Hello, my fellow Rebelcaptain/Jyssian/Jassian/Jyn x Cassian/Whatever shippers!

Okay, sorry for the note, but I am totally in love with this GIF.  Sassy dancing stormtroopers.  How could I not share this with y'all?  XD

ONTO THE STORY.

***

As I walk to the hotel with my hand fiercely intertwined with Cassian's, my heart is soaring.  I haven't felt this spectacularly happy in a long time.  I mean, I've been happy a lot more recently than ever before, but I haven't reached this level of happiness since I first kissed Cassian so long ago.  I feel like I could conquer the universe.  I don't know what other words I can use to describe how I feel.  But it's amazing.

To be honest, I think that it's about time that he confessed his true feelings for me.  I was planning on telling him that I love him tonight if he didn't.  I could sense his compassion and love for me, maybe because of the Force, or maybe a connection solely based on how well we know each other.  Either way, I know that he loves me, and he was struggling with himself about it for several days.  I certainly don't blame him for that.  Neither of us are exactly "experienced" in love or relationships at all.  It took him a while to figure it out.  That's okay with me.  But now that we know it for sure, we've realized that we loved each other all along.

I mean, dang.  Cassian is an amazing human being.  Even when I hated him at first, I certainly admired his strength.  He sticks to his orders, and becomes a machine when he puts his mind to it.  He respects everyone as a human being.  He let me keep that blaster that I stole from him, even though he didn't trust me.  He respected my views and my insistence on being armed, and even though he didn't agree, he didn't try to take it back.  He respected me way more than anyone in the Empire ever did.  This made me respect him in return.

I think that was the first tiny step towards being in love with Cassian.

It just increased from there.  On Jedha, he rescued me from Saw's place.  He knew that I wasn't needed anymore for the mission.  Yet he still came back and found me, wasting precious time that he could've used to escape the impeding wall of destruction.  That's kind of when I realized that he cares for me.  He didn't have to be there for me at that moment.  Yet he was.  He saw me at my most vulnerable time, right after I had seen my father's message.  He didn't simply blow me off.  He helped me, guiding me back to the ship.  I think this when I started to have a bit of a crush on him, but honestly, we were so busy trying to save the Rebellion that I didn't really give it much thought.  

Even when I was incredibly mad at Cassian for planning to kill my father, I couldn't stay angry for long.  The grief was much stronger than the anger, and I knew that I couldn't simply blame Cassian for Galen Erso's death.  Cassian had every chance to fire that shot, to finish the mission, to end the life of a man who he knew was innocent.  Yet he didn't.  At the time, I didn't know what stopped him.  But I think I know now.

He saw me in my father, and just simply couldn't kill him.

I'm assuming that he realized that what he was doing was wrong.  When he saw my father, he realized that this is a living, breathing human being, not a robot to be massacred.  The same goes for everyone else he's killed.  By respecting me as a human, when he saw my father, he realized that Galen should be respected as well.  But that's just my assumption.  Either way, Cassian became a much better person after that.

Time after time again, I found myself respecting Cassian more and more.  He assisted me in going against the Rebellion's orders and capturing the Death Star plans.  He helped me find the plans.  When I thought he was killed, I nearly screamed in horror.  But I couldn't let Krennic know that he had gotten to me.  I had to keep going.  After I transmitted the plans, Cassian somehow made it up to the dish and wounded Krennic so I would live.  He was beaten, bloody and looked downright messed up, yet somehow I was still attracted to him.  I nearly kissed him in that elevator.  I hugged him to death on that beach.  

I'm pretty sure that I fell in love with him then.  But I didn't know it.

We finally make it back to the hotel, and Cassian looks over at me when we're in front the door.

"So, on a scale of one to ten, how much is Vesta going to freak out when she sees us all bloody and grimy like this?" he laughs.

I pause, contemplating the question.  "Eleven." I decide.  "Let's go."

Cassian swings open the door, and we walk in.  Vesta looks up, and beams.  Then she notices our condition, and freaks out.   She runs over as quickly as her old body allows her to.

"Oh my goodness! Are you guys okay? You're covered in blood, and dirt and- Jyn, your hair is a mess! Were you two fighting? Oh no, what happened?!" Vesta asks worriedly.

"The Empire happened." Cassian laughs.

Vesta gasps.  "Oh no, the date didn't go well, then?"

"Nope.  It was great!" I smile.

Vesta looks confused.  "But the stupid Empire-!"

"We're used to the stupid Empire.  Jyn took out quite a few of the troopers with her bare hands." Cassian beams.

I roll my eyes. "Yeah, but you were the one shooting at the TIE Fighters!"

"So, you guys didn't fight?" Vesta asks hopefully.

"No." Cassian smiles proudly, wrapping his arm around my shoulders.  "I told her that I love her."

At this point, Vesta completely freaks out and turns into a squealing teenage fangirl.  Which is hilarious because she's way past her teenage years.

"Oh, Cassian! I told you that you loved her!  That's so cute!" she squeals, turning to me.  "And I'm assuming you love him back?"

I grin.  "Yep."

"Oh, you guys! I'm dying of cuteness! Goodness, go get some sleep.  It's past eleven.  You two are probably exhausted!" She exclaims.

"I think a bath is an order first." Cassian groans.  "I'm covered in blood."

"Well, at least it isn't your own blood." I laugh.  "I have to deal with that every month."

"Well, if you two want to get to bed at a decent time, you had better take those baths!" Vesta demands, ushering us to our room.  "Go, go! I'll have breakfast ready in the morning, okay?" she winks.

"Thanks, Vesta." I say sincerely.

