This fic contains spoilers for chapter 5 and beyond + Ringabel's past. It's also Rindea.
"Getting married is hard," Edea groaned as she threw herself onto the bed in her room, narrowly avoiding the sample swatches of fabric, flowers, ribbon, and the various menus. So many choices! "I still think we should have run off first and had the ceremony second."
Ringabel was *still* writing invitations at the desk. "Now dear, we agreed not to elope in favor of having a big wedding for your mother and father to enjoy."
She only groaned again, crumpling some fabric swatches as she rolled over onto them. " I know that!" And she was kind of looking forward to wearing the wedding dress she was having made. "But this is so much work. Why can't we just say our vows, have a kiss, eat all that wedding cake, and call it a day? We could even go to bed early."
"That would be hardly traditional." Though the mental image of Edea trying to eat all 15 tiers of their planned wedding cake was amusing, and going to bed to begin their honeymoon was very enticing, they'd already promised that they'd have a nice traditional wedding for her parents. Give Eternia something to celebrate. It would be a good chance to see their friends again, and it would greatly boost the economy. All good things.
Tradition… she growled slightly at the thought. " I still don't know if I want to keep the tradition of taking your last name. No offense, Ringabel. But Dim, Really?" Edea Dim just sounded terrible!
While everyone who *knew* him called him Ringabel, the world knew him as the dark knight Alternis Dim after his counterpart born in this world had failed to crawl out of the ocean. It still hurt her sometimes, to think about Alternis dying a lonely, painful death all by himself, likely crying out for her, but she'd been trying to move on and make Eternia a country he'd be proud of. Ringabel had adopted that name, his old one, but they tried not to use it unless necessary. Sadly, their wedding would be one of those necessary times.
"Oh? I had always assumed that we'd either keep our last names or I would assume yours." His lips curled slightly with distaste. Dim was a terrible last name, and just one of the many things he could blame his mother for. Frankly, he was glad not to be using it as often anymore, but he'd been thinking of adopting the Lee name far longer than they'd been planning their wedding. Or even dating.
"Alternis Lee, huh? That has a nice…. ring to it."
Both of them turned the name over in their heads.
And both of them came to the same realization at the same time.
"Alternis Lee? Alternately? On second thought…" Maybe Dim wasn't a bad name after all.
"Edea Lee…" she said outloud, testing her name. "Edea Lee, Edea Lee. Idea Lee? Ideally? Oh Crystals." It had been right there in her face, her entire life! This explained everything!
"You never noticed?" Ringabel had said her name enough that he'd noticed, even if he thought it was just a cute coincidence.
She didn't hear him. "I knew Father's name could sound like bravely. Braev Lee… Mahzer Lee. Mahzer… Muzzer… Motherly?"
Anyone could pick up on Braev's name. But Mahzer was new to him too. Interesting. He wondered what her maiden name had been, and if her parents knew who she would be marrying. It was far too much of a coincidence. He'd always assumed Braev's parents had thought they were being clever, but now he was beginning to rethink that. Should they continue the tradition then? What kind of names could they use that would make little puns? It actually sounded cute, now...
Edea sat up in bed, and the sudden movement jolted him out of his thoughts.
"Edea?"
Braev had long since recovered from the fight that taken the Earth Crystal out of Eternia's control. Though he had lived, many of the healers doubted he would ever be able to hold a sword again. But he was nothing if not stubborn and determined, a touch more-so than even his daughter (she'd gotten it from him, after all), and after many months of training his strength back up, he was as good as new.
Of course, with Edea taking over the responsibilities of Grand Marshal, he could finally begin to relax. While he was happy to pay for the cost of his daughter's wedding and was greatly looking forward to it, the planning was completely out of his hands, thankfully. He and Mahzer had been too poor to have much of a wedding of their own, though Kamiizumi had helped him to raise most of the necessary costs.
With retirement and hopefully grandchildren on the way, Braev had been getting into other hobbies, setting aside a room for him to work and Mahzer to relax in. He had just picked up a knife to work at a piece of wood when the door slammed open, startling both him and his wife.
"Oh good, you're both here," Edea breathed. Her fiance trailed in behind her, looking a touch apprehensive. Braev thought it might be a good time to put the knife down.
"Edea, honey. Is something the matter?" Mahzer asked, setting aside the book she had been reading, some new novel about colors.
"Something's been the matter my whole life!" Edea cried, throwing her hands up.
Braev and Mahzer exchanged a look. Could she have found out about…
"My name! Our name!"
Oh, it wasn't that after all. Braev cleared his throat. "Lee is a strong name, Edea. We've traced our family roots back hundreds of years throughout the Orthodoxy's strongest leaders and -"
"Braev Lee, Mahzer Lee, Edea Lee! Father, our names are terrible!"
Ah, so she'd noticed. He hoped his beard could hide the slight twitch of his lips. "There's no reason to be so worked up. We gave you a name that we wanted you to live up to." And Edea was a very pretty and unique name, for a very pretty and unique girl. It sounded strong. It would make her stand out. A lump formed in his throat when he remembered naming her.
He could easily swallow it down when his daughter stormed over to him, taking his hands in both of hers. She was so much smaller than he, but the fire in her eyes was a bit intimidating. It was the same fire he'd seen that day in Central Command.
"Father…" She said, her lip jutting out. Pouting had long ceased to work on him, though she was welcome to still try.
"Yes, Edea."
"What was your father's name?" Edea needed to know just how long this family tradition had been going on. His parents had died in the plague when it ran through Gravemark, and he never spoke about them.
"It was Frank. And his father was Mortimer - they called him Morty." This close, his beard could not quite hide the way he smiled.
Edea groaned, rolled her eyes, and just pressed her forehead against his chest. He ran his hand over the top of her head. He already knew she planned on naming her firstborn son after him, but if she needed some suggestions on girl names, he and Mahzer had thrown around a few that would fit the tradition before settling on Edea. He would be happy to help.
"I give in," she mumbled against his shirt.
"There is nothing wrong with tradition. It runs in the… fami-lee." He chuckled a little. That was clever.
"Father, please don't."
It was a few years later that Edea was lounging around in bed with her husband, a book propped up on her growing stomach. They'd been discussing names for a while, since they found out she was finally expecting. While she *was* planning on naming a boy after her own father, girl names were… harder. None of them sounded right. None of them *fit*. She thought back to the conversation she'd had with her parents, so many years ago.
"Ring?" She asked him. He was half asleep already, but his eye cracked open when he heard his name.
"Yes, Edea?"
"How do you feel about the name... Anna?"
They both thought about it before shaking their heads.
"That's not… very traditional."