TEN-THOUSAND-MILLION-BAJILLION APOLOGIES FOR THE ABSURDLY LATE CHAPTER. I seem to have slightly miscalculated the amount of school work I was going to have this year (I'm in a math/science magnet program/school-thingy. It's complicated, I have classes in three different high schools and my schedule looks like a dog ate it, spit it out, and then they glued the pieces together just wherever. But the gist of it is that I have a lot of homework.)

Just clearing something up before it gets confusing for those who haven't seen the

original – this takes place in the 90s. ^^;

Feliks' speech pattern is hard to write. And my accents fail, badly.

Also: Ludwig. OH MY GOODNESS, I CANNOT WRITE LUDWIG. DD8

He's the other reason this stupid chapter has taken so long - his speech pattern especially keeps tripping me up. If anyone has any suggestions for him... Yeah, I'd really appreciate that.

By the way… my timeline here is decently messed up compared to the movie. Forgive me, it'll make sense eventually.

Disclaimer: Not unless you're willing to buy it for me for my birthday on Sunday. 8D

This chapter's recommended song(s): Mamma Mia (ABBA)

***##***

"Oh, hey, Elizabeta! You're, like, back!" A blonde, dressed in the hotel's fairly simple

uniform – white shirt, black skirt, other simple accessories as desired – came running up

to the three friends as they got out of the beat-up blue car, their shoulder-length hair

fluttering in the slight breeze. "You've got to come to the kitchen, Ivan and Francis are

like, totally about to blow something up!"

The brunette woman sighed. Of course they were. "Can't Toris deal with it?" Which, of

course, really meant 'Can't I have just one day of peace?'

"Liet like, totally already tried. And failed epically. C'mon, please? Or just, like, don't let

Francis anywhere near Yao. That's totally what started it. Again." Blonde hair was flipped over a shoulder, and then suddenly the other two were noticed. "Whoa, like, who're they?"

"Ah, right. Feliks, meet my best friends, Arthur Kirkland-" The man in question nodded

politely, "-and Matthew Williams." The Canadian offered a shy wave, "We had a band

together back in the 70s."

"Really? That's totally cool! You should, like, hang out with them for a while, I'll, like,

go find Yao and get him to fix it." Point apparently made, the blonde scurried back inside

with a swish of hair and skirts.

There was a long moment of silence, followed by,

"… Wait a sec, eh, was that a guy?"

"Yeah, I know, right? Actually, I'm the only girl on staff. Feliks is just… Feliks."

"I'm not sure you quite count as staff, Elizabeta. You own the place."

"… True. And it's falling apart around me… Ah, well, here's to hoping Yao or Toris will

become magical and fix things between Ivan and Francis. But let's not worry about that

now. C'mon, I'll introduce you to everyone after I've got you settled."

A loud crash sounded from the other end of the hotel as Elizabeta started walking toward the front door.

"… On second thought, we'll stay in for a while, then we can wander, and I'll introduce

you to everyone as we go. Not all at once."

"Sounds like a plan to me..."

"Hmmm... oh, yeah, Mattie! Have you found your someone yet?"

"Nah. I don't really intend to either. I'm an author. A lone wolf. But really - Arthur, any particular reason marriage number three crashed?"

"That was not my fault, wanker. She was the one who..."

The three carried on their light-hearted conversation, poking fun at each other, laughing off their problems, and generally behaving like high-schoolers.

It was more fun when you never grew up.

***##***

"Feli, you're a genius."

"These are perfect, da ze!"

Feliciano grinned and finished messing with Yong Soo's tie. Since in a traditional

wedding the two would have been bridesmaids, he'd chosen more elegant than 'manly'

suits for the two, pale grey with robin's egg blue shirts. A (fake) blue daisy was stuck

behind Alfred's right ear and Yong Soo's left. "I'm just glad they fit okay!"

A knock came from the door, which opened at Feli's call of 'Come in, Luddy~', revealing tall blonde man.

"Hallo, Alfred and Yong Soo." He nodded politely at them, then blushed slightly as Feliciano stood on tiptoe to kiss him on each cheek in greeting. "I vill be out of your hair in a moment, I only need to grab some dings for tonight.

