AUTHORS NOTE: ok so this popped into my head back at the beginning of October and now that its halloween night its time I post it. just FYI there ar e a lot of back and forth between the present and past (Which is what the lines are for.) Hope you enjoy! And please don't be afraid to comment!

She watched the flames dancing in the fireplace of a drawing room five stories below the earth. The room was beautifully furnished with dark cherrywood furniture with blood red fabric. An ornate Russian rug lay on the floor in front of her and across from it sat a cherrywood piano covered in sheet music. Music that it's master would spend hours on end composing. His music was beautiful she thought as she heard his melodies in her mind. How long have I been down here she wondered to herself with a sigh. Oh how she had missed her home above where the sun rose and set each day, where flowers grew and the animals played. There was none of that down here in the land of the dead. It was naught but perpetual darkness only interrupted by lit candles and blazing fireplaces. Maybe I can convince Ivan to let me go above sometime if only for a moment she thought as she remembered the night that he brought her down below.

—-

It had been a snowy moonlit night when her life had changed. She had been engaged to a young man named Matthew whom like her was rather timid in nature. She smiled as she thought of her sweet Matthew whom had always brought her lilacs and would wring his tie in his hands. But she had never felt true love with him. But she had no choice in the matter she was to marry him for his money. Which is why she had been out that night tying to memorize her vows amongst the graves. Because she couldn't avoid her fate…Or so she had thought.

"I don't know what's wrong with me."

She said to the headstones around her as she paced.

"It's just a few simple vows."

She stopped

"Perhaps I should practice them."

She mused aloud.

"With this hand I will take your candle. No that doesn't sound right."

She mused as she tried again.

"With this hand I will take your wine? No that's not it."

She sighed in frustration.

"It's no use."

She said as she sat down on the root. She took out the wedding band from her coat pocket and looked at it. It was a beautiful simple gold band that had been passed down in her family for generations. She grasped it firmly within her hand.

"There is no avoiding it though. I have to do this."

She said determined as she stood up. She held the ring up and began with renewed vigor.

"With this hand I will lift your sorrows, your cup will never empty for I will be your wine."

She saw a twig and snapping it off pretended it was a candle.

"With this candle I will light your way in darkness."

She then held up the ring and, seeing a hand like branch, placed it on one of the fingers.

"With this ring I ask you to be mine.

And with that her life had changed forever…

—-

Ivan was sitting at his desk putting the finishing touches on the gift wrapped box in front of him. He hoped she liked his gift to her; after all she was his wife now. His wife, the very thought made him sigh in bliss at the thought. Long ago he had been murdered on his wedding day never to know his own bride. But that didn't matter now because his living bride sat but a room away from him. He sighed blissfully as he looked down at the ring on his skeletal finger. He remembered how it had come to belong to him not so long ago.

—-

It had felt like being struck by lightning.

The ring, someone had placed a ring on his finger. Or at least what remained of his finger; yet that hardly mattered when compared with the promises, the hopes, the dreams of the future. All contained within a simple circle of gold. He felt himself being lifted upwards, soaring on wings to rejoin the body he had left behind decades ago. His wish was coming true his bride was waiting for him. The joining of soul and body lasted but a moment but to Ivan it felt like an eternity as he forced through the earth and stone to reclaim what had once been his. He was aware of every natural force straining against him, trying desperately to force him back down; But this was meant to be; and he would not allow life to refuse him again. She was so close; and if only he stretched out his hand, he might hold her.

"I am coming for you my sunflower."

And with that, his body was truly his again. With his mobility renewed he reached out for his bride. He took hold of something human and pulled it down into the earth where he was. It shot through the dark to to reveal a dainty hand and a slender arm. He felt a thump above him but it mattered not to him as his attention was on the struggling wrist. The wrist of his wife; He brought the hand to his dead lips and pressed a kiss to it but not before it managed to pull his arm off at the elbow and thus escaped his grasp.

'No I cannot let her get away.'

He thought as he began attempting to escape his grave and renter the living realm. He clawed his way up his hand being the first member to escape the earthy prison. With it he began making further progress as his head along with the rest of his body made its way to freedom. He opened his eyes for the first time in years and much to his delight the first thing he saw was her. His eyes widened at the sight before him.

