Phew, took me quite a while, this one... but I think it turned out quite well :D Elizabeth Ethel Cordelia Midford
When Ciel returned to his mansion from his journey, everyone rejoyced.
Bart prepared a sumptous meal (with Sebastian´s help) to celebrate, Finny picked flowers from the garden to decorate the table and Mey-Rin for the first time in her life cleaned the cutlery without breaking anything. The young Earl of Phantomhive had not announced his arrival and had feared to find his house in a terrible mess, but to his surprise, everything had been the way he had left it. But for one thing. As the whole staff knew that the office of their master was off limits they had locked it, so that nobody would sneak in there and they had hidden the keys in turns, now nobody remembered who had had it last. Finny said it would turn up eventually, so they gave up searching.
Mey-Rin had spotted the carriage first from the top tower of the building and had nearly run over Finny, who had been in the garden at that time. When she had told him the good news, he had nearly sqished her to death and had run into the kitchen to tell Bart, who was nearly as excited as the two others when the coach arrived in the courtyard of the mansion and their young master got out with his demon butler, Sebastian. And they were welcomed so joyfully, after all the past two years had been very dull.
The dinner was great, but Ciel´s thoughts were somewhere further away, at the residence of a small blonde girl with two big curls and the side of her head, wondering how she was doing.
As for the little blonde girl, she was sitting at her desk, writing in her diary:
"Dear Diary,
I must tell you, I´m quite sad right now.
Ciel hasn´t come back yet, or maybe he has and I don´t know. It´s not like he´d tell me anyway.
But now a new person has come into my life. His name is Charles. Charles Rendersom.
Oh, I´m sorry, Sir Charles, Duke of Rendersom. He always insists on the title.
I don´t like him, but he seems to fancy me. I honestly don´t know what to do if he decides to openly ask me out. If were to refuse, that would be a skandal and would surely be taken to the eyes and ears of the court, which would really ruin Ciel´s reputation and that´s the last thing I would want. But do I even have the choice of refusing? Ciel is considered practically missing and if news of his death (In which I will not believe) should transpire, I would be oblidged to marry another man. I know I can´t refuse, excusing it with my love not being here, but that´s exactly how I feel. I love Ciel and I would never cheat on him, no matter in what way. I so wish that he were and would tell me everything´s gonna be alright. I miss him so much, as well as his smile. I want to see that again as well...
Lots of Love, Lizzy"
She sighed fullheartedly. Now that she had written down all of her thoughts, she felt very tired. Putting back her diary in the upper drawer of her desk, she went over to her bed and cuddled under her blanket, her last thoughts, before wandering off to the lands of dreams, being occupied by the memories of her and the dark haired boy with an eyepatch she so loved.
Ciel was pulled out of his thoughts when Sebastian placed a cherry-raspberry-cream tarte before him.
"Aren´t you feeling well, young master?"
Ciel shook his head. "No, I´m just pondering."
Sebastian raised an eyebrow.
"Then may I suggest you try this new creation of mine to take your mind off those dark thoughts"
Ciel´s eyes narrowed. "How do you know I was having dark thoughts?"
"Well, as a demon, my powers allow me to watch over your wellfare as well as your emotional state of being for the sake of your health."
And after another raised eybrow of his young master he added:
"Besides, the frown on young masters face was not to be overseen."
Ciel snorted and began eating his cake.
It tasted really good and Ciel had finished soon. He put the spoon aside and stood up. Mey-Rin took a step forward.
"So was the meal good? Did you like it?"
Ciel nodded. "Hm. Sebastian, I´m going to bed" he said, waving his butler to follow him.
Sebastian did what he was told after giving the rest of the household a meaningful glance, telling them to clean up properly and not to break anything.
After his butler had helped him undress, Ciel lay on his bed, unable to sleep, because his thoughts just wouldn´t come to a rest for a long time.
He thought about how his life would go on, now that he was a demon and how Lizzy was doing.
At the last thought he snorted. His fiancée was probably having a swell time, looking at cute things and talking about cute stuff.
But only very few people, like him and Sebastian, knew that Elisabeth was wearing that maskerade in order to hide the fact that she was extremely skilled in fencing, and generally, in fighting. Although she seemed to be very cute and overly happy, she was very unladylike in her character. She wasn´t the one that would sit at home, waiting, she would be the one that would stand up and fght for her life if she needed to. She loved adventure and she sure seemed to love being around Ciel.
He sighed. His thoughts slowed down and he steadily fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
Lizzy woke up in the morning and yawned as she stretched her arms. Getting out of bed, she put up her hair into the big curls tht usually framed her face and looked outside. The sun´s rays filled the countryside with a beautiful red and as she opened the window a soft breeze carried the songs of the birds to her.
