Sorry for the delay on this. November brought many projects for school and this had to get pushed to the side. I'm trying very hard to get Chapter 4 finished soon.

I have since bought Revenant Wings and I am about half way through. Despite the mention in the last chapter of the events that the game starts out with, there will be no more allusions to RW other than what is done by accident. As I stated, I am only half way through but I would say that this can be consider AU by this point. At least, no further attempts to include the events in RW will be factored into this.

Again, POV and time line is funky in this. The past are not flashbacks so the point of view at one point may not be the same for a different time. Also, the past scenes are not all from the same point. I mention this all again because I find if I am writing from Balthier's view and mean to switch to Ashe for the next part, I sometimes forget. So I try and go back and fix what I can, but if you notice that while in the same scene I slip, please point it out. This goes for all chapters.

Thanks again for all of you reviews. I really appreciate them!

"What is something more valuable? Define it for me." Ashe said as she ran her fingers over his chest.

"As I said, I'll know it when I see it," Balthier replied stopping her fingers; she was tickling him.

"Would you?" she asked.

Ashe paced around her room waiting for him to show. It was well after midnight and it was so typical of him to take his time.

She rolled her eyes at the lengths she had to go through with Adelmo, he captain of the guard. He was no Basch but he did his job well enough to insist she had guards near her bedroom. She made a big enough fool of herself that he must have figured out what was going on tonight. She pushed cleaning out the old escape route from her bedroom to the top of her list. She hadn't bothered before hand because if anyone tried to attack her underestimated the fight that would ensue.

Ashe sat at her vanity. She stood up. She walked across the room. She sat down on her bed. She stood up again. She could feel herself shaking with nerves.

Sex between them had never been like that. It has been sweet, vigorous, rough, and everything in between. But what that was just then was desperate and it was terrifying. Her body was still quaking with pleasure beneath him and his own arms shook with the effort to keep his weight off of her. He knew it wasn't the best reason and even seemed to cheapen it but if things went the way he was dreading they would tomorrow, he had to tell her. She needed to know. Hopefully, this was just the first time and not also the last.

"I love you, Ashelia," he whispered into Ashe's ear. Her arms wrapped around his neck and she pulled him down for a kiss. He put a hand to the side of her face, which is when he realized she was crying. "Ashe?" She tried to hide them but one or two tears still managed to escape from her eyes.

He rolled them so they faced each other on their sides. "Shhh," Balthier soothed. "I know this is my first time saying that to someone, but I can't have bungled it that badly."

She laid her head into his naked chest and he held her close. "Oh gods, I love you too," she breathed out.

He smiled a little to himself. It may have not been the ideal way he wished to hear those words, but hearing them was enough. "Then why the tears, Princess?"

"What do you think is going to happen tomorrow with Vayne?" she asked seriously, quickly regaining her composure.

Balthier's face became solemn. "Honestly? I don't know." He held her tighter. "But you needn't worry about that. We're the heroes of this story. And the leading man always triumphs over all and still has time to get the girl." He kissed the top of her head.

She pulled back a little and gave him a slight smile. "You seem to be comforting me a lot."

"I would hardly call twice a lot, m'dear," Balthier remarked.

"For someone who has gone without tears the last two years, twice in the span of a few months is quite a lot," Ashe said. Balthier watched as her face grew hard. "Don't do anything reckless tomorrow."

"Define reckless," he evaded. He didn't want to make promises he didn't know he would be able to keep and the truth of the matter was he was terrified as to what tomorrow would mean for them, victorious or not.

"Dying would be reckless."

Ashe sat back down at her vanity just before she heard a "Gods damn it," from her balcony.

She rushed over to greet him only to find him splayed out in a position that could only be described as "uncomfortable."

"That," he started from him position on the floor, "was the worst idea, ever."

She smirked. "I thought you could manage a simple break in?"

"A simple one, yes." Balthier stood up and started to right himself. "You didn't say it would be a ten foot drop. You're lucky that we had rope on the Strahl to shorten it, otherwise you would be sleeping alone tonight."

"What makes you think I won't be sleeping alone anyway?"

He gave her a lecherous grin. "Because, Majesty, you find me irresistible."

Ashe rolled her eyes while he dusted himself off. "I plan on having a passage way cleared out so that you can come and go undetected. It may take-"

"Oh damn it all!" He stuck a finger through the hole his shirt had just acquired. "I rather liked this shirt too."

Ashe noted he was back in his more standard attire. Court wear just was not conducive to breaking and entering apparently. "Take it off," she commanded. Balthier flashed a debauched smirk at her. "Grow up, and take off your shirt. I'll have it mended."

"Won't your staff wonder why you are having a man's shirt mended?" he asked as he started to undo his vest.

Ashe walked back into her room and pulled something out of her bureau. "I'll just say I ruined this one." She handed him the shirt he had given her the night they shared their first kiss. She watched Balthier quickly try and hide his amazement that she still had it. He took off his vest and shirt and compared it to the one she had handed her.

"Well, this simply won't do. The embroidery on the sleeves is all wrong. Besides this cut of the neck line went out of style a year ago. It's half an inch too wide. Anyone will see that it's a different shirt."

Ashe looked at the two shirts. "Believe it or not, I think you are the only one particular enough to notice. Just so you know that shirt has caused more trouble than it is worth."

