"Where are you taking this... thing?" Is all I can hear from the Imperial officer.  Honestly, this is the most interesting thing that's happened all day, so I go to the door to see if I can hear more of the conversation.

"Prisoner transfer from Cell Block 1138." A young man says, although from the sound of his voice, he's in a stormtrooper outfit.  I have a strange feeling that this is fake.

"I wasn't notified." the officer continues. "I'll have to clear it."

This puzzles me.  This is very unlike the Empire.  They always know where their prisoners are, no matter what.  I can only think of two answers to the situation.  Either the Empire has become so big that they can't keep all of the people that they have under control, or this person isn't with the Empire.

To answer my question, blaster fire commences.  Yeah, I'm thinking that this isn't an Imperial thing.  The explosions shake the ground with a deafening noise.  After what seems to be about a minute and a half of shooting, I can hear another guy, most likely older than the first, talking.

"We gotta find out which cell this princess of yours is in." he says.  Princess?!  If they're rescuing Princess Leia, these guys are obviously with the Rebellion.  

"Here it is.  2187.  You go get her." he continues.  A beeping noise continues until he flips a switch.  "Everything's under control, uh, situation normal."

"What happened?" a man says over the comlink.  

"Uh, we had a slight weapons malfunction. But, uh, everything's perfectly alright here now.  We're fine, we're all fine here now, thank you.  Uh, how are you?" he asks, clearly running out of things to say.

"We're sending a squad up." the man on the comlink replies.

Well, this definitely isn't going to go well for these rebels.  I hope that they can manage to make it out of here alive.

"Uh, negative! Negative! We have a reactor leak here, uh, now, give us a few minutes to lock it down. Uh, large leak, very dangerous." 

"Who is this? What's your operating number?" the man asks.  

This is quickly followed by the shot of a blaster.

"Boring conversation anyways." he mutters.  "LUKE! WE'RE GONNA HAVE COMPANY!"

So the first man is named Luke, and him and another man are reducing a Princess, who I assume to be Princess Leia.  This easily is the most interesting thing that has happened all day.  Which is a good thing, because then it takes my mind off of the fact that I've killed Jyn.

Upon the thought of Jyn, my heart weighs down in my chest.  Her beautiful green eyes, the ones she inherited from her father, will not see the light of day ever again.  I will never hold her small, trembling body in my arms again, nor will I silently laugh at one of her stupid puns once more.  The Empire is going down for separating us and killing her.  I need to get out of here whenever I can.  If the rebellion is here to rescue one of their leaders, they're probably going to try to blow this thing up soon.  I can hear the sound of a cell door opening next to me.

"Aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper?" A woman remarks smartly, presumably the Princess.

"Huh?" Luke asks.  "Oh, the uniform.  I'm Luke Skywalker, I'm here to rescue you."

"You're who?"

"I'm here to rescue you, I've got your R2 unit.  I'm here with Ben Kenobi."

This seems to interest Princess Leia.  "Ben Kenobi? Where is he?!"

"Come on!"

I can hear their footsteps run out of the cell, but I don't think that this rescue is going to end well.  There's only one entrance and exit.  And I can guarantee that there's a squad coming any second now.

Almost as if right on cue, there's an explosion and gunshots.  Stormtroopers have come to join the party.  How wonderful.  They've just cut off their only escape route.

"Can't get out that way." the man with Luke comments.

"Looks like you've managed to cut off our only escape route." Leia complains mockingly.

"Maybe you'd like to get back in your cell, your highness." he replies smartly.

"See-threepio! Threepio! Are there any other ways out of the cell bay? We've been cut off!" Luke asks, probably using a comlink.  The droid replies, but I can't hear it.  "What was that, I didn't copy!"

This time, I can faintly hear the reply.  "I said, all systems have been alerted to your presence, sir!  The main entrance seems to be the only way in or out.  All other information on your level is restricted."

"There isn't any other way out." Luke complains.

An inhuman growl ensues.  Maybe a wookiee?  I can't really tell.

"I can't hold them off forever. Now what?!" the man comments.

"This is some rescue!" Leia exclaims irritatedly.  "When you came in here, did you have a plan for getting out?"

"He's the brains, sweetheart!" the man replies.  Dang, those two just don't get along at all.  Kind of like Jyn and I at first.  It would be hilarious if they end up falling in love.

There's some movement, and a blaster bolt hits metal.

"What the hell are you doing?!" he asks.

"Somebody has to save our skins!" Leia replies.  "Into the garbage chute, flyboy!"

I can't hear her voice anymore, so I assume that she went down the vent.  This girl is so much like Jyn. I shake that thought off, trying to pay attention and not be sad.  Another growl ensues, and this time I can identify it as a wookee.

"Get in there, you big furry oaf! I don't care what you smell!"  I can hear a thud, and the wookiee goes down as well.

Even more blaster fire ensues, and the smoke is starting to creep into my cell.  

"Wonderful girl." the man comments.  "Either I'm gonna kill her, or I'm beginning to like her."

All I can say is that I totally "ship it", as the girls in the Rebellion say all the time.  Although I can't come up with a ship name, because I don't even know what the guy's name is.

"Get in there!" the man says.  

Luke goes down the shaft, and the other man quickly follows him.  Stormtroopers come down the hall, checking the garbage compactor.  

"Notify Lord Vader that Princess Leia has escaped." one says.

In about three minutes, Darth Vader comes down the hall.  He opens my cell.

"Did you aid Princess Leia in her escape?" he demands.

"Uh, no.  Why do you think I'm still in my cell?" I shoot back.  "Where is Jyn?"

