Fic: Exemplar (Star Wars, Jyn/Luke)

[rivulet027]

Title: Exemplar
Fandom: Star Wars
Pairing: Jyn/Luke, background Baze/Chirruit, mentioned Hera/Kanan
Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with Star Wars. It's not my toy box and I'm merely playing.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: If there is one thing Jyn knows about Luke it's that she finds him irritating, but she's not going to let that stop her from training him.
A/N: Written for evilmouse for swrarepairs. The Padawan that Sabine compares herself to is Scout from the book Star Wars: Yoda: Dark Rendezvous by Sean Stewart.


Every part of Jyn hurts. She wraps herself firmly in the pilfered warm blanket as makes her way over to the quiet corner in the med bay where Bodhi’s been placed. Tonc glances at her, squeezes Bodhi’s hand, then says his goodbyes. He greets her, then pats her shoulder on the way past. She greets him back before she drops down into the chair next to Bodhi’s medbed. Bodhi doesn’t say anything. He’s barely said anything for days. She’s beginning to think he’s got the right idea. If she’d collapsed after getting the few of them that survived Scarif to safety then maybe she wouldn’t be sitting her with a pit of guilt and grief weighing her down. At least Bodhi being alive means there’s one less posthumous medal to pass out. Maybe she should’ve gone to the medal ceremony? At least then she’d be able to tell Bodhi about it. Instead, she’s sitting here staring at him as he looks in her direction, but doesn’t seem to really see her. She counts his blinking. She sighs when she gets to ten. She digs his medal out of one of the pouches of her flak vest. She presses the medal into Bodhi’s hands. His fingers close around it. She should probably tell him what it is, tell him about skipping the ceremony. Does he know they won? Does he know there’s no more Death Star? She’s almost annoyed she feels responsible for him. A part of her wants to scream that she didn’t sign up for a burden sent to her by her father and tortured by her father-figure. She and Bodhi sit in silence, well she sits since Bodhi is lying on the medbed.

There’s a commotion. Jyn isn’t sure she cares that there’s a farmer here for a checkup. The nurses seem to care. The doctors seem to care.

“I got told I had to if I wanted to keep flying. There’s nothing wrong with me.” The words are spoken with a smile in the tone. There’s a sweetness there that sets Jyn on edge. She hops up, covers Bodhi with the blanket she’d taken from the blanket warmer, then peeks. Of course it’s Luke fucking Skywalker in all his sunshineness. Do they make them that bright on Tatooine on purpose? Jyn knows she should be grateful that Luke took the information she nearly died for, that so many people did die for, and used it to make that shot, but he’s so young and optimistic that he’s almost painful to look at. Realistically Jyn knows she’s only a few years older than him. Is it really only three years? Shouldn’t it be more?

Their eyes meet briefly. He gives her a smile, before turning his attention back to the doctor addressing him. Jyn retreats. She drops down next to Bodhi again, then tells him, “You’re lucky I don’t take my blanket back.”

Bodhi hands her his medal, then tucks himself more firmly under the blankets. Jyn stares down at the medal and wonders if she should get a doctor, if this is worth a fuss or not. She sighs and sits back, before tucking the medal back into her flak vest. She can try giving it to him again tomorrow.

“I don’t want to hear about how Saw tortured you and if anyone asks you for that you just let me know and I’ll make them regret it, but I do need you to get better so you can tell me about my father,” she complains to him. Bodhi doesn’t answer. She didn’t expect him to. Jyn slouches in the chair and props her feet on Bodhi’s bed. She considers borrowing one of his pillows for a nap, instead she closes her eyes and lets herself drift for a while. She’s not really fully asleep, she finds the med bay too loud for that, but she does doze. She sits up when Skywalker comes over. She glances at him. He smiles at her. She frowns.

“Sergeant, I just wanted to apologize for the disturbance earlier,” Skywalker tells her. He must have seen her. She hadn’t been as sneaky as she thought, though that does bode well for his observational skills. Skywalker glances at Bodhi and greets him. Bodhi glances at him, then look back at her.

“They give you a clean bill of health?” she deflects.

Skywalker shrugs. “So far, but they’re waiting on some test results.”

