#yijing

“It is true that there is nothing which makes you, in essence, more significant than anybody else. The distinction is that you are more significant to me. If you want me to tell you why precisely… well, why do we care for anybody?” Jing Yuan’s eyes slid over to Yiju. “I’m sure you would like to answer that love is a survival mechanism, ultimately evolved to improve our own chances of survival, and there is certainly truth to that. It’s entirely possible—one may venture to say probable—that there is somebody out there who is a better match for me, and likewise for you; yet we have our unique history, and our unique experiences, and in the entirety of the universe, the history we share belongs to ourselves only. If the universe is truly all a matter of random events and chance encounters, does that not make the fact that we found each other even more beautiful?”

“More beautiful, perhaps. Or, just as likely, as mundane and unremarkable as any two people who ever encounter each other.” 

Jing Yuan sighed. “You do not have any faith in anything, do you, Yiju?”

At this, the hints of a smile curled at Yiju’s lips. “For once, Jing Yuan,” they said, “you’re wrong.”

Jing Yuan drew closer, intrigued. “Oh?”

“A few years ago, you would have been correct. It’s true I don’t have faith in the Aeons, no, nor people, but… I recently found something I could rely on.” Yiju placed a light hand on his chest, above where his heart resided. “I have faith in you. In your goodness. In your ability to keep moving forward without losing your kindness.”

For a moment, Jing Yuan’s lips parted, but no words came out. Then he smiled and closed his hand around theirs, so that both rested above his heartbeat. “Whether you believe it to be unremarkable or not,” he said, “I am honoured to have happened to stumble across you, Yiju.”

♀ Symbol of the air-world and the earth-world (Birds and serpents.) In the centre a flower with a golden star.

“Little physical evidence of Srivijaya remains. There had been no continuous knowledge of the history of Srivijaya even in Indonesia and Malaysia; its’ forgotten past has been resurrected by foreign scholars.