"I'm trying, but I keep falling down;
I cry out, but nothing comes now.
I'm giving my all,
And I know peace will come;
I never wanted to need someone."
• Helium, Sia

(OOC: inspired by the reunion between Jyn and Cassian (candor1) at sixthiterationlogs)

There's a moment, before Jyn closes her eyes to attempt to fall back asleep for what feels like the hundredth time that evening - when her gaze is lazily wandering amongst the dying flames of the fire, its fading heat pulled away from her skin - that she feels a jolt of dread. It's a dull jolt, not as sharp or bright as the pain she'd felt when she'd crawled out of the fountain hours ago - the one that almost gutted her there, out in the open, when she'd realized she'd somehow been spared on the beaches of Scarif. The one that nearly sliced her from neck to navel at the sudden and overwhelming tidal wave of Cassian's absence. It has lost some of its strength in those hours, now lulled and quelled by the faint sound of his breathing behind her, the tickle of his exhaled air on the back of her neck, the warmth of it seeping into her skin and replacing the kiss of the flames. His arm feels heavy, resting on top of her, but grounding - like a tether to keep her firmly on the earth, lest she float up and away into the stratosphere in an attempt to find her version of safety (which only meant excruciating solitude - the need to self-protect is stifling and suffocating).

( His breathing is steady, hypnotic - better than any amount of luna-weed or Spice that she could have ever hoped to ingest )