It was a cold winter night, snowflakes drifted down from the sky as Ciel and Elizabeth were walking down the cobblestone walkway. They had met up just to see one another, since the holidays were right around the corner. Elizabeth giggled as her soft, gloved hand slipped out of Ciel's ungloved hand and she began twirling around innocently in the light dusting of snow. Ciel could only shake his head as he looked over to the harbor. "London is always beautiful when blanketed with snow…" Ciel whispered as the rough waters of the sea crashed into the docks, wetting the wood beneath his feet. He was lost in thought as he felt a cold snow flake wet his cheek. "The last time I was happy about the falling snow…was when I was with mother." Ciel sighed as he remembered his last happy birthday, after which all birthdays were dreadful. ***
The young earl had been with his mother; her vibrant, fiery hair was flowing freely and had very gently brushed against his cheek as she leaned over him. "Mother, do you know what today is?" Ciel asked as he saw his mother sitting on the edge of his bed.
"Yes, I do, Ciel!" She smiled happily as she leaned down and gently kissed her son's cheek. Ciel turned his head to look out of the window; a light and gentle fleet of snowflakes was falling, blanketing the grass. Ciel's mother simply watched him with a light and caring smile on her thin lips. "Happy birthday, Ciel." She whispered into her son's ear after she felt Ciel's small arms wrap around her.
"Thank you, mother." Ciel was actually happy as he grinned into his mother's silky dress.
"We'll celebrate with your father tonight." Rachel Phantomhive smiled sweetly as she rested her hands on Ciel's shoulder, truly happy with the way her son was becoming a man.
"I love you, mother." Ciel's young body couldn't let go of his mother as he spoke the one line they knew would never become a lie.
"I love you, too, Ciel." Ciel's mother sighed quietly and smiled sweetly before standing up and walking to the bedroom door and slipping out of the room.
"Ciel!" Elizabeth shouted as she worried about Ciel being spacey and not paying attention to her. The young earl spun his head around as he took a deep breath.
"W-What happened?" The young earl asked as his heartbeat gradually slowed down from the shock of being pulled away from his daydream by Elizabeth's screaming.
"You were spacing out… And you called out to your mother. I wanted to know if everything alright." Elizabeth asked a light blush caressing her cheek as she held Ciel's cold hands. Her warm and gloved hands enveloped Ciel's cold and numb ones.
"I'm fine, I was just thinking about…my family." Ciel confessed as he looked into Elizabeth's soft and endearing emerald eyes.
"Oh, I'm sorry. You looked really happy, you were even smiling." Elizabeth confessed as she looked away. His smile was fairly rare now, after all. They were right next to the harbor as the chilling air caused Elizabeth to shiver uncontrollably.
"Let's go home." Ciel suggested as he placed his coat over her shoulders. She gently nodded and pulled Ciel close to her before hearing her fiancé whisper something inaudible, after which his voice became clearer. "Oh! Elizabeth, I forgot to give you this." Ciel held a light blush on his normally pale cheeks as he held a small cubed box. Elizabeth examined the box before taking it into her palms.
"What is this?" Elizabeth asked, cocking her head to the side as she looked into his visible blue eye.
"A present… For Christmas." Ciel murmured. The box was wrapped in a light, crush pink. Ciel had taken the time to wrap it by himself, but as poorly as it was wrapped Elizabeth still loved the thought. She quickly tore away the paper and blushed as she saw a black, velvet-covered jewelry box.
"What is it?" She asked, trying to get Ciel to spill the beans before she opened the box herself.
"J-Just open it." Ciel became flustered. Never in his young life had he ever seen Elizabeth act controlled like that; he'd always wished she'd act a little more lady-like but now wished that the gift-giving was over and done with as fast as possible. Elizabeth was taken completely by surprise as she looked at the shimmering necklace before her.
The soft silver necklace held small blue diamond charms every other inch. The blue diamond necklace and the Phantomhive ring were considered a matching set as they were made from the same silver and part of the same larger blue diamond. Elizabeth's eyes shimmered with tears before she tightly hugged Ciel, wrapping her arms tightly around him.
"I love it, Ciel. Thank you so much!" She whispered through tears that threatened to spill from her eyes.
"I'm glad you like it, Lizzy." Ciel whispered into her ear and couldn't help but smile for her. She stepped away, a large smiling caressing her soft and gentle face.
"Put it on for me?" She asked before turning around and looking over her shoulder to look at him.
"S-Sure…" Ciel replied as he tried to keep calm; he wasn't exactly used to giving presents to young ladies.
Elizabeth pulled up her long hair, exposing her slender neck as Ciel held the jewelry box in his hands. He took a very deep breath and exhaled before holding the necklace around her neck. He pulled down the small clasp and hooked it into the other side of the necklace, he could tell Elizabeth had shivered slightly when the cold metal had met her warm neck but he also knew she didn't mind it when she turned around and looked into Ciel's eye. "Now for your present..." She softly whispered before licking her soft, pink lips.
"I don't need anything, Elizabe-" It was too late; she jumped on him, her lips brushing against his as she kissed him. He gave in and placed his arms around her waist and pulled her in closer. She wrapped her arms around his neck and they kissed passionately for a few seconds, Ciel forgetting his reputation as a cold young man, until she pulled back and deeply smiled at him.
"Merry Christmas, Ciel." She giggled as she left him paralyzed in shock, realization flooding his mind.
(Hiya~ I would like to thank you for reading my story, The Memory And The Present." I hope you liked it as much I liked writing it. If you wouldn't mind I'd love to hear what you think of the story through a review. I hope to see you in another story. Emothebunny121. Edited by Evangelina Amaryllis)