The cold air pierced the skin as Cassian set foot out of his quarters, the soft snow crunched beneath his heavy black boots and the harsh, frosty winds caused him to stuff his calloused and cracked hands into his thick coat pockets, in need of some extra insulation.
The rebels had been positioned on Hoth for a few months now, it was secluded enough to stay off the radar from the Empire. It was miraculous really, being with the rebellion meant moving around every few months when the Empire inevitably found their base and for once they had managed to stay put long enough settle down comfortably, or as comfortable as you could be positioned on a desolated ice planet.
He had still not gotten used to the freezing conditions of Hoth and he didn't think he ever could. Cassian had been on a mission for 2 months on Lothal, and the conditions were oh so different. He hadn't seen anyone but Kaytoo for months on end and as much as he hated to admit it he had missed everyone, he had missed his home.
To Cassian, home was always wherever the rebellion was. It had been his life from when he was only 6 years old. But recently or ever since Jyn Erso came into his life, he had found her to be his home. Coming back from his missions to her warm embrace, or looking deep into her chocolaty orbs that were her eyes, or listening to her soft voice after being deprived of it for weeks on end. The list could go on. Everything about her would make him happy, even her feisty arguments with Kaytoo, or the way she could stare at him with such anger.
Cassian could feel a small smile creeping up onto his chapped lips; he was stuck in his own thoughts of Jyn, until he was pulled out of his reverie to the sound of Jyn's laugh. He looked out to the hangar where he saw Solo and Jyn, as he saw it Solo was obviously flirting with her and she was enjoying it. Cassian stood from a distance, staring at the two of them, his heart slowly being sinking in his chest and down to his stomach. Soft whispers spoke to him in his mind, stoking at the fire in his head 'See she doesn't care about you, she could never care about someone who has murdered so many people. She would never love someone with so much blood on their hands.'
He felt someone's gaze on the back of his neck and he turned around taking his eyes of the woman that he loved and the smuggler that had joined their ranks months ago. The one thing he never expected was Princess Leia to be stood behind him, stony faced, jaw and fists clenched, staring at the two figures in the otherwise empty hanger.
Leia shook her head "That big headed moof-milker! Good for nothing scoundrel, always ruining everything I do." She seemed to be getting angrier by the minute, and face was turning a shade of red and angry tears were springing to her eyes. She shook her head once more before walking off. No doubt to be alone.
Cassian honestly didn't know what to do in order to comfort the princess, if he were honest with himself he would be doing the exact same thing as his superior leader, but he could only keep his head bowed down, he didn't know what to do, did he run? Did he hide? Did he ask to be assigned to a new mission? Did he confront the situation head on? Did he go and punch Solo in the face? Did he go to Kaytoo for some sort of comfort? He just didn't know what to do. What could he do? It took a few more minutes before Cassian realized that his name was being called, he was obviously too induced in his thoughts to be of any help to anyone. He stared up at the figure in front of him, and instead of seeing Jyn or Han; he looked up to see the dark navy coverings of his droid and best friend.
"Cassian, General Draven wants you to meet him at…" Kaytoo paused, taking Cassian's appearance in, "Why does your face look like the burning rocks of Mustafar?"
Cassian let out a shaking breath that he didn't know he was holding in, "First of all, I do not look like Mustafar. Second of all, yes I know, Draven wants to see me 1600 hours, but considering it's only 1000 hours now, I'm pretty sure I have enough time!" his words were becoming more and more filled with anger and frustration.
K2SO stared at Cassian silently for a few seconds before speaking again, "I sense that you are angry Cassian."
Cassian rolled his eyes and scoffed.
Kaytoo continued, "The likelihood that your anger is coming from the flirtatious relations between Han Solo and Jyn Erso is at least 92.95%."
Cassian continued to shake his head, "Kay, as much as I value your opinion and our friendship, I'm afraid you've got this one wrong buddy." His words were becoming tenser.
"Cassian, you have appeared to have forgotten that I am a reprogrammed imperial droid, whose main function is statistics. 92.8% of the time my predictions are correct."