'Beautiful..'

He thought as he looked upon the goddess staring up at him from her position on the ground with amber eyes. her gorgeous chocolate locks in a disarray around her, like some glorious mane, and her mouth open, and her lovely face now drained of all color, It was as if fate was saving that particular treat of realization for him until she became his bride. My bride. He felt a great surge of warmth flow through him and spread across his face in a blush, improbable as it was, as he looked down upon her, even as he spoke; and reached out his remaining hand ever so timidity to help her up, as any gentleman would surely do, living or dead.

"M-May I k-kiss the bride?"

He asked her timidly only to be answered with a scream of terror as she scrambled away from him and tore off into the night. He had felt his heart sink in despair at her terror of him but he would not let it deter him. He was about to make chase when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He looked to see his detached skeletal arm and hand clawing its way along the ground after her. A smile spread, however slowly, across the long dead muscles of his face – and a chuckle came from deep in his throat, as he carefully bent down, and scooped up the detached limb. He had to admit was quite an amusing site to behold. Slipping his arm back up his empty sleeve, he applied pressure in the right place. He felt and heard the snap as it snapped back into place in his shoulder. No pain, he noticed, with a slight touch of melancholy. He wiggled his fingers to insure it was connected properly. Once satisfied with the restoration of movement he stepped out of the grave and followed after the sounds of her crashing through the winter bare undergrowth in her attempts to flee from him.

—

His thoughts where soon interrupted by a knock at the door

"Come in."

He said. A young man with deathly blue skin and tangled dark blue hair came in bearing a tea tray in his skeletal hands. His name was Toris and considering the lack of flesh on both arms he had been dead far longer than Ivan. He placed the tray on his masters desk and poured the tea for him. He noticed the beautifully wrapped box sitting on his masters desk and his curiosity compelled him to speak.

"What a lovely box! Whom is it for master?"

"It's for Emily of course."

Ivan replied in a matter of fact tone.

"I suppose you would call it a wedding present."

Toris sighed at this. His master had been consumed by fantasies of what could have been since the very day they had met. Never letting go of the world above like he Edward and Raivis had done long ago when they had pledged themselves to his service. He would spend hours on end sketching and composing and planning out the wedding that would have been. He had even made a wedding gown for the bride he had never had. Toris had warned his master many times about this but he had not listened.

—-

"Oh master you really should let your memories go. Maybe then you can be at peace."

Ivan shot him a dark look.

"It is impossible for me to do so Toris. I cannot let it go not after how they killed me."

He said as he reached up to loosen the tie to reveal the terrible scar around his neck.

"They killed me with my dear mothers scarf Toris. They took everything from me."

He rose from his seat at the desk and walked over to the blazing fire. His hands where clutched into fists as he trembled in rage. Toris gulped as he saw the fire rise higher and the furniture began to rattle like bones.

"I made a vow Toris, And I will fulfill it."

He said as he gazed at the skeletal finger that once held a wedding band. He would have a bride someday. And he could only hope that was someday soon. He felt a hand on his shoulder and he turned to see Toris standing there beside him looking at him with his single eye.

"I hope one day your wish will come true master."

Ivan smiled and as he did the fire calmed and the furniture quieted.

"Da."

He looked up at the dark ceiling as if he could see above the dirt barrier into the forest above.

"One can only hope."

—

But that had all been before master had heard the young woman's voice. That's when the obsession had gotten worse, but the one thing that had taken the cake for Toris, was when his master had walked though that front door with a living woman in his arms. The very memory itself made him extremely frustrated to the point of tearing out what remained of his hair.

—

Toris could sense it.

His master was no longer in the house, in fact he seemed to have vanished from the realm of the dead completely. He lit his bedside candle and got out of his bed before looking over at the others. They where also awake and looking at him in curiosity.

"You feel it too da?"

He asked them and they both nodded.

"Where is master?"

Raivis asked with a scared expression on his face. He was a short skeletal child with a terrible scar across his neck and skeletal appendages.

"I don't know but he must be here somewhere as he is not ready to cross over into the next world."