“They sign you up for therapy too?” she asks. She’s got an appointment after dinner. Maybe she’ll see what’s for lunch when Melshi shows up. Is it weird that she’s part of the survivor group making sure that one of them is always with Bodhi? Jyn decides she doesn’t care if it’s weird.

“Therapy?” Skywalker asks. “Do you mean the doctor they want to send me to so I can talk about Ben dying?”

“About your feelings, yeah,” Jyn nods.

“I barely knew him,” Skywalker says. He’s still sad about Ben dying, whoever the hell Ben is, it’s all over his face. Jyn isn’t sure she wants to talk about feelings. She also doesn’t want to blurt out her gratitude that his shot meant all the people they’d lost didn’t die for nothing, especially not after what the Death Star did to Jedha, Scarif, and Alderaan.

Jyn lulls her head to the side and takes Skywalker in slowly. She frowns as she gets to his hip. “Why do you have a lightsaber?”

Does he understand how dangerous it is to carry one of those around? He might get mistaken for a Jedi. Jyn is not sticking around if Skywalker attracts an Inquisitor.

“It was my father’s,” Skywalker answers, there’s awe in his tone.

“Your father was a Jedi?” she frowns.

“That’s what Ben said,” Skywalker tells her.

Jyn scowls in an attempt reign in her concern. “Did he stress how dangerous that is?”

“What?” Skywalker tilts his head.

“The Empire has Inquisitors that hunt down Jedi and kill them,” she tells him.

“What?” Skywalker looks aghast, then he frowns and shakes his head. “That makes some of the lies my aunt and uncle told me about my dad make more sense.”

Jyn considers asking what his aunt and uncle think about him joining the Rebellion. Can they pack up all his innocence and send him back to his relatives for safety? “You know how to use that thing?”

“The lightsaber?” Skywalker attempts to clarify.

“Yeah, it’s basically a sword,” Jyn points out.

“Ben started to teach me.” The ‘and then he died’ goes unsaid.

“You know how to fight?” Jyn asks.

Skywalker shrugs.

“Stick around. I’m sure the pathfinders will teach you,” she tells him.

“Or you could,” Melchi points out as he joins them. “Or at least introduce him to Dameron. Kes is better with the newer recruits than some.”

Jyn considers protesting. She did not just volunteer herself, though maybe she kind of did. She needs to find some reason for them to keep feeding her. Maybe teaching the Rebellion’s newest hero will do that for her.

“I’m getting lunch,” she tells both of them, then she frowns at Skywalker. “We could figure out what you know, then go from there.”

“I’d appreciate it,” Skywalker agrees.

Jyn says goodbye to Bodhi. Bodhi sighs, then covers his head with his blankets. Skywalker says goodbye too. As they’re leaving Skywalker asks, “Is he okay?”

“Nothing lots of therapy won’t fix,” Jyn lies.

Skywalker frowns at her. “You don’t have to lie.”

Jyn shrugs. How did he know she was lying? She’s made an art of lying, most people can’t tell. “I’m sure they’ll be meds too, along with the therapy. He got really hurt, but it’s his place to talk about it, not mine. Just, if someone tells you they’re going to introduce you to a Bor, you figure that lightsaber out really fast and kill it.”

“I don’t know what a Bor is,” Skywalker admits.

“You don’t want to know,” Jyn mutters. She can tell by his face her words aren’t going to stop him from looking up Bors later.

Lunch is a stew. Jyn would prefer a nap after, but Skywalker needs to learn how to protect himself. He’s got flight training with General Syndulla. He doesn’t seem to understand that it’s weird a general is taking the time out to teach him, but apparently, she runs the whole flight program, so Skywalker doesn’t find it suspicious. Jyn does. The two of them agree to meet after Jyn’s therapy appointment. She’s going to want to hit something after, she usually does. Which is what leads to Jyn tracking down Kes Dameron to discuss teaching someone how to fight. He thankfully has experience and a training program. He offers to take over, but Jyn tells him she’d appreciated assistance instead. Which is weird, she should be jumping at the chance to foist Skywalker onto Dameron.

Then Jyn spots a Mandalorian arguing with a scuffed-up orange astromech. Jyn realizes she knows this Mandalorian, she’s helped this Mandalorian. She could probably even spin it that Sabine owes her. Jyn makes her way over. “You know how to use a sword?”

