Family Meeting

Not long after the discussion Shiro and Ed had about shapeshifting, Zahir and Nasima got there with Salim and Halimah to collect the boy. Shiro, still examining the arrays Ed had given him, followed them to the Temple to see why the Priests weren't just giving them space. As it turned out, the Priests finally allowed it that day, though it was pretty much the end of the day by then, so they were shown the room they could use and were told to return in the morning to start working on setting up what they needed. Of course, they were also told to keep the doors closed while they worked.

Of course, much to Ed's amusement, all of the Priests and all the Ishbalan alchemists had to divert from the topic to interrogate Shiro, who first looked put out, then resigned. That took hours of the day in itself, but because he took it well and the others liked his answers, he gained their approval. Personally, Ed felt some of that had to do with him being Japanese, not Amestrian, but he didn't feel like pointing it out for fear of causing an instinctive reversal of acceptance once they were put on the spot.

Finally, though, the Priests showed them to the room so they could check it for what it would need to be useable. They found it would take at least a day to clean before they could place the marks they needed, so the adults told Ed to take the day off and go play. Since he got very little time to do nothing, he was partly pleased by that and partly felt guilty over leaving them to do the work without him. Even Shiro was going to help them, which left him with Al and Winry—who were both delighted and told him they'd show him around to the places they spent the most time. He'd never been to the Ishbalan healer's place or to the repair shop Winry had found, so he agreed.

In the morning, the two showed up early so Rashad could feed all three, then they headed out to the places they'd said they'd show to Ed. The people working at each didn't have much work to do then, so shooed the three out to play elsewhere when it was approaching noon. It was when they got to the Market with Ed that the three actually realized what it meant for 'Jed' to be known as an Avatar of Ishbala—shopkeepers practically shoved food into their hands, everything from fruits and veggies to candy and sweet treats.

It was while they were in the Market that Ed noticed some new arrivals to the city, and stared for a long moment as the group looked around while checking a map. Actually, it looked like they had two maps they were checking.

"Jed?" Al asked curiously, seeing that his brother wasn't paying attention to the shopkeepers anymore.

"Look over there, Al—i," Ed replied, only barely remembering to use his 'Ishbalan' name, his gaze still on the group.

After a momentary pause, Al said, "Oh. Do we say hello?"

"Can you not treat them like family?" Ed asked dryly in reply.

"...Um..." Al began, obviously thinking hard about the question. Finally, though, he admitted, "Probably not. Win probably can't, either."

"What can I not—oh!" she gasped as she saw who they were looking at. She then blushed and ran away down one of the side paths through the Market stalls which would take her to the next row of shops.

"Wait, Winna!" Al gasped and ran after her, leaving Ed to shake his head in amusement, then look down at everything he was currently carrying.

"So, what will you do?" a familiar voice asked softly from beside him, and Ed looked up to see Priest Ishan.

"Will my decision affect anything about them being here?" he asked curiously, also keeping his voice low.

"If you greet them warmly, young Avatar, the townspeople will welcome them rather than viewing them with suspicion," the Priest informed him in some amusement. "Though because the women are housewives not soldiers, they are being tolerated surprisingly well just now."

"And if they recognize me?" he asked dryly. "If they do—it'll be known that I'm not an Ishbalan child."

"Hmm," Priest Ishan murmured, tone thoughtful as he pondered the point. "We can easily arrange a more private setting. Come, young Avatar." He then offered his hand to the boy to hold.

"Oh, come on! Stop calling me that!" Ed whined, but as was expected of a child, he took the Priest's hand and let the man lead him to the group. The man just chuckled at the younger's response—he knew how much the boy disliked titles like that.

Ed couldn't help but focus on Trisha as they approached the group, but that didn't mean he didn't see the others—Hohenheim, Roy, Riza, Maes, Yuri, and Sarah. He knew Yuri and Sarah had ended up on the front lines as doctors trying to save anyone who was injured, including many Ishbalans (especially Ishbalans), so he wasn't really surprised to see them there, even if they were late. Roy, Riza, and Maes had also been on the front lines, but he wasn't sure they'd ever been deployed to this specific location, so he also wasn't really surprised to see them there. Hohenheim and his mother, however...

