A/N:Ok 2017. Time we have a serious talk. I'm really resting a lot of hope on you. Don't screw with us, alright? I want 2017 to be more like A New Hope ending than a Rogue One, k?

It all happened rather quickly. The nervous man on the walkway above, sent the grenade flying, making it's way through the air. Last time, Jyn hadn't noticed it's arrival; one moment the transport was in motion, the next there was a cacophony of sounds. This time, she saw it's motion from the moment it left his hand and how it arched through the open sky. As though all sound had been muted, she could hear the distinct clatter of the grenade hitting the ground and rolling toward the tanks front.

With a flash, the world around her erupted into smoke and blaster fire. Once again, bulky jackets and coats were pulled away, and heavy weaponry emerged. Last time, it had been a distracting jumble of activity that she had a hard time discerning. This time, she could start to decipher the roles each group played. The lobby- launching grenades from above; the distraction, keeping the troopers focused on them, and not the dangerous calvary emerging behind the tank, effectively blocking any escape route for the Imperials. Not so slowly, Saw's training came to mind. Jyn turned into a shallow doorway, as Cassian did the same. Wedged in together in the scant cover it offered, she looked out into the activity. Both of them were only picking targets that turned to them. This wasn't their fight. Jyn knew that it wasn't hers anymore. Even as familiar as it all seemed, she was certain that this wasn't the life she wanted. Not when casualties lined up were as much innocents as Imperials.

Innocents! The little girl, the pilgram's daughter!

Her distraction cost her vital seconds. The little girl was still crying, standing in between bolts of light, flashing past her. Jyn dashed for the girl, at the same moment she saw the tank swing toward her. She heard Cassian call out to her, something about the tower. The tower was next. And she wasn't going to be quick enough. Instead of grabbing the girl and carrying her to safety, Jyn lifted her up and flung her away, far enough she would be out of harm's way. She was still moving, hoping to make it out herself, when she felt her foot slip on the loose gravel and knew there was no way. The girl was safe, outside of the shadow, while she was right in the middle, prone. Instead of bothering to pick herself up, she turned ever so slightly to look at Cassian, her name on his lips, her one true friend in the galaxy— even if he didn't know it yet— before she died. His face was worried, and even… frightened? She smiled, and then the world turned black.

Trust Galen. The strongest stars…. All the way.

This time, Jyn awoke on the U-wing. Absentmindedly, she wondered if this ship had a name. She noticed that it felt like she had something warm pressed into her chest. Pulling on the cord around her neck, the crystal on the end appeared from the collar of her tunic. Oddly, it was glowing ever so slightly, and when she touched it, she realized that it was the source of the warmth she felt. She didn't have much time to consider it before Cassian appeared at her side. Jyn had been correct. It appeared that her reset was now this ship. He was pointedly looking out the side panel.

"That's Jedha," he proclaimed again. Jyn once more stared him down, maybe this time a bit longer than before. He turned, spotted the glowing gem still cradled in her hands and raised a quizzical brow. "What do you have there?"

"It's… uh…. A trinket. From my mother. It… uh… glows when you hold it. Scared of the dark as a kid." She almost winced at her horrible lie. Even she would have caught it, were she on the opposite side of the question. Instead of calling her out, Cassian looked over the brow of the bowl her hands created and down on to the crystal.

"Seems to be working well still."

Jyn nodded numbly, unprepared for such a bland response. She decided to go a bit further with the altered story.

"It was the last gift my mother gave me. I… just can't part with it." That part was true. There was a glimmer of sympathy in Cassian's eyes. She knew that he understood— far better than most would. He nodded once and picked himself up from his seat across from her, and started moving back toward the cockpit and K2. Pausing, he put a hand on her shoulder.

"You might want to keep it hidden once we land. Kyber crystals are a rare commodity on Jedha, recently."

She knew in that instant that he had seen through her lie, which was no surprise, and gave her the dignity to keep it. Jyn tucked it under her tunic's collar and prepared herself for this day again.

"I didn't realize that you cared, Jyn."

"I don't. I just don't want them to miss you and hit me."

"Doesn't sound so bad to me."

Jyn smirked, once more handing K2 her pack, knowing full well its fate once she was out of sight. Cassian patted K2's arm, reiterating to him to stay on the ship. Once more, on repeat, they started down the slope, and toward NiJedha.

She wasn't surprised when Cassian interrupted the silence partway through their trek, but his question was not what she expected.

"Did your mother really give you that crystal?"

Glancing sideways at him, she nodded once. "Right before she died. Stupidly."

"What was stupid about it?"

"She decided she could go up against half a dozen death troopers and live."

"Maybe she never intended to."

Jyn stopped in her tracts, and stared after him. "What do you mean?"

"The only thing I can think of why your mother would go up against death troopers would be to save someone else."

She shook her head at him.

"You didn't know her, so how can you assume that?"

"Just a gut feeling, from meeting you."

Bitterly, she laughed. "Yeah, you know me so well," her voice was tinged with sarcasm. Even with how much she sacrificed for others, everything was laced with resentment. She had gotten to seen a glimpse of a life she could have, and wanted it, but because of others, it had been ripped away from her. Now, she was fighting for it, and even when she'd made progress, she died because of helping someone else.

Yet, as she considered all this, in her heart, Jyn knew that Cassian was right. If it was her or the crying little girl in the street, she would do the same over and over.

Cassian had fallen silent since her rebuttal. She wasn't sure she wanted to break it. Instead, she focused on the sound her boots made in the gravel and sand as they started the ascent into the city.

A/N part 2: sorry this one's a bit shorter than the last few, but I'm pretty sure the next one will make up for it...