Even children are not unscathed in a galactic war. (ROV #12)
Child's Play
"This is a bust." Jyn grinned at the frustration in Cassian's voice, obvious even over a comlink. "Do you see anything at all that makes it worth our staying?"
"Well, I see a soup vendor and it looks really good. Hot, at least."
She heard him chuckle. "Fine. Let's eat. I'll come to you."
It took a few minutes to wend their way through the marketplace crowd, but eventually they found the stall Jyn had noticed. Certainly the smell was enticing, and several others were standing around eating the soup with relish. Jyn was holding the two bowls while Cassian paid when she felt a tug on her bag. From the corner of her eye, she glimpsed movement, and instinctively jerked away, trying not to spill the soup. "Hey!"
A boy of about ten or eleven years stood there, her scarf in hand, apparently the only thing he'd managed to snatch before she noticed. "Give it here," she glared threateningly.
Her scowl was usually enough to cow the average person, but the boy just tightened his jaw in defiance. Abruptly, he shoved upward, dumping one of the bowls of soup down the front of her before he turned and raced off. Her reaction to the spill meant most of the other bowl sloshed over the sides and down her hand.
"Kriff!" She dropped both bowls and took off after the kid with a vengeance. "You lousy guttersnipe! Give that back."
Admittedly, the boy was fast, but so was she, and even his efforts at dodging around food stalls and zigzagging through the crowd weren't enough to keep her from gaining on him. In desperation, he bolted off down a side street and then another, but unfortunately for him, the second street was a dead end, with a fence too high for him to scale.
Triumphantly, Jyn blocked his only exit and the two stood glaring at one another a moment. Cassian arrived just then, finally having caught up.
"Okay, give it back and I'll let you go." Jyn thought that was more than reasonable, considering how much she wanted to grab the kid and shake him.
For several seconds, the boy didn't move or break eye contact with her, but then he pointedly shoved the scarf into his pocket and crossed his arms belligerently.
"Why you little—" Jyn lurched toward the boy, but Cassian quickly caught her around the waist, holding her back.
"Jyn. Jyn, leave him be."
Despite his soothing tone, she snarled, "He's nothing but a street brat, Cassian! I've met his kind before."
"So have I," he murmured. Something in his voice made her hesitate and glance at him.
When it was clear she was under control again, he moved slowly toward the boy and knelt on one knee. "You're a pretty good fighter. What's your name? I'm Cassian."
The lad eyed him warily, his fists raised defensively, but mostly kept a sharp watch on Jyn standing several feet farther back. He'd obviously marked her as the greater threat. Cassian followed his gaze and then remarked, "You've made her pretty mad."
"I ain't afraid of no girl," the boy snapped bravely.
Cassian chuckled. "Well, you should be afraid of this one. She could kick your butt. Mine too, probably."
"A girl?" the boy asked skeptically, crossing his arms again.
"Yes. I've seen her take out a half dozen stormtroopers with just her truncheon."
"What's a trunch…trunch thing?"
Cassian held his hand out behind him toward Jyn, trusting she would heed the unspoken request. A moment later her truncheon slapped against his palm. He opened it up and showed it to the boy. "This is a truncheon." He held it out for the boy to examine.
"It just looks like a stick. How can that hurt a stormtrooper? They got all that armor and stuff on."
He looked over his shoulder. "Jyn can show you how it works." His eyes met hers, willing her to go along with this. Though her jaw tightened a little, she heeded his urging and stepped forward.
He returned the truncheon to her and stood. She gestured for him to come at her. Ever so briefly he hesitated. "Keep in mind that you like me."
That won him a smile. "I'll try."
He brought his hands up as though they held a blaster and stepped toward her. She came forward to meet him, slowly arcing with the truncheon and shoving his arms down and away from her. A slight adjustment of her pose and she brought the truncheon in at his neck. "First you block any weapon they're holding so they can't use it against you. Then you strike at the joints, where the armor doesn't entirely protect them." She pressed the truncheon into Cassian's neck and he fell away from it, but then came back forward leaning toward her to grab her physically. She sidestepped and brought it down on the back of his neck and he dropped to his knees.
Rolling over to sit, Cassian faced the boy again. "And that's how it's done. You're right that a stick wouldn't do much damage against armor, but a sturdy stick in the hands of someone who knows how to use it can lay a man out in seconds."
"Huh. That's pretty good."
