She woke to the gentle stirring of a dozen people trying – unsuccessfully – to extract themselves from uncomfortable sleeping positions on the floor of the Falcon's central chamber without waking the members of the crew who slept on. As she sat up, becoming aware of the stiff, unfamiliar gracelessness of her own still-exhausted body, she caught Leia's gaze across the room. The General sat on the other side of the dejarik table, her eyes steady on Rey's face. Rey felt a flash of fear, then a subtle calm spread over her. The older woman wasn't smiling, but she looked almost… pleased. She tugged her head to the side, motioning for Rey to join her. With a glance at Finn, who was hovering with concern over a newly-awakened Rose, she made her way toward the cockpit again. Leia slowed as Rey caught up, smiling faintly as she leaned toward the younger woman. "I hope you feel rested," she said slowly as she turned into the cockpit.
Rey froze in the doorframe, her eyes alighting on Poe and Connix within the small room. Connix sat, a curious expression on her face. Poe stood with his back to her, one arm braced against the low ceiling of the cockpit. He looked over his shoulder, and Rey's breath caught in her throat. Their brief meeting yesterday, and his wide grin of wonder and recognition, had filled her with warmth. She had watched him speak freely and passionately with the others, afterward, and felt confidence in his leadership. Today, he seemed withdrawn, tense – eyeing her warily across a distance that she could not understand.
Taking her place between Poe and Connix, Leia turned to face her once again. "We have a mission," she began. Rey shifted uneasily from one foot to the other, her eyes darting back and forth between the three figures. Poe twitched, equally uncomfortable with whatever was about to transpire.
"My son wants the past to die, and we are going to let it."
Rey's eyes widened and she dropped her head forward in shock. Leia raised a hand pre-emptively, demanding silence as she continued. "I cannot deny what my son has become. I do not know how to reconcile with Kylo Ren. But what you have seen, Rey – what you have felt – is hope that, once released from those he believes have betrayed him, Ben Solo can be saved. At the moment, it's more than we can say for the Resistance. As far as we know, all those who would defy the First Order are on this ship. These people need protecting, if there is to be a future for that rebellion. So it – temporarily – is going to disappear. And you and I are going to go find my son so that I can bring him home."
Rey blinked. She blinked again. "You're sending me back to the First Order?"
Poe broke his stance, shaking his head angrily, but held his tongue. Connix looked at the floor, then at Leia, then at her hands folded in her lap. Rey could see that she was not the only one who thought that this was madness. Leia remained still, her eyes clear and steady on Rey's face. "You and I are going somewhere safe, where you will try to re-establish your connection to my son and see what is to be done about negotiating my surrender. Poe and Connix will lead the others underground where they can regroup and, in time, either build a force that can defeat Kylo Ren or that can act alongside the First Order to bring justice to the galaxy."
Rey was beginning to wonder if her body had turned to stone. Or if she were still asleep. This could hardly be happening. And yet a tickle of some other feeling had emerged at the back of her neck, was creeping slowly around, under her ears, down her shoulders and into her chest. This just might work, she thought. But why surrender?
"Because he wants to let the past die." Leia responded to her thought as though she had spoken it out loud. "I had hoped that Luke could temper his darkness, that Han could bring him home. They could not, and they are gone. But Ben Solo had the chance to kill me – I felt it – and in the final moment, he did not. I have to try. I am not irreplaceable to the Resistance, but I am irreplaceable to my son. If I surrender, what remains of the Resistance will survive. If I surrender, I can offer my son the only thing I have left to offer him: my remorse and my forgiveness." She paused, her shoulders relaxing. Now it was not Leia Organa speaking, but the General, and quickly. "If we run, they find us, and we're dead. If we contact the First Order from aboard this ship, they find us, and we're dead. If I go to him, if I make amends, both he and the Resistance stand a chance. I've made my decision. Rey, you need to make yours. Do you think you can reach my son?"
Rey straightened, pressed her lips together, and nodded. "Yes, I do."