"𝓐𝓷𝓭 𝓘 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓴 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓼𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓭 𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝓵𝓲𝓿𝓮 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓶𝓮, 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝔀𝓮 𝓬𝓪𝓷 𝓫𝓮 𝓹𝓲𝓻𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓼. 𝓣𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝔀𝓸𝓷'𝓽 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓬𝓻𝔂 𝓸𝓻 𝓱𝓲𝓭𝓮 𝓲𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓬𝓵𝓸𝓼𝓮𝓽. 𝓐𝓷𝓭 𝓳𝓾𝓼𝓽 𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓮 𝓪 𝓯𝓸𝓵𝓴 𝓼𝓸𝓷𝓰, 𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓫𝓮 𝓹𝓪𝓼𝓼𝓮𝓭 𝓸𝓷."

***

The one goal that Artemisia had set out to complete was now over. Her mother stood in front of her. After years of not seeing her, she was not looking into her mother's eyes. The eyes that would watch her as she learned how to use a crossbow. The eyes that always assured her that everything would be alright. Years and years of pain and exhaustion had flown away in an instant. There was no longer anything to worry about now that she was here.

Nothing stopped Artemisia anymore, "Mom!" She ran and jumped on her.

The tight hug took Phillipa by surprise, "Whoa!" She held onto her daughter, holding her up as best as she could. It was much harder than it used to be. Her little girl had grown up since then. There was no longer a need to carry her around anymore. "You're just as much of a hugger now than when you were a kid."

Pulling away, Artemisia looked into her mother's eyes with a grin, "What are you doing here?" Part of Artemisia was happy to see her mother. Obviously, she would be. That was the whole point of her coming out to sea. To see her mother again. But there was a part of her that was slightly disappointed. Her mother made it too easy by coming to find her. She was expecting a little bit more of a challenge.

The tanned woman in front of her didn't seem to mind that, "You and your crew have been causing quite the uproar. I knew I had to come see it for myself."

It was time for Artemisia to let her mother let her go. She could tell that it was a bit difficult to hold her up still. She planted her feet on the ground and looked at the woman. The initial excitement faded away and Artemisia found herself thinking about before this moment. The nights she stayed up, wishing for her mother to come back. Running to the dock on the island when she heard a ship was approaching. The disappointment when she saw it wasn't her mother coming back for her.

Tears were in Artemisia's eyes, "I missed you, you know," Her voice was shaky. She sniffled but didn't let her tears fall. "I always thought about you when I was with Axel. I set out to find you the first chance I got."

It was now Phillipa's turn to get emotional, "Oh, Artemis..," She placed a hand on the side of Artemisia's face. Artemisia found herself sinking into it. "I missed you too," Just like it was hard for Artemisia, it was hard for Phillipa as well. Artemisia lost her mother and Phillipa lost her daughter. It was Phillipa's choice to leave her behind but it was only because that was the only way Artemisia would be safe. If Phillipa's own first mate, someone she considered her brother, could betray her, who else could? She couldn't chance that with her daughter around. "Axel told me you were quite the handful during your time with him."

"Don't believe anything he says."

A laugh came from Phillipa, "I actually wanted to ask you something," Artemisia stared at her mother curiously. "I want you to join my crew. Not as my daughter but as my crewmate. What do you think?"

The proposition was shocking. Artemisia stared at her mother with wide eyes, "Uh... I..," It was to be expected. She was hoping that when she found her mother, she could join back with her. That was part of her original plan but... Things changed since then. Artemisia glanced back at the others, more specifically, Nami. Artemisia wasn't able to see it but Nami was worried. Artemisia turned back to her mother, "I'll have to think about it."

"Okay," The answer was a little disappointing for Phillipa. She accepted it nonetheless. "But don't keep me waiting for too long." With those final words, Phillipa said her temporary goodbyes to her daughter before going back to her ship.

Thinking about Phillipa's proposal was the only thing Artemisia did. She could tell the others were a little sad about the idea of her leaving. Luffy seemed overall supportive, though it wasn't hard to see that he was also slightly upset about the idea. Artemisia spent the rest of the night comparing her options. After hours of thinking, she finally came to a decision.

The next day, Artemisia went to her mother's ship. It looked exactly as she remembered it to be. There were a few modifications here and there but it was the same either way. She was greeted by the crew members, who were all more than ecstatic to see her. Eventually, Artemisia was able to get past them and to the captain's quarters. Opening the door, Artemisia glanced around, "Mom?"

"Artemisia," Phillipa was putting away a book on one of the shelves. She grinned at the sight of her daughter. "What a pleasant surprise! What brings you here?"

Taking a deep breath, Artemisia replied, "I thought about your proposal and I made a decision."