Sabine stills. The astromech turns to blat at her. Jyn blinks at being chastised for interrupting.

“You're rude,” Jyn tells him.

The astromech laughs. Jyn didn’t know astromechs could laugh. She grins.

“I know swords,” Sabine offers, there’s suspicion in her tone. “I know you, how do I know you?”

Jyn reminds her of the map she gave her and Sabine nods. Jyn gives her a ‘see I’m helpful and now I need you to be helpful’ smile. Sabine smirks. Jyn explains about Skywalker having a lightsaber and possibly no sword fighting experiences.

“Lightsabers are different from swords, if your force sensitive,” Sabine offers.

“So, you can help?”

“Not today, but if we coordinate our schedules I’ll help,” Sabine agrees, then sighs. “Kanan would want me to help.”

“Who’s that?”

Sabine pauses. She glances at the astromech who blats a sympathetic noise at her. Sabine sighs, “Dead father figure. He was a Jedi, taught me a lot.”

Jyn’s first instinct is to run. Instead, she nods. “I know about that. Not the Jedi part, but the dead father figure part.”

Sabine gives her a sad smile. “I think a lot of people know how that feels.”

Jyn agrees and they exchange comm numbers. Jyn starts a group chat with her, Skywalker, and Sabine so they can coordinate lightsaber training. Skywalker says he has a training orb. Sabine tells him to bring it when they meet.

Plan in place Jyn allows herself a nap. In therapy she talks about not running away when Sabine brought up dead father figures. She knows her therapist will want her to give herself credit for that. It’s easier than talking about her guilt.

She’s more tired than wanting to fight after. Which doesn’t make sense because she took a nap. She’s grateful when Dameron shows up to help with her training session. They start Skywalker off with how to block blows and when Dameron finds out that Skywalker is going to get training on how to fight with a sword, they go over how to standing while fencing. Jyn manages to keep focus on Skywalker and what he’s picking up easily and what he needs to work on, instead of getting lost in memories of when she was being taught these things as a young girl.

She should sleep well after. Instead, she’s up in the middle of the night. Her heart is racing and Cassian’s last words to her are echoing in her head. She paces her room, grateful that she’s by herself. One day they’ll move Bodhi in here, but for now her difficulty sleeping isn’t bothering anyone. She considers going down to the med bay. She thinks Merrick is sitting with Bodhi. She can send him on his way and take the extra time with Bodhi or swap with Merrick. Or she could ask Merrick why it’s Syndulla teaching Skywalker and not him? She shouldn’t be bias just because Merrick had to be yanked from his downed X-wing and dragged into the shuttle Bodhi was flying. She’s read in the report that Syndulla’s crew, Syndulla’s ship, was in the space battle. Still, she knows Merrick better. She trusts Merrick.

She passes the observation deck on her way to the med bay and stops. She starts to slip inside, but pauses when she realizes Skywalker is already there. He’s hugging his knees as he looks out the window. They’re in the middle of a hyperspace jump so it’s not that interesting, but it is kinda lulling. Jyn leans against the door. “Can’t sleep either?”

He unfurls, glances at her and offers her a wan smile. Jyn feels her heart rate pick up. She wets her lips. Why is this making her anxious? “Did something happen?”

Skywalker sighs. “Just the Empire releasing…Leia’s calling it a propaganda piece, about how many people died on the Death Star.”

Jyn feels some of her tension ease. She should stay in the doorway, says something encouraging, then remind him of when they meet tomorrow. Instead, she walks over and drops down in the chair next to him. She debates on if she should touch him or not. Skywalker seems like he’d be more into that than her. Jyn sighs and runs a hand down her face. “Did they mention all the people that were on Alderann when the Death Star destroyed it, or the estimates on how long it’ll be before Scarif can support life again, or how long it’ll be before Jedha can’t support life anymore? Did they mention what the Death Star’s next target would be?”

Skywalker makes a noise that’s almost a snort, almost a smile, and shakes his head. “Of course not. It was all about the hard-working people on the Death Star that are now dead and not there to work anymore.”

“You mean work on destroying lives,” Jyn grumbles.

“I think Biggs would’ve said the same thing,” Skywalker sighs, then explains. “He was my best friend. He was out there in an X-wing.”

