Happy Thanksgiving everyone, sorry for taking so long on the update but I was going through some issues that prevented me from typing. I originally planned on making each week that Eddie spends into one chapter, but decided to split it up into two parts so as to update the story faster. I want to thank all the fans who waited patiently for this next chapter and for those who left positive comments and reviews. Onto the story then boyos and lasses

Btw I don't own Disney or any of its original properties

Sunday

Eddie nervously tugged on the collar of his uniform as he waited outside of Nika's and Lina's room. Oba had presented him the clothes after the winner was announced from the ridiculous game she had set up. They consisted of a white dress shirt with a matching set of suit jacket and pants, along with a black tie and gloves. The human found a pair of dress shoes in his room after he had settled for the night.

A small chuckle escaped his lips as Eddie thought about Nika's reaction to winning the spin. When the tigress realized that her number matched the one on the wheel, she fainted and fell backwards off of the bench. Amists the wail from Aziza, Lina and Skye's laughter, and the other three female's attempts for waking Nika back up, Eddie stared in disbelief at the tanuki as she walked over and explained to him that he had to be ready for Nika at six since the tigress went to Temple in the morning.

So here he was, standing at attention like the soldiers outside the Capitol Building of Anthros as he waited for his charge to be ready at the ungodly hour. Eddie yawned, a paw over his mouth as the door behind him opened to reveal Nika. The female feline wore a black dress that went down to her ankles and a set of black wedges that made her even taller, and somehow more attractive, than she normally was. "Are you ready, Nika?" Eddie said as he tried not to stare at the tigress.

"Ye...yes, Eddie," Nika stammered as she held her paws in front of her and looked down in embarrassment.

"Shall we go then?" Eddie held out his right paw, indicating that she lead the way toward the garage.

"Of course, sorry," Nika said and walked down the hallway, the clicking of her wedges echoing as she was followed by her human chauffeur.

"So," Eddie started, his paws behind his head as he spoke "Where is this Temple we are going to?"

"It is close to Sahara Square," Nika said, turning her head to look back at him, "Not too far from the Oasis Hotel, in fact."

"Uhuh," Eddie replied, still following the giantess as she lead him down a hall that lead to the boarding house's garage, "So what religion do you practice, if you don't me asking?"

"Not at all," Nika answered as she opened a sliding door and reveal a well lit garage filled with all kinds of vehicles. "I am a Yaisuahite."

Edward grabbed a red key from a row of hooks by the door and pressed a button as he asked, "A what?"

A loud chirp echoed throughout the underground garage, revealing a small black car that was large enough for Nika to sit comfortably and for Eddie to drive safely. "A Yaisuahite," Nika replied as she walked toward the vehicle, "We follow the teachings of Yaisuah and believe that he is the Savior of all mammals."

The human frowned as he opened the back passenger door for the tigress, "I am not familiar with that faith. Then again, all religion is pretty much banned in Anthros."

"Why is that?" Nika asked as she settled into the backseat.

"The Chancellor did not want mammals to follow a higher authority than him or the government, so he restricted all forms of religious gatherings. One of Anthros' many departments is responsible for issuing permits which allowed priest and ministers to host in their own homes, but they have to submit a copy of their sermons and agree to be monitored as they deliver them to their congregation in order to receive them so that government knows that they aren't preaching anti-establishment rhetoric," Eddie explained as he closes the door and then gets into the driver's seat.

"That is awful," Nika exclaimed, a paw over her mouth in shock.

Eddie nods his head while he starts the car by pressing a button on the dash and another to open the garage doors. The human slowly pulls the vehicle out and drives onto the street as he said, "So, were you raised as a Yaisuahite?"

The tigress chuckled with mirth, "No, I converted a few years ago. My family thinks that religion is nothing more than a way for prey mammals to control us predators."

"Oh," Eddie frowned as he continue to drive down the streets toward their destination, "I am sorry to hear that."

"It isn't your fault, Eddie," Nika said with a smile, "Some mammals just don't understand and until then one shouldn't let what they say hurt you. As Yaisuah said, 'Love thy enemy, even as thy enemy curses thee.'"

