I have now infiltrated the FMA part of this site and inserted a nearly-lethal injection of what I call the 10xDeath Syndrome into Edward. I shall now proceed to kill him 10 times with 10 different methods/themes/whatevers. This is also a school project, but no one wants to hear about that except my teacher. Anyways, there's 10 ways I thought of to kill Ed and this is number one - the romantic-type death in which Character A dies with character B at his/her side. In this case it's Ed and Winry. This can take place in either Brotherhood or the original, I don't really make these for one universe or the other. But this happens at some point when Lust and Gluttony are alive and it doesn't necessarily fit in canon. Duh, because Ed dies.

I don't own FMA and I'm sorry if any of these ten chapters make anyone need another tissue box. Enjoy!

Death Type 01

It was one word, one syllable, and it pounded on the inside of her skull and made itself known in every part of her body, constantly beating out its single syllable alongside the rapid pumping of her blood through her aching heart.

No.

No, no, no, no.

Winry finally reached the right floor, panting slightly (having been in too much of a rush to wait for the elevator, she had taken the stairs), only stopping for a moment to catch her breath before charging down the hall.

No, no, no.

Not Ed.

Not her Ed, not the short blond kid that somehow always made her laugh when she was sad or cheer up when she was mad. Not her Ed, the one that loved his country so much he went out of his way in his own quest to save their lives. Not her Ed, her selfless, occasionally selfish, loveable, sometimes serious and sometimes funny Ed, not her Ed, the one she had never confessed to because she thought she'd always have time.

But yes, it was her Ed, and she was going to see him one last time.

Winry pushed open the door to room 303 to see a small crowd of blue uniforms and one suit of armor surrounding the hospital bed. Actually, it was just Alphonse who was next to the bed, and everyone else (only five people - Roy, Riza, Jean, Kain, and Heymans) was either sitting or standing, lost in their thoughts. Roy had his eyes closed and his fingers laced together under his chin, either trying to ignore the scene or getting lost in his unpleasant thoughts. Riza stood next to his chair, a hand on his shoulder, and the other three men were standing together and whispering in low but concerned voices.

When Winry opened the door, everyone but Mustang looked up. She must have had an urgent look in her eyes or something because they all looked at one another, nodded, and left, leaving just the three teenagers in the room.

The blond girl ran to Ed's bedside, saying his name a couple times, but she stopped short when she saw him.

Al held his metal hand on the other side of the bed, but Ed's left hand and arm were resting on his chest, unmoving. His skin was paler than Winry ever remembered it being, his eyes were closed, and there were bandages around his head and most likely his chest as well. His hair hadn't been pulled up, probably due to the pressure pulling it back would put to the areas around the wound on his head.

"Ed!" Winry said, more like choked out, taking his cold left hand in both of hers. "Ed, it's me, Winry!"

Ed's eyes opened, and she was never more relieved to see them do so since just then. "Win...ry.." He said, the words soft and slurred, as if he was trying to speak without moving his lips too much. "You came out here for me?"

Winry nodded, blinking furiously to hold back tears. "Of course! If you ever went to a hospital and Al and I weren't with you, you'd probably freak out like during the automail surgery."

Ed managed a small laugh. Winry noticed the IV in his left arm and the heart monitoring machine next to Alphonse - this was more serious than she thought if they had given him needles and shots even though Al knew about his opinions about them. "Probably."

Winry directed her next question to the blond's little brother. "What happened?"

Al looked down while he spoke. "Brother and I were out on the edge of Central when two Homunculi attacked us - Colonel Mustang explained them to you, right?"

Winry nodded, beginning to piece together what happened but still wanting to hear it from the Elrics' own mouths.

Ed squeezed her hand, directing her attention back to his golden eyes. "Al got occupied with Gluttony and I had to fight Lust by myself... She stabbed me twice..."

Her grip around his hand tightened. "So you're dying?"

"Probably."

"No, no, no!" She yelled, finally speaking the words her head had been screaming. "You can't die! Not now! We haven't even turned 16 yet!"

Ed smiled, presumably at her stubborn protests. "We can't really stop it now, Win. But you didn't come all the way here to tell me I can't die yet. What did you really want to tell me?"

Winry stopped for a moment, her hands going slack and her eyes widening slightly. Ed squeezed her right hand again, and she squeezed back. Al let go of his prosthetic hand and he reached it over to hold her hands with both of his. There was a smile in his eyes.

"I'm pretty sure I know."

Winry smiled. As she did so, she finally let her tears begin to fall, though even she didn't know whether they were sad, happy, or angry. "Yeah." Then, "Now you can't die! Not when I just find out the feelings are mutual!"

Ed glanced at the heart monitoring machine. "I don't have much time left regardless. My heart rate's going down even now."

Winry started openly sobbing. "What do I do? I've always been hopeless and had to just wait for you. I can't ever do anything, even when you're dying, I still can't do anything to help! I'm just waiting again!"

Al stood and left, but even the clanking of his armor didn't penetrate Winry and Ed's conversation.

"It feels like you're useless, but you're the reason why I ever get up again."

Winry looked up. Ed was smiling again, and it was enough to distract her from the fact that his breathing was more uneven and forced. "If you didn't always come to repair my automail, how would I get around? And besides that, whenever I feel like I'm going to die, I just remember you and how I need to get back to Resembool to see you again. So you help me get back up in both ways."

She laughed, finally squeezing back and letting their hands fall to the bedsheets instead of hanging in the air. "Thanks. I love you."

"Me too."

Winry had to lean in to hear the words - he had suddenly got so much more weak and quiet. Was he dying now? No! She had already told herself she wouldn't let him die! But his hand (the flesh one) was getting cold...

"No, don't leave, Ed!" Winry cried, brushing his bangs out of his face and stroking his cheek as he lay bedridden. "You can't die yet!"

"Too late, Win. Love you..."

The words hung in the air. Ed's skin became cold, and it seemed like the light and his hair dimmed too, making everything nearly monochrome. His eyes were closed, his hand still held in Winry's.

And he was dead.

That too.

"EDWARD!"

Behold, this is what happens when I decide to put the 10xDeath Syndrome onto FMA-land. I realize others do these kinds of things too, but I needed to try it myself, so here you are. I need to go write the next chapter, so I'll see you later.