If all you want is the last item of the array without affecting the internal array pointer just do the following:
<?php
function endc( $array ) { return end( $array ); }
$items = array( 'one', 'two', 'three' );
$lastItem = endc( $items ); // three
$current = current( $items ); // one
?>
This works because the parameter to the function is being sent as a copy, not as a reference to the original variable.