November 20th, 1996

The radiant vision standing in front of Charlie Fischer was the most beautiful being he had ever seen. Her deep golden ringlets fell in artful cascades from complex braids that seemed to form a crown. Green eyes gazed up at him, reflecting candle light so the happiness in them seemed to shimmer and dance. She wore a dress of delicate blue gossamer sheer over silk, that hugged her form in all of his favorite places, but fell, elegant and flowing, to the floor. A similarly delicate veil fell from the artful crown of silver leaves and pale blue-and-green gems arranged like blossoms.

The most stunning woman in the world, and she was his… somehow, still his, despite the many times he had dramatically and catastrophically messed up in the first half of their marriage. Years of hard work, couples therapy, and working through his own issues had gone into repairing that relationship. Even more work had gone into making sure it was also a happy home for their whole family.

Charlie had to trust Shelby's words that he was handsome enough in his dress uniform to stand up beside the elegant sophistication that was the dress she was wearing. It was something that she could, conceivably, actually wear again to formal affairs as the wife of an officer, but dressed up with the accessories that made it appropriate for this… their wedding. It was not the exact date of their ten-year anniversary, which had passed quietly at home with the children and a nice dinner, but it was, far more importantly, the first time their families had really gotten together to celebrate it.

Even Shelby's father was, in fact, not scowling. Her mother had beamed the whole evening as Charlie and Shelby had stood and said their vows to each other. These more personalized, and much more knowing, than the rather innocent and naïve ones they had given in the courthouse at seventeen.

All four of their children were also with them, because how could they possibly celebrate without their family? The girls had been delighted to have blue silky dresses—in a very nice, but washable satin—to match their mother. Cameron wore a dark blue suit. Where Shelby's bouquet had been champagne-and-white roses, each girl carried a single rose. There had been one in Cameron's button hole. Charlie was honestly impressed his son hadn't complained about it.

Now, spinning his bride of ten years around the dance floor to one of their favorite instrumentals, Charlie could finally say he had given Shelby the wedding she had always insisted she did not need, but had secretly dreamed of. "Have I told you tonight that you look amazing?"

In his arms, Shelby chuckled. "Only fifteen times… that one included, but I never mind hearing it again."

"You might if that's all I manage to say besides our vows." Charlie grinned back. "I'm so glad we did this. Your ideas were perfect."

"Thank you for suggesting it… and going along with all my ideas."

"I finally figured out that they're pretty much always good ones." Charlie pulled her in closer for another spin, his hand resting on the small of her back. "And the kids seem to be enjoying themselves as well." While they had spent some time bouncing around on the dance floor to some of the livelier songs, they were now over at the table where his mother was sitting holding baby Viola. They were captivated by their new little cousin. Their only cousin, so far.

With so many people eager to hold the baby, his sister and Alexei were taking advantage and tearing up the dance floor. Charlie had to admit he was impressed. His sister cut her usual stylish figure in an elegant gown as they danced, and if he hadn't known her his whole life, he likely would not have assumed her the mother of a baby barely two months old. Of course, a lot of that was her fashion sense, and ability to find a dress that flattered her without accentuating the areas that would have made it more obvious. Still, where she found the energy to dance with Alexei for so many songs he had no idea, but it was impressive.

"Everyone is," Shelby agreed, "even my father, miracle that that is. I actually saw him smile earlier."

"Really?" Charlie almost didn't believe it, except that Shelby wouldn't lie. "Was I in the room?"

"You were, though you were looking at me, so it's understandable you might have missed it."

"A shame. Maybe he'll do it again someday. Or maybe he was just appreciating how we didn't ask him to pay for any of this." At this point in their lives, they had been able to pay for everything themselves. Not that it was all that elaborate or expensive. His mother also still knew all the tricks and ways to keep things affordable while having them look amazing.

"That might have been part of it," Shelby conceded. "Still, he did actually compliment you the other night at dinner."

"For the first time," Charlie acknowledged. It hadn't been anything big, but at least it had been a compliment. It had only taken him ten years to reach a functional truce with his father-in-law. Thankfully Shelby's mother had thawed toward him years ago. Today, she was enjoying the party as much as his family was.

The music came to an end, and Charlie escorted Shelby off the floor, joining the family where the kids were still gathered around his mother and Viola.

Summer looked up at him hopefully. "Daddy, will we ever have a baby at our house?"

Charlie almost choked, and around him the other adults burst into laughter. "Um… no, Summer. Besides, you have a little sister."

Summer looked disappointed. "But why? And Sandy's not a baby. She's five!"

