Love is a Language

Flowers and "un Baiser"

Morning lessons couldn't end fast enough for the two boys. Both were fidgeting in their seats, though they pretended they weren't when they caught the other person looking at them. Finally, when lessons were over, Pierre gave Henry a quick hug goodbye before darting off to Miss Trelawny's office. Henry rushed out to the gardens, excitement making his heart race faster. He skidded to a halt as he reached the gardens, peering inside to see if he could spot Miss Trelawny amongst the flowers. For a single, panicked moment, he thought she wasn't there. Then he saw the big straw hat she usually wore when she took the children on long walks, and hurried towards it. He found her wrapping the stems of some of the loveliest forget-me-nots he'd ever seen in a wet paper towel and tying a pretty blue ribbon around it. She looked up as he approached and beamed at him.

"I thought the ribbon would be a nice touch," she told him, watching Henry's green eyes light up at the sight of the flowers. She held them out to him, and he took them so gently one would think he was holding a fragile glass bouquet instead of a real one. "He'll love them," Miss Trelawny said, winking at Henry playfully. He blushed and looked at his feet as she ruffled his hair. "I'll send Pierre out to your usual spot after his lesson," she promised. "Run along now, and be careful with the flowers." Henry nodded eagerly and dashed away, clutching the flowers to his chest. Adorable, Miss Trelawny thought with a chuckle as she turned back to the garden. Next on her list was a single rose that Pierre could give to Henry.

She walked over to the rose bushes and examined each flower with care. After hearing Pierre talk so much about Henry (since she was the only one who could understand him, she was the only one he could tell), she decided that he would want to give Henry only the prettiest rose in the garden. She found the perfect one-a red rose that had just barely reached its full bloom. She cut it from the rest of the bush and trimmed off the thorns. Wrapping it in another wet paper towel like she did for Henry's forget-me-nots, she tied a green ribbon around the towel to keep it together. Then she straightened up, dusted off her clothes, and went back inside.

Miss Trelawny found her little pupil sitting in his usual chair in her office, swinging his legs back and forth impatiently When he heard her come in his head shot up in anticipation. She handed him the rose with a gentle smile, and his eyes lit up excitedly. "C'est belle!" he breathed happily. "Il va l'aimer! Merci, Madame!" Miss Trelawny waved a hand at him, simply happy that Pierre and Henry were pleased with the gifts she'd helped provide. "Commençons maintenant, s'il vous plaît?" Pierre begged, bouncing a little in his chair. Miss Trelawny laughed and sat down in the chair next to him. Maybe, just for today, it wouldn't hurt to make the lesson a little shorter than usual.
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Henry had hidden the forget-me-nots behind the tree he was leaning against. He kept checking them periodically, afraid that a hole might open up in the ground and the flowers would disappear into it, or some wild animal would take them away while he was looking the other way. When he wasn't checking on the flowers, though, he was looking up at the sky and finding shapes in the clouds. So far he'd found a dog, some fish, a dragon blowing fire, and a diamond that had turned into a big heart.

"'Enry, je suis ici!" Henry jumped a little when he heard Pierre's voice. When he looked over, he saw Pierre running towards him. He was a little surprised-Pierre's lessons with Miss Trelawny usually went a little longer. But he wasn't complaining about it. He got to his feet as Pierre slowed to a stop in front of him. His eyes were sparkling with barely contained excitement as he took one of Henry's hands. "J'ai un present pour tu!" he said, squeezing Henry's hand a little. It was at that moment that the smaller boy realized that Pierre's other arm was behind his back, like he was hiding something.

"I have a present for you too," Henry replied, letting go of Pierre's hand and disappearing behind the tree. He picked up his flowers and hid them behind his back as he reemerged. Pierre was watching him curiously and he felt his cheeks get warm. He felt good and bad butterflies in his stomach and he stumbled over his words. "I g-got you some f-flowers," he mumbled, bringing the forget-me-nots out from behind his back and holding them out towards the French boy. Pierre's eyes widened, and he looked back and forth between the flowers and Henry's scarlet face. "D-do you like them?" Henry whispered, suddenly getting worried that this might not have been such a good idea after all.

