At this point in writing, I feel like there is going to be a lot of fluff.

Happy Reading!

Chapter 3

He was late. Of all times to be late it had to be when Obi-Wan would be acting as Captain. This was not going to be a pleasant flight. Six hours stuck in a cockpit with a guy who would have this grumpy look on his face for most of the time was going to be borderline torture. Anakin sighed as he finally reached the Crew Report Center, he heaved a sigh as he slowed his gate, making his way towards his assigned briefing room. At least it was only Obi-Wan on this flight. Had it been Mace he was late with there may have been a chance he would have let one of the unlucky reserve pilots take the flight instead. Captain Mace Windu was commonly known to be very grim and difficult to impress. Once on his bad side, it was nearly impossible to get back in his good graces.

Stepping into the briefing room and shutting the door behind him, Anakin apologized to the six crew members that had been waiting for him. Obi-Wan sat at the head of the table, his hands wrapped around a hot cup of coffee. The bearded man raised a brow at him, giving him the same look he'd given him back when he was still a junior officer, the same look of disappointment that made him feel like a little boy who got caught somewhere they shouldn't be. Anakin brushed most of the feeling off. He and Obi-Wan were almost like brothers. He may hold it against him for a few weeks or months, but it wasn't damning.

"Yes, well, perhaps we should get this meeting started then, yes?" Obi-Wan cleared his throat as he and the crew went around to introduce themselves to him. Two of the flight attendants he already knew having flown with them on a few flights prior. Two he has seen around but never had the opportunity to fly with them yet. And the last one… the last one he remembered all too well as the one flight attendant he had met on his trip to Arizona. Padme… the way she looked at him when she introduced herself had his heart sink. She didn't seem to remember him. It shouldn't have been too surprising. They had only had one short conversation on the flight and then they parted ways. But it still hurt because he never forgot her. Her face haunted his dreams and he could still hear her laugh as clearly as the day he heard it. He wanted to say something. He wanted to tell her they had met a few months back. He wanted to tell her that he remembered her, that he had thought about her often… but that would be too forward, wouldn't it?

Instead, he did the professional thing. He kept quiet, listening as the crew briefed him on what he had missed. Most of it had been the flight crew establishing their stations and roles during the flight. They had held off talking about the weather, flight plans, and take-off procedures until he arrived, which he did appreciate. Now caught up, the meeting moved forward into his territory. Obi-Wan brought up the latest weather reports. The six-hour flight from Boston to Seattle looked like it could be a bumpy one with storms brewing in the Midwest. Right now it didn't look like it would be bad enough that they may have to be grounded early but regardless, he and Obi-Wan adjusted the main flight plan to accommodate the possibility that they may need to alter course around the storms. As it was only the two of them piloting the plane, deciding who would do the take-off and who would do the landing was a fairly simple decision to make. Anakin would get the plane in the air, handle flight for the first half, and then Obi-Wan would take the second half of flight and landing.

The rest of the meeting went by smoothly. All necessary decisions made and possible alternatives in place for any sort of trouble, all of it was fairly straightforward and routine. Forty-five minutes before the flight, the entire crew started to make their way to the aircraft to board. Stowing their bags and removing their jackets, Anakin and Obi-Wan climbed into their pilots' seats and started running through the preliminary checks. The older man gave him several side-eyed glances as they read through their lists and confirmed their flight plans with the tower. Behind them, boarding had slowly started. Padme and another flight attendant stood by the open cockpit door, greeting the passengers and helping the first few rows stow their carry-ons. Everything was routine. Nothing out of the ordinary. And once the last passenger was on board and the departure time was nearing, the cockpit door was sealed.

In near-constant communication with the flight controller, Anakin once again confirmed the plan and repeated the instructions he had been given. The Captain beside him ran the final pre-check lists before confirming that they were ready to go. He went through the motions, guiding the ship along the predetermined route to the runway as Obi-Wan gave the passengers the complementary greeting. Turning the large vessel on the tarmac so it was staring down the runway lined with illuminated lights, they conducted the final check, verbally confirming the readouts of their instruments and the positioning of their flaps and rudder before requesting the final permission to take-off. With permission granted, Anakin slowly took the throttle in his hand, gently easing it forward to full power. The twin engines on the wings roared as the plane started to move forward, gaining speed as it raced towards take-off speed. The cabin shook as they rolled down the runway, the flaps quickly giving them lift. Anakin pulled back on the yoke, easing the nose up to give them more lift until the shaking stopped and the wheels left the ground. Slowly the climbed to their approved cruising altitude, turning the plane as they went so they would be properly aligned with their flight path.