Even Jyn bit back a smile at that. "Yes, it is," Cassian agreed. "And even more impressive to see when it actually happens." He gave her a fond look before turning back to the boy. "So, you never told me your name."
The lad considered, then said, "Tadis."
"Good to meet you, Tadis. You live on your own here?"
The boy eyed him warily. "What's it to you?"
Cassian shrugged. "Just curious. Rough place. I'd guess that's why you're good at fighting."
A battle against emotion swept over Tadis' face. "I do okay," he mumbled.
"I can see that. And I suspect you know a lot about what goes on around here, wouldn't you?"
The boy hesitated, then nodded. "Got to keep my eyes open. It's the only way."
"The only way for what?" Jyn asked. Tadis eyed her but didn't reply.
"Could you teach that to somebody?" The boy abruptly changed the subject, and avoided looking directly at either of them.
"You want to learn it?" Jyn asked, a little surprised he would ask it of her with his antagonism so evident.
For a long moment he didn't respond, then quietly said, "Not me. Someone…else."
Cassian met Jyn's gaze, then asked the boy, "Who?"
Tadis shifted uncomfortably where he stood, then muttered, "Rella. My…sister."
Cassian again met Jyn's eyes, asking permission. She gave him a slight nod.
"She could probably show Rella a few things. I'm not sure how quickly she could learn to fight like that, though."
The boy seemed undecided as to whether he should trust them, so Jyn said quietly, "I was eight years old when I started learning to fight, to defend myself."
The boy's eyes twitched up to stare at her. After a moment, he reached in his pocket and pulled out her scarf, holding it out to her.
Her gaze narrowed, then she told him, "Keep it. I think maybe you need it more than I do."
He stared at her with suspicion, but then finally nodded and returned it to his pocket. "Sorry 'bout dumping the soup on you," he mumbled.
Jyn looked down at her soggy front. "Yeah, well, I'm still mad about that one."
Involuntarily, Tadis' mouth twitched the merest smile when he realized that there was no heat in her words.
"Come on," he muttered, moving toward the exit from the alley. Cassian and Jyn fell in on each side of him, exchanging a glance over his head.
"By the way, Tadis, you know that big building near the market – kind of towers over the other buildings? Has guards in front of it?"
"You mean the stormtroopers?" the boy asked, looking up at him.
Cassian nodded.
"What about it?"
"What can you tell me of it? Have you seen people coming and going from there?"
"Just those Imperial guys. That used to be the Mayor's office, but they came, I guess about three months ago, and took over. Lots of them come and go from there." He looked up at Cassian again. "You'd better stay away. They get real mad if anyone goes close to it. I've seen people beat up, and even shot, for going there."
"Do you just see stormtroopers there or other Imperials also, like in uniforms?"
"Mostly the troopers, but guys in uniforms come sometimes, too. When that happens, it gets even busier and they put a lot more guards around the place. Everyone knows to stay away then or they could be dead."
"Have you ever seen them take anything in or out?" Jyn asked.
He shrugged. "Sometimes the troopers carry stuff in big boxes, but I dunno what's in them."
While they were talking, he had led them to a rundown part of town with numerous gutted and damaged buildings. He shuffled in place briefly, then said, "In here."
Jyn let Cassian take the lead, following the boy, while she covered their backs. Tadis led them deeper into the building than she had expected. She'd at least give him credit for hiding himself well, and lessening the chance he'd be heard from the outside or noticed by a casual observer. She had been fortunate to have Saw when her parents were taken, and hadn't had to fend for herself initially. Despite all the preparations her parents made for escape, she hadn't really been able to survive on her own at first. Saw had protected her until she learned the skills she would need…the skills she had to use when he abandoned her.
She shoved aside that line of thinking. Not useful right now.
Tadis gave a low whistle, a distinctive pattern to it, and Jyn recognized it as a signal to someone ahead. Her hand tensed on her blaster, but she kept it holstered for the moment. Cassian didn't seem concerned, but she was less trusting. She'd had enough experiences to have reason to be. She'd even been the child that led someone – Imps – into danger a time or two.
They entered an open area with a few blankets and cooking items stacked along the wall. A rustling sound drew their attention to the wall where a broken door leaned. Cautiously a little girl's head peeked out, then came farther into the room when she spotted Tadis. A second girl, younger, followed her. They were both careful not to shift the position of the door, and Jyn could guess that it led to a hiding spot within the wall space.
