This day wasn't anything special in the rest of Tortall, but at Pirate's Swoop, the table was loaded with the fruits of the harvest and the guests had arrived for a Thanksgiving Feast.

It was just another indication of what happens when you make a crazy outsider like Charles Kawalsky a Baron all those years ago.

[For Tortallans and those they've invited. And for SP because it is love and love is all around.]

Aly was slightly amused to be back in Tortall for Thanksgiving. It was another one of those holidays that her Da had implemented at the Swoop, and the villagers had taken to it with a passion. Even though the famines had been about thirty years ago, they were remembered, and each harvest was celebrated and blessed because it meant another winter survived.

It was a small Thanksgiving this year but there were a few visitors coming through from other worlds as there often were during holidays celebrated at Pirate's Swoop. Aly had wandered down to the Portalocity portal at the bottom of the hill leading up to the castle. She figured Roy might be able to figure out which house was her family's, but...

Yeah, so the problem with randomly turning into a guy (again wtf) when going to visit your boyfriend was twofold.

1) When said boyfriend was Brigadier General of the country, there was a little bit of security to get through especially when you didn't look like the person they had on their pass lists.

2) Some of the, ah, reunion activities were going to have to be slightly altered.

Aly waited impatiently  in the lobby of the HQ for the Lieutenant to clear her and let her through to Mustang's office.  She was also debating just avoiding the security altogether and slipping in through the side entrance.  Tempting.  And getting more tempting by the minute.

Even on a Sunday - not that the Copper Isles saw Sundays as different than any other day - weapons training proceeded apace.  The majority of the Queen's Guard, whichever of Aly's pack was around, as well as Queen Dovasary and some of her ladies assembled in the training yard to go through exercises and spar together during the early morning.  The tradition had started when they were still just a small rebellion working out of the Balitangs' House, but it had continued over the years, the participants coming and going as they and those above them saw fit.

The hour was almost over, and Aly relaxed with some of the Queen's Guard, laughing at the spar that had just pit Dove against a very young, very shy new guardsman.  Aly watched all the fighters carefully, making note of who needed a new pairing next time, who needed to be set up against someone much stronger to beat some of that unearned cockiness out of him, and which fights Lianna was watching today.  The girl was arguing hard to be allowed to spar at the morning workouts, but Aly refused.  When she was ten was early enough, until then she could focus on weapons training and spar with her mother or Taybur only.

Trick warned her of someone approaching, and Aly looked up curiously, wondering if Taybur was finally going to show his face today.  She didn't see anyone in the immediate vicinity though, and she returned to her conversation, turning to demonstrate moves for one of her Pack that seemed to be having trouble picking a new style up.

Her train was leaving in less than half an hour, and Aly had finally packed her bag.  It hadn't helped that someone was apparently set on distracting her.

"Can I trust you to come with me to the train?" she asked.  "Or are you going to try to make me miss it."

Aly leaned back in her chair as she stared at the reports sent through from the Isles.  It had been a long enough day that the words were starting to swim in front of her eyes even when they weren't in code.  She eyed the small pile of coded reports she hadn't gotten to yet and made a face at them.  They'd have to wait for tomorrow. 

Still, she'd gotten through a good bit of the towering pile.  It was a good day's work, but she reached for the next one in the pile.  She'd been gone for long enough, that she better not slack off now.

It was a windy but sunny afternoon in Central, and Aly hadn't had to talk Roy into taking the afternoon off so much as show up at HQ and suggest it.  It was weird how it worked that way.

But that was an hour ago, and now they were wandering through the small market that had grown up along the river.  "What do you think?" Aly asked laughingly as she pointed to a silk robe hanging from one of the stalls.  The sign on it said 'Fit for a Queen!'  "Should I get that for Dove?"

Aly leaned back in her chair, considering heading down to the kitchen and begging some food - or at least some coffee to help her stay awake to finish these reports.  One more runthrough first, she decided, pulling the papers forward again.  Then maybe she'd beg breakfast on the way to a quick nap.

Her eye caught the date on the top report and automatically - even after 9 years in the Isles - she translated it into Tortallan.  It was Uncle Jon and Aunt Thayet's anniversary yesterday.  She should have remembered after sending instructions to the embassy in Corus to send them a gift.  Except - she counted slowly back then grinned, rifling through one of her secret drawers for the list of 'Do You Remebers' that she'd oh-so-secretly written up after that horrifying experience of not being herself a few years back.

Though really, just the fact she remembered the list meant that the past hadn't changed.  Charlie and Alanna must have finally gotten their acts together after all.

Still half-laughing, she stood up to stretch.  One more big hurdle down, plenty more to go. 

[OOC: Geez fake-parents, FINALLY  :D ]

It had been a longer day and night than Aly had anticipated, and even leavened with a much enjoyed phone call, all she really wanted to do was find her visitor and then go to bed.  To sleep.

An inquiry to Trick directed her to the gardens, and she wandered through the paths slowly, enjoying the hot sun on her face as she trailed around the grottos, the silver gleam of raka magic catching her Sight every so often.  Finally she caught sight of Roy ahead, and Aly moved more silently, not wanting to disturb him until she was much closer. 

Of course, disturbing him was more along the lines of scooping up a handful of pebbles from the path and pitching them at him one after another.

Aly had been tempted to torment Roy by taking one of the more spirited horses from the stables as his mount on this expedition, but her kinder demons had prevailed, and she'd arranged for a sweet gelding to be saddled instead.

