As promised, the long awaited compiled Author's Note.

I tried my best on this guys, I really did. I tried to capture everything I can to make sure you guys understood it. I only hope it helps with the magic and mystery of this story. So yeah.

Inclined to Be
FAQ
or, "what the hell was that about?"

Q: How did five hundred years pass from Edward's time to Amestris' time?

A: Okay, this is something a lot of people don't get. In my head, it works like this - Edward got taken from his world when he was sixteen. He struck a deal with the Gate - forever working for him as his "missionary" of some sort, restoring equilibrium and balance between dimensions when Truth can't (because he cannot interfere directly unless prodded by some sort of alchemical transmutation - Ed and Al's human transmutation, for example.) Amestris is part of the world most linked to the Gate due to their advanced alchemy (partially because of Hohenheim and the whole thing with Xerxes). Truth can fuck things up, you know. Time is mysterious, and works in many ways - he can make one day seem like fifty years for Ed.

Edward is sent to many different worlds and learns their customs. So far, he has been to the Wizarding world four times; one when it was back in the 1500's, posing as Nicholas Flamel. He had just discovered magic, so it's a possibility that he knows the founders of Hogwarts as well. Truth sucked him away from that world when he eliminated the threat there, but not before he created the theory for the Philosopher's Stone using alchemy and magic, leading people to believe he is immortal. Which, technically, he is. (He is stopped in time because of Truth, forever 16.)

The second time, he meets Albus, as shown in one of the flashbacks. He disappears quickly after that, removing the threat as well (these threats are unnamed, but Ed also gets rid of those who tip the balance before they are known). He is, however, forever instilled in Albus' memory. In the third time, he comes and sees that Albus Dumbledore has grown up and was formulating plans with his friend, Gellert Grindelwald, which Edward was sent to eliminate before he became the Dark wizard we know him as. However, he allows his feelings to get in the way and when Albus asks him to apprentice him, he can't say no. They work on the Philosopher's Stone together and manage to create one, but Albus keeps it after Edward left - forcibly taken by the Gate, unable to get rid of the threat in his small precedent time. The fourth time is the story that you an I know, Inclined to Be.

So Edward jumps in time a lot. But he counts how many years he spends in each realm, and adds it to his age. So even though he looks physically sixteen, mentally he's somewhere around 593, or possibly more. He's time hopping, suffice to say. And not once in all of this, has he been to Amestris. So, even though 500 years pass in his time, only one year has passed in Amestris. So it's 1916 in Amestris, because the whole Promised Day thing happened in 1915...when Ed was 16...and where the story starts.

Q: Is Edward still immortal?

A: Yes, he is. Well, he's supposed to be. So far, I haven't worked out if Edward should go back home - stay for good - or if he should be taken away. Because he's not supposed to be there, per say, and even though Truth said "your price has been payed"...hm. This is still being worked upon, but so far, I'm thinking of having him age slowly, probably slower than others. Just until he can get that immortal blood off him (because as I said before, he was essentially just stuck in one time period. Physically, that is.)

Q: When did Edward leave his world?

A: Probably around the time in the last episode where he gives up his own alchemy for Alphonse's body back. Except Truth offers a deal with him instead, and...well, yeah. You know the rest. We'll see the Amestrian's side soon, don't you worry.

Q: How is Albus there? Is he a reincarnation, or brought back in time?

A: Well, no, not exactly. If I brought Albus back in time, that would mess things up totally for the HP series, wouldn't it? Albus wouldn't grow up to be a professor at Hogwarts and bring Tom Riddle out of the orphanage. Voldemort wouldn't exist, and Harry would grow up a normal boy. Well, Gellert Grindelwald would be in power, because Albus was the one strong enough to defeat him. So things would be so screwed up...no, I'm not daring to grow there. And if Albus was a reincarnation, he would be reincarnated as something else, don't you think? A phoenix? Dumbledore's pretty fond of those.

No, I was thinking of something else. Because of Dumbledore's soul/spirit still staying behind as he died in the Department of Mysteries (which is why his soul stayed behind - after all, they are in the room of Death where the Veil/Gate is) somehow, he got pulled along with Edward when he was taken in the Gate. Because of that, Dumbledore's own timeline got messed up. So you could say he was revived from the dead...in a memory. He's not exactly alive, but other people can see him, like in HP. And he's in the age that most appeals to him - his teenage years, when he was at his peak of intelligence. I believe that people, or at least spirits, reside in the body of the time period they loved the most.

Q: What happened in the Department of Mysteries with Voldemort and Dumbledore?

A: Oh, this is gonna be a woozy.

Short answer? Voldemort killed Dumbledore and Edward killed Voldemort.

Long answer? When Dumbledore arrived in the Dept. of Mysteries, it was because Ed was there to kill Voldy. He followed along because he thought it would help, and because he sensed a large battle up ahead. Voldy was there because he had planned the whole ambush upon HP with the fake vision of him torturing Sirius Black (see canon-Order-of-the-Phoenix) but was surprised when Dumbledore and Edward came instead. But he saw this as a good chance and had the Death Eaters flood them anyways, thinking that with Dumbledore gone, they would have a better chance at HP. So while Voldy and Dumbles duked it out in an epic wizard duel, Ed was right behind Voldemort.

Now see here - Edward was expecting Dumbles to only distract Voldy so that he could finish the job, but by then Voldy had let out the Avada Kedavra curse and it hit Dumbles. He fell, dead. Blinded by his rage and shock that his best student was dead, Edward reached out and willed Voldy to die (you can do that, apparently, when you're a missionary of the Gate and Truth) which caused them both to be dead. Enter HP and co., and there's your story. Yeah, I get there's a huge time gap (sorta) between Parts I/II and III, but it needed to be done. I needed to have all the time periods placed correctly, and there's only so many months you can write out.

Q: What about the markings on Edward's hands?

A: Okay, yeah, I admit. I stole that from this is the end, but that's my fic too so it's perfectly legal XD Anyways, it's sort of the mark of the Gate. Like a huge transmutation circle embedded into his skin. A walking, talking,somewhat-alive transmutation circle.

Q: Will there be a sequel?

A: ...Meh. I don't know. I just explained this all to you - do you really want a sequel?

So there you have it. All of those self-indulgent Authors' Notes bundled and packaged into one. And really, this was a birthday present for Laura ( a three-shot I actually finished ) and all I'm happy about is if she and you guys liked it. After all, I know Laura has a perchance for large, complicated plots. :) Thanks for reading.

.:.