The floor creaked under Envy's feet and the child's eyes fluttered open.

They carefully sat on the edge of the bed, looking down at Elicia Hughes as she balled her little fists and tried to rub the sleep off her lids. Envy had turned the lights on and they supposed that she might need a few moments to adjust her vision.

Finally she could see clearly and she stared up at Envy, her eyes huge and full of confusion.

"Daddy?" Elicia whispered, her voice trembling ever so slightly. "Did you... did you came back home?"

"I'm afraid not, princess," Envy said in the voice of Maes Hughes, tilting their head sideways and giving the girl a small smile. "You're dreaming, Elicia."

"Oh..." She accepted that statement easily. Whether it was because she was still incredibly young, or because she had dreamed of her father visiting her before, Envy could not say. "I miss you, Daddy," she murmured, so softly that even a Homunculus' hearing could barely catch it.

Envy took a deep breath and slowly leaned over the child, carefully stroking a lock of light brown hair behind a small ear and trying not to muck the movement up. Hughes' fingers were a bit bigger and thicker than their own and they hadn't had the chance to adapt all their senses to his form.

They didn't have a lot of time left.

But they had enough to make at least something right.

"I know, little bean," they said, looking into the child's eyes and seeing the pain.

The pain they had put there when they shot her father to death.

The pain that, at least if Edward Elric had been any indication, would never truly leave her eyes.

Once they would have laughed about it. Hell, once they had actually laughed about it, after Wrath had stormed into the lair and told everyone how much Elicia had cried during her father's funeral and how angry she had made him.

Now they knew that there was nothing amusing about it. Nothing at all.

But it was too late. Far too late. Far, far too late.

Too late for Hughes. Too late for Elicia.

Too late for Envy too.

Because now they knew perfectly well how she felt. They wondered if they would have sobbed their heart out if Greed had had a funeral and they had to watch them lower his dead body into the ground. Envy swallowed heavily, trying to make their throat feel less constricted.

"I miss you too, Elicia," they said as gently as they could. Envy had impersonated parents before, of course – many times, but never under those circumstances.

She leaned her head back into the pillows, gazing up at Envy.

"You weren't on my birthday," she finally said, her small mouth pouting ever so slightly.

"I'm sorry I missed it, honey," Envy whispered and did the math in their head, trying to summon all the information about Hughes from Central's files and documents. "You're four now, Elicia, a big girl."

"Winry didn't come either," Elicia's lower lip wobbled.

"I'm sure she'll come visit you as soon as she can, sweetie," Envy smiled indulgently at the daughter of the man they had murdered.

Her father's grin did the trick. Elicia quickly sat up and launched herself at Envy who caught her in their embrace a little haphazardly.

"I wish you were real," she sighed into the shoulder of Hughes' uniform, and for a moment she sounded so much older than her years that something stirred painfully inside Envy. "That it's not a dream and that you're not dead, and that you'll be home tomorrow."

Envy held her for a few moments, then they pried her off, tenderly but firmly.

"Elicia, listen," they said softly, "It is a dream and I won't come home. I'm sorry, baby," they added when they saw the look in her big green eyes, "but daddies shouldn't lie to their daughters. But... you're wrong about one thing. I am real."

The child looked at him, her lack of comprehension glaringly obvious. "B-but... you just said it's a dream, Daddy."

"It is," Envy nodded, "But I will always remain real. Right here," they reached and tapped a finger just above her heart. "As long as you remember that Daddy loves you, little bean, I'm always going to be with you."

As they said the words, a part of them was surprised that they believed it. But they did. If you truly loved someone, someone you lost, the memories of them would never leave you, would never give you a reprieve.

Elicia threw herself at them once more, squeezing them with all the strength of her tiny, human body.

"I will!" She swore fervently, nodding rapidly against Envy's chest. "I'll remember, Daddy, I promise! I love you, Daddy!"

"Daddy loves you too," Envy whispered back at the child, remembering her real father's last words. "And I'm sorry I had to leave you."

"Mom is still sad, too," the child mumbled. "She doesn't cry as much as she did at first but she misses you too."

For a moment Envy was unsure how to answer. "I know," they said, indeed knowing exactly the sort of anguish Gracia Hughes had gone through thanks to them. "I'm sorry she's sad, sweetie. But it will get easier."

