（ and so he goes. finn's lightsabre is carefully tucked into a weapons pouch — though the oddity of the familiar length of it and weight is... curious.
he kept it for the man once, and gave it to him on his return. but he has never seen someone leave twice and arrive thrice in all his time here, and so holds little hope of seeing him again.
weapons are meant to be used. and while he could certainly wield the lightsabre himself — it does not belong to him, nor to his culture. but it does belong to someone else of whom he has only lately become aware.
ergo.
he knocks on the door, and enters politely when bidden, giving the man a nod of greeting as he removes his shoes. ）
Ben.
（ it's carefully, pointedly done. he knows the other name — but has a keen understanding of discretion, and as far as the ximilia is concerned, he has chosen to go by ben. ）
[ Ben appreciates it. Despite the few aboard the Ximilia who are aware of his true identity and (perhaps) the barest reasons for why he's gone by a different name, it is too otherwise complicated to have to provide explanations. Simpler to maintain his cover, especially when Ben hardly even feels like Obi-Wan anymore.
Some days Ben feels like that man had died when Anakin Skywalker did.
Now, as Itachi politely enters his room and removes his shoes, he's truly just Ben Kenobi, an old man with a complicated and colourful past, just trying to undo a regret, the same as the rest of the crew.
He nods. ]
I must admit, I'm curious as to the item you mean to show me.
It was something left behind by another Force-user. Finn.
（ he cannot say if they ever spoke. perhaps they did, perhaps they didn't. finn was not terribly social by the end, and obi-wan is hardly sociable now. but surely they could feel one another in the force, the way he has a vague, distant sense of them. chakra is not the same, but there is... an awareness of power that sits in the back of his mind that cannot be mistaken for anything else.
the lightsabre is pulled out of a hip pouch as if by sleight of hand. then, with an air of faint solemnity, he holds it out. ）
He was my friend, （ curious, to admit that so readily. ） but I have only ever intended to safeguard this until I felt there was another I could pass it on to. Will you accept?
（ the hilt is a simple one. the blade will be white, if ben chooses to activate it or can sense the crystal within. the one finn purified, worlds ago. ）
Ah, yes. The name rings a bell, and certainly that memory of the slight tug in the Force that connects all of those attuned to it, even this far out beyond the familiarities of their world.
Still, his expression remains calm and patient as ever until Itachi reveals a closed hilt weapon from his side, seemingly out of nowhere. He raises his eyebrows. It's a little crude, to be sure, and unorthodox as well, but the basic elements are all there.
It is undoubtedly a lightsaber of someone who was never trained in the ways of the Jedi, but who had some natural abilities nevertheless. Ben reaches out to touch the cool metal of the hilt, fingers folding over it a little experimentally. ]
It's not like any lightsaber I've ever seen before. This crystal ...
[ It doesn't look or feel like a Kyber crystal. ]
Has Finn left any sort of direction for the future of this object? Lightsabers, as you well know, can be quite personal. I'm willing to take it, but only if it would be lost otherwise.
No. When he first left, I kept it. When he returned, I saw that it was returned to him. I believe his resolve for remaining in this place was at its limit.
（ he wants to be wrong. but the last few conversations he had with the man were... telling. itachi has seen enough people come and go now to recognize the signs. he does not think he will return.
but there is something... wistful, perhaps, about the way his expression rests on it, deftly held in obi-wan's hands. ）
But it is a weapon. Such things are meant for use, and I have my own. If you have no interest in it, is there a custom involved in decommissioning it? If I were to leave, for instance, I would not wish it to find its way into the hands of one who knew neither Finn nor the Jedi.
Ah. I suppose it should not be surprising. Committing to the undoing of one's regret can take its toll.
[ It is, after all, a very heavy commitment, one usually wrapped up in feelings of loss and guilt and helplessness and, sometimes, anger — all emotions that the Jedi are taught not to give into. But then again, the Jedi no longer exist, so what does it really matter?
Ben shakes his head now in response to Itachi's question, pulling back only enough to activate the bright beam of white light as the lightsaber comes to life. ]
The Jedi have always been taught not to hold such sentiment in things, even our lightsabers. The task of finding one's Kyber crystal and building their own saber is more about the act of connection to the Force than it is about the lightsaber itself. Back in my world, if a Jedi no longer required their saber, they would simply leave it behind.
[ He deactivates the lightsaber and the bright light disappears with a familiar woosh. Now he lets Itachi decide whether he would rather continue safeguarding Finn's lightsaber or to relinquish its ownership to Ben, adding: ]
But if you do leave, you have my word that I will take care of it.
