Chapter 2

When he had returned to the hangar again a few days later he was surprised but also relieved to not find her there. He remembered his promise though and used it to spur him on through the required live training that his Master insisted upon. Each time he flew he relied on the breathing technique she had taught, not contained in any text (he'd checked – extensively), and tried to imitate the grace he had once felt through her hands. His Master thought he was odd to not utilize the auto-pilot but he did not press the issue. He was simply glad to not have to drag his padawan into a cockpit on a frequent basis.

Obi-Wan would often go back to the dead zone she had taken him to. Sometimes seeking solace but sometimes there was a brief hope within him that he might meet her there again one day. But despite his efforts he never did and it would be many years before he would see her again...

The hangar was bathed in the warm orange light of the setting sun as Obi-Wan made his way to his ship. Most crews were cleaning up for the day but unfortunately for him, his journey was only just beginning.

As he approached the bay, he glanced up to find someone he didn't recognize detaching the fuel-line from his ship's fuselage. As the woman retracted the fuel-line her gaze lifted to meet his. He sensed curiosity from her. As he considered her form and stature in her jumpsuit, helmet and goggles he had a feeling that he should know this person but his memory failed.

"Master Obi-Wan Kenobi?" she ventured.

She stowed away the gear and walked towards him. Stopping a few feet away he received the distinct impression that she was sizing him up.

"Yes. And you are?" he asked, shouldering his pack stiffly.

The bag was heavy with a small chest that Master Yoda had requested he take to his intended destination.

"Your new flight mechanic: Engineer Tolobay," she said, bowing slightly to him.

He was grateful not to have to shake her grimy gloves.

"What happened to Yeltsin?" he asked, a little surprised.

Yeltsin had been his previous mech, a particularly surly Sullustan that didn't speak much.

"Retired," she said simply, shrugging.

Obi-Wan raised his eyebrows at that. He hadn't realized that their working relationship had been so poor that he wasn't even informed of his departure. But now wasn't the time to gripe about that. He stroked his beard softly as he tried to recall where he might have seen her before.

"This may seem an odd question but have we met before?" he asked.

She cocked her head to the side and squinted at him.

"I don't think so, Sir," she said thoughtfully.

Sir? He liked this one more already. But he didn't allow himself to get too enthusiastic. He had been through more flight mechanics than he dared to admit aloud.

"I've spent the last decade working around the colonies. Haven't been back to Coruscant in years," she explained.

Obi-Wan had made some infrequent visits to the colonies from time to time but it still didn't help him locate what felt like a missing memory. He decided to meditate on it later.

She put on a clean pair of gloves from her back pocket and offered a hand to him.

"May I take your pack?" she asked.

He looked at her uncertainly.

"Or not. Up to you," she said, raising her hands placatingly before dropping them.

Not used to this level of interaction, he slipped the pack from his shoulders and gave it to her, intrigued.

She swung it onto her back and proceeded to the back of the ship to place it in one of the storage compartments. She spoke to him as they went.

"I understand your destination is Alderaan. It'll be raining by the time you arrive," she said, securing the pack in place before closing the compartment and turning to him. "I checked the shield generator output, coverage and lights, just to be on the safe side," she explained.

Curious, he thought to himself. Checking the forecast for an intended destination was typically in the pilot's remit, not the mechanic. But he liked her initiative.

"Thank you," he said succinctly.

"I also looked over your astromech: R4. He had a scuffed lens so I replaced it," she added.

The droid, hearing its name, moved into view and bleeped happily to them.

"You're welcome, R4," she said, smiling lightly to it.

A mech that can also maintain astromechs and speak droid, he considered thoughtfully to himself as he touched his beard again. Curiouser.

She waited for a response from him but when it wasn't forthcoming, she spoke again.

"Is there anything you need me to do before your departure or shall I set up R4 and let you be on your way?" she asked.

He shook his head.

"Not for now," he said.

"All right then, she's all yours," she said, sounding a little relieved. Turning away, she gestured to R4. "Come on R4, let's get you set up."

As he climbed into the cockpit and checked his flight path had been successfully uploaded into the Nav he found himself slipping back into the familiar routine. His gut was still tight as it always was before flying but he no longer suffered from the nervous emotion that used to descend on him before stepping onto his ship. He had logged far too many hours now for that to be a problem anymore. He closed the cockpit and put on his headset. R4 bleeped merrily in his ear.

He heard a rap on the cockpit glass and looked to find Tolobay giving him the thumbs up symbol. He nodded and she jumped down to clear the bay area.

As he guided the ship out of the hangar, he wasn't able to see the sad look in her eyes as she watched his departure.

"Here you go, Shi-Fei," said Tolobay as she handed a cup of coffee to the hangar supervisor.

