Sorry this took so long. Life's been busy. This is planned as four chapters, covering up to about 11 ABY.
This is considerably shippier than Tales of the Centennial Chihuahua was, but it is in the same continuity.
Many thanks to Sabrina06 for ideas and support.
This chapter takes place over approximately the first year after the Battle of Yavin. Phineas and Isabella are 13-14.
Ferb had helped him get a data feed from Tatooine Traffic Control's entry database, and now it had just gone off; the Centennial Chihuahua was stopping in for the first time since Isabella had dropped them off three weeks earlier.
She'd said she didn't know when she'd be back. She confused him in an enthralling way; sometimes she'd be cold and distant, and then she'd kiss him and their bodies pressed together like there was nothing she wanted more than to be with him.
Regardless, he wanted to spend more time with her. He'd have to take what opportunities he could.
"Ferb, I'm heading in to Mos Eisley. Looks like the Chihuahua is coming down in Bay 71 again."
Ferb raised an eyebrow and cocked his head.
"Sure, I'd love for you to come along. You stopping at the cantina?" Phineas asked.
Ferb nodded.
"Vanessa performing again?" Phineas asked with a grin.
Ferb blushed and nodded.
"Sounds great. Let's go."
Isabella had just finished offloading her cargo when the farmboy stuck his triangular head into the docking bay.
"Hey, Isabella," he said with a big grin.
"Let me guess," she asked with a raised eyebrow, "You were just passing by and happened to notice my ship?"
He walked in toward her. "Nope. I'm pulling a feed from traffic control to let me know when you're here. Meeting up with you is too important to leave to chance."
Lovely. Just what I need. My own little welcoming committee. I swear, he's like a puppy. A cute little puppy I just want to hug and snuggle and...
She smiled at him. "That's fine. I need to meet with someone in an hour or so, but we can hang out until then."
He stepped up to her, tipping her chin up and gently kissing her. "I'm sure we can find something to do," he whispered.
Isabella smiled as she took the Centennial Chihuahua into hyperspace, outbound from Tatooine. She hadn't really expected Phineas to come find her again, but she wasn't about to complain. He was still cute.
And it wasn't like she'd deliberately stopped at Tatooine to see if he'd show up. It had just been a convenient stop between Christophsis and Molavar. Not that she'd really needed to stop there, but it was nice to have a break occasionally.
Whatever. This wasn't a relationship. This was just friendship that happened to involve making out. That was fine. She'd promised herself not to care about anyone, but friendship with limited benefits wasn't a problem.
Now that she had that sorted out in her head, she started planning out where to go after Molavar. A trip to Llanic would be profitable, and probably require a stop at Tatooine on the way through. Not that that was why she'd do it, of course.
She'd just dropped off a load of cargo on Llanic when Pinky quietly slipped into the docking bay.
"What can I do for you?" she asked.
He pulled out a small translation box and typed into it. "I need transport back to Kabal," the box spoke emotionlessly. "The Imperials are trying to find me. Are you willing to help me get away?"
"Sure. Get on board while I line up my next cargo."
They were outbound when the Imperial customs corvette hailed them. Isabella quickly scanned her surroundings, and found an interdictor cruiser lying in her best path to hyperspace.
"They must really want you bad," she said as she cut the engines.
Pinky nodded sadly. He typed a bit, and the box said, "I'm sorry I got you mixed up in this."
"Nah, we'll be fine. How good are you at pretending to be an ordinary pet?"
Quickly, Pinky took off his fedora and dropped to all fours, barking mindlessly.
"Let's hide the fedora," Isabella said, placing it and the translation box behind a hidden panel near the cockpit. "And hope they don't bring the heavy scanners on-board."
After a tense few moments, the customs cutter connected to the docking hatch. Two stormtroopers stepped through, weapons ready, followed by an officer. The officer scanned the inside of the ship with his piercing blue eyes, peeking out from under his grey uniform cap. Two more stormtroopers brought up the rear.
Pinky began to shake, and Isabella patted the little dog to calm him. "What can I do for you?" Isabella asked.
"We're investigating the escape of a Rebel spy, but we're unsure what kind of animal they were using this time," the officer said. "Did this dog have a fedora or some other sort of uniform? They hide all sorts of useful tools and devices in them."
Isabella looked down at Pinky, puzzled. "No, he's just a dog."
"We'll see about that. Are there any hidden compartments on this ship?" the officer asked. "If you confess now, we can go easy on your punishment."
Isabella shook as if terrified, then took a deep breath. "Okay. There is one hidden compartment. I'll show it to you."
She led them over to the side of the cargo bay, where she pressed in and opened a small panel. The officer rushed over and pulled out a box of Firestar Girl cupcakes.
"Cupcakes?" the officer asked.
"I've had issues getting them through customs before," Isabella said. "Customs officers seem to like confiscating them."
"Indeed," he replied, looking at the box of cupcakes hungrily. "Well, these aren't on your manifest, so I'm afraid I'm going to have to keep them. Thank you for your cooperation; there will be no further penalty. Troopers, let's return to the ship."
Once the customs cutter had undocked and signaled that they were clear to go, Isabella and Pinky simultaneously let out deep breaths.
"You would not believe how many problems a hidden box of cupcakes can get you out of," Isabella said as she entered the coordinates into the navicomputer.
