A/N: Hello, dear readers! Once again, thank you very much for giving this story your attention. I am seriously so nervous about how you'll find this chapter. I tried mixing canon, legend, and (some of you might recognize) novelization. It's been a loving struggle maintaining the balance between how our heroes are portrayed in the film and in the book. I hope I was still able to capture them in a way we all know and love 3

Enjoy!


Jyn lay on her back on a hospital bed, watching an IM-6 droid hovering busily around the ward with a comlink, reporting her diagnoses to whoever was on the other side of the connection. "Multiple bruises…no fractures, no…scarring mostly on the limbs…superficial, yes…torn ligaments, but hardly cause for surgery…yes, I will write the prescription…I agree…Very well, I will be there shortly."

Em-six makes her way swiftly to Jyn's side and affixes a thick silvery patch on her knee. "This is a bacta patch," she says as she carefully rolls Jyn's fatigues back down over her legs. "I will leave you with painkillers to last the night, and I expect you to adhere to a very specific stretching and massage routine for your knee. For the next forty-eight hours, please take care to not perform any strenuous activities, and take hot baths to induce good blood circulation and faster recovery in your joints and muscles. This salve," the droid pauses to hold up a small synthetic container, "is for your innumerable scars."

Jyn nods distantly.

"You're good to go. Mistress Kanata is waiting for you outside the infirmary. Take the door on your left to exit the ward."

Jyn starts to prop herself on her elbows when she feels a sharp pounding in her head and grimaces. Exhaustion is weighing in.

"Something for your headache?"

"No, thank you," Jyn replies quickly and forces herself to steady on her feet. Turning to Em-six she asks, "Where are my friends?"

Em-six's visual sensors whir and Jyn realizes that if the droid had eyes they would be lingering on her face almost thoughtfully. "As I understand, Mistress Kanata has sent Emmie to escort Bodhi Rook to his quarters." Em-six pauses again, her sensors searching Jyn's face before continuing. "Captain Andor will be out of the operating room shortly. I've been called to assist him into a bacta tank."

Operating room…Jyn hardens her expression and nods, her lips tight. "Thank you, Em-six," she says and makes it halfway through the ward door when the droid speaks again.

"Would you like me to send for you when you can visit him?"

Jyn stops, surprised at the droid's offer. She looks over her shoulder and sees Em-six still hovering by the bed. The droid rolls her shoulders in a motion that might have been compared to a shrug. "My programming allows me to assess how you feel."

Jyn feels her face soften. "Yes, please," she says slowly. "I'd appreciate any news." She continues her way, shutting the door quietly behind her before Em-six can provide a second opinion.

'Cargo shuttle SW-0608?' Jyn and Bodhi had held their breath in the cockpit. Kay-Tu also sat so still it was as if his servos had gone dead. You are cleared for entry. Bodhi pumped his fists in the air and Cassian had just joined Jyn at her side. She hadn't even noticed him approaching, but in the sheer joy of the moment, Jyn had grabbed his arm and beamed up at him. He'd looked at her with another one of his small and curious smiles. 'I'll tell the others', she'd told him. Cassian looked about to say something in return, but his body made a halting motion and he settled for a nod and a slightly wider smile. As Jyn made her way down to the cargo hold, she heard Cassian slap a hand on one of the overhead compartments and let out a breath, as if his concentration had been disrupted and he was trying to refocus.

Kay-Tu had murmured something, Jyn was sure of it, to which Cassian promptly replied, 'Shut up'.

As Jyn found herself exiting the infirmary, prescriptions in her hands, she looked up to find Maz watching her intently, her eyes narrowed behind her goggles.

"Emmie is on her way back for you," Maz says.

"Thank you, Maz," Jyn replies, barely above a whisper. "I find myself once again in debt for your hospitality."

"You follow my rules," Maz does not blink. "Your eyes have changed."

Jyn tears her gaze away, only now remembering that her hostess had a strange habit of reading people and making unwarranted assumptions.

