There will be no summary, all you need to know to enjoy this story is:
YOU NEED TO READ MY PROFILE'S FIRE EMBLEM SECTION.
I don't own Fire Emblem.
Fire Emblem – After Dawn Series – Leanne.
Chapter One: A Promise of Mates.
"I'm telling you I'm not doing it woman! No matter how much you beg me!" Leanne was having a hell of a day, she just couldn't start to understand how Naesala could be so selfish and cold toward her after all they both had been through. But then again, Naesala was a crow, a cold and selfish crow. "I told you I'm not doing it!" Leanne cursed him using the ancient language, which Naesala remembered barely, but not enough as to understand it properly.
"They are your children!" She finally yelled in beorc tongue, which she wasn't that good at quiet yet, but had to use in order for Naesala to understand that no matter of how much he complained, Leanne just wouldn't allow him to escape his responsibilities. After all, Naesala was now a father, since Leanne had just arrived to the remains of Naesala's castle at Kilvas, with a couple of eggs at her arms, one at each arm, and informing Naesala they were his.
"In case you hadn't noticed, Leanne, we both were the last of our kind who hatched from eggs, our people evolved, we are no longer born by hatching, those eggs are empty." He informed, but Leanne just refused to believe it. "Also, our history together ended a while ago, remember the Heron King, lord Lorazieh, forbid me from approaching to you after our little adventure. And now you want me to explain to him that I'm the father of your two eggs? I'm not doing it! It would mean Tibarn tearing my wings apart and Reyson once again thinking I spit on our friendship. Thanks for everything, Leanne, but I'm not risking my neck over a couple of empty eggs! For the love of black wings! How can you lay two eggs after only spending a night together?" He complained, and Leanne blushed madly at the memories, although she was nowhere near ready to accept Naesala's behavior and allow him to escape his responsibility toward her.
"Scared?" She asked, not really finding the words in the beorc tongue to say more than just that, Naesala hated it to have to translate from a tongue to another one, so she just had to adapt to her boyfriend's ways. "Marry… Naesale… father… understand… our kids…"
"Marriage? Don't make me laugh; ours was only a little adventure." He replied coldly as usual, which only managed to annoy Leanne even more. "We were only having fun; anything else was an unfortunate side effect." And Leanne pulled his wing hard when hearing that last, forcing the king of Kilvas to the floor. "Leanne! I respect you more than anyone, but do not try your luck, woman." He informed, Leanne just delivered her eggs to Naesala. "I'm telling you I'm not going to inform this to your father, much less to Tibarn, he would break my neck. I don't even want to think about Reyson's reaction."
"Eggs are born… because of love… between father and mother…" She informed, but Naesala just rolled his eyes in annoyance. "I love Naesala" She confessed. "Naesala loves… Leanne too… I'm heron… can tell…" And Naesala's reply was him biting his lips and ignoring Leanne once again while returning to his royal responsibilities toward his in ruins kingdom. "You said… you would take… responsibility!" She informed, and Naesala felt the weight of his promise. After all, it was him who had tricked Leanne into spending the night with him. "Don't be a liar!"
"You know, Leanne." Naesala began. "Your poor selection of words is annoying me." And with nothing else to say, he began flying away and toward a group of crows preparing for a complete evacuation of Kilvas. "Nelauchi, how fare the preparations?" He questioned, and the old crow just faced away in distrust. "Answer me you old crow! Don't force me into my bad side, because you know I'm close to kicking you out of the royal councilmen." Naesala threatened, but Nelauchi just refused to face his king, but only for a second before noticing Leanne was weakly flying her way toward Naesala and finally falling to the floor, but luckily, she had managed to protect her eggs from harm. "You again? Will you ever give up?"
"Nestling!" Nelauchi yelled, and Naesala bit his lips in annoyance after hearing such nickname. "You should be ashamed, King of Crows, leaving poor Leanne on her own and taking care of your child? I never raised you to become such a horrible laguz!" And Naesala just rudely pushed Nelauchi away, not wanting to hear complaints anymore, but results. "Nestling!"
