July 19th, 1984

Minxia had only briefly worried over what kind of a pre-wedding party Angelique would come up with for the girls to enjoy. Not that Angelique was likely to do something too daring, but Minxia had assured even her teenage female cousins that they would be able to attend. While the final choice was, in fact, possibly the girliest thing Minxia could imagine being talked into, it would be enjoyable.

"This is the best spa in Creta," Angelique gushed as she led the way through the doors of The Pylosian Baths. "It's been in operation for over five-hundred years."

"How can a spa be five hundred years old?" Callie asked, from where she was walking with Gloria, Kamika, and Lily.

Minxia let Angelique answer. She was having so much fun playing tour guide. She was grateful her other Cretan friends – Emilia, Viana, Letzi – were kind enough not to tease her younger cousin. As much as they all travelled, this was Callie's first trip outside Amestris.

"Well, it wasn't a spa in the modern sense," Angelique smiled. "But these were the premier baths in the city. They're built over the largest natural hot springs in Creta. Over the years, they've widened the services. They've got every kind of skin and hair treatment you can think of, full deep-body massage, a steam room, a pool –with water games- and they offer dance classes."

"What kind of dance classes?" Gloria asked, pouncing immediately on one of her favorite activities.

Minxia was curious about that herself. She could see Krista. Gale, and Trisha exchanging amused and curious glances. It was too bad Deanna had declined to join them, but she hadn't been comfortable leaving her four-month-old daughter for the evening.

"Well they've got everything from waltzes to more modern steps," Angelique grinned mischievously. "But today, we're going to be learning a dance from the southern isles."

Minxia did not groan. It could have been much worse, and it might even be fun, but she could not imagine that she would ever use the moves they would learn today in any public location… ever. Which is probably why Angelique set this up.

"Oh, I love isles dancing," Gia grinned. Her sister, Lori, chuckled. "You'll be great at it, Minxia. Just wait. It's so much fun."

The announcement was met by a resounding chorus of curiosity and other affirmative excitement from the rest of the girls, and Minxia put her doubts away. Besides, she was very much looking forward to a long hot soak, a massage, and the dinner they were having later at Flora's, her favorite café along the beach. Angelique had reserved the whole place for the occasion. Minxia simply tried not to think about how much her family –and Thrakos' family- was paying for this wedding. She was going to go with the flow and have fun. After all, how often would she get to have all these girls with her again for some special girl time?

It was almost time to head out for Thrakos' bachelor party. Ian, for one, had no intention of missing it. Not that he hadn't been to his share of upscale parties in his life, but because this particular one promised to be highly entertaining, if Thrakos' friend Kerr wasn't exaggerating. Given Kerr and the other guys Thrakos knew from Chalas and college had planned it, Ian saw no reason to doubt them.

Now all he had to do was find his wayward brother. It took him a few minutes –given the size of the house- to hunt Urey down. He wasn't in his guest room, or the kitchens. From there, Ian hit the library. Bingo.

Urey was sprawled out in a chair with his feet up, his nose buried in a book as he munched on a snack of Cretan hummus and pita bread.

Ian shook his head. "Aren't you coming?"

"No. This is really good." Urey didn't even look up from the passage. His eyes continued to scan the page, so Ian could tell he was actually reading.

"You'd miss out on the bachelor party of a lifetime…for a book."

Urey shrugged, then frowned. "Some of us don't like partying the way you do."

Ian crossed his arms. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Urey snorted. "I would have thought that was obvious."

From Urey… Ian had never thought he'd get it from his closest brother. "At least I'm not hiding from the rest of my life," he shorted, leaving his brother to himself. A small part of him felt guilty, like he should try harder to convince his brother to come along. The part of him that was hurt, however, thought unkindly that it was probably for the best. He couldn't be sure the Urey wouldn't get himself wasted and do something stupid.

That got his brother's eyes to leave the page, if only for a moment. "Better a life of caution than one of regrets."

Ian bit his tongue. Urey had more regrets than he did. It wasn't a criticism, it was advise, however misplaced. "Fine. Suit yourself. Enjoy your evening." With that he left, heading towards the front entry where everyone was gathering to leave.

It was quite the crew. Aside from the Cretans, there was himself, Coran, Reichart, Michio, Roy, James, and Eamon. Aeddan and Charlie had wanted to come, but had been told it was grown-ups only. Eamon, being eighteen and about to start college, just barely qualified. Ian was looking forward to initiating his younger cousin into the adult world, as it were. At least he could be sure nothing disastrous happened.

"Is he coming?" Coran asked as they started to file out the door with Thrakos –who was blindfolded until their arrival, so that their destination remained a secret.

Ian shook his head and replied quietly, under the jocular teasing of the other men. "Nope. Said he'd rather read."

