As I open my eyes, it all comes back to me.

The embrace, the light, the sudden darkness. I should be dead.

But am I?

I look around, and I'm in the same place as before, only ruined and burned. The water is black and most of it has evaporated from the intense heat. The Imperial Base is no more. I shouldn't have survived this.

Yet somehow, I'm still alive. How is this possible?

A few feet away from me, a motionless figure lies on the beach, but in an unnatural position. Jyn.

I run over as quick as my leg allows me to, and I hold her thin, petite body in my arms. Her eyes are closed, and her skin, much like mine, is red and raw from the intense heat of the Death Star blast. She doesn't seem to be okay.

Please don't let her be dead, I pray to something, anything, that might exist. I carefully touch my hands to her neck. After a long pause, a faint pulse taps rhythmically on my fingers. I exhale slightly, resting her head in my elbow, checking for breathing. To my relief, her soft breath makes a few of my hair strands flutter. She's not dead. Thank the Force. I don't know what I would do without her.

As I look around again, I quickly realize that we are going to have to find a new place to settle down in order to survive. Everything on this part of the planet was obliterated. There's no food or clean water here, and there's no chance of getting off the planet because all of the ships were destroyed, at least in this part of Scarif. In the distance, I can see where the destruction ended. Fortunately, we seem to be very close to where it stopped, and it probably should only take a day's walk to get there. I'm ready to go.

Jyn, however, clearly is not. As I hold her, she looks peaceful and utterly content. I haven't seen this side of her before. All I've ever seen is the tough rogue who whacks people with shovels and kills them with a single stare from her pale eyes. What I'm seeing now is crazily different from that perspective. I see a soft, sweet woman who cares, and trusts right now.

But how am I even able to see this? We were supposed to die. It was inevitable.

As I look at Jyn, I see her clear cyber crystal on her chest. That's the only thing that seems to be out of place, and I sense that the crystal has something to do with the reason we miraculously survived. My mind turns, trying to figure it all out.

"We should've died from the Death Star blast," I mutter, talking through my thinking. "But we didn't, and the only thing that seems odd is the crystal..." I trail off, thinking hard, but coming up with nothing. I'll ask Jyn later. Her father was a freaking genius and knew a ton about kyber crystals, so she'd probably know more than I do.

Dismissing the miracle of our survival for a minute, my attention snaps back to Jyn as she groans. Her eyes open, and slowly become focused. I lock eyes with her, and her own orbs widen with surprise.

"Cassian?" Jyn whispers tentatively.

"It's me, Jyn." I smile, holding her as if she were an infant.

"But...we're not dead."

"No, we're not."

"How in the Galaxy...?!"

"I have absolutely no idea." I chuckle. "But I'm not complaining."

"Neither am I." She grins.

"We have no way to get off the planet, and if we don't get to non-destroyed Scarif in forty eight hours we'll probably die of starvation and thirst. But hey, we lived through what was supposed to kill everyone and everything!" I say optimistically.

"Yep. We're alive and safe right now, and that is all that matters to me right now." Jyn sighs. "Can I have a hug?" She asks quietly.

"Absolutely." I say, proceeding to embrace her. Jyn snakes her arms around my midriff, sitting on my lap. I rest my chin on the crown of her head, and simply breathe. I reach out with my senses, enjoying everything that I can feel. The sunlight hits my face, as the ground is soft upon my legs. Jyn smells of gunpowder and the ocean, which really doesn't sound that appealing, but for some reason the smell is intoxicating to me. Which also is really strange.

After what seems like an eternity of bliss, she carefully lets go and sits in from of me.

"How's your leg?" she asks concernedly.

"It's fine. I'll survive." I wave my hand, attempting to distract her from helping me. But of course, this is unsuccessful. She rolls up my pant leg, revealing the torn and bloody flesh underneath.

"Cassian!" she chides. "You know this needs to be bandaged."

"I've never really been that good at it." I admit.

"Fine. I'll do it, then." she concludes. She promptly reaches up to tear a part of fabric off of her sleeve.

"No! Don't do that. Use some of my clothes." I insist.

