Vol.4 Ch.73 - I Reunited a Family

As dawn arose upon the Arthur’s establishment, naught but the lovely bird’ssong could be heard echoing throughout. It usually served as a natural alarmclock for the citizens of Springwood, signifying the start of a new day. With astrong but delicate yawn, the young waitress and manager of the Arthur’sawoke in her bed with scruffy hair. Her silhouette practically shining in frontof the window’s morning light, she got up from her bed with one eye stillclosed.Anna used to quite despise the bird’s morning song, but she later grew tounderstand and even enjoy it to an extent. At times she could even be heardsinging the song while happily prancing around the restaurant from one tableto the next. This cute and youthful appeal of hers gained her the nickname ofthe ‘Morning Dew’s Maiden’, which significantly increased the foot traffic ofthe establishment.Getting out of the bed, she didn’t waste even a moment and entered thebathroom to get ready for another day. After a certain amount of time, sheopened the bathroom doors looking spiffy clean and ready to face any issuesthat the world threw at her with a confident aura. Anna got dressed into herwork 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 bittoo 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 abouthis 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 tiniestof sounds so as to not hinder his sleep, a sudden (and loud) knock on the doormakes her jump and yelp from the surprise.She angrily ran down the stairs and busted open the front doors, ready toraise hell to the noisy visitor. She was expecting a burly dumb man, orperhaps a crafty but dainty idiot, but what she certainly wasn’t expecting wasa tall blond man and a beautiful young red haired maiden who nestled a babygirl in her hands.“U-Uhh, can I help you?” She asked weakly after rubbing her eyes to confirmwhat she saw.“Is Edward here?” The beauty asked with a calm tone.Anna was now struck with an incredible sense of defeat. Thoughts like Whois this girl? and Who is this child? only added to her worries, exponentiallyincreasing ever more until the singularity point in which her sorrow burstforth. Even though she kept asking herself this over and over again, she knewthere was only one explanation for this situation.It was obvious, after all the baby’s hair was orange, this could only mean onething… Edward and this girl had an affair during his travels, and she gotpregnant during this timeframe and is now asking for child support. It’s theonly reasonable explanation! Even though she thought they’d hit it off prettywell…“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 anymoreand burst into tears right at her own doorstep. Her weeping and wailingdisturbed the baby in her mother’s embrace, and so she started sobbing aswell. This entire situation was confusing to everyone involved, but the redhaired 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 theman accompanying her to follow them.“H-Hey, Cecily, is this really alright?” He asked, “What if this isn’t the rightplace?”“I don’t care, Aaron!” The girl apparently named Cecily refuted, “I am NOTgoing 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 questionto the woman, “W… WHAT ARE YOU TO EDWARD?!”“…” The maiden looked on at her with a blank gaze and turned to hersubordinate 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 hearingthese words, “Edward, you bastard…! I thought we were…”“Okay, I think I get the gist of what’s going on here.” The man accompanyingher finally spoke up himself, “First of all, thank you for accepting us in yourhumble abode.”“Sob… huh?” Anna wiped away her tears as she listened intently to thisman’s words.“Second, Generals Ed and Cecily aren’t like that.” He cleared up themisunderstanding, “There’s no need to worry, Edward called us to come herefor 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 otherwith no other words to share. Well, it’s not like they had anything to shareanymore. Aaron simply breathed in heavily through his nose beforeproclaiming:“How ‘bout we have a seat and talk things through calmly?”***After having things properly explained to her from start to finish, Annafinally got the gist of the situation. Looks like what Ed had previously saidwasn’t actually a joke or lie, and he was actually a General of the infamousARA gang situated in Great Hiana, and these people were his fellowsubordinates.This man introduced himself as Aaron, and the girl as Cecily, with the childbeing none other than Nelly. They talked for a while more until the nasty auraaround them cleared up, but Anna was still getting made fun of for jumping toconclusions.“Phah!” Cecily simultaneously cradled Nelly in her arms and snickered atAnna, “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 tosweep this embarrassing exchange under the rug, “I-In any case, he shouldstill 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 glassof water. Arthur trotted down in quite the slow matter, announcing his arrivalinto the room with the clicks and clacks of his cane against the wooden floorboards. 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?! Whatare you doing here?!”“What’s going on!?!?” Anna started panicking once again at the suddenfamilial connection.“Ugh,” Edward finally joined the fray, “Mornin’. I slept like a log… Oh, ‘supguys, 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. Helooked around at the room filled with his friends and dear acquaintancesbefore yawning once more then chuckling. He walked up to Aaron and Cecilybefore 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 expectfrom this encounter, but he definitely made it happen on purpose.“Remember how I called a person over to take care of Arthur while we wereaway?” Ed asked Anna, “Well, I though the role couldn’t fit anyone betterthan his very son!”“…Huh.” Anna simply accepted this amazing piece of information with aflabbergasted expression, “So this guy is m-my… dad?”“No, Annie, he’s your Uncle.” Arthur then explained to Anna, “That is, hewas your Uncle.”“Dad,” Aaron gave Arthur a disappointed look, “So you’re still mad aboutthat…”“Guys, come on, make up!” Ed pushed them closer together, “You two justneed 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, thatdoesn’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 toregarding Lune. He was supposed to arrive back home a while ago, butthere’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 worryabout 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 ISWHAT!?”***“Ehe~” Ed kept chuckling at the exchange, “I told you guys he settled downin Great Hiana, and you didn’t believe me~!”“OF COURSE WE DIDN’T!” Arthur yelled as Anna helped him get to hisseat, “I still remember him as the twelve year old who showed up hungry atmy 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 stillnot at that phase yet…”“And what phase is that, Miss Cecily?” Ed teased her with a smug smile onhis face.“Shut it, Ed!” She practically burst from the blushing, “F-Figure it outyourself!”“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 upwith it?”“My late brother, Carter.” Cecily answered honestly, “Lune and him jumpedhead first into a burning building to save her. Lune made it, but Carterdidn’t.”Following her sudden change into a more serious subject, the room onceagain got silent. She didn’t quite like being responsible for the air in theroom taking such a melancholic turn, so she quickly continued theconversation.“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 equalsNelly… 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 fatefulday. He claimed Carter came up with the name, with nothing more than You’llunderstand the meaning behind the name eventually being his last words onthe subject. They both looked up at the sky outside, laughing hystericallywhile they cried all the same. From far above the clouds, they saw Carterlaughing his ass off after his joke finally got its punchline…“That idiot brother of mine…” Cecily said with a sentimental tone, “Heknew 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. Aarontold me back in Great Hiana that he wanted to reunite with his family, I onlyconnected the dots and thus called him over.”“Hmph!” Arthur turned away with an angered face, “I won’t accept him aslong as he’s with that Jean boy.”“Shut up!” Aaron loudly shouted out, disturbing everyone with his suddenoutburst, “You don’t have to worry about that anymore! Heh, Jean died in thefucking 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 toutter any more words.“Son?” Arthur’s voice noticeably quivered as he heard his son’s woundedheart scream, “I… I’m sorry for your loss.”“I don’t need your pity.” Aaron didn’t accept his father’s condolences, “Ifyou were really sorry, you’d have accepted us a long time ago. Ed, thanks fortrying, 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’tleave! 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 hisfamily, he was just disappointed at his father for not accepting hispreferences. It was the very words of his niece that got to him the most andlead 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, “Holdon, Aaron’s gay?”As such, it was decided that Aaron and Cecily would stay in the restaurant totake care of Arthur, and Ed and Anna would go to Cardina to find the herbknown as Andolia Baonei.