Author's Note; Personally, I place this in my DCAU fic'verse. However, it doesn't contain any of those characters. It's just Jonn's love, remembering how they met. Can be placed in any universe.
Disclaimer; I don't own any of these characters, if I did, I wouldn't be so poor :(
Her family had been lost in the purges after Tianamen Square. Her husband had been a teacher, their two children had been students. She had escaped the violence, they did not.
She wondered everyday why she had lived and they had died.
They met in a simple restaurant underneath her apartment. She had used the last of her family's savings to open it. Every waking moment was spent in the little restaurant, the customer's happy faces kept her from remembering. One customer in particular seemed out of place, so she began to talk with him
Somehow, the conversation with the polite gentlemen turned into a long night. They talked about everything but themselves. They talked about the places he had traveled; Africa, Antartica, and everywhere in between. She said she hadn't traveled since her husband died.
He didn't leave until the shop re-opened in the morning.
When she woke up that evening, he was there. He had quietly been sipping on some black tea when she came down. One of her waiters told her he had been there most of the afternoon.
She smiled.
It wasn't until the restaurant closed that he told her of his family.
When he described Mars, it sounded like a place she had only seen in her dreams. His daughter sounded so much like her own Jiao she had begun to cry.
He held her stiffly at first as she cried, and then slowly relaxed his arms around her. He soothed her in a language she didn't know and somehow... it helped.
She excused herself in a hurry and climbed the stairs alone so she could cry her grief in peace.
When he returned the next day, she excused herself by saying that she had many things to do. He nodded, and stayed all night regardless.
She asked one of the waiters to close while she crept up her stairs, again alone.
He showed up again, and she began to wonder if it was just the tea. It was this time, he pulled her aside and told her not to be afraid to cry. He told her it showed great courage to speak her pain, that he admired her, because for so long, he could not speak his own.
Then, he asked her if she would walk with him.
They walked most of the city, and all of it in silence. It was something they both wanted; this quiet acceptance.
Soon, it was a ritual; After tea, they would walk.
She asked him if he had anywhere to go. He nodded, saying he had many places he could go, but the only place he felt at ease was in her presence.
Then, he kissed her.
No, it was not the stars and electricity she had once felt when she was a young girl and her husband first kissed her. This was something she needed more in her life now. This warmed her very soul like a red wine.
He stayed with her now, only because he didn't want to leave her. She let him stay, only because she didn't want to be without him.
Only with him, did she understand the meaning of the proverb;
"A gem is not polished without rubbing, nor a man perfected without trials"