A/N: So I'm sorry, this guy has got it bad. In the book all we really get is him stubbornly denying that he's got it bad, but I'm sorry. He's totally crazy about her, and he knows it.

More juice. Enjoy!

(Disclaimer: Not mine.)

The second day, Leo woke up with the sun.

He sat at his makeshift workshop, studying the crystal Calypso had given him the night before. He had drawn a diagram of the astrolabe, trying desperately to figure out how this crystal fit into the device. He was pretty sure it was a kind of honing piece, but he wasn't sure if it was magnetic in some way, or if it held some sort of chemical, or if it was just magic somehow. Odysseus seemed to know it was necessary, but it wasn't like Leo could just hop back in time and ask him. He was going to have to figure it out on his own.

Leo thought about the conversation he'd had with Calypso the day before. Something about working alongside her had sparked the memory of his repair shop dream. He hadn't thought about it in… he didn't know how long. Throughout most of his childhood he was running from foster homes, mostly just worrying about getting enough to eat every day. Since getting to Camp Halfblood and starting on this crazy quest, he was too preoccupied with not being killed to think about the future. But now, he was remembering when he was little and he would describe the place to his mother.

"My shop will be like the center of the world!" He remembered telling her. "I'll fix everything!"

Leo flipped over his astrolabe sketch and began sketching a blueprint. The shop would be at Camp Halfbood. He would have a forge for making weapons and shields for demigods. There would be a giant workshop where he could invent lots of crazy contraptions. Then he would have a little store for selling different trinkets and tools, and the walls would be covered in those tapestries that Calypso had in her cave –

Leo paused his sketch and smiled. She would need her own crafts room, of course. And a kitchen where she could make cider and stew. They could attract customers with the delicious smell of lemonade and spices, and Calypso could grow a big garden in the front of the shop –

"Hey."

Leo jumped, awkwardly trying to cover up his sketch with his hands. "Gods of Olympus, woman, what did I tell you about sneaking up on me like that?"

"Sorry," she said holding up her hands. "I'm ready to work. What do you need?"

"Uh," Leo stood up and attempted to surreptitiously hide his sketch under some papers as he shuffled things around on the work table. He didn't want Calypso knowing that he had been day-dreaming about her. Well he wasn't day-dreaming about her specifically –

"We're doing hardware today," Leo interrupted his own annoying thoughts. He grabbed the rough circuit board they had worked on yesterday from the table. "We need to mold the bronze plate and – hey, do you have anything glass you'd be willing to donate?"

Calypso frowned in thought. "I suppose I have some glassware in the kitchen that I could spare," she suggested. "Need anything else?"

"Just you," he answered distractedly while he gathered up tools and materials. He realized too late how that sounded and he quickly tried to cover. "I mean, you know, your hands," he corrected himself. "Your help."

She gave him a look that he couldn't decipher and then she nodded. "I'll be right back," she said, walking hastily back towards her cave.

Leo sat back on his stool and purposely banged his head down on the table. Nice going, Valdez.

Calypso caught on very quickly to the idea of the console when he explained how it needed to be put together. Leo melted down the glass and the metal and molded it like pottery with his hands. He gave Calypso the job of screwing pieces together to create a strong outer hardware for the circuit board. As they worked, Leo told her about their quest.

He told her everything. He told her about Gaea and the night his mother died in the workshop. He told her about the day at the Grand Canyon and getting to Camp Half-Blood. He talked about his friends, and the quest he went on with Jason and Piper. He told her all about Festus and the Argo II, and flying the ship to Camp Jupiter where an eidolon possessed him to accidentally start a war with the Romans. He gave her details about everything the seven of them had encountered since setting off to the Ancient Lands. He told her about the Mark of Athena and the Doors of Death. He told her about Percy and Annabeth falling into Tartarus. And he told her how he ended up here on her island.

They took a break for lunch a little after midday and went back to Calypso's cave. She pulled up some fresh carrots from her garden to make carrot cake. Leo did his best to help, though baking was not really his thing. He began poking around the cave some more, going through all of her crafting things.

