As dawn arose upon the Arthur’s establishment, naught but the lovely bird’s song could be heard echoing throughout. It usually served as a natural alarm clock for the citizens of Springwood, signifying the start of a new day. With a strong but delicate yawn, the young waitress and manager of the Arthur’s awoke in her bed with scruffy hair. Her silhouette practically shining in front of the window’s morning light, she got up from her bed with one eye still closed.

Anna used to quite despise the bird’s morning song, but she later grew to understand and even enjoy it to an extent. At times she could even be heard singing the song while happily prancing around the restaurant from one table to the next. This cute and youthful appeal of hers gained her the nickname of the ‘Morning Dew’s Maiden’, which significantly increased the foot traffic of the establishment.

Getting out of the bed, she didn’t waste even a moment and entered the bathroom to get ready for another day. After a certain amount of time, she opened the bathroom doors looking spiffy clean and ready to face any issues that the world threw at her with a confident aura. Anna got dressed into her work clothes and finally left her room to check on her grandfather.

He was still sleeping soundly in his bed, not moving an inch. Maybe a bit too soundly… Oh no, could it be…! Ah, he’s just sleeping, everything’s fine. In any case, he’s certainly gotten up there in age, so she often worries about his declining health, as well as this terrible illness that he suffers from.

After silently closing the door, making sure she doesn’t even make the tiniest of sounds so as to not hinder his sleep, a sudden (and loud) knock on the door makes her jump and yelp from the surprise.

She angrily ran down the stairs and busted open the front doors, ready to raise hell to the noisy visitor. She was expecting a burly dumb man, or perhaps a crafty but dainty idiot, but what she certainly wasn’t expecting was a tall blond man and a beautiful young red haired maiden who nestled a baby girl in her hands.

“U-Uhh, can I help you?” She asked weakly after rubbing her eyes to confirm what she saw.

“Is Edward here?” The beauty asked with a calm tone.

Anna was now struck with an incredible sense of defeat. Thoughts like Who is this girl? and Who is this child? only added to her worries, exponentially increasing ever more until the singularity point in which her sorrow burst forth. Even though she kept asking herself this over and over again, she knew there was only one explanation for this situation.

It was obvious, after all the baby’s hair was orange, this could only mean one thing… Edward and this girl had an affair during his travels, and she got pregnant during this timeframe and is now asking for child support. It’s the only reasonable explanation! Even though she thought they’d hit it off pretty well…

“Umm, Miss?” The red haired girl asked once more, “Is this the right place? Edward Saint is supposed to be here, no?”

To the visitors’ absolute surprise, it appears Anna couldn’t take it anymore and burst into tears right at her own doorstep. Her weeping and wailing disturbed the baby in her mother’s embrace, and so she started sobbing as well. This entire situation was confusing to everyone involved, but the red haired maiden wasn’t going to let this awkward situation go on any further, so she just pulls Anna up and shoves her in the restaurant as she orders the man accompanying her to follow them.

“H-Hey, Cecily, is this really alright?” He asked, “What if this isn’t the right place?”

“I don’t care, Aaron!” The girl apparently named Cecily refuted, “I am NOT going to let this random lady’s whining attract the gazes of nearby townsfolk! Come on, girlie, what’s with the crying? You’re too old for that stuff, goddammit!”

“H-Hey, sob…” Anna gathered up the courage to yell out only one question to the woman, “W… WHAT ARE YOU TO EDWARD?!”

“…” The maiden looked on at her with a blank gaze and turned to her subordinate before bursting out in a fit of laughter, “What am I to him? Phah, we’ve been through hell and back! We’re Generals of equal standing!”

“Bwaaaahh!” Anna once again started bawling her eyes out after hearing these words, “Edward, you bastard…! I thought we were…”

“Okay, I think I get the gist of what’s going on here.” The man accompanying her finally spoke up himself, “First of all, thank you for accepting us in your humble abode.”

“Sob… huh?” Anna wiped away her tears as she listened intently to this man’s words.

“Second, Generals Ed and Cecily aren’t like that.” He cleared up the misunderstanding, “There’s no need to worry, Edward called us to come here for some reason, that is all there is to it.”