In Artemisia's mind, she expected there to be some tension. She expected to see her mother worried for the response she would give. Instead, her mother beamed brightly. There was a wide smile on her face as she ran over, "That's great!" She took Artemisia's hands into her own. "Did you give the others your stuff? We have a free room for you near mine-"

It hurt to do this but Artemisia couldn't lie to her mother, "About that..," The tone of voice made Phillipa stop. She looked at her daughter with a worried expression. Artemisia delivered the bad news to her, "I made the decision to stay with my own crew. They were there for me whenever I needed them. We have our moments but... I couldn't bring myself to leave them. I'm really sorry."

There was part of her that thought her mother was going to react badly. She realized how stupid the thought was when she got her mother's reaction, "Don't be," Noticing the look on her daughter's face, she squeezed her hand in comfort, "I'm not upset. I'm glad that you've chosen your own path. I expected you to stay with them but wanted to offer in case I was wrong."

The worry fell away. Artemisia hugged her mother, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Phillipa reveled in the moment. She hugged her daughter back tighter than she ever had before. She knew that her daughter would leave her again but she was hoping she would have more time with her. Still, she was happy that her daughter was going her own way. To lighten her mood, Phillipa messed with Artemisia, "I especially knew you would stay when I saw you with that girl," Artemisia pulled away and stared at her mother. "Oh, come on. You didn't expect me to not notice, right? You're completely infatuated with her. It's really cute!"

"Mom!" Artemisia groaned.

Saying goodbye to her mother for a second time was a hard thing to do. She managed it. It killed her to walk away from the ship. She could feel tears in her eyes. Some fell down her cheeks but she wiped them away. This was for the best. Artemisia couldn't depend on her mother for her whole life. Besides, she knew that she would see her again. She was counting on it.

The Going Merry waited in all of her glory. Artemisia grinned as she got on the ship. Almost immediately, she was met with the sight of Nami. Nami looked worried for a moment before she noticed Artemisia. She gave the girl a small smile, "So did you take up your mom's offer?"

Shaking her head, Artemisia smiled back, "I couldn't."

That's when Artemisia noticed something. Nami seemed to untense. Her shoulders dropped and she took in a deep breath. Her smile looked more genuine than before, "What made you want to stay?"

The smile on Artemisia's face grew wider. The sight made Nami give her a look of confusion. Artemisia pointed at her, expression turning into a teasing one, "I knew you liked my company! You didn't want me to leave!"

"Did so," Nami stated. "I would be happy if you had left."

"Oh, no, no, no," Artemisia persisted. "You care about me!"

"Shut up!" Nami stalked off into the kitchen.

"Just admit it!" Artemisia followed after her.

The girls hung out together in the kitchen with the rest of the crew. The only person missing was Luffy. It felt nice for the group to hang out like they were. They didn't have to worry about clowns, or fishman, or rogue crew mates. They were able to be in the moment. They could relax. They had nothing to worry about. That was until Luffy came into the kitchen, "Guys!" They turned to him. He held up a rolled-up poster. "Check it out."

Unrolling the poster on the counter, Luffy looked down at it. The others came over to see what he was looking out. That's when they saw it. It was a wanted poster. Luffy's face was on it. He was grinning and waving. In the background was Usopp. Artemisia wasn't paying much attention to that. She only saw the 30 million Berry bounty, "Whoa, that's a huge bounty." Nami gave Luffy an annoyed look.

"Hey, look. I'm famous!" Usopp pointed at himself in the background.

"What are you on about?" Sanji inquired. "That's Luffy's wanted poster."

"Not just Luffy," He pointed himself out again. Usopp chuckled, "Sorry, guys. Maybe if you work a little harder, you'll get a bounty too."

"That doesn't count," Sanji stated.

Artemisia rolled her eyes but there was only amusement in them, "You are literally just in the background. That doesn't mean anything."

"It's okay to be jealous. Feel what you need to feel."

"I..," Sanji hummed. He shook his head, "This is stupid."

While the others were happy or amused by the news, Zoro was the same, straight-faced person he always was, "This is gonna make things much harder," Despite his manner of saying it, everyone's mood didn't go down. There was still a fun energy in the room. Luffy looked up at Zoro with a grin. "With that price on your head, every bounty hunter in the East Blue will be gunning for you."

"Not just Luffy," Nami chimed in. "They're gonna be gunning for all of us." She looked around at all of them. Artemisia only shrugged. It wasn't the first time she was targeted by Marines.

"Then it's a good thing we're not staying in the East Blue," Luffy grinned wider. "We're going to the Grand Line."

All hands went on deck. They prepared to sail off, away from Coco Village. Artemisia was going to do what Nami told her to do to help prepare for sailing. That was until she heard her mother's voice call out to her, "Artemisia!" Artemisia looked over to see her mother's ship was already sailing away. She stood at the end of it to speak to her daughter, "We'll meet you out on the Grand Line!"

"I'm looking forward to it!" Artemisia smiled. There was a proud grin on Phillipa's face as they parted ways. Artemisia was no longer sad about leaving her mother. She was content. This was how it was always supposed to go. She was excited about what the sea would bring her. She was ready for anything.

