Work Text:
The Outer Rim was home to many planets that had the same story. To an outsider’s eyes, they were all just backwater planets that were now given the honor of the Empire’s presence. But to the residents, it was an occupation, one they fought back against to varying degrees.
Lothal was one such planet. As was B’bel, a beautiful—if rather rainy—planet that the Empire had occupied for years now. Other than the cabarets and nightclubs that were popular among the Imperial troops, the main source of income on the planet was factory work. Which was where, on most days, Jyn found herself.
Part of the cell worked in the factories with her, making trackers for the Imperials, while the others ran a cabaret known as Lo’ie’s Follies. Jyn worked with those in the factory, and while she wasn’t incredibly close to them yet, she liked working with them. Jon, the gruff B’belan overseer, kept an eye on her, and was the one who’d introduced her to the rest of the cell.
Of course, she wasn’t known as Jyn, there. She went by Lyra Dume on this planet—she knew it was silly to use names that could be traced back to her. But she found herself unable to resist holding her family close to her.
Because, despite the fact she’d volunteered for this, despite the fact that she was doing important work with the rebel cell here and within the network she was a part of…Jyn missed her family.
She missed playing sabacc or plotting with Kasmir, drinking tea and chatting with Okadiah. She missed Kanan’s quiet supportiveness and even his slightly more hovery side, and she missed pretty much everything about Ezra. Even his incredible ability to get into trouble. And she missed the newer parts of her family, too. Zeb’s gruff kindness and Sabine’s sharp humor and Hera’s steady warmth.
Silly though it seemed, Jyn saw parts of them in everyone she worked with these days. She saw Hera’s love and her business-like attitude in Lo’ie, and Kasmir and Zeb’s grumpiness tempered with caring in Jon. Even Hétis, the young waitress, had an eagerness like Ezra’s.
So yes. She missed them. Luckily, she was being kept busy enough working at the factory and with the rebel cell that she didn’t have much time to spend missing them. That didn’t keep away a suspicion that had been growing over the past month or so, however.
The first month and a half of her being gone, Jyn’s bi weekly reports had been holomessages between her and Kanan. Ezra or one of the others had usually been there, too. It had been nice, a good way to beat back the homesickness she’d been feeling, and still felt.
But then, Kanan and Ezra had left for Malachor. Jyn still remembered her last conversation with Kanan before that had happened.
“We’re going to be out of contact for a while,” he told her. Jyn was sitting at the table of her tiny apartment, finishing the last of a rather lackluster dinner. “It’s going to be dangerous, and we don’t want to draw attention to you, and your position on B’bel. So you’ll be communicating with Kasmir and Okadiah for a while instead, okay?”
Nodding, Jyn said, “Understood.” She paused, then quietly asked, “Are you going to be okay?”
“We’ve got Ahsoka with us,” Kanan said. “We’ll be fine. It’s dangerous, but we’ve handled dangerous before.”
“I know, but…the way you’re talking about this is different. I can tell.”
Lifting an eyebrow, Kanan said, “I feel like I should be offended that you’re doubting me.”
Jyn rolled her eyes. “Kanan. Be serious.”
“I am being serious!” Leaning forward, Kanan met her gaze. Even with the flickering hologram, she could see the gravity in his eyes when he said, “We are going to be fine. You know I won’t let anything happen to Ezra, and Ahsoka has my back. And I have hers. We’ll be home safe in no time.”
Jyn had almost asked him to promise—but she knew better. So instead she just nodded, swallowed back the fear in the back of her throat, and moved on.
And that was how things went forward. She met with Kasmir and Okadiah instead, although their meetings eventually lessened to about once a month, and waited for the news that Kanan, Ahsoka, and Ezra had come home safely.
And eventually she got it. But she didn’t start meeting with him again. Instead, it was always Kasmir and Okadiah with some excuse. She’d gathered that Kanan had been injured somehow when they’d been gone, but Okadiah assured her it was nothing to worry about, that he’d be back up and running in no time.
