Chapter Text
The constant whir of the late summer cicadas was the only thing that seemed to cut through the muggy humidity of the late August heat. Jyn felt the strands of hair that had escaped her messy bun stick to the sweaty nape of her neck as she attempted to fruitlessly brush them back into place with the equally damp palm of her hand. It was a definite change from the dusty heat of Southern California and she found herself wondering, not for the first time, what she was doing here on the other side of the country in New England.
She watched as her seven year old bounded up the front steps of the brick Colonial after his grandfather, backpack bouncing up and down with each excited step. The house loomed large, both in Jyn's reality and her memory. Her childhood home. The place where she had lived from twelve to seventeen. The place where her mother had died. The place where she would once again reside until she signed on the charming bungalow three streets over in a month.
She adjusted the large duffle on her shoulder before lifting the heavy rolling suitcase up the first step and then the next. Her father suddenly reappeared in the doorway, a relaxed smile on his face and a hand extended to the handle, "Here, darling. Let me help."
The first evening of their new life was pleasant enough. Arlo showed her the room that he had set up with his grandfather the few weeks that he had spent there without her earlier in the summer. A set of bunkbeds dressed with gray blue bedding and hanging lights shaped like dragonflies were flanked by two large bookcases. Jyn had heard so much in the past month about all of the sleepovers he had had in this room with Poe. Jyn had never met Poe. He had been a constant presence in her life as of late, however, because her son was constantly telling her about his adventures with the boy. He also talked about a girl named Evie and Jyn had taken to silently (and affectionately) calling the trio The Three Musketeers as, despite the distance over the past month, they were still seemingly attached at the metaphorical hip. It would be nice to put a face to these children whom Arlo had come to adore so much. His enthusiasm for their friendship (which Jyn surmised to be reciprocal through subtle eavesdropping on their phone conversations) was one of the tipping points for moving back. Yes, there were other factors, but her son's happiness (and that of her father) was not a small part.
Not until after Arlo had been tucked into bed and she had shared a pleasant cup of tea at the kitchen island with her father did the looming feeling of edged sadness set in. She picked up the items on the small fireplace mantel in the bedroom she had not slept in for eight years, since before Arlo was born. It was much as she had left it when she had moved across the country at seventeen, intent on putting as much space between this place and herself as possible. She turned a purple blown-glass unicorn in her hand; a friend who had followed her from her first bedroom in London. She traced her fingers over a small yet nearly perfect conch shell, a treasure found on a trip to the beach when she was thirteen. She stopped at the black lacquered swirling frame that surrounded a picture of her mother digging in the garden, hair in a messy ponytail, a hand in the process of inadvertently smearing dirt across her face as she laughed at the picture taker (no doubt Jyn's father). Jyn was startled to think that her mother must have been her age in this photo, thirty-one. She would give birth to Jyn the next year.
The panic attacks that had gripped Jyn in the years that followed Lyra Erso's death upon a reminder of her mother no longer haunted her but she doubted that the tempered sadness that she was feeling now as she thought about her would ever go away. She missed her. She missed her so much and this place was a constant reminder of that loss, even if it was dulled like an old knife now; not quite able to cut but a pressure still bluntly felt.
In the past, Jyn would have avoided the feeling altogether (face the picture down, not be in this room in the first place) but part of moving back here was to stop running from it. It was best for her son, best for her father, best for her career, and the list of pros went on. Jyn couldn't keep letting her grief get in the way. It was time to face it head on.
…………………
The jet lag must have caught up with Jyn because she awoke to bright sunshine and the laughter of unfamiliar children down the hall. Her phone said that it was past ten so she must have slept through her alarm. She threw on a t-shirt and the skinny jeans on the top of her suitcase and cautiously made her way down the hall to her son's room. The door creaked open with the light push of her hand and she observed her son in the middle of a large Lego construction with a boy with curly black hair and a suspiciously mischievous smile and a girl with bobbed, dark hair whose giant brown eyes were magnified by her round purple glasses. "Poe and Evie, I presume?" she startled them from their concentration with a smile.