"Shut your trap, Nelauchi!" Naesala added in annoyance. "I got no child, so quit on insisting!" He yelled and then approached Vika, another of his royal crows. "You." He began, and Vika bit her lips in fear. "Since Nelauchi refuses to give me a report, you are now in charge of his responsibilities. Now tell me, how fare the evacuation?"
"Understood, my King of Crows." Vika added, but couldn't help it but feel depressed when seeing the weak Leanne trying to stand up while still holding her eggs close to her body. "Kilvas had been completely evacuated, the remaining buildings are stable, the dragon kind may be able to rebuilt them and build their homes there, we are all ready for the great migration."
"Was it so hard for you to inform that to me, old crow?" Naesala added in annoyance, and then walked around his men while resuming his order giving. "I'm sure I don't have to explain to you what is going to happen now, but I will do so anyway to commemorate the occasion. You crows and ravens are my senators and close advisors, but you will all soon lose your royalty status because of our past sins, we all knew this day would come… the day we would leave Kilvas to the dragons."
Between the many members there hearing Naesala's words, only Leanne couldn't understand him, it wasn't because of her poor knowledge of beorc tongue, but because she had to stay at bed back at Phoenicis due to her pregnancy, and Tibarn and Reyson kept everything a secret from her in order not to give the girl more worries than the ones she already had. Nelauchi noticed Leanne's confusion, and after giving it some thoughts, he decided to go against Naesala's orders, and allow Leanne to understand what was going on.
"Many had died because of the sins of Naesala's father, Leanne my dear." He explained, Naesala heard him, but instead of stopping him, he continued with his speech while allowing Nelauchi to do the explanations. "Because of the Blood Pact, we were forced to aid Begnion's Senators in ways we despised. And in order to erase our sins, Nestling has accepted Hawk King Tibarn's idea of an unified bird clan at Serenes Forest, and both Kilvas and Phoenicis are going to be completely evacuated, and handled to the dragons of Goldoa."
"That's enough, Nelauchi, it's about time you shut your beak!" Naesala added in annoyance, and Nelauchi just delivered a hurt stare to his king. "Leanne shouldn't be troubled with such thoughts; the herons should only care about their galdars and never about politics."
"Bully!" Leanne yelled hard in annoyance, and Naesala just faced away in defiance, ignoring his one night only girlfriend, and the two eggs product of such adventure. "Naesala… coward!"
"You don't even know the half of it! Think whatever you like of me, Leanne, I have more important business at hand than taking care of a couple of empty egg shells!" Leanne felt like crying, Naesala was just so mean with her, she just couldn't believe it. "We are leaving, gentlemen, long life Kilvas!"
"Long life Kilvas!" Vika and her men yelled out, even Nelauchi joined such yell even when his disgust over the Crow King's behavior was intensifying. "Follow me men, we fly to Serenes Forest, long life Kilvas! Long life Naesala, great King of Crows!" And Vika and her men transformed, and once they did, they left Kilvas, and allowed Naesala to have some alone time with both, Nelauchi and Leanne.
"Despicable…" Leanne added, tears drowning her eyes, and some feathers plucking out from below her golden hair, something that only happened whenever Leanne was truly annoyed at something or someone. "Naesala… bad…"
"You didn't seem to complain when we spent the night together!" He yelled back, and Leanne just blushed madly at the memories. "Seriously! You can be a total pain sometimes, now move, I'm not allowing you to fly on your own all the way to Serenes Forest." Naesala added, and Leanne stared at him with confusion evident in her eyes. "Nelauchi, help Leanne with her empty eggs. After giving birth, herons grow weak, she won't be able to make it to Serenes Forest without help." And once again, Leanne just stared at Naesala, and felt her chest invaded by his feelings, which revealed he actually cared about Leanne and her eggs, but there was something hidden in his feelings, a deep fear, one Leanne just couldn't understand. "Move it you two!" He added extremely angry, Leanne had never actually seen him losing his temper like this.
