . . following the path the astrolabe charted. He had remembered his relief at finding out that the workshop fire hadn't really been his fault—it had been Gaea, trying to stop him from becoming part of the seven. The news hadn't lessened the pain of his mom's death, but it had lessened his guilt. He figured the least he could do for Calypso was give her the same closure. She'd probably be sad when he died—he hoped so, anyway—but she would know that he hadn't wanted to abandon her. He'd done every possible thing to get back to her. It was all Leo could offer her now. He just prayed to the gods that it was enough.

Then the light ray ended.

It stopped right in the middle of a corridor, ignoring physics once again.

It was almost too much for Leo to handle. He was bleeding profusely, he had manticore poison racing through his veins, he was being chased by a thousand monsters, he was one step away from passing out and dying, and now he'd managed to break the item that was supposed to lead him to Calypso. What the Hades was wrong with his life? Leo's breath hitched. He felt the life leaking out of him right along with his blood. He considered having a panic attack.

Instead, he grew strangely calm. Maybe his fear was leaving with his blood too, but for whatever reason, he stopped freaking out. This was it. He was going to die in the middle of the labyrinth. No one would ever know what happened to him, and Calypso would think that he, just like every other guy she'd known, had forgotten about her.

Oh, well.

Leo slumped against the wall of the labyrinth . . . and his fist, still closed around the useless astrolabe, brushed a carving that felt almost like a table. No, not quite a table—but the Greek letter Pi. Pi for Pasiphae . . .

With his last shreds of strength, Leo banged his fist against the carving of the table.

Immediately, he fell through the wall and onto a beach.

Oh my gods, did I actually make it?

"Ca . . ." he called out weakly. "Calypso . . . ?" Maybe she was gardening and couldn't hear him. "Calypso?" he tried, louder. "CALYPSO, I'M DYING AND I NEED TO SEE YOU."

His voice echoed in the silence for about five seconds, and then he heard some muttered curses, tumbling pebbles, a sharp intake of breath, and his name, whispered almost inaudibly. "Leo . . ." Oh gods, he would know that voice anywhere.

Leo had to see for himself. He dug up some deep reserve of energy and rolled over. There, standing over him, was a tan girl with caramel hair and beautiful eyes. "Calypso . . . I came back for you."

She gaped at him. "Not this again."

Out of all the things Leo had expected, that wasn't it. "What . . . are you . . . talking about?"

"You know what I'm talking about," she exploded, the words rushing out of her. "Every night, you come back, and I'm excited to see you, and it's all very happy and I let myself believe that you managed to do the impossible, and then I wake up and it was all a dream and my heart breaks all over again and I REFUSE to let that happen tonight. I'd like to wake up now."

Leo frowned at her. "If . . . you were dreaming," he managed, "would . . . your subconscious . . . really . . . imagine me . . . dying? You . . . hate me . . . that much?"

Calypso stared at him for five seconds, then ten. Then she made some indescribable noise of joy and threw her arms around him and kissed him hard on the mouth, never mind that his blood was soaking into her white t-shirt.

"Oh my gods," she whispered, "you really did it. You really made it back."

Leo smiled at her weakly. "Sort of . . ." he said. "But . . . I can't . . . stay long."

"No."

"Calypso, I—"

"No."

"I don't want—"

"NO WAY IN HADES, LEO VALDEZ. YOU MADE IT BACK A SECOND TIME, AND THAT IS A MIRACLE, BUT I AM NOT LETTING YOU LEAVE WITHOUT ME AGAIN BECAUSE EVEN YOU CAN'T BEAT THE FATES TWICE AND I WILL NOT. LOSE. YOU."

Oh gods, she was breaking his heart, and she didn't even know it. "See . . . that's the problem," he said. "I couldn't . . . even beat the Fates . . . once. I'm . . . dying, Calypso."

Calypso stared at him again. "No, you're not."

"Calypso, I'm bleeding out . . . and I'm poisoned . . . and I had an oath to keep . . . with a final breath . . . and here I am, so . . ." He breathed in, hard. "I think . . . it's over."

"You're not dying, Leo."

Now he was starting to get angry. "Come on . . . Sunshine. Can't you . . . just kiss me again . . . and let go of . . . denial? Can I at least . . . have that . . . before I . . ."

"You. Are. Not. Dying."

Something in her tone made Leo hesitate. "How . . . How do you know?"

She grinned at him, wide and sudden. "Don't you remember what I told you when we first met? You can't die on Ogygia."

"What?"