Except it had been six months. And there was still no sign of him. And Jyn was starting to wonder if something was seriously wrong.
She’d wrestled with a lot of theories about this. There had been a tiny, terrified part of her that had worried that he didn’t want to see her, that she’d done something and he’d left too, like all the others. But logic had mostly pushed that one to the side. Kanan Jarrus didn’t abandon people. So there was something else going on, and Jyn had waited long enough to find out what it was.
Her next meeting with Kasmir and Okadiah was coming up, and she intended to demand answers, or threaten to come to Atollon herself to find out what was going on. Of course, that wasn’t for a while yet. For now, Jyn had to content herself with planning out what she was going to say on the way home from work.
It was raining again, and the streets in her neighborhood were mostly mud at this point. Struggling through a particularly thick patch, Jyn wished deeply that B’bel would pull itself together and give them some snow instead. It was supposed to be the cold season, after all. And snow drifts at least look nicer than knee deep mud.
Her apartment was in one of half a dozen buildings in this sector, which mostly housed workers. They were just nice enough to not qualify as slums, but were definitely on the brink of it. Jyn was just glad for a roof and a heater that worked most days at this point.
Reaching the door, she paused to scrape the worst of the mud off her boots before heading into the tiny lobby—no more than a small room with a flight of stairs upwards. Her room was on the third floor, something Jyn was wearily regretting as she began the hike up.
By the time she reached the third floor, she was ready to collapse onto her bed and sleep for hours. Moving to the keypad, Jyn started to key in the code for the door—and then stopped.
The light was on in her apartment.
She could see it shining from beneath the door, and she knew for a fact she’d turned it off before she left. She always did. Which meant someone was in there.
Slipping a hand under her coat, Jyn pulled her blaster from the holster strapped to her side. Moving quietly, she pressed the last button, and the door slid open with a quiet swish.
The light was coming from the kitchen, she realized as she moved into the apartment. There were three rooms in all—the kitchen/dining area, a small, closet-like refresher, and the living area with a couch that unfolded into a bed. The door opened on that, and Jyn slipped through it and towards the kitchen quietly.
She could hear the sounds of someone moving around, and as she approached, caught a whiff of a familiar smell. Was someone making…cocoa?
“If you’re gonna shoot me, can it wait until after I’ve put down this mug?”
Jyn’s eyes went wide at the sound of a familiar, amused voice. Hastily reholstering her blaster, she darted into the kitchen and threw her arms around Kanan, who staggered backwards.
Recovering, he wrapped his arms around her. “Hey, kid. It’s been a while.”
“I missed you,” Jyn said. The words slipped out before she could even begin to think about it, but it was true. “What are you doing here?”
“It’s about time for our monthly meeting,” Kanan said as if it were obvious. His voice softened a little as he added, “I missed you, too. I’m sorry I haven’t been here sooner.”
“It’s fine,” Jyn said, feeling the last of her worries about if he’d given up on her fading away. Her curiosity, on the other hand, did not, and she pulled back from the hug, saying, “But as long as you’re here, you can tell me why exactly—”
She stopped short, seeing Kanan properly for the first time. He had a full beard now, and his armor was gone. And covering the upper half of his face was a green mask, etched with an emblem like the one Rex wore.
“Some things have changed since you left,” Kanan said, his voice quiet but steady, calm. It almost soothed Jyn, but not quite.
“What happened?” she asked slowly, her mind spinning. The way his face was covered up, it almost looked like— no. That can’t have happened. Not to my people, not to Kanan.
A rueful smile tipped up the corner of his mouth, like he knew what she was thinking. Reaching up, he removed the mask. Underneath, his gaze was unfocused, opaque. A dark line of scar tissue ran directly across both eyes and the bridge of his nose, like a burn. Or a lightsaber. Oh, no.
“I know,” Kanan said, his voice almost holding a dry, amused note, but not quite. “Took me a while to get used to it, too. I still haven’t, if I’m being honest.”
