Author's Notes -

After some time, chapter three is finished. It's good to see that some people are reading this story, or at least checking it out for a little bit. You'll also notice that I started to give the sisters ways to call Ed's younger brother, Al. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and feel free to review if you want to.

NOTE - I do not own Sister Princess or Fullmetal Alchemist.

Chapter 3 - Twelve Sweet Alchemists

Edward checked the mail today, and was happy to see that his longtime friend Winry has replied to his mail. He went to his room, and read the letter:

Dear Ed,

I was rather shocked when I read your last letter. I cannot believe that you have 13 younger sisters living with you. From what you've told me, though, they seem like really nice people. However, I would be careful, because I highly doubt that all 13 girls are related to you. I mean, your mom never mentioned anything about them at all. I'd watch your back if I were in your situation. I hope you come back to see me and Grandma soon. It's been pretty boring here at home. There's nothing to do. I wish I had some automail to get my hands on. Well, see you soon, and I look forward to your next letter.

Love,

Winry

Edward finished reading the letter, when he was greeted by one of his young sisters, Hinako.

"Hi, Bro-Bro. Who is that letter from?"

"It's from a friend of mine back home," Edward said. "She says that she wants to see me again."

"Really? She should came here and live with all of us."

"Well, we'll see soon enough."

Edward went to the dining room to have some breakfast. She noticed that in the kitchen was Shirayuki humming a certain tune. "She must have woke up pretty early to cook for 15 people," the alchemist said. Along with him was Karen, Yotsuba, and Rin Rin. "Hey there, Bro," Rin Rin said. "You're looking a bit down today. I bet my newest invention will cheer you up!"

"Thanks. I'll have to see it later. Right now, I just want to have some breakfast."

"Brother Dearest, are you feeling alright?" Yotsuba asked. "Or is it that you're hiding a secret from us? If that's the case, then I'll decode your secret!"

"Uh, sure thing, Yotsuba..." A nervous Edward said. "Have any of you girls seen Al anywhere?"

"I think he's cooking with Shirayuki, Big Brother," Karen said.

In the kitchen, Shirayuki and Alphonse was cooking the food for everyone. "Hey Younger Brother," she said. "Will you pass me the bread, please?"

"Yeah, sure," Alphonse replied. "You know, you can call me Al if you want."

"I know that, but none of us sisters wouldn't want to disrespect Elder Brother or his younger brother like that."

"You're not, Shirayuki..." It was no use, for she changed the subject. "Younger Brother, do you know how to make this dish?"

Meanwhile, in another location, a mysterious stranger sets his sights on the island. He thought to himself, "So this is Promised Island, huh? Is this really where the stone could be?" He got off the boat he was in. "Don't worry, Master. I will get the Philosopher's Stone for you soon."

Back at Welcome House, everyone was eating the breakfast that was given to them. Edward and Alphonse both had some French toast with chili sauce tofu on top. "Uh, Shirayuki," Edward said nervously. "Will this toast make me sick later?"

"I hope not, Elder Brother. I always try my best to cook for you. I hope you like this food."

"Brother," Alphonse said. "Just eat it. It'll make her feel better."

"Fine."

Edward tried some of the toast, and to his surprise, liked it. "This is great. Thanks a lot."

"I'm so glad Elder Brother likes my cooking," Shirayuki said.

After breakfast, the Elric brothers left the dining room to check out more on the house. Although they currently live here, they don't know much about this house. They traveled to various rooms, when Edward steps into a dark room.

"Wow, this room sure is dark. Is anyone in here?" Edward said.

Just then, a bunch a candles light up, brighting up the room. It was still very dark, however. A mysterious Chikage appears in front of the brothers. She said to him, "Welcome to my chambers, Brother Darling. Would you like to know your future? Or do you want this potion that gives you eternal death?"

"Uh, no thanks," A nervous Alphonse said. "Ed and I were just checking the rooms here. We'll be leaving now. Bye."

Edward and Alphonse left the room very quickly. "Man, Al. That was kind of spooky," Edward said. "I wonder if she's always like this."

"I wonder, too. Ed, we should go outside into the city again. We have to get more food for the house."

"Really? I thought we already had enough to last us a week."

"While I was cooking with Shirayuki, she told me that she was planning a big dinner tonight, and she wanted to tell you that, Ed."

"All right, then. Let's go."

Meanwhile, at a light bulb store, the mysterious man was there looking for the store clerk. "Excuse me," he said. "Is there anyone here? I need some help finding a stone."

After a while, an old man popped up and surprised him.

"Hello, sir," the old man said. "You say you're looking for a stone?"

"Yes. I need to retrieve it for my master. He's the one who needs it the most."

"I see. Well sir, this is a light bulb store, and I only sell light bulbs here. I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to leave."

"Have you at least seen it anywhere? I need to find it soon!"

"No. Run along, now. I have paying customers to attend to."

