Burning Passion: A Leo Valdez Love Story

Chapter 16

"Gaea?" Leo shook his head. "Isn't that Mother Nature? She's supposed to have, like, flowers in her hair and birds singing around her and dear and rabbits doing her laundry."

{NAIA}

Lou was dead.

My only real friend, who I'd lost and then only just found again, who'd stuck by me through everything she could, who I saw almost every day when she was there, was dead.

Lou was dead.

The only person on earth I trusted, the person I loved more than I loved my family, was dead.

Lou was dead.

No matter how many times I thought the words, said the words, dreamed the words, felt them, it still seemed unreal. It felt like a nightmare. Lou was one person I never thought about dying. I knew she would-because we all will eventually-but not as young as she did. She was so full of life, so exuberant, so happy...

And yet, Lou was dead.

It had been three days since her... her death, and Leo and I had barely spoken to each other. He was the one who'd actually attempt conversation, and then I'd answer, though only if I had to, with the shortest possible answer.

We'd been walking through the Labyrinth, not entirely knowing what to look for, just wandering aimlessly, in the hopes of coming across what we needed, which was unlikely. A laughable plan, yes, but didn't really have anything better in mind.

We'd just run into a lone, injured hellhound, and we'd managed to kill it-and we'd gotten away mostly unscathed, luckily. Though it was two against one, and like I said, the hellhound had been dragging his left foreleg, dried blood matting the thick dark fur around it, we hadn't fought well. It was my fault, like everything else seemed to be.

It was because I wasn't paying attention, I guess. It had hurt my arm, which was now wrapped up in cloth (strips of my old, bloody shirt that I would have otherwise thrown out as soon as I could).

I knew Lou wouldn't want me to be like this, so helpless in mourning. I knew she'd want me to get over it and protect myself and Leo properly. She'd told me that before she died.

And I'd let her down, another thing I had to hate myself for.

⋆⋆⋆

"How's your arm?" Leo asked.

I shrugged, my face expressionless. In truth, it hurt, but I didn't care. Nothing hurt more than the hole in my chest where my heart was supposed to be.

"Naia..." Leo sighed. "Look, we're on a quest together. We need to actually talk to each other."

I looked up at him. I barely needed to tilt my head to look up at him, he was so short. "Fine. What do you want to talk about?"

"Like I said, how's your arm?"

"It's fine. Unlike everything else." I glared at the tree ahead of us.

Leo sighed. "Right. So, what's the plan, General?"

"I don't know," I sighed frustratedly. I felt helpless, and to my dismay, I felt my eyes tearing up. I didn't even have to heart to tell him not to call me general.

"It's alright, we'll think of something," Leo soothed. He patted my shoulder awkwardly, and I remembered lying in his arms. My face heated up at the memory.

I glared at him. "As I'm sure I've already told you, it's very much not alright."

"Alright, everything's horrible, everyone's gonna die, the world is doomed," Leo said, sighing. "I get it."