Next morning, everything in the village went back to normal with people going about their daily lives as usual with all the celebration stuff being cleaned up. Just another ordinary day in Steveston, B.C. Gwen noticed this as she woke up at an early start, got dressed, and had her breakfast of ham and eggs. After that, Gwen went over to look at the family photo again, which her mother noticed.

"You still believe he'll come back, do you?" she asked.

"Of course not," Gwen scoffed. "He never will. But still, why can't things just be the way they were before? When things were normal?"

"Things are normal, honey," soothed her mother. "But they'll just never be they were before."

"Exactly," Gwen said in a hurt tone. "That's just not normal for my tastes."

Gwen's mother sighed.

"Gwen, I know you miss him," she said. "But I keep telling you, you just have to move on."

"I am," she said. "I'm trying."

"Trust me, honey," said her mother. "You're not trying. Just not hard enough, that's the problem. You just have to face facts. You can't bring him back." she went on as Gwen's fists trembled.

"I know that already!" Gwen snapped in a hurt expression before storming upstairs.

John had been watching the whole scene play out. He couldn't help but feel sympathy for what his big sister was going through. It was hard enough for him as well.

"Shoulda kept your mouth shut about him," he murmured.

On the waterfront, Jay and Mickey were looking at the early morning mist lifting over the ocean. It felt like such a beautiful sight to see.

"Looks neat, eh?" asked Jay. "It's our first time watching this and so far, nothing has gone wrong for us yet."

"Y-Y-Yeah," stammered Mickey. "But... but... "

"But what?" asked Jay.

"Well, it... it... it's just... well," stammered Mickey again.

"Come on, just spill it out!" said Jay impatiently.

"I'm still not used to boats!" Mickey blurted out quickly.

Hearing this, Jay recalled how he and Mickey were still not used to being on the boat during the race when they had to ride a speedboat to Iceland and came out screaming and hugging each other afterward.

"Oh yeah, I know what you mean," agreed Jay. "All that rocking and rolling, it's just never going to be something we're used to."

"You guys are afraid of boats?"

Hearing that voice, both twins turned in alarm to see that it was the asian teenaged girl in pigtails, who was on the karaoke the night before, standing beside them.

"Oh hey!" said Mickey nervously. "You're that... girl we had a short alliance with your sister on the race."

The girl smiled.

"Yes, and my name's Kitty by the way," she said. "And, as I recall, you two are the adversity twins, Jay and Mickey. Am I right?"

"Oh yes, yes!" nodded Mickey quickly. "Say, what are you doing here anyway? And where's your big sister?"

"I'm on summer vacation while my sisters in law school," Kitty answered proudly.

"But isn't it summer?" asked Jay in confusion.

"Yeah, but she's working an internship over there," shrugged Kitty. "Anyway, I couldn't help but overhear your problem and thought I could help."

"How?" asked the twins in unison.

Kitty thought for a moment before smiling.

"I think I know just the solution! Come with me!"

Meanwhile, Trent was waiting at the waterfront's entrance, standing ready for Ryan and Stephanie while checking his watch. He had secretly hoped they wouldn't come. But unfortunately, to his disappointment, he could see the couple arriving, which told him that they were very much serious about this whole thing. He sighed out of their earshot, but tried to look cheerful as they stepped in front of him.

"Here we are, right on schedule," smiled Stephanie. "So, where is it?"

"Follow me," said Trent, ushering them to follow.

They followed him onto the waterfront and lead them to where his boat was among all the other boats that were docked here. When they came to it, he pointed at it and the couple took a good look at it.

"That's your boat?" she asked, slightly disappointed. "A sailboat?"

"You should see how it looks inside," Trent said. "Hop aboard and take a look around."

"Be careful, Steph," said Ryan, reaching out to her.

"I got this," Stephanie inturrupted as she easily stepped over the small gap onto the deck of his boat before pulling Ryan onboard as well.

