As promised, here is the final chapter right away. I cannot believe that this is it! It has been great writing this and I love how enthusiastic you guys are about Ella. I do have the fourth book started, however, I am not sure if I should finish it. Do you guys want the next one? I'll leave it up to you. PM me, review, or favorite this if you haven't. If you guys want it, I'll write it. I love Ella and she has a whole different adventure to go on in the next one, but whether or not it gets written is up to you.

As for this book, this is it. Please enjoy this final chapter. Leave me a review with your thoughts of it, the whole book, the series so far, and if you want another one. I shall add a chapter for the update with what will be happening next. I thank you for your encouragement thus far and your lovely reviews.

Enjoy!

Chapter thirty-Seven: Drink up me hearties yo-ho

Ella let out a yell of excitement as she shot two more bottles. There was quite the gathering now, men pushing their way into the semi-circle that had formed around her. She had two men in particular close to her and handsy, but she was too full of rum to care.

"Another!" someone in the crowd called.

Jack entered the tavern, immediately noticing the crowd. He made his to it. Everyone seemed very unwilling to give up their spot, not matter how far back they were. A laugh that Jack knew belonged to Ella pushed him to force his way through the crowd. When he got to the front he saw Ella standing with two men by her side and a pistol in her hand. She fired a shot and the bottle shattered. A roar from the crowd went up and the one of the two men cheered and lifted her up with a cheer. Jack's eyes narrowed to slits. Ella giggled and stumbled back when she was put back down. The other man caught her, hands where they shouldn't be. Ella didn't notice though. She stood back up and waited for a bottle to shoot at.

"Ella," Jack said sharply, and everyone quieted and watched as she turned to him. She lost her smile and cocked her hip, arms crossed with the pistol still in hand. Jack looked at it, worried she'd accidentally fire it.

"What?" she asked, obviously tipsy. Jack walked up to her and she stood not moving. Somebody handed her a mug of rum and she smiled at the man and took it.

"That's quite enough, don't you think?" he said, taking the mug from her. She frowned at him.

"I don't know," she said to him. "Why don't you ask Scarlett and Giselle?" she asked. Jack pulled a face, wondering what she had seen. "You seemed to be having fun with them," Ella continued. "Why can't I have the same fun with some of these gentlemen?" she asked looking to the men around her. Jack all but growled as one of them made a move towards her.

"Love," he tried, putting his hand on her arm, but she pulled herself away.

"She isn't interested, mate," the man that picked her up before said. Jack glared at him. Ella watched him, unmoving and not saying a thing. The man stood closer by her, an arm slipping around her waist. Jack noticed Ella shift away from him, but not enough as he'd like. "How about you leave the fine lady to do as she pleases?" the dead man asked, pulling her closer to him.

Suddenly Jack pulled the man off of her, catching him off guard. He threw him the other side of her and went up to him, ready to fight. The man recovered but before he could do anything Jack punched him square in the nose. The man's head flew back, blood gushing from his nose. Jack hit him again, and again, and again, and again. Eventually he fell back to the floor. When the man turned to look at Jack he was met with the tip of a sword. Jack had the blade inches from the man.

"You do not touch her," Jack threatened. The crowd watched intently, waiting to see what would happen. To their dismay the man on the ground gave up. Jack put his sword away as the man left the tavern. A few girls went running to him.

"That was so brave," they gushed. Jack looked around at them. They hung over him, batting their eyes. He smiled, he couldn't help himself.

Ella frowned at the scene in front of her. A new mug was placed in front of her. She took it and walked up to them. One girl in particular was practically clinging to Jack. Ella went right up to her and tapped her shoulder. The girl turned her head to her and Jack looked, pulled out of his distraction. Ella threw the drink in the girls face and it splashed Jack too. He closed his eyes and wiped his face. The girl was furious but one look at Ella and she huffed angrily and just left.

"Go," Ella said to the other girls and they did. Jack was left standing there. He looked at her and she kept her eyes on him. They weren't stormy, more like the sea waiting for a hurricane.

"Love," he said and she turned and left. He ran after her and out of the tavern. She kept walking, not saying a word. "Please?" Jack tried. Ella rolled her eyes at his attempt. "Come on, love," he said again. She didn't slow down.

Heading for the docks, she decided to head straight for their cabin and lock him out. She smiled at the thought of him banging on the door and asking her to let him in. Maybe that would kick him down a few notches. Her smile faded when she knew the reality was she'd never do that. She could never embarrass him in front of his crew.

"Ella, please, love," Jack tried again, running up to her. They were close to the docks now. The pace Ella had set made sure of that. Jack grabbed her and spun her around to face him. She didn't resist, which was a good sign.

"What were you doing with them?" she asked him, straight to the point. His hands slid down her arms, something he knew she liked.

"Nothing," he answered. She kept her eyes on him. "I was trying to get away from them without being slapped," he explained. Ella smiled sweetly at him.

"Well let me help them finish what they should have," she said and slapped him across the face. Jack knew he should have seen it coming.