The human smiled as well, enjoying the conversation he was having with Nika. For almost a half an hour, the two continued to talk about the tenants of Nika's faith until they arrived at the Yaisuahite temple. The building was a simple, square shape, with stained glass windows with depictions that Eddie couldn't make out from where he had parked. "Here we are," the human said as he turned off the car.

"Um, would you like to come inside with me?" Nika asked, her face turned down to look down at her lap as she spoke. "It's just, I don't want you to get bored while waiting for me here in the car, so I thought maybe…"

"It would be an honor," Eddie answered, which caused the tigress to look up and see that signature smile of his.

"Oh," Nika said, "Thank you."

After Eddie had gotten out and opened Nika's door, the two walked arm in arm into the temple, earning a few shocked expressions from more than a few members of the congregation. Inside the temple was a single large room without any apparent seating and decorated with beautiful tapestries covered in a strange script. The only furniture that one could see was a small podium at the other end. "Where do we sit?" Eddie asked as he looked around and noticed one of the stained windows that he tried to see from outside.

"We don't sit in chairs, if that is what you mean. Everyone kneels on the prayer mats as our priest delivers his sermon," Nika said before noticing what Edward was looking at.

The window that the human was staring at depicted a scene from the life of the founder of Nika's faith, Yaisuah. In it, the prophet laid one of his hands on the forehead of a humongous lion, to exorcise the demons that plagued and tormented the predator. Yaisuah's face was covered with a white veil and his body was dressed in an equally white robe to hide most of his features since many Yaisuahites believed that drawing or depicting the prophet's image directly was disrespectful to the Creator. What caught Eddie's attention though was that the you could clearly see what species the prophet was. "He was… a human," Eddie said as he looked closer at the hand on the lion's forehead.

Nika nodded; but before she could explain further, a loud gong rang and all of the congregation started to sit down on the individual prayer rugs with the larger mammals in the back row and the smaller ones in the front. The tigress guided the human to a spot that they could both see the podium without it being obstructed from view. Sitting on top of the podium and wearing what appeared to be a black cape was a large fox like creature that Eddie had never seen before. 'No,' Eddie thought, 'Not a fox, a fruit bat?'

To confirm Eddie's thought the bat stretched out its wings, revealing that is was wearing an orange robe over its body instead of what the human mistook its wings for. "Welcome and good morning, my flock," the bat said in a loud and comical voice.

Every mammal bowed their heads and said, "Good morning, Father Williams."

Father Williams laughed as he continued, "You know if I didn't know any better, I'd say I was a teacher in a kindergarten class rather than a priest. Say, wanna know what the difference is? Nothing, we both get in trouble for disciplining kits! HAHAHA"

"He seems like a character, doesn't he?" Eddie whispered to Nika as a few others giggled and laughed quietly.

"Yes, Father Williams definitely gives a whole new meaning to the term 'batty'," Nika whispered back.

"Anywho," the bat said as he scanned the audience in front of him, "Today, I am going to be talking to you about our Prophet's core teachings of acceptance. So please pull out your copies of the sacred texts if you have 'em, and please share with those who have not."

For the next few hours, the bat priest talked about how Yaisuah taught forgiveness and mercy through parables and how mammals today could still apply these teachings today. As the priest spoke, Eddie found his mind wandering as he tried to listened. The way that the human was kneeling was similar to his one of his meditation poses, which caused him to become more and more relaxed as the sermon dragged on. He turned his head and saw that Nika held her's down in prayer as Father Williams led a soft and calming chant. The human couldn't help but smile as he looked at his feline friend and saw how beautiful and serene she was. Suddenly, Edward felt a soft poking on his shoulder which caused him to turn his head backwards. A familiar looking and towering cape buffalo glared at him as he whispered harshly, "Bow your head, it's disrespectful if you don't."

"Huh? Oh, sorry," Eddie said as he turned back around.

Finally, after what felt like forever, the bat shouted as he flew straight up from his perch, "Alright you crazy folks, it's time for your favorite part of the service: singing and dancing!"

