Ciel is met with pure darkness when he next opens his eyes. He shifts slightly to find the bed side drawer he should've put the candle on, but whacks his hand of it. He braces for the loud impact the metal holder is sure to make, but sighs in relief when he feels his bed sink slightly as it falls. Carefully, he lights the candle, not to keen to drip wax on his bed. To his shock, the clock in the corner of his room starts to chime not six, seven, or eight times, but twelve! He illuminates the clock with his light to double check, but the time still shows 12 o'clock on the dot. It can't be wrong, but Ciel knows he didn't get fall sleep until two. That would be he slept through the whole day!

Last nights events rush him all at once, and the man springs from his bed in a similar fashion a kid would to check for Santa: expectant, yet bracing for the truth inside claiming he wouldn't be there. No people or spirits litter the still cold air. It's as a night should be, silent and void of people. He even goes as far as to stick his whole head out the window to check the emptiness.

'Could it have been a dream?'

The question haunts him all the way back to bed. It chases his mind in circles as the clock changes to a quarter passed…a half passed…fifteen minutes to… At one, the first ghost will come...

The clock tower rings again, and no spirit appears. "I knew it was a drug!" Ciel yells, voice drowned in the still tolling bells. However, when the rings stop, a blinding light fills his room. He can hear the windows bang against the side of the walls as they open and blast cold air at him, snuffing out his still lit candle. When Ciel's sight clears, he is met with one of the strangest sights he's ever seen.

His glowing green eyes with fake lasses that have a strange sort of double iris and the cheshire cat grin on his face aren't what surprises or scares Ciel the most. Shocking red hair that looks to burn the air around it and glasses rimmed with red don't either. No, it's the large, red, bloodstained chainsaw held in the ghost's hands. Unlike Alois, this one has no chains around his body, but seems to glow with a soft light that completely off sets its appearance

"Who and what are you?" asks Ciel, voice sounding rather rude in his fright.

The grin changes to a sneer. "Never address a lady like that!" it snaps angrily. "No wonder your bed only holds your own lonesome self every night; women must run at the mention of you! Besides, you should give the Ghost of Christmas Past, Grell for short, more respect, or her chainsaw just might cut through you."

'Grell?' Ciel critically looks the ghost up and down. "I don't remember my past looking quite so…"

"Amazing? Hot? Flaming?" Grell poses with each new adjective.

'Gay.' Figuring that would get him killed, Ciel instead finishes differently. "Unique."

The flaming haired male (?) smiles again, showing pointed teeth Ceil had not noticed before. "Why, thank you!" He comes forward and grasps the other's hand. "Now that we've gotten that behind us, let's go!"

"I'm not going with you," Ciel yells, pulling back at the hand, but it's useless in the iron grip. "Plus, the door is that-oh, no! You wouldn't!" The door way may have been behind them, but the window was in front. "I can't fly; I'm a mortal!"

"Sucks to be you," Grell offers with no pity as he starts rising in the air. Ciel unwillingly follows suit, legs turning to jelly as the open hole draws closer. The night outside seems to turn into a bottomless void to Ciel as his doom draws increasingly near. He closes his eye as he moves over the window… and opens it in front of a very familiar manor.

The length of the building stretches almost out of sight in the vast peacefulness offered by no other houses with in walking distance. The large, well crafted pillars he hasn't seen in years stand proudly beside him, reaching up at height that seemed endless when he had been younger. Small cracks appear in the sturdy walls on front of them, but is still in great condition for its age. A fine layer of snow covers the ground, yet he nor the ghost feel its coldness.

"Woof!" The bark startles Ciel, and causes him to turn around with a delighted expression so rare, people would've sworn on their mother's grave the apocalypse was coming soon if old Phantomhive could make that face.

"Sebastian!" two voices ring out in harmony, one childishly higher than the other, deeper toned one. The window behind them opens and swings right through Grell to reveal a younger, smiling Ciel in a sailor-like suit.

"The nerve of that bratty kid!" Grell huffs, flipping his hair back in a way most associate with women. "Wait…that mangy thing has the same name as my Sebas-chan? I won't allow it!" The rev of a chainsaw fills the air, but the dog and child don't react.

