HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!

Edna was a tad surprised when Kalim approached her directly.

"So there's a festival in your home town and your parents asked that you invite me?" she said, surprised.

"My parents are eager to meet you!" said Kalim. "Especially my uncle, who was the one who found Alphonse."

They were also rather curious to meet Alphonse himself, since Edna had restored him.

"Is it just me or..." she started to ask.

Kalim shook his head.

"My parents have extra tickets, and the headmage already cleared a two-day trip. I'll be busy with the festival, but Jamil can show you around. I'm planning to invite Cater and possibly Lilia as well," said Kalim.

Edna shook her head.

"Count Lilia out. He said something about giving Sebek a refresher course on something that's supposed to last for at least a week. He already cleared it with the headmage. I think Malleus is free though, and what better way to boost a major festival than having actual royalty with you?"

Kalim looked a tad disappointed, but at least he had fair warning.

"What about Idia?"

Edna shook her head.

"There's some major event going on in a game he's been playing and he'll be busy for hours. I know Vil had one of his modeling gigs cancel last minute, so he has about three days of free time, but I have no idea if he'd be interested."

"Why don't we ask? I know Cater would love to go, and he's usually free."

Vil was surprisingly all for it. He had never been to the Scalding Sands, at least not during a major festival. Besides, this would be a good trip to bond with his little cousin.

Edna had progressed nicely since her arrival, but they hadn't really spent any proper time together as a family.

Cater agreed in an instant, and immediately extended a ticket to Trey since he knew he'd love to go as well. Malleus looked beyond pleased when he found out it had been Edna's suggestion to extend one of the extra tickets to him. He almost never got to do anything fun.

"I'm surprised you didn't bring Idia with you," said Vil.

"It's way too crowded and there's a major event going on in one of his current games," said Edna. "Ortho might have gone, but it wouldn't be fair to invite him and not his brother."

"By the way, why are you wearing that cosplay outfit again?" asked Vil.

It had become one of Edna's go-to outfits for when she was spending time with Idia, even if Vil still had no idea who or what Saber Lily was.

"You've never been to the desert before, have you?" said Edna, eyeing him.

"Don't remind me! The number of times you had to dig me out of the sand because it kept getting inside the armor!" said Alphonse with good humor.

"And that stupid fake priest! The less said about that weird ass religion that faker made, the better," groaned Edna.

"Do I want to know?" said Vil, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't know about him, but I got to hear this," said Cater grinning.

"It's not that impressive a story," said Edna.

"You brought a twenty-foot tall statue to life just to scare the living hell out of that fake priest," deadpanned Alphonse. "All because he questioned your skill as an alchemist."

"HOW?" said Vil, staring at her.

Edna flushed with embarrassment.

"The guy pissed me off with his fake resurrection act and setting those damn chimeras on me," said Edna.

"What exactly did we walk into?" asked Jamil.

"Edna was explaining about some adventure she went on that resulted in a massive statue being brought to life," said Cater cheerfully.

"Really?" said Kalim, fascinated.

Edna was mortified.

"I would be curious to hear about this incident as well," said a voice. It was Malleus.

"We can talk while we walk," said Jamil. "We're almost late if we plan to spend the next day exploring."

"Good point," said Edna, glad for the reprieve. For now.

"Nyahaha... this is going to be epic!" said Grim.

"Remember what I said. Best behavior or no tuna for a week," said Edna. "I barely kept you from being kicked out over that last incident...Crowley was super pissed about it too."

Edna preferred not to remember the whole debacle, but it involved some rare artifacts that she had to fix in a hurry before Crowley kicked him out. How he managed to piss off that beastkin to the point he was thrown at the chandelier which then crashed was beyond her. Luckily the magestone was unaffected, since she didn't want to mess with repairing that.

"So what happened with the fake priest?" asked Cater.

"So it was like this..." said Edna reluctantly.

Two hours later...

"So this fake priest was using a copy of a stone you were looking for, and it ended up backfiring on him when his scheme was exposed? In your frustration, you temporarily brought to life a massive statue of the fake god he had been parading around for a few years?" said Vil incredulous.

"Essentially. I have no idea what happened after that though."

"Civil war, lead by the homunculi. Apparently they've been doing it for a very long time and this was just the newest target. The one before that was Ishbal," said Alphonse immediately. "Rose told me when I found her."

Edna winced, as she remembered all too well what happened to Winry's parents.

Kalim's "home" was big. Ridiculously big and learning there were multiple treasuries did not surprise her in the least.

Half an hour later...

Edna felt incredibly exposed, and was glaring at Cater for taking pictures.

"I bet Idia is going to be super jelly that he missed this," said Cater cackling.

"Oh definitely. After all, it's rare for Edna to dress in a belly dancer outfit like this," said Vil smugly.

Edna's outfit was styled after the ancient princess who played such a big part in the local festival. The silk hugged her body in an appealing way, and emphasized her limited curves in a way that would have given Idia a nosebleed for sure. Her usual combat boots had been replaced with slightly higher heels that better suited the outfit, and she was rather glad Vil had convinced her to pierce her ears, since it meant she could wear the earrings that went with the outfit. The bracelets and anklets had little bells that sounded really pleasant to the ear.

