Warning: lots of people being old in this chapter

The two families had gathered together to celebrate the New Year. Neither family knew of any other Xingese families, so ever since Nina and Zhou's introduction, the two families had celebrated the Xingese New Year together. The Elrics had no qualms about celebrating the New Year twice, in fact they even quite enjoyed the diversity it endowed them with. Best of both worlds, and more importantly to the children, parties of both worlds.

Celebrations with the Yus tended to be more subdued that the Amestrian New Years. Since there were only nine of them including April, they couldn't have nearly as much of a party. And the Yus were a more subdued type of family. Zhou was used to their family's antics, and it wasn't that the Yus disapproved of their behavior, but they were less inclined to tell jokes or laugh.

It was still enjoyable. It was nice to get together simply because they were the only two families that could really understand each other. They could speak Xingese to each other and discuss the politics there without having to explain the system to someone else.

Nina wasn't quite sure what to think about today's celebration though. There seemed to be a different air about the party today. Both his parents and hers were acting… different. There were more smiles and more… glances at her and Zhou? They had been dating for… wow it hadn't been four years already had it? She could hardly believe it had been that long. It had gone so quickly. Especially with nursing school and them not being able to be together all the time… but still there shouldn't be anything that would prompt their parents to look at them differently.

Upon pointing it out to Zhou however, his response was to shrug and mumble something about them not seeming that different to him.

She was confused and to be honest starting to get annoyed. She was not imagining it. She wasn't.

She was flattered when they began to talk to her about school though, enough so that she didn't notice Zhou sneaking off and talking quietly with her siblings.

It wasn't until after the New Year came though that she figured out what the fuss was about.

They listened to her father's countdown holding hands. The final numbers were announced and they all shouted when the announcement of the New Year came.

She and Zhou kissed, along with her parents. Liwu and April still were not comfortable with being publicly affectionate, despite the fact that they had been dating now for two and a half years. Nina was convinced that that meant they were going to get married. A girl staying with her brother of all people for that long? If that wasn't true love, she didn't know what was.

Then again she had been dating Zhou for four years and… no… ring…

"Nina," Zhou whispered, pulling a ring out of his pocket. "I love you."

"Zhou…"

"And… well, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Both your mother and your father gave me permission, and even Liwu and Emily have given me their blessing. My parents approve of my decision, and they've already discussed the arrangements of our betrothal. The only thing left is for you to accept me, the son of the third son of the clan leader, to be your husband. So, Nina Alison Elric," he said, getting down on one knee and fumbling the ring as if he was nervous, "the daughter of the daughter of the first daughter of the clan leader," she smiled at the reference to their first meeting, "… will you marry me?"

She couldn't answer, only nod. He grinned back and slipped the ring on her finger, hugging her tightly. Still unable to speak, and possibly unable to breath, she wrapped her arms around his neck as the tears started to fall down her face.

It wasn't until he kissed her that the full impact of the situation hit her and she started to laugh and smile. Everyone in the room came to congratulate her, which she accepted, smiling and laughing.

"I can't believe you're letting him marry me," she said when Al gave her a huge hug. He smiled and ruffled her hair, something he hadn't done since she was ten or so.

"The thought crossed my mind to make him disappear when he asked, but then I realized that you wouldn't be happy. So I decided for the greater good that if he really does make you happy… and he has a job, a clean criminal record, performs community service twice a week, is good with kids, respects you, will support your career, and laughs at my jokes… I guess he's good enough. I'm still holding out hope that Ling will deem him unworthy and forbid the marriage, but…"

"We're going to have to invite him. Both of our cousins, probably his family in Xing. I guess you're going to want to invite some of your close friends—"

When Zhou's parents heard that the Emperor wanted to attend, they nearly had heart attacks.

But as soon as Ling heard that his niece was getting married, he determined that he was going to attend and there was no one who could stop him. He even offered to preside over the marriage as well. He would leave Fu in charge so he could get some practice in running the country for a few days. The boy was politically savvy enough to be able to handle Xing for a few days. He could probably drop dead right now and Fu would be fine, Ling had joked on the phone.

Nina had just rolled her eyes at her uncle's antics and intertwined her fingers with Zhou's, who all of a sudden looked a lot more nervous about this enterprise.

The two proved to be near inseparable after his proposal, always holding hands or sitting next to each other. And Al didn't even have to deal with seeing them together, because more often than not when they were together they would go elsewhere as to not have to deal with wedding planning.

Minutes turned into hours which turned into days. All too soon, days were turning into weeks and weeks into months.

Long before Mei was ready, she was helping her daughter into her wedding dress, a form fitting red silk dress with gold trim but not accents. She was using all of her years of hair expertise to twist her daughters blond hair into a braided crown. She was helping apply makeup and fastening jewelry around her neck.

When she retrieved the veil from the other side of the room to fix in her hair though, she caught sight of Nina staring into a mirror and found the tears rising to her eyes.

"Oh Nina…"

She turned. "What is it Mom?"

