A/N: I love these characters.
I-i-I-i-I-i-I-i-I-i-I
FOUR:
The next day, Padmé found herself sitting on a padded bench in the corridor of a small transport with plenty of time to ponder her most recent life choices. Through an archway she could partially see the backs of Obi-Wan and Anakin as they milled about with copiloting the ship, and nearby was a small droid. This droid was rummaging around in the guts of an opened panel, plugging and unplugging wires and cleeping at the occasional spark.
She felt a little bit ignored.
That, of course, was a ridiculous thing to feel and she shoved that away the instant it reared its ugly head in her psyche, and she stood to stare out a small window at the space passing her by. They would reach the Naboo shipment in not too many clicks, she wagered, and she hoped the merchants weren't too familiar with what the former Queen of Naboo looked like. She felt a twinge in her brow and felt the sting of a headache coming on.
"Are you bored yet?" she heard Obi-Wan say behind her.
Glancing into the window's reflection, she saw his form in it like a mirror; his gaze was upon her, open and kind… like always. She turned to face him and smiled.
"Yes," she replied, proclaiming: "I am bored."
"Well, I could give you something to do-," he almost finished saying, but she stepped toward him and cut him off.
"Do you think they'll recognize me?" she asked him, allowing some of her fears out.
Obi-Wan looked at her, considering. He glanced over her disguise, her merchant's suit with a cape, and then her face, and he stopped at her hair, his gaze lingering there. He stepped closer and lifted a hand.
"What if…," he began, moving a hand to touch the bunned braid at the nape of her neck, "you were to let this down."
Padmé ignored the shiver that went up her spine at his touch. She was becoming very good at that.
"What do you mean," she inquired, perhaps too politely.
"Well, I," he said, lacking completion, and then he moved behind her. She could feel his gentle pull at the pins that held her braid in place as he removed them one by one. Feeling the braid release, he unwound it and eased it forward over her shoulder to lie in a long plait and came around once again to her view.
"Like that," he said, handing her a half dozen pins.
"I suppose it is rather plebeian," mused Padmé, considering she never would wear her hair like that.
Obi-Wan grinned at her.
"It doesn't look half-bad," replied Obi-Wan, waving an aloof hand.
"It doesn't matter if I look lovely or terrible," said Padmé. "It only matters if I get the job done."
"Ah, there's the practical senator," said Obi-Wan. "But as far as 'lovely' or 'terrible'… you only ever look one of the two, and I shan't reveal which one it is."
Padmé laughed at that.
"Stop flattering me," said Padmé, "I don't know what you're after, but you're not getting it."
"Oh, but I've already gotten what I wanted," said Obi-Wan, smiling.
"Have you?" she asked.
"You're here, aren't you?" he asked.
"Oh, stars," replied Padmé, feeling exasperated, "Don't remind me."
Now it was his turn to laugh. She found herself enjoying his laugh more and more. She liked it when he was happy, and perhaps she liked it too much. She found herself wanting to make him smile as much as she could. It was concerning, to say the least.
"How long have we until we reach the shipment vessel?" she asked.
"Hmn," said Obi-Wan, taking a glance at the squat droid nearby. "What do you think 3-NF?"
The droid squeebled and prinked a vague reply to the tune of about two clicks.
"Mn," said Padmé in disapproval, "I'm going to need something to do else I might lose my mind."
"We can't have that," said Obi-Wan. "Come with me and we'll check the outer hull casing signals."
"That sounds even worse than nothing!" objected Padmé.
"Have you ever done it before?" inquired Obi-Wan.
"No," relented Padmé.
"Then," said Obi-Wan. "You can't say you don't like it. Come on."
They started to move towards the back door exiting the causeway, when Anakin stopped them from the starboard.
"Where are you two going?" asked Anakin, as if they had to ask his permission to do anything.
"Repairs," relayed Obi-Wan with little explanation. Really it was almost as little explanation as possible, and Padmé liked him more for it.
"I could help too," said Anakin, moving to leave the piloting starboard.
"No, no," said Obi-Wan, holding up a hand, "You should stay in the cockpit, just in case something comes up. We'll be fine."
"Oh," said Anakin, glancing between Padmé and Obi-Wan. He didn't look like he wanted to relent. "If you're sure…"
"Besides," added Obi-Wan, "there's really only room for two to work in the casing signal unit."
That didn't seem to make Anakin feel any better about it, in fact he looked more agitated. Padmé found this quite interesting. Anakin shifted his gaze to her.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" demanded Anakin, appearing a little affronted.
"Like what, exactly?" inquired Padmé, putting on her best diplomat's face.
Anakin gave her a dark look and moved to go back into the starboard.
"Nothing," said Anakin, and he disappeared.
She had a faint niggling like she wanted to go after him, to find out what was bothering him, or even just to tease him more, but she shrugged it off and went with Obi-Wan.
"He's been a little grumpy lately, would you say?" she asked Obi-Wan as they moved towards the casing signal control room.
"Yes," said he replied, thoughtful. "I think he's … going through some things."
