Ed yawned. It was about five in the morning and they had been walking since four. The sun was slowly rising, so the sky had streaks of orange and pink on it. The stars hadn't fully vanished.

Emily yawned and rubbed her tired eyes. She was walking hand-in-hand with Al.

"Are you sleepy, Emily?" Al asked.

Emily nodded and yawned again. "Et toi?" she asked.

"No, I'm not really sleepy."

Emily looked up at the stars and smiled sleepily. "Hoshi," she said, pointing at the few stars remaining. "Le ciel est comme un sueño."

Ed's stomach growled loudly. He set down his suitcase and sat down on it. "Should've packed some more food," he mumbled and took out the map. "Okay, we should be just outside the village."

Al gazed around the area. All he saw were trees, bushes, some rocks, some sticks, and the beaten dirt road they were currently walking on. "I don't see anything," he said.

"Maison," Emily mumbled sleepily and pointed to something to the right.

Al looked in the direction she was pointing in. He could make out something that looked like a steeple.

"I think it's over there," he said.

Ed stood up and put away the map. "Okay, let's go."

The walked towards the steeple and, as the sun rose, they saw the outlines of several houses. Once they got to the edge of the village, the road became paved and was lined by several trees. Since it was autumn, the leaves were changing colors. They ranged from slightly green to bright red to a crispy golden brown. The houses were mostly made out of wood and rock and appeared to have three stories. The first stories of all the houses were made out of rocks and had only one wooden door. The second and third floors were made out of wood and had glass windows and even doors! The roofs were made out of wood as well and were wider than the actual house.

There were vast fields of different vegetables like carrots, corn, potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, and lettuce to the right of the village and orchards with apple and cherry trees to the left. Nearly every house had a flower garden where orchids, marigolds, lilies, gladiolas, and irises bloomed. Some houses had berry bushes as well.

"It's so peaceful here," Ed said quietly.

"It's almost like Risembool," Al whispered.

A rooster started its greeting to the sun. Some birds sang sweetly from the treetops. The threesome walked around for quite a while, but they couldn't find any inns or restaurants. It was like the village wasn't prepared for visitors.

"Great," Ed said once Al had pointed out the obvious. "Now what are we going to do?

"I don't know. What do you think, Emily?"

The little girl didn't respond.

"Emily?"

Ed pointed to Al's empty hand. "She's not here, genius."

Al looked to his side and realized Ed was right. "Oh, no! Where'd she go?"

"Probably got bored," Ed responded.

Suddenly, Ed spotted her standing in front of the door of the house across the street. He pointed at her and said, "There she is."

Emily knocked loudly on the door several times before Al came and told her to not knock on strangers' doors.

"Mais, Ed-nii tiene hambre," Emily said.

Before Ed could ask Al to translate her words, the door opened. A tall, slender girl wearing a long, white nightgown with a yellow ribbon at the collar stared at them. Her hair was straight and the color of sunshine. Her round eyes were azure blue. She took one look at the threesome and called out, "Who ordered the tin man, the fairy with huge eyes, and the 100-pound shrimp?"

Ed immediately rushed up to the girl and shouted, "Who'd you call a shrimp that's so small he'd get lost among two grains of rice?!"

The girl patted Ed's head and grinned. "Calm down, little boy."

"Who're you calling a little boy that's small enough to be mistaken for twelve?!"

The girl laughed and turned to Al. "If I said something about your height, would you start jumping up and down with a red face?"

"Uh, no, not really."

Another tall, nightgown-clad girl joined them. Her features were almost exactly like the blonde girl's, but her colorings were different. She had curly black hair and round, midnight blue eyes.

"Yvette, don't make people mad!" she scolded and wagged her finger at the blonde girl. To Ed and everyone, she smiled warmly and asked, "Are you visitors?"

"Well, something like that." Ed said.

"Good!" Somehow, the brunette managed to grab all three of them and dragged them inside. First, Ed fell. Then Al fell on top of him and, somehow, Emily fell on him. Then the suitcase managed to land on Ed's head.

"Welcome to Momiji!" the brunette exclaimed and took Ed's hand. "I'm Yuzuki and that's Yvette. We're the Girasol Twins of Momiji!"

"That's great," Ed said in a slightly choked voice. "Al, Emily, get off of me!"

"Sorry, Brother!"

"Gomen nasai, Ed-nii!"

Emily and Al got off Ed. Ed removed his suitcase, stood up, and rubbed his back.

"Estas bien?" Emily asked.

Ed guessed that Emily was asking if he was okay and nodded.

