A Rare and Resilient Blossom
PARS2017 Days 1 and 2: Flowers and Spring Feelings
NOTE: I've been really busy of late but I still wanted to participate in PARS2017. I don't have the time or energy to write for all the prompts but I can manage one short piece for two prompts so that's what I'm going to do. So just some short scenes with Arslan and Étoile, as usual. This one I've had the idea for since I first read the prompts and I'm quite pleased with it, even if I know next to nothing of botany. That never stops me.
And though I've used this Mulan quote in another of my stories, it was for a different fandom anyway and I really felt that it fit these prompts perfectly.
So, please enjoy and let me know what you think!
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"This particular species can survive even the harshest of winters," Arslan explained, pointing at the small, white buds that appeared at the tips of the slender branches.
If one did not look closely enough, one could almost miss them. But they were there, two bright spots in an almost barren land. Étoile watched the Parsian prince as he admired the small flowers that flourished even in seemingly impossible conditions.
The prince had decided to take an early morning stroll and had invited the Lusitanian soldier to join him. Étoile was curious about what the unusual young man wanted to look at but she always enjoyed his company and did not refuse. There was a certain peace that came only during the first hours of dawn and though there was still a slight chill in the air, the frost that had covered the land had already begun to thaw. Arslan had knelt down beside two large rocks where his keen eyes had noticed tiny flowers blooming between the cracks.
"Whenever these flowers appear, it's a sure sign that spring is finally here," he added cheerfully, "And whenever spring begins, I always feel that things are on the mend."
Étoile nodded in agreement. It did seem like a perfect moment to bid farewell to the cold and unforgiving season that had brought them all such challenges. But though they had not emerged unscathed, they had overcome the worst of it, and the arrival of spring seemed to be the reward for their resilience in the face of adversity.
"It's been a long and difficult winter," the prince said with a sigh, and his expression turned grave.
He seemed to be remembering all the hardships they recently endured, the battles they had had to fight, the people they had lost, and the heavy price one had to pay for every victory. He was not one to take things for granted. A shadow seemed to fall over his face as these painful memories occurred to him. But the moment passed.
"But I'm glad we all made it through somehow," Arslan said with a smile, and Étoile was surprised by how relieved she was to see him regain his happy demeanor. She was beginning to realize that she did not much like to see him sad. She dared not admit what this truly meant but she could not deny it.
She had once compared the prince to a flower, beautiful and delicate, fragile and weak. But she realized that this had been an unfair assessment, both of him and of flowers in general. She had come to learn that there were those, like these white, Parsian blossoms, that could withstand the greatest of hardships.
She had begun to appreciate the substance behind his beauty. There was nothing superficial about him. He had strength and honor and wisdom, such rare traits in a world full of men vying for power. She had seen so many of them. But none were like him. And for this she was all the more glad she had been given the opportunity to get to know him. And she felt proud to be standing by his side on such a lovely spring morning.
"I read somewhere that the flower that blooms in adversity is the rarest and most beautiful of all," Arslan said pensively.
As he said this, he glanced once more with undisguised admiration at the small, white flowers he had found. He did not notice that his companion's gaze was focused on him and had their eyes met at that very moment, much would have been revealed.
"I think I know what you mean," Étoile said simply.