The pair went down below through the door hatchway at the cockpit to take a look inside. It looked very luxurious with nicely carved mahogomy on the walls, desks, tables, and doors, the sweet softness of the cushions on the chairs with a few small pillows. There were small windows on the ceiling to get a good view of the sky and the walls to get a view of the outside deck with a small curtain to block out the sun if needed. It even had a flat-screen TV on the wall that could play DVDs. Some small fans were embedded in the wall as well. It looked beautiful!

While the couple separately took a look around the rest of the interior, Trent saw another group coming towards him. It was Kitty, Mickey, and Jay.

"Excuse me, is there any other sailboats here?" Kitty asked Trent.

"Just this one, why?" Trent asked back.

"Then I hope you'll take us sailing with you," Kitty said. "I want to show these two that riding in a boat isn't so bad once they're used to it."

"Sorry, I'm already taking one couple on a trip," Trent said.

"It's fine if they come," said Stephanie, who somehow overheard them with Ryan. "After all, we could use some counselors," she added, glaring at Ryan again.

"But Steph, I thought-" Ryan said before he was "bonked" on the head by Stephanie.

"Wait, what's wrong with me being..." Trent was cut off as Kitty jumped onboard and helped the twins on as well. "Oh well, as long as nobody else tries to..."

"Yo, buddy!"

Trent turned to see Geoff and DJ running towards him on the dock, carrying dufflebags with them. He had an awful feeling of what was going to happen. What's more, they also had an extra person with them. He was tan with short brown hair and a star tattoo with stripes, wearing a sleeveless pink shirt, purple shorts, and red shoes with socks.

"Geoff? DJ? What are you guys doing here?" asked Trent before pointing at the newcomer. "And who's he?"

"This is Brody, my man. The one who won the race with me, remember?" smiled Geoff.

"Oh, so you're Brody," smiled Trent before shaking his hand. "Nice to meet you, man. And congrats on the race."

"Thanks, dude," smiled Brody in return.

"Anyway," added Geoff. "We heard you were leaving. So, we decided to go with you. Besides, we always wanted to check out your boat so we can get our party on!"

"Oh, wait! Now, hang on! My boat is not some kind of... cruise... ship," Trent said, slowing down his speech as he watched the three guys already jumping onto the boat. Trent sighed in exasperation, seeing them all onboard. "Okay, fine. But that's all I'm taking, alright?"

"Didn't know you were making your own luxury cruise line," said a familiar voice.

Trent turned to find Gwen, standing a few feet behind him with her arms crossed and smirking with amusement.

"Hahaha, very funny!" Trent smiled. "Just so you know, I was kinda forced into it."

"I could tell," said Gwen. "Come to think of it, I never imagined you would have your own boat. How did you get it anyway?"

"Won it at an auction in Florida," Trent answered.

"Really? I'm surprised you even had the money to-" Gwen spoke until face-palming herself. "I just remembered you're now rich and famous. Anyway, did you even get a license for owning one?"

"Yep?" Trent smiled, showing her the license for it from his wallet. "And for the money, my time with the Drama Brothers can really earn a lot of cash," Trent added. "Why are you so interested? You wanna come?"

Gwen thought for a moment.

"That depends," she said. "Is there room for one more?"

"Well, we do have one open bed left," Trent replied. "And seeing how many people there are now, I suppose I could use a first mate."

"Then, I don't see why not," said Gwen with a smug on her face, showing him a backpack, she was carrying with her.

"I do!"

Both Gwen and Trent turned sharply in surprise to find Gwen's mother and brother standing at the end of the dock.

"Mom?!" exclaimed Gwen in shock. "Were you following me?!"

"I had to, Gwen," said her mother. "It's for your own good."

"Sorry, Gwen. I tried to stop her," said Josh.

"Now listen," her mother went on. "I know you've always been quite rebellious, but leaving home and going off somewhere without my consent is going too far. Think about your future. We still have yet to decide what college you'll be going into."

"I'm not running away, Mom," Gwen argued. "I just needed some space for a while. A change of scenery, a chance to finally feel free instead of always feeling trapped like a bird in a cage."

