Sayuri

But there ARE truths, beliefs which in the face of turmoil, in the face of self-doubt, that you are unwilling to compromise.  When you have lost sight of yourself in the face of who you wish to be, there may yet be a self-image that represents what you know to be right in your heart.

Calm, polite, peaceful, and tranquil.  A gentle breeze passes us by and she has no yearning to be something that she is not, because she yearns only to be what she always has been.  She has always been with me, all of this time, but it is during the times of distress that I turn toward her most.

Because it is in these times that she shields me from both the harsh shine of the sun and the cold winter chill, and instead gently holds a lantern up against the darkness.  She need not promise warmth, nor compassion, because promises are fragile things compared to the certainty of the past.