"And you still want to run," Maz adds.

Jyn doesn't say anything. Her whole body ached. She thought of the painkillers Em-six prescribed her and wondered how many she would need to get a good night's sleep—not that she was unaccustomed to sleeping with sore muscles and torn ligaments. She had lived worse days…in a cave beneath a hatch…young, cold, alone…orphaned.

Jyn's attention is brought to the sound of whirring servos and the rhythmic clamping of metal footsteps against stone. Emmie was approaching from down the hall.

"Hello Jyn," she greets. "Shall I take you up now?"

Jyn turns again to Maz and smiles stiffly, "I suppose you'll want to see me later."

"We will not be long," Maz replies. "You may bring your friend."

Bodhi. With a quick nod, Jyn looks back at Emmie and gestures for her to lead the way. She feels Maz's eyes on her back as she follows the droid.


"You'll find everything in order," Emmie says, motioning for Jyn to walk in ahead. "I found a change of clothes for you and placed them on your bed. Your travel pack is on the chest."

"I recognize this room," Jyn says after a quick sweep of the chamber. She realizes that Emmie had not followed her inside, and instead remained in the doorway. "Thank you," she finishes.

"You are welcome," Emmie responds. "I've also drawn you a hot bath. Freshen up, and I will return in two standard hours to escort you to the mistress' chambers for supper."

"Where's Bodhi?"

"Next door to your right." Emmie says. When Jyn doesn't say anything again, the droid takes her leave and shuts the door.

Just like that, Jyn is alone, and she realizes she feels alone in a way that is unwelcomely familiar. She walks to the foot of her bed and takes the travel pack sitting on the chest. She pulls out Kay-Tu's data drive and holds it in both hands as she slumps to the floor.

Jyn paints a clear picture of the towering droid in her mind and holds it there, allowing herself to sink into her heels, enveloped by the silence of her quarters.

Outside, Takodana was welcoming the first signs of dusk and the sky was pitting the colors of sunset against each other, gold over blue over purple over pink. A soft breeze picks up and teases the worn threads of the tapestries. The moment was peaceful, but not one that Jyn was present to as she held on to the black box, a stark contrast against her pale fingers.

"What would you do to me, Kay?" she says, her voice low as she turned the box over and over, "If you found that I couldn't look after him as well as you did…

"Would you be mad at me, again?" She says this with mixed fondness and bitterness, recalling how Kay had said almost only to himself, that it would not have been such a bad idea if hostiles missed him and shot Jyn instead.

"For the record," Jyn says again, unsure if she was only trying to reassure herself at this point, "You did miscalculate our chances of survival."

She pauses and shuts her eyes tightly, her grip on the data drive becoming urgent.

"But you're not here to hear that, are you? Not here to make some snide remark and put me in place like you enjoy doing," Jyn's breathing turns heavy and she presses the data drive to her forehead. She is shaking. "Because of me." Because of Galen.

My father raised me. My father is a coward. My father is a traitor. Galen Erso is not my father.

Jyn clamped her head down with her arms.

Suddenly she was aboard the imperial shuttle again, the roar of the storm outside was muffled by layers of metal and complex wiring. Jyn was pressing herself against the engine compartment in an effort to get warm from the cold rain of Eadu—and she wept. She wept like the orphan she left behind—or she thought that she had left behind—in her dark cave, on Scarif.

Galen Erso did not raise me. Galen Erso let my mother die.

This time no amount of tears could save her, could wash her, could make her feel clean. Jyn Erso felt filthy and vile and cruel for having sent more than a dozen men to their deaths.


"The Bonemer would have been a bit much. He'll be fine."

Kay…what is this.

"His vitals are improving."

Kay? No…

"Brain signals, stable. Heart rate, stable."

Jyn!

"He's awake now—"

"His breathing is too fast!"

