Cassian had always been a storm. From the moment you met him, all smirks and Illyrian bravado, he crashed into your life like a wave you never stood a chance against. He was loud, reckless, maddeningly stubborn—and still, somehow, gentle in the ways that mattered. And despite every warning your mind whispered about falling for the Lord of Bloodshed, your heart made the leap before you even noticed.

It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. Love. A child. A home. But it did. Somewhere between bruised knuckles and quiet dinners, between stolen kisses and nights where he whispered his darkest fears into your skin—you made a life together.

And then came her.

Your daughter.

The moment Cassian held her, trembling as her tiny hand closed around his finger, everything about him shifted. His laugh softened. His eyes stayed a little longer on you when you weren’t looking. He was still a warrior. Still a general. But he became something else, too—hers.

Yours.

So when he stood in the doorway now, armor buckled and Siphons glowing faintly like they knew what was coming, something inside you cracked.

“Back in three days,” Cassian said. You hated how calm he sounded.

You said nothing. Just nodded. Kissed him like it would be the last time. Held him like if you squeezed hard enough, the Mother might change her mind and keep him here.

And then he turned to her.

She sat on the edge of the couch, legs too short to touch the floor, clutching her stuffed bat-winged bear so tightly her knuckles were white. She was five. But she knew.

“Hey, baby bat,” Cassian knelt down. “I need you to be strong for Mommy, okay?”

She shook her head. “No.”

His face softened. “I’ll come back.”

“You always say that.” Her voice was small. “But then you come back with blood on your shirt and holes in your wings and you can’t even smile right.”

Cassian’s breath hitched.

“Don’t go,” she whispered. “You won’t come back good.”

She ran into him, wrapping her arms around his neck, fingers curled in his leathers like if she let go, he’d disappear.

And something broke in him.

Cassian held her. Hard. One hand against her back, the other cradling the back of her head like she was made of glass and war all at once. His eyes found yours. You looked away.

“I have to protect people,” he said softly. “So that you get to stay safe. So Mommy stays safe. So Velaris never burns.”