In the end, Ben's the one tasked with destroying the motivator. Rey will instruct him through their bond as she and Poe carry Finn away. In their last memorial to Finn, Mother and Luke leap on a speeder with Ben, determined to warn the stormtroopers to get off.
"Get Hux and Phasma off, too," Ben instructs. His heart burns. It hurts in ways he hadn't imagined were possible, but he can't let the burning overtake him, not now. Not when they still have to complete Finn's mission.
He leaps on board the Star Destroyer via one of the vents, tunneling up, driven by the Light even as the Dark whispers for him to avenge his friend.
No. He needs to save, not to kill. He scrambles through the mostly deserted halls, searching for the engine room and jumping down it when he finds it.
Rey's instructions are brief and pointed. From the radio, he hears Mother and Luke warning stormtroopers to board escape pods.
"What the hell?" Ben hears Hux's growl, and he sags in relief. There's only one more cap he needs to unscrew, and he'll have one minute to get off the ship before toxins flood. Snoke will have maybe two minutes before it reaches him.
Darth Vader's helmet is likely above him.
It doesn't matter.
You can do this, Rey tells him.
He looks at his hands. They're shaking. Finn—why?
Leia runs through the Finalizer, warning all the stormtroopers she can find that they need to evacuate. She closes her eyes, pushing the necessity of it into their minds. A Jedi mind trick that sometimes works, sometimes doesn't, and when it doesn't, she has to dive to avoid a blaster.
"Stormtroopers!" booms a strong voice, a woman's voice, commanding and full of authority. "You are instructed to abandon ship. Immediately."
Captain Phasma exists the command station and regards Leia.
"Snoke—"
"Hux has lowered all of the shafts to keep him as contained as he can," Phasma informs her.
"Thank you." The irony of the Resistance General thanking the First Order captain is not lost on either of them.
"Trying to save our lives is foolish," Phasma reprimands her, and Leia rolls her eyes.
"I've seen enough death. I saw my whole planet destroyed in front of my eyes. And if that's not enough, I feel it—I feel the deaths, Phasma, through the Force. You wouldn't be so quick to kill if you felt the horror, the ripping of souls from living, breathing bodies." Leia marches past her. "Finn was in your division, wasn't he?"
"Why?"
"Because he died saving my son's life," Leia says, tears burning.
She doesn't realize the captain is following her until Hux demands to know what they're doing.
"Your ship has escape pods, doesn't it?" Phasma asks, looking to Leia for affirmation. "It won't take long, General."
"We're ready," Mother informs him, and Ben twists until the screw pops loose and runs for his life, for the life Finn helped give back to him, the life Finn died for, the life his father died for.
He leaps down the shaft, sliding and falling until he feels the ice of open atmosphere and Rey's hands grabbing his legs, pulling him back inside the Falcon.
She holds him close, and then pulls him down towards the cockpit, where Chewie's pulled level with the Finalizer's windows. Inside Ben sees Snoke, staggering and barely able to stand upright. The Supreme Leader's mouth opens in a howl as he realizes that, for the first time, he is truly alone, without anyone to drain, without anyone to bend to his will.
And in his weakened state, his will won't save him.
Ben doesn't want to watch. He ducks out, past an impassive Hux.
"What are you doing here?"
"Phasma and I will board an escape pod shortly," Hux states. "And we'll rebuild the First Order."
Ben's heart sinks.
"Maybe it will be less antagonistic with the Resistance's ideals," Hux amends. "We'll see. Phasma wanted to pay her respects."
You care about what she wants? Ben raises his eyebrows as he rounds the corner to see the chrome-clad captain, her helmet on the seat and her face bared, standing over Finn's body. "I always told him empathy would be his undoing," she remarks.
Poe still kneels next to Finn, BB-8 by his side. He glares at Phasma. "You're wrong. His empathy made him a hero."
Phasma swallows and turns away.
"You'd be lucky to be as brave as him," C-3PO puts in.
"Time to go," Hux says as he emerges. "Snoke is dead."
"Yes, Supreme Leader," Phasma says.
"Don't call me that. Not yet. We'll—see." Hux waves his hand. His eyes slide up and down Ben as Ben weeps by Finn's side.
"Ben," Hux says, and then stops. He looks like he wants to say more, but shakes his head and turns away.
Ben doesn't follow them to the escape pod. Luke does.
Mother and Rey crouch beside him.
I'm so sorry, Finn, Ben thinks.
"I forgive you," Poe sobs, and for a moment Ben thinks he's talking to him, but no, Poe is cradling Finn's head again.
And Ben realizes that Finn truly, truly forgave him, and he cries harder.
"You know what to do." Anakin's voice jars Luke from his stupor back on D'Qar. They arrived, they're safe—but not all of them, and Luke retreated to the forest, crushed under the weight of Finn's memory, of Maz's, Han's.
"No," Luke says to his father. "I don't."