Once confident they were on course and the autopilot engaged, all seriousness from one of the most critical events in flying faded as the two of them settled in for the flight. Obi-Wan glanced at him as he kept his eyes focused on the instruments. "Everything alright?" The older pilot asked.

"Fine," He said. "Why?"

He gave a shrug, "You seem a bit on edge," He said casually. "Is it that flight attendant?"

"What?"

Obi-Wan chuckled, his arms crossing over his chest amused. "The flight attendant. The one you kept staring at when you thought no one would notice," He said, smiling as he leaned slightly closer and whispered, "I noticed."

Anakin rolled his eyes as the pilot laughed.

"Oh, come now," He said, "Tell me," He urged. "Clearly there was… something?"

"It was nothing," He said with a scoff. "She didn't even recognize me."

"But you met her before, right?"

Anakin shrugged, "Sorta… I met her kid—"

"Kid?"

"Yeah," He sighed as he took a moment to check the flight course. He knew there was no reason to, he knew it was all correct but he also knew Obi-Wan would stop pestering him while it looked like he was doing something important. "She has a son," He said as he leaned back in his seat. "He sat next to me on that trip I took to see my mom."

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow at him, "She has a son and you think it's a good idea to be attracted to her?"

"I'm not attracted to her," He denied.

"You are and you're just upset that you're not as good as hiding your feelings as you think," He said. "Either way, that's not the point. The point is, she has a child. Which means she very well might have someone in her life already. If you want my advise don't do anything stupid."

Anakin couldn't help but laugh, "You think I don't know that?"

"I know you well enough to know that even if you do know that, you will probably do it anyway."

"Hey!"

The first half of the flight went by as smoothly as could be expected. They hit one or two rough patches of air but slight adjustments to altitude easily got them out. Anakin transferred control over to Obi-Wan and after finishing relaying flight control to the next tower, Anakin decided he needed to take a moment to stretch his legs. Pulling away from his seat, he called one of the flight attendants to the cockpit door. A muffled knock and after checking through the peephole to see if it was the flight attendant, he opened the door and switched places with her as she reengaged the lock behind him. The cabin crew looked to be finishing up the on flight drink service. His timing couldn't have been better. He knew it wouldn't be much longer before a line started to form for the lavatories and the one thing that was worse than trying to move around in a bathroom barely big enough for one person to turn around without knocking into anything, it was awkwardly standing in the aisles waiting to use said lavatory.

Anakin quickly moved to occupy the lavatory, doing what he needed to before taking a few minutes to refocus his eyes and wipe his face down with a damp paper towel. Outside the plane the sun was starting to set. The bright colors cast across the sky were blinding at times and left him and Obi-Wan squinting through the windshield at times and the direct sunlight shining on them often heated the cockpit despite having the air blasting. Passengers had it easier in that regard. Once he was satisfied, and feeling a little cooler, he slid open the door and stepped outside, only to run directly into a flight attendant. His hand flew to her waist while hers braced against his chest.

"Sorry!" They said simultaneously, the plastic bag of trash clattering to the floor at their feet.

"Here, let me—" Anakin said, bending at the same time as her to pick up the fallen bag. Their heads bumped together, leading to another apology from both of them followed quickly by their laughter. "Here," He tried again, slowly crouching down to grab the rim of the bag and rising back to his full height.

She brushed a loose strand of brown hair behind an ear as she looked up at his face and smiled at him. His smile grew, recognizing her immediately. Padme.

"Thank you," She said. "I'm sorry for running into you like that."

He shook his head, "No, no. It was my fault, really. I'm sorry." He stood there staring at her for what felt like only a moment but it must have been longer. The next thing he knew, a passenger was awkwardly trying to squeeze past them to the open lavatory door. He felt his cheeks heat up as he placed his arm on Padme's and eased them out of the way.

She cleared her throat and gave him another polite smile, "I should probably go about my rounds again," She muttered. "Do you and the Captain want anything? Water? Coffee maybe?"

"Uh, sure," He said, his hand scratching at his neck, "Water would be good, thanks." Padme nodded, and squeezed past him towards one of the storage lockers and pulled out two bottled of water and handed them to him. "Thank you," He said again. "Enjoy the flight." Anakin quickly turned on his heels and walked back towards the cockpit. Enjoy the flight he muttered in his head, idiot! Stupid! What was I thinking saying that? The cockpit door opened and entered as the flight attendant who had taken his spot earlier returned to the cabin. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! As he returned to his seat there was little doubt in his mind Obi-Wan could read him, and was holding back some snide remark he would probably hear once they landed.