"Nestling! Do not yell at the heron princess, you are being disrespectful!" But Naesala ignored the old crow and just began flying away in the form of his crow self. "I'm sorry my dear, I don't know what has gotten onto him." Nelauchi informed. "Ever since Tibarn and Nestling had a meeting involving the evacuation of both of their nations in favor of a Unified Bird Clan at Serenes Forest, Nestling just hasn't being himself. He grew aggressive and selfish, he just isn't the same Crow King we knew." And Nelauchi then transformed into a crow, and took both of Leanne's eggs in his talons, one at each one and then began flying away.
"Naesala…" Leanne mentioned with sadness evident in the tone of her voice, and then transformed into her heron self in order to try to catch up to the groups of retreating crows and ravens. The whole time she tried to understand what was wrong with her mate, since in the past, both used to be closer than nowadays.
There was once a time when Leanne and Reyson used to be under Naesala's protection and not Tibarn's one. During those days, Naesala's father hadn't signed the Blood Pact with the Senators from Begnion, and his kingdom was free to coexist with the other bird clans.
Naesala was a close friend to Reyson, and there was no doubt on him having feelings for the young princess Leanne, back then about 15 years of age, only 3 years younger than Naesala. She knew nothing about beorc tongue, but it wasn't needed since back then everyone spoke in heron language, the Serenes' Massacre hadn't taken place yet, and the world was immersed in a deep peace.
"For Naesala! A crown made of flowers!" Since the heron language was unique, Naesala could understand it easily, and his relationship with Leanne was an easier one, with her always giving presents to the arrogant Crow Prince, who would usually be embarrassed at her behavior. "Since Naesala is just a prince, he will have to wait for a real crown to adorn his head, until then, I'm going to adorn it with flowers!"
"Honestly, can you be even more childish than this?" Naesala wondered, no crow could actually believe how Naesala could fall so low. But then again, back then Naesala had no reasons to become a ruler, or be arrogant and selfish and always looking for the welfare of his kingdom, since he was just a prince, and barely interested in politics of any sort. "I hate this crown." He admitted, but Leanne just ignored him while hugging him from behind. "You are hurting my wings!" He complained, but Leanne just loved him so much and couldn't help herself, and even Naesala had to admit, that he couldn't hide his feelings from her. She was a heron, and there was peace, she could read him easily as an open book.
"When we grow up, Naesala will be my mate!" Between laguz, it was easy to make such promises, they could only say yes or no, laguz only had a mate, and would respect that mate forever. If he were to accept, then it would be his promise for life, such as marriage is supposed to be between the beorc kind. If he were to say no, Leanne would have to insist no more, unless Naesala were to change his mind, it was that simple between laguz. "Will Naesala, be my mate?" She wondered, but as a heron, she already knew the answer, at least the answer in his heart.
"Seriously, you are 15 years old, asking that question is grownups stuff." He tried to ignore the question, but Leanne already knew the answer, Naesala was just too shy as to admit it, and her peaking his cheeks wasn't helping in the less for him to admit it. "My father, the king, would never approve it." He tried to change the subject again. "He wants his son or daughter to be born a crow or a raven, not a heron." But he still wasn't saying no.
"What is on Naesala's heart?" She wondered, and the Prince of Crows just blushed madly. "I already know, but for it to be official, you have to admit it." She kissed his cheeks again, teasing him even more. Only a yes, and Naesala would promise to be her mate for the rest of their lives. "Will Naesala be my mate?"
"If you already know the answer, why do you keep bothering me?" He pushed her away rudely, and Leanne linked her arms together, some golden feathers even popped from below her hair, which meant she was getting mad at him. "I will be your mate." He finally said it, and ever since then, they had promised they would spend the rest of their lives together, and sealed their promise with a kiss, a soft one at their lips, and rubbing their noses together following the breaking of the kiss, such was the way the birds accepted their mates.
Back then, Leanne couldn't be any happier, and back then, Leanne never imagined, that in only a year after their promise was sealed, the Serenes Massacre would take place. And she would sleep for many years, protected by the forest and while Naesala transformed into his colder and arrogant self.