"It´s going to be a good day today!" she said joyfully and walked into her dressing room, where she called for Paula, who helped her get into her favourite yellow dress with the violet laces at the front.
"Miss Lizzy, a letter has arrived for you" the young servant said, as she closed her mistresses buttons.
"So who is it from?" Lizzy asked.
"I´d rather you have your breakfast first, Miss, otherwise I can´t guarantee for nothing."
"Fine" she sighed. And before Paula could say "I´m one hell of a servant" her little lady had gulped down the toast with mamade she had brought her this morning.
"Finished" she laughed. "Now can I read the letter?"
"I´ll fetch it" Paula smiled and went. Sitting down on the chair, Lizzy wondered from whom she had gotten a letter. She hoped it wasn´t from the queen or something, telling her that Ciel was dead, and she sure didn´t hope if was from Sir Rendersom.
When Paula came back, she couldn´t hold herself from jumping up and down before her maid and sqealing for her to open the letter. She had a distinct feeling about the sender the moment she had caught a glimpse of his handwriting and now she was too excited for her own good to see if her assumption was right.
Well, her feminin intuition didn´t let her down.
Tearing the letter from Paula´s hands, she read it out loud.
Dear Elizabeth,
I ask for your forgiveness that I didn´t write sooner, but I was caught up by matters that held me from it. Now I have returned to my mansion and as it is Saturday, I guess I´ll be expeting you for tea at 3 pm. Besides that, there are a few affairs I would like to talk to you about, although I will not elaborate them in this letter, should it fall into unwanted hands.
Ciel Phantomhive
Lizzy had to read the letter again and again, to make sure that she had understood correctly.
Then she giggled in glee.
"Paula, did you hear! Ciel is back! And...And...We´re invited for tea THIS afternoon! He´s back, Paula, he´s really back!"
Her maid sure smiled happily at the joy of her young Lady over this great news. The best recipie for a broken heart was for it to be mended again by happiness.
She was only a bit sorry that Sir Phantomhive had only asked them in for 3 pm, that meant keeping Miss Elizabeth in terrible suspense until it was finally time to ready the coach.
But Lizzy took it extremely well, she suggested talking a huge, gigantic walk in the park to pass the time and so she did, roaming the bautiful landscape of the grounds of the Midfords mansion, when she stopped at the small clearing in the woods. There she stood for a while, pondering over what Ciel could have meant with 'matters I will not elaborate in this letter' and she wondered whether it had to do something with his journey. But as she didn´t know, she dropped the thought and went on fantasizing on how great it would be to see Ciel again and what he actually would consider worth telling her.
Lunch was finally served at 1 pm and the whole meal over, Lizzy was so excited that she nearly knocked over her glass with juice. The next hour she spent playing cards with Paula and whincing about why time would only pass so slowly and when the clock finally struck two, she couldn´t hold herself anymore, running through the corridors and yelling for the coach to get ready and hurry. So, having the complete staff under control, Lizzy managed to arrive at her beloved´s mansion half an hour early.
"Paula, now hurry up, hurry up, hurry up!" she squealed, jumping up and down on the spot.
"Well, we definitely won´t be late" her servant laughed.
Not even bothering to ring the bell, Lizzy jumped to the door, but to her surprise, it swung open before she could touch it. Sebastian, of course, had already been awaiting her Ladyship and had opened the door at the apparent arrival of his masters betrothed.
"Hello Sebastian," Lizzy waved happily. "how were your holidays?"
The butler bowed to her with a hand on his chest. "It was quite a trip. Thank you for asking."
"So...where´s Ciel?" she asked excitedly, her eyes beaming with expectation.
Sebastian chuckled. "The young master will be coming downstairs any moment. I informed him about your arrival only a few minutes ago."
Closing the door behind Paula who had followed, he excused himself to the kitchen for preparations with a bow and left Lizzy alone for the moment. But she didn´t have to wait long, a short moment afterwards, she heard a door open in the upper floor and shortly after that, the footsteps she had so longed for finally echoed throughout the corridor.
Then Ciel came down the stairs. The strangest thing was, he had visibly grown and now was no longer in need of heels, his stature had become a bit more manlier and most of all, a small smile was placed on his lips.
Lizzys voice failed her. Seeing him like this in front of her, she fell in love with him all over again.
"Ciel..." she whispered.
Step by step, he descended from the stairs, coming closer.
"Aren´t you going to jump me, like you used to?" he then asked.