"Hi, Mom! Yup!" Arlo said no more but received the kiss that she placed on his forehead and went back to the mess of blocks.
"Hi, Mrs. Erso! Nice to meet you!" Poe greeted her warmly.
"It's just Ms. But you can call me Jyn," she winked at him and turning to Evie said, "Hello, Evie."
Evie gave a polite wave, her legs kicking behind her on her stomach, "Hello! Thanks for letting Arlo move here!"
Jyn chuckled, "You're very welcome," and left them to whatever it was that they were creating, its subject not immediately apparent.
She heard Evie's sweet, quiet voice in the distance as she walked down the hall, "Your mom's sooo pretty!" and she couldn't help but smile to herself.
As she started down the stairs, she could hear a female voice laughing in the kitchen followed by her father's accented one. The smell of coffee wafted stronger as she neared the room and she soon saw a woman about her age with a mass of curly, shoulder-length hair sitting on an island stool nursing a cup of coffee.
"Jyn! You're awake!" her father beamed as she entered.
"You let me sleep to long," she grumbled with a smile.
"Nonsense, school starts in a few days and, believe me, you will have no peace. Take it when it's given to you," her father handed her a coffee cup and the pint of cream, "Jyn, this is Shara, Poe's mom."
Shara extended a friendly hand with a smile, "Shara Bey-Dameron. Nice to finally meet you."
Jyn shook it firmly but found that she had to ask about the familiar name, "Dameron? Do you know Kes Dameron?"
Shara tilted her head back as she laughed, "I'm married to him so yes! He said that you went to high school together, right?"
"Yes we did," Jyn smiled but her mind thought about the strange coincidence that of all the people her child would choose to befriend, it would be the child of Kes freaking Dameron. Strange indeed.
The morning was pleasant and Jyn found that she felt an instant comfort in Shara's presence. Shara was warm and funny with a quick wit that made Jyn realize that she was a perfect match for Kes (or at least the Kes she had known over a decade ago).
………
In the afternoon, Jyn went to Arlo's school to meet with his teachers. Chirrut Imwe was a pleasant and cheerful sort of person with remarks that, while kind of corny, made her think he strangely knew too much about her. "We learn as much from our children as they do from us. They tend to lead us down the path that is needed, though perhaps not wanted," he told her from across the desk, milky eyes staring off to the side of her face with a smile.
"I don't know about that as I was the one who moved us here but I get the sentiment," Jyn laughed lightly.
Chirrut regarded her with a tilt to his head as he said skeptically, "Are you sure? I sense that something is already in motion for you."
Jyn was not sure how to respond to that but was relieved when Baze Malbus broke in with a gruff, "Ignore this old fool. He just likes to mess with the parents."
"I'd imagine that that's pretty easy in a fancy school like this," she grinned at the much larger man.
"Baze!" Chirrut seemed pleased with her response, "I like this one! She's fiery! "
Baze responded with a deep laugh. The two played well off of each other and she got the sense that her son would quite like them.
…………
Later in the evening, she sat at the dining room table with Arlo in her lap, an image coming into focus on the facing laptop.
"Hello, strangers!" Bodhi's voice was cheerful and immediately made Jyn's chest clench with how much she missed him.
"Uncle Bodhi!" Arlo squealed and immediately launched into tales of his adventures.
When he finished, waved goodbye, and slid off his mother's lap to go harass his grandfather for some ice cream, Bodhi eyed Jyn warmly, "Hey, babe. How are you doing?"
Jyn sighed, "I'm good. I miss you. So much. But we're settling in here. I think I even made a new friend."
Bodhi chuckled, "Well good. I knew Arlo would be fine but I was a little worried about you and your inability to open. up." he annunciated the last two words and pointed at the screen before continuing, finished with his tutting, "When do you start at the university?"
