NOTE: Ok, so I had slight issues with this chapter, with the grammer and general direction of the whole darn thing – I was planning to skip straight to the Market Day but then I decided to make a chapter in-between. So… I'm really sorry if this chapter kind of sucks… ^_^"
I got tired of editing it; no matter how many times I read it over it never sounded right XD
Anyway, hope you enjoy… ^_^"
BTW, Allen and Wayern are mentioned in this chapter - if you don't know who they are check out my other story "The Night Before Christmas", they're my main 2 OC's ^_^" (AKA Ed and Winry's sons.)

Discaimer: I don't own FMA, and I'm glad I don't 'cause if I did Ed and Winry would have made-out at the end of the manga and it would have been mega-OOC and too cliche XD

"Absolutely not!"

Alphonse flinched, startled by the shout from inside the study. His ear was pressed hard against the door, eavesdropping on his wife and oh-so-wonderful mother-in-law. It was the next morning, just after a generous breakfast of cinnamon-pastries and other Xingenese delights, and Mei had requested to talk with her mother before the day began.

"I said I'd speak to mom today and I'm keeping my promise. I want a hotel just as bad as you do, Al-sama." Mei had told him, slipping on a freshly-ironed burgundy robe. Although he was looking forward to being alone with her in a classy hotel, Al couldn't be get nervous. Her mother was such a doting parent, and after hearing those two words through the door he could mentally see his hopes of the perfect honeymoon being flushed down the drain.

"But mother! I'm pretty sure Alphonse and I should be able to choose where we spend our nights, shouldn't we?"

"Are you saying that you don't want to be around your family, Mei-chan? You've been gone for an entire year and you don't want to see your family for even just a week?"

"No… I mean… of course not! I mean, I don't want us to bother you four in any sort of way - it'd be better if we had some privacy….."

"You know I'm perfectly fine with you two kissing, Mei. Your sisters do it all the time with the cook. It's just natural for a married couple to do that kind of thing!" Al heard Mei let out a deep huff.

"It's not the kissing I'm worried about, mother.…"

Al felt his face go deep red. But it was true: they both wanted a little privacy. They didn't want another run-in like what happened the night before. He wanted to walk around in his under-shorts when he was feeling lazy and tired from a long night; he wanted to sit in bed all day and munch on cheap-hotel toast with his wife, sometimes playfully smearing jam on her nose. He wanted to walk from the shower to his room without worrying about crazy sisters-in-law tackling him in the dark. And, ok, he'll admit it: he wanted to be able to make sweet love to his new wife without having to worry about waking nearby family at 3 in the morning.

So why couldn't his mother-in-law understand that?

"What one earth are you doing?"

Al jumped and whipped around. Lifen stood behind him, arms behind her back, watching him with big eyes. He straightened up, pushing his back against the door.

"Um… nothing. I was just…" he scrambled to think up an excuse. He certainly couldn't tell the girl that he was eavesdropping on her mother and half-sister. Who knows what she'd think of him then?

"You're not eavesdropping, are you Alphones-sama?"

Shit. Al rubbed the back of his neck. "Just trying to see what they're talking about, that's all…"

"That's very rude, you know."

Al looked at her in surprise. She shrugged and continued. "I'm not sure what you Amestris's believe to be polite, but listening through a door to the head of the Chang-clan and the former princess is quite the offence here in Xing."

Alphonse blushed. "Oh… I'm sorry I didn't know…." He smiled lightly. "It's actually pretty rude back home as well."

"Then why are you doing it?"

Good god, get this girl away from me…. He swallowed nervously and cast a glance at the door. Lifen continued to watch him, almost studying his every action. "I do believe Mei described you as a Prince yesterday evening. You certainly look like a prince but…." She chuckled and watched him pull at his collar nervously. "… but I'm sure princes don't eavesdrop of their wives."

Al cast her a cheeky smile. "And I'm pretty certain princesses don't spy on their sisters when they're sharing a moment with their husbands, do they?"

Alphonse saw her blush. "Um… well that's different…"

"I'm not sure how different it actually is. In fact it's probably worse, since you were actually watching me while I'm just listening through a door- "

"Alright, alright! Fine!" Lifen threw her hands up in defeat. "Whatever."

Al chuckled. "How about you? What are you doing?" He smiled at her. "I heard your mother saying something about you and a certain cook…?"

"Don't you dare start with that!" She jabbed her finger in his chest angrily, but he could still see a dark blush spreading around her face. "That's my sisters' doing. They're always flirting with the chiefs downstairs, but I have nothing to do with that…"

Al raised an eyebrow at the defensive tone to her voice. "Oh?"

She sighed and rubbed her neck tiredly. "If you must know, I can't flirt with any other man because I'm supposed to be one of the emperors wives."