"Oooh, right, your bachelor party!" Alfred was immediately distracted from the clothing by the opportunity to tease Feliciano's fiancé.

"Last night of freedom, man!"

Glancing at the smaller man in his arms, Ludwig chose his next words wisely. "Some mighd see it dat way, bud for me, it's simply de last night before de greatest adventure of my life."

"Awww... that's sweet."

Ludwig blushed slightly, gently kissing Feli on the temple. "I haf to go, bud Eliza said to tell you dat your aunts are here."

"Ah, thank you Luddy! We should go say hi! Oh, but you should come and meet them..."

"I am sure I vill meet dem soon enough."

***##***

"Aunty Arthur~!" Arthur had time for half a moment of regret at allowing Elizabeta's 'revenge' of sorts to continue this long before he found himself with an armful of cheerful brunet.

Damn her for teaching her child to call him by a feminine title. It was so... degrading.

But Feliciano had a sort of magic in his innocence. Anything and everything could and would be forgiven. Always.

So he managed to squeak out a greeting even with his air supply cut off by the enthusiastic hug.

"I don't suppose you remember me..."

And then there was Matthew, often the one noticed last among the three of them. But that did not make him any less important, the self proclaimed 'lone wolf' was the one that held them together. He was the one who patched up arguments, he was the shoulder to cry on while the last of them went on some sort of killing spree (though when Matthew himself was in need of comfort, it was often a fifty-fifty split who would go on the killing spree and who would remain to help), he was the one who had - when Elizabeta first suggested the band, 20-some years ago - pulled together the resources needed for such a project and dealt with nearly all the actual responsibility.

"Aunty Mattie~ Ve, how could I forget~?" And with that, he could breath again and it was Matthew being smothered.

"I can't believe you're getting married tomorrow! It wasn't that long ago I was teaching you how to cook..."

"Nah, you're just getting old." Elizabeta slung an arm over Matthew's shoulder and continued her teasing. "Better watch out, or you'll be the only one without kids~"

"Alfred does not bloody count, I'm only his step-father. Less than that, now, actually."

"I still have no idea how you managed to find and marry the poor boy's mother without any of us realizing the connection. Honestly."

Leaving the 'old people' to talk, Feliciano excused himself and went to go help out Feliks in the front desk. It was more interesting, anyway.

***##***

"So, like, may I help you?"

"Ah, we are here for the wedding...?"

"Oh, yeah, sure. Totally. Just let me find that list..." The peculiar blonde behind the reception desk turned to go rummage through drawers that apparently had no particular sense of organization.

"Ve, don't worry about it, Feliks, I'll help~!"

"Feli! Perfect! I totally lost the list and Liet's gonna like, kill me or something cuz this is like the fourth time, so if you could just help these three while I look for it, that'd be great."

"Sure! Do you guys have reservations?"

"Er... no." The tall brunet spoke up. "I believe I speak for all of us when I say that we got the invitations quite recently and didn't have much planning time."

"Oh, that's fine! Some of the invitations got sent out let, ve, so I just need your names and I can find a room! Oh, but you might have to share..."

"I'm sure that won't be a problem. I'm Roderich Edelstein."

"I am Kiku Honda. I apologize for any unnecessary inconvenience this may have caused you."

"Hey, I'm the awesome Gilbert Beilschmidt!"

Feliciano could only stare blankly at the three of them, eyes flickering from violet framed in dark glasses to deep, kind brown to a startling red and back again.

"I-I'm sorry, please hold on a moment... I have to go get your room keys..." And with that, he fled, partly to go find the room keys but mostly to find his friends. Oh boy were they in trouble now..."

As the three stood slightly baffled in the aesthetically pleasing reception area of the hotel among the oil paintings of the ocean, someone else walked in through the other door.

"Oh my god... what the hell are you doing here?"

***##***

Cliffhanger because I am apparently a total butt-head. Sorry.

Sorry further still to the fact that if I can't crank out another chapter - when I have a major science project due next week - before November, you're probably not going to hear from me until early to mid-December.

It's that time of year again, the time that makes readers incredibly sad and writers incredibly stressed. National Novel Writing Month is about to begin.

(... that said, if I lose track of my plot halfway through, I'll probably come back to this. _)