"How long have you been traveling?" Yuzuki asked.

"Since yesterday.

"Yesterday?!" Yuzuki exclaimed with horror. "You must come to the kitchen immediately and eat!"

"Uh, kitchen?" Al asked with confusion.

The first floor had absolutely nothing in it. It was just a large, empty room with a staircase in one corner and a mahogany grand piano in another corner.

"Ah, I see you really aren't from around here," Yuzuki said as she and Yvette walked towards the stairs. "We get a lot of snowfall here in Momiji. Around November, the snow will be so high that only the second and third floors will be visible. Sometimes even the second floors get covered with snow, which is why we have doors on every floor. Now, come on up!"

Yvette glanced at the threesome and frowned. "Yuzuki, I don't---"

"Come! Come!" Yuzuki urged, clearly ignoring Yvette.

Ed, Al, and Emily followed the twins up the stairs. The second floor had two rooms: a dining room and the kitchen.

"Now, just sit here," Yuzuki said and pointed towards the dining table. "We'll be right back with something tasty for you right away!"

Both girls disappeared through swinging doors into the kitchen.

Emily took the opportunity to gaze around the dining room. The table was square with smooth, rounded edges and made out of wood. There was a brick fireplace in the corner with wood stacked by its side. There were twelve chairs also made out of wood, but had pillows tied to the seats. The wooden floor was smooth and polished. On the walls were several paintings and photographs.

"They're really nice, aren't they?" Al asked.

Ed frowned slightly. "Maybe Yuzuki, but her sister looks like she doesn't want us here."

"You're just saying that because she made fun of your height."

Ed made a face. "That's not exactly it. It's like she doesn't trust us."

"Hot food coming your way!" Yuzuki's voice suddenly exclaimed.

She came in holding a large, wooden tray. Carefully, she set down a bowl of chicken soup in front of her three guests. "Yvette, come out with the rest of it!"

Yvette came bearing a large tray heaped with fresh bread and apples. She set it down in the middle of the table and said in a slightly sullen voice, "Eat."

"Food!" Ed exclaimed as he shoveled soup in his mouth. He grabbed a chunk of bread and stuffed it in as well. After five minutes, the soup and one of the largest loaves of bread were gone. He then grabbed the apples and worked his way through them as well.

Yuzuki laughed. "He's a hungry one, isn't he?" Her gaze fell on Al, who hadn't even touched his food. "Aren't you going to eat? You must be hungry as well."

Al held up his palms and shook them back and forth. "Uh, no, I'm not really that hungry."

"Then you must be tired of wearing that suit of armor. Isn't it heavy?"

"No, really, I'm used to it."

Yvette sighed with disgust. "Oh, Yuzuki, don't tell me you haven't figured it out yet. If you haven't, you're a lot dumber than I thought."

Yuzuki glared at Yvette. "It's wrong to just assume something like that!"

Yvette sat down across from Al and stared at him. "At least I assumed something that was true. There's nothing in that armor, is there?"

Al gasped. Ed stopped gorging himself and dropped the half-eaten apple. It landed on the spoon in his bowl and made a crashing sound. The only one who continued to eat worry-free was Emily.

"What are you trying to say?" Ed demanded.

"I'm assuming he gets defensive about a lot of things," Yvette said and pointed at Ed, "but his tone of voice sounds slightly more scared than angry right now. Am I right then? Is there truly nothing in there?"

Ed stared at the porridge bowl and refused to answer. He looked ashamed for some reason. Suddenly, someone wrapped their arms around him and pulled him in for a hug.

"Ed-nii, no llores."

Ed looked up at Emily's sad face. The girl looked like she was on the verge of tears. He smiled at her and said, "Go back and eat."

"Mais---!"

"Go eat."

Reluctantly, Emily let go of Ed and went back to her seat.

"You broke an alchemy taboo and it cost him his body and you your right arm and leg, correct?" Yvette continued.

Ed was about to protest, but the look in Yvette's eyes made him close his mouth. Since when did the girl have pale green eyes?

"How---?"

Yuzuki walked over to Yvette and smacked her upside the head. Yvette's eyes immediately turned blue again.

"Don't do that!" Yvette snapped and rubbed her head.

"Then don't make visitors feel uncomfortable!" Yuzuki shouted back. To Ed, she said, "I'm really sorry about this. She just likes to mess with people's heads a lot." Yuzuki pulled out a chair and sat down beside Yvette. "Now, what are your names?"

"I'm Edward Elric," Ed said.

