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Cassian made sandwiches and left the two of them there in their little house, their home. Pouring them some minty tea, Bodhi fidgeted absently before sitting down. They made some more small talk until Luke mustered up the courage to ask the question that had been bothering him all morning. Pointing over Bodhi's shoulder he attempted for casual and asked,
"Who are they?"
Bodhi's eyes went suddenly, impossibly wide. Shocked, he glanced quick to his right then back at Luke.
"You can see them!?!"
Luke nodded and Bodhi shot upright, wooden chair clattering against the stone floor, his eyes flickering over the space next to him.
"Chirrut, he can see you!"
The blind man spread his arms wide, smiling.
"Ah, young Skywalker marvels again with powerful insight into the Force."
"Kriff, you can, you can see them?!"
Luke nodded and received a look of pure awe.
"I thought- All this time I thought! Force, I thought they were all in my head!"
The days and weeks of calm shot up now until Bodhi felt giddy and high.
"But they-they're really here!?"
He wondered if he might be dreaming.
"You can see them?" he asked again.
"Well, just the one. The other is just kind of…" Luke gestured vaguely. "Around."
"I'm right here," grumbled Baze.
"Even I can't see you," was Chirrut's mocking reply.
Bodhi knew Baze's response more than he heard it.
"You're blind."
Luke grinned. "And I can only barely see him. Voices come through loud and clear though."
Chirrut started singing, ridiculously off key.
Baze muttered, "Well at least that's someone to talk to besides this old fool."
Waving a hand absently Chirrut said, "Oh you barely talk anyway."
"You're not just saying that?" Bodhi asked Luke, sounding incredulous.
Suspicious, he thought of Jyn.
"Sometimes, sometimes people... pretend." He chewed on his lip. "...To make me feel better."
"No, I wouldn't do that," Luke insisted.
Struggling to describe the ghosts so Bodhi would know he wasn't lying, he said,
"A man in robes."
He tried hard to make out what he could. The one he could see was foggy. The image flickered, but not like a holo. It faded in and out of existence, no particular pattern to it.
"With a staff. Skinny."
He squinted, as if that would help, seeking them out through the powers of the force.
"And next to him a presence… warm and… solid."
Luke's brows furrowed.
"In a… a metaphorical sense, I guess." he added, shrugging.
"You hear that Baze." Chirrut poked twice at the air. "Solid."
"They're real," Bodhi murmured, astonished.
He was smiling so wide his cheeks hurt, skin pulling at his scars in ways he wasn't used to, but he didn't care.
"You can hear them. You can see them."
He barked out a laugh. Pulling Luke out of his chair, Bodhi squeezed him into a tight embrace.
"I'm not crazy!"
Hands fluttering, he was laughing in earnest now. Once he started he couldn't stop. Kay would say he was manic, probably, but this was different. He had spent so long with the guilt of wondering, of hoping. This felt so… so amazing, to know that he hadn't made it all up. To know that the guardians had actually been with him, all this time. They were here, right next to him. They were really here. Luke Skywalker had said they were here.
Luke was chuckling a little too, blushing, glad he could make someone else so happy with something so simple, when Bodhi suddenly stopped. He sucked in a sharp breath, the joy dropping out of his features. His demeanor changed entirely, eyes intent, serious.
"What about-Is their anyone, anything else?" he asked, all mirth lost from his voice.
Luke got the sense that this was what Cassian had meant, earlier. His smile faded at the change in atmosphere, force ghosts solemn now.
"Just the two," he answered, a little confused.
The pilot was nodding vigorously but he looked scared, eyes darting around the room like something evil was lurking in the shadows. With the way a chill settled into the once warm, cozy hut, Luke could almost believe there was.
Bodhi kept searching. "Yeah. It…it's not… here right now."
The man didn't sound sure.
"I mean, it's always here, but not here, not, not…"
His hands were tugging at his hair, running over the scars on his right side, distressed.
"It's not here," he whispered.
"The Force is with me…" Chirrut was chanting again and Bodhi let it calm him somewhat, the words like waves, melodic. "I am one with the Force and the Force is…"
"It's not here," Bodhi repeated more confident this time.
He took a deep breath, gave a shaky exhale.
"It's not here, but…"
His eyes locked on Luke's.
"But when it is I need you to tell me."
Bodhi's voice was urgent, hand too tight on Luke's shoulder, metal fingers digging in.
"I need you to tell me if it's real."