"Ah… thanks," the burly man said appreciatively before taking a long sip. "Hey, this is better than the usual dirt we get here. What you do to it?" he asked, looking at her curiously with his one eye.

Tolobay tried not to stare at his eye patch and tapped her nose secretively.

"My secret. Though perfectly legal, I assure you," she said with a smile.

The big man grunted before taking another swig.

"By the way, the rest of your equipment has arrived from the colonies," he gestured to some crates in the far corner. "The droids can carry them for you. Let me know what things of Yeltsin's you don't want and I'll distribute them to the other mechs."

"Alright. Thanks boss," she said before making her way to the crates.

Tolobay mechanically worked her way through the crates, unpacking and ferreting away the various pieces of tools and equipment she had slowly accumulated over her career. It appeared that the mysterious Yeltsin had taken a few precious mementos with him but nothing that left her in the lurch.

It had been only three days since she had relocated to Coruscant and she had forgotten how crowded it was on this planet. In fact, she felt it was even more crowded than when she left. The smell however was still the same. A mixture of dust, carbon dioxide from the mouth breathing inhabitants, and the smell of organic material decomposing between the cracks. But in here, all she could smell was engine grease and that suited her fine.

She had to force open an old rack that had rusted shut from lack of use. Grabbing the lubricant she began to oil its hinges. From the looks of things there were a bunch of dead energy cells in here. She'd see if they could be powered up again or if they were destined for recycle.

Some of the crates contents she assigned to storage. After all, not everything she had brought was useful when it came to maintaining a Jedi starfighter. Over the years she had worked on pretty much everything from private vessels for the rich, to cargo haulers to bombers and public transport shuttles. Some vessels were… more exciting than others. It was for this reason that she had jumped at the opportunity to apply for the flight mech position that had come up at the Jedi Temple. It had been nice to succeed but she wasn't allowing herself to get too excited about it. Not yet. Shi-Fei had warned her that Master Kenobi had a history of being a rather demanding pilot when it came to his ship and how it was maintained. She just needed to keep her head down and get on with the job.

As Obi-Wan stepped down from his starfighter, safely back in Coruscant, he wasn't surprised to find Tolobay already waiting for him.

"Good flight, Sir?" she asked.

He shook his head. A productive trip it was indeed, he had successfully verified the existence of another force sensitive child on Alderaan and their parents were willing for them to be trained when the time came. He had even got rid of the blasted chest Yoda wished him to deliver partway on its journey towards the outer rim. He rotated his shoulder stiffly at the memory. But what the trip hadn't contained was a comfortable flight.

"No," he said. "The temperature in the cockpit was unbearable. I fogged up briefly when I arrived. I told Yeltsin last time that the thermoregulator was playing up," he complained.

The mech nodded.

"Alright, I'll take a look. Perhaps the cooling systems need an overhaul to get their efficiency back," she said thoughtfully as she looked at the ship, accidentally rubbing grease on her chin as she touched it.

Obi-Wan was encouraged by this but he wanted to put her through her paces. Let's see what she is capable of, he thought to himself.

"Better yet," he said. "I'd like you to perform a deep clean and full systems analysis. I won't be leaving Coruscant again for a couple of weeks as I've neglected my padawan too much recently."

He looked at her expectantly to see her reaction and watched as she frowned. She pulled out her datapad from a pocket in her side.

"I thought that had been completed only six weeks ago already…"

When the datapad confirmed this fact she looked up at him with a distinctly cool expression and considered him for a moment. He waited.

"Alright," she said finally. "But if you need your ship on short notice you'll need to use an alternative."

"I can use my padawan's if need be," he said, gesturing to the bay opposite them that contained another starfighter.

She didn't seem surprised by this and didn't question further. Instead, she took a deep breath and gave him a forced grim smile.

"Well then, I'll send you a report once I'm done."

She slotted the datapad back in her pocket and made her way past him up the steps and into the cockpit.

As he made his way towards the Temple, he heard her briefly say:

"Now tell me old girl, what ails you?"

The next few days were busy with Obi-Wan as he helped Anakin to prepare for his yearly tests. Although a natural with the force and the more physical skills required of a Jedi, Anakin struggled at times with the more intellectual subjects that required him to commit fact to memory. If he handed his padawan an engineering manual he had no doubt Anakin would make short work of it but when it came to diplomatic history, well, that was another matter entirely.

After a rather intense session in one of the study rooms of the Temple's library, Obi-Wan had decided to take a walk to clear his head. On impulse, he decided to visit the hangar to see how his new mech was progressing.

When he entered through the hangar door he couldn't help but suck in a gasp when he saw what was left of his ship. The engine had been extracted and hung from a nearby crane. The entire left wing was gone and had been disassembled into tiny pieces on a tarp by the side of the craft. The fuselage itself had had so many parts removed he could see straight through to the seat in the cockpit. Seeing the exposed internal frame and wiring, he felt the unpleasant sensation of his stomach twisting.

