AN at the bottom - please read! but read the story first ^.^

100. Endings

Ed had imagined a thousand different endings to the insanity he'd enveloped himself in. Not the business with Father - no, this was a different type, a whole different level of insanity, an insanity that had taken him from hotel rooms to forest clearings to empty shacks and rundown buildings and empty traincars and anywhere he...they...could sneak a moment.

He'd imagined a thousand different endings because it was inevitable. It would end. It was ephemeral, useless to hold onto. Winry, now she was solid, she was a future, she was - well, she was who everybody expected. Envy was the enemy. Envy wasn't even human.

Ed dead by his lover's hand. (He'd tried to shy away from the thought; but he'd seen Envy's anger; and it had come close before). Envy dead by his own. (If he had to. If it came down to it. He swore he'd be able to. In his heart though, he wasn't sure.) Roy, or Riza, or Armstrong, or one of the myriad other people who never, ever knew, brutalizing Envy, pulling him apart, and Ed too paralyzed by his own fear of exposure to lift a finger.

One by one they flashed before his eyes, and he knew whatever it was, even if he'd thought of it before, he wouldn't be ready for it. No matter how long you prepare for the end, you're never ready for it when it comes.

But when Envy held out his hand and smirked in his usual way, Ed wasn't sure how to react. When Envy shrugged, said he could go live with Winry and have his 2.5 kids if he wanted, Ed didn't turn away and back up the hill like he should have. Instead, he took Envy's hand and let himself be pulled onto the train just as it started to pull away.

He wouldn't be so naive as to think that it would never end...but not yet. Not yet.

I would like to thank everybody who's reviewed, favourited and followed this collection, and made it such a success. I never expected it to get so popular - hell, I never expected to finish it! But here we are at number 100, nine months later (ohey, it's a baby :D) and I can safely say I've learned a lot.

Not to say that I'm done with the material. Hell no. There is a poll on my profile page and if you've enjoyed what I've done here, I strongly urge to go vote for which of these stories I should continue! (...First...XD)

Finally, I'd like to put a special dedication to a few people:

Fairyboydammit
Cavemantoao
Pen-Name-Kitsune-chan
Shade40
Asuka Tanku
straykit
Brown Eyed Girl 42
what-is-the-color-of-love
Violetlight
Call Me Tom

Thank you so much ^_^

Onwards!