It was a cool Coruscanti evening as Elizabeth Thompson made her way through the maze that was Galactic City.

She stopped to gaze at the setting sun, its beautiful colors of oranges and reds cascading down the tall, gleaming buildings like fiery waterfalls.

The sight was utterly beautiful.

The young woman stood there another moment, watching as other pedestrians – humans as well as non-humans – passed her by, going about their business.

Her gaze shifted towards ships of all shapes and sizes in ordered lanes high up above her head and again found herself gawking at the technicality of this world.

She would never get used to this place.

With an inward sigh, she turned away from the setting sun and headed up yet another flight of stairs.

Slowly she walked through a vast corridor that was linked to a large market place. Before even getting there, her breath caught in her throat as she took in her surroundings.

Tapestries of worlds unknown to her hung from the high walls, each in intervals between immensely large windows. Three separate pedestals of a marble material stood at one end of the corridor, each carrying small statuettes of military personnel long deceased.

Elizabeth supposed this was a memorial of sorts and refrained from touching anything that was breakable.

She knew she could be a klutz when it came to valuable artifacts so she swiftly moved on towards loud commotion emanating from ahead.

And there she again shifted her attention towards the sky, finally making out her destination.

From down here the Jedi temple looked amazingly imposing, an elegant landmark composed of five separate towers. She had so far only seen pictures and holo-vids of the temple but standing beneath it, made a shiver run down her spine.

So many Jedi had trained here, so many had died here. And now here resided the new generation of Jedi, who had sworn to protect life and peace.

As a child she had always envisioned herself being a Jedi Knight of old, fighting alongside one of the Jedi Masters of the Republic. She would lie in bed and gaze out to the night sky, hoping that someday someone would come rescue you her from her boring school life and whisk her away to an adventure she would never forget.

But of course, no one had come and once she had hit puberty the dreams had faded as well.

She strolled down a sidewalk in between various alien and human booths, taking in new aromas and smells of foods and drinks she didn't even know existed.

A little farther down the street she could make out a small bald headed man trying to sell broken up speeder parts to two Bith he was conversing with but they turned their backs on him, leaving the man with an odd expression on his thick face.

At least market places were the same anywhere one went.

She stopped at an intersection and gazed up towards a sign hefted on a small building and turned to the left, hoping she would soon find the entrance to the temple.

Her feet were starting to hurt since she had been walking for the better part of two hours. But it had definitely been worth it.

Although Coruscant was the most crowded and hectic place she had ever set foot on, it was an adventure she wouldn't have wanted to miss out on.

It took her another few minutes of climbing stairs before she caught sight of two large pillars that finally represented her destination.

Hurrying a little and hoping she wouldn't run into any problems, she walked through a large open area that took her breath away. It was a huge hallway, bathed in golden colors, the walls and many other pillars reflected the light from outside.

"A total waste of space." She murmured under her breath and hurried down the hall.

Even though, she had to admit, it was beautiful.

After another few steps she walked through a low door to end up in a sort of anteroom.

A receptionist desk stood at the far side but otherwise the room was empty.

She walked up to one of the many windows and gazed to the streets below. The sight was breathtaking from up here and she wondered what it would be like to be standing in the High Council Chamber.

Elizabeth was just about to turn around to look for another entrance way when she heard a shuffling sound from behind her.

A young girl, maybe twenty years old, came strolling down the hallway, her gaze fixed on a data pad in her hands. She hadn't even noticed Elizabeth standing there.

And as she looked up, a startled expression on her face, she folded her hands behind her back, "May I help you?" she asked slowly.

"Uh…yeah. I'm looking for someone."

The girl smiled, "You've found someone." She said cheerfully, moving behind the receptionist desk and seating herself on a large, black leather chair.

I'll get right to the point then…

"I guess so." Elizabeth forced a smile, "Is Kyp Durron around?"

"You mean Master Durron?"

She arched an eyebrow. This was a surprise.

"Huh. So they granted that stubborn show-off the rank of Master? He must be good."

The girl's eyes grew wide but she said nothing. Elizabeth supposed that it wasn't an everyday occurrence for someone to wander into the Jedi temple and start insulting one of their highly decorated Jedi Masters.

The girl was speechless to say the least and Elizabeth recognized dismay in her dark eyes, "Don't worry. He's an old friend. I just stopped by to say hello."

"I…" she swallowed, "I could call and see if he's available." She offered and Elizabeth nodded her approval.

"You do that. I'll just wait." She said sweetly hoping to extinguish a little bit of the girl's nervousness.

The girl opened a comm channel to wherever the Jedi were hiding in their precious little temple and after only a few seconds Elizabeth heard another speaker from the other end.

"Good Morning, Master Skywalker. I have a visitor for Master Durron. Is he in?"

