July 20th, 1984 (Cont'd)

"It's almost time."

Minxia nodded and smiled at Angelique, who was beaming at her. She was dressed. Her hair was done. The flowers were ready and waiting. All of her bridesmaids were as dressed and ready as she was. All she was waiting for now was the time to arrive. They would be summoned when everything was in place. "I can hardly believe it's here," she admitted.

"You mean all those times we daydreamed up wedding ideas for you two in the dorms in high school and college, and you still don't believe it?" Angelique chuckled. "Though the real thing is much grander."

"I always figured it wouldn't be quite this grandiose," Minxia admitted. She had acquiesced to the needs of propriety and politics for Thrakos' sake more than anything else. Her family would have been happy with anything except an elopement, so long as they were there with her. "But, I'm happy with how it's turned out." Once she had gotten used to how much fancier it was than her own usual preferences. It helped, she thought, that they had a nice, spacious, but relatively plain apartment waiting for them when they got back from their beachfront honeymoon. After they played their part as members of the family of the President of Argyros, the Imperial Family of Xing, and the Elrics of Amestris, they could just go back to being Minxia and Thrakos, archaeological troublemakers. At least, that was how she liked to think of her work lobbying for and protecting the archaeological digs she had worked.

"All that matters is that you two are happy," Angelique agreed, her eyes shining. "Though it's nice to see you showing off for once."

"You've wanted to turn me into a dress-up doll since we met." Minxia refrained from sticking her tongue out at her best friend.

"You look like a movie star, Minx," Angelique assured her. "If you can't stop them from plastering your picture all over the news, at least you'll look fabulous while they do it."
Minxia would be quite happy when the Cretan press got bored with the story of Thrakos' wedding. She had simply stopped paying any attention whatsoever to the news of late, just to avoid having to hear speculations about herself, about her dress, about anything and everything that had nothing to do with anyone else. Except that it did, because of who their families were. She wondered how Ian put up with this kind of publicity all the time as an up-and-coming star. "I hope we get started soon," she said.

"Though I wonder where everyone is. I had expected more people to stop in by now."

"They're probably just trying not to bother you." Angelique brushed it off with a sure smile and a little flip of her hand. "They would want to get the best seats possible after all. Who wouldn't want to get to see and hear everything?"

She had a point. Minxia relaxed just a little. Of course everyone was sitting out there, waiting for her. It wasn't like they all needed to crowd into her dressing room before the wedding when they would see her during the ceremony and afterwards at the reception. They respected her privacy, even if the rest of the country didn't. "You're right. Everything is going to be perfect."

If this turned out to be a false trail, Winry was going to hit someone with a wrench. She wasn't sure where she would find a wrench given—despite popular belief—she did not have one tucked into her clothes everywhere she went. Still, she would find something.

They had followed the maid through several twists and turns down multiple narrow hallways, until Winry was beginning to think the goal was to get them lost.

::How much farther, Enette,:: she asked impatiently.

::Not far,:: the young woman promised, speaking quietly. ::Please, you must understand that many of us used to work for her household. It's…difficult not to do what she asks, if any of the others are involved.::

::And you're sure you're not,:: Callie asked in rough Cretan.

::I promise!:: Enette squeaked again. Her nervousness was beginning to irritate Winry. ::I don't want anything to happen that would make today go badly. I don't know who is behind this, but I will do anything to make sure young master Thrakos has a flawless wedding.::

There was something in her tone that made Winry suspect that the serving girl –who really wasn't much more than a girl- had a crush on her employer's son. Too bad for her. ::Well where are we going?::

::There's a storage closet,:: Enette said, ::Where only the hired help keeps things, usually things they don't want people messing with. It's an unwritten rule that no one removes anyone else's things from their spot. It's a cupboard, you see, with cubbies on the shelves.::

::So what are we going to do when we get there?::

Enette blushed, and looked uncomfortable. ::I thought… we could search them.::

Well now, that wasn't a bad idea at all. Winry nodded. ::All right. I just wish we knew what we were looking for.::

::I'll know if anything there belongs in the house,:: Enette assured her. ::I've dusted every inch of this house every day for the past three years.::

Given Winry had yet to see dust anywhere in the expansive building, she believed it.

When they arrived down in the basement at the room in question, however, Winry found that they weren't the only ones there.

::You,:: she looked at the young man standing there with his hand in one of the cubbies.

It was Heo, the servant who had been there when the other one –Malo—had said he found the vase in Ian and Urey's room.

Heo stared at them very hard for a moment, then charged. Startled, Winry jumped out of the way as he barreled past with something in his gloved hands.

"Get him!" Winry shouted. "Whatever he's got, we want it." She was convinced, given his expression, that he knew the information they needed.