"Excuse me, travelers?" Priest Ishan said to them when he was several feet from the group. They all looked up in surprise. "The Avatar of Ishbala wished to introduce himself, but apparently became rather shy. In the heat of the day, it would also be best for you to move to a more sheltered location, as you have yet to adapt to the heat. If you would follow me to an Inn near here where you could also find rooms for your stay...?" He paused as they all traded surprised looks.

Finally, it was Uncle Yuri who said, "We would appreciate that, Lord Priest. Please show us the place you mean."

Priest Ishan nodded and turned to lead them off the Market street and to a street nearby where there were several Inns, but Ed had never paid them much attention before. The elderly Priest then led them to one in particular, opening the door to step inside ahead of the Amestrians. It had a fountain in the middle of the large entryway, which wasn't only a lobby, but also a very active restaurant, though the middle section was kept clear to the desk at the back. The only thing in the middle was the fountain, which cooled the whole space nicely.

A man approached Ishan almost as soon as they stepped inside, eagerly asking, "What can I do for you, Priest Ishan?"

"A table to seat at least nine—hopefully privately—and rooms for these visitors would be nice," Priest Ishan replied with a smile.

"We have two of the private rooms free, so you can use one," the man agreed readily. He then scanned the group with his brow raised slightly, then said, "I would have to check our current records to see what rooms are available, but we should have enough for them all. By the time you've finished your discussion, I should have details for you. Would you like meals or refreshments?"

With a nod, the Priest offered, "As Amestrians, chances are they would need things which aren't highly spiced. Maybe a few trays of a variety of items?"

"I can certainly do that. Thank you for coming and bringing clientele with you," the man grinned, then made a 'follow' motion and added, "This way." Soon after, they were at the door to a room with a large table in the middle of it—it would have seated twelve if needed. "I'll send a server with those trays for you." Ed let go of Ishan's hand to stop the man from walking away by tugging on the sleeve of his shirt—the Amestrians were already looking around the colorful room in fascination. "What did you need, Little Avatar?" the man asked softly, looking down at him.

"When you make up rooms for them, keep in mind that there are three couples and a friend of the family," Ed told him softly with a small grin. "Though, I'm not sure one of the couples is married yet."

"I'll be sure of that, then," the man agreed with a smile, then ruffled Ed's hair. "Go join them." The boy nodded and stepped into the room as the man shut the door and left.

Of all the people in the room, the only one who was looking at him was Maes—the others were listening to Priest Ishan talk about the textiles and images in the room. It was also Maes whose expression became shocked as he mouthed the name 'Edward?'

Grinning, the boy gave a small nod and held a finger to his lips, indicating silence to the man, who then looked vaguely amused as he gave a small nod of agreement. With that, Ed joined the others at the table, sitting beside Priest Ishan quietly (he put all his acquired items on the unused chair beside his) as he waited for their current discussion to wear itself out. By the time it did, however, the food had arrived and the topic had turned to the various items on the trays. Finally, they all finished eating and attention turned to what Ishan had first said.

"So, you mentioned that an 'Avatar of Ishbala' wanted to meet with us?" Roy asked, though his puzzled gaze went to Ed.

"Not 'an', 'the'," Priest Ishan replied in amusement. "We currently only have one. This is young Jed, our Avatar."

"The only one?" Hohenheim asked in confusion. "And that one is a child?"

"I would say he's far more than 'a child'," the Priest answered in amusement. "Could I ask what brought you here?"

"We heard some odd rumors about events here lately, and as doctors—even if the war's on hold just now, there's neither a peace treaty nor a truce signed, so chances are it'll start again soon. We'd have come sooner, but circumstances didn't allow that," Yuri explained. "Also, our children were kidnapped by what looks like Ishbalans, and we would very much like to have an opportunity to find them."

"I see," the Priest nodded to the two doctors. "And the rest of you?"

"Other than our missing children, our business is our own," Hohenheim said in a flat tone.

