Welcome to Gaia! ::

The wooden bench wasn't as comfortable as she'd hoped it would be but it did provide her with a satisfactory place to rest her aching feet. Green sat with her legs crossed, carefully watching Nature play in the sandbox nearby.

The pair of them had been spent the day window-shopping which had proven to be a near catastrophic experience. Green grimaced at the memory.

"There's absolutely no way in hell I'm taking her anywhere near a petshop again," the blonde murmured to herself. Nature had wanted to take every animal home with them and when Green had tried to explain to her that they couldn't possibly afford to care for every animal in the building, Nature had shook her head in disagreement and proceeded to unlock a number of cages. How they'd managed to make it out of there safely in the middle of the chaos was completely lost on Green, who was currently thanking her lucky stars.

((Pretty or petty? XD))

The blonde woman had taken to staring at a crack in the wood of the bench that was in the form of an ice cream cone and she'd been busily lusting after a cone of strawberry ice cream when Lena's voice forced her back into reality. She smiled up at the woman who was a bit familiar and, with a glance at devotion, waved at her.

"Have I seen you someplace before?"

Was the little boy greeting Nature an Anima too?

Unlike her mother, who probably would have sat staring at the crack shaped like an ice cream cone until it was too dark to see it, Nature had noticed Devotion and Lena before they noticed her.

The boy was familiar, and she'd wondered if he'd remember her. The only other time she'd seen him was in passing, very briefly, but she'd hoped he would speak to her all the same.

Pretty? Was that what he'd said?

Her cheeks darkened and she smiled sheepishly at Devotion, "You really think so?"

Green tried her best to recall the moment she'd seen Lena, her eyes closed for a moment and her forehead knotted when suddenly, a light switched on in her head. Yes! She did remember! That was the day Nature had rescued that garter snake from Green's oblivious feet.

"I remember you!" she beamed at Lena, pleased with herself.

"Nature? Yeah, she is. I've never met a child so..." Green glanced at her daughter and chewed on her lip, trying to come up with the perfect word for exactly what Nature was.

"Well, she's unique, that's for sure."

The redness in Nature's cheeks increased considerably at Devotion's next word. So, he thought she was pretty? Pretty? It was a flattering thought.

"Sand," she grabbed a handful of the stuff and held it out to the firey boy, "Its fun. we could make a castle? Out of the sand."

And she showed him that the sand was darker and moister the farther you dug.

"See?" she grinned at him, using her hands to shape a pile of dark sand she'd been busy working on into a tower.

"Green," she smiled, shaking Lena's hand, "If you'd like, you could call me Gee. That's what my friends call me."

Yes, she'd decided that Lena was a friend. Even though they'd only formally met a moment ago, she was already found herself liking the other woman. It was hard to dislike somebody who was so kind.

"Beauitful, isn't she?" Green grinned, "I just hope it doesn't go to her head."

At the mention of the fairy and Devotion, Green turned her head away from Lena so that she could watch the children play.

"Dedicated, eh? I took Nature to a pet store today, and she let a few of the animals out of their cages. Lord. I'm NEVER taking her to a zoo... No, she doesn't have a fairy. Where did his come from? Was it just 'there' when he appeared?"

While Devotion dug up the dark sand Nature began work on another tower.

"We'll put one here," she pointed at a spot in the sand that was directly behind the first tower, "Here," she pointed at a spot that was diagnal from the first tower and in lign with the spot where the second one would go, "And here," she pointed at the last spot so that the foundation of the castle was in the outline of a square.

"For me?" she beamed at him, piling more sand onto the newest tower, "Alright! Could I have a garden too? With a ton of trees and pretty flowers? You will have to live there, with me, too."

"Likewise," Green let go of Lena's hand, and picked at an invisible fuzzball on her sleeve.

"No, it wasn't my idea," she shook her head, her tone was light and full of mirth when she spoke again, "Devotion's quite adorable, as well. I don't think the ladies will be able to keep their hands off of him once he's a teenager."

"Trouble? With those looks, I'm almost happy she's just standing up for animal rights. Can you imagine how many boys I'm going to have to beat off with sticks once she becomes a teenager? Even so, I'm surprised we made it out of the petshop without getting fined. The employees were far to busy running after the escaped critters to notice me sneak out the emergency exit with Nature in my arms."

"Painting his walls?" she laughed, "Honestly? That was a funny mental picture. I can imagine what the look on your face would have been when you caught him."

"I doubt that there's anything wrong with him. He seems to be happy enough. Perhaps the others have yet to find fairies, and Devotion was lucky when his just appeared beside him."

As Devotion began work on the last two towers Nature began to build walls inbetween them, so that it was truly begining to look like a castle. She smiled at him, delighted with their progress. They would have to build a river (Nature didn't yet know the name for it.) surrounding the castle, as well, but that could wait until they'd finished the base of the castle.

"Big castle, yes," she nodded vigorously, enjoying his company more and more. Her cheeks flushed again when he called her pretty.

