RTYY 239 – To Be In Love
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“Sacred Heavenly Envoy! May we ask that you bless our union?”

Snow looked at the young man and woman standing before him. They both looked nervous and a bit flustered, but the smiles they had on their faces were warm and bright.

Union?, he wondered, and his gaze fell on the young couple’s hands.

Twice he had been asked to bless newborn babies. Apparently the people in the village believed that, if he were to pray for good health and fortune, the Heavens would actually listen to him and grant their wishes. He wasn’t all that sure of any of that, though. But, if it made them happy and grant them peace of mind, then there was probably no harm in doing as they requested. But … a union?! What was that supposed to mean?

A warm chuckle filled the entire room and he immediately knew that he was being mocked … yet again.

“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure he’ll be present at the blessing ceremony. Of course the Sacred Heavenly Envoy is more than willing to pray for your happiness,” LanWan1Literally lan (white) + wan (fire). replied without a care in the world, and the young couple shared excited looks before they bowed down so deeply that Snow could only see their backs.

“We’ll be eternally grateful, Sacred One!” the man declared and they quickly and timidly rushed out of the room.

“Is that all I’m supposed to do?” Snow asked, turning back to look at LanWan the moment the two youngsters were gone. “Pray for their happiness?”

Sitting on a wooden armchair, LanWan looked extremely relaxed, one leg hanging over one of the chair’s arms, his head leaning back in a way that his red ponytail almost reached the floor. By now Snow had already learned that that was hardly the proper way for one to sit down, since he had seen LanWan’s mother scold him for sitting like that more than once. Such repeated scoldings had, apparently, held no visible effect.

Still with that amused smile on his lips, LanWan propped an elbow on his knee and rested his head on one hand to better look at him.

“Well, I guess you could add fortune, and a future, healthy, large family.”

Snow frowned, trying to memorize his words, and LanWan laughed at his serious expression.

“You really don’t have to worry about it all that much. Just say whatever feels right to you at the moment.”

“I wouldn’t know what is right or wrong to say. So of course I’ll worry.”

“That’s because you have no idea of what they were talking about, right?” LanWan easily guessed and Snow looked towards the door, from where the couple had left, still holding hands.

“I know that they looked happy together, so praying that they may always find happiness sounds like the right thing.”

“They looked happy because they’re in love.”

“In love?” Snow repeated, turning to look at him, the light of the burning lamp placed on the table right next to LanWan dancing in his amused, bright, green eyes. “What’s so special about that? Didn’t you tell me that, even though your parents decided to sacrifice you to the Gods for the good of the people, they still loved you very much? And that, as a norm, people belonging to the same Household will love each other because they’re all part of the same family? Isn’t love a very common feeling?”

“Well, I guess it is,” LanWan agreed but, by the way his lips crooked up, Snow knew that, somehow, there was still something else he wasn’t quite understanding. “Even when people get angry or argue with each other, if they love each other they will soon reconcile and go back to being in good terms with one another. Now that I think about it, love is probably one of the most lasting and enduring feelings one can hold in their heart. Only hatred and vengefulness can probably last that long as well. But in the case of those two, the love they share is different from every other love.”

Snow tilted his head in confusion.

“Different? Isn’t love all the same? You said that when you love someone you want them to be well and happy. You want to help them in any way you can, and you want to protect them when they’re in danger.”

“That’s right. And the more you love someone, the more you’re willing to do whatever it takes to make sure that happens. It can even make you willingly sacrifice your own life, if it’s for the sake of your loved one.”

“Is it not so with the love those two have for each other?”

“No. Quite the contrary. In their case it’s even more so,” LanWan replied and, faced with Snow’s earnest but confused expression, an amused smile stretched his lips. “People love their friends, their parents, their children. They even love their home and their land. Some people love the animals they care for and the crops they grow. They are willing to care for the things they love. They are willing to give those things their time and attention. And they’re even willing to sacrifice themselves to make sure those things remain safe. But the love those two share is on a different scale.

“Even though we have our families and our friends, even though we love them and are loved in return, in the end we still feel very lonely and incomplete. You can say that we’re too greedy, but that kind of love alone isn’t enough to make us truly happy. And so we’re always searching for a special someone. Someone meant only for us. Someone that will truly know our heart and mind, and that will love us even knowing that we’re far from perfect. Someone that will accept us for who we are and that will be willing to be with us for the rest of our lives, sharing every moment good or bad, laughing and crying together. Those two have just found that special someone in each other. They have decided that they want to be together until death comes and claims them. Obviously, their friends and families are extremely happy that they have found such coveted happiness. And so they will hold a celebration to announce to the world that, from now on, those two are like one single person, and to share their happiness with everyone else.”

Snow pondered about that for a moment, and his gaze inevitably found his way to those mischievous green eyes again. To want to always be together … was that what that kind of love meant?

“So they want me to bless their union …”

LanWan took a deep breath a stood up, lazily stretching his body.

“Since they found something special that they want to hold on to for the rest of their lives, it is only natural that they’d be afraid that something might come and steal it away. And so they’re basically asking you to ask the gods to watch over them and protect them from anything that might want to steal their happiness.”

Snow nodded.

“It makes sense … Though I doubt the gods will listen to me, or even care for such matters.”

“You are the Sacred Heavenly Envoy,” LanWan declared, rising one hand to touch Snow’s face. His hands always felt hot, Snow thought, but it was hardly an uncomfortable feeling. “You’re the Blessed One, the Sacred One” he went on and, for once, his irreverent smile faded away, all playfulness gone from his eyes, making him look unexpectedly serious and intimidating. “You descended from the Havens in a burst of blinding light. It’s unavoidable that they will think like that. That they will want to kneel at your feet and adore you like the holy being that you are. Only I want to keep seeing you as just another person. Because if you do become that holy being, I’ll no longer be able to stand next to you, to touch you. You’ll be forever out of my reach.”

Snow held his wrist and pressed that warm hand harder against his cheek. He didn’t want that either. He wanted to be able to keep talking to LanWan, keep seeing him laugh, even when he knew he was mocking him for his lack of common knowledge. He wanted to be able to walk beside him and to follow him wherever he might go. He wanted to be able to feel his warm hand caress his cheek and his gentle fingers braid his hair. He didn’t want to be some unreachable, untouchable holy being. He really wanted to stay beside him for the rest of his life. And he was willing to do whatever it took, to sacrifice whatever was needed, to make sure that would happen, that nothing could come and still that happiness away from him.

Ah, another of Snow’s strange dreams ?

 

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