"What?" Eddie said as he felt his arm being pulled by the tigress as the whole congregation stood up.

Music composed of loud drums and wind instruments blared from speakers hidden in the ceiling as all of the mammals started to clap their paws in beat. Then Eddie noticed that Nika was pulling him into the center of the crowd, which had circled around the middle of the room. "Come on," Nika laughed, "You and I have to dance together."

"Huh?"

"It's part of our tradition. At the end of every sermon, we must dance and sing in praise of the Maker and for all He has done for and will do for us. And since you and I came in together, it is only proper that you and I must dance together."

The tigress stopped in the empty circle, twirling, clapping and jumping with joy, her dress flowing with her movements and beat of the music. Eddie didn't know what to do, since the only dance he knew were for formal events and dinners he went to as a kit. "Come," Nika said with a huge smile on her laugh as she realized that her dance partner hadn't joined in, "I'll teach you."

Eddie laughed as well as the tall feline pulled at him and showed him how to move with the song that was playing overhead. He noticed that he got a few disapproving looks from some of the other mammals as the human and tigress danced together; except from the cape buffalo from before, who smiled and nodded his head in approval as he danced with a female buffalo who appeared to be his mate. Not understanding or caring why the bovine was friendly, Eddie continued to dance with his charge for what felt like eternity before the music suddenly stopped as fast as it had begun. "Sad to say, my flock, it is that time on the clock," the bat flew over the heads of the mammals as he shouted, "But always remember this: Go with love in your hearts, and the light will forever shine."

"For as long as the light shines," the congregation said, "We will be close to the Divine."

"Yes, yes, oh yes!" Father Williams shouted as he landed on Eddie's shoulder.

The weight of the flying mammal threw the human off balance for a moment before he recovered and said with another of his warm smiles, "That was a lovely service, Father Williams."

"AHHHHHH!" Father Williams shouted in Eddie's ear, causing the young male to stumble in surprise. "Someone call the police! There's a giant mutant naked mole rat in my temple!"

All of the congregation murmured in confusion before the priest laughed in an effeminate voice, "Kidding! Soooo who is this handsome young mammal that you have brought with ju, Nika?"

"This is Eddie," Nika laughed as the priest flew from Eddie's shoulder and landed on her own, "My escort for the next week."

"Now Nika," Father Williams gasped, a wing placed over where heart would be, "I never thought that you of all mammals would hire an escort."

"NO!" Nika shouted, her cheeks blushing as the mammals standing around her laughed, "That is not what I meant. I mean, he is my chaperone!"

"Oh? With the way you two were shaking it up, I'd of thought he was more than that," the bat whispered in the tigress's ear, a smile across his face as he watched the feline turn a deeper shade of red.

Edward was laughing along with the rest of the mammal's as he spoke, "Well, I must say that I am glad to have joined you all today. I really enjoyed it."

The herd of mammals slowly made their way to the exit, but not before the water buffalo from before walked over and greeted Nika and Eddie. "Ms. Khan," he said in a kind and gentle voice, "It was nice to see you dancing again. We all have not seen you do that since your baptismal ceremony."

"Thank you, Chief Bogo," Nika said as she motioned with her paw, "This is Edward Jackson, by the way."

"Chief Bogo?" Eddie asked.

Nika nodded and said, "Eddie this is Chief Bogo, head of Precinct 1 and one of the most honest mammals I know. Chief Bogo actually introduced me to my faith a little over a year ago and helped me through a rather difficult time."

"The Maker helped you, Nika, not me," the buffalo said humbly, "I merely voice His message."

The tigress smiled, "That may very well be, but don't be selling yourself short."

"I doubt that old Big Horns here was ever 'short', my dear," Father Williams said as he flew once more and landed on the buffalo's right horn.

Bogo snorted before he said, "It was good to see you again this week, Ms Khan, the missus and I hope that you will have another blessed one as well."

"Thank you, Chief Bogo," Nika replied.

"And you," the buffalo turned his head, causing the priest to almost fall off, "Take good care of her and do your job."