“Why didn’t anyone tell me?” Jyn whispered, unable to tear her gaze away.
Letting out a long sigh, Kanan ran a hand over his hair. “Because…I told them not to.”
“What? Why?”
“I’ve been making some stupid decisions lately,” Kanan admitted ruefully. “That was one of them. I should have told you what was going on—but you’d only just begun to get settled in, and I know you. You would have wanted to come home the minute you found out, and I didn’t want to tear you away from your mission.”
“What did happen?” Jyn asked. She wasn’t sure if she should be angry with him or not. For now, she was busy overcoming the hollow feeling of shock, and Kanan seemed to recognize that.
Motioning for her to sit down, he slid her the mug of cocoa he’d poured. “It’s a long story. It started with Malachor, though.”
Slowly, he recounted the events of what had happened on Malachor. Jyn had known that Ahsoka was gone—Kasmir and Okadiah had imparted that much news. But she hadn’t heard about Maul, or Ezra finding the Sith holocron, or Kanan being blinded.
Once Kanan had finished telling her about Malachor, he updated her on what had happened at Reklam Station, his encounter on Jedha, and the crew’s most recent interaction with Maul.
Shaking her head, Jyn said, “I leave for five minutes and everything falls apart.”
Kanan snorted. “Yeah, it’s been a messy few months. Thanks mostly to me.”
Frowning, Jyn studied him. “You shouldn’t blame yourself for what happened. It isn’t your fault.”
“Maybe not all of it. But I shouldn’t have pulled away from the others the way I did. And that includes you,” Kanan added. “I should have been honest with you about everything that happened, instead of leaving you out. I’m sorry.”
To her surprise—and perhaps a little relief—Jyn couldn’t find it in herself to be angry. When she’d first joined the crew, it had taken a long time for her to properly open up to them. But Kanan had patiently waited through all of it—her anger and her fear, and the times that she’d pushed them all away. The least she could do was say, “It’s okay. I understand. And if it makes you feel better, I forgive you. But I don’t think you have anything to be sorry for.”
“Thank you,” Kanan said quietly. “It’s not exactly true, but…thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Jyn took a sip from her mug of cocoa, which she’d been nursing through the recap, and for a moment, everything felt normal. Comfortable, like it used to.
As she finished her cocoa, Kanan cleared his throat. “There’s one more thing. I didn’t just come here for the monthly debrief. I also need you to come back with me. Temporarily. I’ve already talked to Jon about it, and he’ll cover for you.”
Jyn frowned. “Why? Is something else wrong?”
“Not exactly. Call it a family meeting of sorts. And don’t ask if it means Hera and I are getting married, because it doesn’t,” Kanan said. “I’ve gotten enough of that from Kasmir and Zeb.”
Getting to her feet, Jyn said, “You wouldn’t have those problems if you’d just hurry up and marry her.”
“Why don’t you just hurry up and get ready to leave?” Kanan said, lifting an eyebrow at her. “Kasmir’s waiting a little ways away with the Kasmiri , and we only have you for a few days.”
Jyn couldn’t hold back a smile at the thought. Moving quickly, she grabbed her satchel, sliding in her comlink, datapad, and a few other things that she wouldn’t want to leave unattended, just on the off chance the wrong person wound up in her apartment. Grabbing her gray scarf, she wrapped it around her neck before turning to Kanan. “I’m ready.”
“Let’s go.”
Together, they headed out of the apartment and down the street. Jyn stayed at Kanan’s side, just in case he needed direction. But he seemed confident as they wound down a narrow alleyway. The streets he led them down took them to the outskirts of town, where the proud red shape of the Kasmiri was waiting.
Together, they boarded the ship, and Kasmir was the first person Jyn saw when she stepped into the cargo bay. He didn’t even bother hiding the huge grin on his face as he said, “Well, well, well. Look who’s finally—oof!”