They silently eyed Tadis, but their eyes kept twitching to the two adults who accompanied him. Finally Tadis straightened and said, "That's Rella" – he gestured to the older girl – "and that's Nari."
Jyn shifted uncomfortably and crossed her arms. She had little experience with children, and even less with talking to them. To her relief, Cassian took a knee in front of them.
"I'm Cassian, and that's Jyn." He pointed to her before returning his attention to the girls. "We met your brother in the street and he brought us here to meet you."
Nari gave a hesitant smile, but Rella just stared silently. Cassian tilted his head to look at Tadis, leaving it to the boy how he wanted to proceed.
"I…I figured they might be able to show you some things. To protect you. When I'm not here." He stared at his feet, shuffling them in the dust.
Jyn's lips pursed. She'd been older, but she could guess how the children were feeling, dealing with unfamiliar people when they were alone and afraid. She dropped her arms to her side, and said, "Well, first, I think we should go get some of that soup." She glanced down at her still sodden vest. "I could use some hot food before we do anything else."
Cassian rose. "Good idea. You all coming? My treat."
Involuntarily, the two girls licked their lips and it was clear their meals were irregular at best, just as she'd thought. Still, they hesitated, waiting for Tadis to approve the plan. At length, he nodded. "Okay."
The food was obtained, and they found a spot to sit on a low wall, on the edges of the marketplace and out of the way of the crowd. The children were far more interested in devouring the soup than in talking, so the meal was largely taken in silence.
"Are you gonna try to get into that building?" Tadis asked curiously, scraping the bowl for every last drop of soup.
"Why do you ask that?" Cassian said carefully.
The boy shrugged. "I… If you want, I could show you…" He paused, then pressed on. "I could show you how you could maybe get in."
Cassian's eyes met Jyn's over the boy's ahead. "And how would you know that?"
Tadis looked down at his feet, setting the empty bowl on the wall next to him and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. His sisters were still working on their portions. At last, the boy met Cassian's gaze. "My…my father was Mayor here. That was the government building. Until the Empire came. They…they…" His eyes glanced at his sisters briefly, then he finished, too softly for the girls to hear, "They killed the local leaders."
Cassian let his hand rest on the boy's shoulder and give it a slight squeeze. "They killed my parents, too," he said quietly. Tadis just nodded, staring at his feet and blinking rapidly.
Taking a deep breath, Cassian asked, "Do you suppose your sisters will be all right staying here with Jyn for a little while? She can get them more soup if they're still hungry when they're done with the portions they have."
The girls looked up uncertainly, glancing at Tadis for guidance.
Jyn added, "We could do that. Or I saw some fruit for sale. And maybe we could find some pastries, too."
The girls eyes brightened with interest, but they still waited for Tadis to direct them. After a moment, he told them, "Stay with Jyn. I'll be back in a few minutes. Maybe you can find a cinnamon pastry for me – you know where to go, Rella."
Cassian gave Jyn a nod, and dropped his hand from Tadis' shoulder, leaving it to the boy to guide him. The two of them wound through back streets for several minutes, and Cassian got the sense that they were moving parallel to the Imperial compound, but he kept silent. At length, Tadis stepped to the side of a building, looking around to be sure they were alone. Cassian did his own check, in case the boy missed anything.
Tadis looked up at him. "Around this corner to the right. You can see a small fountain with a large arch behind it. It looks like it's stone, but it isn't. It's a door, a secret exit. Papa said years ago there were uprisings and the leaders then put it in so they could sneak out if anyone attacked the government office. He showed me how to open it from the outside. In case I ever needed to know."
"And the Imperials don't know about it?" Cassian asked after taking a quick look for himself.
"Don't think so. At least I've never seen them near it and they don't really guard it. Guards move around past it, but they don't stay near it very long. Don't act like they know it's there." He thought for a minute, then added, " 'Course they may have found the inside entrance and blocked it or have it under guard. I wouldn't know about that. But that's probably the only way in if you aren't one of them."
"Where does it come out? Inside, I mean."
Tadis considered this, then said, "I could try to draw you a picture from what I remember, if that would help. It isn't very fancy inside."
Cassian took another quick glimpse of it and then turned back the way they had come. When they were well away from the area, he asked, "Tadis, I know this is your home, but I could take you away so you and your sisters would be safer. You would have food to eat and wouldn't have to always fear someone trying to harm them. Do you want to come with us?"