"You look so… beautiful," Mei breathed, moving closer and touching her face gently. "My precious little girl."

"Mom…"

"You've grown up so much. Your father was so happy the day he came home from the orphanage after meeting you for the first time. We were both planning on adopting a little boy so that Liwu could have a brother, but the moment he met you he fell utterly in love. I half thought he had found a god in disguise instead of a child."

Nina smiled, but Mei continued. "I don't think I've ever met a more outgoing little girl. You were nervous because you had been told that we were thinking about adopting you, but in minutes you were treating us like we were already your parents. And now you're all grown up and getting married…"

"Mom, don't cry…" Nina said, hugging her mother tightly. Mei squeezed her tightly, but pulled away touching her eyes carefully as to not mess up her own makeup.

"I'm not going to. At least not yet. I won't cry until you're out of my grasp forever."

"I'm not going to disappear, Mom. We're not even moving out of Central. I'm still going to see you…"

"I know, I know. But you'll be a married woman. And you're working on nursing school… once you have children you won't have time to pay attention to old women like me."

"I'll always have time to pay attention to you, Mom."

"You're so sweet… I love you so much, Nina. I can never thank fate enough for giving me you to be my daughter."

"I love you too."

Mei smiled, before turning Nina back towards the mirror so she could fix the veil in her hair. Mei herself was dressed up, though different than usual. Her hair was wrapped around her head in a braided crown, she was wearing just a little makeup, and she was dressed in a simple red Xingesed styled dress that fell to her knees. As she glanced into the mirror she noticed a few wrinkles around her eyes that hadn't been there a few years ago. There was more crinkling around her mouth when she smiled that there had been before.

Even Al was starting to look more haggard. He wasn't going bald (thank goodness), but his golden hair wasn't quite as gold as it used to be. He didn't move like he used to, and there was crinkling around his eyes too.

"Zhou is a lucky man," she said eventually.

"… thank you, Mom."

There was silence before Mei finally broke it. "But he's mistaken if he thinks we're going to let you go without a fight. I know for a fact that Emily is planning on sucking him dry of every cens he owns."

"Oh no, you're not serious are you?" Nina groaned, and probably would have dropped her face into her hands if it wouldn't have ruined her make up.

"I don't know if she's going to go through with it, but that's certainly the plan."

"Oh no… what are the rest of them planning?"

"I don't know, I only heard Emily talking with your father about it."

She groaned again.

Her fiancé was doing likewise.

"Don't worry, I've got you covered," Liwu said bravely, stepping up to deal with his baby sister. Rachel had been easy enough to deal with, a few pushups and explaining their first kiss and he passed. Emily was a whole other story. She was the one he was terrified of, and so he had brought heavy artillery.

"999 cens." Liwu said, stepping forward.

"Not a chance. If he wants my big sister he's going to have to pay a lot more than that," the Amestrian Xingese girl said, raising her chin.

"1999."

"No."

Liwu sighed. "I didn't want to have to do this, but… April 19 1946, you were the one that used Dad's books as transmutation material." Her eyes widened. "November 13 1943, you cut Nina's hair because you were jealous—"

"August 7 1947," said a different voice emerging from down a hall. Liwu froze and turned. "You're the one that threw the first handful of food that started the food fight at Chris's wedding."

"How did you know that!"

April just smiled, a grin that Emily soon mimicked. She held out a hand towards Zhou and curled her fingers backwards, a universal gesture for "Hand it over".

Mei figured that after dealing with Emily, the poor boy deserved to have an easy trip with the rest of it, and kept the rest of girls from sucking him dry. The grin on his face when he finally reached Nina, waiting by her father with the veil over her face, was wide enough that Mei had to fight back more tears.

They were so happy to be with each other.

Mei could see Al's chin quivering slightly as he handed Zhou her hand. He was fighting back the tears too.

The entire party, groomsmen, bridesmaids, parents and all followed the couple out of the house and down the streets to the park where Ling was already ready to perform the wedding ceremony. Somewhere along the walk to the park, Mei's arm had slipped into Al's and she rested her head against his shoulder as Ling talked about the history and institution of marriage. How their qi would become one. She unconsciously reached out at his words and had to smile at the life she felt from her husband.

Then they drank from the goblets connected by a red ribbon and kissed.

It was then that Mei couldn't hold back the tears any longer.

Then it seemed like they almost wouldn't stop. She managed to clear her eyes of them for the pictures and even through most of the following dinner. There were people to talk to, thanks to be given, congratulations to be accepted, food to be eaten. Every time she glanced over at her little girl staring into her new husband's eyes or with one of their arms around the other, she could help the tears leaking out of the corner of her eyes.

There was no helping them when Al made his speech.

"Many of you here know that Nina is not our biological daughter," he had started off, shuffling slightly. Over the years of being Ambassador he had become quite accomplished at speaking to large crowds, but this was different. "Our first attempt at having children was… unsuccessful and we were told that we would never be able to have children. The news was heartbreaking. Both of us had looked forward to having children and a family. We were blessed though. A few years after the miscarriage of our first child, I assisted a pregnant woman who passed away giving birth and we were able to raise her child.

