Just a small follow-up chapter. A/N at the end. Just a heads up that I know absolutely nothing about archery, so don't take what I describe as accurate.

Artemis had always wanted to be an Olympian. Or at least, from the moment she had held a bow in her hands for the very first time, she had wanted to be an Olympian.

It was an undramatic sport; primitive in a sense, harkening back to the days when the men & women who used them were as primitive as the bow itself. That was the appeal. To know what it was to be human, you had to fire an arrow, where upon which, all your hopes and dreams rested.

Mankind was not to be apex without it.

Modern bows may have been made of fancy, space-age materials, using intricate systems of counterweights and precision sights, but the fundamentals remained as they had been sixty-thousand years ago.

Archer. Bow. Arrow. Target.

Posture. Strength. Serenity.

Five colours. Ten rings.

In Artemis's mind, there was only one that mattered. All the others were of no consequence, and therefore, didn't exist.

Yellow. Ten. Bullseye.

A flicker of doubt passed through her head as she gazed down at the target seventy metres away - a range that suddenly seemed impossible, despite looking utterly certain the previous eleven times she had found her mark.

Her shoulders and arms burned in protest at their abusive treatment, and that flicker of doubt grew into something more, until the mental strain became too much, and her hands gripped the bow until her skin was a milky-white, subtly shaking, despite the vice-like hold.

She had just forty seconds to fire.

Those bright, silvery orbs closed momentarily as she attempted to compose herself. Ashamedly, her mind, at that moment, wandered.

The smiling faces of her deceased mother and sister almost defeated her. She would have given anything just to see them in the vast crowd behind her. Their support would have brought her over the line, and further still.

It was a bitter thought - one born out of mental and physical exhaustion, she quickly realised, after swallowing back a sob at their memory.

She could do this. She was strong. She'd do them proud, whether they were with her or not.

Thirty seconds to fire.

Artemis squeezed her eyes shut further, forcing her thoughts to drift, aimlessly and without destination, until another smiling face presented itself in her head. This one had a pair of deep, green eyes that liberated her to the wide, open world.

Percy.

Even now, she could picture his stupidly-handsome grin somewhere in the crowd behind her, silently daring her to be the best; to be what she knew, deep down, she could be.

"I don't think I can do this, Percy…" she had said to him, staring through the window of the cafeteria door.

The vaguely muffled shouting coming from within was an assault on her sense; almost unbearably so. But that wasn't really why her muscles refused to draw her in through the rabbit hole.

A single digit raised her chin until her eyes met his in a brilliant show of teal-argent contrast. His whole presence exuded a homely warmth that caught her in a vicious riptide that refused to let her go.

"Artemis…" he breathed, the word sending a ripple down her spine, as it always did when it was uttered from his lips. "I'd never force you to do anything you didn't want to do. You know that. Just tell me...what are you afraid of? That people will think less of you because you've changed? That you think without your walls you appear weak and brittle to them? I see a fighter, Artemis. Honest. Persistent. Pragmatic. I'm with you, no matter what. If you trust me...fight with me now, and I'll prove I'm right…" he finished, offering out his hand.

With every syllable he uttered, she could feel her resistance crumbling. He was right, of course, and though he hadn't said it, Artemis knew that to turn away was a cowardly act, and she was done running.

"I trust you, Percy…" she answered after some time, caving fully beneath the gaze of his honest eyes, and letting her hand fall into his. The simple skin-to-skin contact was electrifying, and it took her a second to realise that he wasn't about to let go anytime soon.

It steeled her nerves immensely, but even so, her legs refused to make the first step. To her relief, Percy did it for her, stepping next to her so that their shoulders were touching, and then parting the doors open, leading her through.

Immediately, a huge weight felt as though it had been lifted off her shoulders, only to be replaced by a blinding, deafening assault on her senses. The kids sounded unnaturally loud in their mindless chatter, and she felt as though every single pair of eyes in the place had swivelled to stare at her, even though she knew they weren't.

Subconsciously, she pressed into Jackson's side a little more...only to pull away immediately after.

She didn't need carrying. These were her demons.

Still, the eyes seemed to follow her with every step, and the deafening roar quickly felt like an inescapable whisper to her ears. Guilt ate away at mortal coil. There were people present that she had been less than respectful to, and though she felt she deserved a lot worse than a few weird looks, it still tore at her.

A firm squeeze to her hand brought her downcast eyes upwards, meeting Percy's greens'.

He simply smiled at her, and quite involuntarily, her lips tugged backwards into a small one of her own. It may not have fully met her eyes, but his comforting presence did more than he could have possibly known to expel her doubts, and open her shell.

He wasn't carrying her. They were walking the path together.

Percy's friends were sitting at a table mere metres from the door, but it nonetheless felt like a marathon. They were an interesting bunch, Artemis had to admit. Intimidating in a way, and when they approached, she could feel a few openly gawk at the sight of Percy holding hands with her.

Their shocked expressions quickly morphed into welcoming, if cautious, smiles, though she suspected that might have been because Percy had sent a glare their way.

Artemis understood that reaction perfectly, and did her best to exude an air of friendliness.

"Guys and gals. This is Artemis," he announced, with his usual panache and confidence. "Artemis. The guys and gals."

There was a chorus of 'heys' and smiles, and Artemis reciprocated with a small wave. A few of them she recognised, such as Calypso, who was in Artemis's calculus class, as well as the fidgeting Latino elf that clung to her arm. Leo, she remembered; the guy who blew up his chemistry lab in fifth grade. An impressive feat.

The rest were unknown to her, with maybe the exception of a few fleeting glances in the hallways.

