It was her wedding day.

Rey looked at her reflection in the courthouse bathroom mirror and repeated that fact to herself in her head.

It was her wedding day, and it was nothing like she had always dreamed.

Instead of a white, flowing gown, she wore a light blue dress with a dark blue floral pattern. It wasn't too formal while still being pretty and feminine. Instead of a veil, Rose had braided her dark chestnut hair into a tight French braid and dressed it with Baby's Breath. Instead of a church, or even an outside venue in a garden somewhere, she would be in a courtroom. And instead of a crowd of friends and family celebrating with her, only Rose and Finn would be present.

The only thing that resembled her fantasy was the groom, and even he wasn't quite what she wanted; the Poe she wished for wasn't pretending to be in love with her.

Rose walked in the door behind her, her expression sour. "They're about ready," she said, her voice tight. She stopped next to Rey and met her friend's eyes in the mirror. "I can't believe you two are doing this."

Poe and Rey had to let Finn and Rose in on the plan. Not only would they need witnesses for the wedding, and they knew their friends would be insulted if they weren't chosen, but Rey insisted that the pair would be too hard to fool as the four of them were so close. Rose, like Ben, knew about Rey's true feelings for Poe, but had been sworn to secrecy over ten years ago.

"Look at it this way," Rey argued. "Now you and Finn don't need to pretend you aren't sleeping together."

Rose's eyes widened, but then they narrowed. "How long were you going to pretend you didn't know that?"

"How long were you going to pretend you weren't together?" Rey countered.

Rose crossed her arms and huffed.

"Just promise me something," Rey whispered.

Rose pursed her lips and nodded. "Okay."

"Promise that no matter what happens between me and Poe in the coming year, you won't tell him the truth."

"Rey…"

"He'll feel horrible if he knows how hard this is for me," Rey continued. "He'll never forgive himself if he knows he hurt me."

Rose stared at her through the mirror for a while. "I promise," she finally said softly. "But one of these days, you need to start worrying about your own feelings more than his."

"Maybe," Rey responded with a soft smile. "Someday." She took a deep breath, then met her own gaze in the mirror. "Let's do this," she said, repeating Poe's favorite phrase.

Rey and Rose left the bathroom together and moved down the hall where Poe and Finn waited. Both looked sharp in their suits, Poe in dark grey, Finn in dark blue. Rey gave a brief thought that Finn and Rose kind of matched, as her dress was also a navy blue in color.

Poe was fiddling with something in his hands and he looked nervous. As they neared, he reached out and handed something to Rose, then Finn. Rings, Rey realized. Simple gold bands.

Finn looked at the woman's band he now held. "This isn't going to make Rey's finger turn green, is it?" he said snarkily. Rey and Rose both laughed, but Poe just glared.

"Of course not," Poe griped. "Ten karats, both of them," he said, tugging on his suit jacket nervously.

The door to the courtroom opened and the clerk looked at them. "She's ready," she said with a smile. She held the door as Poe escorted Rey inside, followed by Rose and Finn. They walked down the aisle where Judge Maz Kanata waited for them.

She smiled at them, the wrinkles in her dark face prominent. "All right, are you both ready?"

Rey peeked over at Poe and found his nervous glance meet hers. They both nodded and looked back at Maz.

She nodded as well, but then paused, peering at Poe through her thick glasses. "You're not going to run, are you?"

Rey couldn't help but smile at the question. She felt Poe's gaze on her, then he said softly, "No. No, I won't run."

Rey looked over at him and saw the seriousness in his eyes. Of course, he wouldn't run, she thought. He wanted Organa Enterprises too much. She licked her lips and looked back at Maz.

"Okay," Maz said. "Let's begin." She paused briefly. "Poe Dameron and Rey Skywalker, today you celebrate one of life's greatest moments and give recognition to the worth and beauty of love, as you join together in the vows of marriage."

She looked at Poe. "Poe, do you take Rey as your wife?"

"I do," he said firmly, with no hesitation.

"Do you promise to love, honor, cherish, and protect her, forsaking all others and holding only unto her?"

"I do."

Maz looked at Rey. "Rey, do you take Poe as your husband?"

"I do," Rey answered in a whisper.

"Do you promise to love, honor, cherish, and protect him, forsaking all others and holding only unto him?"

"I do." Her voice was much firmer this time.

Maz looked at Poe. "The rings."

Poe turned to Finn, who handed him the thin band of gold. He faced Rey and took her left hand, where Shara's ring still adorned her finger. He looked her in the eye. "Rey, I give you this ring, as a token and a pledge, of our constant faith and abiding love."

Rey felt a shiver run up her spine as Poe slid the ring onto her finger. His expression… no! She couldn't imagine he meant those words. He looked back up at her as he slowly released her hand and she met his eyes with her own, her heart racing.

"Rey?" Maz said softly.

Taking a deep breath, Rey turned to Rose, who handed her the thick gold band. Her friend looked worried. Rey gave her a small smile, then turned back to Poe.

He lifted his left hand almost tentatively, and with a slight smirk she reached for it, bringing it up and lifting the ring to his finger. Swallowing, she looked him the eye. "Poe, I give you this ring, as a token and pledge, of our constant faith and abiding love." Her voice trembled a bit toward the end, and she cleared her throat. Then she looked down and slid the ring onto his finger. Without thought, she brought her hand over his, bringing her fingers over to grip it lightly, and she felt his own fingers close on hers.

Everything was silent for a while as Rey lifted her eyes to his once more. He was staring at her intently, and she was captured by the look of wonder in his eye.

Maz' voice made both of them blink. "Rey and Poe, just as two very different threads woven in opposite directions can form a beautiful tapestry, so can your two lives merge together to form a very beautiful marriage. To make you marriage work will take love.

"Love should be the core of your marriage, love is the reason you are here. But it also will take trust – to know in your hearts you want the best for each other. It will take dedication – to stay open to one another; to learn and to grow together even when this is not always easy to do. It will take faith - to be willing to go forward to tomorrow, never really knowing what tomorrow will bring. In addition, it will take commitment - to hold true to the journey you both now pledge to share together.

"Rey and Poe, in so much as the two of you have agreed to live together in Matrimony, and have promised your love for each other by these vows, I now declare you to be Husband and Wife."

Maz paused then, her smile becoming huge. "Congratulations! Poe, you may kiss your bride!"

Rey found herself drowning in Poe's eyes as they remained focused on hers. She heard the words, and pretended they had meaning, but Maz' last words jolted her out of her little fantasy. She had only ever kissed Poe once on the lips, and they had both been seven years old at the time.

Poe's eyes had become hooded, and his gaze had dropped to her lips. She saw him move toward her, and she found herself helplessly leaning toward him as well. She let her eyes drift shut a split second before his lips touched hers. It was chaste, with no more passion than the kiss they had shared as children, but there was a spark there that had been missing from that first kiss. Maybe it was just on her end, Rey thought, but as she pressed her lips against his, she felt as if one move from her could change the dynamic from innocent to erotic in a heartbeat.

She didn't make that move.

As they slowly backed away from each other, Rey blinked and became aware of her friends and Judge Kanata clapping. Poe was also blinking rapidly, as if waking up from sleep, then he looked around them with a smile.

With one last squeeze of her fingers, he let her go.

XXXXXX