Light began to shine through
Leo's eyelids. He heard birds singing from outside, an orchestra of tweets and
chirps.

"Mmm...
morning already?" He stretched, sat up, and began wiggling his toes and
fingers awake. The alarm clock read 7:46.Did
I forget to set the alarm?He
thought.

The smell of eggs
and bacon wafted from the kitchen. Eggs and bacon, awesome! He quickly pulled
on a shirt from his dresser and paddled to the kitchen.

"Morning,"
Leo said. He pulled out a chair from the table and plopped down.

"Good morning
Leo." Calypso replied, already dressed for the day. "The eggs are
ready and the bacon is almost done." She flipped the sizzling pork over in
the pan and grabbed some plates, piling it with golden scrambled eggs. Calypso
also got out some forks and handed one to Leo, who was drooling over the fresh
breakfast.

"Oh,
yum!" He exclaimed after shoveling a big serving of hot eggs in his mouth,
not feeling the burn on his tongue. "This is great!"

Calypso smiled.
"Thank you. Save some room for the bacon though." She took the pan
off the stove (which she also turned off) and scraped the bacon on to each of
their plates. "Dig in."

In a matter of
seconds, Leo's plate was clear of anything, all the crumbs licked off.

"Hey, hey,
hey. Can I have that?" He pointed to Calypso's last strip of bacon.

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Pretty
please? With a cherry on top?" He gave her a puppy dog look."

"Ugh, fine!
Don't use that on me!"

Leo snatched it
off her plate and gulped it down. She watched him eat it with a hint of
longing. He didn't know whether it was for him or the bacon. He guessed it was
the latter. Maybe. Now feeling a little guilty, he got up and put the dishes in
the sink for her.

"What do you
want to do today?" He asked her. It was a Saturday which means that the
shop was closed for the day, only doing pick-ups.

"Oh, uh, I
don't know." Calypso shrugged. "What about you?"

Leo pondered this.
I guess we could take Festus and fly to Camp Jupiter
and visit my man Frank and Hazel. I think Jason should be there as well, which
mean Piper will be also. Maybe even spend the night in New Rome?"

Calypso tilted her
head to the side. "Yes, that would be nice. Do we have any pick-ups today
or tomorrow?"

"I think only
one this afternoon at eleven."

"Then let's
go at twelve."

"Deal. In the
meantime, I'll get Festus ready. I think he can do a long distance flight now,
but I'll just test fly him for a bit."

"Sure. Don't
forget to pack.

"Yeah,
okay."

The wind whistled
in Leo's ears. Festus flew into a small puffy cloud and emerged from it wet.
The water droplets evaporated off of Festus' warm back. They talked a little to
each other. It went like:

Leo: Knock knock.

Festus:Clank puff

Leo: Sherwood.

Festus:Whirr creak clank

Leo: Sherwood like
to come in.

Festus:...

Leo: Uh, yeah.
Okay. Whatever.

By the time they
touched down back home, the sun was high in the sky.

Ding ding, went the bell when he walked in.
"What time is it?"

Calypso was behind
the counter, scribbling down something in the logbook. She looked up, pushing a
section of her brown hair behind her ear. "It's eleven forty-six."
She said, glancing at the clock on the back wall. "Did you pack?"

"Well, no. I
just got back."

Calypso grunted.
"Just go. And don't forget your toothbrush and comb."

"Yes
ma'am."

Leo trudged up the
stairs, grabbed a backpack, and shoved a fresh pair of jeans and his Camp Half-Blood
t-shirt (Just to show that he wasn't one of the Romans). He also threw in some
screws and bolts. Oh, and his toothbrush and comb. Slinging it over his
shoulder, he ran back down the stairs. "I'm done!" He called out.

"Okay! I'm in
the back with Festus!" Calypso shouted from the barn house.

On his way out he
turned off all the lights and locked the door behind him.

Calypso had
climbed on top of Festus in the front seat with the reins in her hands.

"Hey!"
Leo said. "Who said you could drive Festus?"

Calypso stuck her
tongue out at him. "I can ride him just fine!"

"And do you know
how?"

"Oh,
uh." Calypso blushed. "I kinda' took him out for a spin a couple of
times."

"When?"
Leo asked incredulously.

"Um, at night
when he had his old wings. I didn't go very high the first few times. Good
thing Festus knows how to fly by himself."

Leo shrugged.
"Well, if you think you can handle him all the way to California... fine with me. I trust
you." And he really did. He wouldn't trust anyone else with his dragon,
not even Jason.

Calypso smiled.
"Thanks." Leo climbed up behind her.

"Uh,
hey," he said, moving his arms, silently asking if he should put his arms
around her waist. "Do you mind?"

Calypso sucked in
her cheeks, which turned a rosy pink. "Sure. We wouldn't want you to fall
off and turn into demigod splat on the ground." She joked.

"Hey, those
are supposed to bemylines!" Leo grinned.

"Yeah,
whatever. Just hold on with those scrawny arms of yours."

So he wrapped them
around her tiny waist and said, "Now don't you crash us."

They took off,
soaring through the bright blue sky. Calypso's hair flew into Leo's face. He
caught her scent, a lovely mixture of cinnamon and wood smoke. He laid his head
on her shoulder and closed his eyes.

"Oh, er,
um... Leo? Are you okay?" Calypso tensed up.

"Mmm, no. I'm
good. Just a little tired, that's all." he lied. He couldn't just tell her
he just wanted to do that because he liked her. That would be awkward,
especially if she didn't like him back. But the raft came for Leo that night in
Ogygia. Didn't it only come for heroes Calypso had fallen in love with? And
what about that kiss that had followed right after? But what if she didn't feel
the same anymore? If nothing they've only grown closer, right?

Before he knew it,
it was a few hours past and he had fallen asleep on Calypso's shoulder. Oh man,
he thought. I hope I didn't drool. Fortunately, he did not. Leo lifted his
head.

"Uhn…"
He yawned.

"Finally
awake?" Calypso asked.

"Yeah… why
didn't you wake me up?" Leo asked.

"Well,
because you snore a little when you sleep. I thought it was… cute."

"Oh."

They continued on,
almost there. Calypso hummed and sang and sang and hummed. In a few minutes,
they were greeted by two Romans where they landed in a field just outside the
border. One was a bulky Chinese dude and the other a small African-American
girl with chestnut-brown hair.

"Yo, Frank!
Hazel! Sup!" Leo jumped off of Festus, Calypso sliding down behind him.

"Hey there
Calypso." Frank looked over Leo's shoulder. "Nice to see you
again."

"Yeah,"
Hazel said. "Are you two staying long?"

Leo nodded.
"Yep. We wanted to stay the night too."

"Stay the
night?" Hazel cooed. "Sounds like fun! Wanna stay at our place?"

"If that's
okay," Calypso said. "We don't want to intrude or bother you two. We
could stay in a hotel or something."

"No, no! Its
fine! We asked, if you were going to be a bother we wouldn't have!"

Leo grinned.
"Alrighty then, demigod sleepover!" He looked at Calypso. "Plus
one immortal Titan daughter."

Frank shrugged.
"But first, we have to warm you about—"

Before Frank could
finish, two more demigods came storming from Camp Jupiter.
A tall fair-haired male and a choppy-brown-haired female—Jason and Piper. In
seconds they reached the group. Frank and Hazel backed up, definitely looking
scared.

"Leo!"
Jason and Piper growled at the same time. They glared at each other. "Can
I talk to you?"