Another Gen Sebastian/Mey-Rin for ya. I think it's easy to see how these two could be friends and more... if Sebastian indulged May-Rin and she would quit hero worshiping/nose bleeding... who are we all kidding? We are all somewhat secretly Mey-Rin...

Late March, 1892

There was a stillness in the air as the moon was clouded. For one more night, the dark clouds dominated the sky once more. Nothing moved, or breathed, as Mey-Rin quietly darted over the roof, her eyes missing nothing as she scanned the ground far below. The curve of the entry road was empty. No one was standing in the shadows. Nothing was out of place. But her heart still would not still. There was a fear in her veins and it pounded in her ears. She crouched and used her scope to scan a darker patch, wishing, once more, that she was not alone in this nightly routine. She heard a small sound and she turned; Bard was opening one of the containers of bullets. He shot her a half apologetic smile, half nod. They were now a tight team and they would do anything to keep the Phantomhive Manor together.

Even as their home and lives fell apart.

Even as the trees far away were being invaded and parted, the march to defend the parts they had been tasked to defend, started as the moon was once more unobscured, bathing the Manor in almost unholy light.

Six months previous, October, 1891

Mey-Rin sat on the stool, half asleep as Bard and Finny were chatting about the newest trees and flowers. She loved looking and smelling them, but talking about them? And for hours on end? She shook her head and tried to focus on their conversation.

"But Mister Sebastian said to prune it back to almost the center, but then the young master didn't want to loose the flowers, so I only did half, and now it's not growing," Finny said. He sighed and leaned his head on his hand. "If it needs to be pruned to grow, the flowers are taking too much food from the process. I read it in a book from the library the other day."

"You went into the library? Sheesh, how did you manage to get back out?" Bard said, laughing. Mey-Rin blinked a bit and saw Finny frowning and then shaking his head and sticking his tongue out at the cook. The men were constantly teasing one another with barbs at their respective abilities.

She slipped away from the kitchen and the boys as they continued to taunt each other; it was still mildly light outside so she decided to go for a walk in the gardens that the boys were bickering about. She slipped off her apron and hung it beside the door, pushed the door open and stepped into the early autumn evening. Mey-Rin stood in the small patch of dying light and closed her eyes; she had been cleaning the east wing all day in preparation for the Fall Ball that Earl Ciel Phantomhive, the young master, put on annually. The cooler air and warm sun seemed to dance over her skin and Mey-Rin let out a small, satisfied sigh. She was finally slowly waking up once more.

She walked to the bench on the far end of the garden, where she would often sit and watch the birds flit around the trees, or admire how neatly the grass was trimmed around the rose bushes that was perfectly round and always trimmed with care. The Manor and the grounds were always being worked on, and she and the other servants always had something to do. This quiet moment, Mey-Rin thought cautiously as she shoved her heavy laden glasses into her hair, was a stolen moment she wanted as hers. She leaned back into the dying light, letting it dance over her face and closed her eyes. It was the small things like being able to not worry about anyone coming and getting her, or the Manor being attacked, that she placed deep into her memory. Because lately, they were getting fewer and fewer.

A shadow made her start and she reached under her skirt for the gun she carried and in a heartbeat whirled around, whipped it out, and trained it.

"Sebastian!" she stuttered as she un-cocked her gun and shoved it back into its hidden place. She reached up and tried to get her glasses out of her hair but they were stuck.

"I am sorry to disturb you, Mey-Rin," the tall butler said smoothly. He smiled a bit and reached up to her head to unwind a piece of hair that held her glasses in place. He handed the glasses to her but did not let go. "Mey-Rin," he said again. "I need your assistance on something."

"Me? You… you want me?"

"Yes, of course. I need you to help me watch over the young master."

"But I do already, Mister Sebastian," she said, now blushing as his fingers seemed to be more than just brushing hers as they still held the glasses by the ear piece near the same spot. She tried not to stare at it, or his fingers, or think about the way it sent a small rush into her, her cheeks slowly flaming. "Do I not do a good enough job?"

"You do a splendid job, I need you to help me when I am gone."

"Gone?" she squeaked. A quick look from Sebastian and she ducked her head and repeated the word a bit lower. "Gone? But where are you going?"

"I have been… summoned back home."

"Home?" She squinted, trying to remember where that was. She didn't even know where hers was; beyond the brick walls and the Manor, she had none. She frowned at the Head Butler for a moment.

"Home," he repeated. "I am unsure when I am leaving, but I need to make sure that the young master is well taken care of, and you and Tanaka are the two I trust the most to do so."

"Me? But I am a maid!"

"No, you are more than a maid," he said, a pointed look at her glasses and a lingering gaze on her bare eyes. "Please stop saying that you are only a maid." He sighed and let go of the glasses and turned away. Mey-Rin slid them on and wrinkled her nose; the weight was giving her a headache, but she wasn't sure she wanted to see Sebastian's outline so sharply.

"Why are you going home? Where is home?"