"Wait, what?" Alphonse did a quick calculation in his head. If Mei's not the head of the house anymore, then that means Lifen is. He scratched his head. And since Mei didn't become emperor all those years ago that means…

"Wait, you mean Ling?" he had forgotten that Ling was the new emperor. He wondered how he was doing after all these years later…..

"Silence!" Lifen glared at him and hissed angrily at him. "Never say the emperors name so lightly!"

"But aren't you supposed to be at Lin- the Emperors temple?"

"Maybe….and don't say his name like that again!"

"But I know him! I used to travel with him back when – "

The door suddenly swung opened, and a storming Mei came stomping through. She jumped when she saw Alphonse and Lifen. "Oh! Al-sama, what are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you." He smiled, linking his arms through Mei's. Lifen let out a frustrated huff but stayed silent.

"Mom's staying unmovable about the whole think…" Mei whispered quietly into his ear. "So I guess we'll have to resort to sneaking out tonight."

Al laughed. His little stubborn princess. "We'll see – I just hope I have the energy tonight to do something like that. I didn't get a whole lot of sleep last night; neither did you."

Lifen cleared her throat. "Excuse me." Al looked up and saw her crossing her arms.

"Yes Lifen?"

"The main reason I came searching for you….. I do believe that we have a date today. You do remember it, right big sister?" her face lit up, all previous frustration and anger gone. She started singing: "It's the best in every way, you have to come-visit-stay, and everyone hails the glorious –"

"Market Day!" Mei cut in, jumping up excitedly. "Oh my, I completely forgot about that!" noticing Alphonse's confused expression she giggled. "Market Day; it's a huge market that comes around every 3 month. You can find the cutest coats, shoes, hairclips…"

"And guys!" Lifen laughed, giggling hard. Al looked at her in surprise. I thought she just said that she couldn't…..

"Would you want to go later, Al-sama?" Mei asked, her eyes wide with excitement. "My sisters and I always used to go when we were little; it's the biggest event of the month and…." She lowered her eyes. "… and I completely forgot that it fell on the same day as our honeymoon…."

Alphonse closed his eyes and remembered how Mei once described the Market Day, They had been babysitting Edwards's sons one night and as a way to entertain the boys Mei told them all about the hustle and bustle of Market Day; the thousands of stalls with wondrous gifts and nick-nacks; the bears, elephants, and tigers the zoo-tamers put on display for kids to pet and touch; the belly-dancers that traveled around the square, dancing and twirling with colorful ribbons flowing behind them. Back home in Resenpool there had been a small farmers market where people would sell their crops , quilts, or other crafts; but Mei had laughed and told him flatly that it didn't even compare to a traditional Xingenese Market Day. Al smiled and stroked her hair.

"Actually, I'd love to see this event you've talked about so diligently."

Even before he was done speaking Mei had jumped up and hugged him roughly around the neck, giggling and smiling like a child. He laughed and wrapped his hands around her waist. "Oh thank you, Alphonse-sama! Thank you so much!" She looked at him with big eyes. "Are you sure…?"

"Perfectly sure." He kissed her on the nose. "It sounds neat. I might even be able to find souvenirs there for everyone back home…"

"Oh yes! There's plenty to look at and buy…. Oh! We might be able to find something cute for Allen and Wayern back home; some adorable little Xingenese pajama's maybe….. Oh wait, of course we'll be able to find something, the market is huge...…" she rambled on excitedly; Al hugged her arm and laughed quietly to himself. He loved seeing her like this; she usually hid her inner child from him, fearing that he would be against it, but it was quite the opposite for him. What I wouldn't pay to have the excitement of a kid again….

Suddenly Mei yanked his arm, pulling him down the hall. "We'll be right back, Lifen!" she called to her sister. "I just want to find something more comfortable for Alphonse to wear!"

"Wait, this isn't good enough?" He fingered his olive robes, with intricate golden patterns running through the long sleeves and down the hip.

"Oh course not, Al-sama; that is much too fancy for you to wear outside the castle." She paused and examined him over her shoulder. "I'm thinking of a nice long-sleeved tunic with a clean pair of white pants…. Maybe a few charms around the neck to show that you're rich but not exactly royal…."

Al just laughed, and let his wife lead him off to her closet.

The next chapter will be the fun, sunny Market Day chapter, I promise! I apologize yet again if this chapter was boring and lame, the next one will hopefully be better :D
Thanks for reading; I really appreciate the reviews I've been getting and would also really appreciate more in the future! ;D

On a seperate note, I totally love writting "Al-sama" mostly because it reminds me of "Balsamic Vinigar" which I usually put on salads. So... Al-samic vingar! XD
Ok I'm done... o_o
Thanks again for reading! XD