"Let me speak to him…"

Cassian's eyes fly open and he feels his heart stop. All he sees is a blur of blue and bubbles. He begins to struggle. Is he drowning? No, I can breathe! He looks around. Water. Glass. I'm in a tank! Frantic, he tries to move his arms but soon notices the restraints.

Tubes…connected to…me…!

"Captain Cassian Andor?"

Cassian does not recognize the feminine voice addressing him and he slowly feels for the respirator and audio receiver around his mouth and ears.

It finally hits him.

"Captain Andor, I am IM-6. You arrived on Takodana almost seven hours ago. You are in a bacta tank in an infirmary in Mistress Kanata's castle. Your friends, Jyn Erso and Bodhi Rook, are safe and resting."

Cassian calms slightly at the sound of familiar names.

Kanata…Maz Kanata. Long years of Intelligence training kicks in immediately and he begins to rake his mind for information, cross-referencing, sorting, prioritizing…Takodana…castle…Pirate Queen…Maz Kanata…he finds it at the expense of a headache.

Great. Cassian finally gets his breathing under control. I'm in an ex-smuggler's home.

The blue liquid clears slightly and he squints to see through the glass. He counts three droids outside the tank. The nearest one, Em-six, he immediately associates the feminine voice with. An MD-5 stood a few paces behind, and farthest, barely visible through the bacta fluid, was a 2-1B busying itself with medical instrumentation.

"You've just awoken from an operation," Em-six continues, the gentleness in her voice reflective of the elegance in her programming. "You were unconscious from your procedure for a total five standard hours. We expected you'd be asleep a while longer, but your body seems to be responding to the bacta treatment quite well."

Emdee steps forward and looks up at Cassian, "Captain, I am MD-5," he offers customarily. "Please raise your right hand if you feel you are ready to terminate this bacta session."

Cassian notices Em-six whirl to protest, but he ignores her and raises his right hand.

"Em-six," Emdee says simply, "Captain Andor can resume bacta sessions tomorrow, after he's had much needed bed rest. Drain the tank, and I will send for Jyn Erso."

Jyn is safe. Cassian breathes a sigh of relief and closes his eyes as he feels the bacta fluid draining around him. He never expected what he thought of next.

Thank the Force.


Jyn and Bodhi exchanged anxious glances as they their hostess sipped quietly from her bowl of soup. They had just concluded the story of their journey from Scarif, and even for a sentient who had lived over a millennia, they worried if Maz was having any trouble processing all the information, especially that of a Death Star.

Or was she?

"Do you like your food?" comes the calm and unexpected response.

Bodhi swallows loudly.

"Yes, Maz," Jyn says, tearing her eyes away from the pilot and looking at the ex-smuggler across the table. "Thank you."

She did not know a lot about the Pirate Queen, if only a little more than others. Jyn never had time to spare, nor was Maz Kanata noted for a tendency to share much of herself in the first place. What was certain to Jyn was the older being's wisdom, evidenced by the lines on her face, the scars on her hands that never properly healed, and the gleam in her eyes when she listened to a story and recalled other similar ones she had known. Her voice was also crisp, and never faltered, as if she had practiced a lifetime of saying words and had grown incapable of making mistakes in her speech.

It was this alone that intimidated Jyn, but she reminded herself that she could have trusted no one else. Maz Kanata was known to most as a smuggler and an adventurer, but Jyn knew her as a collector and a learner. She could still recall how her mother told her stories of an 'ancient woman' who travelled the farthest sectors and systems to find artifacts that spoke to her through the Force; how she smuggled these to her homeworld on Takodana, and hid the them away from greedy worlds and evil men.

When Jyn was barely seventeen, she sought to find this world and the odd traveler on nothing but a hunch. She found Maz Kanata, and perhaps it was her youth and spirit then that made it easy for the Pirate Queen to take her under her wing for a lot less than what was due for her stay in the castle.