"I meet with my boss tomorrow. I've already been working remotely with him since I was hired on but it will be nice to set up an actual physical space. Classes start the day after tomorrow. Arlo's start tomorrow. I met his teachers. They're weird but, like, good weird," she rambled a bit because she was nervous about tomorrow. It was the good kind of nerves, the uncertainty of a new adventure, but nerves nonetheless.
"Good," Bodhi nodded and let go a sigh, "I think this will be very good for you Jyn. You were at the same place for a long time. IN the same place for a long time. A change of pace is good."
Jyn laughed, digging at him playfully, "Well you kind of forced my hand by moving to San Francisco and leaving me all alone! How dare you fall in love and run away with him up north! Speaking of which, do you hate it? The sweatshirt weather and excellent food and painfully cheerful boyfriend?"
Bodhi mirrored her laughter, "No. I love it. And him. I do miss you and the nugget, though. Terribly."
There was commotion on the screen as Bodhi's attention was directed towards someone moving on the other side. She saw him wave and say, "Luke! It's Jyn! Come say hi!"
Jyn saw Bodhi's sandy haired boyfriend come into the frame and greet her with a radiant smile, "Jyn! How'd the move go?!"
She filled him in on the abridged version of their travels and new acquaintances. After chatting for a while longer, Jyn signed off with a sigh. She missed her best friend so much. He had been there for her through Arlo's whole life. He was her support system in LA after her godfather had passed away. She could not blame him for falling in love with Luke and moving away to be with him. And he was right; it had helped her to climb out of the stagnation she had wallowed into in her life.
……………………
The meeting with Dean Draven had gone smoothly as expected. They had been in constant contact remotely as Jyn had tied up loose ends at her previous history department and planned out her first courses and research at Yavin University. Her office situation, however, was a different story.
"I apologize for the current accommodations. They should be remedied in the next few weeks," Draven had told her in his brisk manner as they meandered down a narrow hall deep in the depths of the science building. The history building had been recently plagued with a mold infestation from a leaking roof and was emergently under construction and vacant. She would have to share a cramped, temporary office in the depths of the science building with another member of her department.
"Not really your fault. I'm adaptable," she responded, shrugging off any visible irritation.
He gave her a curt nod as he opened the door to a room off the dimly lit hall. It wasn't much upon initial inspection; an approximately eight by ten space with two desks along the longer wall, file cabinets and a bookshelf opposite.
"I'm afraid I'll have to leave you to it. I've got an unfortunate budget meeting with Prevost Mothma and the board. Again," he motioned once more to the cave-like room, "this will only be temporary."
Jyn nodded before turning into the space, Draven's footsteps echoing down the hall behind her. The desk just inside the door appeared to be taken with an open, marked up text, scrawled-in legal pad, and half drunk mug of coffee lining the surface. A framed picture of a beautiful woman holding an absolutely adorable, pudgy infant sat prominently to the right. Her office mate was not currently present and she didn't remember Draven mentioning a name. She figured she'd meet them soon enough.
She pulled out the books that she had fit into her leather satchel and placed them around the laminate surface. She also placed a picture of Arlo and her dad on the cork board to the right. She pulled out her laptop to print out a few copies of things that she would need when classes resumed the following day but a look at her watch after trying in vain to connect to the local printer told her that it was almost time to go pick up Arlo from school.
She packed up the computer and put her gray blazer back on, smoothing the cream Peter Pan collar of her blouse afterwards. She twisted back around to turn off the desk lamp and was reaching into her bag to get her phone, head down as she walked towards the door which is why she didn't see him.
"Woah!" an accented voice warned right in front of her and she abruptly turned her head to see a tall man with his hands raised. She looked up to meet his eyes to apologize, because this was likely her officemate and she had nearly run him over in her distracted haste. She promptly felt her stomach drop to the floor.
"Jyn," his voice sounded almost begrudging, like he expected yet was resigned to seeing her and she shivered because her brain instantly betrayed her with a memory.
She closed her eyes and tried to compose herself because she had just run into another ghost, one of the bigger ones. She had run into Cassian Andor.