"Oh?" asked Padmé, curious.
Obi-Wan just nodded, but didn't elaborate, and she was left to stew in her own confusion.
It was true what Obi-Wan said about only two being able to fit in the casing signal unit. The idea of putting Anakin in here as well brought to mind a can of sardines. The unit was lined with open panels of machinery, of fuses and relays and wires of all types, and she knew not what a single bit of it did. Obi-Wan pulled a case from the wall and put it in her hands, opening it to reveal a set of battered tools.
"If you would hold this, it would be most helpful," he said with a smile.
"Good," said Padmé. "I was afraid you were going to ask me to help you fix something."
"Not a fixer, are you?" he asked, picking out a tool with a flanged end.
"That isn't what I've been trained to do, no," she replied.
He opened one of the few panels which weren't already opened and began tinkering with the wires inside.
"But not even in your spare time?" he asked.
"Not more than the average person, I don't think," she said. "Or maybe not even as much as the average person."
He glanced at her.
"That needs to change, now," he said.
"No, it doesn't," she objected.
He grinned at her and gestured to the open panel. She gave him a very dry look.
"Come on," he said, gesturing with the tool. "It's useful to know."
She heaved a sigh.
"Fine," she said, closing the box of tools and placing it back on the wall. She approached Obi-Wan and his panel of madness and began to inspect it. "What am I looking at? I really have no idea what I'm looking at."
"These are the relays that power the outer hull shields," he said, coming beside her and pointing out several things that looked like black tubes which plugged into different ports. "In order to keep the shields functioning properly, the relays have to be refreshed."
"And how does one refresh a relay?" she inquired, hoping that was the most logical question to ask next, and trying, in this proximity, to ignore the bas relief of his earthen scent.
"Like this," he said, pulling one from one end of its port and using the flanged tool to turn the end connect clockwise. He then plugged the relay back into the next port to the right.
"Ah," said Padmé, thinking to herself that it looked like tedious work.
"Now you try," he said.
"Uhm…" said Padmé.
"You can do it," he said with a chuckle.
"I know I can do it," she retorted, "but the question is: do I want to do it?"
"And the answer is 'yes'," said Obi-Wan serenely, as if this were a lesson in Jedi meditations.
She couldn't stop herself from snorting at him.
"The things you get me to do," she muttered, reaching her hand up into the knot of relays.
"Do that one," he said.
"Which one?" she asked, running her fingers over the chaos of loops.
"There," he said, pointing to one near her hand.
She pulled it from its base and the ship bucked in protest, shoving her into the panel with Obi-Wan close behind.
"Ack!" she cried, wondering if she'd killed them all.
"Not that way!" he said, reaching around her to plug the base of the loop back into its socket.
The ship stabilized and she became aware of how close they were and of the sound of his breathing, faint against the side of her neck. She shoved traitorous thoughts away.
"I only did what you told me to do," said Padmé defensively.
Obi-Wan was quiet a moment, then said with extra-patience, "The top socket, not the base. You'll disrupt the whole ship's power supply that way."
"So I noticed," she replied, glancing askance to catch a glimpse of Obi-Wan over her shoulder. "Are you sure this is something I should learn?"
He chuckled and pulled away, the adrenaline of the moment over for now. Padmé turned her back to the panels and leaned on them, crossing her arms to regard Obi-Wan. He still appeared flustered, if only some.
"Perhaps you can just hold the toolbox…," he said, pulling the toolbox from the wall again and handing it to her. "For now."
She smiled and handed him the flanged tool she still had in her hand.
"What are you doing in here?" demanded Anakin from the doorway, surprising them both. "Whatever you did knocked us out of light speed!"
"Ah," said Obi-Wan, "I pulled out the relay base by mistake."
Anakin stared at Obi-Wan.
"How could you do that?" he asked. "That's a mistake only an idiot would make!"
"Who are you calling an 'idiot'?" Padmé found herself demanding of the padawan. Anakin's fury turned on her like dragon fire.
"Whoever was stupid enough to pull out the relay by the base!" he replied.
"Obi-Wan is your master!" retorted Padmé. "You should never talk to him like that!"
"Maybe he's not the one I'm calling an idiot," replied Anakin, folding his arms.
"What!" cried Padmé.
"Am I right in assuming you know I couldn't have been the one to pull the relay base, Anakin?" inquired Obi-Wan.
"Yes, master," said Anakin, briefly submissive. "It was obvious because I know you well enough to know you wouldn't make that mistake, and I also know you well enough to know you would cover for… her."
"You will not refer to Senator Amidala as an idiot," said Obi-Wan and it was instantly clear to all present that on this he would not budge. It was a rare moment of Obi-Wan taking and using his absolute authority. "Or any like disparaging term."
"Yes, master," said Anakin, appearing chastened to some degree. "But she could have destabilized the ship."
"There was no real danger," said Obi-Wan. "I was here the whole time to be sure."
"Of course, you were," said Anakin, his rebelliousness beginning to rise again. "You're always with her."