（ he left his own sword, once, at the boundary line of the country of fire. he had not intended to ever use such a weapon again, though time aboard the ximilia had set that intention aside. now, his own sword — murakumo, sits in his room. he practices with it again, and the weight of its blade has not broken him.
but it is a more recent memory that finds him here, curled about his thoughts like smoke. his brother's sword pressed into a dead man's hand, near enough to be a living, breathing impression. the ghost of kusanagi's silk-braided hilt is still in his palm when he curls his fingers against it.
dark eyes flicker closed. then, with a trace of easy amusement on his lips and in his tone: ）
Well, to be fair, I wouldn't be doing it for myself but for the danger it might pose to others. You've said it yourself, it shouldn't be found by hands that don't understand how a lightsaber works.
[ They're not actually toys, despite Hasbro's intentions. ]
（ he laughs. it's faint, and half a huff of exhaled breath, but it's there. it still isn't something he's terribly practiced at doing, and there's obvious rust to the shiver of sound. and yet. ）
Of course. Will you show me how to disassemble it?
（ he could very easily figure it out. he watched obi-wan, after all — or at the very least, the boy he had been building his own in those crystal caverns. he could figure it out.
but he is asking. because it is something that is important to ask. ）
[ But he certainly appreciates the respect and care that Itachi demonstrates with a tool and object from someone else's world, even not understanding the order from which said object is derived from. It's ... something he's tried for many years to make his former padawan understand, and to this day he isn't sure that he does.
But he won't be making any comparisons right now, not even to himself, in his head. ]
Do you mean to do it at this moment? We might want to head to the armory if so.
It needn't be now if there is another matter that requires your attention.
（ but perhaps that is the best solution. separating the components would render it harmless, and no one untrained in such a thing would be able to piece it back together. should finn return, he will be able to reassemble it without difficulty.
and he will stop feeling half so much like he is waiting on the return of a ghost. ）
（ he does not make any attempt to take the lightsaber back, simply turns and heads for the door, stopping only to slip on his shoes before he steps out into the hallway. once obi-wan joins him, he will fall into step beside him.
the journey does not require them speak, nor lend itself to privacy — so itachi is silent for the trek, and once they arrive at the armory he does not buck that trend, simply lets his companion take the lead. ）
[ The silence doesn't bother Obi-Wan. It might have, once, during his own youth when he had been something of an awkward padawan attempting to find his place within the Order, but he has lived with and within silence now for a decade that it feels like an old familiar friend.
It isn't out of place the way it might be for others. And he pockets the lightsaber as he walks alongside Itachi, accepting the position of lead as they pass through the doors to the armory and Obi-Wan finds a flat surface to lay the hilt upon. ]
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no subject
he kept it for the man once, and gave it to him on his return. but he has never seen someone leave twice and arrive thrice in all his time here, and so holds little hope of seeing him again.
weapons are meant to be used. and while he could certainly wield the lightsabre himself — it does not belong to him, nor to his culture. but it does belong to someone else of whom he has only lately become aware.
ergo.
he knocks on the door, and enters politely when bidden, giving the man a nod of greeting as he removes his shoes. ）
Ben.
（ it's carefully, pointedly done. he knows the other name — but has a keen understanding of discretion, and as far as the ximilia is concerned, he has chosen to go by ben. ）
no subject
Some days Ben feels like that man had died when Anakin Skywalker did.
Now, as Itachi politely enters his room and removes his shoes, he's truly just Ben Kenobi, an old man with a complicated and colourful past, just trying to undo a regret, the same as the rest of the crew.
He nods. ]
I must admit, I'm curious as to the item you mean to show me.
no subject
（ he cannot say if they ever spoke. perhaps they did, perhaps they didn't. finn was not terribly social by the end, and obi-wan is hardly sociable now. but surely they could feel one another in the force, the way he has a vague, distant sense of them. chakra is not the same, but there is... an awareness of power that sits in the back of his mind that cannot be mistaken for anything else.
the lightsabre is pulled out of a hip pouch as if by sleight of hand. then, with an air of faint solemnity, he holds it out. ）
He was my friend, （ curious, to admit that so readily. ） but I have only ever intended to safeguard this until I felt there was another I could pass it on to. Will you accept?
（ the hilt is a simple one. the blade will be white, if ben chooses to activate it or can sense the crystal within. the one finn purified, worlds ago. ）
no subject
Ah, yes. The name rings a bell, and certainly that memory of the slight tug in the Force that connects all of those attuned to it, even this far out beyond the familiarities of their world.
