A/N: I... have no idea when I originally wrote this. I found it in a collection of FE stories that I dug out from the dark depths of my computer. I'm guessing it's from late-2014, but I can't be sure. I'm fairly sure no-one reads (or writes) Radiant Dawn fanfiction nowadays, but I figured there's no point in not posting it, so here we go!

(I did not edit this thoroughly and haven't played RD in ages, so please excuse any errors.)

Forgiveness

The moon was a waning crescent that night. It hung low in the sky, surrounded by small pinpricks of whiteness – the stars, shining down upon the barren mountains and sharpening their edges with cutting stripes of shadow. It was a beautiful evening and there was hardly a whisper of wind to disturb the air. Kilvas itself was not an attractive country by any means, encircled as it was by horrible razor-sharp peaks and vertical cliffs that fell into rolling grey waves and whirlpools. The mountains seemed to climb up and up forever, like giant spears pointing at the sky, and even the strongest raven had difficulty flying as high as their summits.

Kilvas was not appreciated by the other laguz clans. King Tibarn never visited unless it was of dire urgency, his dislike of the country fuelled by his simmering hatred for Naesala (which had only partially abated after the Goddess War). And the herons weren't really any different. Rafiel was polite enough about the whole thing but even he failed to find any words to compliment the stark, ugly scenery that surrounded him. Reyson made no attempt to hide his distaste. He still considered King Naesala to be a friend (most of the time), but that didn't mean he had to enjoy visiting the Ravens' desolate country.

And Leanne? Well... everyone had to admit that the young heron princess never passed up an opportunity to visit Kilvas.

'It's a nice evening,' she hummed in the ancient tongue, letting her feet dangle over the edge of the roof. She was resting on top of Kilvas Hall, as comfortable as if she were sitting on a picnic blanket spread across lush green grass. Naesala was perched beside her, eyes scanning the black sky around them for signs of approaching danger, although his night vision was nowhere near as sharp as a Cat's. His wings were unfurled, quivering with anticipation.

'Why won't you relax?' Leanne questioned, looking up at him with childlike curiosity on her face. 'You know there is nothing to fear out here... not now, anyway.'

'I was thinking more along the lines of, 'Tibarn's gonna tear me into tiny bloodstained pieces if he sees us like this',' replied the raven king edgily.

Leanne's lighthearted laugh sounded like bells tinkling in the wind. He loved it when she expressed her joy so clearly. 'Tibarn will not bother us, not unless he wishes to face my anger.'

'Really?' chuckled Naesala, finally stretching out his cramped wings and settling more comfortably on the roof, one long leg crossed over the other. 'I didn't even know herons could get angry... well, Reyson excepted, of course.'

'The Hawk King,' said Leanne delicately, 'knows that he can't stop me visiting you. Not without locking me in a cell forever.'

'And you know he'd never dream of doing such a thing to one of his precious heron royals,' said Naesala. She quickly picked up on the touch of bitterness colouring his tone.

'Do you dislike Tibarn?'

He sighed. 'No. But his... over-protectiveness is starting to seriously get on my nerves. It seems like I can't even look at you without risk of getting my wings brutally ripped out.'

'He would never hurt you. He doesn't want to upset me.'

That drew a laugh from Naesala. His laugh was a rough, abrasive sound, not unlike the cawing of a huge crow. 'Tibarn is at your mercy, I see,' he said once he had regained control. 'It often feels as though the heron royal family is in charge of Phoenicis, not him.'

Leanne smiled brilliantly, exposing perfectly-even white teeth. 'Regardless, he won't stop me doing what I wish. And I will never let him harm you.' Growing solemn, she added, 'I do not know what I would do if you were hurt... or killed.'

Forcing humour into his voice, Naesala replied, 'Oh, life would go on. I'm pretty sure everyone would forget about me within a week – two weeks at the most.' He avoided saying any more, as he did not want to upset her and ruin their time together, but he couldn't help but think his words were something more than just a morbid joke. It was true that Tibarn would not hesitate to forget his existence if he died, and the three herons probably wouldn't remember him for much longer.

The thought left a bitter taste in his mouth, and it took him several seconds to realise Leanne was still talking.

'That isn't true,' she whispered. 'Tibarn does not hate you as much as you seem to think. The herons, at least, will always be on your side... Reyson has not forgotten how you fought to save the world from Ashera's judgement, and no more have I.'

'What about Reyson's kidnap and sale to... that disgusting beorc?' said Naesala, unsure why he was so desperate to find a reason for her to hate him. 'The betrayal of Phoenicis? Siding with Daein and nearly destroying the Crimean army in the first war?'

'Those deeds have been forgiven long ago,' Leanne pointed out. 'You did what was necessary to save your country. And you repaid it, a hundred times over, by helping to defeat Ashera... Besides, haven't you forgotten how you rescued me from that tower? Without you, I might never have been freed.'

'That was all done on Tibarn and Reyson's orders,' said the raven king sourly. 'I owed them a favour, and they would have torn me apart had I not agreed.'

'And I'm sure you would have come to get me anyway, regardless of their orders.'

'You know me too well.'

Leanne nuzzled closer to him, both for reassurance and for warmth; the night air in Kilvas was icy. 'Then all has been forgiven. Even if Tibarn and my brothers are unwilling to see the good in you, I always will. You are not evil. You never truly have been.' She wrapped a glistening white wing around him and closed her eyes with a sigh of contentment.

Naesala wanted to argue; there were so many flaws in her logic. What if Reyson had been kidnapped instead and Leanne had never needed rescuing in the first place? Then none of this would have happened – but something about her expression made him fall silent. She looked so calm and peaceful, as though she trusted him with her entire life. Deep down he was reluctant to believe her words, but if she wanted to believe them... Well, how could he stop her?

Leanne was one of the only people he'd ever encountered, laguz or beorc, who didn't either dislike him or hate him. Tibarn definitely fit into the latter category... and perhaps Reyson into the former? He might have been 'friends' with all three herons, but their relationships were sketchy at best and he always had the feeling that both Reyson and Rafiel had something against him, even if they never spoke of it. Leanne, though? She was a different story altogether. She had no reason to like him, other than the fact that he'd daringly rescued her from that tower prison (and a part of him suspected she'd still like him even if he hadn't done that). He didn't understand her odd fascination with him and probably never would.

Maybe she'd decide one day that he wasn't worth the trouble and start hating him like everyone else. But that didn't mean he wasn't going to enjoy her company while it lasted.

Even if it was such a bittersweet feeling.