Rogue One: Jyn & Cassian One-Shots

(13) Survivors Pt. 1

And here is a one shot in which Cassian and Jyn survive Scarif. Here come the feels. I started this like a year ago and I can't believe I never finished it. 

Pillar of Truth ~ Lucy Dacus

lovely (with Khalid) ~ Billie Eilish 

1957 ~ Milo Greene

-

It was hard for her to open her eyes, for she didn't expect to ever open them again.

Her body ached like never before. Her skin seemed to sting from the pressure of the air around her. A medical droid came to her side to examine her.

"Jyn Erso, it is good to see you awake," it said.

Jyn looked at her arms. They were red and blistered. She didn't want to see what her face was like.

"How...how?" she whispered.

"The circumstances of your survival is unknown."

She opened her mouth to confess her confusion, but her attention was caught by a figure laying in the bed nearest to her. His eyes were closed with an oxygen mask tightly sealed to his mouth. Her eyes stood frozen on the state of his body that must have resembled hers. White cloths covered the worst areas.

A droid came to his side to check on his vital signs. 

Jyn remembered the heat of the flames that had engulfed them... or had they? How could they have possibly survived? There were only a few serious burns that ran up and down her arms. She glanced back at Cassian, tears surfacing in her eyes. His hair lay messily around his eyes. She wished she could pull each strand back and heal all of his wounds. 

It would take another week for Cassian to become conscious. Jyn was asleep by his side when he did. She had asked for her bed to be pushed closer to his for this very moment. His initial panic subsided when he saw how she slept peacefully on her side facing him. 

The medical droid scurrying across the floor woke her from her sleep to his relief. Her first instinct was to check on the status of Cassian's unconscious state. She let out a gasp when her eyes met his. She propped herself up as best she could to make sure it was all real. 

When the droid took off his mask, she took her hand in his. "Cassian," she said, reminding them they still belonged to their names. He wanted so much to take her in his arms again. His voice came out as a raspy cough, but his gentle smile put her at ease. 

The next day, Jyn helped him take his first steps. With his arm around her shoulder, he found his footing faster than she had. When they had been cleared for release, they agreed on sharing living quarters. 

"Stay low, you two," Mon Mothma had told them. "The last thing you want is the Empire knowing you're alive." Not knowing how to make sense of the world, they sat at the table, one of the few furnishings in their new space. 

"Cassian, I was prepared to die," Jyn said, breaking the understood silence that had come between them after leaving the medical wing. 

"I know, Jyn. But were you ready?" he questioned. "Because I wasn't."

She gave him a small smile, "No, I don't think I was ready thanks to you... and the others." This brought tears to her eyes as she remembered the people who had died for her the rebellion. Her friends that she wasn't able to save. Cassian had the same tears in his eyes. 

He took her hand in his and gently kissed the top of her knuckles. The burns were almost unnoticeable. Almost. He let the kiss linger before pulling her into his embrace. "We have to live for them," he told her. 

"I miss them so much," she whispered, tightening her grip around his shoulders. "I wouldn't know what to do without you here with me."

-

As the days passed, they both found jobs around the base to busy themselves with. Cassian helped in ship maintenance while Jyn aided in training the new recruits. Jyn's favorite time of the day would be returning to her and Cassian's quarters. 

She had never lived so intimately with anyone. Saw Gerrera's soldiers were as rowdy as they came and often ignored the presence of the little girl who he protected. Her prison mates never attempted to associate with her despite being kept in the same cell for most of the day. Cassian made her coffee and asked her how she slept every morning. 

She had never slept better in years. She never knew what Cassian did at night with his light on late into the night. She was awake one night cleaning her blaster when she heard his door open.  The sound of his shuffling feet stopped in front of her door. 

She had anticipated his knocking yet it made her jump nonetheless. Before opening the door, she regretted not putting anything on over her black tank top. Showing the scars from her burns always made her feel guilty of her survival. 

When she opened the door and saw Cassian's disheveled hair and tired eyes, she knew something was wrong. 

"Jyn," he spoke nervously. "I've been tirelessly trying to come up with how we can make our situation better. Coming back to the base after everything that's happened hasn't made anything easier. Do you agree?"

She nodded her head, remembering the times they would knock on each other's doors when they had nightmares of their deaths. The nightmares hadn't gotten any better, but she had learned to comfort herself better. Cassian had stopped knocking as well. 

"What I'm trying to say is that... we should leave," he said blatantly. 

"Leave? Leave the base?" Jyn questioned. She crossed her arms. 

"What if we found a farming community where we could hide from the empire."

Jyn's mind flashed back to her family's farm before it was all taken away from her. She remembered waking up to the sun with a glass of blue milk from her mom waiting for her. 

"They'll find us. They always do and when that happens, they won't hesitate to do the unspeakable." Tears started falling down her face. "They killed my mom and made my life a living hell when they found us."

Cassian took her shoulders into his hands and stared into her eyes, "They don't even know we're alive. They're not hunting us down. We know how to blend in."

She shook her head, "We're safe here."

"But we're not happy."

Jyn wiped the tears from her cheeks, "I could teach you a few farming techniques I suppose."

"Do you trust me to take care of you?" he said with a smile. 

"Cassian, I don't need you to take care of me. I just need you to be here with me wherever we are. You're my home, remember?"

In the dim lighting of her bedside lamp, Cassian found Jyn's lips and pressed them to his. Weeks of living together had brought them closer, yet since that day on the Scarif, Cassian always knew he loved Jyn. Jyn hadn't known what this felt like. Love felt like a distant memory of her childhood never to be seen again. Now she knew that love was all around her in the purpose of the rebellion and in the man who was kissing her now. 

When she brought her arms up around his neck, she felt his hands run up and down her scarred skin. It felt comforting and made her glad she didn't cover up. Jyn's hands traced the bags under his eyes, "Will you sleep in here tonight? Truth is I haven't been sleeping well." 

He kissed her again on the forehead, "I haven't either."

They crawled into the covers, talking hand in hand until they were both too tired to continue. 

-

I'm thinking about writing a epilogue (?) about their life on the farm. Yay or nay?

Also writing this made me so happy inside. I wish I wish I wish I could create this kind of content on a daily basis, but (surprise) writing doesn't come that easily to me. Hope this leaves you happy. :)