Timeless

"You are beautiful."

By Sarcastic Innocence

Chances are, this is completely historically inaccurate.

"You are beautiful, Jao," I hear him mumble softly above me I feel as his long pale fingers threading through my hair. "If I could, I'd ask the winter to preserve your beauty forever, like a crystallized flower." Amethyst eyes lock into mine. He leans over and kisses me gently. I can feel the warmth of our naked bodies press together. His arms wrap around me, and we lie like this for hours.

I feel a shiver up my spine. That phrase. Painful memories return to me.

"Aniue, you are beautiful," I hear him mumble softly, "a lycoris blossoming in a red river in winter." Soulless black eyes pierce into mine. A flash of dark crimson and silver catch my eye. He brings his sword to his lips and licks my blood away from the blade. He sheathes his weapon as he turns to walk away. I lie in the cold, alone, for hours.

"You are beautiful," I hear him mumble softly, "like a blooming dyed red by a nightingale." Though my hazy vision, I can see bright green eyes look into mine. He kisses my lips as gently as I heard his voice. As he leans back, I see a flash of dark crimson behind him. I hear my little brother call for me. I reach out for him, but he is out of my grasp. What has he done to me? I see him take my little brother away. I try to get up to follow them, but instead, I simply fall over. I lie like this under the shade of the tree for hours.

I am beautiful. I have been for a long time. Four thousand years have passed since I was born, and my radiance has not faded. Fallen slightly from the greatness I was once, yes, but it is to be expected.

"You are beautiful." How many times have I heard that, and then been betrayed?

I've been told this by one of my little brothers. He is the oldest of all my siblings, and the quietest. We spent much time alone together. I thought times like this would never end. I was wrong. He turns on me, after all we have been through. The wound leaves a scar on my back, which remains to this day.

I've been told this by the foreigner from the far west. We made love under a large banyan tree. I taught him of our festivals and our culture. He returned the gift by taking advantage of me in a drugged state, taking my secrets and my closest little brother away from me, back to his island home. The banyan tree is now gone, and in its place, a British warehouse sits, now abandoned.

"You are beautiful."

I've grown to hate people telling me that.

And now…

His amethyst eyes fill with worry. He feels me tremble under his arms and wraps me tighter. My vision begins to blur, but I blink the tears away. I will not cry. Behind him I see the cherubs watching us from the dome. The scent of our love surrounds us as he gently pulls me off the altar table.

"Are you cold?" he asks me worriedly while he drapes his coat over my shoulders after we are re-dressed. He's much taller than me, and the hem of the heavy coat drapes onto the floor.

It is winter outside and the weather is chilly. Even in this building, it is cold. In just my cheongsam, I would definitely freeze. But I notice that all he is wearing now is a tan sweater.

"Won't you be..." I begin quietly as he buttons up the coat. In it, I can barely move. He smiles. "I'll be alright." He wraps his long scarf around his neck. I feel myself being lifted off the ground. I lean my head on his chest. With a laugh, he continues, "As long as you are here, Jao, I will be warm."

"You are beautiful," he says again as we step out into the cold. Large fluffy snowflakes drift from the heavens onto my lap.

"Like the gentle snowfall on a winter day, you are beautiful."

He will never know about those memories of betrayal I have of that phrase. I know he will not become one of them. Instead, he will become a timeless memory, one that softens the pain.

And because of him, I will no longer hate that memory as I used to.

Note:

All of them refer to Yao as a flower.

Russia's "crystallized rose" refers to the fact that items frozen in ice will stay preserved until the ice melts.

Japan's lycoris flower refers to the lycoris radiata (red spider lily) which blooms near cemeteries in China and Japan during autumn. The flowers are also used during funerals. They represent the afterlife and, at times, eternal separation.

England's red rose refers to the story The Nightingale and the Rose by Oscar Wilde, where a nightingale kills herself to dye a white rose red so a student can win the heart of the woman he loved. However, she rejects him, telling him that another man has won his heart with jewels instead of flowers.

China's Banyan tree represents the way sensual desire overcomes humans in Buddhism belief.