Nowadays, Naesala wasn't even half the caring crow he used to be, but Leanne and he had made a promise, they were mates, even when Naesala didn't want to admit it. They even had an adventure, as Naesala liked to call it, and she gave birth to a couple of eggs, they were supposed to live happily together, but nothing was like before, Naesala just refused to accept her.
"I still… love you…" She admitted before having to land to rest her already tired wings, she morphed back to her more beorc-like self, and stretched her winds trying to wake them up. Nelauchi landed shortly after noticing Leanne had stopped for a rest; they were now on Begnion, but a day away from arriving at Serenes. "Tired…" She spoke out in beorc tongue.
"I understand, my lady Leanne, but it's the Crow King who you need to convince." And after his words arrived the Crow King, his eyes shining with annoyance, and scaring Leanne, now holding both of her eggs close to her chest. "Nestling, do not yell at her, it is my fault, I am old and tired."
"Shut your trap, Nelauchi." Naesala complained, and then stared at the already shaking with fear Leanne. "We will spend the night here." He instructed, and Leanne just stared at him with curiosity. "Nelauchi, get some berries to eat, it's starting to get colder, it's not healthy for Leanne and her eggs."
"Right away your majesty! I knew you would come to your senses." Nelauchi added with happiness evident in the tone of his voice and while flying away, Naesala just approached Leanne, and offered his hand to her.
"You care…?" She wondered, and Naesala never gave her a reply. Instead, he just pulled her rudely, and forced her to carry both eggs with only one of her arms. "It hurts…" She complained, but Naesala never cared and continued pulling Leanne around, he searched between various trees, and even placed his hands around the branches and earth, and once he found a warm place, he forced Leanne to sit by the roots of a tree, one tall enough to protect her from the wind, and with roots long enough for her to rest her back against them. "Naesala…?" She asked, a faint tone of hope in her voice. "You are my mate…" She added.
"I'm not." Was his reply, and Leanne's eyes watered at his words. "It was only an adventure… you were asleep for many years, Leanne, many things changed… I thought you had died, I forgot everything about our promise, and I swore I would live for Kilvas, and Kilvas alone." She sobbed; she just didn't want to believe in his words. "Don't give me that sobbing, you were supposed to have died, what did you want me to do?"
"How can you be so terrible?" She yelled out in perfect beorc tongue, and Naesala was surprised to hear her words. "I don't care…" She cried, and hugged her eggs close to her chest. "Naesala is my mate… we promised…" And her tears kept falling. "You said you would take responsibility…" And Naesala lowered his head, it was then when Leanne noticed, Naesala was depressed, she could tell.
"I lied…" Was his reply, and Naesala began walking away. "Now sleep, it is important for me to make it to Serenes tomorrow in the morning, and I will do with you, or without you, I owe you nothing, I'm not your mate, and I seriously am not the father of those eggs." After such words were said, Leanne felt her heart shattering once again, she wanted to hate him, but he was her mate, she just couldn't hate him.
Instead, she began singing her galdr, as if lulling her eggs into sleep. Her song was relaxing, it was beautiful and calm, and even when her heart was wounded, her voice helped her remain at peace, and she slowly began falling asleep.
In her dreams, she saw herself, a year from now and at Serenes Forest after the war against Ashunera had taken place. Naesala was by her side, holding hands, and both with smiles adorning their lips.
"This is it." She heard him say, and she jumped a couple of times in happiness when hearing such words, everything was happiness between the heron and the crow, since today, they were choosing their tree.
"Beautiful…" She added in beorc tongue, and Naesala pulled his chest out being proud of her words, the heron girl giggled, she couldn't be any happier, Naesala was keeping his promise, they were going to mate today. "Anxious…" She admitted, a blush adorning her face, and Naesala just placed his hand around her waist.
"This tree will be our nest." He instructed and then punched the tree. "It will resist storms, it's branches are strong as well, and during winter it will have pink leaves covered by snow, call me whatever you want, but I remembered you liked pink." And Leanne giggled several times at the thought; Naesala could be such a romantic mate in his own particular way. "Our nest won't be at the outside, the insides of this tree are hollow, we will have protection against the wind, a perfect place to raise our child."
