A/N: Hello everyone! Here we are at the much awaited REUNION scene !- oh gods, pleaselikeitpleasepleasepleaselikeit- *ahem*

Anyway, glad you all seem to be enjoying the story so far and I apologise for any torture, promise it wasn't my intent.

Take it easy with your reviews for this chapter guys? I'm super nervous about it GAH

HAVE A WONDERFUL HOLIDAYS, YOU ALL DESERVE MAGICAL CHRISTMASES AND RELAXATION!

Much love,

Shy

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

The first time a man found his way to Ogygia twice, Calypso immediately jumped to the conclusion that the combined pressure of Gaea and worry and three thousand years of loneliness and heartbreak had finally caused her mind to collapse.

It was, oddly enough, the presence of the enormous mechanical dragon that assured her otherwise.

Logically, such a sight should have simply confirmed that she had gone utterly mad. Logically, Calypso should have been wondering how such a thing had come about (she would definitely be accusing Dionysus of his old, insolent tricks some time soon).

But in the back of her mind, she cradled the memory of Leo's stories. Like hot, warm coals that she turned over every now and then to savour the idea of him. Like the day he arrived and the day he left. The days he spent banging around that stupid campfire, the days she spent helping him. The kiss she gave him before pushing him away and the taste of smoke on her lips mixed with salt from tears. They were all there, nestled in an uncomfortable cluster in her chest, flaring up occasionally as if to remind her that Leo was real and she'd once had the indescribable pleasure of falling in lo- of enjoying his company for some small stretch of time.

She had been sitting in her cave, aimlessly weaving at her loom. She'd been sitting there an awful lot since Leo had left, the repetitive action somewhat soothing. She found she hated watching the horizons now because she not only didn't want to be disappointed at the unbroken line but also the fear that another hero might appear. A hero who was not Leo Valdez.

The Fates had always been tricky in who appeared to her. They were always irresistible, exactly the type of hero she adored. All except Leo who had come to be the only demigod she wanted to see, the only one she wanted to-

What? Love?

"Perhaps." She muttered to herself, weaving the end of an intricate blanket edged in golden flames while the middle held a beautifully designed phoenix bursting in a fiery blaze. "Perhaps love."

Calypso hated admitting it to herself but yes, love. Of course, love. She loved all her heroes at some point, after all.

But Leo was different to the others. Whereas she had slowly healed over from their wounds, fallen for each one after the other and watched them sail, knowing they would be replaced by another who would torture her, Calypso now dreaded the day another hero washed up on her shores. He could be strong and charming and brave but in the end-

In the end, he wouldn't be Leo Valdez.

And anyone else was simply not good enough.

Sighing, she finished the blanket and picked it up, feeling the tight weave for mistakes she knew she hadn't made. She wandered to her bed and let the vibrant blanket settle over her bed, the air spirits immediately tucking in the edges neatly. The phoenix was one of her best works so far, Calypso admitted somewhat morosely. Her misery was obviously producing a higher calibre of work than anything she'd ever created. Even as she admired it, Calypso found herself wanting to tear the blanket to shreds.

With an ever-present frown, she turned towards the cave entrance. Perhaps some time in her garden might soothe her a little more?

Just as she stepped forward, a deafening roar rang out over the island and she froze, consumed with adrenaline and alarm. Was Ogygia under attack? She poked her head out of the cave entrance and for a moment, feared that she had lost her senses entirely.

"That- that is impossible." Calypso breathed as she watched the glimmering drakon soar across Ogygia, having appeared as though it were about to crash only to fly away at the last moment. Yes, Calypso realised she had probably gone mad but those memories chose that moment to flare up, filling her head.

Including one story of a mechanical monster named Festus and how he would need to be rebuilt before the demigod hero could return for her.

Her heart simultaneously lifted and sank, hopeful and wary. Heroes did not find Ogygia twice. And yet the bronzed monstrosity burned brightly in the sun, proof that the rule had not held. "It can't be…" she murmured, staggering further out, her feet knowing the well worn path to Leo's old camp instinctively.

She hadn't been there since he left because it was stupid enough that she couldn't destroy the damn thing, she wasn't about to let it cloud her with grief and rage and all those ugly emotions. Calypso didn't want the space tainted by such things.

Now, it seemed, all bets were called off- she started out staggering and somewhere along the way, she was barely touching the sand, sprinting like a racer until she came to a stop, right at the edge of the campsite. Her eyes were glued to the golden-bronze mechanical beast as it circled above her.

"This is impossible," she told herself, gritting her teeth to hold back tears. "You're dreaming. This is a dream, just another dream, from Gaea. Any second now, she'll appear and he will be holding hands with the Roman or crushed beneath her might."

But as the creature drew nearer, she began to pick out details like the powerful swoop of its wings, the glint of its teeth…the indeterminable figure clutching its neck with skinny arms.

