“Have you fought?” she asked as she looked up at him.
He returned her gaze and wondered if the truth would disappoint her.
“Not yet,” he answered honestly.
He waited to see if she would think less of him for being idle while her brothers and so many here risked their lives for their kingdom.
“Oh,” she replied and looked back to the rain-soaked flowers she had been watching glisten in the moonlight.
“Does it make me less of a man?” he asked in concern over her opinion of him. “Am I less than your brothers?”
She quickly looked up at him and forced the swing to stop with her foot.
“Of course not!” she said firmly. “Many brave men have stayed behind to safeguard their homes and the kingdom in other ways. Such men make the supplies our soldiers need. I’m certain you have your reasons for not fighting. You’re obviously not a coward.”
He breathed deeply and couldn’t resist petting the back of her hair affectionately. She seemed willing to see all possible sides to an issue and not make rash judgments. He wanted to tell her if it were his decision, he would have joined the fighting to support his kingdom as soon as his age allowed. Instead, his father insisted on preserving his life for a marriage alliance to secure much needed medicine.
She wasn’t wrong in that aspect. The herbs in this medicine aided the soldiers in healing much faster than new medicine that only worked half of the time. Even this enemy kingdom didn’t have access to it.
He began thinking of the wedding again and his blood ran cold. This marriage was necessary but if he could find a way out of it, he would do whatever he must. He found his wife in this tender girl beside him. He only needed to think of a solution to solve the ramifications of calling off the wedding.
“I’m sixteen now,” she revealed, changing the subject.
She realized she had once again said too much to this stranger who could repeat her words to the wrong people. She hoped she hadn’t endangered her brothers.
His gentle caress over her hair sent a warm feeling down her back, making her notice for the first time how the night air had become colder. She tried to move closer to him without him noticing and becoming bolder with his attention.
“Ah,” he replied, returning his hand to the rope and pushing them once again. “Twenty-one,” he responded with his own age. “My birthday is in autumn. We celebrate during the Moon Festival.”
“I love the Moon Festival,” she replied looking up at him again. “You may think I’m strange, but I like talking to the moon.”
She waited for him to laugh but he surprised her by replying, “I do, too.”
They stared at each other for a while in silence until she decided to tell him about his mask.
“I made your mask,” she revealed.
He tilted his head in question and she continued.
“I tell stories and this one about a black butterfly and a white crane became a favorite of my mother. I like to do fun things only I know about for the festival each year. This year, I dressed as the white crane and made this mask for the vendor to sell on my behalf. I wanted the adventure of finding the buyer. I never would have guessed the person would find and rescue me,” she laughed.
He touched the mask to feel the beads and smoothness of the ink. The coincidence of his appearance at the festival on that night, buying her mask, and then meeting her could only be explained as Fate.
“Can you tell me the story?” he asked eagerly.
“Hmmm…” she thought carefully. “It’s a love story. Do you really want to hear it?”
He laughed and nodded.
"Absolutely," he replied as he continued pushing the swing.
“There was once a small young crane that didn’t know how to fish,” she began. “No matter how hard she tried, she always failed. If she wanted to eat, she had to catch bugs or pick at fresh roots and greens.
One day, as she was flying low looking for a bug, she saw a beautiful butterfly. She was mesmerized at how its solid black wings glistened in the sun as it flitted among the white flowers.
She decided not to eat this butterfly. It was far too beautiful. She thought she would keep it, instead, but as she flew closer, the butterfly dashed away in fear and she fell to the ground.
She tumbled over and over until she finally came to a stop, her wings spread out around her and a trail of feathers to show her clumsy descent.
As she lay there crying at the embarrassment, the butterfly appeared above her and stared for quite some time. She sniffed and watched as he landed on a tall blade of grass to get a closer look.
‘Go away!’ she sniffed, certain he was only there to tease her in her present predicament.
The butterfly smiled at her shyness and replied, ‘I wanted to see if you were hurt and offer my assistance.’
The crane tilted her head over the grass where she rested and glared up at the butterfly silhouetted in front of the sun.
‘What could you ever do for me?’ she asked in a huff.
The little butterfly heard laughing near a tree and saw other cranes making fun of her.
‘Are you going to let them tease you?’ he asked.
She continued to look upward without moving, too afraid of doing something else foolish for their entertainment.
