A/N I can't believe this is the first Kalluzeb focused fic I've written!!! I've been in Kalluzeb hell since the finale!!!

Anyway this fic is going to get angsty so you have been warned!!! Xxxxxxx

There was still sand inside Kallus' boots. It was strange to think that all that remained of the beach was trapped beneath the soles of his feet.

He took a regretful glance around the ship contained what was left of rebel intelligence. On the way there there had been so many of them that they could hardly move. Now the empty spaces between them screamed out in the silence like bullet holes.

The ship landed haphazardly on Yavin 4. It had been the last ship to flee so they'd had to do the most hyperspace jumps to make sure they hadn't been tracked. Kallus had only just stepped onto solid ground when he noticed Zeb.

The sea of people on the base parted as Kallus watched his lover storming towards him, his face like that of thunder. Wedge nearly tripped as he scurried out of the way and Mart who had just run up to Zeb to tell something took one look at his face and quickly decided that it could wait. It would almost be funny if it wasn't for the dire circumstances.

Kallus didn't know what he was expecting to happen when Zeb finally reached him but it wasn't him to be wrapped in his strong arms. Zeb held him impossibly close against his chest, even closer then in those rushed nights alone on the Ghost.

Kallus glanced around. He thought that they would be drawing strange looks from those around them since, although they weren't actively hiding their relationship it wasn't something most people knew about. But after the battle he found that were hardly the only ones locked in an embrace so nobody paid them much attention.

"Karabast! Why the hell didn't you tell me you were going with rogue one?" Zeb growled. It was then that Kallus realised that Zeb hadn't been angry, he'd been terrified.

"Because you would have tried to come with me." Kallus murmured against his chest.

"You're damn right I would've." Zeb said fiercely, pressing his chin down on his head so that we tucked under his neck.

"The rebellion needs you Zeb. You couldn't have been wasted on a suicide mission."

"And you could?" Zeb had said it sarcastically but they both knew that Kallus' immediate thought had been yes. He tried to help the rebellion in any way he could, not just so that he could stone for what he'd done but because it was the right thing to do. However he couldn't help but feel that his usefulness was nothing compared to what he had done as a double agent.

"I should have died." He knew it was true but hated the way it made Zeb tense up in anger and frustration. "After everything I'd done it should have been me. Not the guardians, not the Erso girl, not Cass-"

Kallus' breath hitched as he thought of the young separatist boy who he'd taken under his wing since his arrival on Yavin 4. Under his tutelage he'd become the best fulcrum agent since Ahsoka. And now he'd been obliterated into dust no bigger than the sand inside his boots.

"You don't get to decide if you deserve to live or die." Zeb told him. "Just like you don't run off on a suicide mission before-"

Zeb's body froze as he cut himself off. Kallus removed his face from his neck so that he could look up into his round green eyes. He watched as Zeb's ears flattened for a moment in nervousness before pointing straight up as he gazed down at him with confidence and conviction.

"Before I could tell you that I love you."

"Zeb." Kallus breathed, his breath carrying every emotion conceivable from shock to honour and most importantly love.

He untangled his hand from where it was pressed against his side so that he could gently stroke the hair that grazed his lover's jaw.

"I love you too." He whispered.

Zeb's face broke out into his signature grin as his hand rose from Kallus' back to the back of his neck so he could close the distance between their lips.