#33 Beauty
Rem.
One of the very few female shinigami.
And the most beautiful.
Oh, not to untrained human eyes, maybe.
But to those who can see art, to those who know beauty is more than one-dimensional, they can see her for what she is.
Delicate, dainty.
Like a Ballerina in a jewellery box, turning and turning forever in time to the clockwork melody.
Pure white tinged with lavender at the ends, eyes a shade of gold so rare among the creatures of darkness, which they were.
To the untrained eye, just another monstrous shinigami.
To the shinigami, an enchantress.
And an iceberg.
Untouchable, an aura of cold all around her. As though she would break, or perhaps she would kill anyone who dared approach her.
Maybe both
And in contrast, the creature she grew to love…
Misa Amane.
A human.
The shinigami are very poor judges of human beauty, and to their eyes, there was none less deserving of Rem's delicate care.
A spindly little human, the colour of revolting life, pulsing with actual soul, real, genuine living energy. Something that disgusted the shinigami intensely.
But Rem looked at her first for her loneliness. She was so sad and frightened in a world that sincerely could not care less.
With time, Rem grew to see her beauty.
Perhaps it was time spent among the humans she so despised. Perhaps it was gentle kindness that drew her heart from its shell. Perhaps it was just that Misa's soul was indeed beautiful, and that could cross all preconceived boundaries.
But Misa wouldn't see Rem as anything more than her friend, and certainly she would never call the loyal shinigami attractive.
So they were left in a strange one-sided affair of the heart.
Whatever god or goddess there was of the uncontrollable emotion of love watched the shinigami. A smile grossed it's holy features as it realised that here, before its eyes, was proof of the power love could have.
If only, if only, just for a moment, they could see each other as beautiful. See each other for what they were.
And there was one way.
A kind of magic called 'Mirror of the soul'.
If two people who are meant to be together, gaze at once into the enchanted mirror, they will all at once see each other as they really are, as the beauty that their souls contain.
So the legend goes, only love can light the mirror of the soul.
The god waited, waited for the perfect moment, when Misa was brushing her hair in her vanity mirror, Rem watching her with curious fascination of how the strands of sunlight fell across her shoulders.
Just for a moment, that mirror into which they both stared became the mirror of the soul.
Misa's big blue eyes widened.
Behind her stood a woman. Tall, pale, clad in a long white gown, fanciful ribbons twirled around her waist and shoulders, giving her the look of an angel, with white wings.
Her hair was long and white, floating around her like a cloak, tinged with lavender, and her eyes glittered like golden stars.
She turned around and stared at Rem, but she didn't look any different to any other day.
In the same instant, just for a second, Rem saw, sat at that table, not a squirming little human…
A thing and delicate and dainty shinigami, made of lace and bone, black as night, strange trails of gold coins tied to her head, falling down her back and shoulders, her face a golden Noh mask, eyes like blue diamonds.
And then the magic was over.
"Rem…?" Misa squeaked.
Rem nodded, and had she known how, she might have blushed. "Yes Misa?"
For a moment, a moment, the little blonde model knew all she would ever need to know about love and true beauty.