I do not own anything except Marina and the idea.

IMPORTANT IF YOU DONT WANT TO GET CONFUSED!!

I use planets and terms in Star Wars but no characters.

Nethicite does not exist in this story.

And some Lord of the Rings fans may notice a name or two that was used but don't worry there are no characters from that trilogy either.

Enjoy!

Coruscant

Ten years ago, Cidolfus, King of Endor, conquered Endor's five moons. Three of those moons were democracies. The other two were controlled by King Elessar and his brother King Anduin. Cidolfus invaded the two remaining moons with the intention of permanently killing off the royal family and anyone even remotely related to them.

Much to Cid's irritation, the youngest daughter of King Elessar escaped his grasp. And not too long after finding out the Princess had escaped, Cid discovered that she had taken his only son with her.

The former Prince and Princess fled that corner of the galaxy, changed their names, and in their opinion, took on a much more honorable job.

Piracy.

--

"Easy does it old girl", Marina said as she coaxed the airship down to settle gently in the docking bay. When it landed safely both it's co-pilot and captain sighed with relief.

"Thank the gods for moogles" Balthier said as he leaned back in his chair.

"I told you not to fly into that asteroid field", Marina muttered under her breath.

Balthier rolled his hazel eyes and calmly said, "For the ten thousandth time I didn't have a choice."

"I could've outrun them if you had just let me fly."

Balthier had to give the woman credit. She would have done well in court with the way she could hold an arguement. "Im not saying you couldn't have handled it. I just wanted to take responsibility for the mess that I got us into."

"By getting us into another one? What you mean is, your male ego was too big to admit that I could have outrun them without going through that stupid asteroid field." Her tone left no room for arguement. She stood and headed for her room to change.

Hating that she was right again, Balthier frowned and went to his own room.

Each world had it's own fashion of clothing and they always tried to be as inconspicuous as possible. So, Marina wore long, tight pants tucked snugly into her black boots and a tan shirt that fit her figure. The sleeves cut off at the shoulders and her arms were covered with open-handed gloves that matched her shirt.

Balthier dressed in one of his more simpler white lightweight shirts with loose black pants that bunched up a little at the top of his brown leather boots. He wore his gun at his side attached to a medium sized brown belt around his waist.

--

Once outside the Aerodrome they were surrounded by immensely tall buildings that seemed to touch the sky. Air speeders crowded the skies while civilians crowded the streets. The entire planet was one big metropolis.

Balthier put his hands on his hips and took in a deep breath of the city air. "Coruscant."

"Home sweet home", Marina smiled.

The city was divided into many levels. The upper levels were for people of the higher class. The lower levels were for people of all kinds. Some came down for the good food while others actually called the filth of the lower levels home.

Balthier and Marina had discovered something rather odd very quickly over the years. The lower the level, the better the food. Not long ago, while on Tantooine, they heard that an ex-pirate had opened up a restaurant called Viktor's Diner. Apparently it was becoming rather popular.

The two friends walked a few blocks down the street in silence until they reached Viktor's Diner. Once inside, a robotic waitress stopped to greet them. "Welcome to Viktor's Diner. Will you be joining us for a meal?"

Balthier curled his lip at the droid. "We're here to see Viktor" Marina told her, knowing Balthier's distaste for droids. He was convinced they were the reason why so many people were without jobs and that was the one arguement Marina would lose with him.

The waitress nodded and left to find Viktor. "This city gets more and more droids everytime we come here" Balthier muttered.

"Marina? Balthier? What are you two pirates doin' around here?" Viktor smiled as he shook Balthier's hand. "Nothing much" Balthier answered as Marina gave Viktor a quick hug. To put it simply, Viktor was short and stocky with a balding head.

"We just came to see if it was actually you who owns this place", Marina clarified.

"Yeah well", Viktor rubbed the back of his neck, "after getting released I decided to find something more constructive than pirating."

"And how is that working out for you?" Balthier asked with a grin.

Viktor shrugged his shoulders with a wide smile on his face. "A lot less profitable than pirating that's for sure." He indicated an empty booth nearby. Balthier and Marina slid into one side while Viktor sat across from them. Balthier stretched his arm out on top of the booth seat lazily and Marina crossed her arms on the table. Her medium length black hair fell in front of her shoulders and covered up her arms.

He waved a finger back and forth to indicate both of them. "So are you guys...?" He trailed off when they started to shake their heads simultaneously. Viktor knew that the two of them were a perfect match for each other and that they both had feelings for one another. But he also knew that both were too stubborn to admit it.

"So what brings you two to Coruscant?"

Balthier opened his mouth to speak but Marina, of course, beat him to it. "Balthier flew the Strahl into an asteroid field to get away from some pesky space cops."

Viktor didn't ask any farther. He could sense it was still a touchy subject. "So where are you two headed after she's fixed?"

"We're not sure yet. We might even stay here for some time" Balthier answered.

"Viktor we need you in the kitchen", a waitress called.

The three of them stood up from the booth. "Stop by sometime you two" Viktor said as he shook Balthier's hand again. "Bye Viktor" Marina smiled.

The two pirates headed out the door into the busy city. They walked a few more blocks until they reached a crowded pub. Most everyone in the room was either old or Balthier and Marina's age. Balthier found two empty bar seats and sat down. Marina plopped down next to him and asked, "So where are we off to next captain?"

Balthier flagged the tired bartender down and they ordered their drinks. "Not sure." The bartender returned with their drinks and then left them to their conversation.

"What about Java back on Tantooine? I heard he recently picked up a few rare items worth more than some planets."

Balthier shook his head. "Do you remember what happened the last time we stole from Java? You nearly became one of his slaves and I almost had to become a waiter. A waiter! Can you imagine?"

Marina tilted her head slightly to the side as she pictured Balthier in black boots and pants, a white dress shirt, and a black vest and bow tie. "Damn. You'd look sexy" she said matter-of-factly.

Balthier looked at her as if she were crazy. "I'd look sexy in almost anything."

"Oh yeah, I forgot" she teased.

They finished their drinks and ordered more. They were about halfway through with their second round when out of the blue Balthier says, "What about Cidolfus?"

Marina choked on her drink to the point where Balthier wondered if he should take her to the hospital. "Are you insane? Cidolfus? Cid? Your father? I thought you said you'd never go back to Endor."

"No I said I would never go back to my father. I never said that I wouldn't steal from him" Balthier corrected.

"Okay let's pretend for a second that Cid is not your father. Have you even considered what kind of bullshit we'd have to go through to get in? Not to mention getting out?"

"Yes and have you considered the fact that I used to be in charge of security in my father's palace? I know every way in and out of that palace without being seen with my eyes closed."

Marina considered it for a moment. This was crazy but she sighed in defeat. "You're the captain."