Chapter Text
Jyn doesn’t know what jolts her awake, if the nightmare itself or the sound of her own screams. She gazes back into darkness, her throat bleeds and her eyes burn. Every single intake of breath chokes her, doing nothing to stop the shaking clawing at every inch of her body, nor the deafening thumping of her heart.
The cold that clings to her, numbs her, suddenly trickles away when she founds herself enveloped by warmness. The steady sway cradling her erratic trembling into languid calm.
“Shh, you’re safe now,” Cassian whispers into her ear.
The brush of his thumb across her cheek peters out the cold, kneads the quivering away. She muffles her sobs burying her head in his chest, her fingers twitch and dig into his arm when her lips feel the pounding throb of his heartbeat pulsing, beating on her lips.
“You’re safe now,” his voice a rustle, as he traces the hard line of her cheek with gentle brushes of his thumb.
She shudders, focusing on the touch of his fingers sweeping over her arm, focusing on the soft pressure of his lips on her hair. She curls up against him, and Cassian’s arm leaves her arm and wraps protectively around her waist instead, pulling her closer.
Her hammering heartbeat allays, as the fears slowly fade into the darkness they came from, melting away underneath the kiss of Cassian’s fingertips. He tugs her down along with him. She can’t see him, but she guesses the small smile tugging at his lips when his lips scrape her forehead. The hum, a balm to her torn throat.
It’s his heartbeat what lulls her back to sleep.