The sound of his voice sent a pleasant chill down her spine. It hadn´t changed much, maybe it had just gotten a little deeper. But you could still hear his once so sarcastic undertone in a completely different usage. It sounded almost as if he was joking.
"Ciel..." she repeated. But as his words reached her, she indeed threw herself forward into his arms, which he had already partly held out. This greeting was the most wonderful one she had ever been given by him and as she clang to him tightly, almost not wanting to let him go, she felt to her utter surprise that he had actually passed his arms around her waist and leaned his head against her shoulder. Using the drive from her jump, he swirled her around once, before letting her go and setting her on the ground.
"Ciel...what took you so long?"
Now that she was finally facing him, she felt like tearing up and overflowing him with reproaches as to why he had left her so miserably alone.
"That´s why I wanted you to come over" he replied. "But first of all, let´s go into the dining room and take our tea."
"But Ciel," Lizzy objected. "It´s much too early for tea."
Ciel smirked. "Then why did you come so soon?"
Lizzy stemmed her hands onto her hips in played indignation. "Because you told me so."
"Yes, you´re right. But I´m afraid Tea will take a bit longer today because of certain important matters that we will have to discuss."
Elizabeth´s eyes widened. "Important matters? Why would you talk about them with me of all persons?"
"Because you are my fiancé and most likely the only person to understand them. Besides, officially, no one knows I´m in England. Not even the queen."
And Lizzy finally understood that his presence now and here was a secret only the two of them were sharing. The fact put aside that she was so happy to see him again, she also felt to the utmost flattered by the fact that he had deemed her the only person worthy of understanding the business leading him to his house again.
Putting a hand to her back, Ciel led the young girl to the room where he had ordered Sebastian to serve the tea. Lizzy blushed at this unusual touch, for he had never before done such things. True, when they had been in search for the white deer he had finally taken the step to taking her hand for the first time, but after that, nothing more had happened between them on a romantic basis. She loved him so much, yet he never seemed to have noticed. And now, once again he had returned from a journey and he had changed. Without her knowing. But she swept those thoughts aside, telling herself that his presence alone was everything that mattered to her for the moment.
When they arrived in the destined room, she was surprised to find that they were actually in the library where they usually had played chess on rainy days.
With a gesture of his hand, Ciel motioned her to sit down on one of the chairs, standing on either side of the glass table and when she followed his bidding, he called for Sebastian to bring the tea. Well, tea at the Phantomhives of course included a superb piece of delicious cake.
Ciel asked Lizzy to tell him every news she had aqquired whilst his absense and during the next two hours or so, she filled him in on everything she had noticed while they simultaneously ate their cake. Although he hadn´t explicitely told her to do so, she had always kept her eyes and ears open for every detail concerning murders, blackmailing or any other crime. It turned out, that lately a group of still unidentified criminals had been killing people apparently without any reason. The weapons used for the crimes were also still unknown, although it didn´t seem to be anything they ever heard of.
Ciel´s first thought at that went immediately to death scythes, but why would the Shinigamis kill people without reason? It didn´t fit. But anyway, he wasn´t here to solve the latest crimes of the London underworld, he was here for something else. In the course of the conversation he had put down his cup of tea and crossed his fingers, resting his chin on them as he based himself on his ellbows. His expression had turned back to the old, solemn Ciel he had been before his departure, but that was also due to the fact that his thoughts were racing.
"And finally," Lizzy concluded, "To prevent such crimes from happening any further, the queen ordered that no one leave their houses after seven o´clock in the evening."
His head jolted up from his thinking position and he turned towards the great grandfather clock next to the old fireplace. It´s needles were indicating that it was already a quarter past six. She would never get home in time and he was certainly not ready to take the risk of her getting hurt. But apart from that, he had also realized that something had been bothering her everytime she had told him from home. Shifting his weight to the other side, he let his gaze run up and down her figure. She sure had turned out prettier than he had had her in mind and especially her chest and waist had become more and more defined. And he could certainly imagine men trying to gain her hand.
"Say Lizzy, what´s bothering you?" he interrupted her.
Green emeralds widened at that question.
"What do you mean, what´s..."
"Don´t fool me, Elizabeth. Something´s on your mind and it certainly is nothing good, since everytime you think about it, your face is clouded."
Brows furrowed in anxiety, she looked at him in dispair. Apparently it was written all over her face that the situation with Sir Rendersom didn´t leave her mind. Folding her hands in her lap, she lowered her gaze, trying to hide the ashamed blush on her cheeks.
