Bit of a short chapter, it's mostly just me trying to get characters from point A to B. Good news is the wait for Chapter 10 shouldn't be too long since it's just about halfway done.

Chapter 9

If there is one person in the entire company that it is best to be friends with, it is the Airline Scheduling Manager. He doesn't have the power to fire anyone, and he isn't the one whose name is signed on the paychecks, but he is the one who has control over who gets what flight and determines how many hours each crew member flies each month. Mr. Yoda has been with the airline for years and some say since the very start of the company which goes back to 1922, but that's just a rumor. Funny thing is it makes sense especially when his cryptic riddles are taken into account. He is good at his job though. Seldom does he ever have to make corrections due to miscalculations of hours or conflicting schedules and to those who have made good impressions with him, he always throws in a few lucky flightpaths and layovers as a small token of his appreciation.

It is unfortunate that Anakin has never had much luck gaining that favor. A few (several) poorly chose words had led to a bad scolding from the old man when he first started flying, deservedly so, but a scolding he hadn't taken to heart in the beginning. Back then, he had been like almost every upstart pilot who thought they were on top of the world and could call the shots. He'd made several attempts to score some of the most desired routes but had been shot down by Mr. Yoda. There was a bit of a grudge between them over that for a while, and there were times Anakin swore the man still had it out for him because of his age, not that he ever said anything, of course. He now knew better than to pick a fight with Mr. Yoda.

Anakin sat at a small table in the noisy food court in the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, his laptop open, waiting for the airline crew portal to update with the schedule for next month. He had his earbuds in, having called Padme ten minutes before it was due to be updated.

"Have you got anything yet?" She asked.

Once again, he tapped the refresh button, "Still nothing," He said. "It doesn't help the Wi-Fi sucks."

"You'd think places would have faster internet given that it's practically as vital as water."

Anakin smiled, watching the loading circle spin and spin and spin. "With how much my lunch cost, I expect high-speed internet."

"I got it!" He could hear her excitement as she whispered some of the city names as she scanned her schedule.

His own had yet to load and as he hit the refresh button, the first positive sign finally showed as the screen cleared and it started to buffer. Little by little, dates, flight numbers, locations and destinations started to fill the screen. Silently, he gave one last silent prayer that their schedules had some similarities. Same flight, same airport… something. They'd talked about meeting again in person but last month there had been absolutely no time. Their schedules were too different and it just didn't work out like they had wanted.

"Okay, it's loaded," He said, skimming through it carefully. One by one, they listed the cities they were going to before comparing the flights and times. Most of their closest encounters are more like near-misses than actual times they could spend time together but there are two promising windows one near the middle of the month and one at the very end. During the week of the fifteenth, they are both in Kansas, of all places. Currently, it looks like they'll both be there by around the mid-afternoon which would mean there is enough time to do something and maybe dinner after. The end of the month looks like it will be more fun though. The last Wednesday of the month they're both in Louisiana for part of the afternoon. Padme would be getting in late on Tuesday night and he arrives very early that morning. With several hours to spare, they would have some time to kill before they both have to head back to the airport. Of course, schedules always have the potential to change throughout the month with weather and route switches between staff being the major factor, but it is at least a starting place and so long as they don't alter those flights, it should all still work out.

"Okay, I got it all marked down," She said, "So, I'll see you next month then?"

Anakin smiled, "Yeah."

"Great! I'd love to stick around and chat, but I gotta get Luke ready for school now."

"No worries, I can call you later." Hanging up his phone, he set about packing his things away and making his way towards his gate. He wasn't too thrilled it would be about twenty days before he saw Padme again. The phone calls and the texts were… nice and everything, but there was only so much they could talk about and then there was the added issue with time-zones. He had been in Australia just last week and that is like a twelve-hour difference making conversation a little tricky to figure out. It will be nice to for once be within fifty miles of her and even better to be within five feet. His mind drifted back to his day off when he started to think about being apart of her life. There was little doubt in his mind that he wanted something like that, and she was an absolutely amazing woman. But part of him feared that the distance was just making it too easy to let his mind fill in the blanks and place her on a high pedestal. He didn't want that. It places the expectations of reality too high, and impossible to achieve. It would lead to disappointment on both sides and at his very core, he knew that there was potential for something between them and the last thing he wanted was unrealistic expectations to ruin that chance. The solution was obvious, spend time together, figure out who the other is, and see where things go. The hard part was the spending time together. Neither of them was in charge of their schedules and what they could control was very limited. Nothing about what they were doing was easy, but, even she seemed to want to give things a shot, so that had to be worth it, right?

He arrived at the terminal just as the crew was given permission to board. He smiled at his crew as they walked down the gangway to the plane. At his side walked the young first officer who would be flying with him, Barriss, her name was (he thinks). He'd seen her a few times when he passed by Luminara, one of the senior captains for the airline. As far as he knew, Barriss was only recently promoted to first officer, which meant he would be paying extra close attention to her throughout the flight.

The two of them strapped in and went through pre-flight checks and waited patiently for passengers to board. After about twenty minutes, the door was locked and armed and they had been given clearance to pull back. Barriss took the controls for the first half of the flight, guiding the plane smoothly towards the runway. Takeoff was a little bumpy and the angle of the nose was sharper than it should have been but it was still well within the window of acceptability. "A little rough on the nose," Anakin said once they reached cruising altitude. "You want to ease the nose slowly unless you're fighting weather or in San Diego. If you pull up too fast you'll stall."

Barriss nodded, "Understood, sir," She said.

"And relax," He said, smiling at her, "If you're too tense you can't react fast enough. Besides, I don't bite."

The younger pilot smiled and shook her head, "Ahsoka told me you would say that."

Anakin raised a brow at her, "Say what?" He asked.

Barriss shrugged, "She kinda gave me a list of things you'd pay a lot of attention to. tenseness, reaction speed, nerves… she also said you'd try and level with me and not pull rank unless I was being an ass."

"Ah."

"She also said your jokes are terrible and you have an over-inflated ego."

"Figures," He muttered, rolling his eyes. Ahsoka always was a snippy girl and the only one who could really get away with it with him. He had known her since they were kids, grew up in the same town, she was a bit of a brat and got into trouble with older kids and so he'd taken it upon himself to look out for her. She's been like his little sister ever since and after he left, she worked her butt off so she could follow his line of work.

"In case you're wondering," Barriss said to fill the silence, "we've only been on a few dates. Nothing serious, just casual." She smiled and visibly tried to hide a laugh, "From the look on your face, I take it she never mentioned it to you."

Anakin shook his head and directed his eyes back outside. "She doesn't have to tell me everything," He said. Part of him was a bit disappointed she hadn't said anything. Even now, he liked to screen the people she hung out with and judge their character for himself. Ahsoka may hate it, but she knows he means well even if he can be a bit overbearing about it.

"When'd you get the promotion?" He asked.

"Last week. Ahsoka was a little jealous, as you could imagine. How long do you think it'll be before they bump her up?"

He gave a shrug, "I don't know. She more than deserves it though," He said. "She's worked so hard, for so many hours… I'd give it to her in a heartbeat."

"But you're biased."

Anakin laughed and rolled his shoulders, "True, but that doesn't mean I'm wrong."

"Maybe not on this," She said, "I was a bit surprised when they gave me the promotion and not her though. I was sure she was going to get it before me."

"In that case, it might not be too much longer for Ahsoka."

"Oh God, I hope so," Barriss sighed.

The rest of the flight went by without a hitch. The small regional jet caught the fastest winds and only a small patch of turbulence midway through but it arrived at the Los Angeles International Airport on time and that, as far as Anakin was concerned, meant it was a good flight.