In Demigodishness and All That...

A Happy [the Dragon] Reunion

--Happy Fourth to all Americans out there! And sorry about the long wait; sorta lost my inspiration for a while--
~*~
It was a peaceful day.
Nothing too unusual -- the occasional bird, the cool breeze, the sun shining bright...
And of course the giant bronze dragon spewing fire at chicken-ladies, with a demigod and a goddess on its back.
Like I said: nothing too unusual.
"Yeah!" The boy on the back of the dragon taunted, his hair up in flames. "In your faces, oversized chickens! Next time think before you mess with Leo Valdez!"
The girl sitting behind him sighed. "Leo, I swear, one of these days that's going to get you killed."
Leo looked over his shoulder to face her. "Already did, Sunshine, but even Death couldn't keep this super-sized McShizzle from coming back!"
The girl gave him a look.
"What?" Leo demanded. "Oh,
lighten up, Calypso! You're free of that paradise prison. And you get to see the surprise of a lifetime! Oh, man, when they see me flying into Camp on Festus--"
Calypso let out a small laugh. "Leo, calm down. Your hair's still on fire."
Leo grinned sheepishly and patted his fire-hair out. "Haha, oops."
The couple was interrupted by Festus, who made a series of happy-sounding creaks before blowing a column of fire into the blue sky.
Leo gasped and looked below them, spotting the glittering sound of Long Island he'd waited so long to see once more. "Camp Half-Blood...," he breathed out, a look of awe on his face.
"Your home," Calypso murmured, following his gaze to the one place Leo felt he belonged.
Leo glanced back at her, a wide grin on his face. "Our home, now, Sunshine."
Calypso returned his grin.
"Festus, down!" Leo commanded. The bronze dragon blew another stream of fire and dived towards the demigod camp.
"Yeah, baby!" Leo cheered as the dragon flew closer to the ground. "Guess who's back from the dead?!"
Leo could see the demigods streaming out of the pavilion, gripping their weapons as if Leo was a threat.
The pent up joy in Leo was almost bursting as Festus landed smoothly on the ground, and he grinned even wider as he heard an all too familiar voice yell out, "Leo?!"
_______________________
That morning at Camp Half-Blood was as gloomy as ever. Ever since the war, the campers had been recovering from battle wounds or the nearly-suffocating grief of losing someone close.
The Seven were hit the hardest.
They knew Leo Valdez had died nobly and heroically -- and they knew that's the way he would've wanted to go out -- but Camp just wasn't the same without the funny Latino elf.
Piper was still holding on to the hope that somewhere, somehow, Leo was alive. And she'd often catch herself glancing at the woods, a small part of her hoping against all odds that Leo would walk out, unscathed and grinning that mischievous grin worthy of Hermes.
But he never did. And each passing day the small fire of hope inside Piper slowly flickered out.
Piper found herself sitting at the Aphrodite cabin's table, surrounded by her talkative siblings. She loved them, but sometimes their conversations annoyed her to death. Not to mention, Piper managed to relate every single conversation to Leo, and that brought her already gloomy mood even lower.
Ignoring her chatty siblings, Piper found herself glancing at the Hephaestus cabin's table.
Leo's table.
The children of Hephaestus were talking quietly, obviously-forced smiles on their faces due to the loss of their cabin counselor and brother.
Piper turned away, unable to look at the demigods who bore such a close resemblance to Leo.
Deep in thought, Piper hadn't realized anything was wrong until she heard the yelling. Following the gaze of the others, Piper ended up staring at a strange bronze-colored shape in the sky, getting closer with each passing second.
"It can't be..." She murmured to herself. But the sight before her screamed the exact opposite. It can be.
It was.
She shot a shocked and excited glance towards Jason, who returned the look.
Then she heard the voice.
"Yeah, baby! Guess who's back from the dead?!"
Piper's face broke out into a huge grin, and she ran ahead of the rest of the campers before those who didn't realize who this surprise visitor was had a chance to attack.
She slowed to a stop as the huge bronze dragon touched down, blowing a column of steam as if saying, I'm back!
Piper felt her eyes widen as she watched a familiar, curly-haired fire user slide down the dragon's side, after helping down another girl she didn't recognize.
"Oh, my gods..." Piper murmured, before yelling in shock, "Leo?!"
Said demigod turned in her direction, and he barely had a chance to smile at her before Piper ran to him, crushing him in a hug.
"Whoa, Pipes," Leo gasped. "Can't breathe. Don't kill me when I just got here!"
Piper pulled away, staring at him in disbelief -- both at his greeting and the fact that he was there, and alive. Then she frowned and slapped his arm, hard.
"Ow!" Leo yelped, drawing his arm back to hug it to his chest. "What was that --"
"Two weeks, Leo," she choked out. "I -- we -- thought you were dead!" She nearly strangled him with another hug.
"Leo..." Jason's voice said from somewhere behind Piper. "You died... What the Hades, man?! Where've you been?"
Piper reluctantly let go of Leo and turned around to see all the campers gathered around Festus, the Seven in front.
Leo scratched his head. "Uh... I had a mission." He glanced behind him and waved the girl forward, who timidly stepped beside Leo.
She was pretty, with almond-shaped eyes and caramel-colored hair, braided over her shoulder. Piper didn't recognize her, though she could've sworn she heard Percy gasp.
"Guys," Leo started, slipping his hand into the girl's hand, "This is Calypso. My girlfriend!"
Calypso grinned, offering a small wave.
Piper, seeing the huge grin on Leo's face when he introduced Calypso as his girlfriend, shook off the anger of Leo letting them think he was dead, and held out her hand. "I'm this idiot's friend, Piper."
Calypso laughed reaching out to shake Pipers hand. "Calypso," she replied.
"Hey!" Leo said indignantly. "I'm not an idiot!"
"Yes, you are," Jason argued, stepping forward to envelope Leo in another hug before backing away again. "You had us thinking you were dead! Do you have any idea how worried we've been?"
Leo sighed, running a hand through his curly hair. "Sorry, guys. I would've come back right away, but... there was something I needed to do first." He glanced at Calypso, who smiled back warmly.
Annabeth gave Leo a quick hug. "We're just glad you're back, Leo." She smiled, but Piper didn't miss the cold look in Calypso's direction.
"Yeah," Percy agreed, clapping a hand on Leo's shoulder. "It was a lot quieter without you here, man." Piper noticed his quick glance to Calypso as well, though it wasn't nearly as cold as Annabeth's.
Leo grinned, looking over the rest of the campers who had crowded around, staring at Leo. "Why's everyone so quiet?!" He threw his arms out to the side. "Leo's back!"
Like someone had snapped them out of a trance, all the campers cheered, and the Hephaestus cabin ran to engulf their brother in a huge group hug.
Piper watched the scene with a smile.
Camp sure was different with Leo finally home.