Debriefing Part 2

Rey's hair hangs in loose waves around her shoulders. Whenever she wears it out like that now, it will always now remind of how we made love for the first time.

I hear my name and quickly turn my attention back to the meeting. Mom's at the head of the round table in the meeting room aboard the Resistance Capital Starship. Everyone from the Base is on board and the families were sent home a day early.

"The crystal beam should reach Ahch-To in a few days," Mom says. "Fortunately it can't travel at light speeds and Hux is unaware that we were pre-warned about this possible threat," she glances at me and nods. "And that we were on the lookout for it." She nods to Chewbacca.

Finn sits silently a few seats down from Rey and me. He doesn't interrupt with any questions and has been uncharacteristically quiet since he spotted the ring on Rey's ring finger.

Mom noticed it too, before the meeting started, and congratulated us. "We'll have a little celebration after the war," she whispered as the others got settled into their seats.

BB-8's head turns left and right, swaying her body off balance on my knees. I get a better hold of her. There weren't any extra chairs in the small conference room and she wanted to be closer to me and Rey, so now I'm holding her in my lap. Rey's sitting beside me, her hand resting on BB-8 as she listens to Mom's debriefing. The ring on her finger glistens.

"We're working on a way to deflect the crystal beam before it reaches Ahch-To," Mom continues. "The wildlife both in and out of the water are still at risk." She pulls up a star chart holograph with the push of a few buttons. "We've confirmed Snoke's vessel to be in the Barsa Sector of the Quadrant Seven star system. Rey, Ben and myself will confront him on his ship with a small team of Resistance fighters, while the fleet carries out a fabricated attack on the First Order fleet. We need to make it look like a sincere attack on their forces, while still keeping our flight crews safe. We don't actually need to destroy them-"

"Then why attack?" Connor asks.

"To make Snoke think it's a legitimate attack on our part, and that he's winning against us..." Mom glances at me for a moment. "The three of us will coerce Snoke into going to Ahch-To, where Luke will be waiting for him."

I frown. How will we coerce Snoke? He's not easily coerced. He's usually the one doing all the coercing. Mom continues on. She'll likely explain the rest to us privately. We're having a private meeting with her and Luke after the debriefing. I glance over at Rey. Her eyes looked glazed over as she watches Mom point out the fake attack strategy to the fleet commanders.

I set my hand over hers and she turns to me.

I ask her.

She looks forward again, grinning now.

I groan inwardly. I shouldn't have asked. Now I'm thinking about the surprise I woke up to this morning, Rey completely undressed and kissing me.

"Come on BB-8," I whisper, lifting her up. "You're too heavy." I set her down onto the floor as gently as possible, not wanting to disturb the meeting but Mom is already dismissing everyone.

Finn is the first one out the door. Rey doesn't seem to notice and I'm glad, even if I do feel a bit sorry for the guy.

"Can I show you my new star projection database I got updated?" BB-8 beeps. "I can project one thousand new star systems! Including the Barsa Sector where Snoke's star ship is."

Rey leans down to her. "Sure," she says. "But first Ben and I have a meeting with the General and Master Luke."

"But you just had a meeting now."

"Yes, but this one's even more important."

BB-8's head drops.

"After the meeting we'll look at the stars, okay BB-8?" Rey says.

"Okay." She rolls back and forth slowly. "Finn says when two people get married they stop being friends with everybody else."

"What?" Rey glances up at me then back at BB-8. "That's not true at all. How about the three of us meet at my quarters after this session with the General and you can project some of your new star systems for us?"

"Okay! Then Finn can come too?"

Rey hesitates for a second. "Of course. If he wants to."

"I'll go ask him!" BB-8 speeds away, moving easily on the carpeted floor. Rey straightens and crosses her arms.

"I have a feeling you might not like your mom's plan for taking down Snoke," she says, not looking at me.

"Why?" I ask.

"Because she wants Snoke to take me hostage so you can bargain for my freedom in exchange for information of the whereabouts of the red light saber. To make it seem legit."

"What!"

She's right. I don't like that plan at all.