Mangaverse, so: Spoilers for all and the end of the manga/Brotherhood!

Full Summary: About four years after the defeat of father our heroes have settled into their new lives. They stop their daily lives to gather for a wedding - but things just never stay peaceful. A mysterious case casts a shadow on the happy gathering - and while they get to the bottom of the matter they have to face things they wanted to forget and people they thought of as allies. Will this case just be another entry in their long list of tragedies or will this bring them more happiness in the end?

A story about lovers, friends and murderers. And people that are all of the above.

Genres: romance, friendship, mystery, humor, action and the usual silliness.

Pairings: canon or canon'ish pairings;
RoyxRiza is the star of the show and is heavily entwined with the plot. You'll find some EdxWin, AlxMei and some other pairings as well. Havoc needs more love :(

Warnings: sexual allusions, violence, cursing – all occasional and in T range
Some heavy OOC due to the plot, but trust me that I like the character's the way they are and I have my reasons.
Also some OC, but they all have a purpose and won't take center stage.

Disclaimer: Ain't Arakawa, ain't owning Fullmetal Alchemist. And I won't own it ever - that includes when I come around the corner with a new chapter :D

Foreword: This is a story with a plot. If you're looking for a quick fix of Royai, you will be disappointed by the slow beginning. If you however enjoy characterization and the exploration of different aspects of their relationship – this might be the story for you.
The mystery may seem not connected at all at first, but you might see why I came up with it for a Royai story of all things later.
I really love the cast of FMA so expect many characters to appear.

(I like to leave notes but they won't be as long as here ever again :P)

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Chapter 1:
Miss & Mrs.

It was still dark.

Still.

Stupid night.

Winry wasn't sure if she wanted to have the sun rise already or keep it dark so she might get some sleep after all. She turned on her stomach and kicked her blanket away. It was no use – no way she could sleep. The whole night she had rolled from one side to the other, unable to fall asleep for good.

But she had to! No way she could have dark circles around her eyes tomorrow. Or rather today, she corrected herself, seeing her alarm clock on the night stand showing the time - 5:03 am already. Not good.

The young woman almost felt like crying. This day, she had waited for it. She wanted to look perfect for him, but no! She had to get all jittery – resulting in her getting no sleep at all.

Winry stretched out her left arm, spreading her fingers. The moonlight coming through the window made the diamond decorating her ring finger sparkle pleasantly.

It was finally there. The day.

Soon she wouldn't be Winry Rockbell anymore. But instead:

Mrs. Winry Elric.

Still sounded weird. She buried her face in her pillow. But she'll wear the name with pride. A big smile formed on her lips – they're going to be happy that she was sure of. They already were after all.

Edward was the one person capable of driving her mad like no one else in the world. And yet there was no one else who could make her as happy. No one she loved as much.

The young blonde wondered if the object of her affection was able to sleep peacefully. Definitely. That guy was anything but a light sleeper, she should know. You could hack off his foot without him waking up. She only had tested that theory with swapping parts of his automail leg, though.

The last time she had seen him was only yesterday, yet she already missed him as stupid as it may was. "It's bad luck for the groom and bride to see each other 24 hours before the wedding!" - those had been her words and she had been the one insisting on this tradition, but that didn't prevent her from feeling lonely. She slept better when she didn't have the night and the bed all for herself. It's not like she wasn't used to it. When Ed traveled around the night always was hers alone, but he was here in Resembool. Not far away – at a neighbor's house and not out of reach at all.

She wondered how his bachelor party had been. All she knew was that the men had been at a bar in the next village. The image of Ed getting forced to participate in every round of drinks popped into her mind – he hated to drink much, but it wasn't like he could hold so much anyway. That only made the little image in her head more amusing.

Winry had been a little tipsy before, from her little bachelorette party the women had thrown her here in the house. Mostly women from the village, family members from far away she rarely saw and a few female guests that had arrived early for the wedding. Like Miss Hawkeye and Miss Ross most of the military guests had arrived yesterday afternoon. She was deeply moved that so many people had taken so much time out of their busy lives to come.

Ed and her initially had wanted a very small wedding, but once they got started on the guest list it just kept on growing. Once they realized they wanted all the people to be there that had helped them in the past to show their gratitude - the couple quickly realized a big feast was the only option. So they had decided to make the best out of it, even if it would cost a fortune to feed the whole horde. The villagers were all very helpful and even helped them to provide sleeping opportunities for their guests, since the small inn right out of town couldn't hold more than a dozen people at maximum.

Earnestly hoping everything would go smooth, the bride couldn't help but feel hyper about the whole festivity. She'll officially promise Ed to be his for the rest of her life and then they will celebrate it with all the family they had left and their whole friends. If that's not going to be the best day in her life, what will be?

She felt brave and dared to peek at her alarm clock.

5:34 am.

No use.

Winry jumped out of bed, having decided that she might as well surrender to whatever sleep depriving demon had possessed her and get up.

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Since there were only women staying in the Rockbell household currently and it was still a bit early to encounter anyone, Winry didn't bother to change and padded down to the first floor in her loose white tank top and pink hot pants – no need to pretty up for the night without her Ed being around anyway.

When she scuffled down the stairs Den stood up and greeted her, tail wiggling, from the foot of the staircase.