Another person to feel guilty about.

“What was he like?”

Skywalker’s voice is fond, and a little sad, as he describes his friend. Then Jyn gets him talking about his childhood. She asks about his aunt and uncle. Then she finds out they’re dead. That the Empire killed them. There are two people dead, that she didn’t know about, due to needing to keep the Death Star plans safe. She’s trying to distract him, but instead she’s suddenly drowning in guilt.

“I’m sorry.” Her words sound small in her own ears. They don’t begin to touch what he’s lost.

He turns, all his focus on her. “You don’t have anything to feel sorry for.”

She exhales slowly. Shakes her head. “We stole those plans. If we hadn’t…”

“If you hadn’t then we wouldn’t have been able to destroy the Death Star,” he reminds gently.

She closes her eyes. “Yeah, doesn't stop the losses from hurting.”

“No, it doesn’t, but knowing them, they wouldn’t have wanted you to feel guilty about their deaths,” Skywalker tells her.

Jyn nods, grateful for his words. No, grateful for this aunt and uncle who wouldn’t have blamed her for setting the Empire on a course that ended with stormtroopers on their doorstep. They’re not just words. There’s this earnestness on Skywalker’s face, in his voice, that just makes them truthful.

“Thank you,” she manages.

Skywalker reaches out, threads their fingers together and it’s such a comfort in that moment that Jyn doesn’t pull away. They lapse into silence, letting the view out the window lull them. Skywalker stifles a yawn with his free hand. “Do you think they’d let me nap in here?”

“I think someone would find you and send you off to your bunk.”

Skywalker grimaces. “I’m not used to the snoring yet. I’ll get used to it, but it’s so many different people snoring.”

“You could borrow Bodhi’s bed,” Jyn offers. She almost laughs at the confusion on Skywalker’s face, so she explains, “He’s in the med bay. I insisted that when he gets out we share, so right now I’m by myself. If you don’t mind a top bunk, you can borrow it. He’s not getting out of the med bay tonight.”

Skywalker thanks her and Jyn tells him she doesn’t think she snores. He doesn’t let go of her hand as the make their way to her room. This makes her wary that he might expect more than the top bunk. In the past Jyn’s found sex a pleasant distraction, but she’s not sure that Skywalker would be interested in casual sex. She should ask. She should find a tactful way to set some boundaries. She’s also tired. When they get to her room Skywalker squeezes her hand and gets in the top bunk. He falls asleep easily. Even being tired it takes Jyn a moment.

She wakes up to Skywalker telling her she’s having a nightmare. Her heart is pounding. She can’t catch her breath and for a moment she’s disoriented. “They’re dead! They’re dead!”

“You’re not. You’re safe,” he reassures. He tells her what ship they’re on, what deck, what room. He tells her what time it is, then when breakfast starts. She groans and buries her faces against his shoulder.

“Sleep,” she tells him. “More sleep.”

She knows she should let him go back to his bunk, but he’s warm. The steady thump of his heart under her ear is soothing. He’s running a hand up and down her back slowly. Her eyes close and she sleeps better than she has in years.

Jyn doesn’t do mornings after. She prefers to avoid that awkwardness. Except she wakes up slowly, warm in all the places where she’s pressing against Luke. He smells nice and it’s rare Jyn likes the way someone smells. She almost feels rested in a way she hasn’t in years. She really doesn’t want to move. She can tell when he moves from sleep to waking by the way his breathing changes, the feel of his under her. His arm around her tightens. She burrows closer. She would normally be putting distance between her and someone she’s been intimate enough to share a bed with. His hand against her back starts rubs soothing circles.

“Can I stay here tonight too?” he asks. She expects him to spin it into some sappy excuse of not liking the idea of her sleeping alone after that nightmare, but he just pauses, waits for her to answer.

She nods against his chest, sighs, then finds words. “Yeah. Bottom bunk though?”

“With you?”