Maes sighed and asked in a dry tone, "Are you all still seriously ignoring the child in the room?"

"What do you mean?" several of the others asked in surprise.

"I mean exactly what I said," he replied in a tone as flat as Hohenheim's. "I mean, you can keep ignoring him if you like, but I wouldn't advise that."

Roy's gaze was resigned as he looked back at Ed, but those two (Maes and Roy) were the first to realize who he was. Granted, he wasn't completely sure Roy had figured it out, but he thought the chances were high. It was only as the others looked at him that their expressions gradually morphed from confused to stunned, first his mother, Aunt Sarah, and Uncle Yuri, then Riza and Hohenheim. It was Trisha who finally got up, circled the table to his chair, and turned him to face her as she gazed at him closely, even gently tugging on a lock of his hair.

"Ed?" she finally asked. He smiled and nodded, so she asked, "How?"

That made his brow quirk as he asked in reply, "How what?"

"Your hair and eyes, your skin—! Wait, where's Al? And Winry?" she asked, clearly fretting over more than one thing.

"We've been 'adopted' by people in town who know we're actually Amestrian. Winry's going by the name Winna and Al's going by Ali. I ended up with Jed for now. But, when Winry saw you, she ran away to another part of the Market, and Al followed her, so that left me to meet with you," Ed explained, looking at Sarah and Yuri as he talked about Winry deciding to run off. "All three of us have these disguises, which were caused by an alchemic array system nominally called 'Change'. I can take it off when we don't need it anymore, but for now, because of the war, it's better the Amestrian military doesn't know we're here. That's also why I'm not telling you who adopted us, either—it'll be up to Al and Winry to decide if they want to meet you. Probably, through me and with their honorary parents."

"Why with their 'honorary parents'?" Yuri asked in surprise.

The boy looked up at him and said plainly, "Because we've been adopted in truth, not just in pretense. Our families here are just as much 'family' as you are, so, like Al put it one day...Our family's just getting bigger again. And it's not fair to exclude the people who went so far out of their way to be those families to us. It just needs to take a bit of time so it doesn't look strange to outside observers."

Everyone else traded surprised looks as Trisha smiled and reached forward to hug Ed tightly, saying, "I'm so glad you're okay. How soon can we meet Al and your new parents?"

As she drew back to look at him, he lifted his shoulders in a shrug. "You'll probably meet my honorary father first, but you might even meet him without knowing it's him. His brother and sister-in-law took in Al, so when Al's ready to meet you, it would be with them. And that will probably be sooner than Winry by how she acted earlier. The couple who took her in are close family friends—by Ishbalan standards, they're family in all but blood, so when she's ready, you'll meet them, too. Of course, depending on how things go, you may meet Al's and Winry's honorary parents without knowing it, too."

"Why would that be the case?" Hohenheim asked in confusion, eyes focused on the boy, though he didn't move.

Meeting the blond man's gaze, Ed raised a brow and replied, "That depends on why you're here, besides just to 'look' for us. Which you still should probably make a show of doing."

"...And how trust-worthy is this Priest?" Hohenheim asked quietly, making the others sigh.

"Just by the fact that he's notably helping Ed and not at all surprised by any of this, I would think he's an ally at the very least," Roy commented in dry amusement.

"And yet, he claims an Amestrian child is the Avatar of Ishbala?" Hohenheim replied pointedly with a raised brow.

"That is because the High Priest gave Ed one of our artifacts, one which indicates one's nature," Priest Ishan put in, sounding highly amused. "It showed, very quickly, that Ed is absolutely the Avatar of Ishbala, regardless of his origins. And because both Ishbal and Amestris are caught in the same trap currently, the High Priest easily grasped how Ishbala may choose to manifest in an Amestrian child."

The others all stared at him in surprise for a minute before Hohenheim asked, "So you're already aware of the current danger to all our people?"

"The array meant to reduce us all to a form nominally known as the Philosopher's Stone, you mean?" Ishan asked, and the others blinked, but Hohenheim nodded.