Toris told the child reassuringly as he helped him out of his bed. Edward also rose from his bed and, lining up behind Toris, headed out to search the house for Ivan. They where thirty minutes into the search when they felt his presence once more. However there was something off about it like it was coming from above. Toris felt a sinking feeling in his gutted stomach as the thought crossed his mind.

"Surely not."

He said in a hushed whisper.

"What is it?"

Edward asked his Latvian companion with a worried expression on his face. He was about to tell the Estonian his suspicions when they heard the front door of the mansion opened.

"Master is home!"

Raivis exclaimed joyfully and ran to greet Ivan.

"Raivis! Wait!"

The other men called out after him as they followed. They arrived just in time to see that there master was holding a LIVING WOMAN in his arms! Toris looked on in shock and horror as Raivis ran up to his master with joy and excitement.

"Your back master!"

He exclaimed, but Ivan didn't respond as his focus was on the precious bundle in his arms. He carried her into the drawing room and placed her on the couch. Ivan ran the back of his hand across her rosy cheek completely enthralled by her beauty before being interrupted by the voice of Toris.

"Why master?! Why did you do this?! And how did you do this?!"

Ivan turned towards the Lithuanian with a startled look on his face before it changed to that of joy and rapture.

"Oh Toris it is because she is my wife!"

He exclaimed and showed him the gold ring on his skeletal finger.

"Of course I have no ring to give her but that matters not right now. All that matters is that she is my bride!"

Toris stood there staring at his master in complete and utter shock. How could this be? It was unheard of. His thoughts however where interrupted by Raivis.

"She's very pretty master!"

"She is indeed but I am not sure if this marriage is possible."

Edward mused. The young woman stretched and yawned before opening her eyes to see herself surrounded by corpses. She screamed in horror as she tried to back herself into the far corner of the couch.

"Please don't scream sunflower!"

Ivan exclaimed as he attempted to calm her down.

—-

"Reminiscing are we now Toris?"

Toris shook his head.

"It's nothing master, what are you giving her exactly?"

His master smiled and stroked the box lovingly with his flesh covered hand.

"The greatest gift a corpse can ever give."

Toris's single eye widened

"You don't mean?!"

His master placed his hand over his chest.

"But I do Toris, I do."

—

"don't hurt me!"

She cried as she tried to make herself as small as possible. Ivan kneeled down to her level and took her hands in his.

"I would never hurt you sunflower."

He told her gently before taking his kerchief and attempted to dry her eyes. She quieted down at his reassuring words as she looked at the hands near her face. to her surprise his left hand was no longer the dreadful claw. Somehow, something had changed, though the hand was skeletal it was no longer as terrifying as it had been before. It was almost like it was normal hand. The other hand was graceful yet large and it enveloped her hand like a great paw with no visible bone, just simple flesh and skin…blueish skin to be exact. It was the oddest sensation of normality that confused her to no end.

Looking beyond the hands that now gently held hers she saw his arms which where clad in pristine white sleeves. What had happened? This was not the terrible, half corpse that had so terrified her, that had caused her to flee through the woods in fear – why, it was simply a man! And yet it was also a corpse with its exposed bone and deathly blue skin. He was clad in clothes that were not stained or rotted but whole and perfect and seemingly new, as if he had only just put them on. They where long out of date but nevertheless stylish and well fitted on the strong, muscled form. She could see a waistcoat, the embroidery of which she must have felt earlier; whole, undamaged trousers, through which she could see no bone – or at least, as far as she could see – as her eyes travelled upwards again she saw the solidity, the strength of his form, But all the same, despite this rather surprising and more pleasing aspect, a tiny part of her mind was whispering to her that this was wrong. True there was a well built, tall man kneeling at her feet, like a courtly lover of sorts but it was also a dead man there at her feet.

Behind the tall handsome man at her feet; stood 3 other men whom seemed to be in a far greater state of decay than her captor. The first had long dark hair with skeletal arms and a missing eye. His nose was completely gone and he was very gaunt and gangly in his rotting suit. The second was but a child dressed in a decaying red uniform with skeletal legs and arms. His hair was short and light blue in color and his eyes where like ice. However she could see the terrible scar on the child's neck. The last one was the same height as the first with short well groomed hair and was dressed in a suit as well but the horrifying aspect of his state of decay was his lack of eyes. And yet she could sense his gaze on her. They bowed to her in respect like servants.

