Centripetal Force
by dilly r

"It's always circular," old Ben Kenobi says. "Find a clock here that counts time in a line. Even the most complex ones go back to the beginning eventually, don't they? The timelines have it wrong. Everything repeats."

"I used to get business, you know," Torm grunts as he squints at the gears of one of the broken timepieces. In some places, a small, cheap timepiece would not be taken in to be fixed, but there is not much to go around in Tatooine. Not for those who are neither master nor slave.

Ben is walking around the room -- which is hung with a variety of wall clocks -- taking a moment to appreciate each one. Finally, he stops in front of one that he is particularly fond of. It has a simple design, really, but the silver etched in a way that there are a thousand shades of gray from very nearly white to very nearly black. "Don't be ridiculous, when did you have business out here? Only those ugly armored clocks -- or whatever you call the blasted things -- are capable of lasting a year with the weather and the sand. Even those pitiful contraptions tell time in a circular manner."

Torm signs and takes off his spectacles to wipe them clean. "What are you blathering on about, you crazy old wizard?"

"Nothing," Ben said quietly, with a smile that he kept to himself. "Everything. Anything, really."

"And you wonder why everyone thinks you're insane."

Ben quirks an eyebrow, keeping his eyes focused on a particularly nice phoenix design in the corner of his silver clock. "When did I ever say I wondered that?"

Torm shrugs.

"However, I will argue that I am neither old, nor a wizard," Ben adds.

Torm chuckles in a way that makes Ben's spine crawl with irritation. There was a time when no one would disregard a Jedi's words like that. A time when there was some form of dignity. "Are you buying anything?" Torm asks.

"No," Ben says. "I just needed to remember that it's circular, is all. A friend of mine has gone away today."

"Didn't know you had any friends, Wizard." Torm says

"Well, he's been dead for some years, so I doubt he counts anymore."

Torm drew a deep breath, which Ben knew was a sign the old shopkeeper was revisiting the idea that his i old wizard /i was crazy, then he replaces his glasses on his nose and begins to work again on the little broken timepiece.

"The last time I lost him," Ben says. "I met a boy, and things went wrong. I think that I will have another chance again soon." He stands straight and looks at Torm. "Circular, you see."

"Whatever you say, Wizard. Go on. I'm expecting a customer soon." Torm waves a hand dismissively.

"Of course." Ben bowed slightly, more gingerly than he used to, of course, and he left the clock shop.

When his time came around again, he would be ready