"Better?" he asked. Ella frowned. She didn't like that he was fine with her slapping him, it wasn't the same.

"You weren't planning on anything else with them?" she asked and she hated that she sounded so young.

"I don't want anyone else," he said stepping up to her, "but you."

Ella looked into his eyes. Sometimes she resented his ease of being charming. He apparently knew he'd won, because he was wearing that irresistible smirk of his that never failed to cause swirls of warmth inside of her.

"I hate you," she said not even close to convincingly. Jack smirked wider and his hand found its way to her chin, tipping it up to him. He kissed her gently, their eyes closing. Ella would never stop being amazed at how soft his lips felt.

"Are you sure about that?" he asked against her lips. She smiled as he kissed her again. His hand moved down to her waist. She pushed herself closer to him, deepening the kiss. Her hand played with the placket of his shirt as she kept kissing him. Ella hummed into the kiss. "Cabin," Jack stated huskily. Ella nodded, keeping her lips close to his.

Jack whisked her down the dock with him, whispering things in her ear that made her flush. They both came to a screeching stop at the sight of the empty mooring line. Ella stared at the place they had left the Pearl, the sea not showing signs of anything that happened.

"Where..." she trailed off, befuddled as Jack stood with alarm on his face. She turned to him, looking for some sort of answer that he didn't have. "It's gone," she said.

"Why is it gone?" Jack asked, a frown on his face. He stared at the spot like he expected the ship to just appear. Ella noticed a ship in the distance and squinted. Her eyes widened as it came into view.

"Is that it over there?" she asked for confirmation. Jack squinted at it with her, his face lighting up when he spotted it.

"Yes, that's it," he smiled. "Why's it over there?" he asked, brows together. Ella turned her head to see a passed out Gibbs sleeping with a teddy bear by a few barrels. She narrowed her eyes at him and tapped Jack on the shoulder. Jack marched up to him, taking a bottle of rum that sat on the barrel beside him. He dumped the context onto Gibbs.

Gibbs jolted awake, spitting the rum out of his mouth and moving his teddy bear to safety. Ella tucked that away in her memory for future reference. Jack stared at his first mate, waiting for him to listen.

"Mister Gibbs, any particular reason my ship is gone?" he asked, not in a playing mood.

"Again," Ella added and Jack stared at Gibbs with a not-so-friendly smile. Gibbs was out of it, eyes mostly closed and a smile on his face. Ella wondered how drunk he had gotten.

"The ship?" he repeated, looking around. "We're on the ship," he declared, as if they were being utterly ridiculous to ask such a silly question. Ella raised her eye brows, nodding and turning her eyes to Jack to see his reaction. Jack was amused at first but then went straight to confused. Ella watched as Gibbs suddenly woke up, eyes wide and clearly panicked. "Jack!" he said urgently, "the ships gone!"

"Really?" Jack asked in the most sarcastic way possible. Ella laughed at the two of them and went to the dinghy that was left to them. She looked down at it, and back to Jack. Walking up to him, she put her arms around his shoulders, standing on her tip toes with her face by his neck.

"Jack?" she said calmly. He stopped talking to Gibbs and looked at her from the corner of his eye. "We have no cabin to go to," she informed him, reminding him of what they were planning on doing. Her hand played with the collar of his shirt. His frown deepened.

"That makes me feel worse," he said with a pout that Ella thought was adorable. She kissed the back of his neck, nuzzling into his hair.

"Looks like we'll have to postpone," she said sadly, letting him go. He turned to watch her go to the dinghy and get in. She sat herself down and looked up to him expectantly. He smiled at her and walked over to join her. Gibbs watched the two of them ready for sail.

Jack had them sailing from the dock in no time. Ella waved a small goodbye to Gibbs as Jack raised the flag. She turned to the small bench in front of her and pulled out a rugged peace of parchment. Jack heard it thud on the make-shift table and turned around to look at it. He stepped over to her side and sat beside her. She unraveled it, revealing it to be the cut out of the map they'd gotten from Sao Feng. Jack smiled at her mischievously.

"Brilliant, love," he said happily, leaning over the map. He turned a piece to line up with the fountain of youth. Ella's eyes lit up. Jack glanced at her, smirking at her excitement. He took his compass out and flipped it open, watching the dial spin and land on Ella. He didn't even bother rolling his eyes any more, instead pulling her close, to have her practically sitting on his lap. He kissed her, having her giggle into his mouth. He loved when she did that.

Ella reached back behind them both and grabbed a bottle of rum she spotted earlier. She lifted it and popped the cork out before taking a drink and handing it to Jack. He took a swig of it. She repositioned herself on his lap to stare out at the sea in front of them.

"You know, we don't really need a cabin," Jack said suggestively, his hand sliding up her thigh. Ella raised her eyebrows at him and tipped the bottle back to his lips. Jack drank and she rested her head on him.

"Drink up me hearties, yo-ho," she sang. Jack kissed her cheek and joined her in the song.