Dia de Los Muertos: A Leo Valdez Fanfiction about acceptance

Chapter 1

    Leo Valdez laid in his bed, staring off into the distance. The date was November 1st, one of his least favorite days in the entire year.
    Dia de Los Muertos: It was supposed to be a time to celebrate your passed love ones' lives; a time to be happy and grateful. Leo thought differently.
    His stomach rolled and his chest tingled. How was he supposed to be happy for his mamá's death?
 
    Esperanza Valdez poked her son's chest. "Always know I will be in your heart, even when I'm not here, mijo." She said. Leo giggled.
   He smiled slightly. Was his mom still in his heart now? Was she still watching over him, caring for him? Leo couldn't decide if that thought made him happy or sad.
   "Mamá," he whispered. "Te extraño mucho."
    Leo sat there for a while, replaying memories of his mom in his mind, pretending that he was back in his young body, that his Mamá was still alive.

    Leo heard the door creak open. He saw Emmie, his foster mom. Emmie and Jo were the ones that took care of him, that acted like his parents, but it just wasn't the same. They could never replace Esperanza.
    "Breakfast is ready," she said, her voice still scratchy from just waking up. "Were having pancakes!"
    Leo did like pancakes. He wondered if the ones Emmie and Calypso made were as good as Sally Jackson's blue ones that Percy loved.
    Leo sat down at the kitchen table beside Calypso and Lityerses. He had recently broke up with Cal, but they had stayed mutual friends.

   Jo gave everybody a plate with a stack of three pancakes. Leo drenched his pancakes in the maple syrup.
   "Gods, Leo, how much syrup do you need?" Calypso asked. Leo gave a sheepish grin before pouring some of the syrup in his mouth.
    He ate a bite of his pancake from Lake Syrup. Lit judgingly stared at Leo.
    "What?" He questioned. "Why are you all looking at me like that?" Lit continued to stare at him with disgust.
    Georgina, who was sitting across from him, giggled. She had set her pancakes off to the side and was drawing messy pictures with her Crayola Crayons. Emmie & Jo had finally convinced her to stop drawing on the wall, and use paper.

    When Leo finished his breakfast, he went back to his room to think. To think about his mom.
    Leo would give the world just to see her again. Ever since she died in that fire, there was always a tugging feeling in his chest, a feeling like he was empty, like something was missing.
    And something was missing. His mom was missing, and it was all because of him. He shouldn't be allowed to grieve, he brought this onto himself.
    Tears prickled in his eyes as he remembered the fire, the screams of agony as he stood there and cried, feeling helpless.
    He thought that when he killed Gaea, he would have his revenge. He would no longer be sad. He was wrong. He almost felt worse.
    Leo groaned in frustration. Why couldn't he just get over it? Why did he have to feel upset all the time?
    Leo pulled out a picture from under his bed. It was him and his mother, smiling, without a clue what was about to happen. He wished he could go back to that time and forget everything.
    A teardrop fell on the picture. It wasn't the first. Leo wiped in off and pressed his back against the wall.

    Leo heard someone knock on the door. He flinched, before telling the person to come in. It was Calypso.
    "Hey," she said. "What happened?" She looked at the picture in his hand. "Oh."
    Leo looked up at Calypso with tears in his eyes. "It's just..." he took a deep breath. "Today is Day of the Dead, where I'm supposed to honor her death. But–" He paused for a second, wiping his nose. "I can't."
    Calypso sat down next to Leo and put a hand on his shoulder. "I understand how you're feeling, Leo. My sister, Zoë Nightshade is gone, and everyday I wish to see her again. But you have to learn to accept." Leo met eyes with Calypso. "How?"
    She stopped for a moment to think. "Well, I'm no expert. But think of your mother. Think of how proud of you she is right now, how much she wants you to accept, so you can be happy. It will take time. But if you want to celebrate Day of the Dead, do it. I'm sure she'll be proud."
   Leo looked at the photograph of his mother again. Maybe Cal was right. But that didn't make it any easier.
    "But I can't just get over it," He said. He couldn't just forget Mamá's death, how he lost her.
    "Leo, I'm not asking you to get over it. It's okay to grieve, it's okay to cry every time you think of her. But you have to accept that it happened, that you can't fix it."
    Leo pressed his fist to his chest. "O–okay," He said, his voice starting to break. "I'll try."
    He bent forward and laid his head on his arms. Calypso rubbed his back while he cried.