The Legend of the Blood-Love. Part I
There is the world. Beneath it lies space, stretching on for an infinitesimal distance and above it, surrounded by a swirling chaos of galaxies and oceans, lies Tengoku (heaven). Home to the Gods, origin of existence, Palace of the Creator and resting place for higher spirits; the heavenly plane existed before the world we know. Like the first wafts of fragrance from the smallest blossoms in Spring, it is in the early years of it's existence in which the tale of the Blood-Love unfolded.
Gods lived in peace together, undisturbed by the wars that went on in the planes beneath them, unperturbed by the swelling storms encompassing the mass that would later become Earth. They lived like the lull of a bird's first song, swaying in the melody of grace. Until, of course, Renai was found.
Born from the light of a pole star, she came with reckless charm and beauty to rival even Kichijo (Goddess of fertility, beauty and luck). Dubbed the goddess of spiritual grace, eloquence and love, Renai tore through the hearts of Gods as delicately as a Spring breeze shakes blossoms from a cherry tree. She bought chaos, jealousy, pleasure and rage to the Gods of Tengoku and it did not sit well with the Creator. He grew tired of her antics; hypnotising and enslaving other Kami (Gods) with her loveliness, it was difficult to run a civilisation with the likes of her fluttering around!
In a moment of utter frustration at Renai's anarchy, the Creator made the moon and tied her to it. Outside of the world, he left her in isolation so that she may wallow in solitude and no longer entice other Gods with her mischief.
Without her, paradise seemed lost, stars lost their glimmer and Gods grew fat and lamented her long lost charm.
A young God, Senso, a warrior who travelled far from heaven, had never encountered Renai for he had gone into battle only a day before she was found. He returned to his homeland to find it barren and forgotten. Senso was told of Renai's incarceration and grew curious; who was it that could have come into the world and created such havoc only to be missed when she left? Senso went in search of her.
He found her hidden in a star, singing softly, a silver thread made from the Creator's hair was wrapped around her ankle and chained her to the moon. Everything about her captivated him, as she stared so innocently and coyly from her cage to see who it was that came to meet her. The first moment they met he asked her name and that was it; when she answered he left.
Senso returned many times to meet with Renai, whose humour and mischief both soothed and enraged him. A warrior with a fierce temper, he often left her calling after him when he grew angry with her. Often he would stop talking to her for days and return demanding an apology. Their arguments shook the moon itself; cast it in shadow for when Renai frowned the stars cowered. Sometimes, for Renai had a temper not unlike his own, she would ignore him, play with the clouds and blow away stardust, make him look like a fool with a twist of a few words.
One day Senso approached her and, as she called to him with a smile, without a word he took her in his arms and kissed her. Well, Renai had never felt anything quite like it. How dare he touch her without even greeting her!? How dare he stop?! Senso told her he was going to take her home and, just like that, he cut the silver thread from her ankle and unleashed her from her celestial imprisonment.
Upon returning to heaven, Senso and Renai were called in front of the Creator. Renee fell to her knees and begged the all-powerful god to let her by their affection, the Creator granted her wish.
Following her restoration as a kami, Senso and his beloved began a relationship that mimicked both the ocean and the sky; thunderous, calm, gentle, beautiful and terrifying. They fought moments before making love, they hated one another moments before embracing and they could not live without one another.
This is the mark of blood-love. It is the phenomenal ability of love to throw aside barriers, to mar the lines between opposites and see them be born out of each other. When mortals find themselves in the torturous cycle of love coming from hate and hate coming from love. Of pleasure coming from pain and pain coming from pleasure, they are said to have reached the state of paradise that Senso and Renai found themselves in. They are said to have reached a heavenly love; that only experienced by gods.
One cannot say at what stroke of the clock's hands did the delicate and chained Ai fall in love with Gaara of the desert. By which moon did she glance upon his handsome face and realise her heart was no longer in her own keeping? And in what treacherous world did the two young lovers find themselves in, that they could not escape together? Love was only an ailment to them. A wound preventing each from living their lives. This red, defected, remorse of love was unbearable. It made them enemies, lovers, warriors, victims and without their consent, without respect for his station, it tied them to one another.