"Mornin'." Winry patted her beloved dog and then headed towards the kitchen, followed by her pet. The light was already on.

She was surprised to find one of their guests at the table sipping coffee and reading a book.

"Oh! Miss Hawkeye! You're up already?"

Riza Hawkeye looked up, just as surprised to see someone else already. Den padded over to Black Hayate who had been sleeping at the officer's feet. But now he stood up to greet their hosts, specially elated about the other canine.

"Oh, Winry! Up already?"

"Yeah … I kind of had problems to sleep properly." she uttered a bit embarrassed.

Riza smiled gently at her. Her hair hung loose, but was combed neatly. She wore a loose blouse and beige pants.

"I suppose your nerves kept you up?" The older of the two women asked.

"I wish I could say no." Winry whined and sat down next to her visitor.

"Well, it's your big day, you're bound to be excited." Riza gave her a warm smile. "I helped myself to some coffee, I hope it's okay."

"Don't worry about it." Winry said into her hands in which she had buried her face.

"Want a cup, too? I made a whole can."

"Ah thank you, that's very nice, Miss- ah I guess I should call you Captain Hawkeye, sorry." she exclaimed a bit flustered about being impolite.

Riza flipped one of the cups standing on the table over and filled it for Winry. "It doesn't really matter which you call me, Winry. I'm not in service now anyway. I rather apologize for offering you your own coffee."

Winry chuckled. "Nah, it's my pleasure really. Thank you!" She took the cup Riza handed her happily.

"Also thank you for taking the time off. Things are rather busy in East City at the moment aren't they? Makes me the more happier you and most of the military personnel came that we invited. I'm really grateful! I'm sure Ed's happy about it, too."

The amber eyed blonde had to grin at that. The girl before her had become a grown woman, and a very beautiful one at that – but she still had this bright glow in her lovely blue eyes Riza adored.

"You're too nice." Riza sighed. "We're all very happy to come. There was even a big fight among the guys who needs to stay behind, since we couldn't all go and abandon East City. Specially, with that lunatic roaming around the city. But they ended up leaving everything to 1st Lieutenant Maverick and Sergeant Smith. I hope they'll be fine."

"That case is mysterious. To think the wrong person was caught. I heard there were even more abductions?"

"Yes, sadly. The case seems to be connected to many incidents of missing persons in the last months, since the pattern was the same in every case. But they mostly showed up again after a while, just a bit confused and all spouting the same non-sense."

Winry's eyes grew wide: "What did they say?"

The Captain stayed quiet for a moment, taking her time to sip at her coffee.

"Ah, I'm sorry, you're not allowed to tell aren't you?"

"... Most of what I tell you will be in the newspapers anyway." she eyed the young woman carefully. Winry gulped nervously, unsure if she truly wanted to know more about the case, but her curiosity made her stay silent.

"They all said they were possessed." Hawkeye scratched Hayate behind his ear - the dog had put his head on her leg, looking for attention.

"Possessed?" Winry echoed in disbelief.

"Yes, it's a very strange case. I would say it's an outbreak of insanity, if it weren't for illnesses of the mind to not be contagious."

"But you haven't investigated it from the beginning, though?"

"The Brigadier General decided to make the case his own, after more people went missing even after we imprisoned our prime subject – the painter, you must have read about him." Winry nodded.

"Before only the military police department took care of it. It were only missing cases after all and no murders, and they always ended up returning."

"What a weird case."

"I tell you." Riza chuckled slightly.

"I hope you find out soon who causes this … or what. But is it really okay to have so many people leave just for a wedding … ?"

Riza gave her another warm smile and shook her head. "Don't say 'just'. It's an important date for us, too, we don't want to miss it. And we're only a small percentage of the soldiers stationed at East City. Don't worry. There hasn't been anyone hurt. The worst injury one of the victims had, was a black eye, otherwise they were all unharmed."

"I hope it stays that way ..."

"Yes, me too. But enough of that. It's too gloomy of a topic for your wedding day. Soon things will be pretty hectic, won't they?"

Winry nodded, drinking more of her coffee in the process. She spotted the title of the book Riza had read when she had entered: 'Under the Willows'. Winry never read it, but she knew it was a romance novel.

She thought about if she really should for a moment, but ended up going for it anyway: "Could I ask you a personal question, Miss Hawkeye?"

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You're near. You have to be. Enough waiting. But I will wait. Will always wait. I would never abandon you. You aren't here. The anger in my heart grows again. Just as the longing. I'm running. To you. Where are you? My love, why did you leave me behind? But I will find you. I will never go ahead. I will wait for you.

Why do you look at me like that? Why? Stop that! Oh. It's not you. Go away! Where are you? I'm coming to you. Soon. Soon, we will be one again. Only you. I love you so much. I'm here! I'm sorry, it's all my fault. So sorry. Please, come back. I'm searching. I'm waiting. Forever.

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Notes:
Thank you for reading the first chapter!
It's my first longer story, so it's a bit of a personal challenge.

I'm open to suggestions and/or critique, so always feel free to tell me whatever you might have the urge to. I really appreciate feedback, good or bad, so leave a review if you're in the mood!

The first chapter is a little short, but it's just the start anyway :)

Edit: Some ninja edits, no changes content wise (03/06/11)