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The Death Star had been destroyed. They'd won - for now, anyway. A huge, decisive, unprecedented, unlikely victory. The Empire was reeling. The Rebellion was celebrating.
Jyn should be happy.
She was happy. Pretty much. She was.
But the evacuation orders had come down in the middle of the wild celebrations, and Rogue One was getting scattered all over the galaxy.
This was what she got for getting attached, she thought bitterly. For starting to think of four men and one pissy droid as something like a family.
Bodhi tried to cheer her up. "We're all staying with the rebellion," he said as they all sat together in the medbay around Cassian's bed. "So we might see each other again."
" - report to muster room 26. Second call for Evacuation Group Herf," said the loudspeaker over their heads.
Cassian was the only one of them who was going to get delivered directly to a transport, on account of his injuries. The rest of them had been assigned groups to go and wait with all their things before they got shuffled onto transports. But none of them knew exactly where they were going in the end.
"It's a big galaxy," she said gloomily. "Believe me, it's dead easy for people to get lost in it."
"If the Force wills it, we will come together again," Chirrut said.
"What if it doesn't?"
"Third and final call for Evacuation Group Dorn," said the loudspeaker. "Evacuation Group Dorn, to muster room 19."
"Forget the Force," Baze said. "We'll make sure we see each other again."
If Kay had been there, he would have said something with lots of numerals and decimal points, which would probably back up Jyn's hypothesis.
Technically speaking, Kay was there. He was in a small black box sitting on Cassian's lap. Or his backup, anyway. Everything of Kay up until just before they left for Scarif. Obviously, the black box full of data couldn't say anything.
And Cassian hadn't said anything either.
"Evacuation Group Krenth, report to muster room 35," said the loudspeaker. "First call for Group Krenth."
He was sitting up in his hospital bed. The bacta immersions had cleaned up a lot of the surface injuries, but he'd had days of surgeries, and there was more ahead of him. Jyn didn't even know what had been removed or fused or repaired or replaced - she just knew that it was a miracle Cassian had survived the trip back to Yavin.
He was getting sent to a top-secret recovery center to finish getting put back together - however long that would take. Even he didn't know where it was.
Bodhi reached out and caught her hand. "Jyn," he said. "It's not forever."
"I don't want to go," she said, and scowled when she realized she sounded like a sulky child.
She'd existed for years on fleeting friendships, cautious alliances. The bonds that had formed over the past month shocked her with their strength. She should let this go. She should shrug and say, well, that's how it goes in this bitch of a galaxy.
But the thought of losing them all, the way she'd lost so many in her lifetime, made her want to howl and hammer on the walls.
"None of us do," Chirrut said softly. "But we must all do our part. Even separately."
She looked at him, thinking, you and Baze get to stay together.
But that was unfair. He and Baze were married. A much more permanent connection than the tenuous one that held Rogue One together.
"Evacuation Group Orenth, report to meeting room 53. First call for Group Orenth."
"That's me," Bodhi said.
“It’s just the first call,” Jyn said.
Cassian spoke, his voice a rasp. “Fifty-three is across the base.”
Bodhi pressed his lips together, then got up, hooking his bag over his good shoulder. He didn’t have much - none of them did. But he did have a few things, packed into a bag issued by the quartermaster.
He hugged Baze and then Chirrut, then hesitated before leaning down to put his arms around Cassian's shoulders, very carefully. Cassian's arm came up, looping around his back, and he said something in his ear that made Bodhi smile. He straightened up again and gave Kay’s box a little pat.
Then he turned to Jyn.
"Come on," he said, and she allowed him to drag her into his arms, his good one strong around her and his bad one careful and light, trying not to put pressure on the healing burns.
“Maybe we’ll all wind up in the same place,” he whispered in her ear. "You never know."
She managed a smile. “Sure. Yeah. Maybe.”
Then he was gone, limping out of the medbay, joining the tide of rebels flowing down the halls.
Baze and Chirrut were called about fifteen minutes later, Group Trill. They were able to linger through the second call, giving hugs and hand-squeezes. Chirrut said some things that were probably supposed to be serene and wise. They bounced off Jyn's misery like a skipping stone.
Then they were gone too, Chirrut still in his hoverchair and Baze pushing it along.
Then it was her and Cassian, alone together. Plus Kay, silent in his box.
Jyn didn't know what to say, and either Cassian didn't either, or he was content to stay silent. Either way, they sat in heavy quiet, broken only by the loudspeaker's announcements.
He turned his hand palm up on the blankets, and she reached out to put herself in it. Their fingers wove together. She took a gulping breath.
Just as her friendships had been surface and fleeting, it had been years since romance had consisted of anything more than a one-night stand. Brief physical entanglements that didn't touch her well-guarded heart.
It was different with Cassian. Walking away from him felt like she was about to casually detach her leg and leave it behind. Sometimes, curled up in her bunk, she could still feel his arms around her on the beach and the weight of her body against his as she held him up.
She wasn't sure how he felt, though. They hadn't so much as kissed.
"Group Wesk, please report to muster room 64. First call for Evacuation Group Wesk."
Wesk was her. She gritted her teeth, then pushed herself up.
"Jyn," he said hoarsely, his fingers tightening around hers.
"I should go."
"It’s not far. One hallway over. You've got time."
He was looking at her like he had in the elevator, on Scarif. All the walls he usually carried in his eyes were down.
"I want - " he said. "I want you to know - "
"What?" she said in a ragged whisper.
"I haven't had a lot of people in my life," he said. "Not for the last few years. Nobody I could come back to."
"Yeah, just you and your droid," she said, pulling her hand out of his. "That's all you need. Right. I get it. I understand."
"No," he said. "Jyn, no, I - "
"Group Wesk," said the loudspeaker. "Second call for Group Wesk to muster room 64."
He set Kay's box down carefully on the bedside table and pushed himself up a little more. "I'm trying to tell you that I want to keep you," he said. "Even if we don't see each other for months, I want - I want to keep you, I - "
She kissed him.
It was sloppy and desperate and hungry, their lips off-center and their noses bumping until they figured out how they fit. She dug her fingers into his shoulders, hoarding all the sensations - his hand cradling her head, his thumb stroking her cheek. The scrape of his beard. The feel of his hair against her knuckles. The way his mouth moved over hers.
I want to keep you.
"We'll see each other again," he murmured, his breath hot against her lips.
"Don't make promises you can't keep."
"I'm not. I'm telling you. We'll see each other again."
"Third and final call for Evacuation Group Wesk," said the loudspeaker. "Evacuation Group Wesk, to muster room 64."
She pressed her lips to his again - just once more, just another scrap to add to her hoard - then dragged herself away. She pressed her fingers to the top of Kay's backup - take care of him , although how Kay would do that she didn't know.
She leaned down, scooping up her half-empty duffle and bolting out into the corridor without looking back so she wouldn't stop.
Huddled against the wall in muster room 64, hidden within all the other rebels, she turned her face aside and pressed her fingers to her lips. We'll see each other again, she thought, and didn't know if it was a promise or a plea.
FINIS