"You do. You're just afraid." Anakin steps closer. The woods hum with insects. "Finn's all right, you know. He'll probably show up at some point."
"Finn's a ghost?"
Anakin sighs. "Don't change the subject, Luke. The galaxy needs you. Your sister needs you. Your nephew and Obi-Wan's granddaughter—they need you. You can't let them down."
"I don't want to. But I can't control everything. I mean, I've—I'm done with the gray Jedi business. But I can't control every padawan. What if there's another?"
"Then you'll have done what you can." Anakin watches a bird with azure feathers flutter past. "You can't avoid regrets, Luke. And besides, you don't have to go at it alone. They're just waiting for you to ask them."
"Why would they trust me?" Luke wonders. "After all—"
Anakin vanishes.
"Thanks a lot," Luke grumbles, kicking a loose stone and watching it skip across the soil.
But his father's right. Luke does know what he needs to do.
They cremate Finn on D'Qar, the only home Finn's ever been free to be Finn in. As the flames rise, Poe turns away, the object in his pocket heavy. His jacket feels uncomfortable on his shoulders, but Finn would have wanted him to keep it, Rey assured him.
It suited him better.
"Ben," he calls.
Ben turns around, his eyes encased with shadows, but so, so light.
"You lost your lightsaber," Poe informs him.
Ben shrugs. "It was just a lightsaber."
Rey smiles as Poe.
"Finn would have wanted you to have this," Poe says, pulling out the lightsaber and holding it out. Ben gapes at it, at him.
"You were the one he loved," Ben says. "You keep it. As a—"
"If I need a momento, I have his jacket," Poe says. And all their memories. "Please, Ben."
"That's right, I do want you to have it," interrupts a voice. Everyone jumps as Finn, translucent but still Finn, appears.
"Finn," Poe manages. He wants to grab him and kiss him, but he knows he can't, and his outstretched hand falls back to the ground.
"I can't stay long. I've got to find Obi-Wan, your grandpa, and the little green one," Finn says, rolling his eyes. "Because we're going to help Luke scout a place to create a new Jedi academy. But I'll be back soon. I promise." He glowers at Rey and Ben. "Make sure you take care of him."
"I can take care of myself, Finn," Poe points out.
"I know." Finn grins as Rey takes Ben's hand and pulls him away. "I'll always be around if you need me, you know. And someday we'll be reunited. Just hopefully, you know, not for a long time."
Poe chuckles. "Even if I'm not, you know, sensitive to the Force?"
"Of course. Han's been here, too, you know. Watching over his son. But you can't see most of us, because you've got life to live."
"I've got more stuff to do before I join you all, don't I."
Finn smirks.
"I love you."
"I know."
That night, neither Rey nor Ben can sleep. They don't have to speak, or make love. They just breathe, feeling each other's presence in their minds, in their arms.
"Do you wonder what Hux and Phasma are up to?" Rey asks finally.
"Yeah." He turns to her.
"Do you think with Darth Plagueis gone, there will finally be peace in the galaxy?"
Ben pauses. "The Dark Side will always exist. Someone else will tap into its powers."
An idea floats into Rey's mind. She peers at Ben.
"Let's talk to Luke in the morning," he agrees.
But it's Luke who seeks them out, brimming with an idea. "I have a proposition for you two."
Rey sits on an overturned log, twirling an indigo flower between her fingers. "We have one for you, too."
Luke smirks. "It's the same idea, isn't it?"
"We'll see," Ben says, tossing a pebble into the air. "Let's hear it."
"I'm going to need help at the new Jedi academy. More teachers to watch over the students, help train them. Would you—"
Rey elbows Ben. "Same idea."
"Does that mean you'll do it?" Luke asks.
"Once I finish my training," Rey says, rolling her eyes.
"Well, in truth, Rey, I didn't have all that much training myself," Luke admits. "Most of it I learned on my own. Yoda died before I could finish—"
"Really?"
"How could you not know this?" Ben asks her, teasing. He sobers and looks at Luke. "Uncle… with my reputation, are you sure—"
"I don't doubt there will be some naysaying," Luke affirms. "But I've seen what you're capable of, Ben, and I want you there. I trust you."
Ben swallows and nods. Rey feels his surprise, his honor, his wonderment, and leans her head on his shoulder.
"Oh good," Poe says. "Because Chewie and I are helping, too."
"What?" Rey raises her head and spots the pilot leaning against a tree, listening.
Poe plucks a leaf and examines it. "Yeah, now that we've got all these files, we've been combing through and finding families with traces of Force-sensitive beings. Chewie and I are going to go find them, offer them a chance to train. Got to get to them before the Dark Side, you know."
"And until they start arriving," interrupts another voice. Leia, with C-3PO on her heels. "You have another student."
"We do?" Ben asks.
Leia spreads her arms. "Ackbar's done a fine job leading the Resistance in my absences. I think it's time I trained as a Jedi."