They felt Elicia nod again, her small body feeling a little heavier and sluggish in their arms as sleep began to creep back at her. Envy eased her back into the bed and covered her with the blankets she had kicked off when she first awoke.

"Can you do something for me, princess?" They asked the child and chuckled when they saw her struggling to remain awake.

"Sure thing, Daddy," she yawned.

"Look after your mom for me, would you?" Envy said gently. "She loves you very much and it's just the two of you now. Always be there for each other. That's what family is for. Okay?"

"Okay," Elicia answered, her eyes closing and her breathing getting sleepier and sleepier by the moment. "Night, Daddy. Love you."

Envy watched her slumber for a little while and then they got up from the bed, mindful not to make any noise.

They left the way they came – through the window, silently transforming into a black raven and flying into the night.

They ended up on the rooftop of "Crown", swooping down from the sky and assuming their favorite form. It took them such an effort that they were left panting and rubbing tears of pain from their blurry eyes. Red light flickered sickly around their body, their Stone using up the very last of its reserves to keep them standing.

As their breathing calmed down, Envy realized that this, most likely, had been their final transformation. The energy of the Philosopher's Stone was all but completely depleted, the supernatural strength and vitality of the Homunculi waning so rapidly that they could feel it melt away inch by inch.

Just as well.

Envy did not mind dying in this body. They had always liked it, and so had Greed.

Even walking was becoming difficult. Envy slowly made their way towards the edge of the roof and sat down with an exhausted sigh, staring down at nothing and everything at once.

Central seemed oddly quiet. No nightlife to speak of, almost no traffic. Not even a whole lot of lights. It looked like the city had finally found peace, now that the malevolent entity that had tormented this country since its inception was gone forever.

Most of the humans had retired to be with their families and loved ones after the battle was done and the worst of the rubble was cleared out.

Humans, huh...

They had fought and clawed and cried and sacrificed. They had earned their victory. They had earned their reprieve. They had earned the right to keep their world and their lives. They had earned their tomorrow.

And soon Envy was going to be gone too, the last of the seven monsters who had tried their best to ruin mankind.

It was strange, to be the last one. It wasn't so much the loneliness of it, Envy decided. After all, they had spent the bigger part of their long life feeling alone in one way or another. Perhaps it simply felt like some sort of cosmic joke that wasn't especially funny. All of them were dead now. Lust with her beauty, Pride with his cruelty, Sloth with his strength, Wrath with his swords and his Ultimate Eye, Gluttony with his all-consuming hunger... Even Greed, with his handsome face, deft hands and the desire to have anything this world had to offer.

All of them gone, to leave only the bitter, envious freak behind.

Really not high in terms of amusement value, but ironic nonetheless, Envy supposed.

No matter. The air smelled of the coming dawn, birds were beginning to chirrup and the sky was turning purple and indigo, chasing the blackness away.

It wouldn't be long. They could feel it. They had known that taking on Hughes' appearance and maintaining it for as long as it took to speak with Elicia would sap them of the last bits of power they had left after the battle. Perhaps in another world, in another life another Envy might have tried to conserve that power, make it last for a few more days or weeks as they desperately sought a way to replenish themselves.

That prospect held no appeal at all. Not in this world, not in this life, to this Envy.

The last sparks of energy inside their Stone were extinguished just as the sun was rising above the forests and the hills in the east. It colored the sky in hues of pink, orange and bright blue, bathing the sparse clouds in golden light and heralding the arrival of the day. It really was a beautiful morning.

A gust of cool wind caressed their skin and when they looked down and saw their body slowly crumbling to dust, they felt only surprise at the lack of pain and fear. They lifted a hand and stared as it quickly began to dissolve, soot-like specks flying in the air.

Envy closed their eyes, leaned their head back and thought of Greed as they breathed their last.

When they opened them again, they were standing in a place that held nothing but whiteness and a huge, looming set of doors suspended in mid-air.

Huh...

They had wound up back at the Gate of Truth...

And before it...

"Greed?" Envy blinked, their voice coming out squeakier and more surprised that they probably would have intended.