"It´s...Just...A few months ago, I was introduced to a man named Sir Rendersom. He´s... he´s somehow awkward and I certainly can see that he´s showing interest in me, but...I´d never..."
A sudden hand on her shoulder made her look up in astonishment. Ciel had stood up and gone over to her, placing his palm in a calming touch.
All of the sudden, a knock was to be heard and when Ciel allowed the entrance, Sebastian appeared with a bow.
"Is there anything further Bocchan wishes me to do?" he asked.
Casting a glance at his fiancé next to him, Ciel nodded and walked up to his butler. Standing on tiptoe, he whispered something into his ear. Sebastian seemed rather surprised at the request, but he wouldn´t be one hell of butler after all, if he couldn´t comply to his young masters wishes to his full content. Returning to Lizzy, Ciel held out a hand.
"Dance with me, Lizzy." He requested.
Stupefied, she stared at him. But since he asked for it, she gladly accepted his hand as he slowly turned her around to the sounds of Sebastian playing the violin. She couldn´t help continuing to stare at his deep blue eye, whitch withheld so much of what he was thinking right now.
"Ciel," she whispered. "Why are you doing this?"
"Don´t worry." he replied. "Just forget about that guy."
And there was nothing more for him to say. Lizzy understood that this was his way of comforting her, and since he never had been a volontary dancer, this was one of the greatest gifts he could offer her.
The dance ended too soon for her liking, but it didn´t seem as if Ciel was about to let her go, so she decided to take a small chance.
"Sebastian?"
"Yes, Milady?"
"Can I have one more, please?"
And after a small nod of his master, he put the instrument under his chin and started playing again. A smile stealed itself on the demon´s lips. If there was anything he loved more than cats, it was matchmaking. Especially when it came to the young master and mistress Elizabeth.
This one lasted a while longer than the first and Lizzy devoted herself completely to this dance, loosing herself in the depths of blue. They danced around the table and between chairs, past the desk and around the carpet, and she feel his fingers on her waist so clearly, his palm holding hers and the warmth of his breath on her cheeks. Now that she was so close to him, she could nearly hear his heartbeat. Hers was not to be overheard for that matter, but she loved the fact that he was the only one that could do that to her. Although his mimiks remained the same, stoic ones, like the ones he had had after his parents death, she realized a new attribute to his face. He was still very handsome, but there was something else now. He seemed to be more... at peace with himself. And she was very glad for him that he had finally gotten over the shock of his parents death, but it made her a bit sad that she hadn´t been able to be the one to change him for the better.
"Lizzy, are your parents at home, at the moment?" Ciel then suddenly asked, pulling her out of her thoughts.
"No, they´re on a business trip. Why?"
"Then stay the night."
"What..." she could feel the heat rising to her cheeks.
"I don´t like the thought of you going out there alone and most certainly not at this time of night, if people like that are running around loose outside."
When Lizzy cast a glance at the clock, it confirmed what she had feared. It was already way past her leaving time. Still blushing, she gave him a shy nod, to show that it was ok with her. Her heartbeat now took up double speed. To think that she would sleep in his house! This withdrawn attitude of her was so very unusual, but it was most certainly due to the fact that the Ciel she had now come to know was so much more like how she had wished him to be.
Before she knew it, a tear rolled down her cheek. Ciel looked at first surprised, but when she made an attempt to wipe it away, he took her hand and placed it on his shoulder, cupping her cheek and catching the silver drop on the tip of his thumb, brushing it off. And Lizzy could hardly keep herself from sobbing.
The dance ended with the last chord and she almost wanted to throw herself in his arms again and start crying, but seeing how much he had matured, she pulled herself together and smiled, doing her best to hide the sadness in it.
"Then how about a good supper and then bed?" she suggested, trying to put a bit of her old cheerfulness into her voice.
He simply nodded in approval and although he wasn´t smiling, Lizzy felt like as if his gaze softened upon her. He wasn´t so cold and distant anymore, yet still cautious about his words and actions. A smile curled up her lips. At least he was there.
Supper went past calmly and for the first time this evening, Ciel started to talk about where he had been, the people he had met and cities he had visited. And more than once did he elict a small giggle from her, that somehow, deep down in his somewhere still a little bit human soul, warmed his heart in a for him until then completely unknown way.
But him narrating his experiences only resulted in Lizzy wanting to hear more and more and although he never revealed the reasons behind his actions, she listened to him, never questioning any of it. She knew that he had his little secrets and being part of only one of them filled her with more pride than ever, so that she didn´t care if he decided not to share them all with her. Time didn´t wait for him to finish, so it got later and later, until Ciel finally decided that it was high time for them to go to bed. Lizzy aknowledged this with a yawn and stretched her arms away from her, nodding in approval.
