Sadness... IT'S THE LAST CHAPTER!! But yeah, this was a lot of fun to write! You guys were awesome reviewers. I mean, seriously, over 100 reviews! This has been my most popular fic so far and I want to thank all of you for sticking with it all this time! So now we're up to the end. I hope you like it as much as you liked the rest of it! (endings are not my specialty so I'm a little worried but I think it turned out all right...) So yeah.
Enjoy! :D

Chapter 14 -- Epilogue of Sorts, In Which This is The Last Chapter

Naesala woke up that morning and realized with horror that it was the day he was supposed to leave for Kilvas. However, he was looking forward to building the extravagant garden for Leanne, so he got out of bed earlier than usual (in other words, at the time that everyone else normally got up) and rushed down to the throne room.

Nealuchi was already waiting. He had started to say his good-byes to Lethe, Lyre, Ranulf, and Mordecai.

"Well, this is indeed a sad day for all, as it is the day on which I must leave your presences and return to Kilvas!" Naesala put on a dramatic face.

Lethe, however, muttered to herself, "Thank the goddess..."

"One thing's for sure, it'll be nice and quiet again," Ranulf remarked with a grin.

Reyson and Leanne then entered the room with Giffca and Caineghis. Leanne immediately rushed over to Naesala and hugged him, much to Reyson's displeasure.

"I visit as soon as can!" she cried. "I stay for a month!"

"A week," Reyson corrected sternly.

"Aw, Reyson, you always ruin the fun!" Naesala grinned. "She's staying for a month! Maybe even longer!" And with that, he kissed her lightly on the lips.

"Nestling..." Nealuchi grabbed Naesala by the ponytail and sharply yanked him away. "There are people watching."

"So?"

Leanne's face was bright red, but she was giggling.

"Anyway..." Reyson continued. "Nealuchi, I hope you have a safe flight back."

"Thank you, Prince Reyson! I promise I'll keep Nestling out of trouble."

Naesala groaned. "I'm not a fledgling anymore..."

Caineghis cleared his throat. "My friends from Kilvas, we all have greatly enjoyed having you with us these last two weeks!"

Lethe coughed.

"I hope you have a safe flight back, and may your wings stay strong!"

He's so cordial, thought Naesala. I'm sure he doesn't actually mean any of that... Well, maybe toward Nealuchi...

"Thank you for having us," the old crow said. Then he glanced at Naesala to make him say some polite word of thanks.

"Yes, Caineghis. Thank you. I must say I greatly enjoyed my time here." Naesala winked at Leanne. "I hope to come back soon, perhaps when things slow down again."

"Yeah, next time he's bored," Lethe muttered.

"Farewell, my cat friends!" Naesala exclaimed with a dramatic bow. "And Reyson, hopefully Leanne will convince you that I'm a great guy. May your feathers stay clean." Then he turned to Leanne. "I'm looking forward to your visit, Leanne, darling."

Ranulf rolled his eyes. "That's the longest farewell I've ever heard."

The raven king smirked. "My dear cat, don't you remember when we left Crimea after the war? Now that was a long farewell! Honestly, what was Ike thinking when he said good-bye to every single person he came in contact with during the war?"

Lethe sighed. "He has a point there..."

"Anyway," Naesala continued, "I shall take my leave of you all now. Farewell!" With that, he gave another sweeping bow and left the room with Nealuchi.

"He's gone! He's finally gone!" Lethe exclaimed as soon as the door shut.

"Finally, some peace and quiet," Giffca muttered. "I've had such a headache the last two weeks."

Caineghis smiled at them all. "Yes, things will be much quieter again; though, I must say, he did make things interesting around here."

Meanwhile, Naesala was thinking to himself as he and Nealuchi made their way through the halls. Maybe I should have given her a better farewell kiss... But I'm sure Reyson would have killed me if I did. A hug, maybe? I should have said something romantic, like, 'My sweet, sweet Leanne, I shall miss you every minute you are away!' Damn, that's so cheesy... Good thing I didn't say that--

"Nestling?"

Naesala popped out of his private reflection period. "Yes, Nealuchi?"

"What kind of flowers do you want in the garden?"

"Like hell I know anything about flowers! Just make them pretty and colorful! How much gold did we get in the raid?"

Nealuchi thought for a moment. "Well, I lost count at about 500,300 gold coins. There was quite a bit of jewelry and silk that will easily sell for more."

"Hm, better save some for Leanne first. She likes green and white. Any other color can be sold." Naesala grinned at the thought of Leanne's face when she would see the pretty dresses she would get from the stolen silk. "What kind of space do we have for the garden?"

"It's somewhat small, not much smaller than the courtyard here in Gallia. But it seems like it will make a quaint little garden." Nealuchi smiled. "When do you plan on asking her to marry you, Nestling?"

Naesala blushed. "None of your business."

"It must be soon, then!" Nealuchi chuckled. "It will be so much fun!"

By this point, the two ravens had reached the outside of the castle.

"Ready to take off, Nestling?"

"I suppose so..." Naesala was about to stretch his wings out when he suddenly heard someone call his name.

"Naesala! Wait!"