Rolling her eyes, she takes one of my jackets and tears some of the cloth off. Slowly and carefully, she begins to bandage my leg. It stings, but she does it so carefully that I feel no pain. A couple of times she looks like she is going to pass out of exhaustion, but she keeps going like it's not a problem. I had better keep an eye out for that.

When she finishes, she tosses the remainder of the jacket into the black ocean. She looks around. "We had better start heading towards non-destroyed Scarif, or we will die a most painful death. It's probably late morning, so we should try to make it by sundown." she proposes, estimating the distance.

I nod, and stand up. My leg hurts a lot less now. Jyn stands up, but quickly begins to fall. Reaching over, I catch her right before she hits the ground. She's passed out. Probably of exhaustion. I curse myself silently. I saw that she wasn't doing great when she bandaged my leg. I should've known. I'm not going to bother waking her up, she clearly needs the rest. Obviously, that leaves two options. We could starve to death here, or I could carry her myself.

I would prefer the second option, but I also have to take Jyn's stubbornness into account. She would never allow me to carry her with the condition of my leg. Heck, she wouldn't want me to carry her if I was perfectly fine. But she is in no condition to walk, and we need to move. Preferring Jyn's yelling versus starving, I throw her back over one arm and the fold of her knees in the other. Taking a deep breath, I take the first step of a long journey to come.

Every step hurts, but at least I'm making progress. Everywhere I look, things are burning. Nothing is left. No plants, no trees, nothing. Skeletons litter the area. One particular thing pains me: the bones of children are absolutely everywhere. Every time I look somewhere new, desperate for anything cheerful, more of my hope is extinguished. We're miles from the location of the base, and all of these innocent children died at the mercy of the Empire. They'll never grow up, they'll never have children or be happy ever again. The sheer power of the Death Star is devastating. Nothing is alive in this place. There's no breathing, no heartbeats, no signs of life.

Except for Jyn and I, the shining beacons of life in an abyss of death and loneliness.

I hold onto Jyn tight, because she is the only thing that reassures me that the Empire can be stopped. Our hearts are still beating. We lived. We survived. The Empire can be stopped. There's a weakness in that technological terror. I truly hope with all of my heart that the Rebellion can exploit the weakness planted by Galen Erso. It's our only chance at stopping the Empire from turning the Galaxy into a place of fear and totalitarianism.

Every now and then, I stop and rest, checking to make sure Jyn is alright. I pray that I don't lose her now, now that she is my only happiness in this place of nothingness. I never rest long, because we have to keep moving to live.

As the sun begins to set, Jyn finally opens her eyes again when I am taking a break. Her eyes are beautiful. How did I not notice that before? I inhale sharply when I realize that her eyes are green, and her eyes are the only bit of green in this lifeless place. Pushing that thought away for now, I concentrate on Jyn, whose eyes look up at me in confusion.

"What happened? I remember falling, and then-" she cuts off. She tries to stand up, but falls again. I catch her, and she attempts to move but I hold her back.

"The blast must've really worn you down. You need some more rest." I insist, still holding her down.

She looks up at me in frustration. "I don't need you worrying about me. We have to move, now! Let GO of me!" She says weakly, her eyes full of determination.

"It's okay. We're almost there. See?" I point to the pristine beach about a mile away.

"But how...?"

"It's alright. I carried you most of the way."

"CASSIAN! What about your leg?!" she groans in dismay.

"It's fine. You're worse off, and you certainly needed the rest. Stop protesting." I order.

She sighs. "Okay, fine. Thank you for carrying me."

"You're welcome."

"Just don't carry me again, okay?"

"No promises." I grin.

"I don't need your help." she points out.

"I know that. You could kill me with both of your hands tied behind your back and your legs bound together."

She chuckles. "I could. You'd better watch out."

"I know you won't kill me, though." I state.

Jyn raises an eyebrow. "Oh, really?" she asks in surprise. "What makes you say that?"

"Well, who's going to help the poor damsel in distress if I'm dead?" I tease jokingly.

Her eyes sparkle with menace. "You did NOT just call me a "damsel in distress"."

