Built on Hope (Cassian Andor FF)

24. I See it In You - 1 BBY

The air in the room froze as silence reigned. At this late of an hour, it was no surprise that the barracks at the base was dead. Everyone slept, and the thick walls helped keep most of the sounds of snoring out. Talia shut her eyes. Her slow breathing counted as a timer; every five seconds, she would inhale. Exhale. The room was quiet that she dared to think she could hear her own blood running through her veins.

Focus...

Focus.

The room itself was warm in some places, mostly around herself. Her body emanated heat like crazy in the chilly night. The closer her hands got to the floor, the colder it seemed. She followed that cold, trailing her hands up the bed and onto a side table next to her. There was something there. Something that she couldn't explain. There would be seconds of cold, followed by seconds of heat, and the cycle continued.

Focus...

...Nothing.

Talia whimpered and put her head into her hands. Focusing on something as vague as the force seemed impossible. It flowed through every living thing, yet understanding it was the difficult part. The heat sensation she experienced during their near-death experience on Coruscant really put things into perspective. Her daughter was force sensitive, so maybe she made her remember the flare gun during that moment. The heart in Talia's chest ached with a fiery intensity. If her mindset had to change, then so be it. If there was an inkling of a chance to communicate with her daughter again, she would in a heartbeat.

She got back into position, legs crossed and arms rested on them. Her breathing slowed, and as she exhaled, she released all of her thoughts into the void. If there was something, or someone, trying to communicate with her, then they might come to her. She just had to be patient, and wait for the change in temperature.

Which was easier said than done.

The thumping of her heartbeat rang in her ears, overpowering all the sound. Chills ran up her spine, causing goosebumps to form on her arms. She shivered, breaking her concentration. With heavy eyes, she glanced at the clock.

It had been a whole two hours.

She laid down on the ground and sighed. There had to be a way. It happened once. It can happen again. As she formulated a new technique to meditate, a knock came from the door.

"Come in."

Cassian shuffled into the room, his dark eyes underlined by the rings under them. His hands were shoved into his captain's jacket, wrapped around him tight to keep himself warm. He looked for Talia on her bed, but he stepped backwards when he realized she was on the floor. His eyebrows twitched in curiosity for a second."Working out again?"

"No." She pushed herself up off the ground, her eyes trailing the empty wall. It might be silly for thinking that it's her daughter, when it could have simply been the heat from the blaster shot. Holding the theory back seemed like the right idea. Cassian would easily dismiss it as a weird adrenaline high. "Are you okay?"

He hesitated, eyeing her for a moment. When he couldn't read anything on her expression, his eyes wandered around the room. A shrug of a movement raised his jacket as his foot tapped on the ground. Cassian glossed over the question with ease,"I want to get off the base. Explore, go on a mission, something. I feel cooped up in here."

"Laying low for a month really makes your skin crawl, doesn't it?"

Cassian sighed. With nightmares and horrible scenarios etching themselves into his mind during aimless hours of lying in bed, how could he possibly sit around doing nothing? The Empire could be doing something preventable at this moment! Some rebels could need his help! Or just...simply drifting out in space could ease his nerves. "I feel useless."