She nods again. He doesn’t stop those soothing circles. She glances up at him and he glances down. There’s concern, but also gratitude on his face and for some reason that eases some of her tension. She checks her chrono. They plan their day and agree to meet for lunch and training after. He already has breakfast plans with his training squadron. Is it a squad they’re building around him? It’s clear they’re grooming him for a leadership role, or at least a squad leader role. She sits with Bodhi after breakfast. She sneaks him a cinnamon roll. She tells him about the smell of the rain on Lah’mu. It’s very different than the smell on Eadu. She doesn’t make that comparison. Bodhi reaches out and squeezes her hand. She squeezes back.

Baze drops into the chair next to her so she can go to lunch. Bodhi is sleeping.

“How’s Chirrut?” she asks.

“Bored. Trying to push himself,” Baze answers.

“Need anything from the mess?”

Baze shakes his head and squeezes her arm. She gives him a grateful smile. She should visit them soon. Chirrut nearly died on Scarif. He’s lucky to even be alive. Of course he’s bored with recovery. Jyn doesn’t let herself get caught in the stray thought that she wishes she was bored with it.

At lunch Luke distracts her by describing the antics of the other pilots. After lunch he’s got flight simulators. She has a meeting with Kallus. He’s trying to figure out everything Rogue One might have seen on Scarif. She likes Kallus. He’s careful to make sure his information gathering sessions don’t feel like an Imperial interrogation. They meet on the observation deck, which has been cleared to only them. He provides snacks. He checks in to see if she needs breaks. He walks her to therapy after. She takes a nap after therapy.

Sabine joins her and Luke for dinner. Jyn feels herself relax as Sabine asks Luke questions about his force sensitivity. Luke answers the questions carefully. She can see the excitement on his face. “Are you force sensitive too?”

Sabine shrugs and pinches her fingers together. “A little. It’s not strong in me. It is in others. If I hadn’t been a Mandalorian the Jedi might have offered to train me, but mostly likely they’d have passed me over. Force sensitivity can fade with disuse. Though Kanan, the Jedi I knew, said he’d been at Temple with a girl like me and that she was even a Padawan.”

“What’s a Padawan?” Luke asks. He and Sabine move from talking about force sensitivity to the Jedi. Sabine stresses that it was a religion, still is to the surviving members.

“We don’t have a holocron anymore,” Sabine sighs. “There might be a different way to access training videos.”

“General Syndulla’s shown me a few. Kanan took a few of him training Ezra so they could go over them. She doesn’t have a lot, but she says she’ll look for more,” Luke tells her.

“That’s why Hera…” Sabine trails off and shakes her head. Sabine shifts to asking Jyn about some of her training growing up. Jyn answers as best she can. Sabine nods. “I was trained to be a weapon too.”

After dinner they grab Luke’s training orb and find a training room. Jyn stretches. She doubts they’ll get to sparing today, but she’s going to be ready in case they do.

“Okay, first things first,” Sabine starts. “Do you know how to put your lightsaber into training mode?”

“What’s the training mode?” Luke asks.

“It’s what you spar with so we won’t actually hurt each other,” Sabine says. “Most lightsabers have them. It keeps you from losing limbs. It'll still hurt, burn with prolonged contact, but you’re not easily losing a limb.”

They look Luke’s lightsaber over and figure out how to put it into a training mode. They spend the rest of the time talking about connecting with the lightsaber’s kyber crystal and different lightsaber forms. For a moment Jyn worries all the talk about kyber crystals will make her melancholy, she remembers her father’s enthusiasm for them, but instead she’s distracted by the look of concentration on Luke’s face.

That night she and Luke cuddle up in the bottom bunk and he’s the one to have a nightmare. His breath evens out slowly and she tightens her hold on him. She takes in the stress on his face as he stares at the bunk above them.

“Do you know how many X-wing went up against the Death Star?”

“Twenty,” Jyn whispers. “Thirty starfighters total.”

“Only two of us came back,” Luke exhales. He shuts his eyes tightly. She knows each and every one of their names, she's sure Luke knows them too.

“Does your survivor’s guilt come with a side of imposter syndrome too?” she tries.

Luke covers his mouth with his hand. His laughter is mixed with tears. She reaches her sleeve up to wipe them away. He kisses her palm. They snuggle close and chase sleep.

Luke goes to therapy after breakfast. She picks him up after, then offers, “Nap or spar?”

He considers his schedule. “Nap. Not really up for sparing yet.”