Charlie tried not to panic, but no one else was jumping into help. Shelby just smiled at him with a good ahead and explainface. With a sigh, he let go of her arm and crouched down more at his seven-year-old's level. "Because our family's all finished, sweetie. We have the four of you, and you're all perfect. Besides, your cousin won't be a baby forever. She'll grow up and a big girl like you."

"Oh." Summer looked at Viola, who was blinking owlishly in that way of tiny infants. "I guess that's okay."

That's good, kiddo, because it'll have to be. With four kids between the ages of five and nine, he and Shelby had no intention of making their family larger by any means. He also had no wish to go back to the days of diapers and being awakened several times a night.

His father was grinning at him as Charlie extricated himself from the conversation as Gloria and Alexei joined them as well, and Shelby and Grandma Elicia started talking to her about Viola.

"Nicely done," Cal grinned. "Not sure I'd have covered that so smoothly."

"We never asked about babies?" Charlie knew he hadn't. He had never really thought about it, and the few he'd met had cried, smelled, and been generally uninteresting.
"After I explained to Gloria that we couldn't decide if babies were boys or girls, she decided she was good with just one brother."

Charlie snickered. "I can't decide if that's a compliment or an insult."

"It's probably better you never find out." His father nodded. "So, you about ready to whisk your bride away on a real honeymoon at last?"

Charlie grinned. "Yes, and I'm still stunned she agreed we could take a trip without the kids. Thanks for helping watch them."

"Well, the grandmothers will probably be doing most of the work," Cal conceded. "But I'm looking forward to helping keep them entertained."
Charlie knew his father would enjoy it. The kids adored him, and to keep things simple they had agreed to split the kids two-and-two between the parents, swapping them off half-way through so they got to see both sets of grandparents during the week. Grandparents who were firm but kind, and never yelled at them, either set. Maybe that was the best part of being grandchildren, you got to see your grandparents at their best. He certainly couldn't imagine Grandma Elicia or Grandpa Al really angry, even though he knew they could be. "Well, hopefully a week won't kill you."

"We'll be fine. You two go have fun and don't worry about the rest of us."

Charlie knew what his father meant by fun, but he was fairly sure they would do that and a few other things too on their little whirlwind trip to South City. Neither of them had ever been there, and they had created a list of things they both wanted to enjoy. "Somehow, I don't think that'll be difficult."

November 21st, 1996

The night jungle noises of northern Aerugo were audible, even above the constant murmur of noise that came with human habitation. Ian Elric sat on a log that had been pulled up around what was basically a campfire pit in the center of the rings of organized trailers, carefully parked throughout the jungle trees to avoid damaging the area as much as possible. There were several such logs, and while there were plenty of electric lights in the camp around the trailers, most of the light around the ring came from the campfire itself, lending the area a feeling of authenticity, like they really were out on an adventure in the deep Aerugean jungle.

Which they were, sort of, if filming counted. Ian had been stunned, and thrilled, when he had been approached and asked to reprise his role of Ryan Spark in the next Tom Hudson movie, once again working with—now with equal billing—Oliver Harrison and Miranda Fields. There had been two Tom Hudson movies after Ian's experience as part of Hunters of Fortune, but they had reached a turning point. In this one, his character had a major arc and, if it went well, they would be poised to continue with a spin-off, or more films with equal billing. The books ended here, and the studio had the rights to do what they might want to with the property after that point.

Bonnie had told him he would be crazy not to take the job, even if neither of them was thrilled with him having to do some on-location filming. Fortunately, it was a fairly tight filming schedule, with only a few weeks outside of Central, instead of the year he had spent in Xing. So, Ian had gone.

And here he was, on location, a star in another major production, with costars he had not-quite-idolized but always admired, who had made it clear they now considered him an equal. Though they had treated him like one on the last film, too.

Tonight, like many nights, they had both retreated to their own trailers right after dinner, to rehearse for the next day and get to bed early. Miranda's husband also travelled with her on these shoots, as it turned out, and she preferred to spend time with him.

Like he had most of the nights they did so, Ian had looked over his own lines, then joined the crew and some of the minor cast in their evening socializing. Everyone needed to blow off steam, relax, and hang out, and these little firelight hangouts were fun. Ian had been a little afraid they would treat him as one apart after this long, and given where his career had taken him, but while they treated him with respect, it had not been awkward. Chilling around the fire with snacks and a beer and good conversation was freeing in a way Ian had almost forgotten. Not having to be anywhere, or check on someone, or change a diaper… he loved his family, but he had forgotten what this felt like.

And in a couple of days, they would be heading back to civilization. Not quite home yet, because there were still several scenes to shoot outside South City back in Amestris, but it wouldn't be like this. Shooting in the jungle and in and near some ancient ruins they had gotten permission to use, had been a fabulous experience. Today's scene, the last here, had been a thrilling chase sequence.