Coran frowned. Reichart, however, did not look surprised. "Come on, guys," Reichart nodded towards the door. "It's probably better this way."

Ian wanted to argue, but he had just thought the same thing a few minutes before.

There were two cars waiting outside –big ones, and they all barely fit crammed into both as they zipped through the streets of Pylos. Ian had visited here before, mostly for filming, but he didn't know the area well enough to know exactly where they were headed. All he could tell was they weren't heading for the night club district.

The sun was just starting to go down as they pulled up to what looked like a forest of palm trees and scrub bushes that ran along the edge of a beach. There were also a few strategically placed pieces of what looked like beached ships, but were clearly too well structured to actually be so.

The group piled out of the cars onto the sandy drive outside a building that said –in Cretan- Smite Thee. At least, Ian thought he was translated correctly.

Thrakos certainly seemed to know it, because his reaction was enthusiastic when they pulled off the blindfold.

::What is this place?:: he asked one of Thrakos' Cretan friends –a guy named Colson.

Colson grinned. "I believe you Amestrians call it… paint ball."

Ian had heard of the concept, though he hadn't ever actually played. Everyone was basically given toy guns that fired miniature paint-filled pellets at low velocities, so they'd smack and break, but not damage anyone.

He followed the crowd as they went around the building, and he discovered the rest of the fun. Yes, there were paint-filled weapons, but there was also a huge table of Cretan snack foods, and drinks on ice. Primarily beers and wine coolers from what Ian could see. He turned to Colson. "So let me get this right. We're going to drink, and shoot at each other."

"In the dark," Colson grinned broadly. "When it gets dark, the paint they use glows."

"Sounds like a good time to me," Ian chuckled. This was going to be a novel and entertaining night. "Are we playing teams or every man for himself?"

"A few rounds of both," Colson said as they waited their turn for the cotton pullover suits that would protect their street clothes –and goggles for their eyes. "We've reserved the place all evening."

"And when they close?"

"There's always the clubs."

Ian clapped Colson on the shoulder. "You're my kind of party planner."

While everyone took turns getting dressed, others perused the snack table or got drinks. It was a hot evening, and Ian had the feeling most of the beverages wouldn't survive the night. He was glad to note –when he thought to look- that there was water and soft drinks along with the alcohol.

With a sinking feeling, something occurred to Ian. "Hey, Eamon."

"Yeah?" Eamon asked as he considered the drink options, then pulled out a relative mild wine cooler.

"You wouldn't happen to have any idea if you've got a similar reaction to alcohol as your dad, do you?" The last thing they needed was for Eamon to wind up sick or in the hospital.

Eamon chuckled, smiling as he popped the top off the short bottle. "I'm not going to keel over, if that's what you're worried about; or get stupid drunk. I'm eighteen, not an idiot."

"Well good," Ian grinned back as he grabbed a beer. "Then you can be the responsible person who keeps the rest of us out of trouble."

Eamon shook his head. "Even I can't do the impossible."

"Do you think they're having fun?"

"Oh, I'm sure they're having a blast." Winry looked up at Deanna, who was seated comfortably on one end of one of the many couches in the large living room that had become the place to hang-out for the evening for a lot of the people who hadn't gone out to one of the two major parties. Which meant that at the moment it was mostly full of members of the Elric family, and mostly women and children. Deanna had Dessa, her youngest, tucked to her breast.

The television in the corner –a modern appliance that seemed so very out of place in such a classic building- had an evening children's program on, which was keeping everyone under the age of about eight entertained. Gavin, Damian, Rhiana, Owen, and Rosa were playing a board game that Thrakos' mother had pulled out of a closet. Apparently it was one of the most popular kids games in Creta, and even though the children couldn't read half of the board, once the game had been explained, they had been captivated.

Elicia, Alyse, Cassie, Jiu, Ren, and Gracia made up the rest of the women in the room. Deanna was the only one of the younger crowd who had chosen to stay behind, though that was mostly because of Dessa. Cassie had offered to watch her granddaughter, but Deanna had felt that the four-month-old would want her before they would have gotten back, even if she cut out early on the plans.

Deanna seemed quite content to be with her children. Which was good, since Dessa made six. She was smiling as she nodded. "I hope so. It's good for them to get out every so often."

"It's hard with a big family," Cassie agreed. She had a sketch pad out and looked like she was working on an idea for a new painting. "Even with well-behaved kids."

"Of which you have quite a few," Winry added with a chuckle, looking between both Cassie and Deanna. Her daughter-in-law and granddaughter-in-law had both embraced motherhood in a way even Winry had never managed. Raising Sara, Aldon, and Ethan had been as much as Winry had ever wanted to manage.