"No biggie." she replies.  She glances at Cassian as he walks in the room, and then locks eyes with me.  "Jyn," Vesta whispers. "Consider yourself lucky.  He looks fabulous, and has a heart of gold.  You can't find a guy like that in every galaxy."

I smile.  "Oh, I consider myself lucky."

She smiles back.  "Have a good sleep!"

I head into the dark room, and I almost immediately want to collapse on the floor and sleep.  All of the beautiful details are enveloped in night's embrace, and a soft, midsummer breeze flows into the room.  The moon shines softly through the open doorway.  The night air is filled with the subtle scent of roses.  How I know it's roses, I have no idea.  But I don't think that's relevant.  I'm so tired.  I walk over to the bed, ready to fall onto it, but Cassian stops me at the last second, embracing me from behind.

"Not yet.  Bath before sleep.  You're all messy." he whispers.

I groan, but Cassian simply picks me up and carries me to the bathroom.  I make a muffled sound of protest, but I'm much too exhausted to argue with him.  

"I'm too lazy to set it up." I complain.

"Don't worry about that." he chuckles.

As Cassian carries me in, I notice that the bathtub is filled and covered in bubbles.  There's so many bubbles that I can't even see the water.  Suddenly the scent of roses makes perfect sense.  It's the soap.  The love of my life has set up a bath for me, probably because he knows I'm really lazy.  Cassian sits me down on the edge of the tub, and begins to leave the room.

"Cassian? Where are you going?" I ask groggily.

"You're taking a bath." he says, almost as if it's obvious.

I can feel my face grow warm.  "Oh.  Right.  Dang, I need sleep." I groan.

Cassian laughs.  "Yeah, you do.  Now, try not to fall asleep in the tub, okay?"

"Well, if I do, will you come in and stop me from drowning?" I ask playfully.

"If you want me to, I will." he offers.

"Yes, please." I grin.  "I don't want to die just yet."

"Okay.  If I don't hear any noise, I'll come in and make sure you're awake." Cassian grins. 

On this note, Cassian leaves the room and closes the door.  I carefully remove my dress and undergarments, setting them on the floor.  Slowly sticking one toe into the water, I check the temperature.  It's perfect.  I carefully sit down in the warm water, the bubbles swirling as I adjust my position.  The water level covers all of my body except for the very tops of my shoulders.  I try to look down at my legs, but the bubbles are completely restricting my view.  I dunk my hair into the water, slicking it back with my hands.  I sigh happily, all of the grime and blood coming off of my skin.  I carefully lift my forearm up to my nose, breathing in deeply.  I smell like roses now.  I guess that's better than blood and smoke.

The aroma combined with the warm water is making me even sleepier.  My eyes start to close, but I quickly shake my head.  I can't fall asleep.  Not now.  Cassian might not notice if I fall asleep.  I could drown and die.  Unfortunately, I'm just so tired that I can't even concentrate on staying awake.  Before I even know it, my eyes have shut and I have fallen fast asleep.

I can't see anything.  My subconscious mind knows that this is bad, and I desperately try to wake up, but I can't.  My head sinks underneath the water, smothering me and preventing me from breathing.  I try to move my limbs, but I'm stiff and unable to move.  I'm as good as dead.  Cassian will find my dead body within the hour.  I'm never going to see him again, or tell him that I love him again, or cuddle under the stars with him again.  My lungs scream, but I'm unable to do anything.  I only inhale water.  I pray with all of my might that Cassian will save me in time.  But I have a sinking feeling that he won't be able to.

As I am hanging on for literal dear life, a strong arm grabs my waist, the other underneath my arm and around my shoulder. My head and shoulders are pulled up out of the water, and I instantly wake up, gasping for air and coughing up water.  I open my eyes to see Cassian right next to the tub, holding me upright in the water.  His eyes are filled with pain and concern.  

"Jyn, are you okay?" he asks quickly, his eyes searching my face.

I gulp.  "Yeah, I am. Thank you."

He seems to realize that he's still holding my waist, so he quickly lets go and turns slightly pink.  He helps me out of the tub, averting his gaze and being careful not to look at me. He helps me wrap a towel around my torso, locking eyes with me once I'm fully covered.

"I was so worried, I didn't know if you were still alive..." he says, his voice cracking.  "Don't worry, I didn't look when I grabbed you.  The bubbles kept you covered." he explains quickly.  "I'm so sorry for grabbing you.  I need to respect your modesty."

"Cassian, you just saved my life.  Yet the thing you're worried about is my modesty?" I laugh. "You perfect gentleman."

I instantly throw my bare arms around him, squeezing him tightly.  He seems surprised at first, but he slowly hugs me back, resting his head on mine.  I'm getting him wet, but he doesn't really seem to care.  Slight tears are forming in my eyes, but it isn't from sadness.  He slowly rocks me back and forth, whispering words of encouragement in my ear.  His warm breath tingles my wet skin, filling me with ineffable pleasure.   

"I love you." I whisper softly.  

"Love you too, mi estrella." he replies instantly.

After Cassian dries my hair for me, he slowly leads me out of the bathroom and to the bed, where he hands me a beautiful summer nightgown.  It's white and made of satin. It's also long and billowy, yet tight to my waist.  The thin straps criss-cross in the back elegantly, effectively holding the gown up.  It's really pretty, even in the dark where I can barely see it.  

As soon as I've put the gown on, I immediately collapse on the soft bed.  Cassian goes to bathe, and then he comes and joins me.  As we fall asleep in each other's arms, I couldn't be happier.

After all, to love and to be loved is the greatest joy of all.