2.9k+ words; edit by sondercoyfish

The two of you continued on, walking side by side over the flat terrain. The walk felt like it took forever, and maybe it was due to your uneasiness about being in the open. You could sense Cassian's as well; it matched yours perfectly. At every sound of a ship docking in the settlement, Cassian was glancing up, his shoulders stiffening, his body going completely frigid, eyes scanning for TIE-Fighters zipping across the grey.

As far as you could tell, they thought the two of you were dead in the crash. No one came.

When you entered the settlement, you saw that it wasn't the tiny village you were expecting, but it was a small but extremely busy city. It smelled of spices and fish and smoke. Tall buildings loomed overhead and you felt safe under their coverage, until you stepped out into the eyesight of hundreds and hundreds of people. They were all different creatures; Quarren, Devaronians, humans, and ones that you couldn't even place. They were trading, conversing, drinking, buying, selling, hurrying about. It was an easy place to get lost, so you kept close to Cassian.

"This settlement is typically used for Rebels to pass through and gather supplies and information," Cassian murmured to you, "but they're no strangers to helping the Empire as well, if the price is right. Keep your eyes open and keep your hands ready."

"And if things go wrong and I pull out that lightsaber, how many of them would come right for me?" you asked. 

"Most of them," he admitted. "You'd better hope you get better with that blaster quickly then."

"Can't you just trust that I'll be good enough with the lightsaber and they couldn't stand a chance?" 

"I would love to trust you on that as well, but I'm just thinking realistically." Cassian stepped onto the street and stuck to the right side of it. 

"That sounds like you're doubting me," you said. "After we just established..." 

"Look, I can't trust you on everything." Before turning a corner, he glanced around, then nodded across the street. "Come on. This way." 

Almost hugging the walls of the shops you were passing by, you moved forward, right behind Cassian's heels. He seemed to know where he was going. You noticed that he was always looking for eyes that stayed locked on him for too long.

The amount of people in this city was overwhelming. As Cassian rounded another corner to an even busier street, you felt heaviness settle on your chest. You were shorter than Cassian and shorter than most in the crowd. You felt lost in the sea of creatures.

"We're close," Cassian said, turning back to look at you. "Just stay close behin---"

He slammed to a fast stop and you bumped into his side with a gasp. You caught yourself by grabbed onto his arm and looked up to see you and Cassian locked in the glare of a Devaronian. 

As a growl slipped past the creature's locked teeth, Cassian stepped one step. "I'm sorry---"

"No harm done," the Devaronian said. "Say, you don't happen to have credits on you, do you?"

"We don't, sorry," Cassian said, offering him a polite smile as he tried to walk around him. 

The Devoronian stopped him by holding out his arm. "Listen here. It's been real tough for me the last couple of weeks. I lost my job and I've got a family." 

"I'm sorry, we really don't have anything to help you," Cassian said. He started to walk around him again. "I'm sorry." 

"Not so fast." The Devaronian never stopped smiling his sinister smile, especially when he pulled the blaster out that he had hidden behind his long coat. He pressed it to Cassian's side. "Give me all the credits you have. I'm not gonna ask politely next time." 

You didn't think twice. You were in between them both in a fraction of a second, aware that revealing your lightsaber would be suicide in a crowd like this, so you raised your hand and said, "You really don't want to do this." 

A glaze fell over his eyes as they followed the movement of your hand. "I... really don't want to do this." 

"You want to pull that blaster away from him and walk away," you continued. 

"I do want to do that," he said, nodding. He put his blaster back into the hidden pocket of his coat. "Yes, good idea. I will walk to the end of the street." 

As he turned around and slowly walked, with small moments of hesitation, you looked back to Cassian. His mouth was agape as he tried to make sense of what you were doing. It took you a moment to realize that several other people were looking at you with a similar expression, too. Murmurs were rising from the crowd. People weren't used to seeing occurrences like this in public.

You dropped your hand slowly and felt your heartbeat quicken. The Devarnonian blinked hard and looked back at you, annoyance replacing his confusion. The glare sent your heart into even more rapid beating. Cassian stiffened at your side.

"Let's get moving," he suggested suddenly. He kept his eyes on the crowd as he grabbed your hand and pulled you along. "Head down, move fast."

You dropped your head down, keeping your eyes locked on the stone road. But your attention wasn't on the ground, nor was it on the way your feet stumbled as you struggled to keep up. Your cheeks were warm and your attention was on the togetherness of your hands.

His skin was rough, his hand warm, his fingers gripping yours with such tightness that you knew confidently that he wouldn't lose you in the sea of people, even as they knocked into you and ran into him and tried to squeeze their way between you and him. 