She asks him about flight training the previous day, which somehow leads to a discussion about the difference between X-wings and B-wings. Jyn is relatively sure if he was up and about Bodhi would have more to contribute to this conversation. They grab their toiletries and head to the bathroom, brushing their teeth, then go back to her room and change into sleep clothes.

Luke sighs, “You’re right, therapy helps.”

Jyn is sure she didn’t say that, but she can’t disagree. She raises her eyebrows instead.

Luke ducks his head, rubs the back of his neck. “I probably wouldn’t have brought it up, but we talked about my aunt and uncle and sometimes I feel so guilty for leaving them to die like that.”

Jyn reaches out and grips both of his hands in hers, waits until he’s looking at her. “They’d have killed you too.”

“I know,” he admits. “But I loved them and I wasn’t there. Burying them was…” He trails off. He grimaces and closes his eyes. She hugs him close. He hugs her back tightly. Eventually they pull back enough to cuddle on her bunk. Somehow, they both fall asleep.

She’s groggy when the alarm goes off and he’s got to get up for flight training. She’s got a free day. He tucks her back in, kisses her forehead. Briefly she wants to wake up enough to pull him into a kiss, but she drifts back to sleep.

She’s up and moving for lunch. She’s on her way there when General Syndulla stops and asks to talk to her. She follows the general back to her office. She sits and takes the water that General Syndulla offers her. She sips her water, waiting. She watches as General Syndulla unstraps her son from her the carrier she has him in and transfers him to a cradle. He’s so little. So young.

“I wanted to thank you for getting Sabine to talk to Luke,” General Syndulla tells her, getting right to the point. “I’d encouraged her, but you got her to actually answer some of his questions.”

Jyn stops looking at the baby to look at General Syndulla. “He needed to know how to use his lightsaber and the training orb would help, but wouldn’t teach as well as another person. I figured as a Mandalorin she might know how to use a sword and approached her because we’d met before. I didn’t know she knew how to use a lightsaber or that she’d known a Jedi.”

“I’m still grateful,” General Syndulla smiles. It’s kind.

Jyn nods.

General Syndulla considers Jyn a moment, then glances at her son. “My, Jacen’s father was a Jedi. I think you already know that Kanan died.”

Jyn murmurs her agreement. She takes another drink of water.

“I’d have said I’m mostly an expertise on flying spaceships. It’s what I train most people for, but I’m trying to find ways to answer Luke’s questions about being a Jedi. I’m trying to find the right people for him to talk to, so his questions will get answered, but it won’t hurt them to answer those questions.”

Jyn is not sure where General Syndulla is going with this but she finishes her water and lets the glass sit in her lap so she has something to hold onto.

“If you have questions about being close with a Jedi or just want to talk, I wanted to extend that invitation,” General Syndulla offers.

Jyn sets the empty glass on the nearest coaster. Just a few days ago that offer would’ve made her flee the room. Now she lets it settle in her head. Jyn wets her lips. “I don’t think I’m up for that today, but I’ll keep it in mind and take you up on it later. I…I know how to look for people, if you’re searching.”

General Syndulla raises her eyebrows. “Of course, you know how to find people. We should let Intelligence know. I think you generally work with Kallus? He knows who or what I’m looking for.”

“I like working with Kallus,” Jyn admits. She’s not sure she’d call what they do working, well he would, she’s the one being questioned.

“I’m sure he appreciates that,” General Syndulla nods. She eases them into a bit of small talk, tells Jyn to call her Hera, and then sends Jyn on her way. By the time Jyn makes it to the mess she’s got an assignment with Kallus and several suggested times they can work together. Jyn eats her casserole as she compares the times to what she’s already got on her schedule. She’s not missing any of the times she’s agreed to sit with Bodhi. She’s not missing any of the training with Luke that she’s already scheduled with Dameron or Sabine. After lunch she sends Kallus a reply and agrees to drop by his office despite it being her day off.

Then she visits Chirrut and Baze. Chirrut is puttering around in a walker, but having to be reigned in by the physical therapist to keep him from pushing himself too hard. Eventually Chirrut is settling back into bed. They take turns asking what she’s been doing the last few days. Luke comes up. They tell her to bring him by.

“We can at least teach him how to meditate,” Baze tells her.

