A/N: I have uploaded this story a few days ago on AO3 because I had no idea where to publish it here. There doesn't seem to be a spot for Rogue One stories, so I'll just upload it under Star Wars in general (is this a sequel to the prequel of the original trilogy?).

Cassian somehow knew he would find Jyn on one of the upper balconies of the temple. It was beginning to darken and in the course of the last few days he had always checked in on her before he went to sleep. Today he had a talk with Mon Mothma and they somehow had lost track of time, even though she was a busy woman. However, she wanted to hear everything that had happened on Scarif from his point of view. She would talk to Jyn, too, as soon as she was in a better condition.

They had barely made it out alive. He was still feeling the anxiousness from being on Scarif; the acceptance of death still occupying his mind. He had known they wouldn't make it as soon as he had woken up on that platform inside the tower and she had been gone. He could feel the ground shaking from the attack on the planet and he knew the Empire would destroy Scarif as soon as they found out what they stole. His body hurt from the fall - he must have grazed some steel pillars on his way down until he fell onto the platform which knocked him unconscious. And there was blood soaking through his uniform. He had almost forgotten that he had been shot which resulted in his fall in the first place. Cassian was surprised by himself as he managed to climb up the rest of the way. But there she was - a hairbreadth away from being taken from him. Cassian had never pulled the trigger faster in his life.

They had made it. She sent the plans up into the galaxy and he had forgotten his pain until then but she had to help him limp towards the elevator to get down. Cassian remembered how close they were - both in the elevator and to the end of everything. He damned himself for his thoughts. He was watching her face intently to memorise her beautiful features for all eternity. They wouldn't make it out. They were so far away from the next starship and he couldn't do more than limp. It was then that he realised she would be the last person he would be with. He was scared, yes. There were so many things he would have wanted to do. He hadn't known Jyn's plans for the future, but he would have been sad to see her go after everything they had gone through. He might have asked her out. But he knew there was no time left for them, everything he could think of would never be more than thoughts.

That's what he accepted in that moment in the elevator. That he would never know what she felt.

She helped him limp to the beach. He remembered that they sat down as they watched the horizon being torn apart. And then her hand was in his. He wasn't sure who initiated it, but they stood up and her body was so close to his and he slung his arms around her and he could feel her arms around him and it was perfect.

He couldn't remember how they had been pulled apart and into a ship and he wasn't sure if he even realised what was happening because in the first moment he was dying in her arms and then he suddenly wasn't, because dead people weren't supposed to think.

He can clearly remember, how they were hit by something that sent them flying through the ship. He landed on his already hurting back, but he was fine as far as he was concerned. As they all found their footing again, he saw that Jyn was still lying on the ground. She had hit her head and was unconscious and she remained in that state for a few days.

Back on Yavin 4, as she had lain in the med bay, Cassian had been at her side most of the time. He had to remain in the med bay, too, even though his injuries weren't as bad as they felt like. The doctors told him that Jyn would wake up soon and that her brain hadn't been damaged. One female doctor came to him one morning, with something in her hand. Jyn's necklace. The doctor gave it to him and as soon as Jyn had woken up, he gave it to her.

Even though Cassian couldn't see Jyn's face, he could sense she was sad. Her arms were around herself and her shoulders were hanging down as she was watching the jungle of Yavin 4.

They all had lost so much. No one on this planet had been spared from loosing someone. But Jyn, he thought, had gone through the worst of it all. Saw Gerrera, her father, everyone else they had met on their mission ... His heart was heavy as he looked at her and he wanted to comfort her and to protect her from the evils that were still looming over them.

He joined her at the edge of the platform, but she didn't look up. Cassian figured she had noticed him as soon as he had set foot on the platform.

"Yavin is so beautiful", she says. He nods in approval. "How are your wounds?", she asked and turned to him. He averted his gaze from the jungle and turned towards her.

"Getting better. How is your arm?" Not only had she hit her head in the starship, she had also broken her left arm during the fall.

"I can use it without any problems, though it still hurts sometimes."

Cassian took in her face. A few strands of her hair had been singed from the heat that had come with the annihilation of Scarif. Her face had been spared from the damage save for a few scratches, but those have healed already thanks to the wonders of medicine.

Jyn averted her gaze and looked back at the jungle.

"Do you feel it, too? The emptiness? They are calling us Rogue One, but everyone except for us died." Cassian nodded. Survivor's guilt was haunting him, too. He was just so thankful that he wasn't alone. He doesn't want to imagine a galaxy in which Jyn Erso wasn't alive. He wouldn't want to live in one without her.

"I miss them so much. We haven't known each other for such a long time, but ..." She doesn't need to finish, he understood what she meant. Even though she had lived for quite some time on her own, she had lost all her family in the past few weeks. He hadn't shot Galen, but he felt like it was his fault. Maybe he could have done something and she wouldn't have to be alone now.

But she wasn't.

"I understand."

She sighed heavily and looked back into his eyes. Hers were so beautiful. He could watch them for hours and would never tire of it.

But they were looking sadly at him now and he could see her holding back tears. His need to protect her only grew stronger. "I'm scared", she whispered and a single tear fell from her eye. She quickly wiped her eyes and he felt bad for looking at her like this, as if he was invading some private moment but she didn't show any signs of being uncomfortable.

"I'm here for you, Jyn." She looks up at him, and she really did have to look up, because she was so goddamn tiny next to him, but he never really noticed it, because wherever she was, she was anything but small.

More tears were building in her eyes and he felt the sting in his, too, because he was scared just as much. They were safe now, but for how long?

And then suddenly his arms were around her and hers were around him and her head was resting on his chest. His chin was on top of her head and he could feel the smooth texture of her hair and the smell of it - of her - was calming him.

"I don't want to be left alone. I can't bear the thought of it", she mumbled into his clothing.

"Jyn, I'm not going to leave you. I couldn't."

They stayed like that for a long time.