Tonight's party, Ian noted as he sipped at his drink, was getting a little more energetic than usual. Probably due to the fact they had finished the shoot, and early yet, so no one was worried about getting up early in the morning. From what Ian was seeing, they weren't too worried about sobriety either.

Ian had grabbed his one drink on arrival, and planned to nurse it all evening, as usual. Still, the music was good, the stories were funny, and it was just nice to watch everyone having a good time. Though he was glad he was up-wind of the fire, because several members of the crew had gotten a hold of some local plants and, aside from cigarettes, were getting mildly high. Ian had politely turned down more than one offer. They'd been assured the plant wasn't dangerous, but Ian preferred to keep his wits about him more than that and, ever since the accident all those years ago when Reggie had died, any suggestion of even recreational drugs made him nervous.

Denissa from costuming dropped down beside him with a relaxed grin. "Hey there, you. No one should look that serious during a party. Come on, relax. We just finished a great location shoot two days ahead of schedule."

"I am relaxed," he insisted. Sitting there, leaning back against the cut in the log that made it vaguely chair shaped, holding his beer. What part of him didn't look relaxed?

Denissa snickered. "You're a terrible liar, Ian. You look so serious all the time, except when you're in character. No one would believe now that you were the playboy of Central."

Ian frowned. "I was never deserving of that title." No matter what the magazines said, or made of every relationship he had ever had with a woman, romantic or otherwise. The gossip rags had put him with well over a hundred woman before he married Bonnie, and they'd put him as intimately involved with at least half of them. If I'd had that many partners, I'd never have had time to work. Thankfully, once they had realized that he and Bonnie were happily—and boringly—married and devoted to each other, they had turned to other actors to pester for the past few years.

"Oh please," she laughed. "You used to go to all the parties. I've been the business almost as long as you have. I saw you. You were charisma incarnate, wild and free. Every woman wanted you."

And all he really wanted was for people to forget that brief period in his life. Ian had honestly thought they had. But if Denissa remembered… "Not every woman." At the time, Bonnie had avoided him like a disease. Of course, she had avoided all the male actors that way outside of work.

Denissa shrugged. "Delude yourself if you like, but I hate seeing you like this. Honestly, you're so tight-wound. Here, take a hit and chill a bit." She held out the smoking blunt in her hand.

Ian shook his head. "No, thanks." He said it casually, but inside, his heart had skipped a beat. As much as he had partied in the past, that had never been his thing. Whatever had taken Reggie down that road, almost twenty years later, Ian still felt guilt that he hadn't noticed in time to help his best friend.

"It won't kill you," Denissa held it out a moment longer, then shrugged. "If you're sure." She took a drag on it, and looked thoughtful. "Bonnie really did a number on you, didn't she?"

Ian frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, don't take it the wrong way," Denissa waved one hand. "I like Bonnie. Everyone in wardrobe at CV does, but you are dull as water these days. All that directing stuff. I mean, obviously you're good at it, but this… this is your gift. You're amazing on screen. For a while folks were taking bets that you'd quit acting entirely."

"And which side did you bet on?" Ian asked curiously.

Denissa grinned. "I bet on you coming back to it. No one with your passion gives up the limelight and settles down into obscurity while they're still wanted by the public, and given the response to your last movie, your fanbase isn't going anywhere. Though I can think of at least one place they'd like to get." The sparkle in her eyes told him all he needed to know on that score.

"Spending time with my family is not obscurity." It stung him more than he had anticipated to hear her put it like that. They were his family, his life. "And no one's getting anywhere with me except the most beautiful woman in the world… my wife."

"Oh, we know how that's gone." Denissa's amused expression did not lessen. "Five kids. It's pretty obvious how you spend your off time."

Ian had no idea how to take that statement. It didn't sound like criticism, but it didn't sound like praise either. It did somehow make him feel insulted. "They were all planned," he replied simply. "The pregnancies anyway." There had been no way to plan for the triplets when they had expected another singleton. He certainly hadn't been keeping his wife in bed, or forcing her. No one forced Bonnie to do anything.

Denissa rolled her eyes. "See. So vanilla. Ian Elric family man. The reality of you would bore your fans to tears if they knew."

"Yeah, well I don't think it's anyone else's business," Ian pointed out, trying to figure out the best way to get out of this conversation. "And I prefer it that way. No one needs to know what I'm doing in my private life."

Denissa finished her smoke and put it out, then turned to him, her smile deepening. "And no one has to find out… no matter what you feel like doing. No one here would say anything if you wanted to cut loose a little, have some fun, some… spontaneity."