'That's what they must be.' She thought. 'His servants.'

"Raivis prepare a room for our guest. Edward draw her a bath I am sure she will want to freshen up after the ordeal she has been through. Toris prepare us some tea if you please."

"Yes sir!"

She watched as the corpse men left the room to fulfill her captors orders. However her attention was soon drawn back to the man/corpse at her feet. she let her eyes range over his features; taking in the elegant curve of his oval face; the gash in his right cheek, the arch of his large yet graceful nose, the seraphic curve of the lips, the luscious navy of his slightly ruffled hair that framed his baby like face like a soft cloud. She almost wanted to reach out and run her fingers through it. But it was the eyes that struck her as the most mesmerizing. two orbs of indigo gazing at her with an intensity which made her draw breath hurriedly. In that gaze she saw so much; anger and sorrow melded together, so closely they could hardly be distinguished as separate, hope and adoration; so strong she felt it might overcome her altogether – hope and adoration…for her. She inquired of him in a hushed whisper.

"What…what are you?"

At first he did not speak but continued to gaze at her with all the love and adoration in the world. But then he spoke in his beautiful voice laced with raw desire for she knew not what – though she could easily guess.

"I am Ivan."

—-

Her thoughts where then interrupted as she heard the door to the drawing room open and she turned to see the man in question. He was dressed in his black dress shoes and pants along with a white dress shirt and charcoal grey waistcoat and a red scarf wrapped around his neck. He had tamed his unruly dark blue hair and when there eyes met he turned his face away from her. She could see a light purple blush forming across his cheeks and what remained of his large nose. He began to make his way over to where she was sitting and as he did she noticed his arms where behind his back like he was hiding something. But before she could inquire about it he spoke.

"E-Emily I…."

He hesitated as he attempted to sit down beside her with his hands still behind his back.

"I have something for you."

She gave him a curious look before he brought a medium sized box wrapped in dark velvety purple wrapping with a dark green ribbon. He placed it in her lap his blush growing darker.

"I-Its a w-wedding p-present."

He explained in a timid voice. It was at times like this that his corpse like state seemed to melt away to reveal the man he had once been in life. She blushed a bit at the words wedding present but brushed the thought aside for now and turned to the gift. She examined it with curiosity then picking it up shook it like a curious child. Ivan gasped when she did this and she turned to look at him. He was clutching his gloved hands to his chest as he looked at her with an expression of discomfort on his face.

"Are you ok Ivan?"

She inquired.

"D-da im fine S-sunflower."

He said in a hushed tone. She turned back to the box and upon opening it gasped at the beautiful object within. It was a fist sized glittering pink gemstone in the shape of a heart.

"Oh Ivan its beautiful! Where did you get something like this?"

She inquired turning to him. He sat there for a moment before reaching up and removing his scarf. He placed it aside before removing his waistcoat followed by his tie which revealed the scar around his neck. She watched him almost in a trance as his long fingers began to pull apart the buttons of his shirt exposing more of his deathly blue skin to her until her reached the center of his stomach. He then pulled aside the fabric to reveal the heart shaped hole that resided on the left side of his chest. She stared into the inky blackness of it for the briefest of moments before it all came together in her mind. He gave a shy smile at her realization.

"M-my heart be-belongs to you S-sunflower."

He said to her his face now a deep shade of purple.

"W-what are you saying?!"

She asked him flustered.

"That gem in your lap is my heart sunflower. When we die our hearts change to reflect the pureness of the person when they where alive. Many of the dead simply remove there hearts and hide them away so that mortals cannot find them."

"Why would they do that."

"Because…..Because if one possesses this version of a corpses heart they…"

His face flushed deeper and he turned his face away before finishing.

"They hold complete p-power over the corpse that the heart once resided in."