"Are you bloody mad?" Ciel yells. "You can't kill my dog!"

Grell threateningly holds his chainsaw to Ciel's throat. "Correction: It was your dog." He gestures to the manor next to them. "In case the building and child weren't obvious to you, this is the past. It doesn't matter how many times I try to cut that kid or dog. Nothing may happen, but I get a good work out, and my anger has a better outlet than small, furry animals." He stops the spinning blade, but pushes it closer to Ciel's exposed neck so it touches without cutting. "Same goes for you, sadly."

"Ciel!" A woman appears from the same window wearing a simple dress anyone could find in a common store, but it greatly adds to her beauty. Her eyes are see same as the boy's, and her hair is a yellow one can only find in the sun. Her smile could blind a light bulb. In her hands are a towel. "Make sure you dry Sebastian off with this before coming inside; we don't want to give our workers extra work!"

"Okay, mom!" The younger Ciel laughs as his cheek is licked by a rough dog tongue and runs to his mother. Sebastian follows energetically, chasing the child around his mother's skirt. The older Ciel stares longingly at the picture of his mother laughing joyfully.

"Rachel Phantomhive," Grell supplies indifferently, examining his nails as he talks. "She was a kind woman who loved children, but her weak body only allowed her to have one of her own," Grell looks at Ciel, "you. You were the highlight of her life! She read to you, played with you, and yet still had time to help out orphans. There was only one thing in her universe that could ever equal you, her son."

All most on cue, a tall, well-dressed man with black hair appears and watches silently. A small smile makes a few lines around his brown eyes show, but your attention would be too drawn to the beauty mark under his eye to notice. He stands there for no longer than a minute before his son notices his father. "Dad!" He runs to the man and is scooped up to sit near his shoulder. It's easier to tell they are father and sin with their faces both next to each other. "I can run faster than Sebastian!"

"Are you sure he just wasn't letting you win?" the man asks teasingly, making the younger Ciel pout. Rachel comes over a kisses her husband's cheek lightly with a smile.

"Vincent Phantomhive." Grell's voice is still flat. "He was a family man and a loving father. While most fathers pounded all the soft-heartedness out of their children, he was one of the few that let his be however he wanted. Even with papers due the next day, he would stop everything to go spend time with his loving wife and you." A sigh. "They were good people...even at their death."

The ghost snaps his fingers, and the scene becomes replaced instantaneously. The family disappears, replaced with raging flames the same color as Grell's hair. The proud pillars melt in the intense heat, falling to the ground.

"NO!" Ciel runs forward to a smashed window with his arm out stretched...and finds himself outside in a totally different town. He spins around to go back through, but is met with snow covered buildings. "No," he repeats, sinking to the ground as he trembles.

Grell sighs down at the trembling man. "It wouldn't have mattered what you did; it was all in the past-"

"Why?" Ciel asks in a weak voice. "Why?" he asks again, stronger as he surges to his feet and turns to glare at the ghost. "If I couldn't have done anything, why the hell did you show me that horrible sight that haunts me to this day!"

The glowing eyes that seem to know more than a human ever could stare straight into him. "Because that was one of the last times you ever cared for another being on this Earth." He gestures to a structure on the other side of the road. "Do you remember this place?"

Grudge still in place, Ciel walks quickly over to the other side of the road, uncaring of the people passing through him. He peers in as Grell comes up beside him and exclaims, "This is Tanaka's old place! The others and I were apprentice here! And look," he points to an old man with gray hair and a monocle sitting at a desk, "there he is, still alive!"

There's a crash from somewhere in the store. A flustered girl with purple-red hair and giant glasses stumbles into the frame. She apologizes feircely to old Tanaka, but he only smiles kindly at the girl and talks in a voice too quiet for the two outside to hear. Mey Rin quickly moves to the chairs and pushes them against the wall. Another boy with blond hair and baby like green eyes rushes in and helps the girl. Ciel moves forward through the glass so he can add sound to the picture.

"-Bard and Ciel! We need you two to help as well~!" Finny sings loudly. "We need this place cleared out in time for the Christmas Eve party!" A man with a cigar sticking out of the corner of his mouth and blond hair tromps down the stairs, complaining about the light supply of alcohol in a teasing voice. Soon after follows a young man by the name of Ciel.

