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In Roy's office, Edward declares to him that he and Al are going to take the exam. For preparation, Roy tells the boys to go study at the home of the Sewing Life Alchemist, Shou Tucker, who is the leading expert at bio-alchemy.

In the car on the way to Shou's house, Roy tells the boys about how Shou transmuted a chimera that could speak, which helped him become a State Alchemist. As they arrived, Al asks Roy if Shou had a wife. Roy simply ignores him and tells them to head to the house. The boys find themselves facing a rather large house. As Roy rings the bell, a large dog jumps out of a nearby bush, and jumps on Ed! After Ed screams in pain, the door opens, revealing a small girl and an older-looking man, who is clearly Shou.

Inside, while Shou is cleaning up the place, the girl commented on how strange Al's "clothes" were. Shou then tells the girl (Nina) to go outside to play with Alexander, the dog. He then proceeds to tell Ed that he can do anything, at his request. Ed then asks him to see the chimera he transmuted. Shou quickly tells the boys that it died shortly after the transmutation. The group then proceeds to Shou's library. At the library, the boys are fascinated by the amount of books in the room, and start to explore it. Ed even started to read a book from one of its many shelves.

Ed & Al are then seen eating, with Shou & Nina. Shou talks to Ed about his studying progress and how he doesn't need to take the test so early, Ed stresses that he has to take the test to move forward. Nina breaks the tension by mentioning that Al wasn't eating anything. She gives him a loaf of bread, which he "eats" by tilting his headpiece so that he can put the bread inside him. At night, while trying to sleep, Al tries to motivate Ed, assuring him that he'll pass.

The next scene shows Ed studying in the library. Realizing the time, he gets up and starts looking for Al. He then hears Alexander's barking, which leads him outside. As he steps out, he sees Al with Nina and the dog, playing in the snow. Ed then joins them. While lying on the snow, Nina blurts out that she wants them to stay after the exams. Hearing that, Ed transmutes some plants that started to grow, making Nina very happy. At that moment, Major Maes Hughes arrives, informing Ed that it's his birthday, and that they were going to celebrate at his house.

At Maes' house, the brothers and Nina meet his wife Gracia, who looks very pregnant. She then asks them if they wanted to touch her stomach. While the boys shyly back off, Nina proceeds to feel her belly. After doing so, Nina comments that it was moving, shocking the boys. Afterwards, the celebration commenced. All of a sudden, Gracia collapsed! As Maes tends to her, she states that the baby was going to be born, surprising everybody. Maes states that they need a doctor, but Al points out the fact that there's a blizzard raging outside. It doesn't stop Maes from running outside, though.

The boys put Gracia on a sofa and, bring her hot water. As Al obviously points out that the doctor is late, Gracier screams in pain, saying that she was going to die. The children take her seriously, and start to freak out, especially when Gracia faints from exhaustion. Fortunately, she quickly wakes up. Nina tells Ed that the water turned cold. As Ed grasps the tub, it suddenly reheated on its own! Al is shocked, since Ed didn't even use a transmutation circle to heat the water. Suddenly, Gracia moans, saying that the baby was coming out, which causes the kids to freak out once more. Eventually, the doctor comes, and Gracia is then seen holding her newborn baby. She thanks the kids for staying by her, which gets Ed to smile.

Back at Shou's house, as the brothers lie on their beds, Ed talks about how amazing mothers are. Al then mentions their mom, wondering if he was ever a soft as a baby. Ed tells him that he did at one point, making Al happy. On the following morning, they resumed their studies. At night, while studying, Al brings up the topic regarding Ed boiling the water during his birthday without a transmutation circle. Ed simply brushes it off, thinking that it only happened since they were in a bizarre situation. They then speak with Shou afterwards, who tells them that the test is composed of three parts: writing, an interview, and practical skills. He also mentions that usually only 1-2 people pass a year, and that they occasionally do health checks on people, worrying Al. He continues on, saying that they should bring in an experiment or a report, which the boys flinch at the mention of that word. When they head for their rooms, the boys relay their troubles to each other, trying to find out a way to go around some of the rules.

Eventually, the day of the written part of the test had come and gone. As the boys headed out, they found Nina, who was waiting for them. While they were talking about their test, Roy, at his office decides to go tell Al that he can't take the exam, in fear that he might be discovered by the military. Ed agrees with Roy, because he felt that he alone should carry the burden. The next day, Ed gets an interview by the military while sitting on a Golden tripod. When asked why Ed took the exam, he answered by telling them that he "made a promise at the time." They eventually went back to Shou's place, where they climbed into their beds and talked about how Al couldn't feel anything.

The next morning, as Ed heads off to do his practical exam, Nina gives him a picture with all of them on it as a charm, with a transmutation circle on top. Ed thanks her as he leaves. Once he arrives, he sees the large amount of natural resources gathered up to be used for transmutation. As Ed ponders about what he should do, a man uses his alchemy to create a tall skyscraper. While it was an impressive feat, he got too exhausted. Another man uses trees and water to create a paper balloon filled with hydrogen. However, it pops, sending it flying towards the skyscraper. It collides with the skyscraper, poking another hole, along with breaking the tip of the skyscraper, sending large pieces of rock hurtling down towards the tired alchemist! Without thinking, Ed quickly turns the skyscraper and the hydrogen balloon into a beautiful wreath with a display of flower petals, without a transmutation circle! With this, Ed passes the State Alchemist Qualification Exam!

As they walk back to Shou's house, Ed tells Al that he won't look back, but that he'll keep on looking forward. The brothers then reassure each other that they'll restore their respective bodies back to their original forms.
 

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