"Gwen, you know I never..." her mother tried to speak.

"You always wanted me to learn responsibility, right?" Gwen inturrupted. "Well, here it is! It's only for maybe a week or so, Mom. Which means I'll be back in time to decide what school I'll go to. Besides, it's summer break, what's stopping me?"

"Mom, I think it's best if you let her go," said John.

"Please stay out of this, John!" scolded their mother before turning to Gwen. "Look, honey, I understand that," said her mother before eyeing Trent behind her. "But... with just you and your ex?"

"Um actually, and with them, ma'am," said Trent, pointing to the other people on his boat, which she just noticed.

"Oh, how come I didn't see them there before?" she muttered. "But still, Gwen, I have a very bad feeling about this decision you're making. Losing your dad was hard enough, I don't want to see it happen to you too!"

"Trent, would you'll please..." Gwen said to Trent, who nodded and stepped back to his boat to wait for her before she turned back to face her mother once more. "For God's sake, Mom, I can take care of myself," said Gwen. "Isn't that why you sent me to the island in the first place? I want to show you that I've grown up. I'm not that same little kid anymore. I want to prove it, starting now. So please, give me just this one chance?"

Her mother started to think for a moment while John secretly put something in Gwen's bag. She still wasn't sure about letting her eldist daughter going off into the dangerous ocean like this. But she looked into her face and saw in her eyes that she really wants this. And she knew deep down that Gwen wouldn't be gone forever. At last, she gave her daughter a big hug, much to Gwen's surprise.

"Just... be careful, okay?" she said sadly. "And promise me you'll come back."

Gwen smiled and hugged her back.

"I promise," she whispered.

Her mother kissed her cheek and after exchanging some "I love you's" and a friendly "goodbye," Gwen rushed towards Trent's boat, grabbed Trent's hand, and jumped aboard just in time for them to unmoor the boat from the dock and cast off as Trent turned on the engine, put the throttle on slow ahead, and turned the boat towards the open sea ahead of them.

As they sailed away, Gwen waved to her mother and brother on the dock, who waved back until each other were out of sight. This was the start of an adventure.

Elsewhere, the ferry to Sunset Island was cutting through the water with its passengers onboard who want to go to the island. Among them were the Grojband members. The three guys were watching the sea go by.

"Isn't it cool, guys?" Corey asked the two Japanese twins with excitement. "Our biggest tour yet and Sunset Island is one of them!"

"I can't believe you managed to pull it off," said the thin Japanese twin before turning to his overweight brother. "How do you think he did it, Kon?"

"Beats me, Kin," shrugged Kon.

"You guys know how rock stars earn a lot of money from all the best music they play?" quizzed Corey with a smile. "And check it out! This is a dream come true!"

"Correction, it's your dream come true, Cor," said the redhaired girl standing beside them. "Besides, did you even manage to get our lyrics in for the gig?"

"Of course, Laney," replied Corey, pulling out papers from his bag. "All written and ready to go."

"Which of course you copied from your sister's diary, didn't you?" Laney whispered to Corey.

"You could tell?" asked Corey, earning a raised eyebrow from his female companion before shrugging. "Big deal, Lanes," he said before wrapping his arm around her and looking towards the sea. "Just look at how we're doing! Playing music far from home, land and sea, like how a real band does it. Even you couldn't help but be excited!"

Oh, Laney was excited alright. She was excited that Corey, her long-time crush and the boy of her dreams had wrapped his arm around her, however tightly it may be. She couldn't stop blushing, nor could she stop her heart beating as she kept starring at him like he was some kind of hunk against the wind blowing at his face. She thought about telling him for some time and started daydreaming again, as usual, as the ferry continued on its voyage across the sea towards its destination.

Back with the Elton Rock, the boat had already motored onto the open sea with not a speck of land in sight all around. Gwen was on the deck with Geoff, Brody, and Trent, who was on the wheel, watching the compass, showing the direction they were going. Trent could feel the correct gust of wind blowing right in the direction they needed to be.