"It was nice of the guys to take Aeddan and Charlie along with them tonight," Alyse commented. "It's a bit of a relief really."

"At least you know things can't get too wild with minors around?" Jiu asked.

Elicia laughed. "The wildest thing those boys could get into would be an international incident."

Jiu looked momentarily confused. "And this is something humorous?"

"Only because it would be over something silly," Winry explained. "You know Ed, and Al, and Will. While there's a couple of short tempers in the bunch, none of them were going out to party hard anyway." With Mao, Cal, Franz, Ethan, and Aldon with them, the large party wasn't going to be a wild one. Even if Tore had managed to get off, the wild days of even their most ebullient family members seemed well in the past. "In fact, having the teens along might liven things up."

"Where did they decide to go?" Gracia asked. She had been conversing with some of the elder members of the Argyros family during that portion of the afternoon's discussions.

Elicia grinned. "Bowling."

"This should not seem like this much fun," Cal quipped as he watched Charlie line up and manage to pull a spare… out of pure luck.

"What, hanging out bowling with young teenagers and a bunch of old guys isn't your idea of a good time?" Ed asked as he sipped a cola and waited his turn.

Cal shrugged. "It wasn't all that long ago we were the ones at the wild parties."

"I'm pretty sure I'm not allowed to even be in the same postal code as a wild party," Aldon quipped as he picked up his bowling ball and lined up.

"Being Mayor is that restrictive?" Franz asked from the other side of the table.

"Being happily married is that restrictive," Aldon grinned, then focused on the pins in front of him, and bowled a strike.

Cal couldn't argue with that one. Alyse would not have been pleased if they had gone out drinking tonight, no matter who Cal was with. No one else in the party argued with the comment either. "Well, at least the boys are having fun."

Too young to go to the real bachelor party, Aeddan and Charlie had been more than a little disappointed to be stuck at home like kids for the evening. Even going bowling with the dads, uncles, and grandfathers had proven to be an exciting alternative.

It was also kind of fun to watch Mao bowl too. The retired Emperor of Xing had apparently not been in a common bowling alley in his life. It wasn't a big thing in Xing. However, Mao had proven to have the reflexes and precision needed to play a relatively competitive game, particularly for a beginner.

"There's nothing wrong with having a fun evening you actually remember the next day," Al commented, grinning smugly at his son-in-law.

Cal snorted. "Leave it to the old guy to feel that way," he teased back.

"If you're really bored, we could always find a gym and go in for some sparring," Ed suggested. "I'm willing to bet I could still kick your ass, and probably anybody here."

"Except me," Al retorted.

"Except maybe Al," Ed conceded.

Ethan was up. Cal wasn't worried. Ethan was only a mediocre bowler. He was much more dangerous at card games. Sure enough, Ethan only bowled a spare. At this rate, Cal would win if he could keep up his streak so far.

"Speaking of fighting," Ed continued the conversation. "How's Charlie's self-defense work going?"

At that, Cal couldn't help smiling. After the kidnapping a couple of years before, Charlie had asked his father to teach him to fight, so he could protect himself. It had seemed like a good idea, and Cal had been surprised that even the counselor had agreed that it was an excellent idea. Not feeling helpless against a second attack would help Charlie overcome the emotional trauma of his kidnapping more quickly.

"He's getting pretty good," Cal replied proudly. "You should have a practice with him sometime and see for yourself. He'd probably be honored you thought he was worth your time."

"Is he thinking of going military?"

Cal shrugged. "The subject has only come up a couple of times. He might, but he's more of an engineer, hands-on kind of kid, when he can focus on anything besides his girlfriend for more than half an hour. He might do really well in a military structure, or he might completely bomb at it. We'll just have to see. He's got some time."

Ed nodded. "Well yeah, there's no rush. I was just curious. He seems more confident than he used to, and more focused."

"I'm glad you can see it." Sometimes it was a little hard in the day-to-day to see how far Charlie had come. He was still impulsive, still prone to pranks -thankfully not mean-spirited ones- that got him in trouble on a semi-regular basis, and some days keeping him on task was like keeping a cat in a bathtub, but he was more focused. His grades were better. More importantly, he almost never had nightmares anymore about what had happened to him.

"It's hard not to," Ed grinned. "Especially not when the teens are trying to flirt with our waitress."

Cal and Ethan both turned their heads in time to see Aeddan and Charlie chatting with the girl –she couldn't be more than sixteen- who was bringing food to the tables and clearing away old plates tonight.

"I'm impressed," Al said after a moment. "I was convinced neither one of them understood a lick of Cretan."

Cal listened for several seconds, picking out their voices from the crowd. Then he snickered as he followed the conversation and saw the girl's amused expression. "They don't."

