Look, I'm finally finishing it off! Whoo hoo, yay me! -Que music- Now Happy Ever After (or whatever it's called) by Carrie Underwood should start playing now... any minute now...

Chapter 19-

Happy Ever After?

"Ok, we all know what to do?" Miley asked, sitting crossed leg on her bed. She was dressed up in her pirate gear along with her dad's puffy shirt. She looked at the faces of everyone who had agreed to help her with this task.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Mikayla asked. Miley nodded and everyone made their way out of the room, leaving Miley and Jackson alone.

"I'll miss you." He said.

"You too, but you've got a kingdom to run." She said, walking over to him. "Plus I might come and visit."

"I doubt it." Jackson said and put an arm around her shoulders, leading her out of the room. "And Oliver is one lucky guy."

"Thanks." She said and the two of them walked out of the room. Only Lilly remained outside the room, looking worried.

"I hate this dress." She said, pulling at it.

"You don't have to wear it. No one is forcing you to." Jackson said.

"Oh, thank you!" She said and ran off. Miley shook her head and turned to her brother.

"You should go now. I'll go down to the cells." Jackson nodded and walked down the hallway while Miley went in the opposite direction, outside the castle and down towards the prison. She passed a guard who put his rifle in front of he archway, stopping her from entering.

"I'm here to see a prisoner." Miley said, looking up at him.

"Who gives you permission?" The guard asked.

"Me." Miley turned around and saw her father walking towards her. "Stand aside."

"Your highness." The guard said and bowed. He quickly moved out of the way as the two of them walked through the archway and down towards the prisoner's cells.

"Dad, what are you doing?" Miley asked.

"I saw that my puffy shirt was missing and there was only one other person who I could think of stealing it." Robby Ray said and then sighed. "I know what you are planning and I'm supposed to stop it, but I won't. I'm letting you go Miles; this place was never your home. You belong on the sea."

"You're letting me leave?" Miley stopped walking and turned to her father, tears in her eyes. "You're not going to stop me?"

"I want to bud, but you'll keep trying to escape. But know that you'll always have a home here." He said and then pulled his daughter in for a hug. "I love you, remember that."

"I love you too Daddy." Miley whispered. She pulled away from the hug and whipped away her tears and smiled up at him. "Don't worry, you won't lose your little girl."

"I hope not. And this boy better be worth it." Robby Ray said. Miley just nodded.

"He is."

"Then let's go save him." The two then walked down the stairs until they made it to the cells. Most were empty, except for two. One had a man lying in the center of his cell, passed out. In the other was Oliver, who was pacing.

"Oliver!" Miley shouted and ran towards his cell. He looked up and smiled as he saw Miley, his heart racing again.

"Hi Miley." He said as he walked towards her. "What are you doing here?"

"Setting you free." Miley said as her father moved her out of the way and unlocked the cell with the keys that he got from the guard. Once it was open, Miley threw her arms around Oliver. "I'm coming with you."

"No, you can't. You belong here, not on the sea." He said, pushing her away.

"Oliver, I get it. I'm a princess, but I don't want to be. I don't have to be if I want to be with you. I want to see the world; I don't want to be stuck in a stupid castle for the rest of my life, fulfilling my duties to my kingdom. I want to be out there exploring and I want to do it with you."

Oliver sighed and then looked over at her father. "It's alright son, she can go with you. I might not know you that well, but Miley was safe with you when she's missing, why can't I trust you to look after her now?"

"I'll do that sir." Oliver said, nodding. Miley kissed his cheek and he got a goofy grin on his face. Robby Ray sighed and nodded, moving out of the way so the two of them could exit first.

"But you're going to have to come and visit on a regular basis, every month or so."

"Dad, how about 2 months?"

"2 months. But if I don't see you in two months time, I'm sending out a search party."

"That's fine dad. It's good to know you still care about me." Miley said as they left the castle walls and made their way towards the docks.

"Am I doing the right thing? Should I be letting you go at the age of 16?" He asked out loud.

"If I feel like this is a mistake dad, I'll return. But right now I'm the happiest I've been." Miley said, giving her dad a huge grin.

"I can see that." He said and stopped walking. He brought her in for another hug. "Bye Miles, I have to leave you here." He then turned to look at Oliver. "You look after her."

"I will sir." He said, nodding his head. Miley then stopped hugging her dad and the two them turned around and started walking towards Oliver's ship while Robby Ray turned to walk back towards the castle. Miley looked up and saw the sun setting in the horizon, she hadn't even been back a full day and already she was leaving.