They kept walking while Tadis thought about it. When they were almost back to the market, he tugged at Cassian's arm to pull him to a stop. "We could stay together?"
Cassian nodded. "Yes."
"Okay, then. I guess that would be all right. Better than staying here, anyway." He shoved his hands in his pockets and admitted softly, "It hasn't felt much like home for a long time."
Cassian's mouth tightened, but he gave the boy's shoulder a squeeze as they continued on their way. By the time they located Jyn and the girls, they had purchased some fruit and a bag of pastries. The girls were already enjoying the latter, and Jyn let Tadis grab a cinnamon one.
"They'll be coming with us," Cassian quietly advised her. To the children, he added, "Is there anything you need to collect from your hideout?"
Around his last mouthful, Tadis said, "Some stuff. Not a lot." He set off back to that location and the others fell in behind him.
The kids had a couple of rucksacks and stuffed their few belongings into them. Tadis bit his lip as he eyed the cooking things they had managed to collect, then muttered, "Guess we can leave these things. In case somebody else needs them."
When they were ready, the five of them wended their way back to the ship in silence. While they didn't encounter any difficulties, it was still a relief to be safely onboard. At the sound of their footsteps on the ramp, K-2 appeared from the cockpit.
The droid did a remarkably good job of displaying consternation, despite his lack of facial features. "Cassian, where did these children come from?"
For their part, the kids had drawn back behind Cassian at the sight of the KX droid and he was busy trying to reassure them. Jyn took it upon herself to answer the droid. "Simple, K. Cassian and I got bored during our surveillance so we had sex to pass the time and managed to create three kids while we waited."
"Jyn!" Cassian's frustration was evident, but laced with a repressed laugh.
K-2 focused his receptors on Jyn. "That is absurd, Jyn Erso. I am well aware of how human children are created and there was insufficient time for you to produce even one in the time you have been gone."
Cassian rubbed his forehead, but before he could step in, Jyn snapped her fingers and said, "Darn! I was hoping Cassian hadn't yet had the talk with you about how babies are made."
"Jyn, stop." Cassian rolled his eyes as he held up a hand to K-2. "You, too, K. Jyn is being funny. We found the children in the town, fending for themselves and we're going to take them where they'll be safer. Now, please, go get the ship ready for departure."
The droid gave his approximation of a huff, and turned away to stump off to the cockpit.
Cassian pretend-scowled at Jyn. "Do you have to try to provoke him every time?"
She grinned. "Of course I do. He expects it and he's so good at rising to the bait! I can't disappoint him by giving him a straight answer, can I?"
"You could, if you tried really hard. He'd survive the disappointment." Despite his best effort, the corners of Cassian's mouth twitched up momentarily.
There was a giggle behind them, and they turned in unison to see Nari with her hand over her mouth. "He's funny!" she told them. At her words, the other two children relaxed somewhat and also smiled uncertainly.
Jyn raised a gloating eyebrow at Cassian. He knew how to deal with children, but she wasn't completely inept. Stooping in front of the little girl, she loudly whispered, "Shhh! If he hears you, he'll pout."
The girl giggled again as they heard a loud retort from the cockpit. "I do not pout!"
Cassian rolled his eyes again and looked at Jyn. "Thanks for that. I'll be in the cockpit…fixing things. Get them settled in for takeoff."
xx
The flight back to base took several hours. Tadis spent over an hour in the cockpit with Cassian, being shown the controls of the ship and how it was flown. Jyn had the girls settled on the floor in the back playing some sort of card game that Cassian didn't recognize. She was using a sabacc deck, and he hadn't thought those could be used for anything but sabacc. He hoped she wasn't teaching them to gamble, but with Jyn he could never be sure.
As the journey continued, even the interest in the cockpit and the card game waned, and the children wandered the ship looking at everything. When Nari tried to hide several yawns, Jyn suggested they might like to use the foldout cots for a nap. Though none of the children agreed to the idea, Jyn folded out her cot at the back of the ship.
Since the ship wasn't being used for troop transport, and with the amount of time they spent on the ship, they had converted one of the foldout seats at the rear into a cot for Jyn and one at the front for Cassian. Both were low enough to the ground that K-2 could reach or step over them if necessary to access any area of the ship at need.
It took a while, but finally Nari did go lie down and eventually Rella joined her on Jyn's cot. Tadis had become engrossed in a game on Jyn's datapad and sat quietly near his sisters.
They let the girls sleep until they needed to strap in for their return to normal space and landing.
