Author's Note: I just got the feeling…
Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroshitsuji or any of its characters. I only claim Serena, as well as her family, the demons and descendants that I introduce.
A Mate's Christmas
Serena stretched in the early morning sun streaming through the windows of the little cabin by the lake and snuggled back into the covers. A chill had started earlier in the week that kept the temperature dipping lower every day. Safely ensconced in her blankets, she opened her eyes again and looked outside to see big, fat, fluffy flakes of snow falling from the sky.
She threw her blankets off and rushed over to stare outside. The first snow of the season. It was different here than anywhere else. Was there always something special of being close to home and seeing the seasons change as they always have?
Home. That was the problem. She hadn't seen or talked to any of her family since picking up her boxes right before the semester started. The Fall semester had ended two weeks ago and she had another week and a half before Spring semester got under way.
Christmas was right around the corner and Serena wasn't sure what she was going to do. Of course the demons weren't going to do anything for the holiday. Her family always had breakfast together, followed by opening gifts and then a trip to church. It was a routine that she had done her entire life. Except for last year when she had been in Tokyo. Did the Christmas with Ciel count? That wasn't even a year, only a few short months ago.
It had been more fun than what she was looking at for this year. Even with Lizzie showing up.
The deck caught her attention. More pointedly, the layer of snow on it. It must have been coming down for a while. Grabbing a pair of jeans from the dresser and shoving her feet into a pair of boots, Serena ran out of the bedroom.
Lucien was waiting in the kitchen and blinked at the direct route she took to the back door. He watched as she turned her face to the sky and smiled as the snow fell peacefully around her. Slipping outside, he felt a smile come over his own face.
"I see you enjoy snow."
Serena giggled and held out a hand to catch some of the flakes.
"There's nothing like the snow in Connecticut."
"Snow is the same everywhere it falls."
"Not true. Every snowflake is different, so there." She stuck her tongue out at him before going back to the sky. "We always went out to play in the first snowfall of the year. Mom would get so mad when she tried to take us to school and we were already drenched."
"We?"
Her smile disappeared. "My brother and I."
"Ah." Lucien caught a flake on the end of his finger and held it up to look before blowing it away with a breath. "Family rifts are never fun. Although, in your case, it was unavoidable."
"I know. If only I could follow direction."
"No, it's because of who you are." Lucien waved a hand that cleared off the sofa. "Mates of demons don't have attachments to other humans. It's what makes it a little easier to come with us. Sooner or later, something was going to happen to drive a wedge there. It is simple fate. Emily's family looked at her for what she could get them. It was a common enough concept in those days. Sons carried on the name and could possibly make a life for themselves. Daughters were expected to marry who their fathers or brothers decided on, which was normally the highest bidder. I came in as the highest and she had no problem leaving them. It was better than the alternative."
"Alternative?"
"Her family were farmers with acreage, decent wealth, but peasant stock all the same in the end. There was a merchant who was old enough to be her grandfather and wanted a pretty young wife he could train to serve him."
"That's disgusting." Serena watched the snowflakes she caught melting in her hand. "Thanks for the history lesson."
"Of course, you have extra time."
"What?"
"Well, the Elder hasn't come for you yet. You could still try to spend time with them, if you want to. Or, you can let them go now. It depends on what you want."
Serena looked back at Lucien before staring back into the forest.
"There's always a decision," she whined.
He smirked. "It's hell being an adult."
Lucien dropped Corrine and Serena off at the door, as there was no way they were going to get a parking space. People were massed at the mall in hopes of finishing off their Christmas lists. Serena only needed a present for three people. It shouldn't take too long, right?
Three hours later, the red head knew she was going to scream at the next person that shoved her in the middle of the crowds. Corrine had already broken someone's hand after the teen had thought he could get an anonymous grab in the mass. Of course, by the time his screams were recognized, she and Corrine were far away.
She only had to get one more thing. Her mother had been easy, a pair of simple diamond earrings were perfect. Corrine had insisted that they use Sebastian's credit card that he had left for her. Outside, Serena had complained. Inside, she admitted to being kind of happy not to be worried about price. Even though she and her dad had always been closer, at least before the argument about school, she had always focused on her mom's gift at Christmas and spent a bit more on her.
Her brother was definitely easy. She was one of the few people that knew about his inner nerdiness and found an amazing set of first edition Star Wars models to be built. They would keep him busy for maybe a weekend before he would fly the Millenium Falcon and Tie Fighter around the house. When his friends were safely not there to see him playing with toys.
