The quiet calm felt unnatural after the chaos they had all just endured. Ben Kenobi's bright light felt so strange in the middle of the night.
Rey glanced up at the sky and noticed that she could hardly pick out the sliver of moon. She glanced back down at her own form. A hand was missing. Just gone. Completely. The conflict raged in her chest, but it felt so far away from her own heart. She looked back up at the others.
Ben, her Ben, stood beside her with clenched fists, staring at the circle of ash where now two dead bodies lay.
Paige and Hux glared at each other, though Armitage was taking inventory of what soul he had left. It was enough of a shock to be dead, but even more of a shock to have bites taken out of his soul.
Rose had sat herself on the ground a ways away from the last remaining charcoals of the bonfire, and she had curled her knees up to her chest, resting her forehead on them.
"What are you doing here?" Ben asked, his chest shaking. "You're supposed to be with Finn."
Kenobi set a hand on Ben's shoulder. "Finn is alright. You're the ones who needed help."
A ripple of calm tumbled through Ben, and he took a calming breath in. "Why did they run from you?"
"When there is more than one, there is always one who is greater." He chuckled. "There is always a bigger fish." He patted Ben's shoulder. "Come now, let me show you a very specific detail you missed."
Ben offered the book, open to the page he was working from.
Kenobi's ghostly hand pointed to a phrase that curled around the example for the circle he was working with. "Freely given, Ben. The life must be freely given by the soul that is being given."
Ben's gaze shot to the Hux's soul crouching over his lifeless body. "No," he breathed. "He never would have worked."
Kenobi shook his head. "Never."
Ben grew quiet, his mind whirling. "And immortality?"
"The same."
Ben looked up at Kenobi. "Am I immortal?"
Kenobi quirked a smile beneath his beard. "For now." He turned and set about churning the circles of ash into the dirt, moving Armitage Hux's body into the cooling coals of the bonfire. "Armitage. It is time for you to go now. Poe Dameron will be along shortly."
Hux's soul shot to his shaky feet. "No! I..." He searched for words, for reasons to stay, for revenge, for anything.
Kenobi shook his head, setting his hand on Hux's shoulder. "You've completed all you could have done here. Would you have changed if you had more time to your life?"
Hux frowned.
"You and your master have caused enough trouble with your voodoo magic," Kenobi explained with a pat, pulling his hand back to himself. "Now, it's time for your rest. We will have to deal with Palpatine, but he won't have any more power over your soul, Boy."
A strange wave of relief washed over Hux's face just as the revving of an engine broke the quiet.
Poe had just arrived in his bright orange Camaro. He stepped out of the car and saluted them. "Who's up for a road trip?"
Hux stepped forward, head held as high as ever, though he still had large bites taken out of his chest.
"I should go..." Paige whispered.
Rose leapt to her feet. "You can't leave me!"
Ben stepped back. Rose's face was wet with tears and scrunched with rage.
"I've just got you back! I had hope to have more time with you! You were going to live again!" Rose pointed at Paige's chest. "You can't do this to me!"
Poe nodded. "Keep Paige. She's got time. C'mon Hugs. Let's take a drive."
Hux obeyed warily, though he glanced back at the others. He got into the passenger's seat and reached for the seat belt, then laughed. "I'm already dead. I don't need a seat belt."
Poe snorted. "Sure thing, Hugs."
Ben watched Poe flip a u-turn and kick up dust as he sped down the dirt road, disappearing into the trees.
"Can you do something with my hand?" Rey whispered, looking up to Kenobi. She waved her right hand through the space where her left hand used to be.
He kindly shook his head. "No, I'm sorry, Rey."
"Does it hurt?" Ben returned, reaching out to examine the remains of her spiritual arm.
She shook her head. "I can't feel anything. No phantom pains if there's no phantom limb, right?"
He raised his eyebrows.
"Sorry, not the time," she shook her head, looking back to Paige and Rose.
"That's exactly why I want you to stay! Because I love you!" Rose was insisting.
"And I love you, but is it best that I come back? What would I do? Go back to teaching? My body should be in the ground. Everyone's already said their good-byes."
"Not me."
"You did."
"I won't. Not again!"
"Who would die for me, Rose? We saw tonight that it needs to be someone who would give their life freely! Who would give their life for me?"
"I would!"
"Don't you dare!"
"You would die for me!"
"I'm already dead! Don't you dare die so that I could live! You have your whole life ahead of you!"
Ben looked to Kenobi. "Is there some way to preserve Paige's body so that it doesn't decay any further?"
Kenobi studied Paige's body and nodded, moving it back into the bag. He waved his hand over it as the zipper moved of its own volition. "As long as she's in the bag, she will remain the same as she is now."
"Thank you." Ben came closer to Paige's arguing spirit. "This isn't a decision to make tonight. Come back to the house with us. Spend time with Rose. If we find a way to return you to your body, we will. If not, we'll let you go with Poe when your time comes."
"ProSo, what are you saying!" Rose barked, wiping tears from her cheeks though they were tumbling faster than she could wipe them away.
Ben tugged her into a hug. "It's not your choice when she has to go."
"But how can I let her go when I've got her back?" she sobbed into his shirt.
He looked to Paige, face softening. "Because you know you'll see her again, after this." He squeezed her tight, knowing she needed this comfort. "You're not just gone. She's not just gone."
Paige smiled at him and nodded for him to continue.
"You've gained a little extra time together here, but when she moves on, you'll know you are going to meet up with her later."
"I still hate that she'll have to leave."
"I'm not leaving yet," Paige whispered, flickering to their side to set a hand on Rose's shoulder though she knew she wouldn't be able to feel it.
"Rose, would you like to do the honors?" Kenobi asked, gesturing to a pack of matchsticks that had fallen from Ben's messenger bag.
"I'd love to see him go up in flames," Paige encouraged.
Rose peeked from Ben's shirt, nodded, and gave Ben a final squeeze before letting him go. "Thank you, ProSo." She picked up the matchbox and slowly pulled a single match from it. She looked down at Hux's lifeless body laid out on the remnants of the bonfire. She lit the match, glorying in the little flickering light, so small and inconspicuous in the overwhelming white light emanating from Ben Kenobi. She threw the match on Hux's chest, and it smoldered for a moment. Ben gave a wink to Rey, puffed out his cheeks, and blew a soft steady stream of air. The bonfire grew and spread from the single red lit match to a great crackling yellow monument to an intense blue and a final solid pure white column of fire to rival Kenobi's light.
Rose covered her nose and mouth. "It smells awful."
Kenobi's eyes were sad when Ben looked over. "Burning flesh is such an unpleasant smell."