The base was one of their smaller ones. Until the new facility on Hoth was in place, the Alliance remained scattered. Jyn could feel the tension in the children as they gazed out the window after landing. She well knew how frightening the uncertainty of their situation must be.
She and Cassian had decided that, for the time being, they would bring extra bedding into his room for the children and Jyn to sleep on. They weren't sure how long it might take to arrange a better place for them to live.
Draven was waiting, having arrived more quickly than they had expected.
"Captain Andor, a word."
Cassian nodded, but looked back at Jyn as he moved away. "Get them settled and I'll be along as soon as I can."
"Yes, General?" Cassian stopped in front of Draven, his hands behind his back.
"In here." Draven led him into an empty room and waved for him to close the door. "I need your report, Captain, about your mission with Erso."
Cassian nodded, handing over his datapad with the file on the screen. "I'll send it to you now that we're here."
Draven glanced over his datapad a moment, then looked up at his agent. "Do you believe him? This child?"
"I have no reason not to believe him, sir. Neither Jyn nor I saw anything suspicious in his or his sisters' behavior, and as former children of the rebellion ourselves, we would know what to look for if this was a trick of some kind. I believe him, sir. We both do."
"But you have no idea what they're doing at that facility? And neither does the boy?"
Cassian shook his head. "No sir. Nothing we saw gave any clues and the boy couldn't tell us much in that regard. The most important thing is that he gave us a way in, if we decided to infiltrate and find out for ourselves what's inside that they're keeping so well guarded. Tadis indicated that they aren't even particularly tolerant of people walking near the building, much less approaching it. And security increases considerably whenever they bring in more boxes."
After another few moments of reading, Draven sighed and leaned back in his seat, handing the datapad back to Cassian. "Very well. It's disappointing that we still have no clue what they are up to. It's risky, but it looks like we'll need to send in a team if we want more information."
He fell silent for a moment, then continued, "Now, about these children…"
"They're orphans and were living on the streets. I'm looking to place them on a quiet non-Imperial planet with someone who'll look after them. We have several resources for that."
Draven nodded. "As you say. But make it happen sooner rather than later. I need you and Erso freed up for reassignment."
xx
Chasing down mattresses or cots for the children and Jyn was simple enough, but not so simple was what to do afterwards. Jyn wasn't much inclined to sit in the room, fearing that would lead to silence and staring at each other. She decided a tour of the base might be the best thing to while away the time until meal time.
There wasn't a great deal to see that was of interest to children. When they had been on Yavin, there had been a few other children on the large base, but when they evacuated, everyone was scattered. There were no families here.
The one advantage it did have was that the children could play outside, where they would not be underfoot of workers and pilots going about their duties. Jyn showed them a game she used play as a child, and then they recalled one of their own and that occupied their attention until Cassian joined them.
He watched the kids playing for a minute, then said quietly to Jyn, "I put out feelers to our allies who assist with relocations of families and orphans. It may take a few days to hear anything back, though."
She nodded. "What do we do until then?"
He sighed. "Just try to keep them occupied and help them adjust to this change in their circumstance. Even coming to a safer place, this all has to be overwhelming to them, whether they voice it or not." He chuckled and then added, "Too bad Chirrut and Bodhi aren't around – I suspect both of them would be useful in this matter."
"Don't rule out Baze," she replied. "He may be gruff, but he's a softie underneath it all. I'd be willing to bet he'd do a great job with kids."
It turned out that even with their friends absent, off-duty pilots and ground personnel enjoyed spending some time with the kids, playing games or talking to them. Apparently they enjoyed the break in their routine. And, Jyn, thought, maybe it reminded them why they were fighting.
Surprisingly, a response to Cassian's query came sooner than expected. A couple who had already taken in several other children said they could take these three as well. They were en route to the base immediately, though it took two days for them to arrive.
They had radioed in that they were an hour out, so Jyn went to round up the kids and get them ready. She found the girls outside playing, but their brother was not with them.
"Where's Tadis?"
The girls looked up at her and Rella pointed upward on the mountainside behind the base entrance. "He's climbing up there. He wanted to see out over the forest from up high." She hesitated and looked fearful. "Is that okay?"
Jyn suppressed any visible reaction; of course the child would wonder what they were and were not allowed to do. Still, it grieved her; she could sympathize with that uncertainty in a new environment. "Yes, it's fine. So long as he's careful. We don't want him to get hurt, do we?"