He left the store without any clues to where the stone could be. The 22 year old man said, "Where could it be? I've asked almost everyone here at the island! I, Ron Spike will not fail my master's wishes!" As he looked around, he noticed a big house where two brothers were about to leave to go shopping for food. The man hid himself into the bushes, so he would not be seen by them. "Those boys... Could they be the alchemists my master was telling me about? It looks like the short one is carrying something in his hand. They probably have the Philosopher's Stone already. It seems they did the hard work for me. Now is my chance to stop them."

The two brothers were looking for a store nearby that sold food. After some time, the both of them got their shopping done. Edward said to Al, "I'm going on ahead to look for any clues about the Philosopher's Stone."

"All right, Ed. Be sure to come back for dinner. You wouldn't want to keep your sisters waiting."

"My sisters? I don't even know for sure if they are my sisters," Edward thought.

Edward looked around the city asking people if they've noticed anything out of the ordinary. All of them, of course, haven't seen anything weird. As the hours went by, Edward keep looking for anything at all. Just then, he saw Marie staring at the ocean. She spotted Edward. "Hello, Brother Mine. The ocean is lovely, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is," the young alchemist replied. "It's actually very nice."

"Back in the clinic I used to stay at, I would go for a walk at the beach with Micheal. It's usually very peaceful to hear the sounds of life. I usually don't go out often because of my illness. It's too bad that I'm not as strong as you, Brother Mine."

"I didn't know that you are ill. Perhaps I should take you home to rest for a while."

"I'm quite all right. I haven't been outside in a long time, so this is the best time for me to be outside."

"I see. I have to look for something now. Be back for dinner, all right?"

"Sure I will, Brother Mine."

Edward continued his search for the stone, when he notice Mami following him. Edward got quite annoyed by this, and spotted her. "You know, if you wanted to talk to me, Mami, you didn't have to spy on me," Edward said.

"Ah, crud!" Mami thought. "Hi there, Bud. What brings you out here?"

"Well, if you must know, I'm looking for the Philosopher's Stone."

"Oh, that old thing? Why are you looking for that?"

"It's the 'old thing' that will get me and Al's body back!" Edward was getting angry.

"Calm down, Bud. I won't stop you, but wouldn't you like to know more about your sisters?"

"They are not my problem right now."

"Fine, then. Perhaps another time, Bud!" She left to go back to Welcome House.

"I wonder what's with this girl?" Edward thought. "It seems she knows something about the stone."

As Edward continued his search, Alphonse went back to Welcome House, when he saw Aria waiting for him outside. She was sitting in the stairway near the front door. "Mon Petit Frère," she said. "Aria has been waiting for you for a while now. Won't you play with me?"

Alphonse realized that he went home earlier than expected, so he accepted Aria's request. They both went outside into the nice weather where they decide to go for a walk. Just then, the younger sister asked Alphonse, "Why do you always wear a suit of armor?"

"Uh, well..." Alphonse was at loss of words right now. He didn't want her to know that he didn't have a human body. He didn't think it would be good for her to know that she'd been talking to armor the whole time. At last he responded, "Well, you see, I'm a big fan of armor suits, so I wear one all the time to show that." "Wow, that was a very lame answer," he thought.

"I see..." the young girl said. "You should take it off once in a while. The armor scares me sometimes."

"I'm sorry, Aria. One day I will."

Their day has been interrupted by Alphonse's other younger sister, Shirayuki. "Hello, Younger Brother. I've been waiting for a while. Did you get the food for tonight's dinner?"

"Yeah, I did," Alphonse said. He turned to Aria, "Sorry, Aria, but I have to cook now. We'll play again another time."

He saw what looked like to be tears coming from Aria. "Younger Brother," the cook said. "Where has Elder Brother gone? Wasn't he with you a while ago?"

"He was, but he went along to look for something."

"I see. I hope he comes home soon."

"Me too."

Edward has been looking for the stone for a while now. It was getting dark, and he realized that he needed to get back home for dinner. He decided to call it a day, and went back to Welcome House. As he started to head in that direction, a mysterious man appears in front of him. He is about 22 years old, wears a black shirt with a red cape, and has black pants. It fact, these clothes are similar to what Edward is wearing. The man said, "Hello, young boy. Would you like to come with me? I'm looking for a special item."

"That depends," Edward replied. "I usually don't accept requests from strangers like yourself. Who are you?"

"They call me Ron Spike. I'm just a man looking for an item. The same item that you are seeking, Edward Elric!"

"How did you know my name? And who send you here?"

"My master did. He's the one who told me about the Fullmetal Alchemist. Where's your brother, huh? Is he too busy being with your sisters to care about you?"

"Shut up! Al is my brother. He wouldn't do that to me. It looks like I'll have to defeat you, since you're after the stone as well!"

"That's too bad. I was hoping we would join forces and get it together, but it looks like I'll have to stop you now. Only I can get the stone, and no one will stand in my way!"

"That's what you think!"

"Ha! You think you can defeat me? Think again, boy!"