Corrine had warned her away from getting them anything when she saw Serena pick up a pretty necklace that she said would be something for Lucien to take back for his mate. The demon reminded her that they couldn't bring anything through the gate, and they really didn't get Christmas anyway.
"And I'm not supposed to gift anything to anyone but my mate," Serena mumbled as she walked with the crowd.
The red head had been trying, since Edwin's departure, to do this whole mate thing correctly. Although, she still wasn't entirely sure what that entailed. For the most part, it entailed behaving for her since Corrine had taken Edwin's place. That conversation in the living room still haunted her nightmares.
'Last night has shown me that I still value my own life. I don't want to be here for the next disaster you drag them into.'
Serena had pushed Edwin to leave his home, to save his own life. Corrine brushed her side to pull her attention back to the present and the red head packed the depression away. She couldn't fix it, not right now anyway. It was going to need long-term commitment and to do that, she needed to be the good little mate that finished her school year without drawing any more attention to herself and learned some patience. If Sebastian still wasn't done by then, she could always go visit the Carthrages and Haagenti, as well as Undertaker and the rest of the reapers, when the semester was over.
Nodding, Serena refocused on the goal. She still needed to get her dad something. Seeing several World's Greatest Dad things, Serena knew that she could chicken out and go that route. They were all well aware of the strain in the family. Something like that would be seen as a suck-up. And in her family, sucking up was admitting defeat or guilt. Whichever went with the current situation.
Serena turned from the display and stalked away. The small nod from Corrine at her side told her that she made the right decision. But then what was she going to get him? She whined to herself as she passed store after store, not seeing anything that was really calling to her. Why was she having such a hard time with this? It was never so hard to choose a present for someone.
Passing a bookstore display, Serena stopped.
"What?" Corrine came back from where she had gotten ahead.
"Just give me a minute."
Running inside, Serena pulled the History of Rock Bands from the display and hurried to get in line at the cashier. She giggled to herself as she waited in line. Only the close family knew about Major Walton's love of music, especially rock. The large coffee table book was perfect.
Lucien saw Serena giggle out of the corner of his eye as he drove down the street to her former home. The red head had woken up especially happy with a new dusting of snow and packed up the gifts that she had put under their small tree last night. He still didn't understand why humans brought a dead tree into the house and decorated it with lights and colored balls, but it had made her happy.
He stopped at the curb in front of her parents' house and Serena jumped out before he could say anything. She put up a hand to stop him from getting the bag out of the back for her before hurrying up the driveway.
Focusing on the door that the red head was knocking on, Lucien realized what it was that bothered him. There was no one inside.
Serena knew that she was grinning like an idiot as she waited for her mom to answer the door, but it was Christmas. She had stayed up last night to make the cookies for everybody, Lucien had tried to help but she missed making them with Sebastian. It just wasn't the same. There was fresh snow on the ground and they were all going to get along. If it killed them.
Nobody messed with her mother's holiday routine. Nobody.
The thought of having one last Christmas with her family was making the red head almost giddy. Despite their problems, she would miss them all when Sebastian came back. Serena shook her head to push that thought away. No one was allowed to be sullen or argue today.
Why was it taking so long? Her mom was normally at the door before visitors even got up the walk. The walk that wasn't shoveled. Serena looked back at the driveway that hadn't been cleared either. Why? Her dad was always out shoveling in the winter, as soon as the snowfall stopped. What was accumulated under her feet must have been a couple of days' worth.
Maybe he was sick. No, they would've called her.
"Serena?"
The red head turned to see their neighbor, Mrs. Kinley walking across the short distance from her yard. Serena hurried over, worried about the older woman on the slick ground. The short woman, with her salt and pepper hair in its customary bun, had to be almost eighty. She had been old when Serena and her family had moved in across the way, but still took care of everything after her husband died. Samuel had been mowing her lawn and shoveling her driveway since he was ten. Said it wasn't right for Mrs. Kinley to do it. And she made the only maple walnut fudge that Serena would eat.
She held out her arms before Serena even got to her and pulled the red head into a hug with a strength Serena hadn't expected the woman to still possess.
"How have you been, honey? We've barely seen you the last year."
Serena smiled at the familiar, cracking voice that Mrs. Kinley had developed over the years. "I was studying abroad."
"Studying abroad, how exciting."
"It was, but I'm glad to be back home." Serena giggled a little. "I'm graduating this year."
Mrs. Kinley's eyes shifted to the car still parked on the curb. "Who's your young man?"
"Lucien? Oh, he's not mine. He just drove me today."
"That's good. Never good to be alone in the snow." Mrs. Kinley waved a finger in her face. "And never trust a man that won't walk you to the door. No matter what his excuse is."