Rella smiled with relief and shook her head. "No, I wouldn't like that."
Jyn followed a trail that led upward, looking for footprints or disturbed rocks that indicated which direction Tadis gone. Finding that, she looked up, shading her eyes in the sun. It took a couple of minutes to spot a pair of feet dangling off a rock about thirty feet above her. She found a steep, sketchy trail and worked her way to reach him.
He only glanced at her as she hefted herself onto the rock ledge and took a seat beside him. "Good view," she observed.
He nodded, and Jyn waited for more. Something seemed to be on his mind, and perhaps he would want to talk about it.
Finally, he asked, "Do we have to go? I could stay here. I can fight."
Jyn picked up some stone fragments and played with them, more to occupy her hands than anything else. "Yes, you can fight. I know that." She fell silent, then tried to put her jumbled thoughts into words. "The thing is, Cassian and me, well, we didn't really have a choice. The war just got dumped on us when we were kids. Kind of was on you, too, but for us…well, the people who found us and helped us shoved a blaster in our hands. We didn't have much choice about getting strong and good at fighting, just like the grownups. It was necessary to survive. And you had that, too, but now you have a chance to escape that and have something…better.
"No one offered to send us somewhere that kind people would look after us, as far from the war as possible. But you have that. You don't have to be in the thick of things. And, yes, you can fight, but you shouldn't have to. Maybe…maybe if we don't get this thing won soon, when you're older, we'll need you to come help, but until then…I just think you should take this chance to go someplace better. Someplace you can just be a kid, not having to steal food or find shelter for you and your sisters. Someplace you can climb rocks and trees and enjoy the sun on your face. And also your sisters will need you to be there, looking after them, but also just being with them."
She swung her feet, banging her heels lightly against the rock face. "Well, that's what I think, anyway."
They sat in silence several minutes. "You really think I fight good?" Tadis asked, not looking at her.
"Well, yeah – I saw you, didn't I? Well, maybe not exactly fighting, but sneaking around and eluding people and all that – it's part of it. Sure, you could get even better with training, but yeah, you do okay right now. Otherwise you and your sisters wouldn't have made it alone as long as you did. That was down to you, Tadis."
After a pause, Tadis said with a grin, "You fight good, too. For a girl, anyway."
Jyn laughed and nudged him. "I fight good for a girl or boy, kiddo. Cassian was right – I could kick his butt! And I cornered you." She raised an eyebrow, and he ducked his head, grinning.
Tadis fidgeted beside her, and Jyn waited, anticipating more questions. At length, he asked softly, "Are we ever gonna see you and Cassian again? I…I think Rella and Nari would like it."
Jyn suppressed a smile and leaned back on her hands. "Hard to say. The whole idea is to get all of you somewhere safe. If we keep flying in and out on visits, it might draw too much of the wrong kind of attention your way." They both fell silent, but then she added, "Still, if there was a chance to visit safely and we could manage it, yeah, we'd probably visit." Her mouth twitched. "For Rella and Nari's sake."
Tadis glanced quickly at her and then away. Finally he murmured, "Good."
They sat there in comfortable silence a while longer, then Jyn advised, "It's time. They'll be here soon."
Tadis sighed and stood, dusting off his pants.
"Hey, it will be okay," Jyn reassured him. "Cassian says they have several other orphans, so you can make new friends. Lead a more normal life. Trust me."
He looked at her a moment, then nodded. "I do. Ummm, thanks."
Jyn smiled and nudged his shoulder. "Come on." Together they made their way down the trail.
Two hours later, Jyn and Cassian watched the ship lift off, Nari and Rella waving from the window while Tadis just stared. After a moment, the woman came up next to them and they disappeared from view, presumably to get strapped in.
"That should have been our happy ending," Jyn murmured, watching the ship rise into the sky.
Cassian glanced at her before returning his gaze upward. "Yes. But if it had been, we probably would never have met. I can't ever regret that outcome." He smiled down at her.
Jyn returned the smile and turned back toward the base, Cassian close behind, but after a moment she looked over her shoulder with a mischievous grin. "True. My life would be so boring if you hadn't brought K2 into it."
Cassian snickered and moved up beside her. "Exactly what I meant."
Jyn just looked up at him and nudged him with her arm in acknowledgement of his true meaning.
The End
abt Mar 2018 – 2/13/21
Original characters:
Tadis – 10
Rella-8
Nari-5