After a moment, the blond man sighed and said, "I've been working on a counter-array to that array with Roy, and this region is holding a few of the counter-points we need to activate. Also, if it's true some of your people study something similar to alkahestry or alchemy, they may be able to help finish establishing the counter-array, which would make it go more quickly."

Priest Ishan eyed him for a moment, then said, "That may indeed be possible, once they have finished their current task. As far as I'm aware, they should be done in a few days, so I could introduce you to a few of them then—their current task is of the utmost importance, just as much for our survival as your own task is. Will that be acceptable?"

"Do we have the funds to wait at an Inn that long?" Riza asked warily.

The elderly Priest chuckled and said, "You came here with the Avatar and a Priest. It is highly likely you'll be charged less because of it. If your stay will end up being much longer, we can easily find you residences, and very likely those will be near the homes of those who adopted your children."

"Aren't all of the homes in our building filled?" Ed asked the Priest in surprise.

"I know a family leaving with a caravan who has already agreed their home can be given to another family," Ishan answered. "They want to find another place to stay, or possibly cross the desert to Xing, so left us the task of filling it. The building across the street from you has no less than three available homes."

"Oh, good. That will work out great, then!" the boy grinned, looking back at the others. "So, yes, you'll have places close by if you decide to stay for longer than a week or two. But Riza, because of the way Ishbalans do things, you'll probably have to stay with Auntie Sarah and Uncle Yuri, who could pass for relatives of yours unless you've married Roy yet."

She and Roy both flushed as Yuri and Sarah laughed, but Roy said, "No, not quite yet." He then paused and asked, "Wait, does that mean women aren't allowed to live alone?"

"It's more like no one is allowed to live alone," Ed answered dryly. "You and Maes can live in the same home, so that's not a problem. Everyone else is 'married' couples, so that would leave Riza by herself. For propriety's sake, she'd have to live with someone who would be able to act as her 'chaperones', so one of the 'married' couples. If she wants to, she could pick either, it would just be easier if it was Auntie and Uncle because you definitely look more alike and everyone would assume you're blood-related, which would also justify you living with them and them acting as your chaperones, no further explanation needed."

"Appearances are everything," Maes quipped. "That's a good point, especially in a culture where most people wouldn't live alone by nature—I'm pretty sure siblings or honorary siblings tend to live together before they get married and move into homes with their wives, yes?"

"Yeah," Ed agreed. "But details other than those will have to wait until we know if it'll be needed or not."

"And we're also not married officially..." Hohenheim added dryly, motioning to himself and Trisha, who just looked amused.

"You're close enough, though, so it counts anyway," Ed shrugged. "And by Ishbalan standards, if you've had children together and don't look anywhere else, you're married."

"Fine, if that's the case, we'll have to tell the Innkeeper what rooming arrangements we'll need so he can finish finding rooms for us..." Yuri commented.

"Done!" the boy grinned. "Before I stepped inside, I told him what to look for, and as guests, if he's got a single room, Riza could use it—that's just not true of people living here. Though, he might have picked a few options and will let you decide. We just need him to come back so he can fill you in."

Everyone blinked at him in surprise, then most of them sighed tiredly. It was Hohenheim who asked, "So, do you have other things to do today, Ed?"

"Nothing I have to rush to do," the boy answered. "I got kicked out of the clean-up and prep for something we're doing at the Temple, so other than playing with Al and Winry and picking up some things for supper, I had nothing else to do."

"In that case, have we discussed the necessary topics to your satisfaction now? I could find the Innkeeper if you wished to speak privately with Ed?" Ishan commented.

"That would be good," Hohenheim agreed.

The Priest left the room, so the others looked at Ed and Roy said, "We can see an object in the sky at night, and it looks like it's heading right for us. If it's large enough to see from such a distance, chances are it'll destroy the world."

"Nope," the boy replied, popping the 'p' on purpose—a trick he'd learned from Reno.

The others traded looks before Riza asked, "Why do you think that, Ed?"

