Disclaimer: Though I am a fan of Star Wars I am not as well versed as many, so there very probably will be some discrepancies with my story. Please note that this entire story is a divergence from canon, so if you have a problem with some of my mistakes just think of it that way. Thank you!

11

trou·vaille

a chance encounter with something wonderful

Jyn didn't know if she was more surprised by the sudden turn in their interaction, from fighting to kissing, or the fact that she wasn't surprised that he had kissed her and was still kissing her. After a moment his lips drew away from hers. He took a step back from her, the hard line of his jaw working underneath the skin. She could see his face turning red underneath his warm brown skin and she knew her face was probably also as red as his.

"That." He bit out the word "Is why I care so much."

They walked home in silence after that, both too wrapped up in their own thoughts to talk any further. Cassian walked a few paces ahead of her, berating himself. He'd acted like an idiot teenager and he knew it. Jyn had been doing her job, an unappealing and impossible job but her job nonetheless. He should have just bit the inside of his cheek and let her handle it.

But watching that meaty idiot paw at her like it didn't matter made his blood boil for reasons that he was only just figuring out.

It wasn't as if he'd never felt that way about another person, he'd had his fair share of experience as a pilot with the resistance. When you throw a bunch of young teenage orphans together into training it was bound to happen. But Jyn was someone he hadn't even trusted when he'd first met her just over two months ago-though he guessed he could add three more years to that.

He'd felt the first stirrings of… something… on Scarif when they rode the elevator down from the communications tower and she'd looked up at him with a triumphant smile. Even though they'd been almost certainly about to die. Even though all of their comrades were dead. They'd won.

Cassian had wanted to kiss her then but had resisted, that would have just made him even more regretful for the things that he couldn't do in his lifetime. Then, when they'd woken up on Dagobah, he'd pushed those feelings into the back of his mind and wrote them off as desperation in the face of death.

But then she kept surprising him as they made their way off of Dagobah and Lah'mu and the feelings he had locked away had begun to peek out.

"I'm going to bed." He told her, shaking away his heavy thoughts as they entered their room, not bothering to turn on the lights.

Jyn nodded and headed over to her bed, pulling pins out of her hair and letting it fall free just underneath her shoulders. Cassian watched the brown tendrils swish in the dim darkness and kicked himself for wanting to reach out and touch them. He'd been really good at resisting his urges or at least he thought that he had.

"Goodnight Jyn." His voice was almost inaudible and he almost thought she hadn't heard him.

"Wait." She said, speaking for the first time since he'd kissed her.

"I'm not very good at this sort of thing," She admitted, turning to face him "But I'm not mad that you kissed me."

Cassian could not have been more surprised, not even if the entire Rebel alliance had walked through the door at that very moment. "You don't?"

She shook her head, redness returning to her cheeks. "I don't want anything to be awkward between us… I like you and I'm starting to like you in that way-which is something i've never had to deal with before."

"I'm patient Jyn." Cassian's words surprised him, he should apologize for kissing her despite the fact that he didn't feel very sorry.

"Well, good." Jyn said, her smile lighting up her features. She took a step towards him and pressed a dainty kiss into his lips. "Thats payback for surprising me. Now we're even."

Cassian stood in shock and watched her head into the bathroom and change into her baggy sleep clothing and climb into bed. Somehow she'd gotten the upperhand on him. Later he lay awake staring at the ceiling and listened to her soft snoring, a stupid grin plastered firmly on his face.

The next day their easy friendship was restored, but with a little something more than it had been the day before. They headed out together, each munching on half a sandwich that they'd purchased from the deli. They needed to find new jobs but everyone they asked quickly turned them away.

"I wonder if Omar spread the word to the other business owners." Cassian frowned, feeling guilty for losing them their first jobs.

"It probably wasn't a good idea to insult the local mobsters."

"I already said I was sorry for that how many times do I have to apologize." He groaned in exasperation.

"Mmm like four more times maybe?" Jyn teased cheekily. "But really there has to be someone who will hire us or our funds will be depleted soon, what with paying for shipyard rent and the room's rent, not to mention food. If this keeps up I might have to resort to… older ways."

Cassian's jaw hardened, "That's too risky. We are going to be here for longer than a few days so the chances of you getting caught go up."

"I know that but if thats what I need to do in order for us to stay afloat until whatever it is that we need to do happens then I will." She argued back.

They bickered back and forth as they stopped into various shops and asked if the owners needed any help.

They had stopped into their fifth shop and were just leaving when Lyssa walked in carrying a wicker basket "Lyra!" She said with surprise.

"Lyssa, hey." Jyn greeted the other woman sheepishly "Look I'm sorry about last night."

"Oh psh don't even worry about it, you'd be surprised how often that happens. Linux is a creep who has problems keeping his hands to himself. Though it didn't help that your boyfriend knocked his brains out. I'd just avoid those guys for a while if I were you."

Jyn and Cassian both blushed and looked away from each other, causing Lyssa to stop her babbling and look back and forth between the both of them.

"Ah!" She said, her eyes lighting up "I see there has been some progress on that front has there? Well it's about time you two stopped eyeballing one another and actually did something." Lyssa gushed.

"Uh thanks," Jyn cleared her throat and urged her body to stop blushing "Say do you think that there is anywhere hiring at the moment? Everyone has told us no so far…"

Lyssa's face fell, "Omar blackballed you guys huh? Yeah he tends to do that-man the last girl he fired had to sell herself to Jabba in order to survive…"

Jyn and Cassian exchanged a horrified look but Lyssa continued on "But you two probably won't have to do that! You are resourceful and oh! I've just had an idea, he usually wouldn't hire anyone but he seemed to like you."

"Who?"

"Cyrus!"

"Who?" Cassian asked turning towards Jyn who shrugged, shooting daggered looks in Lyssa's direction.

"You know, the guy who helped you out the other day when you got in the way of those traders." Lyssa replied, oblivious to Jyn's look.

"He runs the archives, right?" Jyn asked, not looking at Cassian who was examining her face closely.

"Yeah, I can take you two over there right now-I don't start work until tonight and I know Cyrus." Lyssa jabbered on as she led them through the marketplace and towards the center of the city where the richest lived. The homes were still made of clay here but were painted white giving them an airy feel. Cobblestone replaced packed dirt and green succulents lined the path.

"This is the prettiest place in Mos Espa. I want to live here someday." Lyssa, ever the romantic, gushed as they passed an ornate gate with gold leaf on it. To Jyn it looked ridiculous, it was an over display of wealth in a city that was rimmed by the poor who, in order to pay for their family's survival, sold themselves into slavery.

But Jyn held her tongue, Lyssa didn't understand how strange Tatooine was for them and she didn't know where they came from and that they fought against this sort of thing. She chanced a glance at Cassian and one look at his face told her he felt the same about their opulent surroundings.

"Okay! We're here!" They were standing in front of a pair of plain brown gates, two rustic rings hung in the center waiting to be pulled so that the doors could open. The building had originally been white but had faded over the years into a dull mixture of brown, white and yellow. The plants around the building had all but died and if they could talk they looked as if they were crying out for one last drink of water.

Lyssa bounced on the balls of her feet and reached out to grab one of the rings, "Welcome, to the Mos Espa Archives!"

Author's Note:

It's not quite 'love' yet because I believe that love is something that happens over time in a relationship. But it is a connection between two people that is hard to break, more to come! I have started school so updates will be sporadic but I hope to get another chapter up very soon!

Please read and review, the reviews really help motivate me to continue on!

-LittleMoonLover-