For some reason I imagine Leanne having a French accent... So that's why she sorta has one here lol. But anyways, thanks for the mass of reviews! You guys are awesome!
Chapter 4 -- Gardens, In Which Naesala Teaches Leanne How to Say "I Love You"
Naesala slowly woke up and rolled out of bed. The raven king had difficulty falling asleep without the familiar sound of the ocean waves crashing against the cliffs. By the time he had painstakingly gotten dressed and groomed, it was already close to noon. However, he was delighted to find Leanne walking by herself through the courtyard.
"Ah, Leanne, what a wonderful morning this is!" he exclaimed as he approached her.
She giggled and asked him if he had slept well.
He honestly replied, "It is hard to sleep in such an unusual place. How do you manage it?"
She told him that the forests in Gallia were similar to those of Serenes, so it was like home.
Note to self: Add a forest in the aforementioned garden. Naesala then noticed that Leanne was carrying a book. "How are your language lessons going?"
She sighed. "It... hard," she told him. She wished she could at least say something right.
"Oh, Leanne! Don't get discouraged! Learning a new language is hard work!" Naesala took her hand. "I can help you learn, if you want."
She beamed at the proposal and wanted to start right away.
"All right, let's go over under that tree."
The weather was once again beautiful, and Naesala wished to set the right mood. They sat down under the cherry tree and began the lesson. At first, Naesala tried teaching her normal phrases.
"When someone helps you or gives you something, you say 'Thank you.' Unless, of course, you're royalty. Then you can say whatever you want, like, 'Get lost, filthy underling!'"
Leanne looked at him curiously. "Get... l-loset... fil-fee...un-der-ling."
"Aha! Now we're getting somewhere! Try saying, 'Reyson is a pretty little princess!'"
"Reyson... is... a... pret-ty... little... p-princess."
Naesala grinned. "Say that to your brother the next time you see him."
Leanne nodded and giggled, for she had no idea what that phrase meant.
"Okay, say, 'The raven king is the sexiest laguz alive!'"
"Ze... raven k-king... is... ze sek-sieset... laguz... alife..."
Oh yes he is! thought Naesala. And the cleverest.
Leanne giggled and asked him what all of that meant.
"Uh... well, that's not important right now! First let's get the basic pronunciations down."
"Ze raven king is ze sexiest laguz alife."
"Excellent. See, it's not that bad once you get that hang of it!"
Leanne quickly grabbed Naesala's shoulder and asked him how one would express affection for something. The sexy raven king found himself blushing.
"W-well, there are a couple of things you could say. Like, if you were showing affection for this tree, you would say, 'I like it.'"
"I like it."
Naesala continued. "If you were talking about something you really like with all of your heart, especially a person, you would say, 'I...'" He sighed. "'I love you.'"
Leanne replayed the phrase in her mind. "I luf... I luf..."
"Naesala! What are you doing?!" Reyson burst through the bushes. "You promised me you wouldn't teach her any dirty words!"
Naesala regained his usual smirk. "No I didn't. Besides, I didn't teach her anything too dirty. Tell him, Leanne!"
Leanne smiled. "Reyson is a pretty little princess."
Reyson groaned. "Come here, Leanne. I'll teach you some phrases that are actually useful."
"Ze raven king is ze sexiest laguz alife."
"Yes, I'm sure he thinks so," Reyson replied while glaring at Naesala. "Let's go visit Father."
Leanne got up and joined her brother. Then she turned to Naesala and giggled, "Get lost, filfy underling!"
"Anytime, Leanne!" the raven casually replied. Then the herons left. Damn, I was really close that time! Imagine the look on Reyson's face if he heard Leanne say she loved me! Naesala sighed. Well, I have two weeks. Plenty of time. He decided to go talk to Nealuchi about his plans for making Kilvas more Leanne-friendly. He found the old raven chatting with Ranulf in the castle.
"Ah, Nealuchi, there you are! I have to discuss something with you."
Nealuchi turned to him in fear. "Now what have you concocted, Nestling?"
Ranulf began laughing. "You guys are so funny! He still calls you 'Nestling'! You must be even less mature than I thought you were!"
Naesala sighed. "Yes, well, at least I don't have fleas!"
"Fleas?! Since when have I had fleas?"
"Look, I need to talk to Nealuchi, so leave us, cat!"
"It's Ranulf! Not cat!" Ranulf muttered. Then he stormed off.
"You know, Nestling, you should improve your methods of foreign diplomacy," Nealuchi warned Naesala. "I'm surprised that none of the other laguz nations have gotten angry enough to declare war on Kilvas!"
"It's all in good fun," Naesala casually replied. "Now, Nealuchi, I need you to do something for me."
"What is it?"
The raven king grinned. "We are going to build a giant garden in Kilvas, complete with a forest in the center!"
Nealuchi stared at him in shock. "B-but Nestling! Kilvas is made up of rocky cliffs! Where will we find land for a garden?"
"We'll find something! There has to be enough land somewhere! If not then I guess we'll just have to buy some!"
The old crow scratched his head. "Why, exactly, are you suddenly wanting a large garden in Kilvas? I never did think of you to be one to have an affinity for flowers."
Naesala sighed. "Of course I don't like flowers! What, did you think the garden was for me?"
"Well, I just assumed that--"
"You know what they say about people who assume, Nealuchi. This garden will be for my heron friends!"
"Prince Reyson and Princess Leanne? Goodness, this is sudden!" Nealuchi exclaimed.
Naesala smirked. "The herons rarely visit us anymore, so we need something that would cause them to want to stay in Kilvas! It isn't fair that Leanne has to live here with all these fleas!"
Nealuchi gave him a puzzled look. "Nestling, I've never seen any fleas here. Why are you so suddenly concerned about Princess Leanne having them?" Then the old crow finally caught on. "I see! You're building the garden for Princess Leanne to get her to stay in Kilvas!"
"That's what I've been saying, you old--"
"You're in love with Princess Leanne!"
Naesala stopped and turned a bright tomato-red. "I AM NOT!" he shouted.
"Aww, Nestling, you look so cute when you're embarrassed." Nealuchi was secretly enjoying the chance to tease his king.
"Naesala can get embarrassed? What's he embarrassed about?" Reyson came around the corner of the hallway.
"N-nothing!" the raven king protested. Nealuchi, however, could hardly contain his laughter.
"Hm, now I'm curious!" Reyson grinned. "I'll have to get Nealuchi to tell me, I suppose."
"He won't tell because there's nothing that's embarrassing me!" Naesala quickly regained his mischievous composure. "Of course, I can tell plenty of embarrassing stories about Reyson!"
Reyson's smile dropped. "No, you won't!"
Ranulf soon appeared from around the corner. "Hey, are you done yet? I wanna finish talking to Nealuchi!"
Naesala turned to the blue cat. "What? Oh, sure. Nealuchi!" he shouted as he looked to his ambassador. "I want you to get started on the project right away!"
"I'm sure you do Nestling," Nealuchi replied with a grin. "I'm sure you do."