Jyn threw her arms around him in a hug, and the Kalleran immediately reciprocated. Giving her a tight squeeze, he muttered in a gruff voice, “Missed you around here, kiddo.”
“I missed you, too,” Jyn said, swallowing hard against the knot that had suddenly rematerialized in her throat.
Stepping back, Kasmir studied her intently. “Hmm. Well, you look like you’re making it from day to day. I told Okadiah and Chenni you've been taking care of yourself, but they seemed to think that was impossible.”
Jyn frowned. “I didn’t know Chenni was living at the base now.”
“Didn’t I mention it?” Kasmir said with a tone that was just a little too innocent to be real. “She’s been there for a month or two now.”
“As for just how and why she arrived, your guess is as good as mine,” Kanan cut in dryly. “Kasmir, we should get going—the others are going to be impatient to see her.”
“Sure thing.” Kasmir turned and headed up to the cockpit, and Jyn gave herself a moment to be glad she was back with her people.
The ride back to Atollon only took a few hours. Jyn, upon Kanan’s gentle but firm insistence, spent the time sleeping, worn out from a long day off work. Curled up in one of the Kasmiri’ s bunks, her sleep was deep and peaceful, and she didn’t wake until Kanan shook her gently.
“We’re home, Jyn.”
Home. Jyn didn’t quite realize that he meant Atollon at first when he spoke. To her, home was something of a foreign concept. Her apartment wasn’t home, not really, and she hadn’t spent anywhere near close enough time on Atollon for it to be home. Even when she was little, she’d been uprooted and moved around too many times to form any proper attachments. The closest thing to a real home was the Yellow Submarine or the house on Lahmu.
And yet, when she stepped off the ship and saw the small group waiting for her, Jyn knew—felt in her soul—that she’d come home.
“You’re back!!” The shout of joy definitely came from Ezra, but Jyn barely recognized him as he threw his arms around her in a delighted hug. Pulling back, he grinned. “You look exactly the same.”
“You don’t,” Jyn observed. The boy had grown several inches, wore a blaster at his side, and—“what did you do to your hair?”
Frowning, Kanan said, “What do you mean, his hair?”
“Oh—right,” Ezra said, running a self-conscious hand over his head. “Sabine cut it. Do you like it?”
Well, that explains it, Jyn thought amusedly. She’d never known him to want to cut his hair before. But the look actually suited him—his blue hair trimmed short, with the side shaved even closer. He looked more grown up, which was almost sad.
“He says it helps his concentration,” Zeb offered, smirking from where he stood next to the other two. “Though if you ask me, the haircut didn’t have anything to do with his concentration.”
“I said that one time,” Ezra protested. “And it was a joke, really. I’m asking Jyn, not you, anyways. Jyn?”
“Not bad,” she told him.
“Thanks,” Ezra said, grinning. “So, did Kanan tell you what his mysterious secret meeting is? He hasn’t told any of us.”
“Other than Hera, we assume,” Sabine put in. She’d changed her hair too—longer bangs, with an undercut, dyed lilac and white. “Though she claims to know nothing as well.”
Jyn shook her head. “He hasn’t told me anything.”
“And I’m not planning to,” Kanan put in as he strode past them, heading towards the nearby shape of the Ghost . “Yet.”
Rolling her eyes, Sabine said, “You can be so dramatic sometimes. Come on, Hera’s waiting on the Ghost .”
The crew made their way onto the ship and into the lounge. Hera was sitting in her chair, her gaze fixed on a datapad, and Rex was sitting on a nearby crate, cleaning one of his blasters. On the couch sat Okadiah and Chenni, both enjoying a mug of what smelled like caf.
Okadiah looked up at their arrival, and a smile spread across his face. “My dear, it is so good to have you at home again,” he told Jyn, getting to his feet. Crossing the room, he gave her a hug.
Hera, who’d looked up at Okadiah’s words, was right behind him. “I second that,” she said, crushing her in a tight hug. “We’ve missed you, Jyn.” Pulling back, she studied her with a frown. “How are you? Are you taking care of yourself?”