"More anxious…" She expressed her feelings, she was actually feeling uneasy, this was the day they would seal those vows they promised when Leanne was 15 years old, even Reyson had approved it, even when the king of herons denied their love. "Happy…" She added, and the King of Crows just smiled.
"Just don't expect me to be at Serenes all the time." He began. "Nest here or not, I'm a king, and I need to return to Kilvas for politics, I can't give you the attention you need." Leanne nodded, understanding him perfectly; after all, he was king of his kind.
"You promised…" She reminded him; her wings moved a couple of times in anticipation. "We are mates…" She insisted, and Naesala did nothing but blush. "Promise me…" She continued. "You will take responsibility!" She added cheerfully, and Naesala bit his lips in annoyance.
"Damn heron! There is no war! You already know the answer!" And Leanne giggled at his reaction. "Of course I will take responsibility." And they sealed such promise with a kiss, just as they did when she was only 15 years old. Today, they were going to mate, and the beginning of their new life would begin.
Leanne woke up with tears in her eyes; the memories of such night just wouldn't escape her mind. She loved Naesala, they were mates, and after their night together she got pregnant and afterwards laid a couple of eggs. But also, that same day, Naesala escaped from her life, he placed his attention to Kilvas, and never again on her, he even denied being the father of her eggs.
When she woke up she thought it was still dark, but she was sweating, the night was actually quiet warm. Just then she noticed it wasn't dark, but something was blocking the sun. Light was filtering by the apertures of a black surface, and Leanne moved her hand trying to find out what it was. When touching it she felt feathers, and these feathers moved aside when feeling her touch.
"Naesala…?" She wondered, and the Crow King began walking away. "You helped me… eggs are warm…" But the proud Crow King ignored her and continued his walking until reaching Nelauchi, he then kicked the old crow and woke him up.
"What is…?" The old crow began. "Nestling! That's just rude!" Nelauchi complained, but Naesala never cared, he just stared at the skies, his eyes determined as he gave the others his back. "My lady Leanne, you are finally awake." Nelauchi added while walking her way. He then offered several berries for her to eat. "Yesterday was one of the coldest nights, the forests of Begnion are cold, even during summer. I just hope your night wasn't that cold, it wouldn't be healthy for you or your eggs."
But Leanne was actually soaked wet with her own sweat, she had spent a warm night, and she knew why, Naesala had used his wings to cover her and her eggs, and when hearing him sneeze, she just knew he had sacrificed his health in favor of hers.
"Naesala!" Leanne called; the Crow King just ignored her while cleaning his already running nose. "You are sick…?" The Crow King remained in silence and began flying away, not even wanting to transform into his laguz self, which meant he was in no conditions to do such a thing. "I know you care…" She added, her eyes once again in tears. "But I don't understand…" she continued. "Why ignoring me as your mate…? Why not accepting your child…?" She continued asking, but Naesala just ignored her pleads. "You are a father, and I'm your wife…" She begged, but he only gave her a deaf ear.
"I'm sure Nestling got his reasons, my dear." Nelauchi added, and then flew after Naesala, with both of Leanne's eggs on his arms. "We will just have to wait and see, perhaps the Crow King will understand, if we are just patient and give him some time."
Leanne found it best to agree, and after eating some berries, she flew after her mate, forever worried about his state.
It took them half a day to arrive to Serenes Forest, and when they did, they found Naesala gasping for air. It was no secret to anyone that he was sick, his nose was still running, and he was coughing because of the flu.
"Naesala!" Leanne called, she was worried, but the Crow King just pushed her away and began walking away. "What's wrong…?" She asked again. "I'm your mate… you can tell me anything!" She begged, but Naesala just pushed her away once again, this time rudely, and forcing the girl to trip and fall.
"For the last time! I'm not your mate! I don't care about you, or those damn eggs! Just leave me alone, Leanne!" The girl felt like crying once again, but instead of flying away, she accepted Nelauchi's help and asked him to deliver her eggs back to her. "Seriously, why do you have to be such a pain, no matter how many times I push you away you keep coming and calling me your mate… you leave me with no choice." He added with tears in his eyes, and Leanne feared for her life, Naesala was a crow after all. "I have to survive." Was everything he said. "Curses! I'm sick and haven't got a moment to rest because of your weakness! And now I have to survive! I was planning on allowing him to tear me apart!" And just then, everything began to make sense.