Together with Percy, they made one of the most diverse groups of people she had ever seen.

There was Reyna, and the blonde-haired Californian girl resting her head on the Latina's shoulder, Annabeth. Jason, and his choppy-haired girlfriend, Piper. Nico and Will. Frank and Hazel. And right at the end was Percy's cousin, Thalia.

She was the only person who didn't seem surprised to see her, and in fact, was smirking directly at her.

Artemis's brow furrowed, eyes narrowing slightly in a quizzical manner as she gave the punkish tomboy a once over. That is, until she spotted the Topoint bow case seated between the girls' legs.

Immediately, she was intrigued, letting Percy's hand drift away from hers as she seated herself opposite, lost in the moment.

"You shoot?" Artemis asked, eyes a tad wide.

"Definitely. And a little birdie tells me you shoot recurve too," the girl glinted, eyes sparkling as the flicked to the raven-haired boy now seated at Artemis's shoulder.

"You've been talking about me?" she said, turning her head to face Percy, and his red-tinted cheeks.

"Well, I…" he started lamely, but Thalia cut him off, seemingly enjoying the way Percy squirmed. Artemis was liking her already.

"Oh, he doesn't stop talking about you. All good stuff, don't worry. Although...when he mentioned something about you being the best archer in the state at ninety paces, I had assumed he had banged his head quite hard," Thalia gleamed, and Artemis could see the unspoken challenge in those electric-blue orbs.

The eyes of the table were on them both, Artemis sensed, but she paid them no heed.

"Do I smell a contest?" the auburn-haired girl replied, fingers twitching in barely contained merriment, as her shell crumbled without her even realising it.

"My place. After school tomorrow. You can bring seaweed-brain along to referee, if you feel so inclined," she taunted, much to Percy's chagrin.

"Hey, I-" he began, but Artemis was already cutting him off.

"Done. I'll even give you a few pointers for free," she smirked, to which Thalia reciprocated, and from there, the conversation drifted from their teachers and subjects, all the way to college and the future beyond amongst all the members of the little gang. All except Percy. He mostly stayed silent, but Artemis could sense his eyes watch her as she talked; that handsome smile painted across his lips.

Lunch was over before she knew it, and the weight that had been holding her down at the start had simply vanished. Jumping the hurdle had made her feel better than she had done for a long time.

She grabbed Percy's hand before he could be whisked away with the crowd, hanging back until the cafeteria was practically deserted.

"I never did thank you for...you know...last week, up on the roof… And today… Just, everything, really..." she said lamely, though when words couldn't suffice, her lips did instead, and she pressed them to his cheek in a fleeting kiss, before disappearing down the hallway into the crowd, before he could respond, or even see her deep, crimson blush. She was falling for him hard, but not only that; she owed him so much.

Ten seconds to fire.

Artemis smiled at the memory, the wave of determination it brought forth. She didn't have Percy to guide her around the wall this time, save, perhaps, his infuriating smirk ingrained in her mind. It was down to her. She knew what she had to do.

Yellow. Ten. Bullseye.

She plucked an arrow from her belt-quiver, and let the cool carbon shaft run through her fingers, before notching it securely against the string.

The air was completely still, and the crowd behind her, totally silent. They didn't exist in Artemis's reality, save the one man she cared for most.

She couldn't fail now. Not after everything she had lost. Not after everything she had then been given. She owed him this.

The string was heavy in her fingers as she pulled on it; her shoulders hurled in protest, but she bit back the pain, her breathing slowing to an absolute crawl, until her eyes were aiming down the sights at her target, the string drawn right up against her cheek.

Yellow. Ten. Bullseye.

She released the arrow, remaining motionless until a resounding thud rang in her ears, and across the stadia beyond.

The delay between the impact, and the score appearing on the screen was torturous, though can't have been more than a few seconds. The instant it showed that big, perfect ten, Artemis was off, ditching her bow where she had stood, and making for the crowd that roared boisterously.

She found him easily, jumping the security cordon to reach him, and smashing her lips against his whilst salty tears obscured her vision. His warmth enveloped her and made her hyper-aware of the relief and euphoria she was feeling, though pulled back after several eternal seconds so that his forehead was resting on hers.

"You're going to the Olympics," he hollered over the noise of the crowd, his pride and happiness almost making her buckle. Once more, she found herself lost in his eyes, unable to think of anything else, until she was pressing her lips against his once more.

"We're going to the Olympics," she corrected.

He laughed, and their lips danced, right up until the moment the security guards gently pried them apart, and Artemis caught a fleeting glimpse of his devilish visage, before she was spirited away to the podium.

It didn't matter, though.

Percy was always with her.

And that's a wrap. A big cheesy wrap. In fact, I don't think I've seen anything cheesier.

My thanks to the faithful readers that stuck with the story. I hope you enjoyed it. The state of the PJO verse leaves me a little unmotivated to write, but I do have a few ideas for a new story involving Artemis and Percy.

I only found out a couple of weeks ago that *spoilers* Jason dies in the newest series, and Reyna joins the hunters. I don't know about you, but that compels me to not consider them as canon. Either way, I hope the upcoming Disney PJO series lives up to expectations. And if not, well...at least there's always black-haired Annabeth on Netflix.

Regarding my other stories, they're unlikely to be updated anytime soon. They were written 4 years ago, and are full of plot holes that just make me cringe. Feel free to steal them.

If there's a place PJO fans get their fix besides this crumbling place, please do let me know. I'll probably be active on AO3 from now on, seeing as it doesn't seem to crash every week. If anyone has any ideas they think I'd like, feel free to send me a PM.

Cheers.