"Don't look back," he warned you.

How could you? Your eyes were locked on your hands.

But Cassian kept glancing back, making sure the Devaronian wasn't following the two of you. When he couldn't see him anywhere in the crowd, he let out a sigh of relief and pulled you off the road and between two little booths, where two different women sold different colored fabrics. He let go of your hand and you could finally look elsewhere.

"What was that?" he asked. "Some old Jedi mind trick?" 

"Yes," you said, blinking quickly so you could try to see anything but the memory of your hands and his. You focused on his eyes instead. 

"Are you crazy? You're going to get yourself discovered and get us killed!" he hissed.

"He would have killed you, Cassian," you said. "I said I would protect you and I did." When he shook his head, you felt anger fume up inside of you. "Why are you so against people doing things for you? Why are you so intent on hating me?" 

"I'm not intent on hating you!" he said. "I'm worried you'll get found out."

"If I do, you have to trust that I can handle it," you said. "You have to trust that I'm here to help you." 

"I do trust you." You raised your eyebrows at him. "I'm trying to."

"I can say easily that I'm doing a far better job than you are at it," you said. 

You weren't sure if he wanted to smile at you, but he just shook his head. "You shouldn't have reacted that way to him."

"He grabbed you," you said defensively. "I just got angry."

Why did you have to defend your actions at all? He laid hands on him and he would've done the same to you --- shouldn't you have the right to be angry?

"And anger like that in a place like this will get you killed." He reached over and pulled the hood of your poncho over your head. "Hide your face best you can. There's a chance he'll want to come after us. We have enough people after us as it is."

"What if the Empire isn't after us?" you asked. "What if they think we did die in that crash? We don't need to act as if they're right on our heels, you know. I think they don't suspect we survived."

"Until there's proof of that, I can't live with that sort of luxury of thinking," he said, shaking his head. He was glancing around everywhere until he finally decided that the coast was clear and that the opportunity to move was now. He nodded his head across the street, where a hangar full of broken ships stood under the gloominess of grey and the shadow of a two-story tall cantina. "It's just this way."

You followed him, listening to his order to keep your face hidden. No one attempted to grab you as you crossed quickly over to the hangar. Underneath the roof that was made of uneven pieces of metal, you removed your hood and glanced around.

Ships of all shapes and sizes surrounded you. X-WINGS, Y-WINGS, speeders, different kinds of bikes. They were all broken down and rusted over, missing huge parts or in pieces altogether. You and Cassian walked between the rows of ships until he finally found what he was looking for; a short, long-haired human stepping out from behind a curtain.

"Alek," Cassian greeted.

"Cassian," Alek said, a smile growing on his weary face. He lifted a pair of green-tinted goggles from his eyes and let them rest on the top of his head. "It's been quite some time since I've last seen you. How have you been?"

"I've been better," Cassian said.

Alek's eyes shifted over to you. You were turning slowly around, eyes raking across the line of ships. You couldn't help but wonder where they came from. How did he get an X-WING from the Rebellion? You'd never seen one before. You let your fingers ghost over the dusty side of the ship as you thought about the history.

"Who's this?"

"A friend of mine," Cassian replied easily.

You looked back at the stranger and smiled politely. "Hello. I'm ___."

"Alek," he said, nodding. He had a warmness about his bright green eyes that you liked. His blond hair was long and brushed just past his shoulders. "What brings you back here, Cassian? Last I heard, you'd gotten into trouble around these parts."

Cassian smiled. "Trouble is what brings me back here again. We're on the run from the Empire. I could really use your help."

"Of course. You know I'm in your debt. Anything you need."

"I need a ship."

Alek's smile grew. "What else would you come here for? C'mon, I've had something set aside for you that I thought you might be interested in."

As you discovered, Alek kept the line of junk at the front of his hangar to hide what he kept in the back. When you walked behind the curtain, past another line of junk, and past a heaping pile of broken parts, you found yourself in a warehouse lit up with blue lights hanging overhead, filled with beautiful looking ships.

"Just this way," Alek said. At the far corner of the warehouse, surrounded by dozens of tools and tiny droids quietly working, you saw a large ship. It was silver in color on the sides with dark blue on top. Cassian observed it silently, trailing behind Alek. "This is my latest project. A U-WING. I was holding it here for you. I hoped you would be back soon enough to give it to you as a thank you for saving my life."

Cassian looked at him. "Thank you, brother. You have no idea what this means to me."

"For the Rebellion." Alek nodded once.