He opened drawers full of paint cans and dug through giant piles of canvases on the floor. He found what must have been hundreds of quilts in the closet. There was an entire pile of random paper mache creations. He picked one up. "Is this supposed to be an elephant?" he asked with a snicker.

"Hey," she defended herself. She was in the kitchen doing dishes. "I went through a paper mache phase, okay? About a millennia ago. Wasn't particularly good at it."

Leo opened a trunk and found it completely full of friendship bracelets. "Holy Hephaestus," Leo cackled. "Gods, this is insane! How many of these did you make?"

"7,691," Calypso answered without missing a beat. "That only lasted about ten years, and yes, I counted them."

Leo gawked. "You realize that this is what girls did during the summer when I was like, nine," he said.

"Shut up."

Leo laughed again.

He opened up another closet. "Oh. My. Gods." He picked up a wooden doll and showed Calypso what he'd found with a giant grin on his face. "You went through a wood work phase?"

Calypso grabbed the doll. "Careful!" She exclaimed. "I like this one," she held the doll to her chest. "And yes, I still enjoy wood work." Her eyes widened like she remembered something. She grabbed his arm. "You will love this," she smiled and pulled him outside the cave.

She led him through the woods to the opposite end of the island. She stopped at a clearing and knelt down next to a rock about half the size of Leo. She pushed the rock over to reveal a large hole in the ground.

"What…?" Leo started to ask. Calypso leaned into the hole and lifted out a large box. "Whoa!" Leo grabbed the box before she could drop it and helped her set it down on the ground. "What in the name of Zeus – "

"It's one of my wood work projects!" Calypso told him excitedly. "I completely forgot about it until now!"

She opened the box, revealing a whole bunch of wooden blocks. They were all different shapes and sizes. Leo pulled out one that was about the size of his palm. It was a flat, rectangular block, and on the face it had an intricate star-like design, not unlike the one's on the wall inside her cave. The wood was a dark cherry color, gradated with streaks of lighter brown.

"Wow," Leo said, turning the piece over in his hand. "This is beautiful. You made each of these by hand?"

Calypso nodded and smiled proudly. "I used an old tree that had fallen," she pointed to an old stump that sat a few feet away from them. "I could spend weeks building things with these blocks," she pulled a spherical one out of the box. "Actually, for a while I would create models with the blocks and then paint them, or weave them into a tapestry, or even some of my dresses are based on designs I created with these blocks."

Leo didn't realize he had been staring at her in amazement until she looked at him at smirked. "What?"

Leo grinned and pulled out a handful of blocks, placing them in front of her. He pulled out another handful and placed them in front of himself. Then, he reached into his tool belt, pulled out a stop watch, and set the timer.

"Whoever builds the tallest tower wins," Leo told her.

"What?" Calypso said, perplexed.

Leo grinned wickedly. "Two minutes. Go!"

He immediately began stacking his blocks. Calypso watched him for a moment in confusion, before realizing that she was supposed to building too. "Oh Styx!" She laughed, and quickly started stacking.

"One minute!" Leo called. His tower was already much taller than Calypso's. She was gaining on him though. "30 seconds!" He shouted. He stood up so he could reach the top of his tower. Suddenly, Calypso kicked his tower and it toppled. He looked at her in disbelief. "You cheater!" He kicked down her tower as well and she screeched. They both fell to the ground laughing as the timer beeped.

"That is not how this game is supposed to work," Leo told her. Calypso was still laughing too hard to reply. Leo smiled. She had a beautiful laugh.

She finally caught her breath. "Oh my gods that was so much fun!" She said sitting up. "Let's play again. I promise I won't cheat this time."

They competed a few more times. Leo won, then Calypso won.

"They are my blocks," Calypso said after winning a second time. "They must favor me."

"Oh so the game is rigged?" Leo grinned. "We'll have to make impartial blocks then, 'cause that's just not fair."

"Aw," Calypso feigned sympathy. "I think you just need some carrot cake to make up for the fact that you're such a sore loser," she cooed.

