"So once we get back to Hosnian Prime, Ben and Rey can get married," Han said in a casual tone. "If you'll just give us the keys to the Falcon we'll be on our way, Unkar."

"Unfortunately, I cannot leave Jakku at this time," Unkar Plutt said in an overly casual tone of voice. "I think we should make sure our two young lovebirds are married before you leave. Ben here appears to a fine upstanding young man- he must take after his mother's side of the family- but I am not prepared to believe that you would not pull something once you had the Falcon and were safely away."

"Unkar, have I ever been known to go back on my word-" Han stopped and cast a warning glare at Ben and Chewbacca. "Don't answer that, you two," he whispered.

"Han, Han … I am just a simple man. You must forgive my doubts. But I must insist. The Church of the Force has a branch in Tuanul. Lor San Tekka is a personal friend of mine. I'm sure he would be happy to perform the ceremony. Once my daughter is safely married, I will be happy to return ownership of the Falcon to you."

"And if I'm going to get married I want my Daddy there," Rey put in. "And he's right. I don't trust you as far as that Wookie could throw you. So … yeah.. Bob and I-"

"Ben," he corrected. "My name is Ben."

"Ben." Rey nodded at him in recognition. "Ben and I will will get married before the Falcon goes anyway off Jakku." She grabbed Ben's hand. "Daddy, I'll get him to the Church. You bring the the others in your speeder."

"You're not seriously planning on riding that deathtrap of yours?" Unkar asked with a look of alarm on his face.

"Hey, if this guy is going to be putting a ring on it I want to make sure that he's not a gutless coward." Rey looked up into Ben's eyes. "You game?"

"His mother will be very angry with me if anything happens to him," Han said, looking straight into Rey's eyes. "And I won't be so happy myself. This had better not be some plan to get him out in the middle of nowhere to blast him-"

"Dad, it's okay. I trust her." Weirdly enough, I kind of do. And Dad acting like he cares? That's new. "Let's go, Rey."

The spark that had flared between them when they first touched had not reoccurred, but Rey's hand still felt nice in his. Rey's hand was strong and not nearly as smooth as Kay's had been. Somehow, Ben approved of that; she was Plutt's daughter, but it was obvious that she wasn't a stranger to hard work.

She led him to a battered speeder cycle. It was just large enough for the two of them. Rey lashed her staff to the side and hopped on. "I'm driving. No one else drives Baby but me. I made her myself."

"All right." Ben was a pretty good pilot if he said so himself, but he wasn't as familiar with speeders as he was with an X-Wing. He got on the back of the bike and gingerly wrapped his arms around Rey's waist.

"You better hold on tighter than that," Rey advised him. "Baby don't come with seat-belts."

Ben took a stronger grip. His face was pressed against her neck. There didn't seem to be an ounce of softness on her entire body, but her hair sure smelled nice. "This all right?"

"Yeah," Rey's voice was suddenly hoarse. "That's real good."

"Rey, don't forget to wear your mask," Unkar Plutt suddenly advised, breaking the mood. "You don't' want your face scoured off before you get to the Church."

"Okay, Daddy." Rey reached down and pulled up two rider masks. "Here. Put this one. He's right. I wouldn't want to mess up that pretty face of yours."

Ben blushed even though he knew his face was anything but pretty. "I hate masks," he mumbled. He thought of one mask in particular as he said that.

"Ben," Han said with a trace of anxiety in his voice. "I'll see you at the Church."

"I'll keep him out of trouble," Chewbacca roared to Ben as he put a reassuring hand on Han's shoulder.

"Good luck with that." Ben smirked at his Wookie uncle. He waved and then Rey took off.

The speeder bike was incredibly fast. Ben was immediately grateful that Rey hadn't offered to let him drive. He wasn't entirely sure that he wouldn't have knocked himself off the bike within the first five minutes. The only thing that reassured him was that as there were no trees the odds of them hitting something and going up in flames were pretty slight.

To Ben, there seemed to be no discernible landmarks but Rey never deviated from her course as though she knew exactly where she were going. They rode for about half an hour before she stopped in front of a ravine.

"Tanual over there. We've got at least a ten minute lead on Daddy's speeder. I wanted a chance for the two of us to talk before we got to the Church." Rey took her mask off and pulled a canteen off the bike. She took a sip of water and offered it to Ben.

He took a drink. It wasn't as bad as Tatooine, but that was about all Ben could say about it. "Thanks. What do you want to talk about?"

"You got a girl?" She paused as she took back the canteen. "Or a boy?"

"Nope. Not for a while." He felt a strange urge to be truthful with this girl. "I was engaged once, but it didn't work out."

"What happened?" Rey gave him a curious look.

"She cheated on me with my best friend."