Unfortunately the man was also fast, and he knew the back halls of the house better than Winry did. Still she, Enette, and Callie pelted after him. Winry was very glad she had picked very low heels for the outfit she was wearing to the wedding. Callie was in sensible flats.

They careened around curves, startled two more maids, and nearly tripped over a cat that yowled and streaked off in the other direction.

This was getting ridiculous. Winry had to find something she could use to slow him down.

She grabbed the first thing she could get her hands on as they ran, which turned out to be a large, round, glass-ball paperweight sitting on a small hallway table. It was decorative, and possibly expensive, but Winry came to a stop just long enough to throw it down the hall towards Heo.

It didn't hit him in the head, but it did slam into the wall, roll under his feet, and cause him to trip as he scrambled to stay upright.

Seconds later Winry had him by his uniform collar up against the wall with his arm twisted behind his back. ::All right, tell me everything.::

Callie and Enette caught up, panting heavily.

"Wow, Granny," Callie looked at her in awe.

Winry shrugged. "It's nothing. Check what he's holding."

Callie came around Winry's other side and pried whatever it was out of his fingers. When she held it up, it was a roll of what looked like camera film, but it was entirely the wrong size.

::What are you doing with film?:: Winry asked suspiciously.

"Granny what are you—"

Winry glanced over her shoulder as Lily, Gloria, and Gia came around the corner from the opposite direction and stopped, staring. She hadn't realized the chase had brought them back to one of the main hallways.

Then Gloria gasped. "You did it! You found the missing tape!"

The commotion out in the hallway was enough to make Edward leave the glowering Maritza where she should. He heard shouting, and Amestrian. He recognized Winry's voice. "What the hell is going on out here?" he asked as he stepped out and looked at the crowd of women, and one servant who looked very, very uncomfortable. Ed hadn't realized Winry knew that particular hold.

"Granny just found the evidence we need," Lily explained.

"Oh really now?"

::Impossible!:: Maritza stomped into the hallway, banging her cane on the floor.

::I think we need to hear this out,:: Ed replied. ::What evidence is that?::

::Our house has a security system,:: Gia explained, taking charge as she came forward. She gave her great-aunt a dirty look. ::It constantly records the rooms where our most valuable family heirlooms are, like the one where the vase sits.::

::Nonsense,:: Martiza scoffed.

::I can show you the recording room,:: Gia said. ::We looked at the tapes from last night. They've been tampered with. There's an odd skip of several seconds right at the time the vase vanishes from its display pedestal. We… that is, Gloria, Lily, and I were looking for the missing film. It's clearly been cut and taped back together.:: She pointed at the roll of film that was still in Callie's hand. ::I'm willing to bet a year's allowance that's the missing section.::

Around here, that was probably a large sum. ::What was he doing with it?::

::Hiding it,:: the servant girl said, coming forward. ::We found him in the act.::

::I see.:: Ed wondered what Heo's motives were for doing as Maritza had ordered. He supposed it didn't matter at the moment. ::Then we should have a look.:: He held out his hand, and Callie handed over the tape. Ed walked back into the other room. There was plenty of light, and he knew he would be able to see what he needed by holding it up.

It took only a few seconds to verify that the girls were correct. The cut section showed the vase sitting in its normal location, then a shape came in, removed the vase, and it was gone. That shape, however, wasn't one of the servants.

Ed looked at Maritza and shook his head. ::Stealing from your own family just to frame an innocent young man? How shameful. I wonder what the press would think of this.::

Maritza looked horrified. ::You wouldn't dare. Besides, the phones are dead.::

::Oh, I can fix that,:: Gia grinned brightly. ::I'm the one who disconnected them.::

Smart girl! ::I think you can turn them back on,:: Ed nodded. ::We'll need to make a few calls before we go to the wedding. If we hurry, we can just make it.::

By the time Winry's heart had stopped racing, everything looked like it was going to turn out just fine.

Ed hadn't called the press. He had called the local police to report the situation, and had been ready to present the evidence when they arrived, and explain the situation. Whatever was made of it later, Maritza and multiple members of the staff had attempted to pull a very inappropriate bit of fraud and slander the name of the family in order to put a stop to a wedding. It probably wouldn't get Maritza jail time, but it would keep her out of the way for a while. Gia, as the only member of her family present, assured the police that her father would attend to the matter personally after the wedding.

Apparently if you were the President, you had that kind of cloud, because the police seemed to find this not at all unusual. Or perhaps the old families still played politics like this enough that in this part of Pylos it was commonplace.

Winry had cleaned up and redone her hair, and as soon as they were done, they had gone out to the garage, where Gia had summoned on of the family drivers, and the six of them had piled into one long, large car. Winry just hoped they made it in time. When she looked at her watch, it was time for the ceremony to start already. At least we won't miss everything.

"Are we ready to start?" Alphonse asked. He was standing at the back hall, waiting with Will, who would soon be walking his daughter down the aisle.