"Yes, Sir," Eddie body stiffened and straightened at the tone in the larger mammal's voice, reminding him of a certain instructor he knew back at St. Francis's.

As the tigress and the human walked away, the bat priest whispered to Bogo, "Do you think the human knows how bad she wants him?"

Bogo let out a small smile, "I doubt it. That human is as dense as Hopps was about that fox before Wilde asked her out. Besides, I understand that humans don't consciously smell pheromones like most mammals so it might be a while before he finds out."

The bat chuckled, "Yeah, but I think the young buck likes her too. i just hope he doesn't follow the traditional human customs of marriage."

The buffalo nodded in agreement, "As long as he doesn't hurt her in the process, that is all that matter.

Meanwhile, as Nika was getting into the backseat, a text message appeared on her cell. She read it, a groan escaping her lips after she finished. "Is everything ok?" Eddie asked as he got in the driver's seat.

"No," the tigress answered, "It's my parents, they want to meet up with me tomorrow for lunch."

Monday

The silence surrounded the restaurant table like a thick blanket as four large felines sat and stared at one another. An elderly tiger in a black business suit tapped a paw digit impatiently as he waited for his drink to be refilled. His mate Namba, a tigress wearing a green and golden sari with intricate floral pattern sewn with black thread, quietly sipped her iced tea from a small white cup. The third feline was a tiger who sat next to his sister and wore a black polo and jeans, arms crossed as he glared at Nika with curious eyes. Nika wore a blue and violet sari with a pattern that was similar to her mother's but was sewn with gold thread instead. "Where is that ape with my coffee?!" Nika's father, Shere Khan growled impatiently.

Nika flinched at her father's remark, a frown forming on her face as she kept herself from defending Eddie when her brother, Kublai, said, "Why are we here, Pops?"

Shere Khan glared at his son for a moment before saying exasperated sigh, "Very well, we might as well get this over with."

The younger tigress looked at her father with confusion as she heard a kind voice beside her say, "Here is your coffee, Mister Khan. I apologise for the wait, but I wanted to make sure it was as fresh as possible."

Standing beside her and dressed with an apron around his waist and wearing a black vest over a white shirt was Eddie. After Nika had received the message, the two had went back home and spent the rest of the day talking about Yaisuahism and its history. The human was so interested that at the end of the evening, the tigress loaned him her copy of the Teachings so he could learn as much as he could. They also talked about how to deal with her family and she told Eddie a little about her brother, who was a professional mix martial artist, and her business tycoon father. Nika's mother was a kind older female, but was very much set in her ways when it came to cultural traditions. "We do it not because we believe, but because we must," was her favorite saying.

"About time, ape," Shere said, holding his cup up to be filled with the fresh brew.

When Nika and Eddie had arrived almost an hour before everyone else, the human asked the manager of the restaurant to allow him to personally serve the Khan family's table so as the make sure that it went as smoothly as possible. After confirming that whatever tips would be given to the staff and that the human would take any blame, the manager agreed and handed Eddie an apron and uniform. The human chauffeur/waiter poured Nika a glass of ice tea, just as Nika's brother arrived.

Kublai Khan was just as tall as his sister, but where Nika had the form of a dancer, Kublai was entirely made out of muscles. The tiger brother glared at the human chauffeur in contempt as he placed his order of club soda, before giving his sister a warm hug. "How have you been, Nika?"

Nika said fine as Eddie returned with Kublai's soda and then stood beside her to wait for the rest of her family to arrive. After noticing how close the human was standing to his sister, Kublai said, "You can go serve other tables, monkey. We'll call when we want something."

"Kublai!" Nika shouted, which made her brother stare at her in disbelief, "This is Edward, my…."

Before Nika could finish, her parents walked in and greeted their children as they all sat down at the table. Now, as Shere Khan takes a drink from his coffee, Eddie stood next to Nika seat to awaits for the feline family to place their orders.

"Now then," Shere said, sighing in delight at how good the warm drink had tasted to him, "Nika, we are here to discuss your well being."

The young tigress groaned, "Father, not this again."

