drabblewriter

 Bodhi is dressed, his bags packed, standing near the door. Galen's message is in his boot.

The man himself watches steadily.

“I guess this is goodbye, then,” Bodhi says, trying to feign more bravery than he feels.

A gentle smile slides on Galen's face as he steps forward, taking Bodhi's hands in his own. “Can I tell you something before you go?”

“Of course.” Bodhi squeezes his hands, curious about what Galen's last words to him will be. Probably willing the Force to be with him, or making him swear to be careful.

It isn't any of that. “Have you ever wondered why humans were created with a pair of eyes, a pair of hands, a pair of ears – but only one heart?”

Bodhi can't help but smile, too, picking up on his tender tone. “Why is that?”

“The other was given to someone else for us to find.” Galen's hands cup his face and pull him in for a soft kiss.

Bodhi melts into it, all of his fears falling away for a moment as his arms go around Galen's neck. “You're going all mushy on me,” he murmurs against his lips.

“I know you like it,” Galen answers, still just as close. Then he pulls back just enough to meet his gaze, and the look on his face is still gentle, but his eyes are serious. “Myths aside, Bodhi, I found something in you I never thought I would again, something that made my life worthwhile. I love you. And my heart will go with you when you leave here, just as surely as the Force will.”

“I love you, too, Galen.” Bodhi's lip quavers with emotion. He hadn't imagined it either, and it's so strange now to think back to the fateful day he asked a strange scientist in the commissary which line to get in and how it brought them to where they are now. “I'll miss you,” he admits, voice small and shaky.

Galen pulls him close again. “Force willing, we will see each other again. And if not...I believe, in the end, we've both done the right thing. As long as I can believe you're safe and happy, I can be content.”

Bodhi nods wordlessly from where his face is tucked against his shoulder. It already hurts to imagine leaving Galen behind here, still trapped and now truly alone as he hadn't been for so long. But he doesn't say it aloud. “Force willing,” he echoes.

Galen eases them apart, looking into Bodhi's eyes again, brown meeting brown for what might be the last time. “The Force brings everything back together in the end,” he promises.

“I believe that,” Bodhi whispers, because he has to. Because he has always believed what Galen promises him.

“Go,” Galen says finally. “And be safe.”

Bodhi backs toward the door, then darts forward for one last kiss. “Goodbye,” he whispers when he manages to pull away, and after one last, lingering look at the beloved face he prays he'll see again, he makes himself turn and walk away. The door closes between them, and Bodhi's mission begins.