She watched as the black outline turned broad, letting her know that he was facing her. "A far away place that isn't as nice as here. And I was told I had to come back. My… task is being called into question."

"But surely after eight years you have been here at the Manor, you have accomplished it - or working on it mightily hard," she said, thinking what he could be referring to. "You don't have anything undone, as far as I know. If anything, you do some of our work as well." She giggled, "Especially Bard. I always hope he will learn to cook someday," she added wistfully. "But until then, at least we know you are cooking eatable meals."

Sebastian gave a breathy laugh. "Yes, there is that. And yes, I do complete all that is required of me by the young master, however…" he trailed off and Mey-Rin started to stand, not sure if she was to hear something only the Head Butler should say to someone else, someone much more qualified to hear and know his thoughts, but soon felt the steady hand on her shoulder, telling her to sit back on the bench. The small creak indicated he too was sitting once more beside her. Mey-Rin tried to control her breathing. Even after all the years they had worked together, the closer they were physically still made her school-girl heart flood with excitement. And the fact that they were far from the wondering and gossiping eyes of the others, who were sure she would fold one day and fling herself into his arms on purpose, didn't help her nerves as she listened to Sebastian's soft breaths, her own seeming to come in gasps. She was an expert in falling, and falling into his arms particularly, she reminded herself, as she breathed finally deeply; falling down stairs and into his arms was sort of her thing.

"I have enjoyed my time here," he said finally. "It has been… interesting to say the least. But now we are on the verge of a new century, on the verge of so much more that we can do. But," he sighed and seemed to turn to Mey-Rin, "where I am from, one doesn't get to leisurely watch and enjoy things. It's rather… chaotic."

"So that's why you don't mind when we mess things up or the young master changes his plans," Mey-Rin replied almost playfully. She remembered who she was and who he was and clamped her hand over her mouth. "ImsosorryIshouldnothavesaidanything!"

The hand came back to rest on her right shoulder and she felt his arm around her back. She almost fled, but the hand on her shoulder was firm and kept her in the seat beside him. She was surprised; he seemed utterly relaxed.

"It does remind me a bit of home, but you are all so special to me. Home, well, the place I'm from, isn't as nice and there isn't anyone, anything, special. Just… a lot of pain. Which could be nice at times, but it's too much for me." He gave a laugh as if his private thoughts were surfacing. "I am a weak one for sure… I've taken what I wanted, and have traded it for the comforts of here, of now, of this… of this human life." He turned and suddenly Mey-Rin's glasses were once more in his hands. He cupped her chin and looked at her with his strange red eyes. "I have traded my life there for this."

Mey-Rin was sure her nose would burst, was sure her face would be too scarlet, was sure he would pull away. But nothing happened and she relaxed a bit, just looked at his handsome, beautiful face. He was looking at her, just looking and not moving much more that the slow blinks and a slow smile spreading over his lips. She wasn't sure when his hands had moved from her shoulder and chin to her cheeks but they were there, burning slowly into her cheeks.

"Mister Sebastian?" she asked softly.

"I don't want to have to leave. It's so peaceful - this moment, with you. The young master and the others. But… I have to. I wish I could…"

She blinked and wasn't sure why he was saying anything; it wasn't his place to have to say anything to her. She was only a maid. Even if he did not see her as only a maid, he had to see her as below him. Below in status, below in importance. Below in beauty. She ducked her head and felt his fingers pull her back up to look at him.

"I trust you with this. All of what I am saying - because I shouldn't say any of it. Not to you. The young master knows so much about me, and I know there is still so much he doesn't and you hardly know me at all. But I am more than 'Mister Sebastian.' I am more than this shell, more than a pretty face," he added as her blush finally crept back into her cheeks. "I will try to make sure you know when I leave before I do. And if I have to leave suddenly, please let the young master know that I didn't want to leave without having him adequately prepared for my departure - have him know I am protecting him even from far away. And I am… well I am here until I am called."

"I'm sure he knows. You have been here for all of us. And the young master - he isn't a small boy anymore. He is soon to be 19, a man. And he will be married soon. He will have Lady Elizabeth with him - but I know he loves you far above us. You were here before us, you," she smiled a bit at the bitter memory, "you found us in our darkest times."

"I have a knack of doing that," Sebastian mused. "And you all in turn helped me from a dark time as well. Mey-Rin," he sighed her name like they were intimate. "You don't know how much you alone have helped me grow into the being I am now."

The sad look in his eyes, passing over his face, made her lean into him, wrapping her arms around his strong shoulders and sighed. She wanted to comfort him, take him back to a happy place. It must have caught him off guard because he slowly wrapped his arms around her as well. She stiffened a bit; if anyone found them they would think such improper thoughts! She tried to pull back, but Sebastian's chuckle and strong hands on her back made her stay.

"The light is dying, and the air is getting a bit of a cold. No one will venture out here," he muttered into her ear. "And if they do, well…."

"You are not afraid they will assume something more than we are friends?"

She could hear the wide smile as he turned into her hair and whispered, "I could only hope they thought us more than friends."