IN THE WAKE OF REBIRTH:

Bocchan…what have I done?

I am one hell of a butler.

Yes, my lord.

I will always serve you.

As a servant of the Phantomhive family, if I weren't able to save you, I would be a disgrace.

All the words I've said to you the most…but I never said the ones I should have said the most.

I love you, so much…Ciel.

I won't cry. I won't cry. I won't show that kind of weakness.

I'm here in this cell, spending what could be my last days locked away without you. I could wind up dead tomorrow. And I'll never see you again. You'll never be able to set eyes on me or hear me say the words I was always to afraid to say.

Not that you will even if I'm set free. I've kissed you goodbye in my heart because I know I'll never find you out of all the millions of people in this world. I just wish I could have really kissed you goodbye. I miss you…so much. But what hurts the most is that I'll never be able to tell you that to your face. I'll never smell your spicy, cinnamon-citrus scent again. I'll never hug you, carry you, never save you or lift your spirits high…

Never again.

But what other choice did I have? To tear out your soul, let it die in front of me, and eat it like it was just any other soul? I tried, bocchan. I tried, I did…. But I couldn't. Instead I set it free, a sapphire butterfly off to save itself and find a new body to inhabit.

I gave you the chance to be reincarnated. But even when I knew I'd be saying goodbye to you, I still didn't have the guts to tell you, not once in your life, that I love you. But I hope that giving your soul the chance to be reincarnated gives you my message. I'm paying what could be my life for it, and even though my efforts may be futile, I know you. You won't suffer the awful, agonizing fade to black and death of a regular soul. You've spent your whole life suffering, and you'll do anything to stop your pain. You'll cling to life. You'll find a new body and be reborn. I just hope you remember me fondly when your memories come back. Because even though I may only live for a few more days, I know all of those days will have my brain filled to the brim with memories of you.

I'm so sorry bocchan…I've started to cry. I'm sorry. I just miss you so much, and I want you so bad…

Please forgive me. For everything.

There's only one real hope for me. The Shinigami are debating over whether or not letting you be reincarnated is truly so bad they should kill me. But an overwhelming majority is saying it is worth death.

I'm so sorry that I've forced you to go on without me. I'm so sorry that I'll never be able to see you again, and that I've forced you to forgo ever having me beside you. I've given you a new life, but I've torn away your only protection: me. You were always so delicate…no wonder your soul was shaped like a butterfly. I just hope you survive without me.

I'll have faith in you. For your sake. You need someone to believe in you.

It's myself I don't have much hope for. I'll be dead in two days or so. I can almost feel it, deep down in my far-too-old bones.

Guess every Magic Play has to end sometime. And mine's been going on for far too long anyway.

Why can't I seem to remember anything before I met you? Why have you taken away everything before you? I never had a master before you…is it because of our contract that you've eaten away at all that isn't you? You've taken over my mind…

But I love you, even if you want to pry me free of everything but your mark.

Please, actually…I want to be branded as yours. Maybe Grell will back off if you claim me. Well…we can only hope, right?

I can hear footsteps. The doors are opening. I can hear the key turning in the lock.

"Sebastian Michaelis. I hope you realize just how much trouble you're in."

It's William. "Having death breathing down your neck tends to make you think you messed up pretty bad." I retorted.

"Good, because you did. You messed up real bad. Real, real, REAL bad, Sebastian. Do you know how serious this is? When a soul gets re-incarnated, it needs to find a body that doesn't already have a soul in it. AKA, a defenseless, innocent, unborn child. And if it doesn't find one, it rots away until all that's left is nothingness. If it does find an unborn child to reside in, the soul will either compete with the one the new born develops or it will consume the newborn entirely. If it competes, the person will likely be driven insane and develop two distinct split personalities – the newborn's and Ciel's. Considering Ciel's tragic life and young death, both souls will likely be corrupted with insanity, and we'll be forced to throw them both away upon death. That means we're out by two souls."

"Waaah." I would've chuckled at my display of immaturity if the mood wasn't so dark.

"SEABSTIAN! I didn't finish. Because he's been reincarnated, we'll also have to adjust the length of his Magic Play, and since we'll never get his soul back, his Magic Play will never stop playing, even after death. It will just continue on with blank whiteness, and if we don't keep lengthening it, it will disrupt all the other Magic Plays in our library. The only way we'll be able to stop that is if he takes over his new body entirely, in which case he'll turn into a DEMON, which means we still have to adjust his Magic Play's length and change its binding."

I'm fixing him with a glare, "...Waaah."

"I don't appreciate that particular comment, Sebastian. The only alternative to this is if he somehow finds his way into his dead body. If he does, you'd better hope he does before he's buried, because nobody has ever survived clawing their way out of their own grave. Nobody's made it past the point where a literal ton of dirt slowly crushes them to death. And if he lives within his old body, he'll slowly, once again, turn into a demon. It will be DAYS of torture that will scar his very soul and that could turn out to be the death of him. If he miraculously survives, he'll never be able to continue life the way it was before once he's a demon, even though your contract will still be in effect. Now I hope you think long and hard about what you've taken the chance of doing to your master. You just made his death a HELL of a lot more complicated. I hope it's worth it if we decide to kill you. And let me tell you, it looks like we will. Try your best to have a good last few days of your life." William left, annoyed (much to my joy), the lock clicking back into place as he walked away.

Bocchan…

I know I've put your life in jeopardy…and I'm so sorry I'll be forcing you to become a demon to live. But it seems there might be hope for you yet, and I've given everything I possibly can to ensure you get a second chance.

Please take it, the second chance. I made it just for you…bocchan…

Please, Ciel, if you can hear me…if you're there…

I love you so much Ciel. Please don't forget me, and please, miss me a little bit when I'm gone. That's all I ask. After all I've given for you, my blood, my sweat, and now my tears, even my life for you…not to mention more than three years as your devoted butler…

Please, just understand how much I care about you, and return the affection a little bit. That's not too much to ask, right?

I never thought I'd feel so hollow without you.

GOD, Ciel, if you can hear me…

I'm sorry. But I love you. So please forgive me.

I just really want to hold you one last time….