She lay awake long after she had lied down, dressed in an old nightgown Sebastian had found somewhere in the depths of an old cupboard. She giggled at the thought that this nightgown had probably belonged to his mother, because it was cut in such a way that a girl her age would never dare to wear. But it sure was beautiful, with long, wide sleeves, a small lace string at her waist, complimenting her figure and a certainly gernerous cut neckline. But she didn´t mind at all being here. Ciel had insisted that she should sleep in his old bed and she hadn´t protested much, just the right amount to at least seem polite. But everytime she turned around, she could smell his scent and she would cuddle up in her blankets, burying her nose in it, gleefully breathing in the smell of him. For some unknown reason, sleep wouldn´t come over her and she had a distinct feeling in her tummy.
When she finally closed her eyes to at least come to peace, she didn´t notice at first the lights burning up outside the window. Startled by a loud yell in the distance, she suddenly sat up straight, only to see someone flying towards her. Instinctively, she covered herself with her arms as she expected this someone to crash into the window, but when the shattering of the glass stayed out and she looked up again, she saw the strangest creature she had ever come to face, floating before her window. She shrieked in disgust, as she realised it was a rat, but when she looked closely again, she saw a red flash, charging at it again and again.
"Is that...a chainsaw, he´s holding...?" she asked herself in surprise. Up to then she hadn´t realised that a huge fireball illuminated the night sky, but now she also noticed Sebastian jumping up and down and onto another of these horrible creatures. It sure would have looked funny, if there hadn´t been his concentrated look and it was very obvious that he was fighting. Using his silver cutlery, he held the monsters at bay and away from the mansion, but he wouldn´t be able to do it for long. Then the red flash passed again and now she realized it was actually Mister Grell that was now yelling something, batting his long eyelashes at Sebastian and getting a nosebleed while cutting up his opponent with his oversize chainsaw.
Then, she heard footsteps from the corridor, but she couldn´t take her eyes off the strange spectacle just outside the window. And suddenly, with loud bang, the door flew open and Ciel came hurried in, still in his normal clothes.
"Lizzy, are you...?"
He stopped when he saw the expression she gave him. She stared at him with a mixture of fear, surprise and most of all, curiosity.
Slowly, he joined her at the window. Realizing what she had seen, he clenched his fist and a shadow fell over his eyes.
He had meant to tell her. But not like this.
"Ciel..." he felt a slight tug on his sleeve. He looked up again, seeing his fiancé leaning over him with a rather worried look, her now open, curly hair flowing gently over her shoulders and down her back.
"Are you alright?" she asked.
He blinked in bewilderment.
"I was going to ask you the same question" he replied slowly.
"I´m fine," she shrugged, " But what about you? You don´t look too good..."
"I´m..." really at a loss what to say right now.
When his fingers touched the cold marble of the window sill, he realised that he had actually been leaning backwards. Out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly saw a fireball coming straight at them. Without thinking twice, he pulled Lizzy away from the window, backing away to the wooden panels of the room, holding her in his arms as the deadly missile hit the manor´s wall only a metre away from the window. The wall was still standing after the impact, but a thick, black cloud of smoke evaporated from where it had collided. The two young people were shook quite badly, but Ciel refused to let her go, until he was sure that she wouldn´t fall and even after that, he held her close to him. Clutching the fabric of his costume, she was pressed against him as the blast hit them, but she wasn´t as afraid as she might have been if she´d been alone.
Glancing up at him from inbetween her eyelashes, which was quite new for her, she eyed him curiously.
"Ciel, why are Sebastian and Mister Grell fighting against those...creatures!?"
His brows furrowed. "Mister...Grell?"
She nodded. "Ciel, what´s going on here?"
Then, she lowered her head, realizing what she had just asked of him. "Or is that a classified matter you can´t tell me about?"
Ciel let out a small, dry laugh. Burying his head in her shoulder, he pulled her closer to him and slowly let himself sink to the ground. For a while nobody said anything, only more explosions were heard from outside and the flickering light was reflected by the white of the curtains.
He couldn´t take this. She would surely hate him for it. She would call him a monster and perhaps even run away from him. He had come back because he had thought that letting her into the secret, thus bringing her to cut all ties with him, would help him settle with his past, but now he realized that everytime he had thought about coming back, it had actually always been her that had been on his mind. It had always been her in his thoughts as the one and only reason to return but not out of the reasons he had thought. He now realized that more than ever, he didn´t want to let any harm be done to her, let alone by himself. But now he asked himself, could a broken heart be mended so easily? Truth be told, sometimes she was the only thing that kept together his sanity, she was his safe anchor in his messed up, crazy life.
