"Err....Hazel, is Nico okay?" Leo asked the daughter of Pluto. Hazel gave a sad shrug.

"Its awful, Leo. I never know what he's thinking, if he's okay, if something's bothering him, if he needs help getting through difficult times....I wish he'd just tell me," Hazel sighed. "I worry about him all the time."

Nico was off in the distance, sulking in the shade of a tree. Leo felt guilt race through him, like he should be over there trying to comfort the kid. But he knew it would be no use; Nico would only yell at Leo to go away.

"We need to cheer Nico up!" Leo said. "Nobody deserves to be that down in the dumps all day every day!"

Hazel gave Leo a small smile. "Well, if anyone can cheer him up, it would be you," she said.

The fire user gazed at Nico, contemplating how he could get him to cheer up a bit. Or, rather, a lot. Then he narrowed his eyes.

"I'm going to make that boy smile," Leo decided, grinning. "No, scratch that. I'll make him laugh! Til tears come to his eyes! Til his face is as red as Rachel Elizabeth Dare's hair!"

Hazel giggled. "That's very poetic and all, but I'm sure you're going to have a hard time achieving that goal."

Leo looked her in the eye. "If there's one thing you should know about us Valdez's, its that we don't give up."

"I know," Hazel murmured. "Sammy would have said the same thing."