Cassian Andor was the first person Kes Dameron met from the Rebel Alliance. Kes had lived a fairly ordinary life, going through all the required rungs of education before leaving early when students - no, friends - started being rounded up by agents of the Empire. Before, it hadn't been his fight. He hadn't wanted it to be his fight. But then his friends, people he loved, professors he respected started to become afraid to leave their rooms, afraid to say anything. And then his cousin went missing, and it was the straw that broke the camel's back.
So he started to rally support, quietly. Flyering with a hood over his face and a blaster at his hip in case things got nasty. And from there things got bigger, rescuing innocent civilians, children and families in need with other like minded citizens. Back then the Rebellion had been just a word, the title of a group doing much more than he could even fathom.
And then Cassian had found him. They had both been children then: Cassian less so. He had been world-weary even then, his hair mussed up and a semi-haunted look in his eyes.
Kes had been sitting on a bench in one of the cities on the planet Angor after a particularly unpleasant attempt by him and his comrades to rescue some orphanage kids taken by the Empire. Only some of them had survived. Kes remembered sitting there that morning, head in his hands, tired from the fight and tired from the suffering. Suffering always looked better on screens than in real life.
"Rough day?" he had heard someone ask.
Kes had looked up to his left to see a kid that could have been older than twenty, the same age as him. For some reason, he had nodded. And the rest, as they say, was history.
A month later he was running missions for the Rebellion, and though he had always seen less of Cassian that would have liked, they had kept in contact, always sitting together in the mess hall when they were both back from missions. In truth, Kes was always in awe of Cassian, and though he hadn't done too badly himself he was proud to call Cassian - who was slowly becoming a legend in Rebellion espionage circles - his friend.
It was only logical that Cassian had been the first one he had told when he met Shara. Share Bey, the pilot. The pilot. There was no time for love when you were in the Rebellion. That's not to say some hadn't found it, but that every attachment more than friendship could be a liability if you weren't careful. Some people had kids, some got married, some even managed to keep both together. But then he had met Shara and it was like being hit by lightning.
And he had been lucky: Cassian had been back on base when he had got back after meeting her for the first time. He had been familiar with her name, of course. Shara was to piloting what Cassian was to espionage.
"Why didn't you introduce her to me sooner?" he said, striding through as the door to Cassian's quarters slid open.
Cassian looked up from where he was leaning on the bed.
"Hi Cassian, so glad to see you. How was your last mission? Are you alright? Pretty dangerous there on Coruscant - have you had a rest?" said the Captain.
"Shara Bey," said Kes, standing in front of his friend.
"The answers to those questions would be good, yes, and I was just about to before some Rebellion punk decided to stride into my quarters. Sound familiar?"
Kes grinned.
"I'm sorry," he said. "You know I care, I've just -"
"Yeah, I know. You've met a girl. I can tell by that stupid grin on your face. Shara's out of your league, mate."
Kes' face fell from one of excitement to one of doubt.
"Really?" he said.
Cassian laughed.
"I'm not the one to say," he said. "Share can make up her own mind. God forbid I ever get into an argument with her."
"I'm thinking that maybe I'll ask her to... to mess hall with me."
"Good idea," said Cassian. "Make it public so that she can't be too vicious when she decides to reject you."
Kes sat down on the bed next to Cassian.
"In all seriousness, though," he said, his voice no longer jovial. "Do I have a chance?"
Cassian took a deep breath, and put a hand on Kes' shoulder.
"Yes," he said. "You're a good man, one of the best I know, and a damn sight better than I am. Far be it from me to say this, but just be yourself."
Kes smirked.
"Aww, don't make me blush, Cas."
Cassian laughed.
"I'll put in some good words for you as well, how about that?"
So one marriage later - with Cassian as best man, of course, Res had never been happier. The struggle was still hard, still dreadful as the Empire continued to loom heavy, but he and Share took pleasure in the quiet moments, the hours snatched together in between missions.
And that was why Kes recognised that look in Cassian's eyes from all the way across the hangar. People were bustling left and right, buzzing from the latest meeting with Rebel leadership. One word flew around the hangar. Scarif... Scarif... Scarif...
But in that moment he saw Cassian's face, and the smile the captain tried to hid as he said a couple of words to Galen Erso's daughter. Then - there it was. That stupid grin.
"Kes!" he heard someone calling out. "Kes, you're needed!"
Then he tucked the thought in the back of his mind as he hurried away, knowing that he'd have plenty to talk about with his friend later.
Kes sat in his quarters after the Battle of Scarif, glad to finally have some time to himself after being called for around the clock. Then tomorrow Shara would be home, and finally they'd get some time to themselves that would be longer than an hour or two.
He lay back on his pillow and had just shut his eyes when he heard the door to his quarters slide open. He knew who it would be before he even had to open his eyes.
"Have you met her yet?" said the voice. "Jyn Erso?"
Kes smirked.