The ravens turned to see Leanne running toward them. She was wearing the necklace Naesala had given her; the emerald stone was glinting in the sunlight as it bounced up and down on her chest.

"Leanne? What is it?"

Leanne stopped to catch her breath. "I wanting... to say bye-bye," she panted.

"Oh! Well..." Naesala wasn't sure what to say.

"I... um..." She looked over at Nealuchi, who was watching with amusement.

He chuckled. "I'll leave you two alone for a moment." Then he fluttered behind the corner of the wall.

"Alone, eh?" Naesala grinned. "You're getting to be more like me!"

The heron giggled. "Thank you... for... all..."

"Everything," Naesala corrected. "That's what you wanted to say, right?"

Leanne sighed. "I still lot to learn..."

"Well, at least there's one language we both know that no one else knows, and it doesn't require any words."

"What you mean?" Leanne cocked her head to the side in confusion.

Naesala ran a hand through her hair as he kissed her. "That's what I mean," he whispered.

Leanne leaned her head on his shoulder. "Thank you. I miss you soon."

"I'm going to miss you, too." Then Naesala laughed. "I almost told you this line about missing you earlier, but you would have thought it was too cheesy."

"Cheesy?"

"Ridiculous. Silly. Know what I mean?"

Leanne giggled. "That okay. I like cheesy. What you saying?"

"My sweet, sweet Leanne, I shall miss you every second you are away!"

Leanne laughed. "Cheesy," she remarked.

"I told you."

"But I like. You miss me like I miss you." She smiled and looked deeply into his eyes, trying to memorize them before he went away. "I happy you come. I happy I can tell you I love you."

"I'm glad I came, too! You know..." Naesala smirked. "The whole reason for my visit was to steal your heart."

"You steal it before," she whispered. "Long time... then... ah..."

"Long time ago, you mean?"

"Yes..."

I could have taken her back to Kilvas ages ago, then! Naesala thought. Oh well. Maybe this way was better after all. These last two weeks were aggravating at times, but... I think the whole trip was worth it. I have Leanne, and Reyson seems to hate me less than he used to."

Naesala sighed. "Is Reyson really coming along with you?"

"Yes." Leanne frowned. "He not trust me."

"More like he doesn't trust me." He smirked. "But I won't do anything bad," he added with a wink.

"Like in closet?"

"Now, Leanne, I'm only going to be able to behave as long as you behave..." He kissed her hair and slowly let his hands run down her shoulders to her hips, and maybe even lower--

"Naesala! Get your hands off of there!" Reyson had come out to see what Leanne was up to. "Wait until Father hears about this!"

Dammit... thought Naesala. "Reyson, wait until you find a woman. Then you'll realize what a struggle my hormones are going through right now."

"Hormones?" Leanne wrinkled her nose. "What that?"

Naesala suddenly grinned. "They're these little things inside me that make me want to--"

"NAESALA!!"

Reyson rushed over to him and smacked him in the face. Only it had no effect on Naesala because Reyson's not very strong.

"You'll have to work harder than that if you want to keep me off her completely!" Naesala remarked with a smirk.

"Stupid horny crow..." Reyson muttered, rubbing his hand from the smack that had hurt him more than it hurt its target. "Okay, Leanne, let's go. We don't want to detain them any longer from their duties."

He started to pull Leanne away, but she lightly shook off his grasp and threw her arms around Naesala. Her kiss was so full of passion that it completely threw Naesala off guard. He began to stumble backward but quickly caught his balance. Reyson could only look on helplessly in shock.

Finally, Leanne let go and looked into Naesala's eyes. "Bye-bye..." she whispered. Then she bounded over to her brother as though nothing had happened.

"Good-bye, Leanne, my darling!" Naesala called.

By this point Nealuchi had come back out and was ready to take off. The two ravens soared into the air after one last wave to the heron siblings.

Damn, she's good, Naesala thought dreamily as they flew along. Did I teach her that?

"Ah, Nestling?"

"Yes, Nealuchi?"

Nealuchi reached out his hand and smacked Naesala on the back of the head. "That's from Prince Reyson."

"Ugh... You know I was just saying that stuff to make him mad!"

Nealuchi chuckled. "You two will make great brothers-in-law."

As Kilvas came into view, Naesala began to realize how good it was to be home. No more fleas, no more loud cats... Just the waves and numerous unsuspecting merchant ships to steal from.

"Nealuchi! As soon as we land, prepare the garden! We're gonna get this place in top shape for when Leanne comes!"

"Yes, Nestling. Would you like me to prepare some dresses as well?"

"Go for it. I know absolutely nothing about dresses." Naesala landed and went to his room to update his inventory notes. Or, he was pretending to update his inventory notes. In reality he was writing a letter to his beloved Leanne, dreaming up of ways to spend time with her when she would come to visit.

Then he sat and stared out his window in the direction of Gallia, dreaming of private moments with Leanne, pissing off Reyson, weddings, and things to come.

The End!

A/N: Yeah, as you can see, I kinda left it open for a sequel. Because there's going to be a sequel. :D

Thanks again for reading! Until next time, this is crazygunbladergirl saying "Ciao!"