He immediately turned and Envy realized that they didn't care about their fucking voice.

They were looking at him again.

He was here.

With them.

Greed got up and strode towards Envy. Before they could say anything he had taken them in his embrace and they instinctively pressed close to him, inhaling his scent.

He was here and they were with him again.

It took Envy a few seconds to realize that the sobbing was coming from them. Perhaps they ought to have felt mortified or humiliated, but they didn't. Greed just tightened his muscular arms around them when he heard them crying.

"It's okay, sweet cheeks," that familiar cocky, self-assured timbre of his voice made them remember how he had screamed when Mustang burned him and they clutched his stupid sleeveless jacket, crying harder. "Let it all out, beautiful, all of it. It's okay."

"You idiot!" Envy hiccupped miserably, burying their face into his chest, "You had to go and be a hero!"

"A hero?" They heard Greed chuckle. "I don't know about that, sweet cheeks. Just did what felt right at the time."

Envy's breathing hitched as they felt his hand rubbing their back, trying to soothe them.

"It's okay now," Greed told them again, and they managed to look up at him. There was an odd, soft look in his eyes and a small smile on his lips. "I'm not leaving you again."

"You promise?"

He smirked, "'Course I do, sweetheart."

Envy nodded, took a deep breath and disentangled themselves from him.

They glanced around, but there really was nothing to look at here, aside from Greed and the massive set of iron doors hovering behind him. They were surrounded by a clean, white void.

It was odd. And oddly familiar, too.

"Funny thing about dying," Greed said, looking perceptively down at them, "it really clears your head up, doesn't it? Like getting rid of the cobwebs in an old attic," Envy snorted at his choice of words, but they knew what he meant.

"We were here before," they said softly.

"Yeah, we passed through this place when we got out of Gluttony. Strange, but I couldn't remember a single thing after we broke through."

"I could. Sort of," Envy leaned into him again. "I think this was when I decided to turn against the Dwarf."

"What made you decide?" Greed asked, nothing but honest curiosity in his plum-colored eyes.

"Envy saw the truth," a strange, echoing voice said and the two Homunculi turned their heads towards it.

The voice belonged to what Envy could describe as a white shadow. It was in the shape and the size of a human, but had no features to speak of. It had seemingly appeared out of thin air.

Or maybe it had always been here.

Perhaps they ought to have been frightened or startled. This thing seemed bizarre and alien even to a Homunculus.

And yet... Somehow, its presence didn't feel threatening.

"Nice to meet you too," Greed lifted a sardonic black eyebrow at the strange figure, shifting his body ever so slightly to be ready to move himself between it and Envy. They put a hand on his arm to calm him down.

"Who... or what are you?" Envy asked it.

The creature let out a small chuckle. "Almost everyone asks me that question when they see me," it remarked, its voice ringing in the white nothingness around the Gate. "In short, I am Truth. Or God. Or the Universe. Or the world. All and one. Whichever you two prefer," it shrugged. Despite the fact that it didn't have a face as such, Envy somehow got the impression that the being seemed mildly amused and not especially concerned about what it was called.

"Wait, so... you're the one the old man was trying to take down the whole time?" Greed sounded surprised. "Holy crap..." He drove a hand through his black hair. "I didn't think you'd be... you know, an actual person and all."

"Yes," Truth nodded and cocked its head to the side. "Your creator was certainly ambitious. But hopelessly deranged. Perhaps the way he was put together into the mortal world was what damaged him. Or perhaps he has always been what he was. It doesn't matter. He's gone, one with the void again. You don't have to fear him anymore."

"But..." Envy's voice was small and confused, "If he's gone... then..."

"...Why are we still here?" Greed finished for them.

Why just the two of us, was the unsaid question. Why not Lust and Pride, and Wrath, and Gluttony, and Sloth? How were we different? Aren't we all just fragments of the Dwarf's vices?

Shouldn't we too have been wiped away from the Universe along with him?

To the surprise of the two Homunculi, Truth just leaned its head backwards and laughed. "You see," it said after a few seconds, when it recovered, its voice suddenly full of fondness. "There was this one, tiny, powerless human. I'm sure you two are familiar with him. He figured it out when he came to retrive his brother."

