Vivian's rescue plan had been finalized and her boys and Maria waited for the sun to rise and set once again before they attempted their mission. The boys split into groups and surrounded the naval prison; though it was unclear of the Sirius' exact whereabouts they had a good chance of finding the men with multiple groups. They waited patiently and executed their infiltration plan.

Maria was a ball of nerves as she waited down a nearby alley. She wrung her fingers together and breathed heavily unsure of how the plan would work. Vivian peaked around the corner and shook her head.

"Relax, Darlin'; everything's going to be fine. We're gonna get your boys back."

Unable to find her voice in her tightened throat Maria simply nodded and bit her lip. Her eyes drifted to the sky where it was utterly black, the stars blocked out by the bright moon. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes trying to think positively. Before she knew it the bells were sounding an alarm at the naval prison. Maria's breath quickened in fear, but she managed to control it when Vivian gave out her direction.

"Alright, now when you see your Russell cover him with the cloak and mask, got it?"

Maria nodded.

"Good, then you run; go straight down this alley and take the third right, understand?"

Another nod.

"Good girl," she smiled as she fastened an elegant blue mask to her face. Maria nodded and placed her very own green mask over her eyes.

Hurried footsteps could be heard approaching and Maria took another deep breath to ready herself. The Sirius crew and a handful of the young men rounded the corner and came barreling toward Maria. Her eyes scanned the familiar faces until she spotted the one she was most desperate to see.

"Russell!" she cried out running to meet him half way.

A smile appeared on his face and he threw his arms out to capture her in a suffocating hug. Although she wanted to remain the way they were she pulled away from him and held up the dark cloak in her possession.

"Put his on!" she ordered and though he was confused, he did as he was told straight away. As he fiddled with the tie Maria stretched up and covered his face with a simple white mask. Without any explanation she grabbed his hand and began running down the alley way just as she was told. The Sirius crew was broken up and taken down all directions in an attempt to through the pursuing navy off their scent.

Russell and Maria panted as they scurried down the alley, Maria making sure to keep count of the right turns presented to them. When the third turn finally appeared the couple turned into a wall of people dressed in costumes and masks just as they were. Both looked around baffled by the sight, but continued to push their way through the people. There were torches lighting the streets, people drinking and dancing among one another and loud music to cover the yelling and merry making.

With the huge crowd of people surrounding them, Maria had little idea of where to go. Glancing around at the masked faces she eventually saw a familiar costume and mask and made her way for it still gripping Russell's hand tightly. "What's going on?" he shouted over the yelling and loud music.

"I have no idea!" was her only reply.

When they got closer the familiar figure motioned for them to follow and then darted down yet another alley. Maria and Russell pushed through the crowd and followed the figure as best they could. After dizzying turn after turn down the maze of walls they finally emerged to the sight of large ships at the dock. They both sighed with relief and laughed happily. From out of the shadows, Peter appeared and removed his mask to show a happy smile. Maria laughed again and embraced the young man earning sputtered exclamations and a blush from him.

"Thank you, Peter! For all of your help!" she exclaimed when she pulled away.

He cleared his throat and scratched his cheek. "I-it was nothin'…"

Maria giggled and turned to Russell who returned her smile with a large grin of his own.

From in front of the Sirius, they heard shouting and saw a figure waving in their direction. "You better get back to your ship." Peter nodded his head towards the water.

They all quickly made their way over to the waiting ship to be greeted by Vivian and the Sirius crew. Vivian smiled at Maria and glanced at all of the pirates. "You all better get goin' before the navy finds out you're not in the crowd."

"What was that all about?" Russell couldn't help but ask.

Vivian smiled even brighter. "You scoundrels are just lucky you got caught the night before our lunar festival."

"That's what that whole celebration is?" Thomas chimed in.

"You better believe it. Now get your butts on board your ship before the navy catches you again. And we won't be saving you then." She smiled slyly.

The crew smiled at her and began boarding their ship.

"Wait, how did you get the navy off the Sirius?" Maria questioned looking over the ship.

"My boys have their ways."

Maria smiled back at Vivian and sighed heavily finally realizing that she had Russell back. She glanced at Vivian with her relieved smile and suddenly embraced the woman in a tight hug. "Thank you so much for all of your help!"

Vivian chuckled and patted Maria on the back. "Don't mention it."

They pulled away and Russell snaked an arm around Maria's shoulders leading her on board the Sirius with his own relieved smile.

As the rest of the crew made their way onto the ship Morgan made his way to Vivian with a pleased smile and took her hand. "We're indebted to you, Miss," he stated as he kissed the back of her hand. She smiled at him.

"How unbelievably like you, Morgan."

At her words he looked up at her with surprise. Her smile melted into a surprised expression at Morgan's surprise.

