Chapter Text
For all her life, Jyn Erso has only ever known the universe to be cruel and indifferent.
It had taken everyone and everything she had ever loved or cared about. The universe spat on her and ground her into the dirt. It fought to take everything she was, so she fought back.
Scarif burns around them as the man in white aims his blaster at her. Just this once, however, the universe is kind enough to send the person she needs the most in that moment.
The plasma bolt that she expects never hits her. Instead, the man in front of her crumples onto the ground.
Behind him, Cassian leans heavily against one of the support pillars of the satellite, his hands tightly gripping his blaster. His eyes met hers and he flashes her a brief grin.
Do you think anybody is listening?
I do.
When they arrive on the beach, Cassian’s legs give out and they fall onto the sand below them. The bright light bringing their deaths creeps closer to them. The two take a moment to listen to the quiet rush of water lapping against the sand.
They don't say anything for awhile. They don't have to; they know their companion's thoughts.
No one had responded on the comm links, all of Rogue One was dead.
The plans were sent and the Death Star would be destroyed. The Rebellion would see to it. Their deaths… All of their deaths wouldn't be in vain.
And when they hold each other as the world burns, they both think:
If only we had more time…
The thing about the universe is that there's more than one. A multitude of universes that are unimaginably vast.
And with enough time, two souls are bound to meet each other again.
She first caught a glimpse of him in the crowded marketplace of Pompeii.
He passed by her quickly. The only indication that he ever existed was the draft that shifted her tunic.
Something in her subconscious urges her to follow the man, but before she can move forward, he disappears in the sea of people, as if he had never been there to begin with.
She doesn't see him again.
She doesn't see anything else as Mount Vesuvius erupts, covering the world in fire and ash.
She was in the middle of taking back what was rightfully hers from some bandits when they met again.
His drawn sword and armour glinted in the sunlight. King Arthur's coat of arms was emblazoned on his scarlet cape.
The moment she sees him, everything comes rushing back.
Scarif. Pompeii. Two lives that couldn't be any more different from each other.
She looked up at Cassian, but noticed there wasn't a single hint of recognition in his face.
“What exactly happened here?” he asked.
Jyn took in the scene around her, having forgotten about the dozen knocked out bandits lying on the forest floor. She ripped her mother's necklace from the grasp of one of the bandit’s. She held the warm crystal in her hand.
‘Kyber crystal,’ her memory reminds her.
“I was just taking back what was mine,” she said, gesturing at the bandits.
Cassian took that as a valid answer and sheathed his sword. “Sir Andrew, at your service,” he said bowing.
Jyn’s name in this world finally made sense to her: Lyra. But with her memories, it didn't feel right to bear her mother's name.
“My name is Ginnifer, but you can just call me Jyn.”
He nodded. “These bandits have been harassing local merchants. On behalf of Camelot, we would like to thank you,” he said, gesturing to the bandits with a wry smile. “For your kind service.”
“Actually, I was on my way to Camelot,” she added.
“Would you mind if I accompanied you?”
“Not at all,” she replied.
Jyn learned that Sir Andrew of Embia was a knight of the Round Table, a role he was justly proud of.
In turn, she told him about her life. Her mother died when she was young. She was raised by her father, who had passed away a year ago. Since then, she had traveled from kingdom to kingdom to find work.
“Camelot is a place of opportunity. You are more than welcome to stay, of course.”
As they approached the gates of Camelot, Jyn put on her mother's kyber crystal necklace and she gazed at Cassian. She wasn't foolish enough to spend yet another lifetime being cautious.
“I think I will,” Jyn said.
Jyn ran her hand through the straw covering the cold dungeon floor. She looked up when a pair of boots stopped in front of her cell.
“I am not apologising,” she said, fiddling with the straw.
“I never said anything about an apology,” Cassian sighed. “You can't keep punching people.”
“In my defense, he was an idiot and tried to rob a man in broad daylight.”
“You can't go around and deliver justice with your fists.”
Jyn stood up and dusted the straw off her skirt. She leaned on the cell door and wrapped her hands around the cold metal bars. “Says who?”
Cassian gave her an exasperated look, but a grin made its way to his face. One of the many things Jyn liked about this universe was that Cassian smiled quite often.
“The king,” he said bluntly. “It is also part of our duties as knights of the Round Table and Camelot to protect its citizens.”
Jyn shrugged. “It’s not my fault that you're not very good at your job.”
Cassian was silent. He clasped his hands behind his back, the sly grin still on his face. “Is that so?”
She nodded and wondered what he was thinking about.
“Would you like to join us and become a knight of the Round Table?”
Jyn blinked. “What?”
He turned to face her. “Jyn, you have a strong sense of justice and a willingness to fight for what you believe in. You would be a great asset to the kingdom and it is better paying than the job you currently have.”
“You’re asking me to join the Round Table? Do you even have the power to do that?” she asked.
“No,” he replied. “But King Arthur himself has requested me to personally extend this offer to you.”
Cassian motioned for a nearby guard to open the door to Jyn’s cell. “So, what do you say?”
She stepped out of the cell and smiled. “When do I start?”
Jyn woke up to the taste of blood in her mouth and the smell of smoke in the air. She yanked at her helmet and tossed it to the ground to find her surroundings. Her armour-clad body felt heavier than usual as she tried to remember what had happened to her before she blacked out.
Camlann. Cassian was in his suit of armour, ready to fight by her side. Swords clanged as the ground around them caught on fire.
Cassian. Where was he?
As Jyn stood up an intense pain ripped through her left leg, forcing her onto her knees. She looked down and found a small dagger that had been wedged in between the knee joint of armour.
Taking a deep breath, she grabbed the hilt of the dagger and pulled it out, a stream of curses leaving her mouth. Jyn took the offending blade and examined it.
The damn blade had been laced with poison hemlock.
“Jyn,” a weak voice called out. She noticed a knight not too far from her bearing the same insignia of a dragon that she wore. Shuffling over to the body, Jyn carefully took off the knight’s helmet.
A breath of relief escaped from her lips as she carefully attempted to wipe the dirt and ash off of Cassian’s face.
“You’re going to be okay,” she reassured him.
He shook his head furiously before Jyn finally noticed that his leg was bent at an odd angle. The burned off flesh revealed the bone underneath his skin.
“We’ll get you some help. They can fix it,” Jyn said, not sure if she was trying to comfort Cassian or herself.
He shook his head and groaned, but Jyn ignored it as she tried to figure a way to move him that would not aggravate his injury.
Suddenly, Cassian tightly gripped one of her arms, forcing her to look at him.
“Jyn,” he rasped. He had an almost blissful expression as his hand drifted towards her face.
“Andrew, you’ll be okay. We’ll get you help.”
He shook his head. “Not Andrew,” he said.
Jyn felt her body freeze as she looked into his eyes. Hesitantly, she leaned forward as her heart lifted with an inkling of hope. “Cassian?”
He smiled and nodded.
“Oh, god. Cassian,” Jyn said, her eyes welling up with tears. “We have to get you back. Maybe they ca-”
Cassian weakly shook his head, taking her hand in his. “Just stay with me, please.”
As his eyes slowly fluttered shut, Jyn begged him to stay awake. Her every breath became shallower before Jyn finally collapsed, her hand tightly gripping Cassian’s.
They had burned on Scarif and in Pompeii; it was only fitting that the same happened to them on the battlefield of Camlann.
The scattered universes hold nothing but time.
There is enough time for civilizations to rise and fall. There is enough time for society to succumb to its worst form and destroy everything it was given. There is enough time to rebuild.
So there certainly must be more time for two souls to be reunited.