Presently, after nearly a decade, Maz brings a cup of hard liquor to her lips and takes a sip. Her eyes find Jyn's and her expression becomes firm, her eyes glistening under soft yellow light. "You say this Death Star has destroyed two worlds and claimed millions of lives," she says, "I have lived long and have seen the empire fall and renew itself and grow stronger. But this…"

Bodhi is still in his seat and his eyes are fixed on his hands under the table. Jyn places a hand on his shoulder and turns to look at Maz. "We transmitted the plans to the Rebellion. We just need a way to ensure they received it."

"And if they didn't?"

Jyn's breath hitches in her throat and she almost jumps when Bodhi takes it upon himself to answer in her stead. "We'll find a way to destroy the Death Star ourselves."

Jyn stares at Maz and swore to herself she saw a hint of a smile.

"I look into your eyes, pilot," the hostess says carefully, "And I see a man who is trying to find himself again." She closes her eyes and breathes in deeply. "Yes, you will be alright."

Jyn sees Bodhi's eyes become glassy and he seems to make a conscious effort to avoid looking at her. "Maz," she says, "We need charges for our ship, and…a new body for our droid."

She feels Bodhi's eyes on her now. "I know better today," she continues, "I won't return any less than what is due. Bodhi, Cassian and I, will do anything to return to our base." Our base…our home.

Jyn does not doubt it now. Maz Kanata was smiling. "Your eyes belong to that of a woman who has grown," she says. "Lyra would be proud of you."

Jyn's heart stops. Suddenly, her mother's stories do not seem as grand as they sounded when she was a child.

"You mentioned you need a body for a droid."

"KX-series security droid," Jyn supplies.

Maz raises her eyebrows, "A K-2SO?"

"Jyn, what are you—" Bodhi mutters.

Jyn squeezes his hand under the table. "Yes. I need a reprogrammable KX-series imperial security droid."

Maz shrugs and pushes the bottle of liquor across the table towards her guests. "And I need to find a mercenary," she says. "His name is Saponza and he runs a ring of new militants from across systems. With Saw Gerrera gone, the Rebel Alliance needs as much an organization as it can get."

Jyn stiffens in her seat and nods.

"Are you part of the Alliance?" Bodhi chimes in surprise. He is met with Maz's crisp laughter and her matter-of-fact reply, "The Jedi are old friends and are long gone. But the Force speaks to me, and they would have approved my affiliation with the Rebellion."

Maz shifts her gaze to Jyn and her tone drops, "For the sake of the galaxy and my own. Saponza's men are strong but scattered. They've been trying to set up bases on different worlds with little success. I can offer him a base right here on Takodana, as well as a connection to the stronger forces of the Alliance. Perhaps by then, we'd have a fighting chance against the Empire."

War is inevitable.

"When do we start?" Jyn asks almost immediately.

"Cassian Andor is a captain…from the Rebellion, I assume? I need to know if he's ever gotten wind on Saponza."

"He's a ranking Intelligence officer," Bodhi quips, his face lightening up. "Maybe he can help you, after all."

"If he wakes up," Jyn says quietly.

"When he wakes up," Maz looks straight at Jyn, "And when he tells us what he knows, one way or another I'll be taking you with me and Emmie on a lead."

Bodhi furrows his brow. "Hold on, I'll be coming with you!"

Jyn turns to look at the man at her side. He has changed ever since Eadu. This was no longer the Bodhi Rook who would willingly stay on a ship to keep the engine warm, if he could help it.

"So, the plan is," Bodhi pushes his plate aside, "We get a lead from Cassian, or whoever has one on Saponza, find the mercenaries, bring them back, and initiate a connection with the Rebels." He draws lines on the table with his fingers. "We can even escort them to the base, let the Rebels know we're coming."

"We need to be very careful about this," Jyn cautioned. "While we're dead in the eyes of the Empire, I think we should keep it that way. If and when we decide to return to base, we have to secure our way back."

"A problem for another time," Maz says with finality. "Do we have an agreement?"

