2/11/06

Title: Unexpected Philosophy Lesson
Author: Raya
Theme: "Rarely do great beauty and great virtue dwell together." -- Petrarch
Genre: Humor
Version: Manga (post StarS / pre Crystal Tokyo)
Rating: G

Disclaimer: All characters are owned by Takeuchi Naoko, and even if she didn't create them I hereby give them to her. I have merely changed them into paper cutouts to play with for a little while.

Unexpected Philosophy Lesson

Mamoru stood in the brightly lit bedroom and looked down at his beautiful young bride. His ocean blue eyes studied the waves of pale blonde hair that surrounded her blanket covered form, the creamy white shoulder and arm that curled around to hold the pillow under her head, and the slender leg and foot that had escaped the blanket to cover the area of the bed where he usually lay. Yes, his wife was quite beautiful, he acknowledged with an exasperated sigh, but she was also quite lazy.

"Usa, get up," he tried again as he reached out to grab the blanket. "I thought you wanted to go to the botanical gardens today. It's already 10:00."

Usagi grumbled incoherently as she reached her arm out to look for the cover. It was a little too chilly in the room to sleep in just her short, light nightgown.

"If you don't get up, it will be too late to see anything," Mamoru said as he walked around the bed and reached for her shoulder. "Usagi, get up!"

Finally, she cracked open one azure colored eye and glared sleepily at him. "I'm coming, I'm coming," she yawned. "Mou. There's still plenty of time." She attempted to bury her face back in her pillow, but Mamoru expertly pulled it out from under her. "Mamo-chan!" she protested.

"Get up," he said implacably, "or I will go without you." With an irritated look, she pushed herself up to a sitting position and raked her hair out of her face. Satisfied that she was finally moving, Mamoru placed the pillow back on the bed and turned to return to his breakfast preparations.

(add ruler isn't working, darn it!)

Usagi studied her husband out of the corner of her eye as they sat in the train. Even after two years of dating and almost a year of marriage, she still liked to secretly admire his handsome face. It was even easier to do when, like now, he was engrossed in some book or other. Yes, she had to admit with a bemused sigh, her husband was quite handsome, but he could be so arrogant. "Mamo-chan," she tried again, "he really wasn't bothering me. He was just asking me some questions. You didn't need to get in a philosophical debate with him." He merely turned a page and continued to ignore her.

She sighed again, and reached out to push his book down. "Mamo-chan!"

He looked at her patiently. "He was trying to convert you to his religion, Usa. Once you started listening to him, he was never going to let you go until he got you to agree to visit one of his meetings."

"Well, maybe I wanted to. He was very interesting," Usagi pointed out.

Mamoru merely shook his head, and raised his book again. "You would have been bored to tears," he told her. "I just saved us both the trouble."

Usagi rolled her eyes at this typical response and sat back in her seat with a shake of her head. She caught the eye of an elderly woman a few seats away who gave her a commiserating smile. Beside her, her husband had his nose buried in a newspaper. Usagi smiled back, and shook her head again. The other woman nodded sympathetically.

(add ruler isn't working, darn it!)

Usagi looked at the small green plant curiously. As far as she could tell, it wasn't much to look at, but Mamoru seemed to be keenly interested in it. Sure, it had pretty leaves, but it was just green. It didn't have any pretty flowers, and its leaves were very small.

Mamoru glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, and then reached out with a smile to pick a dying leaf off of the plant. He crumbled it up in his fingers for a few seconds, and then lifted it to his face. He nodded, and then turned to lift his fingers to Usagi's nose.

She wrinkled her nose and drew back for a moment, but then decided to trust him. She leaned forward and cautiously sniffed his fingers. Her eyes widened in shock as the scent of mint flowed in to her.

"Mint is used for many things," Mamoru said softly as he turned back to the small plant again. "People use it to calm their stomachs and nerves, wake themselves up, sooth away pain, and bring sweet dreams. Some people even believe that it can bring them money. They use it in food, drinks, medicine, and as a decoration."