"I´m sorry, Lizzy." He whispered. And he couldn´t keep his voice from trembling.
"I meant to tell you earlier, I really did. I tried, even tonight, but I couldn´t. So I wanted to do it tomorrow. I didn´t know they would go for me and even come this far..."
Releasing her from his grasp, he came to face her, but she just knelt there between his angled legs, hands folded in her lap and looked at him, patiently waiting for a further explanation.
"Truth is, I don´t know, if I actually came back to stay. Maybe, I´ll just go on, travelling the world, or maybe I won´t. But in either case, I wanted to see you, to give you one last explanation, so that you would know what really happened."
A bitter laugh escaped him again. "Turns out, this is harder than I thought." His gaze held low, he couldn´t look at her, but she forced him to by putting a finger under his chin.
"Just go ahead and say it anyway."
He closed his eye and leaned his head against the panel behind him.
"Those cratures out there... they´re not human."
The following pause didn´t exactely encourage him, but he went on, anyway.
"I don´t know who created or summoned them, but what I do know is that they origine from a place simple mortals wouldn´t be able to reach so easily. It´s a place where demons are created. A place where no rules exist. Sebastian and I were chasing these vermins all over the world, but it seems we haven´t touched the bottom of it quite yet. They started turning the game around and now we´re the mouse and they´re the cat. Coming back here was a huge mistake,...I..."
He cleared his throat and let his head hang low, his bangs covering his expression.
"I´m sorry I brought you into such danger, Lizzy, ..."
His voice failed.
" I...I can´t protect you anymore. Not even Sebastian can..."
"Although he too is a demon?"
His head jolted up. His eyes widened. And his tongue, paralyzed, couldn´t bring forth a single sound. There she sat, emeralds innocently looking at him, while she herself had just uttered something other people would have had them get taken to the sanatarium. It was too late for denial, his surprise had already confirmed her suspicion, but he was petrified by the mere thought that she had already been approached by these matters.
"How..."
"Well, it wasn´t that hard to find out. He is pretty skilled after all, he can catch bullets with two fingers and is extremely witty when it comes to killing people who dare come too close to you."
"But demons actually shouldn´t exist..." he tried a small protest, still not believing that he was actually having this conversation with her.
"Nor should Shinigamis." She retorted.
Now he was perfectly confused. How had she found out about all this?
"At least that´s what Grell-sama told me..."
Ciel sweatdropped. "Grell...?"
She nodded happily. "Well, that was a story, I tell you. I was sitting in the middle of a nice little clearing, when I heard someone clashing into a tree somewhere nearby and when I went to look there, I found Mister Sutcliffe, dangling from a tree, seeming pretty dizzy. When I asked him who had done this to him, he brabbled something about a certain William, in combination with 'the hottest man he´d ever seen' and 'Why is fate being so cruel'. I pulled him away from there, just in time, before his chainsaw came sailing after him. To be honest, I was really curious about that thing and as I asked, I got actually more information than needed. It seems he was in a very talkative mood that day." She giggled again at that memory.
"He told me all about Shinigamis, death scythes, cinematic records, his job and I think somewhere along the lines, he started romanticizing about a certain black butler. That´s when I decided that he had absolutely lost it and I walked away. Not even two minutes after that, someone tried to jump me in an attempted assassination, but Grell-sama saved me by cutting that someone in half and when I saw these cinematic records for the first time, I finally believed him. And every word he had told me, too."
"So you know about demons...?" Ciel whispered disbelievingly.
She nodded. "I may be innocent and cute, but I´m not blind, Ciel. No one is. They simply don´t want to see it, so they don´t."
"They?"
She shrugged. "Everyone. For a long time I had had my doubts about these mysterious cases in the London underworld being solved so quickly. Then it turned out, that they had all been killed. I guess that was the work of the Shinigamis."
"But...how did you find out about Sebastian...?"
"I don´t know. But I guess I had this feeling since the moment you introduced me to him, that there was more to that incredibly skilled servant than met the eye. Besides, he does make a divine apple pie."
Ciel almost chuckled. "What´s that got to do with it?"
She shrugged again, grinning. "An apple pie as godly as his simply can´t be made by mortals."
He almost laughed again. Almost. "He´s a demon, Lizzy, he´s not from heaven."
Lowering his eyes, he closed them again. They both fell silent, as a long pause came up, in which neither of them knew what to say. She was the first to break the silence.