Without meaning to, the ocean waves began to thunder down onto the sand in time with her racing heartbeat. "It's not real," Calypso breathed, warring within herself. She tried to push the thought away at the same time as desperately wanting it with every fibre of her immortal body, every cell and hair was screaming that she wanted it to be true even as her eyes searched for the tell-tale blurriness of Gaea's illusions.

Even when she found none, Calypso still forced herself to back away, her whole body suddenly tingling as though those hot, coals of memories were sending wildfire racing through her blood. She wouldn't be trifled with, certainly not by Gaea. No more, she snapped at her cursed heart. No, I won't enter into this ridiculous fantasy of hers-

But suddenly the dragon swooped again and this time, Calypso could see a flash of dark curls and even darker eyes and a grin that had tormented her daydreams since she'd last seen it leave her.

It should not have been possible.

But somehow there he was, his face now visible from a distance on the back of Festus the Dragon who roared again as it swooped toward the camp.

Calypso hadn't realised she was stumbling forward again until she nearly tripped over her own feet, unable to believe her eyes as the dragon slowly came to a halt, its talons catching the bright white sand.

"Hey Sunshine!" Leo Valdez called cheerfully from his perch on the beast's back. He slid off with a wince, his left arm hanging awkwardly at his side. "Miss me?"

It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him to leave. That any illusion of Gaea's or trick of Dionysus' was not welcome here and he should be ashamed of himself. In a last ditch effort, her logic hissed doubt into her ear. Would he say that? So casually? A hero wouldn't speak like that, not after defying the gods themselves by coming-

It was for naught because immediately, those hot coal-like memories seemed to rush back and she realised they were so much more than memories. A hero wouldn't speak like that. Drake, Odysseus, they would shower her with gallantry and poetic lines. Leo, on the other hand?

Leo would dare to cross the Fates on his enchanted bronze dragon beast, fall out of the sky and end up calling her Sunshine.

In that last tussle between her head and her heart, Calypso found she simply didn't have the strength. She didn't have a clever reply or witty retort. Not this time. Those coals exploded inside her like lightning, ringing with a wash of emotions she couldn't classify. Leo Valdez was on her island, on the back of a dragon, with that stupid, charming smile. Just as he'd promised her. Just as they'd all promised her.

Somehow his became the only promise that mattered and in a flash, her arms were around him- his real form, not a trick, not a hot memory, not a daydream. The shock of warm flesh was nearly too much to bear but she clung on still, praying for some small mercy, some tiny blessing that might extend this moment.

Leo Valdez was on Ogygia. He had returned. She clutched him tightly to her, pressing her cheek to his chest, listening to the slightly unsteady ka-thump of his heart as it confirmed all she had ever dreamed of. The coarse fabric of his shirt and the heat curling off his skin was nearly paralysing.

"I'm gonna take that as a yes." Leo muttered looping his right arm around the back of her shoulders. He felt like he was shaking.

"Shut up." She sniffed, tears streaming as he held her back tightly. Behind him, Festus the dragon cocked its head as though confused by the goddess' presence, like a bemused puppy.

"Sunshine?"

"Stop calling me that." She whispered, moving her head until her cheek pressed against his, locking her arms even more tightly.

Never, he thought privately. But still… "Calypso?"

"Yes?"

"You're kind of crushing my arm." He pointed out, wincing and she released him so suddenly he nearly fell backwards. It was only then that she realised he was shaking. When she studied him properly, she took in how tired he looked, how his left arm was covered in pus-filled welts and angry rashes, how he swayed when she let him go.

"What have you done to yourself, hero?" she sighed, half ecstatic, half irritated.

"Well, see, it started on a bus in Nevada…" he babbled nonsensically until Calypso looped her arm under his and helped support his weight as she lead him toward the cave.

"Quiet now." She ordered as they finally staggered inside. He sighed in relief of the cool shade and Calypso led him to her bed, pulling back the phoenix blanket and making him sit. Funny how just minutes ago she'd been ready to tear the quilt to pieces. "Lie down here."

"Hey…I'm not that kind of guy…" Leo protested weakly, bouncing slightly on the bed. "You'll have to buy me dinner first…"

"What caused these?" she asked, gently running her fingers over the angry rashes and blisters.

"I ran into a sea snake with bad breath…" he muttered, his pupils dilated. "It was so big…"

Only one creature Calypso knew of could cause such wounds but it had been vanquished to Tartarus for centuries. If it now stirred, it was a bad sign.

"Ketos?" Calypso asked and when she received no response, she patted Leo's cheek. "Leo, tell me, did the sea dragon Ketos do this?"

"Yyyyeah…?" he mumbled, his eyes slipping shut.