Which was why when she'd finally gotten Roy to the horses, she burst into laughter at the sight of Lianna sitting happily atop the gentle gelding, leaving her much more spirited horse available for Roy.  Lianna beamed at them when she caught sight of them and pointed to the black horse.  "That horse is for you, Roy."

Roy raised an eyebrow, somehow having a bad feeling about this. "Is that so? And what's his name?"

She grinned.  "Flouncy."

"Flouncy," Roy repeated, looking over at the horse. "Hello, Flouncy."

( Roy vs Flouncy... )

Aly was doing a good job tamping down the glee she felt at having pulled this off, but those who knew her well would be able to see it almost fizzing off her.  She had a basket which she hadn't let anyone peek inside and was winding her way through Rajmuat, trusting Roy to keep up without ever actually voicing the challenge.

They'd left behind the wide, paved streets of the nobles' house long ago and were still traveling in the general direction of the harbour, but she hadn't brought Roy through this particular part of the city before.  It wasn't quite such a prosperous neighbourhood that odd comings and goings would be remarked upon, but it wasn't quite seedy enough to be the slums and the realm of the Queen of Thieves, and that suited Aly perfectly.  In fact she'd spent a good amount of time looking for precisely such an area, and she was more than a bit pleased with what she'd come up with. 

Lianna hadn't seemed to give it much thought when Aly had spoken to her about meeting Roy.  But Aly knew her daughter well enough to know that there was plenty of thinking going on behind those big dark eyes, and the lack of reaction made her worry about what Lianna might be planning. 

She had arranged for Roy to meet them out in the armoury after Aly had given Lianna her knife fighting lesson.

Roy had been too early and he'd tried not to hover, not sure what kind of impression it would leave on Lianna if she did notice him watching her practise. He'd seen the girl enough times by now, had noticed how just like Ed the girl didn't look a lot like Aly, but she most definitely had picked up on her mother's mannerism. Which might have been why he was even more nervous about meeting her. It felt like a part of Aly's life he had no business of being in and he wouldn't blame the girl for seeing it exactly that way. At the same time, it was a part he couldn't not not be involved in and while he made his mind up about it ages ago, it was a whole lot different when he was actually faced with it now.

( Cut for length and more length )

It had taken a few more days than Aly had planned, but between her duties and less than cooperative weather, they'd had to put off the sailing trip until today.

Basking in the sunshine, Aly led Roy down to a small dock away from Rajmuat where she had a a little boat docked in the water.  She didn't get to take the boat out very much, but it was nice knowing it was there and well looked after.

"You remember anything about sailing?" she asked Roy with a quick smile as she made her way down the docks.

Aly was tired.  But she had two stops before she could finally collapse into her bed after three days of travel and four weeks of a  mission that never quite wanted to go right.  She stopped in her apartments first to change quickly and wash the dust off her face before she slipped down the halls, exchanging nods with servants and her pack and wondering why so many of them looked so amused.

Dove was in the solar, she knew, and Aly ducked through the back passage, not wanting to draw too much attention to herself.  She paused at the heavy curtain then pushed it open, her eyes widening at the sight.  She couldn't help the smile that spread over her face as she moved into the room, bowing deeply to her Queen.

( What did she see? Continued under the cut... )

[OOC:  NFI obviously, and all that stuff]

There had been more than enough traveling over the past several weeks, but Aly was happy for the time to simply sit and think.  The train's rattling to a stop made her jump, and she quietly picked up her bag and hailed a taxi, directing the driver to Central's Headquarters.

The light in the General's offices was on, as always, and Aly slipped inside, nodding to Havoc before rapping on the door to the inner office.

Thankfully the opera was over, and while Aly hadn't hated the music and oddly shaped people singing their hearts out on stage, she was looking forward to the fancy restaurant and dancing she'd been promised.

She tugged her long coat further around her as they stepped out of the opera house into the cold.  "Tell me we're not walking very far," she murmured to Roy, watching the masses of well-dressed people eyeing their General.

It was windy but not terribly cold on the beaches, and Aly was enjoying the sun and almost untouched quality of the island.  She hadn't spotted any horses yet, but it was only a matter of time.

With a smile, she turned to Roy.  "So was this what you were thinking of when you said somewhere with a beach?"

Aly was well aware it was just a bit pathetic to return to Amestris after only a few days.  But it was a long weekend for the holiday, and she didn't have other plans particularly.  The memories of the friend-filled Thanksgiving last year in Fandom were too close - staying there would just lead to moping, and if she went home, she wasn't certain she'd come back. 

So she found herself on the blastedly uncomfortable train again as it pulled into Central.  It was pretty late, but she was fairly certain that Roy would still be working - or pretending to work so she made her way to the military HQ, slipping through the security easily until she found her way to his office.

Aly investigated the house as she waited for Roy to finish shaving.  It was almost funny how barren the house was, how it was completely devoid of any personality.  She thought little of Amestrian architecture already, but seeing the inside of this so-called 'furnished house' made her wonder just how sad and cold the lower officers' quarters were. 

She peered into what obviously was supposed to be the study, grinning at the piles of boxes of books almost all postmarked from Fandom post office.  It was too bad, really, that she was only here for another day.  This house desperately needed a little bit of warmth, and somehow she didn't expect Roy to bother to have someone unpack the boxes until he needed a book at the bottom of the stack.

Aly leaned back against the couch, grinning too much at the sight of Roy covered by cats.  It wasn't nearly as amusing as she tried to make it seem, but it was definitely easier to concentrate on that than the fact he was leaving shortly.

She pointed her toe to poke him in the leg.  "Still want that coffee?"