The two alchemists were starting to fight each other. Edward was wondering what kind of power this man had, and he soon found that out the hard way. Ron had used alchemy by turning a object close to them into a sword. "I see you are quite amazed by my performance. I have the ability to turn anything into a sword. I heard you have a metal arm. Let's see it in action, if you can catch me, that is!"

Meanwhile, Alphonse noticed that something was wrong. He said to Shirayuki, "Do you think Ed's in some kind of trouble? He's going to be late."

"Now that you mention it, Elder Brother hasn't come back in a long time, and it's almost dinner time. I hope he's all right."

"I got an idea. I'll look for Ed and get him back here. You can cook the rest of the food, right?"

"Yes. I will prepare a great dinner for Elder Brother when he gets home."

"Thanks, Shirayuki."

Edward and Ron were both fighting for their own lives. Edward used alchemy to turn his metal arm into a sharp object. The young alchemist ran towards Ron, hoping that he would be able to hit him, but greatly missed. Ron charged his sword towards Edward, but his metal arm was able to break it in half. Ron then said to him, "You're not bad, boy! You're already pretty strong."

"You're not bad yourself, Ron," the Fullmetal Alchemist said. "Tell me something, though. How did you know about the stone here?"

"It's simple. My master, who learned from a very reliable source, told me that the stone is located here at this island. I plan to give it to my master as soon as I find it. Why are you looking for it?"

"Al and I are going to get our bodies back to the way it was."

"Is that the only reason, or are you also planning on getting taller, shorty?"

"What?" he yelled. "Don't call me shorty! That's it, you're going down hard!"

As the two were still fighting, Alphonse spotted his brother nearby. He needed to act quickly if he wanted to save Edward, so he ran to a place behind Ron and gave him a nice beating. Ron couldn't take the armor's strength, but when Alphonse gave the final blow, Ron dodged the attack, and went for Edward. As soon as he ran for the short alchemist, Alphonse grabbed him so he wouldn't be able to move.

"Ed!" Alphonse yelled. "Who is this person? Why is he trying to harm you?"

"Ron's after the Philosopher's Stone!"

"Really? But we don't even know where it is!"

"Huh?" Ron said surprised. "You don't know where it is? I though you had it already."

"If we did, we would have used it already," Edward said.

"So I wasted my time fighting you. Very well, then. It seems that these people don't know anything about the Philosopher's Stone. I guess this mission was a failure, then."

"Wait! Where are you going?"

"I'm heading back home to my master. You know, this fight made me realize something. The reason I wanted to have the stone was to make me and my master powerful fighters. However, just now you and your brother have managed to beat me easily. I guess I should have realize that all my master and I needed was to work together as a team."

"What about the stone?"

"I don't need it anyone. Besides, it could be another fake. At any rate, Edward, I would make sure that you protect your sisters. Don't think that this will be your last fight here. There are other alchemists like yourself after the stone, and will eventually find this island. Just some friendly advice."

Ron left to find a boat nearly. Edward and Alphonse saw him leave the island. The ocean was calm in the night. Alphonse realized that they've been out longer than expected. He said to Edward, "Ed! We're late for dinner. We need to go back to Welcome House."

"Don't worry about it, Al. We'll get there if we run."

Edward and his brother have finally made it home, where all of their little sisters were waiting for him. "Big Brother, what happened?" Karen asked. "Dinner has been ready for a while now."

"Well you see," Edward said. "I met someone along the way. Is everyone here?"

"Yes, Dear Brother," Sakuya said. "We've been waiting for hours, but it's good to see you and Dear Young Brother home with us."

"Well, what are we waiting for then? Let's eat!"

Edward and Alphonse had a big feast that night. There were different kinds of meat on the table, along with rice, vegetables, and other foods. They were stuffed from the big feast. "Oh man, that's what I call food," Edward said.

"Thanks, Elder Brother," Shirayuki said. "Younger Brother and I were making the dinner earlier, so I'm glad you enjoyed it."

"Ed," Alphonse said. "You looked wiped out from what happened earlier. You need to rest for the night. I'll take care of cleaning up the room."

"Thanks. I'll go to bed, then."

Edward went upstairs to his room, where he lay on his bed thinking about his younger sisters. "These girls... Even though I haven't spent time with them often, they still care about me and Al. I don't think it matters if they're my sisters or not. I'm part of their family now, and I have to protect them."

Edward went to sleep a few moments later. The room was dark, and the only thing that lighted the room up was the full moon. Alphonse was helping out downstairs when he realized something, "Tomorrow would be the day that our sisters would start school," he thought. He also realized that he's accepted the girls as their sisters, and wants to protect them from harm. He only hoped that Edward thought the same thing. He was finished working, and went to his room to rest for the day ahead.

Next Chapter: The sisters start their first day of school, and the Elric brothers are finally alone for the day. However, as the search for the Philosopher's Stone gets intense, Edward gets a letter from an mysterious person. Who is the letter from, and for what purpose? Find out in the next chapter: Look For The Philosopher's Stone!