"And Yoda thought I was too old," Luke sighs, shaking his head, but he looks at his sister with pride.
Ben's jaw drops, but his eyes are sparkling.
"I may be the oldest student ever," Leia acknowledges. "But I know how much I have to learn, and I can't think of three more people I'd rather learn from."
"Oh, but Princess, you won't be leaving us behind, will you? Not R2 and—" 3PO starts.
"Of course not, 3PO," Leia declares. "You're like family."
"Oh—oh!" If the golden droid could blush, Rey suspects it would. "That's the kindest thing anyone's ever said to me? Did you hear her, R2?"
Ruling the galaxy is everything Hux through it would be. The problem is, he never realized that everything he wanted was so unfulfilling.
"Sir?" Phasma approaches.
"Take the mask off," Hux says without looking at her. "You don't need it."
She sighs and Hux hears it clunk against the floor. "We've identified several possible Force-sensitive families, sir."
"Good." Hux spins around. "Send their information to the Resistance?"
"Sir?" Phasma blinks, but in the twitch of her cheek, Hux knows she understands.
We can try to work with them, Hux thinks. For now. "I'm hearing rumors Luke Skywalker's starting a new Jedi academy."
"Oh?"
"I think they'd be good recruits for him. We don't want empathy corrupting our stormtroopers." Hux watches Phasma, heart pounding, because Hux now knows he can never wash himself of the cadet he killed or the empathy still stirring in his heart.
Neither, for all her proclamations otherwise, can the woman in front of him, but neither of them will admit it, and they both know it, and they both hate it.
"Of course not."
Hux watches her walk away, helmet still in her hands, and it hurts, but involuntarily, he smiles after her.
The night before they leave, Rey and Ben awake to a knock on their door.
"Who—" Rey starts.
"It's me."
"Poe?" Rey snatches a shirt and dons it, shimmying into pants. "What—"
"Finn wants to talk to you. Both of you. He says that's more important than sleeping."
Rey and Ben both scurry out of the room, following Poe up the stairs, out into the sweet D'Qar air with just a hint of chill to it. The stars blink above them.
"Hey," Finn's ghost says, standing with his arms crossed. "I would say I'm sorry for interrupting you, but I'm not. Neither of you ever sleep anyways, do you?"
Rey shrugs. Memories storm her and Ben each night.
"Don't count on sleeping after death," Finn warns. "You won't even want to. Too much to do." He grins. "Besides, you two have more important things."
Rey tosses a rock through him, and Finn snickers. "Do me a favor. If you two ever have a boy, name him Finn, okay?"
"Of course," Ben says, as if he'd never think of name a hypothetical child anything else, while Rey can only shake her head.
"So, Ben," Finn drawls, turning to him. "I think you two could use some extra training before you jet off tomorrow. Plus, I just kind of want to see my lightsaber in action again." He motions. "Spar."
"Getting us out of bed is one thing," Rey says. "Telling us to get up to practice fighting is another." Plus, she's afraid of the nightmares it will bring back. She hasn't fought with her lightsaber since Snoke, since Finn…
"Oh, come on, I'm going to enjoy teaching you for a change," Finn crows.
Ben draws out his lightsaber, and the purple sparks to life. Rey meets it with her blue one, and they're sparring, and Poe's standing back with BB-8 cheering them on as Ben whirls around, forcing Rey to duck and spin around herself, twirling the blade as they read each others minds and block each blow, grinning.
Until she remembers what finally worked on the Starkiller base.
"No, Rey!" Ben protests as her foot flies up to kick him in the chest. He goes down, lightsaber flying into Rey's grip.
"I win," she taunts, leveling both of them, blue and purple, no red, at his face.
He concedes with a nod, and she retracts the lightsabers, offering her hand to pull him up. Instead he grabs her wrist and yanks her to the grass, flipping on top of her and pinning her wrists above her head. He smirks at her.
"Um, guys, I'm right here," Poe says. "Like, I'm right here."
"Don't worry," Rey calls. Ben glances over at Poe, and Rey uses the opportunity to knee him in the ribs and roll over.
"You win," Ben gasps as she straddles him, interlacing her fingers with his.
"I am still here, and I am seeing this, and Finn, I think I'll be joining you a lot sooner than either of us want."
Rey laughs as she leans over Ben. She doesn't even need to look into his mind to read the trust pouring from his eyes, the admiration, the love. She studies him, taking in the moles spotted across his face, the way black strands of hair catch in his eyes and he tries desperately to blink them out, the uneven shape of his lips, the jagged scar, red and purple, that she'd marked him with because she had only seen the monstrous actions, not the man behind them, the man Han loved.
I love you.
They could have a future with more nightmares, more tears, but also more hope, more dreams, and it could be good. His hazel eyes are alight with possibility. That's a hope worth having.
She leans in and kisses him, relishing this moment, this hope, this dream.