Narcissus
Title: Narcissus
Pairing: Dean / Cas
Rating: PG
Warnings: Dean is an old man and a character's death is mentioned
Summary: “Grandpa, tell us about the man you loved.”
“Grandpa, tell us about the man you loved.”
Little faces shining with anticipation and curiosity.
“I told you a million times. But for you, my darlings, there is always one more time.”
Two little, fragile bodies sitting on old, shaky knees.
“He was beautiful. Hair like the most valuable silk and eyes bluer than the deepest ocean. The sun itself was envious of the brilliance of his smile…”
“The sun itself?” A frown upon a smooth child’s face.
“The sun itself.” A smile curling in the bloodless lips that remembered well the heat of this sun.
“I saw him. Lost in thoughts. Lost in being on earth. I knew he was mine.”
“How could he be…”
“Shut up! Let grandpa speak!”
“You are right. He was not mine. I was his. Already in this first second, I was his.”
A sigh from deep inside an old man’s soul. Memories long cast aside demand attention.
“He was proud. Merciless was his desire. An angel ready to sin.”
“An angel…?” A breathless whisper, big brown eyes filled with awe.
“Fallen from grace. Hurt, alone and dangerous. No longer able to love.”
Little fingers touching a wrinkled cheek. Catching a single tear as if it was a diamond.
“Never fall in love, my two little darlings. This is my life’s bottom line.”
“What happened next?”
“He was by my side and yet I was alone. And while I aged he remained as beautiful and pure as he was on that very first day.”
Half blind eyes revive the unearthly beauty… and the arrogance that went with it.
“I loved him more with every year and with every year I hated him still more.”
“I love you, grandpa. I will never hate you.”
A lugubrious smile on the old man’s face. The innocence of childhood. All too soon to be lost.
“In my pain I made a wish: Let him feel unrequited love. A cruel god had mercy.”
Two children holding their breaths.
“A walk in the forest. A pond, untouched and pure. While he is drinking he beholds himself, reflected in the mirrored pool and loves…”
“Himself?”
“Himself with all his being… Nothing but an image, a shadow. Tears fall and disturb the untouched surface of the water. And he understood…”
A smile, half regretful, half cruel. Memories of an angel in despair.
“His vigour left with every yearning sigh. Even his death was a symphony of beauty and purity.”
Little mouths open, shocked by the sudden, yet so well-known end.
An old man’s heart beats strongly, blood flushes back into shrunken cheeks. How sweet was love and sweeter still redemption.
“But this is just a story, grandpa, isn’t it?”
“Of course, my dear… just story.”
Old eyes wander to the vase on the table.
As bright as the sun it shines.
The narcissus.
