Drabble: A Letter to Wandering Companions (Firefly; Inara)
For orange_crushed, since ordinary words fail me when I try to express my thanks. Forgive its triteness.
Set after Serenity.
Inara. PG. She takes a different road.
Flowers fall, flowers bloom, and the time
is chosen for them by the god of the East.
- Yan Rui, 'To the Tune of "Song of Divination"'*
A Letter to Wandering Companions
Nearly a whole season has passed since I left Serenity. I hope the equinox saw you and your sister well. Here there are friendships to heal and fences to be mended, neither of which can be accomplished with haste. I am learning how to be happy again in this place that was my sanctuary.
On the planet, summer thunder shakes the boughs of osmanthus, but the stars that greet me appear constant and unchanging. It is natural that the affairs of men are somewhere between. I will not lament what is unalterable. Storms in isolation, no matter how violent, will not always be enough to make stubborn Prospero fix his ways.
My patrons welcomed me back with their usual generosity. Embroidered silk robes and heavy drops of jade, painted instruments and boxes of scented wood, quickly filled my once-unadorned quarters. Every once in a while, one will express polite interest in our recent fringe activities. Only time will tell which of these efforts will bear fruit. However, if Mal still fancies life in the training house as one of seclusion, a retreat from the world and all significant affairs, I am sanguine that I shall yet prove him wrong.
Our friend in Ariel conveyed your last letter with unfailing competency, so I do not fret whether this note will reach you in kind. Good intermediaries are like the thrice-spoken for bride, difficult to win, so please remind our captain of the need to treat him gently. I would prefer the bearer of any future letters I may soon have occasion to send to remain trustworthy.
The lamp is starting to gutter, and the warm night makes ciphers of my ink-strokes. Dear friend, take care of yourself, and your charges. My love to each one of them. Know that I look forward to the day when our roads shall meet again.
Inara Serra
31 May 2009
*Translated from the Chinese by Tony Barnstone and Chou Ping. Yan Rui was a registered courtesan at Tiantai in 12th century China.
Set after Serenity.
Inara. PG. She takes a different road.
Flowers fall, flowers bloom, and the time
is chosen for them by the god of the East.
- Yan Rui, 'To the Tune of "Song of Divination"'*
A Letter to Wandering Companions
Nearly a whole season has passed since I left Serenity. I hope the equinox saw you and your sister well. Here there are friendships to heal and fences to be mended, neither of which can be accomplished with haste. I am learning how to be happy again in this place that was my sanctuary.
On the planet, summer thunder shakes the boughs of osmanthus, but the stars that greet me appear constant and unchanging. It is natural that the affairs of men are somewhere between. I will not lament what is unalterable. Storms in isolation, no matter how violent, will not always be enough to make stubborn Prospero fix his ways.
My patrons welcomed me back with their usual generosity. Embroidered silk robes and heavy drops of jade, painted instruments and boxes of scented wood, quickly filled my once-unadorned quarters. Every once in a while, one will express polite interest in our recent fringe activities. Only time will tell which of these efforts will bear fruit. However, if Mal still fancies life in the training house as one of seclusion, a retreat from the world and all significant affairs, I am sanguine that I shall yet prove him wrong.
Our friend in Ariel conveyed your last letter with unfailing competency, so I do not fret whether this note will reach you in kind. Good intermediaries are like the thrice-spoken for bride, difficult to win, so please remind our captain of the need to treat him gently. I would prefer the bearer of any future letters I may soon have occasion to send to remain trustworthy.
The lamp is starting to gutter, and the warm night makes ciphers of my ink-strokes. Dear friend, take care of yourself, and your charges. My love to each one of them. Know that I look forward to the day when our roads shall meet again.
Inara Serra
31 May 2009
*Translated from the Chinese by Tony Barnstone and Chou Ping. Yan Rui was a registered courtesan at Tiantai in 12th century China.