"I am not a sore loser!"

Calypso suddenly gasped. "Oh my gods," she exclaimed, looking at him wide-eyed. "The carrot cake!"

"What?"

"I left it in the oven!" She stood up and began sprinting back across the island.

"Oh Styx!" Leo laughed, chasing after her.

They raced back through the woods towards her cave. "If my cake burns, it is entirely your fault!" She called to him as they ran.

"My fault?" Leo responded from three paces behind her. "How is this my fault?"

"It just is!"

"Aw," he teased. "Did I distract you?"

She rolled her eyes. "You wish."

"I'm gonna take that as a yes," Leo smirked.

They got back to the cave and Calypso rushed to get the cake out of the oven. It was a bit burnt, but it was still edible. They stood in the kitchen picking at the cake with their hands, eating it while it was still warm.

While they ate, Leo glanced at that tapestry of Malta that he had noticed the other day. "So," Leo broke the silence. "Malta. Is that where you grew up?"

Calypso glanced at him, and for a second Leo thought she might snap at him for asking. But instead, her eyes became wistful and she sighed.

"Yes," she replied. "Well sort of. I lived on the island Gozo, which is just north of Malta. The island was not very inhabited, so I would often visit Malta, whenever my father would let me."

"Your father," Leo remembered. "Atlas. He lived on an island?" He tried to recall the mythology. He didn't remember anything about Atlas living on an island near Malta.

Calypso's eyes went dark. "I did not live with my father. But he did not like it when I left Gozo. He thought me young and ignorant, and wanted to keep me out of the way." She scowled. "He said I caused trouble."

Leo frowned. "What? Did you harass the gods with exploding tapestries?"

Calypso gave him a dirty look. "I do not make art explode," she said indignantly. "I wanted to help mortals," she told him. "I liked talking to people in the town, and wanted to use my magic to make their lives better."

"What's wrong with that?" Leo asked.

"It is not the Titan way," Calypso said. "We do not concern ourselves with such weak, insignificant beings." She spoke bitterly, spitting the words out angrily.

"So Atlas would forbid you to help people?" Leo asked incredulously. "That's messed up."

"I was not a schemer the way the other Titans were. I did not use my powers for destruction or indulgence. I liked to create. I liked to give."

Leo smiled. "Well, that I already know," he told her, gesturing to the mess of creations inside the cave. He glanced at the mural he had been looking at the other day, of the mysterious woman in the veil. "What about your mother?" Leo asked. "Did she live with you?"

If possible, Calypso's eyes went even darker. "I never knew my mother," she said. "She was a river goddess. But I do not know who."

"No one ever told you?" Leo raised his eyebrows.

Calypso shrugged. "I was raised by river naiads on Gozo. If my mother wanted me to know she would have come forward. I figure she just didn't care."

Leo looked at her incredulously. How could a mother just ditch her child like that? Calypso talked about it nonchalantly, but he could tell from the bitterness in her eyes that it still bothered her to this day. He realized that being stuck on an island all alone was not something new for this girl. She had been imprisoned, alone, and forgotten her entire life.

He wanted to say something, but he was suddenly at a loss of words. What do you say to something like that? First the girl is ditched by her mother, forbidden to make friends with anyone by her father, and then punished by the gods to continuously be forgotten by every hero that ever meets her. No wonder she was pissed off when Leo first showed up. He would be too.

Actually, he was angry. Really angry. He was angry at Calypso's mother, angry at her father, angry at the gods, and angry at every hero that ever came to Ogygia.

I won't ditch you, Calypso, Leo wanted to say. I will come back, even if I die doing it.

Calypso inhaled, and went over to the sink to wash her hands. "We should get back to work, yeah?" she asked without looking at him.

Leo nodded. "Yeah," he said. "Back to work."

A/N: Gods, I'm wanting to write all of this from her point of view too now. I mean he is really good to her. No wonder she fell for him. He cares about the things she's interested in, he wants to know about who she is, and he shows her how to have fun. What more could she want?