"What? You don't remember me?" His surprised expression along with his lack of an answer explained it to her. She sighed with a hint of pain, "Why am I not surprised that you don't remember? That's just like the good ol' Captain Morgan!"

Not knowing how to answer her, Morgan stared blankly at her and she shook her head. "Get going already! I told you that we won't be helping you if you get caught again!" and she shoved him towards the ship.

Almost reluctantly Morgan boarded his ship and gazed down at the hurt smile on Vivian's face. Eduardo called out to the captain for permission to set sail. Morgan glanced quickly to his navigator and nodded before returning his gaze to the woman on the docks.

"Hey, Maria!" Peter called up onto the deck.

Hearing her name Maria ran to the railing and peered onto the docks.

"If ya ever get tired o' that pirate, ya can always come back here; I'll help ya forget about 'im!" He smiled cheekily.

Maria's cheeks flushed at his forward proposal and she shook her head. "I'm sorry, Peter… I think I'm too old for you!"

"What're ya sayin'? Ya gotta be nineteen, maybe twenty?"

She nodded.

"I'm seventeen, Woman!"

Maria was dumbfounded Russell on the other hand, hearing their conversation, busted into a fit of laughter. He leaned on the railing to get a better look at the boy and found himself unable to contain his exhales of laughter. Peter glared harshly at Russell and growled in annoyance.

"I'm just as much man as you are!"

"Sure," Russell managed to speak. "Maybe when you grow a couple feet!" and he headed towards his room still attempting to get his laughter under control.

Maria gave an apologetic look to Peter and he simply shrugged. "Offer still stands if ya ever get second thoughts."

The Sirius set off leaving Vivian and her boys behind to enjoy their Lunar festival. Maria waved her goodbyes and watched until the city disappeared in the distance. While the rest of the crew brought out the booze and Nathan cooked a welcoming meal Maria returned to the room that felt foreign after her stay at the tavern. Russell lay in his bed, an arm covering his eyes; he seemed to have gotten his laughter under control.

"Feels good to be in my own comfy room again." He suddenly spoke up glancing at Maria from under his arm. "Prisons really aren't my thing." He added while stretching across the bed.

Maria giggled and made her way towards Russell. He smiled and grabbed her wrist when she came close enough to the bed. She squeaked as she fell onto his chest. Both chuckled and offered endearing looks to one another. Maria gripped his shirt firmly happy to have him back within her grasp and buried her head into his chest; he smelt of mould, of a dank dungeon, but he was still the same Russell that she had split alcohol on so long ago. The thought made her smile.

Russell wrapped his arms around her slender body and smiled as well. "Kinda sad that you had to come an' save me this time…" he finally said with a hint of regret in his voice. Maria glanced up at his saddening face. "Ya should have just kept running, forgotten about us; we are pirates after all."

"Never!" She perked up and glanced down at him with determined eyes.

Russell was surprised for a moment. "Ya shouldn't really be stickin' around people like us. We're the wrong kind of people for ya; I'm the wrong person to be protecting ya…"

Maria's lip trembled at his words; those were the last thoughts that she wanted to hear from Russell. He had promised to protect her long ago, and he had kept to that promise even on this journey. Saying that he was the wrong man for her was like driving a sword through her heart and twisting it slowly.

Then words from a certain woman rose in her mind. Words that she had known the meaning to the moment they were spoken. "Even if you are the wrong man for me… I can't stop myself if my heart is demanding it." Russell looked to her in surprise. "You're the one that I fell in love with, Russell. Not Morgan, not Nathan, not Peter; you. Even if it's wrong to someone else it's right for me. I can't love anyone else."

They were both silent for a moment. Russell suddenly broke into laughter and embraced Maria tightly. "I'm actually relieved at yer' words! To think if you went back and took that kid up on his offer! What an embarrassment to me!" He continued to laugh. Maria pulled away slightly and gave him a questioning look. He placed a hand on her cheek and eyed her fondly. "Guess I have no choice, but to keep protectin' ya!"

Both smiled and she nodded. "Yeah! You're stuck with me!"

"I wouldn't have it any other way." He smiled and pulled her in for a loving kiss.

There you have it! The last installment of this specific adventure! I hope you all enjoyed it! I know there wasn't a whole lot of Russell in this adventure, but I hope I made up for it in the ending...?

Let me know what you guys think! If you want me to write more, I'd be happy to try and brainstorm more ideas for this pair, or maybe write another story about another pirate ;D

Thank you to everyone who sat down and read all of this! It takes me awhile to write this sometimes; writers block, finding out how things are going to work out, just planning plot ideas, it's difficult sometimes! But seeing that people really enjoy it makes it really worth while and actually easier to write because I know there's someone out there waiting for whatever ideas I have next. So thanks again for everyone that enjoys these stories and I really hope you enjoy this installment as well as any writings that I devise later!

Until the next time!

~Kaori