"Mother, will you tell me a bedtime story?"

Rachel Phantomhive smiled down at her young son. "Can I get a 'please' with that?"

"Please," Ciel said.

"Alright," Rachel laughed. "A quick one."

Ciel's blue eyes widened and his mouth opened into a smile. "Thank you, Mother, thank you!"

"Yes, yes," Rachel said. "Now get all tucked up before I start."

Ciel crawled under the covers, his enthusiasm causing the mattress to shift slightly. He grabbed the edge of his blanket and pulled it up to his chin. "There, Mother! Now will you tell me the story?"

Rachel smiled down at her young son as she sat at the foot of his bed. "There is a spirit named Jack Frost out there, do you know?"

Ciel shook his head, eyes full of awe.

"Yes," Rachel continued. "Do you know what he does?"

Ciel shook his head again.

"He nips you on the nose," Rachel said, quickly leaning over and touching Ciel's little nose. Ciel giggled. "But he also makes frost patterns, like the ones on the window, and brings the snow."

"The snow?" Ciel said. "Do you think he'll make it snow for my birthday?"

"Maybe," Rachel said. "But he's a free spirit. He does what he wants."

"Whatever he wants," Ciel echoed softly, looking at the delicate webs of frost adorning the window.

"Good night, darling," Rachel said, standing and picking up the candle. She left the room.

In the darkness, Ciel could no longer make out the patterns of frost on his windowpane, but he knew they were there. He smiled. "Jack Frost," he whispered. "Mother says you're a free spirit and do what you want. That sounds wonderful, but would you mind making it snow on my birthday? It's the fourteenth of December, and it would make it the best birthday ever. Thank you."

Ciel leaned back into his pillow and shut his eyes.

Jack Frost leaned in to peer into the window. He could barely make out the sleeping boy, but he knew he was there. "Someone is going to have the best birthday ever," Jack said.

The day of Ciel's tenth birthday arrived. He was more excited than he felt he ever had been when he woke up, but was disappointed to see that it was not snowing. Oh, well. It had been silly to believe that Jack Frost had been listening to a lowly British boy's birthday request when there were so many other, colder places.

Ciel struggled to keep his disappointment from showing as he and his mother walked through the market, but Rachel noticed anyway.

"Ciel, darling, what's the matter?"

He looked up at Rachel to answer when he saw a few flakes of snow fall from the sky. One came to rest on Ciel's nose. His face broke out in a huge grin. "Absolutely nothing, Mother!" his high voice exclaimed. "Today is the best birthday ever!"

Rachel smiled back. "I'm glad."

Jack smiled as he flew over London. "Bet that little kid was happy," he said.

He paused momentarily to rest on the belfry of a tall church and sighed, staring at the moon. "Who am I?" he inquired of it. "Am I as good as I try to be, or am I just kidding myself?" But, as usual, the moon continued its silence.

"You bastard!" he shouted, suddenly growing angry. "Answer me! Answer me!" He jumped off the belfry and flew higher and higher, fists balled and aimed toward the moon as if he could get close enough to hit it. And that was when he saw it.

It was nothing more than a bright orange glow. It looked like a fire. In these days when that was what people had for warmth and light, it wasn't uncommon to see one. What worried Jack was it's size. It looked about the size of the flame of a candle. But Jack was up high, so high that he shouldn't have been able to see any candle. So that flame must have been enormous, burning a mansion, perhaps.

Intrigued, Jack flew towards it and saw to his horror that it was the house where he'd seen the young boy whose birthday it was today.

He landed nearby and began to run toward the burning mansion, but he could feel heat coming off it. He collapsed in melted snow. He himself felt as if he were melting.

"There's nothing I can do for you," Jack whispered in way of an apology. Flying quickly away, but still staying near enough to keep watch on the mansion. He stared sullenly up at the moon. "If you could get the nerve up to help once, any time, now would be it." But still the moon was removed.

Before long Jack saw a glint of dark blue. It was the little boy. He was being carried out by someone Jack can't see well.

The boy, much to Jack's surprise, seemed to recognize Jack. Jack hadn't been seen ever, not that he can remember.

Ciel stared at who he knows is Jack Frost and said softly. "It's you." He suddenly began to kick at his attacker in an attempt to escape. "You!" he screamed. "It's your fault! I thought this was going to be the best birthday ever!" The last few words trailed off, once again quiet, both in the tone of his voice and in his actions, and Ciel realized he was crying.

Jack shook off the shock of being noticed and accused of ruining the best birthday ever and realized that the boy was being dragged away right in front of his eyes.

He flew faster than he thought he'd ever flown before, but somehow the boy's kidnapper stayed ahead of him.

Then Jack made the mistake of looking into the boy's eyes. They were a deep, deep blue, much darker than Jack's, and were a shade that Jack felt he could fall into and feel everything the boy felt.

And maybe he could, because suddenly Jack was overwhelmed with emotion. He was so frightened and sad, but angry too. Red-hot angry, hotter than the fire that had nearly killed Jack. Then, behind the anger, throbbing dully, was the feeling of utter hurt. And somehow Jack knew that that feeling was caused by him.

The tempest of emotions flung Jack head over heels, crashing into a statue set in the center of an ornate fountain. Dazed, his eyes closed. When he opened them again, the boy and his kidnapper were nowhere to be found.

Okay. Jeez, am I stupid. I had never planned to write another chapter fic for a while after Prussia and Gilbert and the World, but then I posted Nations in New Hampshire. That's okay, because it's easy to write. But now I've taken on this monstrosity. So while I know where I want to go with this story, pretty much, it still might be a while between updates.

This was originally just going to be unconnected drabbles of Ciel and Jack, but then it suddenly has a plot. I know.

By the way, the main story will follow the Ciel we know and love, and will be set in the late 1880's like the anime/manga. I have not read much of the manga, though, so that's why there might be some glaring inaccuracies. Anyway, though it takes place during the anime, it will diverge from the plotline, so that's another reason for inaccuracies.

Thanks for reading, and I would love it if you gave a review!