Pierre's face split into the most beautiful smile Henry had ever seen. And that was saying something, since all of Pierre's smiles were beautiful in his opinion. "Je l'aime," he murmured, taking the flowers out of Henry's hands. He raised them to his face, breathing in their scent as his eyes fluttered closed for a moment. When he opened them again, he met Henry's eyes very shyly. "Thank you," he murmured, the English words sounding somewhat hesitant underneath his very thick accent. Henry's face grew redder (if that was possible), but he smiled widely at Pierre's thanks. "Fleurs," Pierre said suddenly, nodding at the flowers.

Henry giggled a little. Even now, Pierre was trying to help him learn new things. "Fleurs," he repeated. The words sounded rather similar to each other, he noticed, so it would be easy to remember. Pierre nodded, then slowly brought the rose out from behind his back and handed it to the smaller boy. "A rose?" Henry asked, looking at it in surprise. "I-is it for me?" Pierre smiled bigger and nodded at him. Henry took the rose with shaking fingers, feeling like he was blushing all the way down to his bare toes. "Merci," he whispered, shyly holding the rose close to his heart.

"De rien," Pierre replied with a smile, watching happily as Henry smelled the single flower. "Rose," Pierre said thoughtfully. There was hardly any difference between the way he said it and the way Henry did. Henry nodded and giggled again, a timid smile appearing on his face. That little smile gave Pierre an idea. He hadn't thought about doing this before, but...maybe this was the perfect way to make sure Henry knew that he really really liked him. "Un baiser," he said before he leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to Henry's cheek.

Henry's entire body tingled all over when he felt Pierre kiss his cheek. His heart thumped so fast and loud he wondered if Pierre could hear it. "B-baiser?" he whispered, reaching up to touch the spot that Pierre's lips had touched. Pierre nodded in affirmation, his cheeks slightly pink but his eyes unashamed or embarrassed. Henry bit his lip, hesitating for a moment, then stretched on his toes a little to kiss Pierre's cheek. "K-kiss," he mumbled, watching Pierre's cheeks go even more red than before. "Th-that's called a kiss."

"Kiss," Pierre repeated, another breathtaking smile appearing on his face. He took Henry's free hand and interlocked their fingers. Henry squeezed his hand in response, making his smile get bigger. "'Enry," he murmured, looking into Henry's deep green eyes, "I r-really like you a-a lot." He'd asked for Miss Trelawny's help to teach him how to say it in English, and despite the stumbling over the words and the thickness of his accent, the look of utter joy on Henry's face was enough to make him feel so much better about how he said the words. His expression made Pierre's heart feel like it had suddenly grown a pair of wings. "Je t'aime bien," he said, saying the phrase he'd been taught in his native language.

Henry threw his arms around Pierre's neck and hugged him tightly. Pierre hugged him back just as tightly, both of their hearts going a thousand miles a minute. "J-je t'aime bien, Pierre," Henry whispered in his ear, his voice quivering with happiness. He felt Pierre giggle a little after he said it, but it sounded like a 'I'm happy you said that' giggle than a 'that sounded silly' one. "I really really like you too!"
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Translation Notes:
C’est belle!  This is beautiful!
Il va l'aimer! Merci, Madame!  He'll love it!  Thank you, Madame!
Commençons maintenant, s'il vous plaît?  Start now, please?
Je suis ici!  I'm here!
J'ai un present pour tu!  I have a present for you!
Je l'aime.  I love it.
Fleurs.  Flowers.
Rose.  Rose.
Un baiser.  A kiss.
Je t'aime bien.  I love you well; just short of "I love you."

Author's Note: -throws new chapter at all of you and runs- I know it's early but it was so cute I had to share it!