Except for one thing. Artemisia shifted nervously as they waited for a reaction. They decided to move some tangerine trees onto the ship for Nami. It was to help her feel more comfortable and at home. It was Artemisia's idea, but she told everyone not to say anything. It didn't matter who came up with the idea. All that mattered was if she liked it or not.

"So what do you think?" Luffy inquired. Nami was looking at the tangerine trees with a small smile on her face. A smile was good. A smile meant that she didn't hate it. Artemisia felt a little more at ease now. "It's a little piece of home to take with you on your journey."

"And I can whip up tangerine tarts anytime you want," Sanji suggested.

There was no denying that Nami was beautiful. But Artemisia found her even more beautiful as she stood in front of the tangerine trees. Artemisia could've sworn she was blushing when she watched Nami reach out and touch one of the tangerines softly. She tried to hide it when Nami turned back to them. Nami nodded, "It's perfect."

The group all smiled at each other. Artemisia felt giddy. Suddenly, Sanji said something else, "You know," They turned to look at him. Sanji cast a glance at Artemisia before looking back at Nami, "It was actually Artemisia's idea to do this."

She was so going to kill him later. She said not to tell her! Artemisia turned to Nami who looked a little surprised. Artemisia couldn't hide the blush on her face anymore, "Well, I mean, it's nothing really. I just thought you might like it. It was also meant to be an apology for assuming you were all bad. But it's not that big of a big deal-" Artemisia cut herself off as Nami now stood directly in front of her. "What are you doing?"

That's when Nami leaned forward and planted a kiss on her cheek. She pulled away and smiled softly at the girl, "Thank you," The blush got even worse as Artemisia reached up, touching where Nami kissed her. From the corner of her eye, she could see Sanji grinning at her. All she could think about was how she was never going to wash her cheek again. Nami turned to Luffy, "We actually have something for you too," The group walked over to where they could better see Usopp, "Usopp, set the main!" They rested up against the railing.

"Setting the main."

As Usopp lowered the main sail, they were met with an image on the sail. It was an image of a skull wearing a straw hat with crossbones behind it. It looked like the picture Luffy had previously drawn but it looked better executed. Luffy stepped back, touching Zoro and Nami's arms. He was in shock. He ran to stand on the opposite side of the ship to get a better look. He smiled widely and cheered loudly, punching the air.

Chuckling, Artemisia commented, "Safe to say that he likes it." Nami and Sanji chuckled as well while Zoro smiled with his arms crossed.

The cheering from Luffy continued even later on in the day. He was sitting on the sheep figurehead while Artemisia and Nami were below him on the deck. Nami was studying the map, "The entrance to the Grand Line isn't too far off, but I think there's a mistake on the map."

"Yeah, I see what you mean," Artemisia stated as she stared at where Nami pointed.

This made Luffy stop cheering and turn to them, "What do you mean?"

"Well, it looks like a river or a canal or something," Nami replied. Luffy hopped down to come and see what she meant. "But it doesn't make any sense. These elevations show a mountain. I mean, how can a river go up a mountain?"

"You're our navigator. You'll figure it out." He hit her arm lightly.

Scoffing, Artemisia sarcastically said, "You are just so helpful sometimes."

No response was given. Instead, Sanji called out, "Hey, Luffy!" Luffy turned to see Sanji walking up the top of the steps. Sanji motioned with his head for them to follow, "Come here. I've got an idea." The three locked eyes before following him.

The girls found themselves becoming more confused when Sanji moved a barrel out into the open. He hit the top of it with an expectant look. Luffy looked back at the confused girls. He seemed to be the only one who understood what was going on, "Straw Hats! All hands on deck for a cast-off ceremony." The girls' confusion turned into amusement.

With the order from their captain, all the Straw Hats got together. They stood in the middle of the ship, forming a circle around the barrel. Luffy was so excited that he jumped off the steps. Everyone waited to see who would go first.

Sanji did with his hands in his pockets, "I'm gonna find the All Blue." He placed his foot on top of the barrel.

Luffy placed his foot down, making a little noise as he did so, "I'm gonna be King of the Pirates."

Zoro joined them, "I'm gonna be the world's greatest swordsman."

Then Nami, "I'm gonna draw a map of the world."

Then Artemisia, "I'm going to be an even better pirate than my mother."

Everyone turned to look at Usopp. "I..," He trailed off. He pursed his lips before he placed his foot on top of the barrel too, "Am gonna become a brave warrior of the sea!"

The crew broke out into laughter. Luffy broke through it to say, "This is it, crew," He glanced at the crew. "The Grand Line," He punched the air. "Nothing's gonna stand in our way! Yeah!" Usopp, Artemisia, and Sanji cheer with him. Zoro just stared and Nami chuckled. "Yeah!" And so the crew sailed off into the ocean, not knowing there was one more trial left for them to face before they headed off into the Grand Line.

~~~

Y'all sincerely ain't ready 👀.