"You're the famous Fullmetal Alchemist?!" Yvette screeched, scowling. She smacked her palms on the table and glared at Ed. "You're a damn liar! Don't lie about being in the military!"

"And what if I am?" Ed asked, slightly pleased. Yvette looked like she wanted to explode.

Yvette balled her hands into fists and started trembling. "You better be lying. Where's the proof, huh?"

Ed took out his pocket watch and waved it back and forth. "How's this for proof?"

Without warning, Yvette jumped on the table and grabbed Ed by the collar of his shirt. She raised her fist as if to hit him.

"Yvette, stop!" Yuzuki shouted. "He doesn't know!"

Ed noticed tears in Yvette's eyes as she slowly dropped her fist and let him go. Yvette jumped off the table and ran into the kitchen.

"I'm sorry about that, but Yvette hates the military," Yuzuki said softly so her sister wouldn't hear. "Her fiancé, a State Alchemist, died a while back while on duty. Yvette has never really gotten over it."

A tense silence followed. After a few minutes, Yvette came back in and sat down.

"Yvette, are you---?" Yuzuki started.

Yvette grinned. "Just peachy. Did you learn everybody's names or just Edward's?"

"Uh, no. What's your name?" Yuzuki asked, nodding in Al's direction.

"I'm Alphonse Elric, Ed's little brother."

All eyes fell on Emily. The little girl was calmly chewing a piece of bread, completely oblivious to the question. Al poked her to get her attention.

"They want to know your name," he said.

"Ah! Je m'appelle Yasuko Emily," the girl said with a smile.

Ed frowned and gazed up at Al. "You spent over an hour quizzing this girl on her name when she could've told you all along?"

"So your names are Edward, Alphonse, and Yasuko?" Yuzuki asked.

"No, her name's Emily," Al said. "Yasuko is like a family name."

"Oh, I see. Now, Yvette and I are both nineteen. How old are you three?"

"Sixteen," Ed said.

Yvette was about to make a rude comment, but Yuzuki slapped her palm over her mouth. She nodded towards Al.

"Fifteen."

Yvette mumbled something in a muffled voice and laughed. Ed glared at her.

"How old are you, little Emily?" Yuzuki asked before Ed and Yvette had a chance to yell.

"J'ai quinze ans!" Emily exclaimed proudly. "Comme Al-nii!"

"You're fifteen?!" Al asked with surprise.

Emily grinned. "Hai!" she responded.

The room grew very quiet. The little girl certainly didn't look anywhere near fifteen. She looked more like ten.

"Well, that was a surprise," Yuzuki said. Calmly, she turned to her sister and asked, "Do you promise not to make fun of anyone?"

Frowning, Yvette nodded and Yuzuki removed her hand from her mouth.

"I welcome the three of you to Momiji," Yuzuki said with a smile. "You may stay here if you like."

Ed shook his head and stood up. "Actually, we have to get going. We're looking for something."

Yuzuki stood up, walked over to Ed, and pushed him back in his seat. "Then perhaps we can be of assistance."

"Uh, I really doubt that."

Yuzuki frowned. "Don't say things like that."

"You better accept this offer," Yvette said in an almost threatening voice. "You don't want to stay out when the Big Storm is almost here."

"What's that?" Ed asked.

"Every year, there is a huge snowstorm. Sometimes it happens multiple times and everything gets buried except the tops of the houses. It happens suddenly and without warning." Yvette stared at Ed and smirked. "I don't think you want to end up frozen, right?"

Ed was at loss for words. After a few minutes, he nodded and said, "All right, we'll stay. At least until the Big Storm ends."

Yuzuki clapped her hands with delight. "Good! New help in the costume shop!"

Ed and Al stared at her. "'Costume shop'?" they asked with confusion in their voices.

"Oh, did I forget to mention that every house in this street is some sort of business?" she asked. Without waiting for a reply, she added, "We make all the costumes for all the festivals here in Momiji. And you three are going to help us!"

"But we can't sew!" Al protested.

Ed scoffed and smirked. "Like we're gonna need to sew. We'll just use alchemy."

"No!" Yvette snapped, frowning. "No alchemy!"

"All our costumes and trinkets are handmade," Yuzuki said quickly before an argument could start. "I'm sorry, Edward, but alchemy would be cheating. Don't worry, though. We'll just be asking you to do some cleaning and move displays and such. Nothing big. If we need help, we'll ask, but please don't use alchemy."

Ed glanced at the still frowning Yvette and then back at Yuzuki. Both twins seemed to dislike alchemy. But why?