"I don't know…" Balthier remarked. She watched him while he made himself rather comfortable on her bed. "The shirt is worth a rather tidy sum. I paid a great deal for it."

"One of my ladies-in-waiting, Rosalie the one whom you saw earlier, took an interest in that shirt. I trust her enough to have told her some of the details of how I acquired it. Since then, the story of "The Queen and her Pirate Hero who saved the City" has spread all over. Not just the castle but the whole region talks about you. I think Vaan and Penelo have also been encouraging these stories. You really ought to speak to them, otherwise they may blow you cover and you'll find yourself with the bounty back on your head."

"Ah, but once you are officially announced dead, you are forgiven of your crimes as a courtesy. It's not a pardon per se; Fran and I are just not prosecutable. It is almost never done without a body but I think it was just a form of honor for what we did."

"No, it wasn't," Ashe cut in morosely. "It was a well meaning Larsa and Al-Cid using their countries to help me move on."

"Well, Dalmasca is the only nation that didn't do that, but you have given me and Fran a full pardon, so thank you, your highness." She watched as he fluffed the pillows behind his head to something more of his liking.

She smiled thoughtfully. "I couldn't do it. Everyone insisted that you were dead but I didn't want to let you go." She climbed onto the bed with him and put her head on his exposed chest. They entwined their fingers. She watched him smile contently and felt the same smile on her face.

He watched Fran watch him. He'd admit it, he was sulking, and by the constant twitching of her ears, she was getting rather annoyed with him.

He had sacrificed himself in blazing glory just so he could make it easier on As- her to let him go. He knew his place. It didn't mean he had to like it.

They hadn't done much since his recovery. He had too much on his mind and didn't trust himself with a job. They hadn't even claimed the Strahl back. He just lounged around in his old bedroom or in the library most days just like he was doing currently.

"Did you hear about the festival in Dalmasca today?" Fran asked him. He grunted in the negative. "It's to celebrate their freedom."

"It's a month early," he snidely commented.

"It's to correspond with our birthdays."

"Oh?" This started to pique his interest.

"Yes," Fran continued. "The Queen is granting us full pardons."

"Why do two dead people need pardons?" He sat up.

"Apparently, we are not dead. The Queen has publicly refused to accept it."

Balthier smiled confidently for the first time in months. "I suppose then I have ring to return."

"Why did you return my ring when you did? I understand being busy and not being able to deliver it in person but if you were just going to have it delivered why did you wait a year?"

They were lying in her bed sometime later after some vigorous lovemaking. Ashe was running her hand over his chest as she did when she was content. Balthier stopped her hand and she waited for his response.

"Fran told me about the festival and your refusal to give up on us. It felt like the right time and made me figure out a few things. One was that I had found something more valuable." He paused. "Now, why it didn't feel right before and why I didn't just have it delivered before that… I don't think you are going to appreciate." She looked up at him from her vantage point on his chest. He took her hands into his.

"The truth is, until I found out that you refused to give up on me, even though by all accounts I should be dead, I was staying away because I felt that it was better that you thought me dead."

"Balthier," Ashe started to rise angrily but Balthier kept her firmly in place. He seemed to be expecting her outrage which is why he took her hands. "That's preposterous! It killed me watching the Bahamut fall. When we never found your bodies, I think that made it worse! I didn't know what way to feel! Should I write you off as lost or keep hopin-"

"Ashe," he hushed. "I know it was wrong. But I did think it was for the best. For whom, I can't say. I think I was mostly terrified of you saying 'I have my country back! Thanks! You can be on your way now!' And even if you didn't, I am still a pirate and that won't change. I shouldn't even be allowed to see you. Your councilors will certainly object to your association with me. Fran was the one who made the point that if I had my title I may as well use it to get in without causing too much alarm."

"Balthier…" Ashe began but he silenced her. She was angry because he sounded so much like her reaction after their first kiss, something that took a lot to come to terms with and she had put behind her.

"I am a fool," he told her. "Let's just leave it at that."

The next morning, Ashe woke to Balthier whispering her name.

"Ashe." Balthier poked her awake. "Love, I need to leave. I'm certain one of the maids has seen me. I don't think she was here long enough to see much but I should still leave."

"It's probably was just Rosalie or Edelaide," she replied groggily. "Don't worry. I'll speak to them. But you are right. You should get out of here before anyone else sees you."

Ashe watched Balthier get dress. "Here's something that has been bothering. What is the protocol for courtship in the court since you are Queen and have no elder gentleman for a suitor to ask permission for the honor?"

"The suitor must make an announcement to the court." She narrowed her eyes in distrust. "Why?"

"Need to know what to look out for so I don't have any other man steal you from me."

"Well, it's mostly just for show," Ashe replied. "Most noble marriages come through contracts these days so no one bothers with the courtship rituals."

"Still," Balthier said as he did the last fastening on his vest. "It won't be pretty when I have to tell some idiot boy in front of your whole court at some function that you already have been claimed." She gave him a contemptuous look to which he said, "Yes, yes, you're your own woman and all of that, but I still have a claim."

He bent down and gave her a kiss goodbye.

"I'll be around soon enough," he said.

"I love you," she told him.

He gave her another one of his rare true smiles. "And I love you too. I wish I had told you that more."

"Well you can say it to me now."

"Yes, indeed." He walked out to the balcony. "But while I am gone, do clean out that passage. I am not looking forward to having to climb this wall to flag down Fran. I'm going to ruin this shirt as well."