Despite his conversation with K2, Cassian could begin to feel the burning stare from Jyn, from across the hangar. He looked up and caught Jyn's stare for a fleeting moment. When they broke away, he looked towards the ground one more. Towards the pure snow that littered the ground, tracks patterned the crisp powder.
He lifted his head to see Jyn break off from her conversation with Solo. She was taking steps towards him and Kay. The spark and fire in her eyes was enough to keep him warm on the icy planet.
He tensed his jaw and swallowed the lump in his throat. He did not want to confront Jyn, the woman who yes he had, had feelings for, for months! The Woman who made him feel human in the hardest of times in war. The women who despite being the most stubborn person he knew could see the beauty in the most unlikely of things. But one thing kept replaying in his head; this was the woman that not even 10 minutes ago was flirting with another man. Not him. But Solo, the arrogant, self-entitled smuggler.
She was getting closer now; he could hear the crunch of her boots against the snow, creating her own tracks and path. So he decided, he turned his back, apologised to Kaytoo and walked away. He could hear her even clearer now. He could hear Jyn's voice calling out to him, echoing around the densely packed tunnels and corridors.
Cassian took larger strides, his breath was becoming heavy. Whether from the sheer panic of facing his love or just the fact that he was tired and unfit, he didn't know.
Before he knew it, he felt a familiar hand on his shoulder. Pulling him back, causing him to stop. Kriff, Jyn may be small but she is fast. He supposed this was why people always underestimated her at first. She was small, and rather average looking. It was only when you got to know Jyn like Cassian did that you start to realise that she's anything but. She's special…and worth it, he thinks.
"Cassian." She sighs, obviously out of breath too "Please stop."
Both hands are on his shoulders now, causing him to fully face her, he looked her in the eyes.
"What do you want Jyn?" his voice was void of the happiness that she craved. "Are you here to rub it in my face? Huh?" The lump in his throat grew.
"What in the force's name do you mean 'am I here to rub it in your face?'? I've done nothing wrong." Her arms are folded across her chest and she has a scowl fixed upon her face.
"Oh yeah, don't pretend like you have no idea what you were doing. You were quite obviously flirting with Solo, in front of everyone no less."
Jyn's scowl slips of her face and she reels back as if his words had slapped her. Her eyebrows had fallen into a frown, and she takes a deep breath in.
"Cass, are you…Jealous?" The spark in her eyes is gone now, all playfulness gone, the spark was replaced by a sparkle. The glimmer of empathy and guilt.
Cassian's eyes shut and he felt his chin hit his chest, his hand swept across his face, he took a deep breath in. "So what if I was, you'd never fall for me anyway, you've made that quite clear by your scene this morning." He turned to move away again, before turning around again to look into her eyes, "But hey, if you and Solo do get together, have a happy life. But I can assure you this Jyn, he will never pay as much attention to you as I have. He will never know that your favourite weather is a heavy downpour that you can go out and dance in. He'll never know that your favourite colour is blue, like the skys were on the nicest days in Lah'mu, where you grew up. He'll never know that you prefer to have your hair up just because you feel confident with your hair out of the way. He will never know that when you lose hope in yourself and others that you rely on the force and your mother's kyper crystal for hope. The thing is Jyn I know so much about you, stuff that is of importance to you and I'll never forget because I care so much about you."
He saw the tears, welling in her eyes. Her mouth was hanging open slightly and her shapely lips were wavering. Jyn wasn't known to be an overly emotional person, in fact she wasn't known for it at all. Which obviously he had struck a nerve with her.
He turned to leave once more. He stepped forward, before being grabbed by the shoulder and pushed against the snow packed walls, Jyn's lips were upon his in an instance. Her lips were warm, they tasted like mint, sugar, warmth and most importantly home. Their tongues battled for dominance, before they broke apart, breathless.
Their foreheads rested against eachother, "Cassian," Jyn breathed, "It will always be you. You're my everything, I trust you. I need you to cope. You're my hope and my home. I need you to survive. I need you to carry on."
Their lips met again, and with that their future and fate was sealed, together or not at all.