With bowed heads, Gaara and Ai sat either side of a white curtain that divided a courtyard in two.
The Kazekage was surrounded by his family, mentors and those who came with the Prince. Nobutara sat to his left, completely unaware of the Kazekage's sombre mood. Gaara was lost in thoughts unknown, irresponsive to his surroundings, his siblings tried their best to lighten his mood. Nothing worked, as they suspected. Gaara's mood now was effected only by her.
As though struck by a lightning bolt, Gaara's attention snapped upwards as the instruments began to play. The tune was unlike how Gaara was feeling; it was playful and happy, it was not a song he thought Ai would be singing. Nonetheless the curtain rose and there she sat, with a small smile on her face, dressed in moonlight, sparkling in the sun. She looked straight to the prince before gesturing to the dancers behind her to come and sit close as though she were about to tell a story.
"Sat in starlight I went unnoticed by the world,
Imprisoned for having cities of men fall at my feet,
I was left to wallow in loneliness
Until my gaze fell upon him."
Gaara looked over to Nobutara who sat with a smile as Ai pointed to him.
"A handsome stranger came with a gust of wind that shook the waters,
He found me sat in starlight, down by the riverbank,
And threw pebbles to catch my attention!"
The women surrounding Ai, all dressed in shades of blue, giggled as though she were really recounting the tale of her love. Gaara scoffed; Ai's aloof manner made everyone fall in love with her! Gaara was angry. He couldn't understand it! Why was she acting like this? She was supposed to be hurting too, wasn't she? Or was he being irrational? The damned curse of his childhood constantly left him second guessing his feelings.
Ai stood with a twirl.
"I spied him through the dark waves of the night
And beckoned him closer
As he told me of his victories in worlds far off.
He reeled me in with tales of war and poetry from beyond the stars." The women all looked off dreamily as Ai gestured to the skies.
"Before the rogue in him snatched me in the nighttime
And twisted my arm behind my back
With such force the bangles I made from moonstone broke!" With a fake look of surprise Ai had all eyes on her.
"Upon our next meeting his demeanour never faded;
His cruelty knows no bounds;
I grow restless at the sight of him
And beg him not to come close,
But my heartless lover never listens;
He pulls at my hair and teases me so."
"Whenever the flute of heaven signals the doors to open,
I shrug and put on a farce to show I did not welcome his company.
But my mischievous anklets begin to chime to the rhythm of the flute
And my desire to see him is unmasked.
Last I saw my cruel lover,
He pulled me in and whispered words I shall never forget,
Words that gave me meaning,
Words that gave me freedom." Ai's sweet voice broke a little, as she sang the last line and looked to the floor.
"And just like that; he was gone." Love stilled in the night.
"Oh, stranger, I beg of you, do not leave me.
Oh, stranger, I beg of you, do not forget me." Ai looked up to the Kazekage but he had averted his eyes.
"If you ever stumble upon my imprisonment again,
Set me free, cruel one, dark one, heartless one."
The drums continued to play, the string instruments continued to shower the night with a flurry of notes that sounded like twinkling stars, as Ai walked determinedly up to Gaara. Fiercely as though going in to battle, she walked to him with no regard for the wishes of the palace. The music seemed to be building to a crescendo; the dancers behind Ai were twirling, the courtyard was a mess of blue and white as the girl dressed in moonlight approached the audience.
"Lover, do not leave me." She sang and came to sit in front of Gaara and the Prince. "Dark one, do not forget me," the audience watched in bewilderment as Ai took the prince's hand in her lap.
Courtesans held their breath for they knew what was about to happen. Most women from the royal and shinobi courts were familiar with the practice too and waited to see what the prince would do. Ai raised her right hand to her face and, with her little finger, wiped some of the kohl from under her eye. The drums built their pace, the dancers twirled, Ai lowered her finger to his palm.
"Oh, stranger, do not forget-" Everything stopped. The drums stopped. The dancers almost fell mid-twirl. Someone had grabbed Ai's wrist to prevent her from marking the prince. The dancer's eyes travelled upwards to see who it was that had stopped her. Her gaze met dark rimmed opal eyes and she let out a sigh; has it come to this, Gaara?