Lily Elric smiled as she watched her cousin Minxia enjoying herself with the rest of their family and her friends. The balcony on the back of the restaurant Angelique had reserved for the evening had stairs right down onto the beach, and the last blush of the setting sun light up the ocean beyond. Everyone was dancing to the music piped through the café's sound system, laughing, and having a good time.

She was having a really good time herself. The only thing that would have made the trip better, would have been if Randy could have come with her, but his summer job hadn't let him off. He was saving up for college, and she couldn't blame him. She was grateful he cared enough about her to make sure they both went to the same school.
All of this wedding-focused activity had her wondering if Randy was considering making their relationship more permanent. It would certainly be romantic to go away to college and have him propose. Not that there was any reason to hurry, but it was nice to think about.

"This is supposed to be a no boys night," Gloria chuckled as she came up beside her. "That means in your head too."

"I don't remember that part being in the rules." Lily sipped her drink, a refreshing tropical fruit smoothie. "Don't tell me you don't wonder what the boys are up to tonight."

"I doubt your mind is on any of the boys in this country," Gloria pointed out. "Though last I heard the boys were playing drunken paintball."

"And how do you have this information?" Lily looked at Gloria curiously.

Her younger cousin batted her eyelashes and smiled too-sweetly. "Let's just say I'm good with talking things out of people."

"Are you planning to major in investigative reporting, or flirting?" Lily asked wryly. She was fully aware that Gloria could probably convince most men her age or older into just about anything if she really wanted it badly enough. She was just nice enough not to take advantage of men for anything mean.

"Please," Gloria shook her head. "Thrakos' friends think I'm a cute little kid."

"Aren't they a little old for you?" Lily asked.

Gloria's expression grew coy. "They're no older than me than dad is older than mom."

She had a point. Lily hadn't ever really thought about dating someone that much older than herself. However, perhaps that was because she and Randy were so close to the same age. "Your father would flip."

"Which is why I wasn't planning on dating anyone older than me until I'm in college." Gloria shrugged. "But we're supposed to be enjoying this party!" She grabbed Lily's hand. "Come on! How often do we get to dance on a beach?"

Lily set her cup down on a nearby table. Randy would be in Central when she got back, and then they would both be heading out to ECU together. "You're right. Let's party."

Eamon had been amused, though touched, by his cousin Ian's moment of concern. It had been, given his father's mild allergic reaction to the stuff, a perfectly valid question. What Ian hadn't known, and Eamon hadn't bothered to explain, was that he had very carefully answered that question pretty much as soon as he and Lily had turned eighteen. At home…with a single beverage, and his father home in case he did have some kind of reaction that required immediate alchemical treatment.

While he had never had enough to be drunk, Eamon felt confident that he could get through the evening without getting sick.

He had no such delusions about many of the other guys at the bachelor party. The Cretan guys could drink like fish, yet seemed minimally affected. Maybe he shouldn't be surprised by that. While it would have been difficult to actually keep track of what everyone was having –not that he bothered- he had the general feeling that less alcohol was imbibed than it looked like, though he wouldn't have said that was evidenced by their behavior on the battlefield.

The later it got, the more tactics went out the window. What started as multi-unit field operations eventually devolved into every man for himself slaughter. The only thing that kept the game fair was the fact that very few of them were military. James and Roy were the only exceptions; an advantage when they had troops to command, but not nearly as useful when it got down to utter chaos.

In any case, eventually, everyone was pretty soaked –though mostly with paint- and they spent nearly as much time sitting around chatting, eating, and drinking. When the place finally closed around eleven at night, Eamon had thoroughly enjoyed himself. More importantly, Thrakos was clearly having a good time.

"So now we head back to the house, right?" Eamon asked Ian as they all piled back into the cars.

His cousin snorted. "It's only eleven," he replied. "The night is young."

"Then where are we going?" Eamon asked, though he had a sneaking suspicion he already knew.

"The club district," said Ian as they crammed into a car with Reichart, Coran, Roy, and James. "This party's just getting started."

Eamon shook his head. "So much for a night of responsible fun. Aren't we supposed to make sure Thrakos can still walk tomorrow?"

"He'll be fine," James snorted. "I've seen worse off than him make it back down the aisle with their wife at the end of the day."

Roy grinned conspiratorially. "I think the real idea is to make a guy so miserable they don't miss bachelorhood."

This was getting more worrisome by the minute. At least Reichart and Coran seemed disinclined towards raucous revelry. Going to the clubs didn't necessarily mean this was about to get stupid-crazy. At least, Eamon hoped it wouldn't get there. If his cousins were attempting to convince him that college parties were not a good idea, they were doing a pretty good job.

At the moment he just hoped he survived the family party first.