Within one blink of his eyes and the next, Denissa had turned toward him, and edged tight against his leg. For a moment, Ian froze as she rested her hand on his thigh, and sidled right up into his field of view. All he could see was her face, and down the front of her very-tight shirt. A shirt that hugged every bit of her very fit, very attractive…body. One that had clearly never seen nor smelled a hint of the ups and downs and stretching of carrying a baby. Firm, tight breasts…

That hand on his inner thigh was like fire.

Ian blinked and averted his eyes. There was no place to shove her without touching somewhere he really didn't want to. He managed to get one hand firmly on her arm. "No, Denissa. Get off me… now." His heart was pounding. He could smell the floral scent of her deodorant mixed with the slightly mind-hazing smoke in the air around them.

"Come on," she whispered, her lips up near his ear. "If someone needs a good romp it's you. It's been what…at least a year, right? And trying to find a moment alone with all those brats in the house… who knows when you'll get any next."

Just a little over a year… she wasn't wrong there. All the months and tribulations of just getting through the pregnancy safely, and Bonnie recovering after. As exhausted as they had been since then, and as busy, he hadn't even asked her. When Bonnie felt up to it, she'd tell him. Given her past relationships, he had never wanted her to feel forced. The next time, fortunately, there would be no risk of any future pregnancies. Ian had seen to that himself.

"No," he repeated firmly, pushing against her arm and wishing the angle of the log made it easier to get out of. He couldn't just jump up or slide away with her there. "And if you don't get off me right now, I'll have you removed from the production."

Her hand stopped moving, and the pressure vanished from his leg. Then he felt her move away from his side. When he turned his eyes to look at her, Denissa was sitting back, a couple of feet down the log, staring at him. There wasn't nothing friendly in her gaze now. "You wouldn't!"

"Come on to me again like that and I absolutely will." He forced his voice to remain as cold as it needed to be, even though his body was on fire. Stupid libido. Keeping as much dignity as he could, Ian stood. "Good evening, Miss Overton." With that, he turned and left, heading for his trailer.

Ian did not stop until he was safely inside, with the door locked. His heart was still pounding as if he'd run a marathon, and his jeans felt far too constricting after what she had tried to do to him. The last time someone had tried to come on to him like that had been the time he kicked Angie out of his trailer, and that had been before he and Bonnie were even engaged. Since then, while they might bat their eyes, or randomly confess love on the street—a thankfully rarer occurrence—no one had gone as far as open seduction. Especially not someone he knew, and thought was a safe friend.

The bottle of beer was still in his hand. Shaking his head, Ian set it down on the small table by his couch, and retreated to the bathroom to deal with the situation, feeling incredibly stupid. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had to do that himself.

After, he crashed back on the couch, and finished his beer… wishing it was something more potent, to wash the conversation from his mind… or the feel of Denissa's hand stirring his passions… even if he hadn't wanted her to. Or the alluring curve of her breasts shoved up in his face. Something much more potent… Instead, he sat there staring at the closed blinds of the window in front of him, until dawn light began to creep in.

The only decision he came to before unconsciousness, was the unfortunate reality that his days of truly being able to hang out socially with the cast and crew, really were over. He would never put himself in a position like tonight ever again. He just hoped nothing else came of it. By the time it had happened, a lot of people had drifted away, and no one had been close enough to hear them talking. Maybe…hopefully… no one had seen either.

The only clue Ian had that he'd ever fallen asleep, even if not for very long, was waking to find that the sun had risen on another day.

Ian really hoped that Denissa didn't remember a thing about last night.

November 23rd, 1996

Arriving back in Resembool felt even more like a homecoming than usual, in part Winry thought, because there hadn't been an assurance that they would all come home again. Though no one was as enthusiastic to be home than the pets. The dogs eagerly insisted on sniffing the entire property, inside and out, while the cats scattered to all the corners of the house and hid for some time, before coming out to resume draping on the furniture. By the time Winry and the others had unpacked, it was almost as if they had never left.

That was, in large part, because someone had been keeping the place clean. There was no way the floors had mopped themselves, or the surfaces were dust free on their own. Winry knew that Cassie had rallied the family to make sure no one took the brunt of the work, but everyone helped a little and kept the house ready for their eventual return.

Certainly, the denizens of the town of Resembool had been thrilled and relieved—those who hadn't figured it out and kept their mouths wisely shut—to know that Edward and Alphonse were actually alive and well. Several people had waved to them and insisted on stopping to talk on their way from the station to the house.

