Title: Festival of Flowers

Author: S J Smith

Rating: K+

Summary: Winry's never heard of it.

Disclaimer: If I had any part of this, I wouldn't wonder if I can pay my bills this month.

Notes: Written for Suzume for the Valentine Exchange at FMAGiftExchange.

The rain had been falling for three days straight, and Winry never thought that Rush Valley could be so wet. Mud varied in color from cream to rusty red, depending on where it got tracked from. Finally, somewhere after midnight on the third day, the rain slowed to a patter of drops, finally dying off to a trickle of water, and then, stopping altogether.

Winry woke to the sound of a tapping on her window, half-expecting an Elric brother to be there when she rolled over. Instead, Paninya beamed at her, waving a hand. "Get up!" she shouted through the glass. "Get up!"

"I only get to sleep in one day a week," Winry groaned, pulling the sheet up over her head.

Paninya knocked harder on the glass. "You don't want to miss this, Winry! Come on, get up!"

"Go 'way, Paninya!" She grabbed her pillow and used it to cover her head, too.

That didn't stop the sound of someone at her door. "Winry, dear!" Mr. Garfiel rapped on the door. "You should get up! You won't want to miss any minute of this!"

As she debated whether to grab some cotton and plug her ears, Winry heard her master say, "You should wear a cute dress!" and that piqued her curiosity.

"Why?"

"It's festival day, darling! Hurry up and get dressed! I'll have breakfast ready for you and Paninya."

"Yes, sir," Winry sighed, dragging herself out of her bed and eyeing her window. Paninya was already gone – maybe she heard the offer of breakfast. Paninya never turned down food, something in common with one of Winry's other best friends. There weren't a lot of dresses in her closet; she hadn't thought she'd need them here in Rush Valley. Winry finally chose the blue sundress, rather than her tank top and miniskirt outfit, wondering if she should wear boots for the mud that had to be out there. She grabbed a pair of sandals and her boots, to take downstairs with her. Entering the little nook off the kitchen, Winry felt her jaw drop at the sight of Paninya at the table, wearing a dress, her hair down and a flower crown on her head.

"Oh, Winry, you look lovely!" Mr. Garfiel trilled. He pressed his palms together, smiling at her.

She blushed, stroking a strand of hair back behind her ear. "Thanks, Mr. Garfiel." Turning to Paninya, she said, "You look."

"Silly, I know, but." Paninya spread her hands. "Satilla made me this dress for the festival. I have to wear it." She didn't sound as upset about it as maybe she wanted to.

"I was going to say 'cute'," Winry told her as she Winry sat in the chair Mr. Garfiel pulled out for her, picking up the toast on her plate and biting into it. "What festival?"

"Oh, that's right; you haven't been through a rain before!" Mr. Garfiel joined them at the little table. "Whenever we have a good rain after the winter season, the flowers bloom." He smiled sweetly in remembrance. "Everyone dresses in their finery, and the girls wear flower crowns, while the men might wear bracelets or flowers in their lapels."

"And we enjoy the flowers," Paninya put in.

"What flowers?" Lost, Winry looked from her friend to her master.

"The flowers that bloom after the rain! They don't last long," Mr. Garfiel said, "and you have to be careful of bees, but it's so amazing! We'll take the tram out to the cliffs, so you can see everything. Hurry, eat up, we'll have to run to get on the first tram." He got up, hurrying out of the room. "I must get my bracelet!"

Winry shoved the toast in her mouth, chewing as she put on her sandals. "Why didn't you tell me about this before?"

Paninya shrugged, sheepish. "Never came up?"

"I told you about the sheep shearing festival!" She jammed the second piece of toast in her mouth.

"I got you a flower crown, does that make up for it?" Paninya pulled it off her lap, a ring of flowers in shades of cream, yellow and pink, with matching ribbons dangling down, nearly as long as Winry's hair.

"Oh." Winry accepted the crown, turning it to settle it in place on her head. "Is that right?"

Paninya cocked her head to the side, reaching over and adjusting the crown. "There."

"Come on, girls!" Mr. Garfiel called. "We need to hurry!"

Winry gulped her milk, setting her glass back on the table. Paninya grabbed her wrist and pulled her along through the shop. "Coming," they both shouted as they ran out the door and into the fresh morning air.

~end~