"For the Rebellion." Cassian turned and looked at you. "Come, ___. We have to get out of here right away."

You listened, walking around the side of the ship to board. Cassian got on first, and you paused, turning towards his friend and smiling. "May the Force be with you, Alek."

Alek's pale cheeks dusted pink. "I--- thank you. And you, too."

You got on the U-WING and took your seat next to Cassian. You snapped your restraints in as Cassian started everything up. "Have you ever flown a ship before?"

"No," you said. "I never had much reason to back on Tatooine."

"Well, today you learn," he said. The ship started to move forward slowly through the hangar. As it rolled towards the back of the shop, Alek waved goodbye. The ship rolled outside and you glanced around. No one in the crowd stopped to stare. It seemed like they hurried on faster, eager to get on with whatever they came there to do. You could sense their discomfort with being out in public. 

Cassian noticed you watching. "People have learned not to look up too much. It's dangerous if you do."

"What a sad life," you whispered. "No one should have to live like this."

"And yet they do," Cassian said. You looked at him and he glanced at you. "Here. When we gather enough speed, you pull that lever right in front of you. Do you see it? It'll pull the ship up."

"Alright." You put your hand on the lever. "And how do I know we have gathered enough speed?"

"I'll tell you," he said, nodding. On the clear road ahead, behind all of the shops and the busy, crowded street, Cassian urged the ship to go faster. Your back pressed against the seat and you felt your stomach disappear somewhere far behind you. "Alright... now!"

You yanked the lever, bringing it back towards you. The nose of the ship tilted upward, facing the cloudy grey, and you shot forward into it. Your view was just the clouds for a long moment, and then it was the stars. Cassian reached up, his hand closing around another lever.

"This is how you go through hyperspace," he told you.

As he pushed it, you watched the stars whiz by in streaks of gorgeous white. You were in a tunnel of stars, it seemed, and you couldn't help but smile. They reflected in your eyes. "It's all very beautiful."

"I suppose," Cassian replied after a long moment. He looked at you. "You can walk around, if you'd like. Put your things down. We'll be traveling this way for some time."

"Okay." You listened, standing up from your seat and shrugging out of your backpack. You tossed it to the side and shrugged your soaked poncho up. You found a place to hang it to dry. You were wearing a long black tank that hung to your knees and a pair of black pants. They were still wet, but the spare outfit in your bag was just as soaked, so you really didn't have any options but to stick with them. "Captain?"

"Yes?" He was standing up out of his seat and walking over to the right side of the U-WING.

"How long until we get to Yavin 4?"

"Depends on the trouble we run into along the way," he replied. "I'm going to attempt to contact them on this radio. Hopefully it's not busted."

"I don't see how it could be," you said truthfully. "Your friend rebuilt this ship himself? It looks good as new."

"He's very good at what he does." Cassian slipped a headset over his ears and flicked a switch. The radio sounded static as it turned on. He turned a dial slowly, his other hand pressing one of the headphones over his ear.

"Anything?" you asked.

He shook his head, then stopped. He turned it once more. "Wait. Yes." He cleared his throat. "This is Captain Cassian Andor. Do you read me?"

You saw relief move across his features as a familiar voice met his ears. He ducked his head and smiled before replying, speaking too softly for you to hear. You sat back in your seat and turned to watch the stars some more.

When he came back, sitting in the pilot's seat again, you watched how he moved in discomfort. He rubbed a spot on his shoulder before settling in, flipping a few more controls in front of him.

"They heard us?" you asked. He nodded. "So they know we're coming?"

"Yes," he replied. "We should be there in a few hours. This ship is fine on fuel, so there should be no reason for detours."

"It was wonderful of your friend to give you this ship," you said. "It's nice."

"He's not exactly a friend of mine," he said, "just a man I've saved a few times."

"Oh, so this isn't a gift, but a reward for your heroics," you said. "I see."

Cassian shook his head and laughed. "More like a favor. He helps me out, I help him out. Gets us out of the tough times of war. Since the trip is long, you might as well get some sleep. There won't be much going on until we're out of hyperspace."

You weren't about to argue with him. With your clothes slowly drying and your body finally able to relax, the sleepiness was coming over you quickly. You nodded and leaned back in the seat, pulling your legs up to your chest and hugging them close against you.

Your eyes were shut for mere minutes before you were in a deep slumber.

It wasn't that you were thinking about the vision you had the last time you slept, and at first, you thought maybe you were dreaming it all over again, remembering it all over. But when it hit you that you weren't seeing what had already happened, but what was going to happen, you realized you were seeing something else entirely. 

It was another vision.