At a clear of Serenes Forest, Hawks and Crows were reunited, all in a huge circle, arguing and yelling, there was no order, but there was no war between the clans either. Between the crows was Vika, a worry-full look drawn on her face, her men were also serious, and Leanne was about to understand their reasons.
The Hawk clan was chanting Tibarn's name, Janaff and Ulki yelling harder than everyone else, the Hawk King Tibarn was in the middle of the circle of crows and Hawks, Reyson and Sephiran were by his side, all of them waiting for the moment when Naesala would show up.
"I heard it from Ulki." Tibarn spoke out, and both the crows and the hawks went into silence. "He heard you say you were planning on allowing me to tear you apart." He finished, and Leanne's eyes widened. "I told you I was going to show you no mercy, but if you, Crow King, think I will go easy on you because of you dying as a martyr, I assure you that won't happen, you will have a slow and painful dead." And Leanne felt like fainting after such words were mentioned, even Nelauchi was surprised, apparently, he had no idea of this confrontation ever taking place.
"So, I suppose Reyson was unable to convince you into sparing my life." Naesala added, a smile on his lips, a smile Tibarn was unable to understand. "I suppose it can't be helped then, but things are different now, Tibarn." He added, and the king of hawks waited. "I was supposed to die today, and clear my sins toward my clan, allowing you to claim complete control over the Unified Bird Clans." And Leanne quickly made it to Naesala's side, her eyes in tears, and begging for him not to do this in ancient tongue, since she didn't want to waste any time into trying to translate. "That was before, Leanne, now I choose to live, since I have two eggs I wish to see hatching." The heron girl smiled for her mate, only Naesala couldn't smile back, much less when hearing Tibarn's laugher.
"Clever, you are talking as if you even stood a chance!" The King of Hawks added, and Naesala pushed Leanne away, only this time he did it softly. "Many died because of you, Crow King, and today we will battle to settle the score down. Only one lives, and whoever it is, will be King of the Unified Bird Clans!" Tibarn transformed, his giant hawk form revealing to be awfully strong, he even launched himself against Naesala not wanting to waste any time, and Naesala barely dodged after transforming into his laguz form.
"Naesala!" Leanne begged, she was ready to transform into a heron and follow him, but Reyson ran to his sister's side and prevented her from transforming. "No! He is your best friend! He is my mate!" She begged.
"I tried reasoning with Tibarn, Leanne." Reyson explained. "But it was impossible; Tibarn just wants Naesala's head!" Leanne tried to fight back, but Reyson, as a male heron, was a little stronger than Leanne, and prevented her from taking flight.
"Last time you escaped me, Crow King! This time you won't be that lucky!" Tibarn continued with the pursuit, he even slashed one of Naesala's wings and forced him to lose some feathers, but even when Tibarn was stronger, Naesala was faster, and could keep away from Tibarn enough for him to cast his crow's magic, a magic only him as a royal crow could wield, and launched green torments against Tibarn, who was slowed down and hurt, but nowhere near defeated. "Your tricks won't save you forever, I will tear you apart!"
"Maybe you will, but I won't fall without a fight!" And Naesala flew against Tibarn, he slashed his wings, but Tibarn grabbed his talons with his, and both giant laguz birds began falling down and toward the grass of Serenes Forest, both scratching one another, trying to hurt the other one badly enough to escape the fall unharmed while the other one crashed, but in the last second, Tibarn got the upper hand, and it was Naesala the one crashing at the grass and breaking a wing.