“Huh?” Anna once again gave him a confusing gaze, “G-Generals…?”

The room once again fell silent. The three young adults stared at each other with no other words to share. Well, it’s not like they had anything to share anymore. Aaron simply breathed in heavily through his nose before proclaiming:

“How ‘bout we have a seat and talk things through calmly?”

***

After having things properly explained to her from start to finish, Anna finally got the gist of the situation. Looks like what Ed had previously said wasn’t actually a joke or lie, and he was actually a General of the infamous ARA gang situated in Great Hiana, and these people were his fellow subordinates.

This man introduced himself as Aaron, and the girl as Cecily, with the child being none other than Nelly. They talked for a while more until the nasty aura around them cleared up, but Anna was still getting made fun of for jumping to conclusions.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Phah!” Cecily simultaneously cradled Nelly in her arms and snickered at Anna, “You thought Ed and I were like that? God, not in a million years!”

“Ugh, could we just forget that happened back there?” Anna tried her best to sweep this embarrassing exchange under the rug, “I-In any case, he should still be sleeping in his room, so I’ll go wake him up right now-”

Just then, a frail old man slowly made his way down the stairs to get a glass of water. Arthur trotted down in quite the slow matter, announcing his arrival into the room with the clicks and clacks of his cane against the wooden floor boards. Anna didn’t think much of it, but someone surprising did.

“D…” Aaron got up from his seat, “…Dad?”

“…Eh?” Anna turned back to face him.

“Eh?!” Cecily followed suit.

“EH?!?” And Arthur was the most surprised of them all, “A-AARON?! What are you doing here?!”

“What’s going on!?!?” Anna started panicking once again at the sudden familial connection.

“Ugh,” Edward finally joined the fray, “Mornin’. I slept like a log… Oh, ‘sup guys, you finally made it.”

“DON’T YOU ‘SUP US!” The visitors jumped to his side, “Explain this! What’s going on?!”

It was at this moment that all eyes were pointed at a sleepyhead Ed. He looked around at the room filled with his friends and dear acquaintances before yawning once more then chuckling. He walked up to Aaron and Cecily before giving them a big ol’ hug and telling them how he’s missed them.

He turned around once again to face Anna and Arthur before shouting ‘Surprise!’ with an overly-jovial tone. He didn’t really know what to expect from this encounter, but he definitely made it happen on purpose.

“Remember how I called a person over to take care of Arthur while we were away?” Ed asked Anna, “Well, I though the role couldn’t fit anyone better than his very son!”

“…Huh.” Anna simply accepted this amazing piece of information with a flabbergasted expression, “So this guy is m-my… dad?”

“No, Annie, he’s your Uncle.” Arthur then explained to Anna, “That is, he was your Uncle.”

“Dad,” Aaron gave Arthur a disappointed look, “So you’re still mad about that…”

“Guys, come on, make up!” Ed pushed them closer together, “You two just need to talk things out like real adults! You’re parent and child for Gods’ sakes!”

“Never!” They said unilaterally.

“Haah,” Anna sighed as she nudged her chin at Cecily, “Even still, that doesn’t explain what she’s doing here.”

“Yeah, I’ve no clue either.” Ed said, “I’m pretty sure I only called Aaron. Cecily, will the base be okay with just Joergen and Max?”

“Well, I’m not sure either.” She said, “But I just wanted someone to talk to regarding Lune. He was supposed to arrive back home a while ago, but there’s still no word of him, and the ITA won’t disclose anything.”

“Lune?” Anna said, “Why would you go so out of your way just to worry about him?”

“God, he’s my boyfriend!” Cecily exclaimed proudly, “And Nelly’s father! Of course I’d be worried about him!”

“…” Anna and Arthur rubbed their eyes at the sudden revelation, “LUNE IS WHAT!?”

***

“Ehe~” Ed kept chuckling at the exchange, “I told you guys he settled down in Great Hiana, and you didn’t believe me~!”

“OF COURSE WE DIDN’T!” Arthur yelled as Anna helped him get to his seat, “I still remember him as the twelve year old who showed up hungry at my shop! To think he’s already gone this far… That Lune did it!”