"Thank you... y-you pretty too."

She paused for a moment, considering the idea of being queen. "Me? Queeny? Yes. You can be King?"

Everything sounded so lovely. She would have a big garden of her own and a castle where she would be queen and Devotion would be king! Nature's eyes shone with excitememnt at the prospect.

Green laughed. It was a merry sound, loud and slightly annoying. When she was younger, laughing like she was now had been the cause for much teasing and until recently, when the young woman had realised that she didn't care what others thought of her or her laugh, she would cover her mouth when she laughed.

"He won't be able to keep his hands to himself, you say? I can't imagine that many girls are going to agree with that. Poor boy."

"Oh, he won't recognise me in the future as I have no intentions of ever returning to that shop."

Besides, she'd been blessed with speed. Green was small, but there was no catching her on foot. If the manager ever did spot her in a crowd, she'd be long gone before he could call her on it.

"That sounds like a good idea. Although, I'm not sure she approves of housepets either... That could become a bit of a problem. I mean, we already have several house pets. She hasn't mentioned anything to me about them, yet, though."

"Hearts and lanterns? Awww..." she smiled at the little boy who had moved to hug her daughter, "He's a little sweetheart."

Nature smiled as he placed some sand at her feet. He was so thoughtful and sweet. The child was highly enjoying the other Anima's company.

"Thank you, too," she returned the hug, acting as if hugging somebody she'd met only awhile before was the most natural thing in the world. "You make a good king."

She nodded her head vigorously as she finished the last wall. They were nearly finished making they're castle! The only thing they needed now was the river that surrounded it...

"We need to make a river around it," Nature pointed at the castle, and then she dug her hand into the sand as far as she could make it go, and began to move around the castle, dragging her arm as she went. The sand came up nicely, and it wouldn't be long until the river was made.

Nature nodded her agreement and smiled at the little fairy, "Yes, you can have it."

"I might take you up on that offer," Green smiled at Lena, "I'd love to see one of those pet races and I think it would be good for Nature if she got to see that most families, not just ours, have pets. I think the only reason she's okay with having pets at our home is because they're treated like members of the family. But they don't get to eat at the dinner table."

"Nika, my son, was unsettlingly charming when he was a boy. He wasn't so gentle, but he wasn't as rough as most boys at that age. To be honest with you, though, Nika was one of the last of his race. When he was growing up, he was the soul of a man older than I in the body of a child."

"Devotion seems to be a perfectly happy, healthy little boy. Handsome, too, I might add. If I was you, I wouldn't be too worried about how other little boys behave."

Green didn't mean to sound critisizing and, realizing that she might have come across that way, she hastily added, "But, what do I know?"

"Any other anima?" she chewed on her bottom lip for a moment, contemplating and then an expression of recognition passed over her pretty face, "I have. I've seen Guilt and I've... erm... 'met' Revenge. Although, I'm not sure it should be called that. He's a quiet boy. I talked to his gaudian mostly."

Indeed, they were nearly finished. Beaming with pride and happiness, Nature stood up and stared down at their masterpiece with her hands on her hips. The child tapped her foot against the soft sand, trying to decide if there was anything else they could add.

"Good idea! You can pink the side the bridge goes on," she nodded at Devotion and the fairy, delighted with the bridge, before turning around to scan the rest of the park with her eyes.

"We need a flag," Nature explained to Devotion, twirling a piece of her lovely green hair around a finger.

"I agree!" Green nodded, "There's nothing that annoys me more than a close-minded person. Although, I can be a little close-minded. It really depends. I don't mean to be. Well, I doubt that anybody means to be... but that's not what I was getting at. I can be mighty stubborn."

"He is," a wistful grin now sat on Green's face. Nika was old now, the mask he'd been cursed to wear had recenly been removed and now, her little boy was no longer a little boy. For her, it was far too soon.

"I've got four children, myself and I like to think I know a fair bit about children but they never cease to surprise me. Growing up, babysitting was my main source of cash."

"Grethel? I don't think I've ever met her..." She considered Lena's next words for a moment and cast the nearly completed sandcastle an appraising look. The children had done a good job.

"That sounds like it would be a lot of fun. Perhaps you and I could arrange something? Yes, Nature's very outgoing and she loves the dirt. I have a feeling that she might get along much better with boys than with other girls."

The architect queen was indeed content with their masterpiece. She was quite proud of all three of them, even if she didn't know that that was the name of the feeling she was currently experiencing.

She scanned the rest of the park with her eyes, trying to pick out what the perfect flag could be. It didn't have to be any bright or pretty colors, a simple leaf or a feather would suffice...

She was about to turn around and ask Devotion if he could spy anything that might serve their purpose when the other child surprised her with a handful of leaves.

"This one," she smiled and gently plucked a bright yellow leaf out of his hand.

"We're finished!" Nature exclaimed in delight as she poked the yellow leaf into the top of one of the towers.