“I’ve been eating my vegetables and everything,” Jyn said with a smile. “Though Kanan almost gave me a heart attack earlier.”
Hera’s gaze immediately switched to Kanan, her eyes narrowing. “What did you do?”
“Nothing—”
“He broke into my apartment when I wasn’t there to wait for me,” Jyn told her.
“And made you hot cocoa while I was waiting for you,” Kanan protested. “Besides, it was more covert than going up to you in the street. And slightly less likely to get me into trouble. You didn’t shoot me, after all.”
“Fair enough,” Jyn allowed. “Well, it’s good to hear that all of you are still insane.”
“Pretty much,” Ezra agreed. “For instance, I’ve got an archnemesis now. Did Kanan tell you about that?”
“He may have alluded to something like that, though I still have no idea what that means.”
Clearing his throat, Kanan said, “Before you get into all that, let’s get into the reason I brought you here. The reason for this meeting.”
That got everyone’s attention. Okadiah returned to his seat next to Chenni, and Jyn sat with them. Chenni smiled at her warmly and gave her hand a quick squeeze. “Good to see you again, dear.”
“Thank you,” Jyn said as the others took seats around the room. Kasmir remained standing, leaning against the door frame with an indiscernible expression. Hera didn’t retake her seat, but gestured for Sabine to use it as she stayed next to Kanan.
Kanan waited until all were seated and were watching him expectantly. Then, he spoke.
“The first reason I called this meeting was to say thank you. Specifically to Okadiah, Kasmir, and Hera.” Jyn glanced at Okadiah and saw a surprised, pleased look cross his face, while Kasmir stayed inscrutable. “The last six months were…far from my best,” Kanan continued, a flicker of shame crossing his face. “And while I have apologized to most of you, I haven’t thanked the three of you who kept my network from falling to pieces. A lot of lives would be in jeopardy without you.”
“It was our pleasure, Kanan, lad,” Okadiah told him, and Hera nodded in agreement.
A wry look crossed Kanan’s face. “Funny you should say that. Because the next thing I want to talk about is the future of that network, and how my role’s going to change.”
“What do you mean?” Jyn said, frowning. “It’s your network. You’re the one who built it.”
Kanan shook his head. “Technically, it’s the Rebellion’s. Or if it’s anyone’s, it’s Maurice’s network.”
“...but you are Maurice,” Ezra said.
“Metaphorical, Ezra,” Sabine said.
“Oh, right.”
Looking like he was hiding a smile, Kanan cleared his throat. “The point is, I have limitations now that I didn’t before. The main one being the fact that I can’t see. Can’t read reports or datapads or half a dozen other things. And while being a Jedi lessens the limitations, it doesn’t completely take it away.”
“So what are you saying?” Zeb asked with a frown. “You’re quitting?”
“Not quitting. Doing what I should have in the first place, and asking for help,” Kanan said. “Okadiah, Kasmir, Hera. All of you are already basically managing the network. If I start working again, even if it’s not to the same degree… would you be willing to take on part of the work?”
There was a startled silence. Jyn couldn’t blame them. She found herself shocked that Kanan would be giving up, even to a small degree, something that was such a big part of his life. “Are you sure?” she asked. “You know there are ways we can make it more accessible. You don’t have to just give up.”
“It’s not just that,” Kanan told her, a slight frown crossing his face. “Truthfully, I’ll probably ease back into things as time goes on and we figure more things out. But…something’s telling me that I need to start stepping back. And that I need to learn to ask for help, instead of—”
“Going hermit mode for six months?” Kasmir offered wryly, and Kanan snorted.
“Exactly. So, what do you say?”
Kasmir shrugged. “Why not? I’m doing it anyway.”
“You already know I’m going to say yes,” Hera told him. “But of course I’ll help, in any way I can.”
“So you DID know what this was about,” Ezra muttered. “I kriffing knew it.”