‘It’s my own fault,’ she said softly. ‘I can’t fish and all I can do is eat bugs. Today, I couldn’t even do that right.’
She let tears slide down her feathered cheeks and tried to ignore the laughter.
‘Can’t fish?’ he repeated. ‘How can a crane not know how to fish?’
She sighed and answered, ‘I’m afraid of drowning. When I put my beak in to catch a fish, I feel the water rush around and it scares me. I’m just a little crane, so it doesn’t take much for my beak and nostrils to fill with water.’
The butterfly felt more pity for her now and asked, ‘Have you tried fishing in shallow water? A lot of little fish swim near the pebbles.’
‘I’m too clumsy,’ she replied shamefully, though his compassion was beginning to put her at ease. ‘When I try to catch them, my beak slams into the rocks and I get hurt. Sometimes, my big feet get in the way and I slip on the algae.’
The butterfly looked over at the cruel cranes still making jokes and thought of a way to help. If he could teach her to fish, she would stop eating butterflies and perhaps even grow stronger and larger so those cruel cranes could never tease her again.
‘If I promise to help you, will you promise not to eat me?’ he bargained.
She looked over at him again as he moved closer onto a lower blade of grass. He was almost beside her eye now, and he looked even more handsome than when she first saw him. She nodded quickly and rose to her feet.
‘But how is a little butterfly going to teach me how to fish?’ she wanted to know.
‘Follow me!’ he instructed and they flew together to the side of the stream. ‘Wait for me here,’ he said. ‘When you see a fish, do exactly as I tell you.’
She watched him fly out over the water for a while until suddenly, he turned and raced back toward her. He was flying so fast, she wondered if he was going to fly into her face.
At just the last minute, he flew upward and a large fish leapt out to grab him.
‘Catch it!’ the butterfly ordered and she caught it in her beak. ‘Bring it to shore!’ he ordered as he flew back around.
She did as she was told and quickly dropped it onto the rocky ground.
The butterfly landed on top of her head as she stared at the first fish she had ever caught.
‘I did it!’ she exclaimed! ‘I really caught a fish!’
‘Do you want to catch another?’ the butterfly asked and she eagerly nodded her head.
They returned to the stream and repeated their fishing technique several times more until there was a large pile of fish on the rocky bank. The other cranes had come to watch and were amazed at her new skill.
‘I’ll share them with you,’ she told the others. ‘This is too much for me.’
The other cranes looked at one another with guilt. They had always teased her and hurt her feelings, but now, she was offering them these fish she earned herself.
She pushed the fish in their direction when it seemed they wouldn’t accept the gift, and they humbly took one each and flew away.
When everyone was gone, the crane turned to the butterfly fluttering around her head and asked, ‘Why did you help me? I might have eaten you like I have so many other butterflies, but you helped me.’
The butterfly rested beside her as she nestled into a clump of flowers and replied, ‘I helped you so you would stop eating my kind and you could properly feed yourself.’
She responded with a simple, quiet, ‘Oh.’
‘And because you are the most beautiful crane I have ever seen,’ he continued.
She quickly looked down at him as he perched on a flower.
‘Me?’ she replied doubtfully. ‘I’m not beautiful,’ she argued softly. ‘I have no red feathers like the other cranes, and the feathers that are supposed to be black are dull grey. I’m, also, smaller than any other crane my age. I’m the ugliest crane in the world,’ she sniffed.
The butterfly flew up to her beak and landed so she could see him. ‘I may not know much about feathers and what other cranes your age are supposed to look like, but to me, you are the most beautiful crane here. When I saw you swooping down to catch me, I thought you were a heavenly fairy. At that moment, I was willing to be eaten if it meant I could be close to your heart.’
The crane’s eyes filled with tears. No one had ever said those things about her.
‘I wasn’t going to eat you,’ she admitted. ‘When I saw you, I thought you were too beautiful to be crushed in my mouth. I wanted to be your friend, but then I tripped and made a fool of myself.’
Before the butterfly could say any more, a star soared across the dimming sky. They both watched as it disappeared into the light of the full moon.
‘Make a wish,’ the butterfly said and they both closed their eyes and secretly prayed to the heavens for the same thing.
They each wished that in the next life, they would return as two cranes or two butterflies or even two humans … any form that would let them be together forever after.”
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