They had almost reached the beach.
It had taken a painstakingly long time to walk there, filled with both physical pain and emotional turmoil at knowing what their fate was doomed to be. The right side of Cassian's body was rendered almost entirely useless after his fall inside the data vault, resulting in him having to lean almost entirely on her to even walk.
She didn't mind.
She had found herself warming up to the reserved, untrusting man of late. It was more than a few times that she had caught her gaze lingering on him longer than necessary, hiding her smile after he complimented her, and longing to rest her head on his warm chest with his strong arms wrapped protectively around her.
She was tired of being alone and being the only one looking after herself. In the past few days, Cassian had cared for her safety at the risk of his own life.
Her thoughts of him were silly, she realized now. But even if they weren't, it was too late for any of that now, Jyn supposed.
Neither of them had said a word after they caught sight of that faint white outline in the soft blue sky, cutting off their celebration mid embrace. They were both rendered speechless, though somehow they had both wordlessly decided that they would head to the beach.
The planet was eerily quiet and calm as Jyn and Cassian made their way through the last of the palm tree laden jungle. They were moving at their slowest pace yet. She could hear Cassian hold in a grimace with every limp he took, his right leg dragging through the sand, his eyes filled with fire and determination, focused on the beach in the horizon.
The beach was really quite pretty. The sand was a shining white with crystal clear water lapping lazily at the shore. The whole planet of Scarif was gorgeous. Jyn had never seen such a tropical place in her short life. It seemed impossible for such a beautiful place to be the home of the Death Star plans and an Imperial Base. Impossible for such a beautiful place to be where Chirrut, Baze, and Bodhi would die...or had already died. She wondered if they were even still alive- if they felt the terror of an imminent death as she and undoubtedly Cassian did. She almost hoped that they were dead already, and had been given the blessing of a quick and clean death.
Jyn looked up at Cassian, his jaw set and brows furrowed in concentration.
"Tell me about yourself" Jyn blurted out, the silence proving to be too much for her.
Cassian snapped as if out of a trance and turned his head to look at her. His face softened immediately as he stared at her, his eyes filled with kindness while taking in her features before finally resting on her eyes. Jyn felt a flutter in her chest.
"There's not much to tell. My mother, father, and sister died when I was very young. The Empire stormed our village, dragged out my father and shot him first. Then my mother, then my sister. When it was my turn, a small band of rebels launched a surprise attack on the stormtroopers, giving me a chance to escape. The rebels took me in. I've been fighting this battle since I was 6, and I guess this is where it ends," Cassian finished with a bit of a chuckle, running his free hand through his damp hair that was sticking to his face.
Jyn was taken aback by his calmness. "Aren't you terrified right now, Cassian?" She implored, her wide eyes staring straight into his dark ones as they finally stepped out of the jungle and into the beach.
"I died the night my family died," Cassian responded gravely with a shrug. "I've always felt guilty that I was the only one that survived that night."
Jyn was touched by his story. From the way he told it, she realized that he had never told anyone this but her. And that made her happy. To break down some of his walls.
She reached up hesitantly, her hand lingering in the air, before she touched his shoulder tenderly.
She could feel his whole body tense at the contact, but she ignored it and instead leaned closer into his side as they finally stepped out of the jungle and into the beach.
The horizon was breathtaking. The sunset was a swirl of orange and pink, the sea a crystal blue.
They walked towards the shore and sat on the sand.
Jyn looked up at the sky and could see the white outline of the Death Star becoming greyer and greyer.
"Its almost here," Cassian said emotionlessly.
Jyn nodded at him, trying to calm down her breathing and her racing mind. Her heart was popping out of her chest as she tried to prepare herself for death. But she couldn't. All her life, she didn't mind the thought of death, and almost welcomed it.
But now, facing death in the eye, she was utterly terrified.
She didn't want to die.
She didn't know what had changed in the past few days, what or who had given her a new hope and love for life.
But she didn't want to die.
Jyn hesitated, as she didn't want to bother him in his final moments for himself, but then turned to face him and was surprised to see that he was already looking at her.
"I don't want to die, Cassian," Jyn stated as bravely as she could, her voice breaking at saying his name.
At her words, his eyes seemed to melt before her own eyes. He reached his hand out and held her face, stroking her cheek with his thumb.
Jyn was frozen, all thoughts of her fast approaching death wiped from her mind. She was not used to the close proximity that they were in. She could feel his hot breath on her cheek as he ran his thumb along her features; his head tilted and eyes boring into her skin.
"I don't want you to die either," was his eventual response.
Jyn gazed at his face, which was but a few inches away from her own. She studied the face of the man who had changed her life in a matter of days. In him, she had found someone to trust- and someone who trusted her. Someone who helped her see that her life could make a difference in the massive galaxy; that as long as there was hope, there was life. Sure, he was cold and indifferent at first. He was a man of few words.