"Oliver, are you ok with me coming aboard?" She asked suddenly.

"Of course. We had Lilly aboard, it'll be weird if we never had a girl aboard." Oliver said.

"Good to know." Miley said and then smiled as the rest of the crew started shouting her name as they approached.

"Miley!" Danny shouted, waving frantically. "Are you coming back aboard?"

"Yeah!" She shouted back and then ran aboard. Oliver watched her, an uneasy feeling in his stomach. Was he doing the right thing, allowing her to come with them?

"Oliver, you coming?" Matt shouted down to him. Oliver nodded and ran aboard, his crewmates all patting him on the back and shaking his back. He then found himself standing in front of Miley, her back to the sunset. She gave him a small smile and all previous thoughts left his mind as he captured her lips in a kiss.

This was the life.

------

"So Miley gets her happily ever after." Mikayla said, leaning against the balcony as she watched the sunset and the ship set sail.

"Not everyone can have one." Jake said, moving next to her. "I didn't get mine with Miley."

"But sometimes you can get your happy ending with someone else. It's not always the obvious." Mikayla said softly. Jake looked over at her as she then looked out into the distance.

"Mikayla…"

"Don't say it." She said, closing her eyes. "Do not take pity on me. I don't need it."

"I wasn't going to." He said, moving closer to her.

"Then what were you going to say?" She asked, turning to face him.

"That even though I didn't get my happy ending with Miley, I've found a new beginning. I don't know when the happy ending comes into play, but I know I want to stay with her long enough to figure it out."

"Wow, Jake Ryan actually cares about someone other then himself?"

"Hey, it happened for this lucky young lady." Jake said, turning away from Mikayla.

"Who is she?"

"Can't you figure it out?"

"Lilly?"

"No, you." He said quietly. Mikayla's eyes widened.

"What?"

"You Mikayla, I like you. I don't think it's love, but I know I have feelings for you." Jake said.

"You actually like me? Now? Jake, do you have any idea on how long I've-"

"Since we first met." He interrupted. "You accidentally told me, but I didn't take notice because I knew I was supposed to marry Miley."

"Great, thanks for bringing back bad memories." Mikayla muttered. Jake chuckled and moved closer, lifting her chin to look at him.

"Not all of it is bad." And then he kissed her.

"Aww." Lilly said from the doorway. She was back into her pants, shirt and boots. But it seemed that the two she was 'aww'ing at didn't hear her, so she turned around and ran into Jackson. He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again. "Something wrong?"

"I don't think I can run a kingdom." He said. "I don't think I'll ever be mature enough to take on that responsibility."

"Hey, it's still a couple of years before that happens." Lilly said, putting an arm around him. "And besides, I'll be by your side."

"That's another thing I'm worried about. I don't think you'd ever be mature enough to help me." Jackson said and then grinned when Lilly hit him on the arm. "What? It's true."

"You maybe right, but we're still young. We can still have fun before we take responsibility. Plus, Jake could always take over the kingdom… maybe."

"You're right, have fun." Jackson said and then grinned as he pulled Lilly closer. "And I doubt Jake would be able to run a country."

"Weirder things have happened." Lilly said and Jackson kissed her.

-----

The storm had subsided and the waves weren't as violent as they had been hours ago. A ship, flying the pirate colours and flag, sailed through the ocean. The men on this ship worked hard for their captain who wasd ruthless, because of his one goal.

"Captain, it's in sight." Said one of the crewmembers who entered the captain's cabin. He just nodded as the member of the crew left and he turned in his seat and looked at the map hanging on the wall.

"Castle Oceania, that's where you ran off to." He muttered and then got off his seat. He left his cabin and looked at everyone working really hard to get the ship back into shape after the horrendous storm. He strode across the deck of the ship until he stood to the side, looking out for land.

No one spoke or said anything to him as they passed by. The sky started clearing and then in the horizon, land could be seen. He smirked and then started playing around with a locket that was in his hands.

"That's where you ran off to Lilly and now it's time for my revenge, after everything you've done to me." He muttered and then threw the locket into the ocean. It started sinking. It turned around in the water and the sun caught on the gold and you could see initials 'LT' on the one side. It then continued sinking until it was in complete darkness.

And I left it open for a sequel! If I ever get time to writing it. If I don't, then forget about the last part. But I got a summary for it, but I won't let you see that yet... it's a surprise... and a work in progress. So now that's another story completed...