He smiled as Usagi stared at the little plant in awe. He gently nudged her to another plant in the herb greenhouse. It was much bigger than the mint plant, but it, too, was relatively plain to look at. Usagi smiled as she realized that it at least had small purple flowers. Mamoru reached out and, snagged a small leaf, and handed it to her. Curiously, she rubbed it in her fingers, and then lifted it to her face to sniff. "That smells like the pillow Mako-chan gave me!" she exclaimed with a bright smile.

"It's lavender," Mamoru said as he stepped over to yet another plant. "Like mint, it's good for soothing people and for eating. People also use it to scent their clothes." Eagerly, Usagi followed after him to see what other magic he could bring from the little nondescript plants.

After wandering around the herb garden for a while, they finally reached the area that Usagi had been waiting for: the rose greenhouse. With an exclamation of delight she ran up to a large, red rose and leaned in for a sniff. She raised up with a frown, and then leaned down again. Mamoru waited patiently for the question he knew was coming.

"Mamo-chan... It doesn't smell. Why doesn't it smell?" Not waiting for an answer, she walked over to a beautiful white tea rose and sniffed it, too. "That one is very faint." She walked over to a climbing yellow rose. "Ah, that one smells nice..." She turned to look at him over her shoulder with a frown. "But... I thought all roses smelled. Yours do..."

He shook his head. "No, actually most of the modern ones don't, or at least not very much. They were bred to look pretty, not to smell." He watched Usagi ponder this, admiring the contrast of her pale blonde hair against the purple roses on the bush behind her.

"So, what are roses good for?" she finally asked. "Other than looking pretty, I mean." She looked at him expectantly.

Slowly, he walked over to her and touched her arm. "Roses like this?" he asked as he reached out to touch one of the yellow roses. "They are just for looking pretty." When she frowned in disappointment, he led her over to a small bush beside the outside wall. "Roses like this one, however," he said as he squatted down, "can be quite useful."

Usagi looked at the bush with a faint frown. All of its flowers were gone, but it looked like it was covered with bulky seed pods. Mamoru reached out and gently touched one of them. "This is called a rose hip."

Usagi drew in a startled breath, and interrupted him. "That is used in English tea, right Mamo-chan?"

He gave her a startled look, and then smiled. "Yes, sometimes."

"Mako-chan told me that," she said a little proudly as she leaned in to study the rose hip more closely.

"Mmm, well, like some of those herbs we were looking at, rose hips can be used to make a soothing tea. It is also supposed to be good for you."

Usagi waited, and then turned to look at him expectantly. He looked at her curiously. "And?" she asked. "What else is it good for?"

Mamoru shrugged as he stood up. "That's about it," he said. "Tea and decoration."

She frowned in disappointment, and then suddenly looked puzzled. "But which roses do we sugar and eat? And which ones make rose water? And which ones are used in perfume?"

"Ah, I guess these can be used for that, too," he said. She beamed. It wasn't often she could correct him. "But it takes a lot of petals to do that. More than it would take to do the same with, say, lavender." She frowned again, and looked around the greenhouse. It seemed a shame that her favorite flower wasn't nearly as useful as those nondescript herbs in the other room. He spoke again softly. "The great philosopher and poet, Petrarch, once said "Rarely do great beauty and great virtue dwell together." I guess it's the same with plants and flowers."

Slowly, she wandered over to an orange rose and reached out to brush its petals. As she studied its delicate, graceful form, she abruptly decided she didn't care. Its beauty bought her joy, and that was what counted. She bent down and sniffed at it delicately, and then raised her face with a bright smile. "Mamo-chan! This one smells wonderful!"

Mamoru studied her face again, and thought of what he had just said. Yes, rarely did great beauty and great virtue dwell together, but despite her faults his wife was one of those rare exceptions. He smiled as he walked over to sniff her find.

Usagi smiled down at his dark head and decided that that poet, whoever he was, didn't know what he was talking about. She was surrounded by people with great beauty and great virtue: Mamo-chan, Minako-chan, Rei-chan, and all the others. They weren't rare at all. She just hoped that one day, she could be like them.