"Almost," Will shrugged. "It's a wedding. Have you ever known one to go off perfectly on time?"

"The ones your sister organizes usually do," Al pointed out with a chuckle. He was trying not to appear nervous, but he was definitely starting to worry. The rest of the family hadn't arrived yet. What was going on? Al had tried calling the house once, but hadn't been able to get through. He had not mentioned this to Minxia or Ren. The last thing they needed was to start worrying about the rest of the family not being there.

That was now Al's job. "So, what's the hold up?"

"Actually, for once, it's not the bride," Will said. "I heard that there's apparently a pigeon that got in and is loose in the hall. They're trying to remove it so it doesn't poop on any of the guests and their thousand dollar outfits."

Given the number of dignitaries and old nobility in attendance, Al could see where that might be a serious concern. Still, he'd been part of family weddings that had taken place in very nice barns. The idea that a single pigeon could delay a wedding was rather amusing.

Just then he heard a door down the hallway, and dozens of feet.

Will and Al turned at the same time.

"Thank goodness," Al felt a knot loosen in his stomach. "What happened?"

Cal and Alyse were in the lead. Alyse was shaking her head. "You won't believe it when we tell you."

"Well you have a few minutes, so start talking," Will suggested.

As they all retired to the nearest changing rooms to freshen up and straightened rumpled clothing and wind-blown hair, Al listened to the story unwind of the finding of the stolen vase, its apparent finding in Ian and Urey's room, the accusations, and everyone being not-quite held hostage in the dining room with the threat of calling the police and having Ian –and Urey- arrested until the situation could be worked out.

"That woman is a menace," Will growled when they were done. "I hope Uncle Ed and Aunt Winry are all right."

"I'm sure Ed can handle it," Al replied. "I'm more concerned about the girls."

"I'm not," Cal chuckled as he refastened a cufflink. "Gloria's an excellent snoop."

"I can't believe you just said that about our daughter," Alyse said as she joined them, looking once again perfectly fresh.

"Well she is," Charlie piped up, grinning. "She's the one who wants to be a journalist. She'd be pretty lousy at it if she couldn't solve a simple mystery."

"I just hope they don't miss the wedding," Lia said. "If Maritza does call the police, there could be all sorts of trouble."

"Nothing's going to stop this wedding," Will said firmly.

"You bet it won't," Al promised. "We'll all see to that. Cal, Ethan, come with me," he gestured to his nephew and son-in-law. "Let's go have a very quiet chat with the President."

Minxia had been ready to go, at least until the pigeon. Suddenly, as she stood there, ready to go and waiting, she started to feel nervous. It was silly, given she was as prepared as she was ever going to be, but part of her just wanted to get started. It wasn't that she wanted it over with, but there was definitely a part of this whole thing that felt like a performance, and she just wanted to promise to love Thrakos forever, kiss, and run off together and be alone. Not that she didn't want to celebrate with her family, but there were far more people here than just family. While her side was well represented, with both Amestrians, Xingese family, and friends in mass attendance, being in Creta meant that many, many important people and all of Thrakos' extended family were there as well.

Minxia had made them cut off the guest list at five-hundred.

Now, part of her wished they could have scandalized Creta and eloped… a little intimate ceremony on the beach, in a simple sundress, with just her, Thrakos, and someone to marry them… and Angelique as a witness, because she would have killed Minxia otherwise.

"That's it!" Angelique's small squeal of joy brought Minxia back to the moment. She realized she heard organ music echoing through the vast chambers of the palace. "Are you ready?"

Minxia nodded, and clutched her bouquet a little tighter. "Yeah… I guess so."

"You'll be fine," her mother told her, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Just keep your eyes on Thrakos. No one else matters."

Getting to the church just in time had taken on whole new meaning, Ed thought as he slid into one of the long rows of chairs, Winry, Gloria, Callie, and Lily right behind him. He still couldn't believe their luck in making it before it was too late.

He dropped into the seat reserved for him next to Alphonse. Music was playing, but they had just been closing the guest doors as they squeaked inside. "How are we not late?" he whispered to Al.

"Pigeon," his brother replied just as softly.

"I look forward to hearing that story later," Ed retorted.

"Not until you tell me yours. What did you do with Maritza?"

"Caught her red handed and turned her over to the police. Gia's going to tell her father."

"He already knows part of it," Al responded. "When everyone else got here we got quite an earful."

"Will you two be quiet," Winry leaned over and whispered over them both. "It's starting!"

Author's Note: 12/1/2015 Just a little tidbit for my readers - these last three chapters are what kept me stuck for most of the last several months. If we needed another reason to dislike Auntie Maritza. ;) So thank November for unsticking them for us! And thank November (and NaNoWriMo) for the next 3+ months of weekly chapters! We're back!