"Yes, Mrs. Kinley." Serena looked back to the house for a moment. "Do you know what's going on? Mom doesn't even have the tree on."
"You don't know, honey? Your father was called out a town on Monday. Told me not to worry, they set up with the Forester boy to clear the driveway and sidewalk before my family started showing up. He doesn't do as good a job as your brother though, I guess I shouldn't complain."
"Oh." Serena waved off the sting that no one had told her they weren't having Christmas this year. "I've been so caught up in finishing this last year, I must have missed a call."
"Right. I'm sure that's all it is."
Serena had to force the tears back down when the older woman laid a hand on her shoulder. There had been no phone call and they both knew it. Either her family wasn't expecting her to come today, or they didn't care if she came today.
The red head stood straight and took a deep breath. "I should go. It's cold and I'm sure that you have people waiting inside."
"Why don't you come in? Have breakfast with us?"
"Thank you, but I couldn't. I've got some more stuff to get done before next semester starts. I'll just check in when they get back."
"If you're sure."
"I am. Merry Christmas."
"And to you too, honey. Make sure you come back and visit every once in a while."
"I will."
She watched to make sure that the older woman made it back to her door before turning away. Lucien was already waiting at the back of the SUV, his wool peacoat almost blending into the vehicle. He took the bag she hadn't realized that she was still holding and put it gently into the cargo area before going back to the driver's door. Serena was already inside, mechanically buckling her seatbelt.
"I'm sorry," he said softly as he started the car.
Serena shook her head and looked back at the house. "It's fine. I guess they made the decision for me."
After getting back to the house, Serena locked herself into the little studio that Sebastian had created for her. A blank canvas waited but the palette beside her was empty. As it had been for hours. She had dumped the bag of gifts in her closet before going into the studio, saying that she had a project to work on before locking the door. Even Noir wasn't welcome.
Lucien had tried to get her to come out to eat but she refused every time. The red head just wasn't hungry.
The rest of the house was just as silent. She had never seen a light come on when the sun went down, but then the demons normally sat in the dark when she wasn't here. They didn't need the light. Just another reminder that they were so very different from her, no matter how appealing the face they wore was.
What face did Sebastian really wear?
Her hand dropped again from the cup of brushes waiting on the little stool she used as a table.
"Something's not right."
Corrine looked up from the window to see Lucien staring at the door to the little studio her Elder had crafted for his mate. The red head couldn't look at this house and understand how important she was to the Elder? She just didn't understand. Demons didn't do things for humans unless they were obligated to. Everything they did was for their own comfort, or to eat.
The house was the greatest gift that the Elder had created for his mate on this plane. A refuge away from her family and other humans that wanted to use her or try to dim the light that shined from her. A refuge that was everything the human could want, every fixture and finish top of the line, in a beautiful setting, that was well protected and able to run on its own in the event of the zombie apocalypse that humans seemed to be so afraid of.
And she was still upset that the Elder himself hadn't made an appearance. What a brat.
In many ways, being a lower level demon was better than being Elder. They were at the Elder's mercy, of course, but they didn't have the responsibility. They didn't have to worry about aggression from another house, training new demons, keeping peace in their home. Keeping a soul happy long enough to consume it. When Corrine was hungry, the need could be satisfied in a few hours at most. The Elder had months, if not years, to make a deal and carry it out. Years of keeping a soul happy and content, years of dealing with the same human and their petty ambitions.
The Elder had always seemed to enjoy his prey though. Until Phantomhive. The Earl was enjoyable, but after losing his mate, after understanding that he was to leave the more interesting humans alone no matter how much they wanted to bargain away, and that was why his mate had been introduced, only to be taken away, the Elder had only hunted the most evil of souls. He had admitted that they didn't hold his attention as well as those that had given in to despair while still retaining the blinding light of their soul.
The front door opened and Teo stopped to look at the dark house.
"I know she's back. Why is the house still dark?"
Lucien jerked a thumb toward the studio door, as if that was the explaination.
"Ah. Why are you guys back? From what Serena was saying, I figured that this was going to be an all-day thing."
"There was no one home. Apparently, the Waltons went out of town for Christmas this year."
Teo groaned. "Well, it's a good thing I got this then."
He held up a paper bag tied shut with a beautifully executed ribbon and shook it a little before heading to the studio. Noir trotted out from the bedroom and went to sniff the bag as Teo waited for the door to open. The little ribbon that Serena had tied around his neck this morning was still in place and made the small cat look endearingly cute. As long as you avoided his teeth. He was still trying to get back into the red head's good graces after she found out he was actually another demon.