"Oh yeah? Who's the one who can't walk?"

At this, Jyn leans over and smacks me upside the head as hard as she can.

"Ow!" I protest.

"You call me a "damsel in distress" one more time, I'll hit you so hard you won't wake up for a week." she warns, laughing.

"I'll consider myself warned." I chuckle. "Alright, we had better get moving."

"Okay." She starts to get up, but I grab her arm.

"No walking for you." I order, and pick her up as she protests. She struggles in my arms, but I just chuckle and hold onto her tighter.

"Let go!" she yells, laughing. "You promised!"

"No, I actually didn't. And no, I'm not putting you down." I grin. She still struggles, and I need a way to force her into submission. Then I get a really horrible idea, one that will probably turn against me. I tickle her side, and she screams, thrashing and laughing extremely hard.

"Hey!" she exclaims laughing. "No fair!"

"Oh really?" I smile evilly. "You're ticklish?" I proceed to tickle her stomach, and she screams again.

"Stop!" she giggles.

"I find it hilarious that you, being so tough, are ticklish." I remark smartly.

"Oh, and what about you?" she counteracts.

"Don't you dare," I warn, but she simply grins evilly, her eyes glinting.

At which point I know I'm going down.

Her fingers dance upon my skin, and I laugh uncontrollably. I try to stop her, but she's good. She laughs at my frustration and tickles me harder. I fall on the ground, bringing her with me. I try to roll out from under her, but she pins me under her weight and holds me there, tickling me all of the way. My laughter rings out into the silence, bringing life once again to a place that was silenced for eternity.

"Stop! Please! Have mercy!" I cry, tears running down my face from laughter.

"I find it hilarious that you, being so tough, are ticklish." She says, mocking my voice.

I throw my hands up in exasperation. "Fine! You win!"

She pumps her fist. "YESSS!"

"Okay, but we need to get moving." I say, rolling my eyes.

"Eh, it's pretty close." She begins to stand up, and I get up quickly, helping her to her feet.

"I don't need-" she begins, but I cut her off.

"I won't carry you, but I'll support you. And if you pass out again, I am carrying you no matter what."

She sighs. "That's the best deal I'm going to get."

I place her arm around my neck and my hand on her waist. Slowly, but surely, we begin to walk. She stumbles at first and I try to help, but she stops me. She is absolutely determined to be independent. As stubborn as she is, and no matter now much it drives me crazy, I realize that it's one of the things I most appreciate about her. She's bloody, beaten and downright exhausted, yet she still pushes on and refuses to be helped by anybody. I kind of like that about her.

We finally reach the border, and Jyn instantly collapses on the beautiful, white sand, yawning and curling up to sleep. The sun has nearly set all the way, and I grab some tinder to start a fire on the beach. The waves crash into shore rhythmically, and the temperature begins to drop. As the fire crackles, I warm up while she sleeps about ten feet away.

The moon is high in the sky, and the temperature is very low. Despite being on a tropical planet, I would be very cold without my jacket, the one that Jyn didn't use on my leg. Which reminds me of something. I get up to check on her. She shivers in the cold, her teeth chattering. The poor woman doesn't have anything warm to wear.

Without hesitation, I take off my warm, fluffy jacket and kneel beside her, taking care to wrap it around her small frame. She opens her eyes, and the stars shine within them. Half asleep, she protests slightly, but I assure her that I'll be okay. Her safety and comfort is way more important than mine.

With the reflection of the stars still in her eyes, she locks eyes with me.

"Thank you, Cassian." she whispers with so much care and love, my whole body softens.

"You're welcome, Jyn." I whisper back, using the same tenderness.

Her eyes finally close, and she falls into a deep, peaceful slumber. I walk back to the fire. I'm slightly cold, but I'll be okay. I don't know why I constantly feel the need to help her, to hold her and keep her safe. I've never trusted anyone as much as I trust Jyn. Not even K-2SO. Why, I'm not quite sure yet.

As I lay near the orange hearth, exhaustion takes over and I finally fall into a deep, dreamless sleep, more than satisfied with how this wonderful day went.