Obi-Wan blinked and seemed momentarily surprised by Anakin's statement.
"How can he not be?" asked Padmé, coming to Obi-Wan's rescue, or so she hoped. "We're on a tiny transport. Where else shall I go? In the cargo hold?"
"If you'd like," said Anakin with a smirk.
"I'd like to put you in the cargo hold," threatened Padmé.
"Ha, I'd like to see you try," said Anakin.
"Oh, perhaps I don't do everything with brute force, like you, but I could make it happen in the Senate… and for a long time," said Padmé.
"Are you proposing having me put away in a cargo hold… through legislative means?" asked Anakin in disbelief.
"Don't mess with a senator, Anakin," said Obi-Wan, who looked very entertained.
Anakin threw his hands up and said, "It's too small in here for the three of us," and stalked out.
"Don't blow up the ship!" he yelled from the distance.
Padmé stole a glance at Obi-Wan in Anakin's absence as they both attempted to stifle their mirth. It wouldn't be nice to share mirth at Anakin's expense behind his back. It just wouldn't.
"The bottom line is," said Obi-Wan, "don't disconnect the relays by the base."
"Lesson learned," said Padmé, and then, considering, she decided to change tack: "Obi-Wan…"
"Yes?" he asked, moving to inspect the panel relays again.
"Do you detect some… I don't know… imbalance in Ani?" she asked carefully.
Obi-Wan didn't reply for a moment.
"Yes," he said while resetting a relay with the flange.
"He seems very quick to anger," she said.
Obi-Wan reset the next relay, his hands practiced and careful.
"It doesn't seem very Jedi-like," added Padmé.
She watched him draw a breath and let it out, and then he moved on to the next relay. His lack of response stretched out until she felt a twinge of anxiety.
"Would you like to try this one?" asked Obi-Wan, pointing to the next relay tube.
"If you think that's wise," she said cautiously.
"Of course, how shall you learn if you don't make mistakes, first?" he asked, smiling at her.
Padmé nodded, still unsure, and reached her hand into the panel, touching the relay tube with her fingers, but not pulling anything out, not yet. Obi-Wan put his hand over hers, guiding her fingers to the correct port, and she pulled it out with a jerk.
Breathless, she waited for the ship to explode. It didn't.
She glanced over her shoulder at Obi-Wan in triumph.
"It looks like that was the right one," said Obi-Wan, amused.
He handed her the flanged tool.
"Ah," said Padmé, unsure with the tool. "Shall I do it like this?"
"Here," he said, again placing his hand over hers to guide the clockwise turn with the flange. "Now, place it in the next port over."
"This one?" she asked, hovering.
"There," he said, close, almost surrounding her in his guidance. She could smell him, feel him, and there was no time when Obi-Wan was more in his element than when providing instruction. She felt his ease with it, and how much he enjoyed teaching her something that was so simple, yet so new to her.
She docked the relay tube in the right port with a dull click.
"I did it," she said, feeling the radiance of the smile on her face. She felt almost silly being so proud of something so small, but she was.
"Try another one," he said, and then pointing, his hand brushing her wrist, "This one."
"Yes, master," she said jokingly, and he laughed a little, quietly, beside her.
The second relay was much easier than the first. She understood quickly how it was to be done, and realized it wasn't as complicated as it looked at first glance. As she moved onto the third Obi-Wan began to speak.
"If I were to disallow you to try again after your initial failure, you would never have learned anything," said Obi-Wan. "It is through overcoming mistakes and failure that skill is built. In fact, perhaps it is better to have more struggle and overcome it in the end than to learn with ease."
Though he was over her shoulder, she could see him glance at her in her peripheral vision.
"It's so with Anakin," said Obi-Wan.
She paused in her fourth relay and glanced at him.
"He struggles," Obi-Wan told her, "but I believe if he can overcome he will be one of the greatest Jedi that have ever been."
That seemed difficult to imagine, because there were so many powerful Jedi already.
His voice softened, "It is because he struggles that he has that potential."
"Because…," considered Padmé, "it is in the overcoming that true power is created?"
He went quiet and she waited for a response, until finally she turned to look at him. He gazed at her with something she couldn't quite put her finger on.
"Yes," he said quietly. "That is exactly right."
Padmé didn't know what was transpiring between them, but Obi-Wan seemed very intent upon her. She decided to vent the intensity of the moment with deflection.
"Are you trying to say you've been using all of this relay business to teach me a life lesson?" she asked, waving the flanging tool at the panel.
Obi-Wan smiled and chuckled.
"I can't seem to help it," he said.
"Well," said Padmé with a return smile, "you're quite good at teaching. I believe I can finish these relays and… possibly… have a bit more tolerance for Anakin's shenanigans, as well."
"Only a little bit," said Obi-Wan. "He could use you keeping him on his toes."
"Then," said Padmé, pointing to the tools with her flange, "Would you hold that toolbox for me, Assistant Kenobi? I've got work to do."
Obi-Wan laughed and complied, easy to be entreated.
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