Still, his expression remains calm and patient as ever until Itachi reveals a closed hilt weapon from his side, seemingly out of nowhere. He raises his eyebrows. It's a little crude, to be sure, and unorthodox as well, but the basic elements are all there.
It is undoubtedly a lightsaber of someone who was never trained in the ways of the Jedi, but who had some natural abilities nevertheless. Ben reaches out to touch the cool metal of the hilt, fingers folding over it a little experimentally. ]
It's not like any lightsaber I've ever seen before. This crystal ...
[ It doesn't look or feel like a Kyber crystal. ]
Has Finn left any sort of direction for the future of this object? Lightsabers, as you well know, can be quite personal. I'm willing to take it, but only if it would be lost otherwise.
no subject
（ he wants to be wrong. but the last few conversations he had with the man were... telling. itachi has seen enough people come and go now to recognize the signs. he does not think he will return.
but there is something... wistful, perhaps, about the way his expression rests on it, deftly held in obi-wan's hands. ）
But it is a weapon. Such things are meant for use, and I have my own. If you have no interest in it, is there a custom involved in decommissioning it? If I were to leave, for instance, I would not wish it to find its way into the hands of one who knew neither Finn nor the Jedi.
no subject
[ It is, after all, a very heavy commitment, one usually wrapped up in feelings of loss and guilt and helplessness and, sometimes, anger — all emotions that the Jedi are taught not to give into. But then again, the Jedi no longer exist, so what does it really matter?
Ben shakes his head now in response to Itachi's question, pulling back only enough to activate the bright beam of white light as the lightsaber comes to life. ]
The Jedi have always been taught not to hold such sentiment in things, even our lightsabers. The task of finding one's Kyber crystal and building their own saber is more about the act of connection to the Force than it is about the lightsaber itself. Back in my world, if a Jedi no longer required their saber, they would simply leave it behind.
[ He deactivates the lightsaber and the bright light disappears with a familiar woosh. Now he lets Itachi decide whether he would rather continue safeguarding Finn's lightsaber or to relinquish its ownership to Ben, adding: ]
But if you do leave, you have my word that I will take care of it.
no subject
but it is a more recent memory that finds him here, curled about his thoughts like smoke. his brother's sword pressed into a dead man's hand, near enough to be a living, breathing impression. the ghost of kusanagi's silk-braided hilt is still in his palm when he curls his fingers against it.
dark eyes flicker closed. then, with a trace of easy amusement on his lips and in his tone: ）
Is that not sentiment, Ben?
no subject
[ Ben's expression lightens. ]
Well, to be fair, I wouldn't be doing it for myself but for the danger it might pose to others. You've said it yourself, it shouldn't be found by hands that don't understand how a lightsaber works.
[ They're not actually toys, despite Hasbro's intentions. ]
no subject
Of course. Will you show me how to disassemble it?
（ he could very easily figure it out. he watched obi-wan, after all — or at the very least, the boy he had been building his own in those crystal caverns. he could figure it out.
but he is asking. because it is something that is important to ask. ）
no subject
[ But he certainly appreciates the respect and care that Itachi demonstrates with a tool and object from someone else's world, even not understanding the order from which said object is derived from. It's ... something he's tried for many years to make his former padawan understand, and to this day he isn't sure that he does.
But he won't be making any comparisons right now, not even to himself, in his head. ]
Do you mean to do it at this moment? We might want to head to the armory if so.
no subject
（ but perhaps that is the best solution. separating the components would render it harmless, and no one untrained in such a thing would be able to piece it back together. should finn return, he will be able to reassemble it without difficulty.
and he will stop feeling half so much like he is waiting on the return of a ghost. ）
However, my time is yours if you wish it.
no subject
Well, my schedule isn't especially occupied at the moment. We could walk over there together right now, if you'd like.
no subject
（ he does not make any attempt to take the lightsaber back, simply turns and heads for the door, stopping only to slip on his shoes before he steps out into the hallway. once obi-wan joins him, he will fall into step beside him.
the journey does not require them speak, nor lend itself to privacy — so itachi is silent for the trek, and once they arrive at the armory he does not buck that trend, simply lets his companion take the lead. ）
and, again, if this is too old please just ignore
It isn't out of place the way it might be for others. And he pockets the lightsaber as he walks alongside Itachi, accepting the position of lead as they pass through the doors to the armory and Obi-Wan finds a flat surface to lay the hilt upon. ]
You're sure you want to do this?