Jyn finds herself smiling as she takes the bottle of liquor and pours drinks for the three of them. "To the Rebellion," she says, raising her cup.

"To Cassian," Bodhi returns and touches his cup to Jyn's.

Maz smiles, her brow furrowed in determination as she raises her glass, "To Rogue One."


Bodhi stops when they reach Jyn's door.

"This is good night, then?"

Jyn looks to see him smiling and she smiles in return despite herself. "Things will get easier," she says.

"It will," Bodhi returns. "There's still hope."

Bodhi starts to walk away when he hesitates and turns back to Jyn. "About Kay-Tu's body…"

"I'm not sure I can do it, either, Bodhi," Jyn says weakly. To her surprise, Bodhi's face lights up again and he places a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "Put three brains together and perhaps we'll come up with something. Recreate him, maybe."

"Maybe."

She watches as Bodhi continues to his room and she retires to her own, worn from the day.

Jyn remembers her first night on Wobani, the cold slab that served as her bed, and her cell mate 'Kennel'. She snorts as she dresses down and settles under the sheets.

'Next work crew we are on together. I will kill you then.' Jyn had taken that threat lightly. On Wobani, she'd be dead before Kennel had the chance. 'Who's going to keep you company'? Kennel's reply came short. Simple. 'I like a quiet cell.'

'What if I kill you first?'

Jyn had waited for the reply. When it came, she realized she had expected as much: 'Then I hope you like a quiet cell, Liana Hallik.'

For the next few hours, sleep eluded Jyn. Her subconscious feared her descent into a dark cave and the voices that would haunt her when the hatch would close. She tossed and turned under the sheets, occasionally glancing at Kay-Tu's data drive at her side table, as if at any moment it might disappear.

But even when she's wide awake, the sharp knock on her door makes her sit bolt upright.

"Jyn? It's Emmie. You're being called to the infirmary."

Cassian! Jyn rushes to get into her fatigues and boots again.

When she opens the door, Emmie immediately starts to walk to the direction of the infirmary. Jyn shuffles after her, "How is he?"

"Responding well to medication, actually," the droid returns. "I think the diagnosis will please you. Emdee will be able to provide you with more information, but as far I know, Captain Andor will have to undergo a few more sessions of bacta treatment before he's allowed to resume regular activities."

The halls are like wind tunnels and Jyn bites back a curse for forgetting to take her vest with her. She had forgotten the weather trends of Takodana.

When they arrive at the infirmary, Emmie allows Jyn to walk in ahead before leading her to the recovery ward. Jyn squints and resists the urge to bring her hand over her eyes as she adjusts from the torch lit castle halls to the bright synthetic lights of the infirmary.

"Good morning, Jyn."

Jyn nods in greeting as Em-six hovers towards her.

"I'll follow you into the recovery ward after I write Captain Andor's prescriptions. He refuses to sleep until he's seen you."

Jyn raises her eyebrows as the droid hovers away and disappears into another room. Emmie was already holding the door to the recovery ward ajar.

Jyn walks through the doorway and immediately sees Cassian at the end of the room, lying still on a slightly reclined hospital bed, eyes nearly closed, breathing steady. At least the color seemed to have returned to his face. She makes her way quietly to his side and dares place one hand on his and another in his hair. She watches as the corners of Cassian's eyes wrinkle as he smiles, albeit tiredly.

"You know, I actually hoped they'd wake you, anyway."

"Hoped?" Jyn says almost sarcastically.

"Yeah," Cassian manages a smirk. "Rebellions are built on hope."


A/N: Eeep-haha! I know it's short but I'm looking to add a little more fluff as I explore the RebelCaptain relationship. Please let me know what you think about this latest chapter, or how I can possibly make this story more enjoyable as it progresses~ Till next, may the Force be with you!

EDIT: Huge thanks to engineerwenlock for spotting the correction in my use of BBY. Chapter 3 has already been edited to reflect Lothal Years.