the air atop the temple in yavin 4 was almost fresh – enough to sate the male’s tired lungs as his fingers curled around the railing there, leaning his weight forward so that the structure could support it instead of himself. the expression across his features betrayed that he was not pleased ; a short conversation with mon mothma leading her to gift him a short time of personal leave. “gift” was a term that the captain used loosely, as part of his body ached to keep himself from being stagnant. even with the chaos of scarif still on the forefront of his mind, his mind and body worked best when he was heading in a linear direction. when he had a line to follow, and orders to obey. the simple suggestion from mon mothma, that was spoken more like an ORDER, was let yourself recover.
nothing a bacta tank hasn’t already taken care of, cassian had told her. she merely gave him a look – and he hated that look, as he knew it well. she was reading him ; reading him far better than most soldiers were capable of doing so. and cassian knew better than to argue with mon mothma.
he didn’t remember being taken off of the beach of scarif – he just remembered the blinding heat of the approaching cave in and and destruction of the soon-to-be crater of where they were stationed. of jyn there beside him, and — he had known he was going to die there. he had accepted it, even if he had so much more left to do. his soul had been at ease, and now he was restless once more with rattling thoughts and questions. he just remembered waking up. waking up with an array of confusion, his body betraying that someone had hauled him in and out of a bacta tank to tend to the blaster wound that krennic had given him – nothing more than a faded mark against his skin.
his back ached – a soreness that ached at his bones. it was not crippling in the least; it was merely an inconvenience and uncomfortable sensation that would lick at his system if he bent the wrong way; reminding him of the tumble down the data tower where his spine had had a cruel introduction to the metal railing.
jyn had woken before him – that much he had been told. plucked off the planet by a very panicked and irritate bodhi with half of the ship falling apart and barely making into warp before the debris ate the ship alive. he hadn’t seen her yet, though, and was still honestly unsure of how long it had truly been since scarif – just that the death star had been blown out of the skies ; dark eyes letting themselves flicker over the horizon of the darkened, sleeping planet in the solitude of the night.
they had been in mid air when the news that cassian was awake had sparked through the intercoms , after weeks of uncertainty - of sitting by his side whenever she wasn’t needed elsewhere , searching for a shift in the steady rhythm of unconscious breathing , he had finally awakened . relief filled her lungs , a breath she hadn’t known she’d been holding deflating her into her seat with a smile pulling at the edge’s of dry lips . for a moment , all she wants to do is turn the whole operation around and head back to yavin immediately . closing her eyes , the moment passes and sense reasserts itself . there’s work to be done - the death star may be gone but the empire isn’t . the war is far from over . he’ll still be awake when you come back . the rest of the mission passes in a blur - and if they cut some corners to hurry things along , well , bodhi is as in on it as she is .
it takes her only moments after landing to start heading his way , passing now familiar faces as thoughts begin to push through the joyous haze she's found herself in since the announcement . how much has he been told? does he know the death star has been destroyed ? does he know that , despite their sacrifices , it still had the opportunity to wipe a whole planet and its’ inhabitants from existence before it was finally stopped ? a familiar weight settles in her chest , she can still feel the heat of scarif’s flames on her skin - the thought of identical destruction engulfing all of alderaan never failing to sink sharp , vicious teeth into her heart . suddenly , uncertainty has slowed her step . perhaps it’d be best he rests undisturbed , despite his improving condition he still needs time to recuperate - the memory of his injuries has her previously rapid steps fall completely still . she lingers in the half - empty hallway , eyes drifting to where daylight is retreating to the approaching evening . she ought to wait until morning , she’s waited for weeks - she can stand to wait a few more hours .
slowly she traces her own steps back down the hall from where she came , feet growing heavy with each one as if her own legs are fighting her decision to postpone the visit . from outside , a silhouette catches her attention from the edge of her peripheral ; had she been a more spiritual person , she’d might just have laughed at fate’s strange design . Once more she halts , arms crossed over her chest as she takes a moment to look at him before her presence is discovered . he’s not in obvious pain from what she can see , but his shoulders are just a little narrower - telling the story of how he hasn’t been vertical in quite some time . finally , she moves outside , making sure her step is loud enough to announce her approach .
‘ hey . ‘ the hesitation melts out of her step as she comes up to stand at his side , elbows leaning against the railing , mimicking his stance . ‘ heard you were awake , ‘ if she’s going for casual she’s missing the mark by big measures - as of right now she’s fairly certain you could cut through the relief in her voice with a knife . up close she does her best not to search for scars from scariff - tries to not think of the shot he took from krennic's blaster . they both had plenty of scars before , a few fresh ones ought to not have her hung up this way . instead she shuffles her foot against the ground beneath her feet , eyes caressing the faraway horizon . ‘ gave us quite the scare for a while there , captain . ‘
