Cassian had never been so grateful for Chirrut in all the world. Before the Battle on Scarif he hadn't had much time to get to know the man, but the joy he was now bringing Jyn, who looked forward to his calls every week, made Cassian grateful that he had survived for multiple reasons.

"I have written down the food suggestions Chirrut gave me," she said, after she had just ended her third call with their friend. "Apparently we should be able to find some of these items in the supermarket. He says that this item - 'noodles' - are especially delicious if we buy… 'soy sauce'. What do you think?"

"That sounds like a great idea," said Cassian. "Shall we go tomorrow?"

But Cassian had had other things on his mind as well. Since finding Chirrut the mood of the entire flat had lifted. Their friend had told them that the monastery encouraged him to save for some of the cost of his ticket to to the UK, and that they would help when they could. Whilst this did not aid him in getting to them anytime soon, both of them were glad to know that he was hopefully on his way.

Cassian had asked Jenny about getting a job and she had told him the same as he suspected: that it would all come down to what would happen in their assessments by the council and various bodies to determine how fit and healthy they were. Another word hung there that Cassian did not need to hear out loud: 'sane'. Until some decision was made about them, nothing could go forward. Either way, Cassian was willing to bide his time. He had made a list of jobs he thought he could do, went out on runs every morning to keep himself healthy and kept up chores with Jyn. And sometimes, in the quiet hours, he thought about Chirrut and if his coming meant that there were others out there too.

On his job list were the following:

Teacher
Personal Trainer
Animal Trainer

There had been other ones: private security, things like that. But then he remembered what he had said to Jyn about starting life fresh and without any red, and he decided that he had to leave that all behind, as much as possible.

He had asked Jyn what things she wanted to do. She rose earlier than him sometimes, but on average the times she woke up were erratic, and Cassian wondered if it was because for the first time in her life that she didn't need to rise regularly and wondered if she was taking advantage of it. Some nights they'd talk until it was almost midnight and Jyn would sleep next to him in bed, talking until he fell asleep and his dreams were filled of whatever stories she told.

"What do you think about getting a dog?" he said, almost absentmindedly.

She looked up from the list that she had written down after her phone call.

"Pardon?" she said.

"Never mind," Cassian said quickly, turning back to the kitchen space and re-focusing his attention on the cup of the tea he was making.

"No no," Jyn said. "What did you say?"

Cassian took a deep breath.

"A pet," he said. "What do you think about getting a pet? Like… a fish or…"

"You mentioned a dog?" she said. "That's one of those four legged creatures, face often like a Shistavanen?"

Cassian almost hiccoughed with laughter.

"Yes, that's the one. I just thought that it might be nice for us. We roam around here every day, reading up what we can about the world, walking every inch of this town, wary of taking any long trips because we don't want to ruffle any feathers. I can tell you're bored of living the same days. It's part of why you look forward to talking to Chirrut so much, not just because you're so pleased to talk to our friend. I thought a dog might help give you further purpose, help -"

He look a deep breath.

"Help you decide what you want to do here."

"You're assuming we'll never go back," she said quietly. "You go through every day as if you're determined to make a new life here."

"I don't think we're going back," he said. "I don't - the Rebellion feels more and more like a dream with every day that goes past. I don't think we're even in the same universe anymore…"

He was stuttering, knew he was stuttering, when he knew that actually he should say what was really on his mind.

"Honestly, Jyn, I don't want to go back… do you?"

Jyn took a long, deep breath.

"I don't know," she said quietly. "I really don't know. I guess - I guess I'm happy to go where you go. We did what we needed to do, didn't we? Sent the plans up, did everything we could to help them."

He poured two cups of tea and passed on to her. She eyed it as it approached, and then took it gratefully.

"We did," he said.

She took a long sip, and then nodded.

"Okay," she said. "Okay, let's get a pet. You're right I - I don't know what I'd want to do here, I've tried not to think about it, I guess."

"Great," Cassian replied quickly, picking up the laptop and coming around to where she sat at the table. "Let's look up what the options are."

Cassian sat eating noodles with Jyn later than evening, happy that he had yet another plan in place to make their lives better, and happier. They had changed the laptop to live news - Jyn enjoyed cycling through different streams to compare the different channels and Cassian enjoyed sitting and laughing as she did so.

"You know, you're right," he said absentmindedly. "I think a rabbit would really only be better if we had a garden. I mean, sure, house rabbits are a thing, but either way -"

"Cassian!" Jyn's voice was so startling it almost made him jump, and he quickly turned to her, checking to see if she was alright.

"What is it?"

"No, look, the TV!"

"It's just the weather, Jyn, American weather - we don't even live -"

"I know, but LOOK!"

He turned and what he heard, but more importantly, what he saw, made his hairs stand on end.