The Pirate and the Princess

Epilogue

A little over two months after their forced impromptu wedding, His Royal Highness Prince Ryoma of Spain, the Duke of Anjou, and his wife, Her Royal Highness Princess Sakuno of Denmark and Norway found themselves lying on their bed in their stateroom aboard the Lark on their last night before arriving at the port in Copenhagen.

"Are you ready for all this?" Sakuno asked Ryoma. She was lying on her back, staring up at Ryoma, whom was leaning on his propped up elbow just above her.

He shook his head no and Sakuno once again caught the back of his trimmed hair. Apparently, the prince had acquired his long ponytail he'd sported as a pirate after being captive on the Jack Knife and being unable to get a proper haircut. Before their wedding in Puerto Rico he'd had his hair trimmed back to it's usual length and had arrived to their wedding almost as a different man.

It had taken some adjusting for her, to make the connection that her dashing mysterious pirate was really her arrogant Spanish prince, but not much else had changed. In the end, Ryoma and Sakuno had more in common than not. It had been quite the adventure for her, traveling off to the Caribbean, being kidnapped, seduced, rescued, married and then escorted back to Europe by the whole navy.

The fleet had provided them with some lovely nighttime views though. Sakuno would usually find herself sitting up with Ryoma on the top deck watching the stars and gazing out across the dark water to the rocking lights on the ships bobbing over the waves with the Lark back across the sea.

Now though, their adventure was over, and their peaceful return home was over. It was time for them to get political. They had a state wedding, and a coronation coming up. After that, they would begin the long transition of becoming the next rulers of Denmark and Norway while also trying to produce their own heir.

Yes, life was certainly going to change for them after this. A part of her wished they could stay on the high seas for the rest of their lives, but the responsible part of her that had been trained from infancy as a future ruler held back those whimsical fancies. Ryoma didn't seem too perturbed over it, though he rarely expressed his emotions verbally. They had been married for two months now and the closest Sakuno had ever got to any sort of romantic overtures were the warm gazes he would throw her way when he didn't think she nor anybody else was looking.

Yeah, Ryoma was kind-of like that.

But, she didn't mind. Honestly, she didn't think she could be happier with anybody else, arranged marriage or not.

"Let's leave Denmark and Norway to Tezuka and go back to the Jack Knife," Ryoma spoke out of the blue.

Sakuno turned her head sharply to look at her husband.

"What?"

He snickered, "Too easy."

Sakuno pursed her lips in irritation, "Don't mess with me, Ryoma! I'm not in the mood. Besides, Tezuka isn't a rightful heir, my aunt adopted him."

Ryoma's eyes closed for a moment, and Sakuno felt like she'd just seen him give in to defeat, "I was wondering why there was such a fuss over us." No more explanation was needed for a prince; they understood the succession laws better than anybody. Ryoma was no exception. Hearing that Tezuka, her only male relative wasn't in fact, a blood relative made it abundantly clear that their fate was sealed. They would have to be the next rulers, they would have to produce an heir, and they would have to be strong rulers to keep Sakuno's family dynasty in its monarchy. Sweden, Germany, Britain, there were many enemies that would love to overtake their country if it looked easy for the picking. The alliance with Spain would also be key in their countries endeavors to avoid invasion or war.

Sakuno gave Ryoma a half smile of her own defeated hopes of freedom, "Yes, well, even if this weren't the situation, it would be something else for us."

"Royal blood is always used for something," Ryoma agreed.

Sakuno sighed.

"Hey," Ryoma said as he playfully nudged her.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Aren't you happy that I'm not a pirate, that all along I was really your prince?" Ryoma suddenly asked.

Sakuno burst out laughing. "That was forever ago, Prince," she teased. She appreciated it though; he was trying very hard to cheer her up. Yeah…life wouldn't be bad at all so long as Ryoma was by her side.

Ryoma gave her a cocky grin, "Just admit it, Sakuno. You were happy it was me."

"Hmmmm…" Sakuno didn't commit.

Giving up on getting an ego boost from his young bride, Ryoma dropped his head onto his pillow and stared at the underside of the deck above them. She really should just admit it already.

"You are a pirate, Ryoma, and you always will be," Sakuno finally informed him, a new round of laughter bubbling up out of her.

Amused, Ryoma rolled over and bit her collarbone, "Arrr an' ye dasn't be forgettin'!"

The End :) I know, nothing but fluffy fluff fluff this chapter, but hey...that's what epilogues are for, right? Hehehehe. Thank you everybody it has been a pleasure. See you on the next RyoSaku fanfic I hope! MUAH! ~ Bunny

znk99fg7, crazyblondefanfictionlover101, mae, Cam24Ryo, Maria-Reynne, SnowCharms, foureyesfreak27, and LeyCoo THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR LOVELY COMMENTS FROM THE LAST CHAPTER! :D

Rysthern - :3 You are SO IN MY HEAD. I love how you just don't miss all the fun little things I put in and then comment on them to me too! Thank you a million times for making me so happy! :D :D :D

Wallflowerx07 - Thank you for loving the PIRATE! PoT boys! It makes me so happy to hear it because I had SO MUCH FUN with them! SQUEE! As for the pirate speak, believe it or not - there is actually a "pirate translator" on the Internet, so I wrote out what I wanted them to say and then had it translated into pirate. It was MOST useful! I know it's a little hard to read, but I wanted to make the story PIRATE authentic and all that, so THANK YOU for appreciating it! :D :D :D

Hiei's Cute Girl - You crack me up, thank you for all your wonderful reviews, I completely appreciate you brightening my day with your interactions and THANK YOU for understanding the point of fanficition! MUAH! I love you! I wish everybody in all fandoms were as awesome as you! xoxoxo

Kountry101 - SQUEE! You quoted your favorite line! Have I mentioned lately how much I love you? MUAH! That was so awesome of you! And reading on your phone? Awwww! I feel so loved!

For those of you that have asked for a sequel...Maria-Reynne, Rysthern and anybody else I might have missed that asked...I have to be honest ~~ I highly doubt it. *ducks* I actually dunno where I would even start with a sequel! :/ I *might* be inclined to write another PIRATE! PoT fanfic, but it would probably be rather unrelated to this one, however, I have to write out the fic I already have bouncing around in my brain. That's right...I have another RyoSaku in the works and I really hope you will all be there to read it and I hope you all like it...and it's an AR kind-of like my other fic Never Forgotten and that's all the spoilers you get! xoxoxo ~ Bunny