"Oh, hi, Kerri. I'm glad too," Jyn greeted back, pleasantly surprised. "But I don't know how much time I have before I'm summoned to a meeting," she felt compelled to warn.

"I can imagine," Kerri said with a wave, while the door closed behind her. "Well, Cassian has told me just a few minutes ago that you're here, and I couldn't let the opportunity pass to get to know you at last. He's talked to me a lot about you these past years, you know. It was time for us to meet. Mind me, it's not difficult to guess that you're not here simply because he's invited you (this is not a place where you casually invite someone) or because you've decided to join or because you're a refugee, I have ears and eyes, it must be something big, but of course I don't have the clearance to be told the details. Well, I'm babbling, sorry. What I wanted to say is: welcome to the base. And I hope that we get to know each other better."

Jyn smiled genuinely. "Thanks. And I hope that too. Ehm... sorry for the lack of space. I'm afraid I can't offer you a chair." There were no chairs in the narrow space. Those rooms obviously weren't designed for social gatherings. "But sit on the bed if you wish."

"Okay," Kerri acquiesced. "You gonna stand there all the time while I'm sitting?"

Jyn obliged awkwardly. "I'm happy that Cassian has you here," she started, because it was true. Having around someone he loved had been a source of solace for him, as he'd told her some time in his messages and in their reunion. "This kind of life mustn't be easy."

Kerri shook her head emphatically. "It isn't. But the Rebellion gave me my life back and a purpose. Even Cassian, who started here merely as a way of escaping his troubles and protecting his friends, eventually became a believer in the cause himself. He's very devoted to all this." Kerri studied her attentively. "But now that I see you, I can also understand why he's been so lonely these past years."

Jyn furrowed her brows in puzzlement. "Lonely?"

"I'd bet that he hasn't been in any relationships of any kind since he joined. I know because I watch, and because he confirmed it once, albeit reluctantly, when I asked for his love life. You know, he's a very private person, but he's my big brother and when we were children, we shared everything. Not that he and I can meet much, we're both in missions often, but those are things one can sense. You might think that his commitment to the cause has prevented him from bonding with women, and it's partly true. In great part, more like. It's very improbable to have a love life when you're a rebel fighting for a freedom which you'll probably never see happen. But one still can seek... you know... a fleeting release for the crushing loneliness. Easy sex here and there with no attachments. But as I've said, I'd bet anything that he hasn't pursued even that."

Jyn felt uncomfortable with the topic of conversation. "It's... It's not my business, really, Kerri. No offense."

"Jyn, if I'm telling you this, it's because it's obvious to me that my brother is in love with you, although he would hardly admit it. But it's easy to deduce by the times he's talked to me about you. His face lights up every time You made a very big impression on him, Jyn. He hasn't forgotten you in all these years."

Jyn felt terribly awkward, thrilled and scared at the same time by Kerri's words. She wasn't ready to talk about any of that to anyone, not to mention to a woman she'd just met, no matter that said woman was Cassian's sister. "Why are you telling me all this, Kerri? And anyway, we only interacted in person for very few days before things blew up on Ferrix, and after that we just got in touch very sporadically with each other via messages through a common friend in Ferrix City. If he had begun to feel something for me, it surely was wiped out by time and circumstances." I'm not that remarkable to be remembered for long, she was in the verge to add, but held her tongue. Her self issues were resurfacing again and she couldn't let them win. She was aware that she was trying to deceive Kerri, but mostly herself. She herself hadn't ever forgotten Cassian despite time and she knew at bottom that what she was saying was a pile of crap, so it was unfair to accuse him precisely of what she was incapable of.

Removing him from her heart.

Kerri's expression softened. "That's what you need to tell yourself, and it's understandable. But I worry for my brother. The Rebellion is taking too much from him. The Intelligence branch is hell, believe me. If there's someone capable of carrying out all the shit that being an Intelligence spy entails, it's him. But it's taking a great toll on him. He's not well. Devotion to the Rebellion can be too demanding, and though both he and I are here voluntarily and there's no other place we'd rather be, and we're ready to give our lives, I worry for him, as I've said before. I worry that he's wasting himself. And you're the only one who can help him."