After several jumps to avoid being followed, they'd arrived at Kabal, where the Rebel Alliance was involved in negotiations. Pinky escorted her into a small room where a petite young woman with long brown hair waited.
"Thank you for your assistance, Isabella. I'm Leia Organa. It's nice to meet you; my father spoke highly of you."
Isabella nodded her head. "Thank you. He was a great man. I was sorry to hear about Alderaan; my condolences on your losses."
Leia pursed her lips and nodded. "Would you be willing to keep working with us, similar to what you used to do for my father? We can't pay quite as well, but we'll do what we can."
Before Isabella could answer, a familiar man in a black vest hurried in. "Your worshipfulness, I...hello, Isabella. What brings you here?"
"Just doing a job, Solo. Why are you still here?"
"Han's been helping us out in his own way," Leia said.
"Why do you need her?" Han asked, insulted. "I can deliver things just as quickly."
"Unlike you, she doesn't have a price on her head," Leia said calmly.
Han glared at Isabella, then turned to Leia. "When you're done here, Luke has some ideas on that thing we talked about."
"Fine. I'll be done here in a couple minutes." Leia watched Han as he left the room, then shook her head and turned back to Isabella. "So, are you interested?"
Isabella took a deep breath and nodded. "I'm in."
"You got a message from some Skywalker dude," Candace said as Phineas and Ferb got back home from another trip to Mos Eisley. "Wants you to go check out some hermit's place."
"It's probably Ben Kenobi's house," Phineas said.
"That sounds right," Candace agreed. "He thinks there may be Jedi historical artifacts there."
"Makes sense. Shall we, Ferb?" Phineas asked.
Ferb shook his head. "You go on. I need to rest for a bit."
"I told you to be careful how much you drank there," Phineas said with a smile. "How about you, then, Candace? Want to come along?"
"No, I have a date in an hour."
Phineas and Ferb raised their eyebrows simultaneously.
"Okay, that was creepy," Candace said. "Anyway, Jeremy, the guy two farms over, asked me if I'd like to go watch the sunsset with him."
"Huh. Sounds cool. Jeremy's a nice guy, I hope you have a good time."
Phineas got in the landspeeder and headed off toward Ben Kenobi's hut.
The suns were just starting to set when Phineas arrived. He snapped on a glowrod as he entered the dimly-lit structure.
"If I were a Jedi artifact, where would I be?" Phineas asked himself, looking around. The place looked just as Ben had left it - well-organized and neat, with a small kitchen to one side and a moderately-sized living area.
Use the Force, Phineas, a well-known voice whispered in his mind.
Phineas closed his eyes and let the Force flow through him. A sense of presence led him into the living area, to an empty area on the floor. Looking carefully, he could see the seam of a trap door.
"Jackpot," Phineas said. "Now, how do I open it?"
He looked around but didn't see a handle or pull ring anywhere. The seam was far too small for his fingers to get into. He frowned at it, idly fingering his lightsabre.
He shook his head. Of course, it was obvious. He reached out with the Force, lifting up on the trap door from below. It swung open easily, revealing a staircase down.
The basement lights turned on as he went down the stairs, white walls shining brightly. To one side he could see a generator, busily lighting the room; on the other side, a workbench held the tools to make lightsabers. Phineas figured Luke would want to know that, so he noted it in his memo pad.
Shelves to one side held reader pads; a quick check showed Ben's financial records and notes on Luke's childhood, observed from afar. On the bottom shelf he found three small cubes; as he picked one up, it told him in his mind that it was a holocron, and held knowledge of the Jedi.
He quickly scooped it up, along with its two companions, and carried them out to his speeder. The lights turned out as he lowered the trap door back into place. He sealed up the door behind him, climbed into the speeder, and headed home.
"These are quite useful, Phineas," Ferb said, studying one of the holocrons. "Thank you."
"I sent Luke a message that I'd found them. He'll probably want a look at them as well."
Candace stuck her head into the garage. "Another message from the Skywalker dude. He says he's sending someone to pick them up. Meet them in Chalmun's Mos Eisley cantina a week from Tuesday."
"Aw. That means I'll have to miss Mom's tacos," Phineas said.
"We must all make sacrifices for the good of the galaxy," Ferb said.
Isabella strode into Chalmun's cantina, nodding to Wuher, the bartender. She grabbed a juice box and headed back toward her usual booth. It was occupied, and she was about to start arguing with the person there when she realized that it was Phineas.
"You need to go, farmboy," she whispered. "I'm meeting someone here."
"Sorry," he whispered. "I didn't realize you were on-planet. I bet the feed updated just after I left. Anyway, I'm supposed to meet someone as well."
She sat in the booth, glaring at Phineas. "Let me guess. You're supposed to meet them in this booth?"
He nodded. "Sorry. I didn't pick the place."
"So how are you supposed to identify them? Some stupid passphrase?"
"Yeah, it's a pickup line. 'Your eyes shine like Tatooine's suns'."
Isabella dropped her juice box; it bounced on the table, landing on its side and leaking slightly. "Oh, drat. That explains it. 'Your eyes are as dark as Sullust's caves.'"
Phineas's eyes lit up. "Oh! Yeah, that makes sense. Luke sent you? Here you go." He handed her a box; glancing inside she saw some data pads and a few odd cubes.
"Thanks, farmboy," she said with a smile. "Want to walk me back to my ship?"
"I'd love to," he said.