Urey had driven the car, and dropped them off, promising to come back later. A drive that had also taken them right past the remnants of the barns and pasture that had once been the festival grounds. It had been horrible to look at it, even though the mess was long cleaned up, and it was now a flat, treeless, fenceless expanse of dirt beside the barns that had been spared by distance. The fact that the nearest rows of houses and businesses had not caught aflame was both a testament to Resembool's fire service and alchemists, but a bit of a miracle.

"We've already got plans to start rebuilding in time to have things up for the Spring Sheep Festival," Aldon told them all that evening after dinner. He and Cassie had actually brought food over, since they hadn't been shopping yet to restock regular groceries.

Edward chuckled. "Of course, you do. Did you design it all yourself?"

"Almost," Aldon admitted with a smile. "Actually, we asked for suggestions from the whole town, and put a committee together on it, and then voted on a new layout before I was willing to draw so much as a single line. That said, they've all agreed that, if it can be redone, they'd love to have the stage rebuilt almost exactly the way we just did it a few years ago." He looked askance at Edward and Alphonse. "That is… if you're up for it?"

It was Alphonse who replied, grinning. "If it just needs to be finished by Spring, I'm sure we can be."

"You can count on it," Edward added confidently.

Winry did not object, and she noticed that Elicia didn't either. The town needed this, and

It was Cassie who, frowning slightly, asked, "Are you sure?"

Alphonse nodded. "Of course. And now that people have seen it, we don't have to do all the alchemy ourselves. Urey and Yurian are more than capable of assisting, and I bet they'd love a chance to help."

A sense of relief immediately pervaded the room, or perhaps it was just Winry. "That's a great idea," she agreed without reservation. If it were just Edward and Alphonse she would have been concerned, and they would almost certainly have argued about it, but as always Alphonse had a sensible suggestion.

"What will be different?" Edward asked.

"Better security to the underside of the stage, for one thing." At that one, Aldon was not smiling. The last thing they wanted was even the possibility of someone being able to hide an explosive under the stage again, even if the chances of it ever happening were incredibly low. "Other than that, if it could look just a little different, we'd rather it didn't give anyone nightmares about the night of the fire."

Edward nodded. "We can manage that. Change up some of the designs, maybe you could use a different wood stain. Or different colors of wood and we could do some neat two-tone detailing effects."

Before long the boys were lost in the conversation.

Winry turned to Cassie who had a knowing smile on her face. "So," she asked, "How long will Aldon be mayor this time?"

"Not long," Cassie replied with firm conviction. "The next election was supposed to be next spring anyway, so to keep things moving smoothly during the rebuild, and to keep things calm in town, he's agreed to step in until the end of the term, but he is definitely not running again. He's not interested in taking it back up again full time, and I'd rather he didn't. When he's done, I'm planning to go ahead and retire from the hospital. Then, we can spend more time on things we both want to do together."

Winry remembered what a relief it had been when Edward had finally, officially, retired and they had moved back to Resembool… for most of the time. They still traveled often, and Edward still seemed to get pulled into all sorts of things no one else did. But then, she would not have taken back their help in Xing, or his flying into Drachma to save their daughter. Or even the help he gave Tore recently in helping start to track down Arsenic. Even with all the risks. The enemy had attacked them first.

Still, there had been romantic vacations, visits to family, and lots of time just spent enjoying the slow country life they had left behind as teens. It helped that there was so much of their family here, too, even if they couldn't have them all in one place.

"It will be nice for you both," Winry assured Cassie. "You've been saying you wanted to spend more time on your art."

Cassie nodded, smiling. "Yes, and we've never gotten to travel much, except for family events. We've talked about doing some international travel now that we'll have the free time, the funds, and no work to worry about. Not that most of our trips won't still probably be up to Central to see the rest of our children and their families."

"I'm sure Ian would take you as often as he can have you." Winry couldn't help a chuckle there. The several weeks they had been there for the end of Bonnie's pregnant only a few months ago had been the longest her son and his wife had been out of Resembool since moving there. "And the others, of course. There seems to be quite a bit of back and forth these days."

"Especially since Reichart and Deanna left yesterday to go to Central for Hrafn's auto-mail surgery." Cassie's expression fell.

Winry understood her trepidation. "Hrafn will be fine. Coran and Gale have designed him an excellent prosthetic, and the surgery isn't nearly as painful now as it used to be." It would still hurt, but decades of improvements in the technology, and the medications—many thanks to Ethan—meant that the initial connections were still felt, but they weren't quite the screaming agony they had been. Her great-grandson would not suffer the nauseating pain that Edward had dealt with, or Cal. It also meant that rehabilitation went a little quicker. Sometimes only by weeks, or a couple of months, but definitely faster. "He'll be using his new hand before you know it."