“Eh heh,” Cecily chuckled nervously, “W-Well, Nelly’s adopted, we’re still not at that phase yet…”

“And what phase is that, Miss Cecily?” Ed teased her with a smug smile on his face.

“Shut it, Ed!” She practically burst from the blushing, “F-Figure it out yourself!”

“Oh, I know, I’m just teasing you.” He admitted to his teasing accusations.

“Youuu!!!” Cecily fumed from anger as he simply laughed on.

“But still,” Anna pointed out, “Nelly’s a really clever name, who came up with it?”

“My late brother, Carter.” Cecily answered honestly, “Lune and him jumped head first into a burning building to save her. Lune made it, but Carter didn’t.”

Following her sudden change into a more serious subject, the room once again got silent. She didn’t quite like being responsible for the air in the room taking such a melancholic turn, so she quickly continued the conversation.

“But what do you mean by ‘Clever name’?” She asked Anna.

“Well, isn’t it just your guys’ names mixed together?” Anna noted.

Certainly, now that they thought about it… Lu-NE plus Ceci-LY equals Nelly… This came as a shock to everyone, but mostly to Edward and Cecily, who were closest to the man responsible for this name.

Edward and Cecily then recalled the story Lune told them after that fateful day. He claimed Carter came up with the name, with nothing more than You’ll understand the meaning behind the name eventually being his last words on the subject. They both looked up at the sky outside, laughing hysterically while they cried all the same. From far above the clouds, they saw Carter laughing his ass off after his joke finally got its punchline…

“That idiot brother of mine…” Cecily said with a sentimental tone, “He knew we were gonna end up together even since then, huh?”

“To be fair, everyone did.” Aaron said plainly whilst sipping on his tea.

“Huh?” Cecily turned her head towards him.

“Yeah, you guys were really making it obvious. Everyone in the gang knew.” Ed also commented.

“Eh?!” She then turned back to Ed, “R-Really?!”

“Yep.” They both nodded in agreement.

“Ahem,” Arthur stopped the happy mood to pose an important question, “Aaron, what’re you doing here? I didn’t call you over.”

“Arthur!” Ed reprimanded his harsh tongue, “You didn’t, but I did. Aaron told me back in Great Hiana that he wanted to reunite with his family, I only connected the dots and thus called him over.”

“Hmph!” Arthur turned away with an angered face, “I won’t accept him as long as he’s with that Jean boy.”

“Shut up!” Aaron loudly shouted out, disturbing everyone with his sudden outburst, “You don’t have to worry about that anymore! Heh, Jean died in the fucking war! He was the one man I loved, and he’s long gone! Happy now?!”

“O-Oh, uhh, Aaron…” Cecily stood there awkwardly without being able to utter any more words.

“Son?” Arthur’s voice noticeably quivered as he heard his son’s wounded heart scream, “I… I’m sorry for your loss.”

“I don’t need your pity.” Aaron didn’t accept his father’s condolences, “If you were really sorry, you’d have accepted us a long time ago. Ed, thanks for trying, but this man just isn’t worth talking to.”

“Aaron…!” Ed tried to stop him from leaving.

“Uncle!” Anna finally gathered up the courage to shout, “P… Please don’t leave! I still have so much to talk to you about, like… about dad… and mom! And… you!”

These words cut deep into Aaron. He never despised what was left of his family, he was just disappointed at his father for not accepting his preferences. It was the very words of his niece that got to him the most and lead to him sitting back down.

“Fine,” He clicked his tongue before sighing, “Dad, let’s talk things out later. Don’t misunderstand, I'm just here for Anna's sake.”

“Hmph!” Arthur simply sat there in silence with an indignant face.

“Aaron!” Ed smiled through his tears.

“Uncle!” Anna started weeping from happiness as well.

“…” Just then, Cecily raised her hand calmly, before tactlessly asking, “Hold on, Aaron’s gay?”

As such, it was decided that Aaron and Cecily would stay in the restaurant to take care of Arthur, and Ed and Anna would go to Cardina to find the herb known as Andolia Baonei.