"Not again," Vaan groaned as he raised his hands and turned to face the man who had a knife to his back - now to his gut. "Look - I'm not who you think. Do I look like him?"

"Never seen 'im," said the man, and his companions who had surrounded Vaan as he exited the tavern nodded their assent. "But we've all seen 'is ship. Was you who landed it at the aerodrome."

"If I was really Balthier," Vaan reasoned, "would I be so stupid as to show myself like that, walking out of an airship everyone knows? Balthier's a lot smarter than that, or the bounty would've been collected a long time ago."

"Smart enough to call 'imself stupid, maybe," the man sneered, and his companions snickered behind their own raised weapons. "Even if you weren't 'im, it's you flying 'is ship, so you know 'im - and you'll be coming with us."

"I can't believe this," Vaan grumbled, rolling his eyes as he let the man prod him in the direction of... wherever this bunch was trying to take him, into an alley. This had happened twice before, and although he and Penelo had always managed to get out of it by waiting for an opening, it was really getting annoying. "Okay, honestly? He's dead. ...He was killed during the last battle of the war." Vaan had denied it for a long time, and still hated having to admit it.

Before he could say anything more, however, there was a gasp from somewhere behind him, and a thud as he and the others turned to look - at the ruffian who had just toppled over, clutching at his shoulder. Much like the man's shoulder, the crowd was now parted along the long, slightly curved blade of a sword. The one who held it was in the mouth of the alley, silohuetted against the light from the street beyond, and Vaan caught his breath. He'd insisted for months, despite all odds, but to actually see the slim figure standing there, long ears upwards and alert...

"The boy may be stupid, as he said," came the voice, with an accent that sounded even more awkward than Vaan remembered it sounding, "but he is no teller of tales. I suggest you leave him be."

Tales of the viera's ferocity must have spread, for the small gang scattered, running past him down the alley. "Wow," Vaan remarked, glancing over his shoulder at them as the footsteps faded away. "Good timing. Hey - it's really good to see you again, but do you know if Penelo's okay? These guys might have had friends..."

"You really are stupid, Vaan," came the voice again, this time without the accent, and Vaan blinked, stepping closer to get a better look. ...Fran wasn't that short, and he'd never seen her hair in... ...Oh. "We'd better start keeping the Strahl away from the aerodromes until we figure out what's wrong with the cloaking device."

"Uh. Yeah, I guess so."

"Honestly," Penelo said, exasperated, as she removed the two chocobo tailfeathers from her hair. "These guys had never seen either me or Fran before, so I wouldn't expect them to know the difference - but you?"

"Yeah, yeah..." Vaan muttered, shuffling along after her on their way out of the alley.

"My viera accent isn't even very good."

"Well, I could never make sense of her accent anyway."

"Some leading man you are."

"I know, I know," he sighed, his eyes on the pavement. Balthier never would've let himself be trapped like this. "Sorry. I know I'm... not really on his level." The months after they'd inherited the ship had taught him this lesson over and over.

He looked up when her hand rested on his shoulder, and found her smiling at him. "It's okay, Vaan. We're new to this sky pirating thing. And we're not Balthier and Fran." She shrugged a little. "As ourselves, though? I think we're just fine."