"So,...that place where the rats came from, is that...is that the place where you met Sebastian?"
His shoulders twitched as in his mind, he replayed his first encounter with his butler, but he nodded. "Yes. I made a contract with him. A contract that provided, that he would be my butler and serve at my side, until I completed my revenge for the death of my parents."
"And..." she swallowed, "Is your right eye the price you payed for that contract?"
He let out an empty laugh. "There´s nothing wrong with my eye, except for the fact that it has a demonic mark upon it and it would irritate people whilst staring."
With a very low voice, Lizzy carefully dared a question.
"Can I see it?"
After a short moment of hesitation, he raised his arms to undo the knot holding his eyepatch, but she gently took away his hands and leaned over him.
Her snowwhite, slender fingers undid the ribbon with a graceful movement, but he didn´t shudder at the unusual touch.
When the knot had been dissolved, she swallowed once more, before looking at him, waiting for his approval. He didn´t say anything, he simply returned her gaze in expectation of her dreaded reaction.
Gently letting her index finger run down his cheek, stroking it, she then slowly lifted the black peace of leather.
Ciel let out the breath he had unconsciously been holding as the cool air hit his still closed eyelid, but he bit back his remorse as he gradually opened his eye. He could practically hear Elizabeth breathe in sharply as he revealed his brand to her, glowing slightly in the dimly illuminated room.
Cupping his cheeks with her smooth hands in an ever so light touch, she looked deep into his dark blue irises. And Ciel could almost feel her touching his soul in this one small gesture. She didn´t say anything, her eyes simply stayed focused on his, and he could read the worry in her eyes. But what about, he didn´t know. It seemed more, as if she were trying to read him, his soul, his very being at that moment, and he almost was afraid that she succeded in finding out what he really was. But she only sighed and took away her fingers, and before she even realized, a tear dropped from her eyelashes again.
"Why...Why are you crying?" he asked in bewilderment.
"I...I think I understand a lot more than I did before,...but..." she wiped the tear away, sniffling.
"...But what I don´t understand, is why everytime you go away and seemed to have disappeared from my life, you always come back, so different from what you were before..." she burst out.
Seeing this, Ciel was at a loss what to do or say. He had never been good at comforting her, but ever more so, in this situation he was less than unable to help her in any way. Without even thinking, he passed his arms around her waist and pulled her into a firm, long, and desperate hug.
"I´m sorry," he repeated. " I never meant for you to get hurt in such a way."
Her shaking shoulders slowly grew calmer as did her sniffing and as a sign that she mostly forgave him these past few years of lonlyness, she snuggled into his chest, eyes still closed, and sneaked her arms around his torso.
Ciel didn´t push her away, because he didn´t even think about finding this action unpleasant. Her warmth, her scent, the salt of her tears, it all felt like it was a part of him, and always had been. And maybe, he thought, maybe it had.
After a close while, in which he nearly enjoyed this proximity, knowing that it would be probably the last he would ever come to know, Lizzy pulled away from him and wiped away her tears with her sleeve.
"I´m sorry." She said wearily.
"What for?"
"That I always get emotional..."
And Ciel didn´t know what to reply.
But she simply sighed fullheartedly. "I guess I´ll leave as early in the morning as I can, then..."
"Wha..." Ciel stared at her, mouth agape. How had she gotten to this topic now?
"Why would you?" his voice almost sounded harsh.
She shrugged. "You won´t be needing me anymore, since you got Sebastian and as I recon, you are here on a mission." She glanced up at him again and smiled ever so soft, giving him the worst bad conscience, he´d ever had.
Slowly heaving herself from the floor, she put herself in an upright position and rubbed her arms to get warm, because it was getting rather cold. Immediately, Ciel sprang up too.
"What do you mean, I won´t be needing you?"
Following her, as she walked over to the bed, he started buttoning down his jacket.
She stopped and turned to him and although he could see the sorrow in her eyes, she did a brilliant job at acting out her smile, still as genuine as he had ever seen someone curve up his lips.
"You´ve got a complete life, Ciel. You have a job, a butler who can do almost everything and a reason to live for. There´s no place for me in that world."
"What... what do you mean with complete...? My life hasn´t been complete since the day my parents died!" he practically screamed. "Ever since I contracted Sebastian I have been searching for the one responsible that night, but that quest ended up in..." he could barely stop himself there.
She lowered her eyes to the floor again.
"I know there are more important things to you in this world, Ciel, and don´t you dare contradict me. You´ve always made your point clear that I´m am simply one factor in your life, yet not worth considering first priority. And now I understand why." She paused. " But I guess you came back here to cut all ties with your previous life and start a new one. And it´s ok. I understand."