Jyn raised her brows in skepticism, trying to hide the disturbing effect that Kerri's words were having on her. The hope threatening to spread in her chest was dangerous and Jyn had spent entire months and years struggling to suppress it, with little success. "Me? How can I help him? I don't belong here and I wouldn't ever ask him to leave this."

Kerri denied with her head dismissively. "You give him hope, Jyn. He needs you to find himself again. To reconnect with his inner passion. And I'd say that you have no small influence in his potential happiness."

Jyn was a bit overwhelmed by trepidation and by her silly hopes. "I don't know. We can't be together as a couple, not like this. And there's really very little I can do."

"I'm not asking you to be with him as a couple, but simply to be there for him. To not let him get lost and help him keep himself together. It's a great chance that you're here now. Knowing him, there must be an official reason why he's brought you, because otherwise he'd go on keeping his distance, fighting to set aside his feelings for you. It must be a reason I'm not authorized to pry into, not that I would anyway. But either way, you're here. Please, take care of him for me, whatever they've summoned you for and whatever happens. You're very important to him and he'll listen to you."

Jyn's overwhelming feeling increased tenfold. That Kerri was entrusting her with Cassian's wellbeing was a little daunting, but also deeply touching. "I'll do what I can, I promise," Jyn assured, not with total conviction, but with honesty at least.

"For the record, his Kenari name was Kassa," Kerri supplied. "I still call him that. He was the sweetest and most caring brother. When our parents died along with many other adults in a large-scale mining accident, he took over the parental role. Life wasn't easy. We lived with the rest of the orphan children until a Separatist ship crashed down on the planet. By then I didn't know what happened exactly, but Cassian told me the full story when he joined the Rebellion. There was only one survivor on the Separatist ship, but when he shot and killed our leader, the rest of the group killed him in retaliation. Cassian sneaked in the ship because he'd never been into one before, and then his future adoptive parents, the Andors, who coincidentally had also landed on the planet to scavenge useful items from the fallen ship, found Cassian there. They sedated him and took him away with them to save him. Now I'm glad they did so, although I was left behind, alone and terribly scared. Other ships landed and chased my community, killing a few children and capturing the rest, me among them. We were sold as slaves. I went from one owner to another for years, and they made me work very hard as a servant, enduring many unpleasant tasks. When I was fourteen, I was sold to the owners of a brothel on Nar Shaddaa, and they forced me into prostitution. I had to serve there for years until I escaped thanks to a settling of scores by the Hutts. In the middle of the skirmish, I managed to slip out and run away. And shortly after, Luthen found me and I followed him. He was the one who started the Rebellion. Most knew him as The Fulcrum or The Axis. He died four years ago, in an ambush. He sacrificed himself to prevent the Imps from capturing him." Kerri pursed her lips at that confession and Jyn could read the sorrow in her eyes. She must have appreciated that Luthen very much. "He was the one who contacted Bix to buy some of her goods, but especially to recruit Cassian. I'd told Luthen about Cassian when he took me in and we searched for him for a very long time, until we at last believed to have found him on the Morlani System, or that looked like, but I didn't want to get my hopes up until being absolutely sure. Luthen then orchestrated an undercover mission in the brothel on Morlana One where you also worked later (Cassian told me), in order to leak the tip about me looking for him, so with a bit of luck it would reach Cassian's ears, and it did, a while later, when I had already quit the post. But the gears had been already set in motion and when Luthen finally located his exact address and gathered all the information he could about him, he became interested in his skills. And, well, I assume that you know the rest of the story." Kerri paused for some moments. "I got him back after fourteen years apart and I don't want to lose him again. I trust you fully to look after him when I can't. Will you?"

Jyn nodded, touched after Kerri's speech and by the trust she was placing in her. "I will."

Kerri hugged her swiftly and stood to leave. "Take care. I hope to see you around."

And then she was gone.