"Think about it, Leo," she said. "For thousands of years I've waited for heroes to come to this island, battered and beaten, and I heal them. And then I offer them the chance to stay with me forever." For the first time, Leo didn't see tears in her eyes as she talked about her past. Instead, she looked . . . triumphant. "Forever, Leo. Of course, none of them have, but that's not the point. Don't you get it? They could stay with me forever if they wanted to. People can't die on Ogygia."

Leo was speechless. "But . . . I thought . . ."

"Not all heroes arrive as . . . as explosively as you did, Leo," she said with a smile. "Sometimes I don't find them for hours, and the gods aren't that cruel. They wouldn't allow a hero to die before I got to them. So they added that enchantment to the island, ensuring that I could always find them in time. Sometimes I think it would be easier if they just . . ." She shook her head, as if warding off her memories. "But it worked in our favor today, didn't it?"

Leo couldn't quite believe his ears. He'd been running around the labyrinth for so long, sure he was going to die as soon as he saw her, that it seemed impossible that he could survive. "What's the catch? If . . . if I ever leave, will I die immediately? Will I—"

"No catch, Leo. I'll heal you, and you'll be fine. You won't die immediately if you leave—unless you get swallowed by a sea monster or something."

The humor seemed to be exactly what Leo needed to hear to believe her. He finally released the astrolabe—after all, he didn't need it anymore—and used his free hand to reach up to Calypso, tugging her down so they could kiss again.

A while later—it was hard to keep track of time while Calypso was kissing him—Leo broke away and frowned, a little of his ecstasy at staying alive fading. "Wait. Does this mean . . . does this mean one of my friends will die? Because my oath didn't kill me, so one of theirs will?"

At his question, Calypso's gorgeous smile faded a little. "Could you repeat the line of the prophecy again, please?"

Leo was so shocked by the "please" that he complied. "It said . . . An oath to keep . . . with a final breath."

Calypso bit her lip. "In that case, I think your friends will be fine."

Leo frowned. "But—"

"Trust me, Leo."

"Okay," he said hesitantly. He'd never heard Calypso sound so gentle. This must have been what she sounded like with all those other guys, he thought wryly, before she got stuck with me. Surprisingly, he didn't feel jealous. Her gentle voice made him a bit nervous, actually. He felt much more comfortable around girls when they were yelling at him. Then at least he knew how to respond. "What's your reasoning?"

She sighed, and Leo was surprised to see tears shining in her eyes. "You didn't see what you looked like when I found you. You can't see what you look like now. Leo . . . Leo, you're really pale, and you're absolutely covered in blood." She leaned back from him a little, so Leo could see how much blood had stained her shirt—and holy Hephaestus, there was a lot. "I think . . . I think if you had arrived at Ogygia any later, you . . . well, people can't die on Ogygia, but they . . . they can wash onto the shore that way."

Slowly, Leo understood what she was insinuating. "You mean . . . if I had taken a second longer . . . to get here, I probably . . . would have died?"

Calypso winced. "Yes," she whispered. "So you see, well, you probably came to me with your last breath."

I'm coming back for you, Calypso. I swear it on the River Styx.

Leo thought about that for a second, and then he laughed. "Well, thank gods . . . for that."

Calypso frowned at him. "I . . . Why?"

"Well, I . . . had great timing," he said with a smile. "I'm not dead . . . my friends . . . aren't dead, and . . . the prophecy . . . is fulfilled. I'd say . . . that's a win-win, Calypso."

"And it doesn't scare you? That you—you almost died?"

"Of course it does . . . but it doesn't matter . . . because . . . I'm . . . here. Wouldn't have it . . . any . . . other way."

At that, Calypso leaned down and kissed him again. After a moment, she stopped to tilt her head at him. He could practically see the question in her eyes. "How did you get here anyway?"

"Tell you . . . later," he said. "Could I . . . maybe get . . . a bandage . . . first?"

She clapped a hand over her mouth. "My gods, Leo, I'm sorry. I just—I saw you and you were here and you were alive, and I didn't even . . . Gods, I'm an idiot. I'll go—I'll get you ambrosia and nectar and bandages and everything. I'm so sorry." She turned to leave, and that's when Leo saw the new additions to her shell necklace.

He couldn't help but grin. "Washers, Sunshine?" he teased. "Those don't have . . . anything to do with me, do they?"

"Shut up, Valdez." And she was gone.

He let himself sink into the sand, chuckling. Now she was mad at him. That was more like it.

He really had made it back.

Haha, I had you all worried there for a second, didn't I? But I wasn't about to kill off Leo as soon as he met Calypso. That would have been so mean. *sighs* I have so many headcanons about how to resolve the whole "final breath" problem without killing anyone... Probably wishful thinking, but wishful thinking is my specialty. :P

Anyway, I hope I did their reunion justice. Tell me what you thought!