"Sorry," Rey said it in a frank tone of voice. Ben appreciated the sincerity; he had a feeling she wouldn't have said anything if she didn't mean it. "I've never had anyone. Kind of hard to meet anyone when your Dad runs the whole planet. You can never tell if they want you or they want the credits."

"I understand. Mom's a Senator, and my uncle's Luke Skywalker. Growing up, I never knew if the other kids really wanted to be my friend or just wanted a chance to meet my family."

"Your uncle is Luke Skywalker?" Rey's eyes went wide. "Get out!"

"Yeah. He is. Trust me, he's not nearly as impressive as the legends make him out to be." He's still mad that I refused to become a Jedi.

"I'm starting to see why Daddy wants me to marry you." Rey turned and looked at the desert. "I wasn't anything until Mom and he took me in." She sighed. "My birth parents sold me to him so they could buy more booze."

"Sold you?" Ben felt a sudden white hot surge of anger. "How old were you?"

"I don't know for sure. Six, maybe? I remember crying, asking them to come back as Unkar pulled me away."

"It turned out okay though, right? You and Unkar seem pretty close."

"We are now. He was a different guy before he met Mom. She changed him. Made him a better man. I don't know what would have happened if she hadn't come along. Neither Daddy or I would have amounted to much of anything, I bet."

"She's gone, isn't she? I mean, she passed away?"

"Yes. She died a few years ago. She was a Gilliand, and from Crul just like Daddy. Aquatic species on a desert planet. Not really a great combination. That's why I want Daddy to go back to Crul, but he says he can't go home again. Maybe if this crazy scheme of his works out, I can convince him to at least move somewhere that's got oceans."

"I'm doing this for my mom," Ben confessed. "She's been … sick lately. And she's making noises about wanting things settled between Dad and me in case... you know. I know she'll probably outlive us all, but if seeing the old scoundrel will make her happy again it'll be worth it."

"You and your dad don't seem to get along that well." There was no judgment in her voice. Ben was grateful for that.

"No. He was gone a lot when I was growing up. He was a General in the Rebellion. He's a smart guy. He could have done practically anything after the war, but it seems like the only thing that makes him happy is smuggling and running away from me- I mean, Mom."

"I'm sure you do." Rey leaned against Baby and looked up at him. "You don't seem like a bad guy, Ben. I wouldn't do this if I thought you were a creep."

"Thanks."

"But this whole marriage thing?"

"Yes?"

"Just because I'm going to marry you don't think that I'm going to let you take liberties with me. We're both getting something out of this. You're getting your Dad and the Falcon and I'm getting the chance to make Daddy happy. It's a business arrangement. If you try to take advantage of me, I'll make you wish you'd never been born."

She looked tiny standing next to him, but Ben was absolutely certain that she meant what she said. "Okay. I'll be good."

"You'd better." She suddenly looked uncomfortable. "But there's another reason I wanted to talk to you alone."

"Yes?"

"The kiss."

"Yes?"

"We're going to have to kiss, aren't we? At the wedding."

"It's kind of traditional, but it's not absolutely necessary. If you'd rather not-"

"No. It's okay. I'll do it. But … I've never been kissed before."

"Never?"

"No. You want to make something out of it?" She stuck her chin out and curled one (relatively) tiny hand into a fist.

"No. It's fine. I totally understand."

"So I want …"

"Yes?" His heart was suddenly hammering as he had an idea about what she was going to say next.

"I want to kiss here first. Just the two of us. So I look like I know what I'm doing."

"Okay. We can do that." Ben blushed slightly. "We can definitely do that."

Rey lifted her head and looked up at him expectantly.

"Close your eyes." Ben told her.

"What?"

"Close your eyes. It's traditional.."

She looked at him doubtfully. "But if I close my eyes I can't see what you're doing ..."

"I know. Trust me, Rey." He took a risk and tucked his hand under her chin. "I'll never do anything to hurt you."

She still looked doubtful, but obediently closed her eyes.

Ben kissed her.

He wasn't expecting much. She obviously didn't know what to do, and her lips were closed tighter than the Falcon's hidden holds on a spice run, but they had to start somewhere. A simple peck ….

Was totally not what happened.

The moment their lips touched, he felt the same surge of the Force that had accompanied the first time they touched. It felt like he was kissing a power access point … but in a good way.

Rey's mouth opened to him … and his tongue somehow found itself way inside. Totally by accident, of course. The urge to linger was strong, but he wasn't about to press his luck.

They broke apart.

She stared at him. "What the kriff is happening between us?"

"I don't know," Ben confessed. "But I don't really mind it." He paused. "Do you?"

The reply was very soft. "No."

They stood and looked at each other silently for a moment.

"We should get going," Rey finally said. "Daddy will be worried."

"All right." Kriff. I need a cold shower right now …

They got back on the bike and took off.