Tolobay was busy at the back with a component that suspiciously looked like his Nav computer. As he watched, she began dismantling it with ease. He soon began to regret his decision to come down here. Seeing his ship disassembled in this way only reinforced his feelings about how fragile a cocoon it was in the harsh reality of space.

Shaking his head he decided not to return again until she notified him. He left to try and walk off the feeling that had crept into his legs that he was standing on the edge of a very high precipice…

It was over a week before he heard anything. It was early evening and Obi-Wan had been sitting in an armchair in his apartment catching up on the latest news from the Senate when her report had come through. It had been… considerable. As he skimmed through the detailed analysis and list of components that had been repaired or replaced his eyes began to glaze over. Mechanics had never particularly been his field but he knew someone else whose it was.

As if summoned by Obi-Wan's thoughts alone, Anakin entered his apartment. He had returned from his last test and he looked tired. Obi-Wan stood up and went to the kitchenette to make them both drinks. Anakin sat quietly at the breakfast counter.

"So, my padawan," Obi-Wan said placing a glass in front of Anakin before leaning his crossed arms against the counter. "How did it go?"

Anakin took the glass and drank from it greedily. Obi-Wan had tried to break his habit of drinking entire glasses as if he was a bantha on the brink of death by dehydration, but had failed miserably. He let it go this time.

Anakin placed the glass back down and looked at him, a small smile touching his lips.

"Thanks Master," he wiped the residue from his lips with the sleeve of his robe.

Again Obi-Wan noticed a habit he was eager to amend but decided to let it go.

"It went OK, I think," Anakin finally answered.

Obi-Wan felt the tension in his shoulders release a little. This was good news.

"They asked about the hundred-year darkness as you predicted. Then it was the history of the Mandalorian people which I think I got mostly right," he said with a slight wince. "Then finally it was questions on the history of the Senate, which thankfully due to your lectures I think I did quite well."

Obi-Wan straightened and smiled at him.

"Well done, Anakin. I had no doubt that you would succeed," he said warmly.

Anakin raised his eyebrow at him.

"Really? Because I'm pretty sure that at one point you compared my memory to a womp rat's," he accused, only half seriously.

"Now, that was just a jest meant to get your attention," Obi-Wan explained, also half-serious.

Anakin gave him a disbelieving look before relenting and offering him a weak smile.

"Ah, I'm just glad that's over. I would be a rotten scholar," he grinned.

Obi-Wan patted him on the shoulder before taking his drink away to refill. He could already see the sugar levels stabilizing in his padawan's skin.

Whilst he had his back turned, Anakin called out to him.

"Hey, is this the result of your deep clean?" he asked, waving Obi-Wan's datapad at him.

Obi-Wan returned with replenished drink and nodded.

"Yes. Do you think you could take a look? It's rather dense, even for me."

But he had already lost his padawan who had begun poring through the data. After a few minutes of no response he decided to try and get his attention another way.

"You hungry?"

Anakin's eyes lit up as he lifted his face from the screen.

"Yes!"

Tolobay had been enjoying a brief period of respite after working on R4 for a couple of hours when she was taken off-guard by the sudden appearance of Master Kenobi and who she assumed to be his Jedi apprentice. The younger man, teenager by the looks of him, looked at the starfighter appreciatively.

She stood up from her stool, placed her thermos on the workbench before walking forward to meet them.

"Tolobay, I'd like to introduce you to my padawan: Anakin Skywalker," said Master Kenobi, gesturing with his hand.

Anakin moved forward to offer his hand to shake. After a moment's hesitation, she shook it firmly. She had never been comfortable with touching strangers.

"Nice to meet you," she said politely.

"And you too," he replied enthusiastically. "She already looks better than I've ever seen her," he said jovially, offering his master a sly smile which was returned in good humor.

Tolobay didn't succumb to flattery regarding her work easily but she allowed herself a small flicker of pride.

"You've seen the report then, I take it?" she asked curiously to the senior Jedi.

The Jedi Master nodded, his golden hair shining in the morning light.

"Yes, you've been very thorough," he said.

Did she detect a tone of… amusement in his voice? She wondered but didn't get the chance to consider it for long. Anakin had moved to the flight steps.

"May I?" he asked her.

Tolobay directed his gaze back to his Master, who nodded. The younger Jedi lithely ran up the steps before swinging gracefully into the cockpit.

She returned her gaze to the cool blue eyes of the Jedi before her.

"Will you take her for a spin today?" she asked. "I've completed several test flights as you saw in the report but your opinion is the most important."

At that moment, R4 came over to join the conversation emitting a few bleeps and whistles. Tolobay smiled.

"R4 says he'd also like to test out some of his sensors that I upgraded this morning," she said. "If that's alright with you, of course," she added, not sure if she was being too pushy.