"Raise both sails," Trent called to Gwen beside the cockpit.

"Raise both sails!" Gwen called to Geoff and Brody, who were standing near their stations, Brody on the jib and Geoff on the main.

Luckly, Trent showed the two how to do it, so they both knew which cranks to pull Brody turned the jib's and Geoff turned the main's. The main started to unfurl and rise up the mast while the jib unrolled out from the line between the bow and the top of the mast. It was tough and hard work, but they both cranked until they were both fully extended just as their arms got all weary.

"Fully extended!" called the two surfer dudes with a thumbs up.

"Fully extended!" Gwen called Trent, who nodded and turned the throttle stop, much to Geoff and Brody's confusion.

"Dude, did you just stop the engine?" asked Geoff to Trent, who nodded. "But why?"

"Look up there," said Gwen, pointing to the sails, being blown by the wind.

Soon, Geoff began to figure it out. And he looked over the edge to see the boat still moving in the direction they wanted due to the wind blowing on the sails, making the boat lean over to 3 degrees at least. And that's when he realized the boat was sailing under the wind's power! He smiled in amazement. It was just so incredible! Trent set adjustments on the pad, pressing some buttons until it made a trail on a map and pressed the button to turn it into auto-pilot mode. The boat's navigational systems activated, and the wheel and rudder were keeping her on course on their own. There was no fuel needed for any of that.

The boat continued to sail on even when evening came. Gwen stood at the bow on the deck, observing the sunset in front, already enjoying the sense of freedom she longed for. She looked back for a moment to see Kitty taking a selfie with her smartphone by the side with the ocean behind her.

When it got dark, it was dinner time and DJ offered himself to be the one cooking food for everyone in the galley. He served them chicken parmesan with caeser salad and drinks of Champaigne with ice water.

"Dude, this is choice!" smiled Trent.

"Yeah, man!" agreed Geoff. "You're a WAY better damn cook than Chef Hatchet."

Everyone knew what he meant and giggled. They were only glad Chef wasn't there to hear any of if, not while they're very far from land at least. Even the twins were enjoying this food so much, they forgot about the rocking of the boat.

"You liking it so far, Steph?" asked Ryan kindly.

"It's a good start, I'll admit," replied Stephanie.

"Don't worry," Ryan whispered to the others. "She'll come around."

They all hoped so.

"I propose a toast!" called Geoff, raising his glass of Champaigne. "To a wonderful summer!"

Everyone agreed and clanged glasses together before sipping it and continued on eating.

When it was time for bed, everyone went to their chosen, respective areas to sleep. Ryan and Stephanie chose the luxurious cabin in the aft section where they got a great view of the night sky through the small sky window, Jay and Mickey chose the bunk cabin on the port side, Trent, DJ, Geoff and Brody chose the twin bunk cabin on the starboard side, and Gwen and Kitty chose the forward cabin.

Gwen already had her stuff organized and set and was just about to turn off her light above her bed when she felt something in her bag and pulled it out. It was a necklace of the shell that her father gave her and a folded piece of paper with it. She opened the paper and saw that it was a note. It read:

Hey Gwen,

I had a feeling you would try to go out there someday. And I didn't want you to forget your shell. I know how much it meant to you, so I packed it in so you wouldn't forget about him. As long as you have it, I know you'll carry him too. I'll do my best to look after Mom for you, she misses you very much and hopes you'll come back soon. Just remember, we're all waiting for you. Good luck on your adventure, and have fun!

Smiles,

John Freely.

Gwen smiled at the note before putting it away, turning off her light, and falling asleep. She was glad he put the shell in her bag. It was the first time she had carried it in years. This time, she was not letting it go. Not ever!

Author's Note:

Just so you know, I named the boat Gwen, Trent, and others are on "Elton Rock" in homage to the famous singer, "Elton John," who retired from touring. I hope you like how the progress of the story is going so far. But be patient, the real adventure is yet to come.