the waiting is the hardest part

perfectlyrose:

Summary: Overlapping separate missions keep Jyn and Cassian apart for longer than they would prefer and Jyn hates waiting.

Pairing: Rebelcaptain (Jyn x Cassian) || Rating: All ages

Note: For Day Seventeen of 31 Days of Ficmas: prompt “joyous” – also for @goingtothetardis

AO3

Jyn wasn’t very good at waiting. Rather, she was good at it out of necessity but she hated it, especially when she wasn’t waiting for an objective, for action. She was just waiting. She’d brought a datapad with her to the hangar on the pretense of actually doing her overdue reports but judging by the pitying looks people were throwing her way when they thought she wasn’t looking, she wasn’t fooling anyone.

Cassian was supposed to return today.

He was supposed to have returned yesterday.

She let out a sigh and shook her hair out of her face. She should be doing any number of things instead of sitting here waiting and pretending to work. The problem was, she couldn’t kick the ache in the middle of her chest that seemed to form whenever Cassian was sent out on a mission that didn’t include her.

Jyn tapped her fingers against her knee and was considering going to get a workout in before her next required briefing when the chatter around her picked up. A ship was landing.

She left her datapad on a crate and made her way closer to the opening, angling for a view of the incoming ship without being too obvious. Jyn found a spot in the shadows and watched, waited.

A few minutes later, a familiar form exited the ship, bag heavy on his shoulder as he walked towards the base entrance. The ache in her chest went sharp and warm and joyous before easing into nothingness.

Jyn ran her eyes over him, checking for visible injuries. His limp was a bit more pronounced than it had been before he left, but it often was when he was exhausted or had pushed himself too hard, both of which she was sure were true. Nothing else seemed obviously wrong but she knew very well that he could endure a lot of pain while acting like nothing was amiss, so she would withhold judgement for now.

A lieutenant Jyn didn’t know well intercepted Cassian, handing him a datapad and talking to him briefly. Jyn was too far away to hear what was said but it made Cassian’s smile flicker for a moment. He disengaged from the lieutenant and started walking again, this time, scanning the crowd milling about like he was looking for someone.

Finally his eyes landed on Jyn and a smile broke full and bright on his face as he adjusted his course to walk towards her.

“Heard you were waiting for me,” he said as soon as he was close enough.

Jyn looked up at him, eyebrows raised and lips pursed. “You’re late.”

Cassian shrugged. “You know how it is.”

Jyn nodded. “Everything go alright?”

“Got the information I was after but not in the way I was planning.”

“Glad you made it out.”

“Me too.”

His face was only inches from hers and it was nothing to raise up on her toes to quickly press her lips to his, trusting the shadows to keep them from most of the prying eyes about. She dropped back down and smiled at him gently, loving the sparkle that was back in his eye just from that one action.

“Welcome home,” Jyn said. She reached out and squeezed his hand, knowing she was giving away just how worried she’d been but not really caring in this moment.

“Walk with me?” he asked, not letting go of her hand. “I have to go give my report but there’s a better chance of them letting me cut it short if you’re out in the corridor glaring at people.”

“Happy to be of service. Though, I am going to drag you to medical after you report so they can take care of whatever damage you’ve taken.”

Cassian started to protest that he was fine but cut himself off when he caught sight of the look on Jyn’s face. “Fine. Report, medical, then the fresher and bed.”

“Perfect plan.”

“Let’s hope it stays that way.”

Cassian let go of her hand only to guide her forward with his palm pressed to the small of her back. She had a feeling that after ten days apart, he wasn’t going to let her out of his sight for a bit and honestly, she was more than alright with that. She was done with waiting.