"Yes, 'this again," Namba replied before her husband could speak, "You are almost thirty years old, Premee, soon you will be too old to find a suitable mate."

"Mother!" Nika shouted, embarrassed that her had said that in front of Edward.

"Your mother is right," Shere said, after another sip of his delicious coffee. "She and I were wed right out of highschool, and your brother married Tiva during his first year of college. You should of found someone by now, even with your desire to be a public defender. Are there no good tiger lawyers in public service these days?"

"Because if there isn't, your father and I know a sweet male who just finished his residency," Namba jumped in, "And don't worry, we made sure he is a Yaishuaite like you so that way you two won't clash over religious issues."

"Or maybe you prefer a softer touch. There is a lovely tigress who works in my office who just broke up with her girlfriend. She works in the research and development department of my company, so I know for sure how much she makes a year."

Eddie felt sorry for Nika as he watched the tigress be barraged by parents. He felt that he should say something to help his friend, but didn't quite know how. "More coffee, please, and try to give me the same batch, " Shere said, holding his cup up for Eddie to see.

"Right away, sir," Eddie went back to the kitchen to grab a pot of fresh coffee to refill the tiger's cup with.

"Father, Mother, I appreciate that you don't want me to be alone, but the reason I don't want you to help me is…. because I've already found someone," Nika said, her head turned down toward her lap as she lied to her family.

"Really?" Kublai said, arms still crossed as he looked at his sister with a raised eyebrow.

"What?" Namba said, squealing with delight at the news, "Why didn't you tell us this, Premee?"

"Yes." Shere said, smiling warmly at his daughter, "Who is this young tiger?"

"Actually, he isn't a tiger, Daddy, or a feline for that matter," Nika said cautiously.

"Oh? Is he a bear or a wolf?" Namba asked, still excited over her daughter finally dating someone.

"I'd prefer he wasn't to be honest," Shere said, his arms crossed in annoyance, "But if he makes my little princess happy, then I guess I can put up with it."

"No, he is a…"

"Here you are, Mister Khan. And Mrs. Khan, I have a some more tea for you as well if you would like a refill," Eddie returned with two pitchers of drinks and began to serve both of Nika's parents.

"Father, Mother, Kublai, I'd like you all to meet Edward," Nika said and grabbed Eddie by the arm after he finished pouring the drinks and setting the pitchers down on the table. "My mangetar."

All three tigers stared in disbelief at the fourth as she held the human's arm tighter as she pulled him closer. "I'm sorry," Shere said after shaking his head, anger flashing in his eyes, "Did you just say that this...human is your mangetar?"

"Now, dear, don't get upset," Namba said, patting her husband on the arm to try and calm him,"I am sure Nika is just joking, right Nika? Nika?"

Nika shook her head before doing something that she had never done in her life: pulled the male next to her even closer and placing a kiss on his lips, which surprised both her family and the human. The tigress was also surprised at how good the human tasted, not in a predatory way, but almost like she was tasting her favorite flower or dessert. Eddie was too shocked and confused to react, but decided to play along once the initial shock wore off. Nika tasted to him like warm milk and honey, a lot like Gazelle in fact now that he thought about it.

"No, Mother," Nika said, after pulling away from the human who had given her first kiss, "Edward and I have been dating for awhile. I didn't want to tell everybody because I knew this is how you would react. But, I don't want to be set up on dates and not be faithful to him."

After a few tense and awkward moments, Kublai broke the silence by asking, "So, ape, how did you meet my sister and when did you two decide to get engaged?"

"Engaged!" Eddie thought and looked at Nika with a confused look, but was given a pleading stare from the tigress instead. "Oh, no," he thought as he straightened up and started to quickly come up with a story to help his tigress 'fiancee,' "Thank the Creator, Nick taught me everything he knew."

"Well," Eddie said with a warm smile aimed at the parents, "We had just recently met...

Duh duh dun! Drama ensues as the plot thickens. Be prepared to see how far Nika goes to keep up her lie, Edward having the fight of his life, and the other girls' reactions when they hear the news! Hopefully I will update soon and I apologise for whatever wait you will have. Good day/night!