"Because it's a planetary sentience named Minerva, who will be arriving here soon, and she's going to help keep the damage of her landing to a minimum," he answered with a grin. "And once we have Ishbala out from under the wall—what we're working on right now—he'll help, too. Since he'll be free before she lands, we're really not going to get much damage, even if she lands in the middle of the Xerxes desert. And because she's going to land near me, that's where she's aiming for, since it's the largest nearby place which is pretty much unpopulated."

"Minerva?" all of the adults asked in surprise, except Sarah and Yuri, who traded apprehensive looks.

"Is it all right to share this now, Ed?" Sarah asked him quietly.

"It's not really a matter of 'now' or 'time'," the boy shrugged. "She's almost here, I can talk with her again. It has to happen. I'm pretty sure all the Ishbalans know, but they've had more time to adapt because they live closer to the impact zone and would get some damage anyway. Well, they may not know her name, but they know enough to prepare for some likely shaking and the emergence of another being like Ishbala." His gaze then moved to Roy as he asked, "Did you bring my journals with you?"

"Yes," the man agreed in surprise. "I've still been working my way through them, so I didn't think it would be good to leave them behind for who knew how long when I keep cross-referencing them back and forth as I read. Why?"

"Minerva's the one who taught me a good part of that," Ed replied, gaze moving to his father's for a long minute.

"...But you call her a benign entity after she caused you so much suffering?" the older man asked softly.

Ed's expression twisted into a cold smirk. "You have that wrong. Humans caused me 'so much suffering', and she did everything she could to protect me and keep me alive. The people she brought with her are the ones I can trust, the ones who won't deliberately or willingly torture me, for any reason. And also, she wasn't the one who 'aged' me, that was entirely Truth's fault, because when he ditched my sixteen-year-old self on her world as payment for a transmutation, he started a precedent—and a cycle—of my sudden introduction to it. Thanks to him, I lived through nine thousand years on Minerva's world, being repeatedly reset to the age of sixteen every time I went to another variant of her world. She tried to stop it, but she couldn't—it was already set."

Sarah and Yuri sighed as the others froze in shock, trying to process what the boy had just said, and Yuri told him flatly, "There's such a thing as too much information all at once, Ed. I don't think you should try to share more just now."

The boy cocked a brow at him and commented, "I'm pretty sure Mom will get over it in a few minutes because she always does when it comes to me and Al—nothing we do or say bothers her much or for long. Besides, my honorary father already got the whole information dump and took it probably better than Mom, so it's only fair for her to get it now. The others can get over it or not."

The Doctor sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Ed..."

"Ed, even if you're feeling bold because Minerva's nearby just now, it makes it easier for everyone else to absorb if you give it in pieces," Sarah told him dryly. "I know you want to rush to share, but that's not always the best choice, and I think you know it very well. Why are you suddenly so eager to share?"

"Wait, you both already know all this?" Hohenheim asked in shock.

"She'll be here soon," Ed answered Sarah.

When the woman shook her head, he blinked and frowned. "This isn't the way you normally behave," she pointed out. "It's like pulling teeth to get this kind of data from you, and you have to force yourself to share. Why are you suddenly blurting it out?"

After a long minute to work that out for himself, he suddenly glared and said, "Because I'm tired of my father badmouthing Minerva and avoiding anything which would give him reason to like and trust her! So now that's she's near enough for me to talk with, I'm not going to take that and keep quiet anymore!"

:As much as I appreciate the sentiment, my Ancient Sentinel, I shall be capable of defending myself to him and others soon. Do not stress over such things—you already have much to do,: Minerva, who had apparently been listening to at least some of the discussion, told him gently with a warm smile and mental hug.

Silence fell at Ed's words, then Riza asked tentatively, "So...who's Truth? You explained Minerva, and sort-of Ishbala in the process...But who's Truth, other than a being tied to alchemy?"

"Truth is the being who guards the Alchemist's Gate, and who judges alchemic equivalence," Hohemheim sighed tiredly. "You had to have performed something along the lines of human transmutation to have met that being..."

"Still not your business," Ed told him flatly.

Silence fell as everyone tried to process the new detail, which changed a lot about how they viewed Ed and the world.