“I want to go to lightsaber training,” Chirrut put in. “I don’t tell many people this. I think only Baze knows, but I started at the Jedi temple. I was very young when I transferred to the Guardian of the Whills.”

“It’s a good thing you did,” Jyn comments.

Chirrut reaches out for her hand. Jyn takes it. Chirrut squeezes her fingers. “It’s where the Force was calling me. The Jedi and the Guardians for all they are different several of their beliefs overlap. I can probably answer some of his questions as well.”

Jyn agrees to bring Luke by when he’s got some free time. She tells them when the next lightsaber training with Sabine is. She checks in with Sabine about bringing Chirrut. Sabine tells her to bring him. She’ll ask Luke is he’s comfortable with Chirrut tagging along when she sees him next. The three of them try to talk about lighter topics for a moment. Chirrut tries to make her laugh.

Before she leaves the med bay she goes to check on Bodhi. She finds him sitting in his bed with Princess Leia. She’s brushing his hair while keeping up a commentary about the time she visited Jedha. Bodhi looks calm. He’s not hiding under his blankets. Jyn greets them cautiously. Princess Leia pauses long enough for Jyn to hug Bodhi in greeting. Bodhi tentatively hugs her back. He doesn’t say anything but offers her soft smile. She smiles back.

Jyn drops into a nearby chair. Princess Leia smiles at her. It’s a tired smile, but it’s genuine.

“We don’t need to talk about Luke unless you want to,” Princess Leia offers.

Jyn shakes her head. “No, lets keep the focus on Bodhi.”

“Great,” Bodhi comments. His voices is soft, but the sarcasm comes across.

Her father’s sense of humor was a lot of dry sarcasm. Jyn briefly wonders if they had that in common. She doesn’t ask, instead she asks Princess Leia what she did on Jedha. The conversation stays light. Jyn helps keep it that way until she needs to leave to see Kallus.

She and Kallus compare and contrast methods until the alarm he set goes off and he sends her on his way. She agrees with him, she’s not going to spend her entire day off working. What does she want to do with the rest of her day?

She eats dinner then heads back towards her room. She’s about to message Luke when she runs into him in the hallway.

“Hey, where are you headed?” she asks him.

He ducks his head, smiling slightly. It lights up his whole face. It’s fascinating.

“I was heading to my room. I was planning to message you and see if I could bring a few things to your room.”

Jyn slips her hand into his. “Let’s do that.”

It’s clean clothes for tomorrow. His toiletries are still in her room. As they head to her room, they compare their schedules for tomorrow. Luke agrees that having Chirrut at lightsaber training would probably be a good idea.

“He won’t be able to spar yet, but offering you tips and tricks will probably make him happy,” Jyn says. “Baze will probably come too. He doesn’t really leave Chirrut’s side.”

When they close the door to her room Jyn sighs in relief. “Is it weird that it took a day off to make me feel like I belong here?”

“No,” Luke answers, before setting his clothes down, then wrapping her in a hug.

She hugs him back, then looks up at him. He smiles at her. She feels herself relax.

“You’re too tall, you should sit down.”

Luke laughs and pulls away to sit on the bed.

“I wanted to kiss you earlier,” Jyn confesses.

Luke brightens. Jyn isn’t sure how that’s possible, but it makes her feel fond in a way she isn’t used to yet.

“Really?” Luke asks, as if he can’t quite believe it. Jyn finds she wants him to keep looking at her like that. She crosses the room and straddles him, cupping his face. His hands move to her waist. He’s getting turned on. It’s distracting. His hands tighten on her waist. He presses his forehead against hers. “You know everyone thinks we’re…”

“Fucking?” Jyn offers. Luke blushes. She needs him to keep blushing. “You were going to say dating.”

“Yeah,” Luke agrees.

“You’re spending the night. We’ve brought some of your belongings here to make that easier,” she points out. “We might as well try fucking.”

There’s that blush again. Jyn grins.

Luke wets his lips. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Jyn agrees.

He kisses her. It’s exploratory. Not quite hesitant, but careful. She kisses back. Nips at his lips and then his tongue is in her mouth and it’s been a long time since she’s allowed someone to kiss her slow and deep like this. She groans and settles more firmly against him, comfortable and grateful that she’s stuck around.