"Ah, poor Cassian." he mocks.  "I killed her."

It's an expected blow, but a blow nonetheless.  Vader may have killed Jyn, but in essence, I was the one who really killed Jyn.  I've killed her.

"Her last thought was of you before I cut her head off with my lightsaber." Vader laughs.  His laugh sounds really weird.  But that isn't important.  The image of Jyn's head being separated from her body is horrifying, and I squeeze my mouth tight to prevent from crying out.

Vader turns around and exits dramatically, leaving me horrified and filled with grief.

***

It's been mostly quiet for about four hours.  All of the stormtroopers have left, and Darth Vader is somewhere else, probably doing something evil.  The silence and dread came again, forcing me to think of my horrible decision.  I shouldn't have chosen my beliefs over the life of a human being. How could I be so heartless?  Now she's gone, and I'll never get to see her.  I need to escape.  I have to.  The Empire is going down.  Especially Darth Vader.

Suddenly, Imperial alarms begin blaring.  I can hear footsteps running out of the cell bay.  A large explosion rocks the entire Death Star.  It's the rebellion.  They're going to blow this thing up.  If I'm going to escape, now is the time.

I quickly assess what I have with me.  With a heavy heart, I realize that I still have Jyn's gloves in my pocket.  I pull them out, and I desperately try to not think about the days we spent on Scarif. It's too painful to remember.  I don't think I can use Jyn's gloves to my advantage.

I really don't have that much with me, but I have flint and that green rock that I found on Scarif.  I stand up, and go over to the power box in the cell.  I use the flint tip to pry open the lock, and multiple wires are inside.  I don't know all that much about electricity, but I do know how to hotwire a door.  I strip the plastic off of two of the wires and connect the ends.  The door to my cell hisses and opens halfway.  For the first time in two days, I smile.  The Empire is so stupid.   It doesn't take a genius to escape their cells.  If they're going to make the cells so easy to escape, at least they should search and remove dangerous objects from their prisoners.  They are so dumb, they probably didn't even take Jyn's knife away from her.  Before her death, of course.

I run out the door and down the smoky hall.  There's not a single guard in here.  All of the security cameras have been destroyed by Luke and his friends, so I run out of the cell bay and into the elevator.  I don't have to find Jyn, so I simply have to find where we came in.  Hopefully there's a TIE Fighter of some sort in the hangar.

The elevator opens and I run out.  The Imperial officers aren't even worried about me.  They're all running in the same direction. I'm assuming that they're evacuating, so  I follow them.  I come to a crossroad where they all split up.  As I try to figure out exactly which direction I should go, all of the stormtroopers and officers disappear into the distance. If I want to live, I have to choose a direction.  I look at the hallway to my right, and I see one small person clutching a gun, sneaking around the base. My knees weaken when I realize that I know who that is.

It's Jyn.

She looks around, and she sees me, her green eyes locking onto mine.  

"Cassian." she whispers, immediately sprinting to me, throwing aside the gun.

I run over to her, and she throws her arms around me, nearly pushing me to the ground.  I respond instantly, tightening my grasp on her.  I place my chin on her head, tears falling down my face from relief.  Darth Vader lied.  Jyn is okay.  She's beaten and covered in grime, but she has never looked more beautiful. I rock back and forth, holding her small body and not wanting to ever let go.  I take a shaky breath.

"He told me you were dead." Jyn and I say at the same time.  I look down into her eyes, and her eyes are just as red and swollen as mine are.  Darth Vader is such an evil person.  He made Jyn endure grief that wasn't real.

"I missed you so much." I whisper softly, smiling as if I had won ten million credits.

"I am never letting you go again." Jyn mumbles into my chest, her tears wetting my jacket.

"I won't leave you.  I promise." My voice cracks, and I kiss Jyn on the top of her head.   "Never again."

"Good." Jyn smiles, her eyes filled with love.  "Or I will punch you."

I laugh.  This may not be much, but it's a simple laugh of pleasure.  One that I never thought I would experience ever again.

"Well, should we get out of here?" I ask, gesturing to the direction that Jyn was originally going.

"Heck yes." Jyn laughs.  "I haven't eaten anything in days.  But I need something from you first."

I grin knowingly.  "The contract?"

"I'd like to resubmit it." she says.  "It expired two days ago."

"I think I can fix that." I say, leaning into her, placing my hands on her hips.  Planting my lips firmly on hers, I kiss her with so much passion that I lift her off of her feet.  Jyn sighs happily against my lips, and moves her arms around my neck, her hands running through my hair.  Now that we're going to live, I know that we're never going to have another regret.  Kisses are going to be daily.  And there will be lots and lots of cuddling.  Who knows what will happen after that? But it doesn't matter to me.  I slowly set her back down, and she's absolutely beaming. 

We run to the only TIE Fighter left, and stop in front of it, the Death Star still rocking from the explosions. 

"It's a one seater." I notice.

"We'll fit." Jyn laughs.

"You sure?"

"We'll make it work.  I'll have to sit on your lap."

"Good with me."

We climb into the fighter, Jyn sitting on my lap.  It's tight, but we'll make it work.

Jyn starts the fighter, and roars out as the Death Star explodes behind us.  We cheer and shout, amazed at how we survived and how the plans that we transmitted so long ago managed to defeat the ultimate weapon.

As I cheer, I realize that Darth Vader was wrong.

I didn't have to choose between Jyn and my beliefs.  I have both now, and believe me, I am going to treasure every moment left in my life.

How we lived, I have no idea.  But all I can say is that I feel blessed that we have each other for the rest of our lives.