Her eyes widened as her mind raced. He had practically placed his existence within her hands. She had to admit the act itself was very touching as it meant he trusted her completely but at the same time it felt wrong to hold such power in her hands. And yet…She picked up the heart gently and Ivan watched with bated breath to see what she would do. He could feel her fingers upon its shimmering surface as if she where actually touching his flesh. They where so warm and soft. She repositioned it within her grasp and then taking a finger gently brushed it across its surface. He trembled and leaned back against the couch as though he was in utter bliss. He looked over at Emily with pleading eyes.

"P-Please be gentle m-my S-s-sunflower."

He begged her in a whisper. She blushed at his words and tone before giving his heart yet another gentle caress. She watched as his head flung back and he drew in a shuttering gasp. His blush had grown down to encompass the entirety of his cheeks. He was now shaking like a leaf in the wind so vulnerable and helpless with his heart in the grasp of the woman he loved.

'Please be gentle with your Ivan's heart sunflower please.' He silently pleaded as he watched out of the corner of his eye to see what she would do to him next. He could see the small smile on her pink lips as she brought it closer to her face and pressed a tender kiss to its surface.

"S-SUNFLOWER!"

He moaned as his hands clutched at his chest, his blush now creeping down his neck and spilling over his collarbone. He had not expected this to ever happen save in his wildest fantasies. Her lips had felt like the velvety petals of a rose as they brushed themselves across the sparkling surface 'oh if only they had lingered for a moment longer' He thought as he felt one of her gentle fingers place itself beneath his chin so as to make him face her. Her lips had now formed a sly smile as though she was drunk on the power he had bestowed upon her. Yet her shy nature could still be seen in the blush across her cheeks.

"Did my Ivan like that?"

She asked in a voice that was surely stealing away his ability to speak eloquently.

"D-D-Da."

He replied his voice trembling along with the rest of his body. Though he no longer needed to breathe he was finding himself gasping for it as he processed her words. 'She called me hers.' He thought as he felt the specter of his heart leap within his exposed chest. 'Hers…..Her Ivan. Oh my sweet sunflower….please don't stop….Please oh her lips where so gentle' He thought desperately as he saw her bring his heart up to her face again.

"Shall I grace my Ivan's heart with another kiss?"

"P-PLEASE SUNFLOWER!"

He exclaimed as he now kneeled at her feet his white dress shirt falling off his broad shoulders as he gazed up at her like a man dying of thirst in the desert. He was still clutching at his chest and trembling with parted lips. Realization flooded into his shimmering pools of indigo and he once more looked away in shame.

"F-forgive me Emily I-I d-didn't mean t-to sound so f-forward!"

He told her as she leaned down to turn his face to look at her once more. She placed a single finger to his dead lips and she felt him shutter.

"You have nothing to be ashamed of Ivan."

She cooed lovingly to him and stroked his cheek gently. His eyes closed and he leaned desperately into the palm of her hand. He felt a lingering warmth there as her hand departed from his hollowed cheek and returned to its former position. Emily once more pressed her lips to the crystalline heart and was rewarded with another moan from his lips.

"O-oh sunflower…"

He took in yet another stuttering breath as he felt a third kiss being pressed to his heart. This was followed by yet another and another as his kind sunflower proceeded to cover his heart in butterfly kisses that rendered him to a breathless, blushing, trembling heap at her feet. When she had finished pressing the very last lingering kiss she turned to look at him. His eyes where closed and his lips where parted in bliss. His face, neck, and shoulders where still a flush as his arms had crossed themselves tightly over his chest. His eyes slowly opened to gaze up at her.

"E-Emily…"

He whispered her name like a prayer.

"I will keep your heart safe Ivan I promise."

She whispered to him.

"Y-you will?"

"Da."

He clutched at the helm of her skirt and bringing it to his face began to weep tears of joy.

"T-then Sunflower…..I am b-bound to you f-forever…..I-I am your s-slave beneath the e-earth just..Just p-promise me…P-promise me t-that you will n-never leave m-me."

He pleaded as he felt her hand begin to stoke his head.

"I promise Ivan."

She pressed a tender kiss to his head

"Forever and a day."

and there goes my attempt at fluff. I am pure evil and I blame phantom of the opera fanfics for this.