“Language,” Kanan and Hera said at the same time, and Rex snorted from where he’d been listening quietly. “Okay, Okadiah?” Kanan said, turning to face the old man. “There’s no pressure, I promise.”
Okadiah gave him a fond look. “Son, I’ve been helping you since this began. Of course I’ll do everything I can for you now.”
“Thank you,” Kanan said, his voice quiet and deeply sincere. “All of you.”
“You are most welcome, Kanan. However,” Okadiah added, getting to his feet. Chenni followed him as they moved into the center of the room. “There’s something I should tell all of you, now that we are at last gathered together.”
Kasmir let out a slight cough, and Jyn glanced at him. The Kalleran was wearing a barely restrained smirk. Frowning, Jyn wondered what exactly he knew.
“Okay, what’s up?” Ezra said.
Okadiah stroked his chin thoughtfully. “Hmm. Well, there’s really no delicate way to say this, is there, my dear?”
“Not at all,” Chenni agreed.
Kanan frowned. “What are you talking about, Okadiah?”
“Simply put? Chenni and I are married.”
Jyn’s jaw dropped, and Ezra fell off of his seat. “You’re WHAT?” Kanan said, eyebrows shooting up. “Since when?”
“Since he rescued me from Lothal and brought me here,” Chenni said cheerfully. “As we were escaping a group of stormtroopers, Okadiah told me he loved me, and we decided that we didn’t want to wait. We fled the planet, then found the nearest wedding chapel. Kasmir was the best man.”
“Which was exactly as stress free as you think it was,” Kasmir muttered—but he was still smirking.
Nearby, Rex started to laugh, while Zeb gaped, shaking his head. Slowly shaking his head, Kanan said, “This—I can’t—why didn’t you tell us?”
“It didn’t seem like the right time,” Okadiah said. “And of course, I wanted to wait until everyone was home together.” He gave Jyn a smile, who returned it.
“Well, congratulations,” Hera said, still looking a little stunned.
The others immediately spoke up, a chorus of overlapping congratulations flowing forth as they moved forward to embrace the couple in their turn. Jyn saw Kanan move forward to put a hand on Okadiah’s shoulder, saying something to him and Chenni that Jyn couldn’t quite make out.
She could, on the other hand, make out what he said when he moved back to stand next to Hera, who’d moved out of the way of the others. Sidling up next to her, Kanan leaned in next to her head, chin brushing her temple. Jyn could just hear it when he said, “Maybe someday, you and I should do something like that.”
Hera’s eyebrows shot up, and Jyn saw her blush visibly. But a smile curved up the corner of her mouth as she said, “If you’re saying what I think you’re saying, dear, you’ll need to ask a little better than that next time.”
A matching grin crossed Kanan’s face, and Jyn had to hold back one of her own. Clearly neither of them knew she’d heard them—they were in their own little world, Hera’s fingers lacing around Kanan’s while the others talked, congratulating Okadiah and Chenni.
It was good to see that no matter how messy things had been while she was gone, these two were still as solid as a rock. Jyn didn’t think anything would break them apart.
“Hey, Kanan!” Ezra called, pulling both Jyn and Kanan’s attention. “We should do something to celebrate? Maybe…waffles?”
The smile on Kanan’s face was warm as he said, “I was thinking the same thing, kid.”
“Then to the kitchen!” Okadiah said, and the group headed that way, Ezra leading the way. Jyn brought up the rear, and found a place to sit out of the way when she got there. Keeping mostly quiet, she watched the chaos unfold as Kanan worked with Sabine as his assistant. The others chatted and occasionally bothered Kanan, who answered all heckling good naturedly, when he wasn’t busy flirting with Hera. The whole scene was familiar and warm and the sort of thing she’d missed so much.
Jyn may not have had a home world, or a physical home of any kind. But, watching Ezra try to convince Kanan to put chocolate chips in the waffles, and Okadiah dancing with Chenni to the music Zeb had put on, she knew without a doubt that these people were her true home.
And she was so incredibly lucky to have them.