Rain

The pitter-patter of raindrops on glass matched the cadence of Leo's heart. Calypso sat against him, back to his chest, her dainty nose on his cheek. One of his arms was pinned to her chest by her grasp - she couldn't hold all of him in a hug so she'd decided on just his arm.

A cold October morning hadn't been a blessing in years past, but this was just fine by him. Her hair tickled his ears as she moved slightly, her breathing reassuring. All of the stress seemed to melt away with her.

Rebuilding Festus was taking a toll on his mind. It was like the anticipation of seeing a childhood friend, he guessed, but he wouldn't know much about childhood friends. The memories that sometimes came up didn't help much.

No matter the eventual, positive outcome of the war, he still woke in the middle of the night.

"Jason! Take Piper and get out of here!" he'd scream in his dreams, and they'd disappear. Wind whipped through his hair as he fumbled with the panel on Festus' head. Restarting the circuits and getting his dragon to work again, only to be blown out of the sky.

Percy and Annabeth. Nico had told him, "The other side, Nico, We'll see you there."

Clytius and Paciphae.

Dying.

The list went on and on. Even if his nightmares were slowly getting better, it made him realize how much he'd gone through. For gods' sakes, he was only recently 16. From what he knew, this might not even be the last time he had to deal with all of this. Calypso, at least, kept him sane through the aftermath.

Today, he'd planned on more work. Festus wouldn't come back to life on his own. The girl who was so close to him, though, thought otherwise, and had pulled him over to the couch in their room. She'd sat in his lap to keep him from working himself silly again. They sat in comfortable silence, fading in and out of sleep for an hour or two as it rained.

Things weren't quite so bad as his nightmares made them seem.