"It was a miracle that we weren't expecting. And we couldn't have been happier to receive it. Liwu was a perfect gift. But… I grew up with the most amazing older brother anyone could ever hope for." Ed, sitting in the crowd, grinned. "We would have sacrificed anything for each other. We had sacrificed everything for each other. I can't imagine a world growing up without a brother.

"So when Liwu was about three we started looking at adoption again. We both wanted a little boy. The paperwork was extensive, but we were determined. The day I went to turn in the first round of paperwork though, the woman asked to look over all of it to make sure that we hadn't accidently missed any pages, so I waited in the lobby.

"I didn't know I was meeting one of the three most amazing women in my life that day. I was sitting there and I felt something bump into my leg and I looked down and it was this little blond girl. I said hi and she responded with a hi and informed me that she was a girl and that she had a nose." Nina grinned, having heard the story before. There were plenty of chuckles around the room.

"Then this little two year old had the audacity to inform me that I didn't have a nose, but that she could give me one. Well… it took me only minutes to do what it took Zhou five years to own up to. I had fallen completely in love with this little girl. Head over heels, helpless. I knew that I wanted to adopt her that instant. Luckily enough my wife was of the same opinion shortly after meeting her and we were able to complete the paperwork and about two months later we were able to bring her into our home.

"It is, and it was, one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life. I have done many things in my life, and a lot of the things I have done have impacted the lives of other people."

His travels around Amestris, his involvement in the Promised Day, his treaty, his other actions and influence as an Ambassador, his alkahestric and alchemic studies… He had done so much in his life.

"And none of them compare to the impact I have made on this world, raising you. It remains to this day one of three of the greatest things I have ever done in my life.

"Zhou, I want you to know that I have given you one of the most precious things I have. I don't do it lightly. She has been an influence of light in my life, and I know that she will be in yours. I wish you two the best of luck, and the best of fortunes. Congratulations."

He nodded and sat down, only to be nearly tackled off his chair when Nina abandoned her sit to throw her arms around her father. Al smiled and patted his crying daughter's back.

"I love you Daddy," she whispered, and he squeezed her tightly.

"I love you too Nina."

"Caught you." Nina froze when she heard her brother and swore. Liwu grinned and April smiled sheepishly.

"Come on," she said as she and Zhou turned around. "If you let us go, I promise I'll turn a blind eye at your wedding."

"Let me think about it, no," he responded calmly before jabbing over his shoulder with a thumb. "You're not sneaking off under my watch. Get back there."

Sighing, Zhou dropped his head and dragged Nina back to the wedding feast where everyone would welcome them back with cat calls and sly comments. It was a Xingese tradition for the groom and bride to try to sneak off before the night was over to avoid the receiving line of embarrassing comments. Liwu was determined to avoid giving his sister the satisfaction of having succeeded.

"So you're not at all worried about her catching you at your wedding?" April asked as the newlywed couple disappeared from sight among the crowd. Liwu shrugged.

"I'm sure she will," he said, continuing to walk. April hurried slightly to catch up and laid a hand on his proffered arm. "But it doesn't matter how many times she catches me, as long as there's at least one time that she doesn't."

"Unless someone else catches you that time."

He snorted and hung his head before smiling at her sideways. "Fair point. You don't mind do you?"

She froze.

"…What?"

Then Liwu seemed to realize exactly what he had said and instantly turned red. "Uh… um… I… well we…"

"You… you think we're…?"

He grimaced and April felt her heart give a painful thump in her chest. He didn't…

"I wanted to do this differently."

"… Do what differently?"

"Mom's going to be annoyed that she wasn't here…"

"Liwu Elric, what are you talking about?"

Liwu coughed slightly before squaring his shoulders and getting down on one knee.

April gasped.

"It was really Zhou who gave me the encouragement I needed to do this. I realized that if he could propose to Nina, and as long as Nina was going to be the first one to break my parents' hearts, I could propose to you. So… will you marry me April?"

"Yes!" she said, hugging him tightly, to which he hugged her back. "Yes, yes, yes!"

"I love you, April."

"I love you too, so much." They stayed there in each other's arms for a few minutes before finally pulling apart so Liwu could slip the ring on her finger. Then he grinned and intertwined their fingers so that his covered the ring. They walked together back to the feast.

They only told his parents, so as to not steal Nina and Zhou's special night… except somehow someone overheard Mei squeals and shouts of joy, and pretty soon everyone knew.

Liwu was worried that Nina would be mad or upset at the occurrence… but when she leveled him with a glare it was more triumphal determination than resentment.

"I'm not going to let you out of my sight the entire wedding."

My dad actually did that to my Uncle and Aunt on their wedding day. He proposed to my mom after the ceremony, but they told my aunt so that she could tell my grandma, and from that point on everyone knew XD

Nina's already married. She's OLD.