Chapter Text
“Your father would be proud of you.”
These were the last words she heard from Cassian as the light across the horizon shone brighter than a thousand suns. The tremor underneath them belied the oncoming waves fast approaching them. They were heralded by the arrival of a gust of wind, blasting them with extreme heat. Jyn could only clutch tighter into Cassian’s shirt, digging her face into the nook of his arms. For that one moment, she had the selfish thought of wanting this motley crew more than anything else. But she knew that their sacrifice made it so other could have the life that she fleetingly imagined with Cassian.
She kept her eyes closed as the waves swept onto the beach, threatening to push them apart. She gasped at the sudden splash that dipped them under the water, and opened her eyes watched as they floated away. Jyn was surprised that they weren’t dead.
“Jyn!” Cried Cassian. He visibly struggled to stay close to her, his injuries having sapped his strength. Jyn recalled her fleeting thoughts and redoubled her determination. “Cassian!” She responded, never had she ever thought she would be in this situation care about someone like this. But he didn’t leave her behind, and neither would she. Her hands wrapped further around Cassian, clinging to him for dear life as they moved through the forest.
She didn’t know how long the roar of the waves carried them through the jungle, but she held a death grip on him for each time they went under the waves she feared it would be the last time she saw him. Jyn stiffened with each hit on each tree, and winced in sympathy each time Cassian groaned. They moved in silence. There was nothing to talk about in these hectic moments, besides it was much too loud to think she thought. Thinking meant contemplating their uncertain fate amidst the waves that threatened to fill her lungs with water.
She kept her wits about her, worried about Cassian. Over time, she could tell from his weakening grip, that he was bobbing in and out of consciousness. His head rested on her shoulders, and she tried to keep it out of the water despite the violence of the waves. She kept an eye out ahead, looking for somewhere to catch themselves. She knew they had to find group before they were swept out back into the sea on the other end of the island. If that even came to be. She furrowed her brow in determination when she spotted what appeared to be a grey Imperial building jotting out of the water in stark contrast to the flooded surroundings. It must have been the tallest thing around besides the com tower, she wondered. Regardless, it was her new goal. It seemed to comfortably sit with a flat plane above the raging waters around it. It would be a shelter as good as they were going to get.
Jyn angled her body, so she could take the brunt of their maneuvering tactics. This meant working backwards but it was better than using Cassian’s battered body. Using a tree, she grabbed what vines that were in reach and attempted to cross with the current flowing past them. Soaked to the bone, and with Cassian essentially becoming dead weight meant this was a feat of strength. With one arm struggling to keep him up and the other pulling their way across, she made progress.
Her fingers would seize and spasm, as she finally got to the grey building. She could only whimper under the strain of fighting both the new river and hoisting Cassian over. With a delighted grin, congratulating herself on getting his fat ass over, she followed him.
Jyn rolled onto her back, breathing harshly and stared back up at the stars. The Imperials had left, the little dots that streaked across the sky Signaling FTL flight. With a breather, she closed her eyes and pushed off with her elbows to a sitting position. Cassian laid beside her, unconscious. She could only curse her current situation, no bacta no med kit to help her out. She tilted her head over his chest, confirming his heart beat and his soft breath against her cheek made her blush but also flooded her heart with relief. A warmth against the cold that was biting her bones. She bit her lip once more, a nervous tic, at the sight of the blaster wound on his shoulder. It looked ugly and needed to be patched.
She was soaked, he was soaked. The sun was baking them both. At least it wasn’t winter she conceded. She sat on her knees, scanning the horizon yet always keeping Cassian within her peripheral vision. He displayed no other external signs of injury which she knew from her time with Saw that meant internal injuries. Silent and lethal killers. There were supplies streaming past them….bodies…Rebel and Imperial. It was a graveyard, the silence that fell over this place was eerie. Her mother told her to trust in the Force, did the Force will this? Were they alive amidst so much death because it willed it?
She found that she didn’t care so long as Cassian was alive.
Jyn watched the waters with trepidation, watching for gun belts…dead medics…She also watched for survivors. But she knew logically that there wouldn’t be many. Then again logically this was supposed to be in all sense of the word an unsanctioned suicide mission. It took about an hour in the blazing sun, but she had fished several bodies, and stacked up a half Jyn sized pile of emptied backpacks and random assortment of gear. She managed to salvage several packs of bacta bandages, numerous ammo packs, weapons and importantly food and water rations. Jyn tore through them all separating out what she needed and did not.
Most importantly, enough materials were gathered to make a make shift shelter and to patch Cassian to the best of her ability.. Bits of clothing here, boxes here, and whatnot. She grunted as she dragged Cassian under it, sheltering him from the sun. Part of her wondered if perhaps it was wise considering the wet clothing. Jyn was however more worried that he hadn’t woken yet but it was all she could do beside dab bacta onto the wound and wrap it. Jyn sat next to him, and nibbled on some of the rations. She knew her adrenaline would wear off soon. Minutes passed with the same background noise, and she sighed softly to herself. Jyn laid down next to Cassian, curling up next to him. They were sharing body heat since they were soaked she thought to herself. No other ulterior reason why she was digging into his chest. Soon she found her eyes closing and she drifted off to sleep.
Jyn was roused from sleep when she felt shuffling beside her. She groaned and cracked her eyes open. Cassian! She sat up, sitting next to a sitting Cassian.
“We are alive.” He breathed, hissing in pain when he moved. His face in shock, as he absorbed his surroundings.
Jyn nodded solemnly. “We are….I don’t know how.” She whispered.
“Have you seen anyone else?” He asked. His military intelligence training acting in gear. His hands hovering over his sides. Possibly where he was in pain, she thought.
“No.” She sadly replied. She kept thinking about everyone else. The rebels who defied command to go with them…Rogue one itself. This was not at all like Saw’s rebels. This…this was as close as she was going to admit it to home. She remembered “Welcome Home.”.
“We need a way off this planet. People will know about this battle, likely scavengers and looters will follow suit.” Cassian added to the quiet conversation. There was a silence over them, Jyn wanted to grab his hand and squeeze it in support. She wasn’t sure what their current state was now. She wasn’t sure what he thought of her. Was the beach a last hurrah or did he genuinely hold feelings for her? Would he leave her when they returned to a rebel base? She wasn’t a spy. He was. She remembered how she disliked him in the beginning.
“Trust goes both ways.”
“Trust in the Force.”