"Naesala!" Leanne cried hard, Naesala was badly injured, enough for him to have to transform back into his more beorc-like form. His left arm was broken, same as his left wing. "Please, Tibarn! No!" She begged when seeing Tibarn landing and approaching Naesala, a killer look drawn on his eyes as he approached the Crow King, and then he began pulling his wing, he was dead serious when he said he was going to tear him apart, and Naesala was yelling in pain when feeling his wing breaking. "I beg you! Please stop! Naesala!" And moments before Tibarn could tear his wing off, the Hawk King stopped. "I'm begging you." Leanne cried hard. "Forgive him!"
"He killed many hawks!" Tibarn yelled, he wanted to hurt Naesala so badly, the blood he had stolen from him wasn't enough, he wanted him dead. "He sold Reyson to a sick senator! He back stabbed my people when we needed him the most!"
"He is my mate!" And Leanne kept crying, and kept trying to reach Naesala even when Reyson was grabbing her so strongly. "He is also Reyson's best friend, and he used to be your friend too!" She was even speaking clearly in the beorc tongue; such was her worry over her mate. "He is a father! A husband! Don't kill him!"
And Tibarn breathed several times trying to control his temper; he just couldn't hurt Leanne like this, no matter how much he wanted to see Naesala dead. And so, he just kicked his ribs hard, probably breaking a couple, but sparing the crow's life.
"I am the King of the Unified Bird Clans!" Tibarn added, and Naesala just began shaking with pain. "This is the last time if spare your sorry life, Naesala, next time not even Leanne will be able to save you."
"I will keep that in mind." Naesala added before spitting out some blood. The King of the Unified Bird Clans then began flying away, followed by the hawks, and leaving the crows behind. "I can't believe I'm saying this… but I'm happy to be alive." Naesala added, and Reyson finally allowed Leanne to run to her mate's side. "I love you Leanne, I love you so much as to wanting you to hate me so you wouldn't be so sad when Tibarn had killed me! I actually always wanted to live to be a father, Tibarn just wouldn't let me."
"Stop talking, Naesala." Reyson instructed. "We need to clean your wounds; Tibarn almost tore your left wing apart." Both Leanne and Reyson began mending and cleaning Naesala's wing and arm, some crows even flew in search of medicines and herbs, Naesala was in an awfully deplorable state, but when he fainted, he did it with a smile.
It took Naesala a week to be able to leave his bed, and the whole time Leanne took care of him, and Naesala was finally able to return his feelings for her. It would take a whole month for Naesala to be able to fly again and perhaps two more months for him to be able to transform once again, but that never stopped him from climbing their nest and getting it ready for a life with Leanne.
The heron girl couldn't be any happier, since she knew the crow she fell in love with when she was only 15 years old was back. Naesala was once again caring, and since his position as a king was stolen by Tibarn, his whole worries were centered in his wife.
"Do you remember the day we mated here?" Naesala wondered, and Leanne blushed but nodded while holding her eggs close to her chest. "Back then there wasn't even a nest here." He added while pointing at the huge nest he somehow had managed to build with only a useful arm and wing. "And now we have two." And he pointed at a smaller nest, where Leanne carefully placed her eggs. "My father always wanted a crow grandchild; he was always against the idea of us mating in fear of his grandchild being born a heron."
"Father dislikes crows too." Leanne added in not such a good beorc, but good enough for Naesala to understand. "Romantic!" She added, and Naesala rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Bully!" She pulled his wounded wing, which of course hurt him a lot.
"Damn you Leanne! Tibarn was unable to tear my wing apart! But you are close from doing it! Quit pulling my wing!" Leanne just giggled at him. "Curses! I can't even get mad at you." And Leanne then jumped on top of Naesala's back, just as she used to do when she was 15 years old. Only this time Naesala was wounded, and both his wing and ribs complained in pain before he fell on top of their nest. "Leanne!" He yelled in annoyance.
"Naesala, loves me?" She asked, once again in bad beorc, and Naesala just faced away while blushing. "Do you?" She asked again.
"Freaking heron! There is no war! Of course you know the answer!" But she wanted to hear him say it, and she kissed his cheeks several times trying to convince him into saying it. "Damn you, of course I do!" And Leanne kissed him deeply, and then forced Naesala to return the kiss, they were now together, and with two eggs waiting to be born, and Leanne, couldn't be any happier.
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