"Rey," Ben shook her gently awake. "Wake up, sweatheart, we need to talk."

"What is it?" Sleep still written all over her, she twisted around to face him.

"We need to talk." He said and kissed her quickly. "But we need to have a drink first. Throw something on and come to the table."

He climbed off the narrow bunk that served as sleeping quarters aboard the Millenium Falcon taking the sheet with him and wrapping it around his waist as he headed into the main compartment.

Rey pulled her nightgown on over her head and followed after him.

She sat down at the table while he poured two shots from the old whiskey bottle she had put away just before they'd made love on that very table. "We're almost out of time." He said apologetically. "I have to get to the conference."

"I'm coming with you." She said instantly.

"That's what we need to talk about, but first, I need for you to have a drink with me." He slid one glass across the table to her.

"My great-great-great-great-grandfather, Hank Solo, stole this bottle of whiskey, from the bedroom of the greatest thief in the galaxy, almost two hundred years ago." He said solemnly. "My father told me that story a long time ago then we shared a toast to Hank from this bottle. Afterwards he told me the toast meant that I was a real Solo, from that moment on, no matter what."

He gazed into her eyes and took a ragged breath. "I can't bear the thought of leaving your side for even a moment until I know that you're my wife. Would you say a toast to Hank with me…" He asked with love written all over his face. "And become not just my wife but a real Solo as well?"

She blinked owlishly across the table at him then said with a dazzling smile. "Now that was a proposal worth waiting for." She raised her glass and looked at him expectantly.

Smiling broadly he raised his glass, tilting it slightly in her direction. "You have to repeat it before we drink." He warned before saying the toast. "To Hank! May we be blessed with beautiful girls, smart boys," He added for posterity. "fast ships, and good times. If they don't kill us young, we'll live forever!"

She repeated the toast, they clinked glass rims, and threw back the shot at the same time. They both choked and spat the whiskey all over everything, including each other, as soon as the molten liquid hit their throats.

"That's terrible!" Rey sputtered as she struggled to stop coughing.

"It's not as bad as I remember." He wheezed wondering how his father had managed to swallow the fiery liquor, let alone keep a straight face while doing so, on that long ago night.

"Please tell me I don't have to do that again." She wheezed back, holding her throat.

"No." He cleared his throat and spoke more normally as he put the cap back on the bottle. "Not until we do this with our kids."

It thrilled her through and through to hear him speak of a future that included them having kids. "So, does this mean that I'm a Solo now?"

"No matter what." He answered and for a short time they were both overcome with the emotional impact of the moment.

"We have to go now." He said when they finally pulled away from each other.

Rey strapped herself into the co-pilot seat and looked through the windows of the cockpit at a lush tropical meadow. A forest of vibrantly verdant trees stood across from a field that was alive with lilac grasses and wildflowers in an array of colors. The wide expanse of a shallow stream bisected the meadow directly infront of them. Neon bright algae in several hues clung to every stone and pebble in the stream. It was more beautiful than anything she could ever have imagined. "We'll have to get out of the ship next time." She said wistfully. "It's so beautiful here."

He grimaced as the Falcon raised off of the ground and tucked in it's landing gear.

"What?" She asked feeling his discomfort acutely. "What aren't you telling me?"

"Part of my proposal for this conference was that I would come alone and unarmed as a show of good faith." Before she could protest he continued quickly. "They'd never trust me enough to show up if I hadn't promised them that much." He eyed her for a second while she chewed on that. "I was going to make you the same promise as part of my plan to get you to talk to me last month." He radiated nervous energy but his outward demeanor was nearly calm.

"Are you mad?" She asked, both shocked and terrified at the same time. "They'll kill you before you reach the ground!"

"They wont kill me if they have nothing to gain from it." He said still feigning a casual that she could tell he certainly wasn't feeling. "As soon as we reach the Redemption I'm naming you Supreme Leader."

"What?" She was taken completely off guard. "I don't want to lead the First Order."

"They wont risk killing me while my wife is standing by on the bridge of the most powerful ship in the galaxy with the entire First Order fleet at her command." He explained this bit of his plan with a dismissive shrug. "They aren't that foolish." He glanced at her. "If all goes well, you'll be turning the fleet over to a new galactic federation before long."

"What if it doesn't go well? What if they do kill you?" She'd already experienced the pain of losing him once in the past twelve hours, she wasn't ready to risk that again.

"If they kill me, I suggest you use the fleet to get rid of them all while you have the chance." Seeing her frown he added, "The only way to forge peace is by either getting these people to agree to it or by getting them out of the way of those who will."

"So, you have been setting a trap all along?" She was hurt and angry. "You're using the promise of peace to gather all of your enemies in one place so you can destroy them?"

"It's out of my hands once we reach the ship. Whether it becomes a trap or not is up to you." He peered at her with a look of such intensity that she was tempted to slip into his mind despite the request he'd made before leaving the Redemption, that she stay out of his mind until this was over.

She thought about that for a minute, then narrowly failed at her attempt to smile and mused, "You're more of a gambler than I would have guessed."

"Well," He gave her a grin that melted her heart and her bones. "I am a Solo."

A moment later a disturbing thought crossed her mind and she glared at him. "What would have happened if I had waited at the base for you to show up and then killed you?" She asked.

"I was going to name you Supreme Leader before I came down there." His smirk bloomed into a full blown roguish grin, "I like it better this way, though. I get to give you the galaxy as a wedding gift." She still looked to be on the verge of tears so he added, "Smile, this will be a story to tell our grandchildren someday."

"Assuming we live that long." She grimaced, scared half out of her mind by the very real possibility that they wouldn't.

"If they don't kill us young…" He prompted.

"We'll live forever." She finished with a watery smile.

A moment later her smile faded. "Promise you'll come back to me."

"I'll haunt you if I have to." He promised with all his heart and soul then made the jump to lightspeed.