But he was someone who made her want to fight to live. Someone who made her not want to die.
"You know, I really didn't like you when I first met you," Cassian said with a small smirk.
Jyn laughed through her tears, resulting in a sob choke sounding noise. "Why?"
He looked down at the sand and drew a small pattern on it. "I didn't think we could trust you."
"But you did trust me. You let me keep the gun," Jyn probed, tilting her head to the side curiously.
"I know. I did trust you, from the first time you stepped on my ship. For some reason I trusted you, even when every logical rationale told me that you weren't to be trusted," he said with intensity, bringing his gaze back to her eyes.
"And that's why I disliked you, why I really didn't like you at all. I tried to be as cold and detached as possible." Cassian continued, averting his eyes back to the sand.
Jyn raised an eyebrow at this statement.
"I've survived as long as I have as an orphan by not trusting anyone; by not letting anyone in. And you came in and shattered those barriers, as much as I tried to deny it."
"I had to come to terms with it when I had your father in my scope, and was ready to pill the trigger. My mission orders kept repeating in my head, over and over," he said with a small laugh as ran his hand through his hair.
"But every time I looked through that scope… I saw you crying. I couldn't do it, and disobeyed orders for the first time. I should have just left, especially since you had disobeyed my orders to stay on the ship. I owed you nothing. But I ran to the platform. I ran faster than I ever have in my life. All I knew was that I needed to protect you in any way that I could," he said softly, still looking at the ground.
Jyn was rather speechless at Cassian's words, the now oh so familiar flutter rising in her chest. His words meant more to her than he would ever know.
Before she even knew what she was doing, she leaned forward and kissed him softly on the corner of his lips.
Cassian was taken by surprise by the quick peck, though he quickly hid it. He merely smiled weakly back at her.
"I didn't like any of you at first, either. I've been so used to being on my own. Not worrying about anyone but myself, and no one worrying about me but myself. I especially disliked you- I thought you hated me," Jyn confessed, earning a laugh from Cassian.
"You didn't want to talk, and you didn't seem to think I could help you. But I think we proved each other's first impressions to be wrong. Your bravery and leadership are unparalleled in the galaxy, Cassian. You're a hero, straight out of a storybook. But even your heroism is nothing compared to the kindness that dwells closest to your heart, though you might want to refuse that it exists. I know it does, I've felt it and seen it. And the only thing I wonder is why you would try to hide and bury such a beautiful thing that you possess," Jyn finished emphatically, not used to making such a confession but wanting Cassian to know the impact that he had on others.
Cassian looked up suddenly at her words. She could see that they had affected him greatly, as his mind seemed to be racing a mile a minute, though his eyes remained transfixed on hers. She could see he was rendered speechless, so she continued on.
"We ended up making quite the team. We did it. Rogue One did it. We got the plans," Jyn finished excitedly and proudly.
"Your father would have been proud, Jyn," Cassian said with a small smile.
She gave a weak smile and nod in response, and closed her eyes tightly as she began to feel the beach heat up a bit more.
At the mention of her father, she felt oddly enough at peace with her fate. Her entire family was dead, and now it was her turn to join them.
She and the rest of Rogue One had given the Rebels a way to destroy the biggest threat the galaxy had ever faced.
And she was dying in the arms of her only friend left on the planet. There were worse ways to go.
She opened her eyes as she saw the horizon begin to rip up seemingly from the bottom of the sea to the edge of the atmosphere.
Jyn looked to Cassian who had an equally peaceful expression on his face. He reached his hand out and helped her stand up with him.
Wordlessly, he pulled her into a tight embrace. She wrapped her arms around him and nuzzled her face in the crook of his neck.
"What was that prayer that Chirrut always said?" Cassian asked with a soft chuckle, holding the back of her head softly with his hand. The wall of white was nearing.
"I am with the Force, the Force is with me," Jyn responded with a soft laugh, a lone tear rolling done her face. They both felt the heat's presence increase.
She tightened her grip on Cassian and he did the same. They both repeated the prayer.
"Cassian!?" Jyn cried as the white wall was almost at them.
"Jyn?!" was his desperate response as he turned to look her in the eyes. She could feel the rumble of his chest and the rapid beat of his heart.
Her green eyes met his dark ones.
"I wouldn't want to be on this beach with anyone in the galaxy but you," she yelled over the sound of the moving destruction.
He pulled her closer.
"Neither would I."
The entire world turned white.
Hey guys! Hope you liked it! Sorry if the writing is subpar, I came home from the theater tonight and wrote this all in one sitting. The writing will get better, I promise! Anyways, next chapter should be up tomorrow. Please leave a review and let me what you thought of this chapter and what you'd like to see in the rest of the story!
Veilaa