Serena's head popped out while still keeping the door closed.
She blinked at the demon. "Teo? What are you doing here? I thought you were going to be gone all week."
"I thought so too, but I was asked to make a special delivery."
He shook the bag at her.
"Special delivery. From who?"
"Whom do you think?"
Serena's hand shot out and grabbed the bag from the demon before the door was shut in his face again.
"Well, that wasn't what I was expecting."
Lucien's head popped over the back of the couch. "She's been a little depressed since her plans were cancelled."
"Right," he said as he stared at the door.
Serena set the bag on her stool and stared at it for a moment. What could possibly be inside? Did she really want to open it? What if it was bad news? Was there even more disappointment in the bag?
Mentally kicking herself, she opened the bag to see another little, celophane bag decorated with holly and a flat box in the very bottom. Pulling out the bag, she saw two of the Christmas cookies that she had taught him to make, much more pretty then the ones she had tossed in the garbage earlier, resting on a gold-rimmed plate. Her stomach growled a little and Serena took only a moment to admire the pretty bow before pulling it off and taking one of the cookies. She nibbled as she pulled the box out and saw a little envelope attached to the top.
A letter on heavy paper was inside and she took a minute to inhale the vanilla scent that always surrounded Sebastian and clung to the paper.
My mate,
I know this isn't the gift you were hoping for. At least, it's not what I was hoping for. I could remind you that we already shared this holiday, a mere few months ago for you, and perhaps wanting two in a single year is a little greedy.
Serena giggled and read on.
However, I do not deny that I would rather have that day again as well instead of the current situation that we find ourselves in. Time is fleeting for humans, in a way that it is not for demons. I have found that it makes time more of a focus for you, then it is for me. Time is limited for humans, as it is not for us. I promise the gift of time, as soon as this business is finished I will not need to come back to the humans' world for at least a century. Emily has assured me that you will appreciate my next contract later, after so much time.
I offer this as a way to look to the future, instead of focusing on our time in the past.
Soon, I promise.
Serena carefully refolded the letter and set it aside before opening the top of the box. Nestled inside was a frame with another note taped to the glass.
I do not claim to have the same level of skill as you do, as much as it pains me to admit. I hope that it is appreciated all the same.
She pulled the note off and saw a drawing. She and Sebastian were standing center, around them she recognized Lucien and Corrine, as well as Teo and Malikai among the group surrounding them. It took a moment for Serena to realize that she was staring at a rendering of Sebastian's family. The family that he offered her in exchange for her human family.
Something else in the box caught her attention and Serena propped the frame up on her easel before picking up a smaller box tucked into the corner. It was wrapped separately, as though it was the original present. Pulling off the ribbon, Serena opened the box to see a necklace with a single black diamond resting inside.
Corrine sniffed the air, as Noir and Lucien followed.
"That's…"
Teo smiled as he dropped onto the other side of the couch. "A single drop of the Elder's blood from his true form."
"Why would he give her something like that?" Corrine set down the tablet and stared at the door. "We're here to protect her."
"It's not for protection. Through his blood, he can keep a better eye on his mate. As well as connect with her much easier across the miles between them."
"That should make our job a little easier," Lucien said.
Corrine nodded. "It will tear down the barrier so he can enter her dreams without having to be here. That should keep her occupied."
That night, Serena opened the little kickstand that came with the frame and set the drawing up on the table next to her bed with the little crystal cat. For some reason, Noir wasn't trying to sneak into her bedroom tonight and that just made it a little easier to relax after she slid under the covers.
Light snow fell as she stared out the window she had left open. It would probably leave less than an inch in the morning, but it was welcome on Christmas night.
Closing her eyes, Serena slid into sleep's welcoming embrace.
Miles away, the demon felt his mate slip into sleep and smirked as he took a moment from the dishes in front of him to set up the little dream he had planned for her. Lucien had changed his plan when he called to inform him about Serena's family and their little disappearing act. It was surprising, but unfortunately not a shock. Mates of demons did not have attachments to other humans. If the bond had been there in childhood, it was often stripped away before they met their demon.
It made the choice easier.
He still wasn't happy that his mate was upset or that she had forgone food for the day. Hopefully, his gift had pulled her out of her mood. He would learn tomorrow when Teo came back.
The demon heard his mate gasp in his mind and went back to the dishes, secure in the knowledge that he could distract her for the night at least. The pool sized tub that took up over half of the bathroom that he had created for Serena in his home was the perfect setting for this evening.