"When?" she pressed, her heart twisting slightly at the obvious pain of the sea drakon's poison taking its toll on him. Stupid demigods, getting themselves hurt. "Leo, wake up and tell me when you came across Ketos."

"Yesterday…why do I feel all…?" he waved his hand above him as though to encompass the haze he suddenly found himself surrounded by.

Calypso brushed her fingers across his face soothingly. "Ketos' poison attacks more quickly when you stop moving," she explained, quietly. "I have something that will help but you must stay awake."

"No." he whined.

A tiny smile appeared against her will. "Please Leo? For me?"

"I built a dragon to fly across the Atlantic to find you, woman…" Leo grumbled, petulantly. "Can't I go to sleep now?"

"I'm afraid not, hero." She smiled wider, tears in her eyes again. It felt like severing a limb but she rose from the bed as calmly as possible and moved to the shelves bordering her cave. She searched through the jars of all different sizes, filled with beans and dried flowers and crushed grain from her stocks without a second of hesitation. She was always tending to the heroes who washed up on Ogygia- it seemed fitting that she'd do the same for Leo now.

Calypso paused only at the ambrosia but decided Ketos' poison probably wouldn't react badly to the godly food. Probably. It was quick work for her to grind the mix and a few covert pinches of healing magic as well as some of the all-purpose soothing paste she was accustomed to using but the work was invigorating, a very old routine, a role she'd been playing for centuries.

"You'd better eat this or it will get worse." Calypso instructed, sitting back beside him with both the ambrosia, the healing paste and a lap full of bandages.

"Worse?" Leo mumbled, frowning. "How much worse?"

"Ketos' poison has been known to make demigods burst into flames." She replied, coaxing him into swallowing the herb-cake. Carefully, she smeared the lime green paste over the welts, trying to ignore the way he flinched and tried to pull away.

"I already do that." Leo pointed out around a mouthful of food, still disorientated. He was still far too weak to escape her grasp as she adjusted the bandages and wrapped them slowly from wrist to shoulder.

"Yes you do, hero." Calypso murmured, gently running her hand through Leo's dark curls as if to assure herself this was real. Please be real, she prayed to the gods, the fates, the Titans, anyone who would listen. Please do not take him away from me. Please, I will not survive this.

"You keep callin' me that." He murmured, eyes flickering tiredly. His face seemed hollow, the shadows beneath his eyes far darker than Calypso liked. "Hero."

"That is because you are my hero, Leo." She whispered, brushing her lips over his forehead. She worried that if she didn't keep touching him, he might just evaporate like smoke on the wind.

"Who're you?" Leo suddenly grumbled, one eye trained on her suspiciously. "And what did you do with Calypso?"

"Don't worry, Valdez." She chuckled, too relieved and joyful to take offense. The weight of the memories, those hot coals, was so much lighter now, filling her with warmth rather than pain. "There will be plenty of time to insult each other when you're better."

"Fine…" Leo muttered as though it pained him to say so and she laughed at his dramatic tone. "You'll stay though right?" his voice was much smaller as he began to drift off.

"Of course." Calypso promised, tucking the edge of the wrappings against his shoulder. "You did after all build a dragon to see me."

A/N: ...so?

Z: Oh my gods, you don't even want to know how irritated I was that she recognised that so quickly. I know it was necessary for the plot but if anyone should've recognised it, it would've been Johanna, let's face it. Glad you liked the chapter and don't worry, there's still another obstacle before Calypso is free ;)

Tara Luna Apple: HERE YOU GO, I HOPE YOU LIKE IT :D

Blah: Isn't Festus wonderful? We know who's really running the show...Glad you liked it, I really enjoyed writing more about how he got there rather than the typical 'he sailed back' idea. THANKS FOR READING :)

Ilovethisfanfic: TID can send many a reader to tears, there there. Hope this makes up for the heartache brought on by Will Herondale, that loveable, irritating bastard.

Aquadrop: A cookie? Well if you insist...GLAD YOU LIKED IT, HOPE YOU LIKE THE REUNION SCENE, I AM VERY SCARED FOR PEOPLE'S REACTIONS GAH

Guest: There there *hands over shock blanket and this chapter* I hope this helps :)

Guest: No, don't die, they haven't even gotten off the island yet! Here, I hope you like it!

Doriana: Nawwww, you're gonna make me blush. Thankyou, I really really hope you like this chapter, I'm very nervous but re-reading your really sweet review made me happy :) THANKS!

Thanks for reading, following, favouriting and reviewing, I love you all HAVE A WONDERFUL, SAFE HOLIDAY AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!

PS. Again, I might have to reply to reviews later tonight, sorry guys, I haven't forgotten about any of you promise!

PSS. I wrote a Christmas outtake and I will be posting it tomorrow if any of you lovelies would like to read it :D