Her hair was tied up with a vibrant silk scarf that had a few bells tied into it.

Vil was very pleased by the overall effect, even if Edna was a bit embarrassed at showing so much skin.

Vil immediately took a picture, edited it slightly, before sending it to Idia.

In Idia's room

Idia looked up from his game, mostly because he was cooling down waiting for a respawn when he saw the message from Vil. He was aware Edna, Alphonse and Vil had gone to some festival, but had no idea why Vil would be texting him.

He took one look at the picture, and fainted almost immediately from blood loss and a very happy grin.

"Nii-san!" said Ortho in alarm, before he saw the image. Then he sighed. "Not this again."

Ortho cleaned up the mess, before waving some nerd stuff his brother loved to wake him up. The smell of fresh manga always seemed to do the trick, for whatever reason.

"What happened?" said Idia. He still felt a little woozy.

"Vil-sempai sent another picture designed to make you faint, nii-san. Edna looks really pretty in that outfit," said Ortho helpfully.

Idia looked at the picture, did his best not to bleed out again before sending a reply back.

'More pics plz'

He had the distinct feeling Vil was laughing at him right now. He would be right, but he also got more candid pictures so he considered it a win.

He also sent a text saying he'd happily pay for the cost of the outfit. It was too enticing!

Now he was somewhat regretting that mentioning that online tournament. Then again, Edna knew he didn't do well in crowds to begin with, even if the reward was that good.

Idia eagerly looked up the live feed from the festival, and began recording once he recognized Edna on any of the cameras. It was a major event, and cameras were everywhere after all.

So when she started dancing with Vil, he watched with rapt attention. He had no idea Edna was studying ballet, and she looked like she was having so much fun with her cousin.

Ortho watched with rapt attention.

"That looks like so much fun!"

"Why not download a few dance routines and practice with her?" said Idia.

Ortho had a speculative look on his face at the idea. He sent a text to Edna and Vil, and got a thumb's up in response. Vil sent a text as well, stating that they'd work out the details since it would do Edna some good to have a proper dance partner.

Idia knew Edna had a great day, because she came back all smiles...she also had the outfit she was wearing in the case she had bought to bring back souvenirs.

"So how did it go?"

"One minor mishap, but otherwise it was great! Kalim's parents were super nice, and his uncle was a little odd. He was beyond thrilled being introduced to Alphonse properly now that he knew why all those restoration experts refused to have anything to do with him."

Kalim's parents had also waved off the comment Idia made about paying for the outfit. Having a Master Alchemist as a close friend of their heir and future head of the family was a good thing, especially one like Edna. It didn't hurt that Alphonse was working as Kalim's discreet bodyguard and was just as capable at translating as his sister.

When she got his body back, he already had a job waiting for him with the Al Asim that he was rather eager to try out. Especially if it meant his sister was free to finally be herself, and hopefully give him some nieces and nephews to spoil.

~~*~*~*~*~

Lilia had a sneaky grin on his face. He was well aware of Edna's odd fascination with the anime character her boyfriend had introduced her to, and that she had been looking into who could create a proper set of armor to go with the costumes she favored.

She had been making do for months with barely acceptable replicas, made by machine and inexperienced blacksmiths.

Which was why he had discreetly gotten her measurements from Vil and had a proper set made, with a few tweaks of course.

She already considered Silver and Sebek her comrades, and Malleus had spoken rather favorably of her after their trip to the festival. Once she had a chance to actually talk to him, the two had bonded over old books that most people were unable to read anymore.

Edna had been delighted when Malleus had introduced her to several 'new' series and topics, and had begun reading them almost immediately. It was good for the young prince to make friends with someone of her caliber.

Edna was the sort to move heaven and earth for those she cared about.

She had a rather odd expression on her face when she realized Lilia had a package for her.

"What's this?"

"Open it up and see," he said cryptically.

She did, and had to stare.

It was a set of proper armor, right down to a new set of proper combat boots. Vil had despaired over her choice of footwear, but admitted she was too active for heels just yet.

The last time she attempted to wear stilettos, she had broken three heels and nearly sprained her ankle. He hoped once she had progressed a bit more in her ballet training, that she might learn to balance better.

Edna took the new armor, which included a much sturdier and enchanted version of her usual preferred cosplay, and tried it on. It fit perfectly, and she was delighted to find the armor light enough that she could still perform her martial arts skills.

Silver cautiously approached his father.

"Is the Queen considering Edna as a potential knight?" he asked quietly.

Lilia made sure Edna wasn't paying attention before he answered.

"When the queen saw a picture of Edna, she said the girl shared a great many similarities to a previously long dead royal line. One that was supposed to have been wiped out after the last of the bloodline was captured and used in an experiment," said Lilia quietly. "It's highly possible she might be the last true heir of a bloodline."

Silver's eyes widened. Yet somehow, he highly doubted that if she was a lost royal that it would change her much. Edna didn't seem the sort to be bothered by such things.