To her relief, Master Kenobi smiled.

"A splendid idea, R4," he said to the droid.

R4 whistled happily before moving to the back of the hangar to switch back to standby in his nook.

As the astromech's lights went out, Tolobay's eyes were drawn towards the younger Jedi who had left the cockpit and was now studying the material laid out on her workbench. He reached out to pick up one of her tools and klaxons immediately went off inside her head.

"Ah pup, pup, pup," she said loudly, rushing over and plucking the torque spanner out of his hand. "No touching of my equipment," she said, using the spanner to point at him with a stern look.

The young Jedi gave her a lazy grin.

"Oh, you don't need to worry about me. I've been using tools like these to repair droids since I was four," he said proudly.

Tolobay put the spanner back on the bench and glared at him, arms akimbo.

"I'm afraid that's besides the point. You may be the force's gift to engineering but I can't let you use these tools," she said firmly.

Anakin's face fell and he looked bewilderedly back to his Master who was watching them curiously. Seeing no help coming from that corner he tried again to persuade her.

"But I have plenty of experience, I can assure you..." he was saying but she cut him off.

"It's not about experience, Mister, um…," she paused, unsure of what title to address him by.

Certainly not a Sir but she didn't think he was a Master either. She shook her head and pressed on:

"It's about accountability. You're not certified to use this equipment. If you get hurt using my tools or an inspector walks past and simply sees you using my tools then I'm out of a job," she explained grimly. "And I don't have a lot of livelihoods left if I lose this one too," she said quietly, more to herself than anyone else.

Anakin, whose eyes had begun to squint in the beginnings of anger from his hurt pride, suddenly softened. He crossed his arms over his chest.

"Alright. Then I'll get certified," he said, a smug grin on his face.

Tolobay's eyebrows rose.

"Why in the stars would you want to do that?" she asked, unable to hide the incredulity out of her voice.

Finally Master Kenobi decided to make a contribution to the conversation:

"Why indeed, Anakin? You have enough on your plate with your apprenticeship as it is," he interceded.

He stood next to her with his arms crossed, as if in solidarity. She felt briefly flustered at how close he was but willed herself to ignore it.

"Come on Master, you know I'd make short work of it," Anakin said confidently, again with the lazy smile.

Master Kenobi was about to speak but Tolobay got there first.

"Seriously, I've never heard of anyone studying and completing the certification in less than six months," she warned.

When this didn't seem to deter him, she gasped in disbelief.

"I fear any further attempts at persuasion may only strengthen his resolve," the Jedi Master muttered to her quietly, again, a little too close for comfort.

But she wasn't about to be dissuaded. The padawan looked at her with eyes of triumph. She stepped closer to the younger Jedi in earnestness.

"But that's not the only thing," she said, keeping her voice low so that the other crews wouldn't overhear. "The certification costs credits. And I mean a lot of credits. Not to mention the fact that the tools themselves almost cost two months' wages."

She stepped back and was relieved to see the younger man's face sober a little. The padawan rubbed his chin but after thinking for a moment, his smile came back.

"I'll find a way," he said. "Don't worry."

"You should be mindful, padawan, of straying too far from your intended path," said Master Kenobi firmly. "And in this case, I won't be able to help you as I have done in the past," he shrugged lightly.

"That's alright, Master. Shalaanx will help, I'm sure."

Shalaanx was the padawan's assigned flight mech from Dorin. He was a Kel Dor and Tolobay had no idea why he would take the risk of letting the young Jedi near his tools. But it was his risk to take, she supposed.

Realizing that Anakin might be expecting her to offer her services to help him in this crazy escapade of his, she looked away from him, resolutely. She didn't have time to offer free training…

"Well thank you for the insight, Engineer Tolobay," said Anakin finally. "I look forward to showing you my certification," he said.

Tolobay couldn't stop herself from rolling her eyes.

"If you manage it, you're welcome to the delights of my workshop," she said sarcastically, gesturing to her workspace.

Anakin didn't seem to notice her tone and promptly left the hangar. She turned towards his Master.

"He's not serious… is he?"

The Jedi turned to her and offered her a weary smile.

"Oh yes," he said with a sigh.

"Oh…" she said, deflating. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

Distract your padawan and give you a whole heap of stress to manage from an, in all likelihood, angsty teenager, who absolutely didn't need to waste his time on this. But she couldn't find the words to finish her sentence as her throat constricted tightly.

Master Kenobi forced out a deep breath.

"It's not your concern. Perhaps an extracurricular challenge is what he needs right now," he said, thoughtfully.

Tolobay cocked her head to the side. Maybe, she thought. She was secretly relieved he was taking this so well.

As if shaking off the entire chain of events of the past few minutes, Master Kenobi turned towards his starfighter.

"Shall we proceed with the test flight?"