Ciel threw his jacket around her and clutched it´s fabric on either side in his fingers, pulling her close to him. He didn´t know why he was so enraged, for it had actually went quite the way he had wanted it, and even better, but there was still something else, and tht something was now coming up, as he tried to oppress his anger.
"You don´t understand. You don´t understand anything. You maybe right that I originally planned to leave everything behind, but..." his treaturous voice failed him, trembling.
"It´s ok." She whispered. "Don´t worry. We´ll...We´ll simply break off the engagement and then..."
"What do you mean, 'break off the engagement'?" he shouted.
"I..." she was dumbstruck. Ciel was really getting more and more agitated, but his anger soon turned into what seemed desperation.
"Why the hell would I want to break off our engagement? It´s the only thing keeping me sane in this crazy world!" he yelled.
"Ciel..."
" I came back, thinking that you would hate me after you knew the truth and everything would be much easier, but now I realize..."
He froze as she flung herself against him, cuddling him and surrounding him with her warmth and grace. She did freeze anymore since he had put his jacket around her and her presence soothed his torn feelings. And completely indulging himself in her endearment, he sunk his nose into her soft hair.
"I realized I can´t let you go, because I love you." He whispered. "I love you, although I shouldn´t and I know it will only cause trouble and pain, but I can´t stop."
A small white hand touching his cheek made his head jolt up.
"Why shouldn´t you love me?" she smiled sadly.
Her smile broke his heart.
"I´m one of them, Lizzy."
He closed his eyes and waited for her repudiation.
But it never came. The truth had been spoken, but she didn´t reply and he could feel her gaze scanning him. Yet her emeralds didn´t show any sign of fear or even hatred, they sparkled with the power of love. But he couldn´t see that since he had his eyes closed.
He almost fell backwards, as he felt a small nose leaning against his as did her forehead.
"I don´t care. For me, no matter what state your soul might be in right now, you´re always Ciel and always will be. The Ciel that used to smile so much, but then turned into a shadow of himself and now has come back once again."
"You...don´t hate me?"
"Oh Ciel, far from it. It´s the complete opposite. I love you. I love you so much."
He trembled slightely as his lips found hers in a desperate move, but her tenderness calmed him down as she recovered from the first moment of surprise and started kissing back, sneaking her arms around his neck and him tightning his grasp around her waist. Eyes fluttered close, as she dived into the depths of this moment, and him conceiling the fears he had had yet shouldn´t have needed to have. And neither of them noticed that in the distance, the lights slowly burnt down and the star lit night sky took over, because they were simply too busy catching up what they had lost these past few years.
When he carefully pulled away, she left her eyes closed, trying to keep his bitter sweet taste as long in her memory as possible.
"Stay with me this night." She mumbled.
He nodded and picked her up, carrying her over to the kingsize bed and let her glide off him. She quickly snuggled into the light sheets and he took his jacket she had reached him, carelessly throwing it over the next chair, following after her and closing her into his arms, a hug, which she eagerly complied to.
Letting his fingers run through her hair and enjoying the blissfull peace inside of him he had newly won, he couldn´t resist placing a last kiss on her soft lips.
She opened her eyes again, smiling. "It´s just a pity that it wasn´t me who changed you back again."
He leaned his cheek against hers, moving closer to her ear.
"Oh Lizzy, it was you. It always has been. Only neither of us noticed..."
"..."
"..."
"Ciel...?"
"Yes?"
"Right now, I´m the happiest girl in the entire world"
"And why´s that?"
"You kept calling me 'Lizzy' the whole day through already, but I didn´t notice uptil now."
He chuckled. He chuckled, because he had come to love how she always showed him that she enjoyed the little things in life the most. And most of all, he loved her the most of all.
"But Ciel...?"
"Yes...?"
"Is there anything Sebastian can´t do?"
"What would think of?"
"Hm...Maybe forcing the sun to rise later..."
"Ah, yes. But who needs the sun, when he´s got you," Ciel whispered. She only snuggled deeper into his chest as approval and grinned sheepishly.
Sooooooooo, phew, finally finished! You can´t imagine, how much time it took me to write this. It was a puzzle work, one page per week! Anyway, Here´s something for my lovly supporters! IF, emphazise IF I get 100 reviews who encourage me to do it by the 5th of April, I will update this story with a 2nd Chapter, LIME INCLUDED! Only if you want it! I´ll write it anyway, but the question is, will I update it? Fate is in your hands! And don´t you dare leave this story without a review!