There was a short pause on the other end, "He's in the hangar bay."

"Thank you, Sir."

The girl signed off and lifted her head towards Elizabeth.

"If you'd like, I could comm him?"

Elizabeth smiled, "That won't be necessary. I'll just go surprise him. Which way?"

The girl stood, "I'll show you. Follow me, please."

Elizabeth had the feeling the entire Jedi temple was built on the concept of pillars and large hallways. If it was supposed give visitors the feeling of pompousness she didn't know but it was having the effect of "better-than-thou" on her.

The place was a wonder in itself but too much was just too much.

They exited the hall she had come through but turned right towards another pair of huge doors with intricate symbols engraved into the material.

"This is the hangar bay." The girl said, "I'll let you go on without me."

"Thank you." Elizabeth said with a smile, "You've been a great help."

She shrugged, "I do the best I can." And with that she turned on her heel and left Elizabeth alone in the vast cavern of a hallway.

She took a deep, steadying breath and let many scenarios play across her mind's eye at how this meeting would play out.

There were only two options; either he was happy to see her or not.

"Let's get this over with." She whispered and walked through towards the hangar bay.

Which was, of course, enormous.

Only a few X-Wings stood lined against the wall to her left and at the far end she recognized a pair of new speeder bikes.

Otherwise the place was empty.

It smelled of oils and mechanical solutions and it gave her a feeling of home. As a child she had always been around broken up vehicles due to her father owning a shop in her home city. When she was old enough she had helped him the best she could but had disappointed the old man when deciding to go to the university instead of taking over the shop.

Slowly she made her way down the aisle of X-Wings, listening to faint sounds coming from the very end.

And she stopped in her tracks as she watched a man, his back turned towards her, working on one of the X-Wings. She had absolutely no idea about the newest models, or any model for that matter, but she found the small craft to be very formidable.

Elizabeth tried hiding a grin as Kyp turned around, his eyes growing a little wider as he recognized his visitor.

Without a word he dropped the small hydrospanner on a tool belt lying on the floor and with his arm, wiped sweat from his brow.

Oh, dammit… Elizabeth thought, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

The man looked good. Too good.

His hair was longer than last she remembered and bound together in a rather short ponytail in the nape of his neck. A few dark stray strands hung into his handsome face.

And he smiled that wicked grin she had tried so hard to forget.

"Hey there handsome." She said, hoping her smile didn't seem too forced.

"Liz Thompson." He said, leaning against the small fighter craft, "Now to what do I owe this unexpected visit?"

Elizabeth shook her head slightly, "I don't even get a hello?"

He laughed and walked towards her, suddenly grabbing her hips and pulling her into a friendly, yet tight hug. "Of course you do."

"How you've been?" she asked after letting him go.

The older man shrugged and put on another roguish grin, "The usual, I guess. But good. How about you?"

"Can't complain."

Which was a downright lie but she wouldn't start up a conversation they had already been through so many times, so many years ago.

"What brings you to Coruscant?" Kyp asked while moving back towards his vehicle and picking up his tools.

Elizabeth had been afraid of that question. Of course, she could have come up with some lame story about ominous business meetings but she was pretty sure Kyp wouldn't believe one word she said.

But then she didn't want to come over seeming too pathetic. The truth was simple; she had plainly missed the arrogant and sometimes annoying Kyp Durron. She had wanted to see him, to hear his voice, to be near him again.

She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of telling him this in so many words. It was an impossibility to know what it would to do his already over-the-top ego.

"A few reasons. Nothing important. And since I have a whole lot of time on my hands, I figured I'd come visit." She cleared her throat, "Since a certain young man didn't deem it necessary to drop me a line or two in…what? How long has it been? Six years?"

Kyp made a face, "I've been busy."

"Ah yes. Classified Jedi stuff. Doesn't matter. Mustn't dwell on the past."

He chuckled, "No. Mustn't dwell."

Throwing the tool belt into the cockpit of the X-Wing and remotely closing it down, Kyp rubbed his dirty hands on his trousers.

He looked like a typical grease-monkey and Elizabeth cracked yet another smile.

"I hope I wasn't interrupting anything?"
"Nope, I was about done anyway." He hesitated for a moment, his green eyes wandering over to his friend, "You look good, you know. Better than when we said good-bye."

Elizabeth arched an eyebrow, "Let's not talk about that just yet." She said in a low voice.

"But you're feeling –"

"Kyp, I came here to spend some time with my friend and maybe catch up on the good old times. Not to talk about things no one can change. I feel great. Let's just leave it at that for now, alright?" she said softly but left no room for arguments.

He forced a smile, "Alright."

"How about we get something to eat, then? I'm halfway starved."

Kyp smiled, "And I know just the place."

Seven years earlier