Oh. So the Fullmetal Pipsqueak had finally succeeded. Weird... Considering how much Envy was used to think of him as an annoying enemy, they now felt glad for his sake. Good for the brats. To their surprise, Envy found themselves silently wishing the Elric brothers a long and peaceful life. They had earned it.

Then Truth spoke again, "It's the opposite of what your creator tried to achieve. It's never about power, little Homunculi. He let go of his arrogance and his alchemy to save his brother. And he knew that it was not a punishment or a humiliation. He told me that he was nothing but a simple human, but as long as he loved and was loved back, it was alright. That's the answer. Humans were not put on this world to chase cosmic powers and hurt each other," Truth's eyeless face stared at them and his voice turned serious. "And neither were you."

Envy and Greed did not know what to say. They merely looked at each other.

Envy stared at Greed and remembered how he had uttered his first – and last – lie when he took the blame for Hughes' death. How he had faced Mustang's fire because in his heart of hearts, he couldn't... wouldn't allow Envy to suffer. They remembered how he had stood against the Dwarf in the final fight outside Central High Command, allowing himself to be reabsorbed so he can weaken the abomination from within and give Fullmetal the chance he needed to finally land the decisive blow. He had died saving the world. Saving Envy.

"You're selling yourself short again, Envy," Truth said mildly. Their gaze flicked back towards it. For a brief moment they wondered if it was able to read their thoughts... before they reminded themselves that they were standing before God itself. "You still think you're incapable of love. Your creator certainly did everything he could to impair that in all of you. And to you, Envy, he gave his worst sin," The ethereal being sounded almost compassionate. "And yet you did all you could to save your siblings, to prove to yourself that your nature does not rule over you. And the kindness you showed to that child in your last hours does you credit, too."

"I was nice to one little girl," Envy said hoarsely. With the corner of their eye they saw Greed frown, not understanding entirely what was being said. "What of the one whose face I shot off in Ishval? How many little girls died there? How many little boys, how many mothers, fathers? Brothers and sisters? Friends and lovers?"

"Many," Truth said dispassionately. "Thousands upon thousands. But the afterlife is not about punishments and rewards, Envy. That's one thing the humans always get wrong."

"What is it about, then?" Greed wondered as he moved to put an arm around Envy's shoulders, wordlessly offering support.

"Letting go. Moving on," Truth answered him simply. "What is done is done. Nobody can change the past. Not even I." It shrugged. "Every person you Homunculi have ever killed has passed through their Gate, to the beyond. They don't suffer anymore, Envy. And by the time they went, they didn't wish you suffering either. Now you have to move on too."

A heavy sound made Envy and Greed look back towards the doors.

They were slowly creaking open, soft light pouring through the widening gap.

"Huh," Greed scratched the back of his head and chuckled. "So that's why it wouldn't open before..."

"What?"

"Ever since I got here," he said, looking down at Envy, "it remained closed. I get it now. It was waiting for you. I was waiting for you."

"You mean..."

"We're going together, sweetheart," Greed smiled and reached to take their hand in his. "I told you. I'm not leaving anymore."

"Never?" They asked before they could stop themselves. "You'll go with me? You'll stay with me?"

"Forever," he nodded.

The gate was fully open now. They couldn't see what lay ahead, only the flowing, gentle light. Envy looked back for a moment, but Truth was gone.

They swallowed and turned to Greed.

"I love you," Envy whispered.

There it was. Finally out in the open. There would be no taking it back now.

It took both of them dying for Envy to confess, because of course it did.

Greed grinned widely at them, and something in his eyes told them he understood perfectly. "Love you too, sweet cheeks. Now let's see what's on the other side, what do you say?"

Envy nodded and squeezed his strong hand.

The two Homunculi stepped through the Gate together and let the light engulf them.

THE END

Aaaaand, this is it. "Avarice and Jealousy" is DONE.

I hope it was an enjoyable story to read, despite all its issues. Before I began, I didn't think I could write a full-length FMA story, but here it is.

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who read it; I hope you all liked it.

An even bigger THANK YOU! to everyone who took the time to comment; considering how obscure the ship that fueled this fic is, every comment was highly appreciated and gave me the power to brave on.

Love to all,

Rinso