After a quick stop by their blessedly restored quarters aboard the Redemption for a change of clothes, because Ben refused to wear his father's any longer than necessary, the pair swept onto the bridge hand in hand. Rey wondered how many droids it had taken to clean the blood and gore from every surface of the room. A lot, she figured.
"Mr. Perez, open a line to every frequency." Ben said immediately as they cleared the doorway.
Perez did so then gave him a nod to go ahead.
"This is Supreme Leader Kylo Ren, of the First Order." He took a deep breath. "At this time I would like introduce my wife, Rey Solo, who will be taking over as Supreme Leader. For those of you who do not know Rey, she is a member of the rebel faction known as 'the Resistance.' She is an orphan from the planet Jakku and has been trained by Luke Skywalker as a Jedi. I hereby resign my position as Supreme Leader and raise, in my stead, Rey Solo as Supreme Leader of the First Order." He nodded to her.
"What? No, I can't…" She whispered.
"You have to." He hissed back.
"Uhm. Hello," She looked at him desperately.
He squeezed her hand gently and breathed into her ear. "Reorder the ceasefire."
She cleared her throat. "I am Rey Solo." She was so nervous she started sweating profusely. "My first official act as Supreme Leader is to pardon Ben Solo, also known as Kylo Ren, of any and all crimes he may have commited or caused to be commited while under the influence of the Dark Side." She swallowed a gulp of air.
"My second act is to reissue his ceasefire decree. Any First Order ship that fires it's weapons without my express permission will be immediately destroyed. I am also extending his policy on mutany until further notice."
They exchanged a look.
"It is my hope to form a lasting bond of peace through diplomacy, and as such, my husband, Ben Solo will represent the First Order at this meeting that he has called for. He has my full faith to negotiate on behalf of the First Order. If anyone attempts to harm him I will not hessitate to order that person's immediate termination." He gaped at her as she finished saying that. "Good luck to us all, and may the Force be with us as we build a new future together." She looked at him, he tipped his head toward Perez. She looked at Perez and nodded. Perez hit a button and nodded back.
She rounded on Ben.
"What were you thinking, making me speak to the entire galaxy with absolutely no warning?" She was panting and sweating as if she'd just finished a grueling workout.
"You did fantastic!" He hugged her and spun around with her in his arms, kissing her soundly.
"I was so scared, I almost fainted!" She protested but hugged him back fiercely.
"I'm so proud of you!" He said, setting her back down on her feet. "I wish we had more time!" He lamented, kissing her again.
"Me, too." She held him tightly and said raggedly. "I don't want to let you go."
"I have to go." He said gently. "But I will come back for you, sweetheart, I promise."
"You better." Her heart was in her eyes as she watched him walk off the bridge. He stopped at the door and grinned that Solo grin at her before disappearing into the corridor.
"Captain, If anyone fires on my husband blow them out of the sky." She said and took her place before the view screen to watch over his descent to the planet below.
"It will be my sincere pleasure, My Lady." Glissando said, choking back his emotions. He couldn't help feeling emotional from watching their goodbye after what he had witnessed the day before. "All hands to battle stations, prepare to fire on any ship that fires at Mr. Solo." He ordered in a ringing voice.
It was a tense fifteen minutes before Ben's shuttle disappeared into Correlia's atmosphere. Rey began pacing like a caged beast, chewing on her nails and silently begging the Force to watch over him.
"If something happens to him…" She said, coming to a halt in front of Glissando. "On that planet, and I'm too overcome to issue an order, I want you to turn that meeting spot into a smoking crater, Captain."
"Gladly, Supreme Leader."
"Rey." She said.
"I beg your pardon, My Lady?" He asked her with eyes bulging.
"My name is Rey Solo." She said forcefully. "Call me Rey, or Mrs. Solo, if you can't bring yourself to do that."
"My apologies, it would not be fitting, in a military setting, to refer to you by your name." He protested.
"This is no longer a military setting, Captain. It's a diplomatic convoy that just happens to have a lot of fire power." She smiled uncomfortably. "I am a nobody from nowhere and it makes me uncomfortable for you to call me 'My Lady' or 'Supreme Leader,' so please don't."
"How about ma'am?" He asked, feeling nearly overwhelmed with affection for his new leader.
She hessitated for a beat then smiled at him. "I hate it, but if you can't call me Rey, I suppose it will do."
"Yes, ma'am." He bowed jauntily and smiled at her warmly. "May I speak freely for a moment, ma'am?"
"Please do!" She said in relief.
"I don't think the Force brought the two of you back from the dead yesterday to let either of you die today." His words were low and gentle. "Have faith in that and try not to stress yourself sick while he's not here."
"Thank you, Captain." She did feel somewhat soothed by his words, and told him so. "That does bring me comfort."
"But you're not going to draw an easy breath until he's back on board." Glissando finished for her.
"I'm afraid not." She smiled ruefully and went back to pacing.
Rey paced and worried herself nearly sick the entire first hour he was gone. In her mind she constructed a hundred different nightmarish scenarios for the outcome of the risk he was currently undertaking.
Finally, unable to stand the tense silence any longer she turned to the Captain. "What made you join the First Order, Captain?"
Over the next few hours she learned the life stories of nearly everyone on the bridge. They all credited her with the change in both their former leader and their mission and were quite happy to form bonds of friendship with their young new leader.