The floor is quickly cleared out, and people come in. The young daughters of Tanaka come with men flocking behind. Musicians of every level flock to the center of the far wall and begin tuning. People from across town and next door, old couples and young couples, giggling girls and leering boys. All find their way to the magnificent party. Dancing soon begins, followed by cake, and then more dancing. The night and energy are contagious to all! Random strangers come in half way and are welcomed openly. Even the younger Ciel has a small smile on his face as he eats by the refreshment table.

"Ce-il-lu~" a happy voice carries over the noise. Both Ciels turn to see a bubbly girl with blond ringlets bouncing beside her face running towards them. The younger man drops his cake as she slams him into a hug, but he doesn't seem all that upset about it. Elizabeth looks amazing in her Christmas dress, causing both Ciels to blush a deep scarlet. She beams at him. "I knew you'd be eating cake instead of dancing."

The younger Ciel regards her strangely. "You want me to dance with other girls?"

She laughs. "I didn't say that! I just know your personality and comfort zones." Elizabeth grabs his hand. "Come on; let's show them how it's done!"

"E-Elizabeth-"

"It's Lizzy," she scolds lightly.

Ciel sighs. "Fine. Lizzy, I have two left feet and-"

"-would be happy to dance with you, right?" They're standing in the midst of the crowd, but the couples go around them. Some girls shoot knowing looks at Elizabeth as she moves Ciel's hands into position. "I don't care how we look," she whispers, somehow making the moment private in the crowded party, "I just want to spend time with you."They start off with the next dance, soon lost in the crowd.

The older Ciel is entranced by the mood soon, and talks about people he hasn't seen in years. He talks to himself more than Grell, pointing out 'good old Mr. Wordsmith' or 'creepy Baron,' and has a somewhat happy smile on his face as well.

"It's foolish, isn't it?" asks Grell after Ciel has finally come back from memory lane. At his questioning look, he elaborates. "The food is hardly five star, and the room is lower class. The musicians are no where near perfect, yet everyone has so much gratitude to that wrinkly old man over there. It's a small matter in their lives that will soon be forgotten."

"'Soon forgotten?'" yells Ciel indignantly. "Tanaka's parties are still remembered even in my time!"

Grell fixes him with a stare. "You forgot, didn't you?" He snaps his fingers once again, location changing from the jolliness of the part to the silence of Ciel's store. An older couple near the peck of life are alone in the room, silently looking to each other. Elizabeth has tears in her eyes.

"Ciel, I can no longer stay here!" she cries, voice seeming to echo in the room of toys. "You have changed!"

"Of course I have changed." There is a slight tone of annoyance in his voice has he talks, not taking his eyes from the stuffed rabbit he's inspecting. "Humans change, but my feelings for you have not." He finally puts down the toy and looks to the green eyes shining in the light.

"Really? Are you so sure?" Her voice is barley more than a whisper. "I have watched all your noble dreams fall to your growing greed and cruelty until all that remains are none."

He snorts. "Merely a child's goals."

"Have you forgotten how we were just children when we made our promise?" Elizabeth shouts, tears flowing even faster. "Have you forgotten how we planned to slowly gain our money and live happily? You were different back then!"

"I was a boy!" Ciel yells impatiently.

"And I was a girl with no money, yet you married me!" Elizabeth defends. She takes a deep breath before continuing. "Maybe we should separate as you wish."

"I have never said I wanted to leave!"

"You didn't have to!" She gestures to the shop. "You attitude showed in your work as well. As time when on, they went from amazing to passable enough to parade as toys. Your emotions mirror them. My guess is if we were to meet now, you would skip over me to marry a girl with money, not personality!" Ciel's mouth works in the air, but nothing comes out. Elizabeth turns her back to him. "You and I both know the answer. I will leave you and hope that somewhere, in your heart, you will feel actual emotion for my absence, but we know that you will quickly dismiss me from your mind and focus back on your work." The door is flung open, and she casts one more fleeting glance to her ex-husband. "My live give you happiness, Ciel."

"Good after her!" The older Ciel looks away as the other begins to weep openly, but doesn't move after Elizabeth. "Please...take me home..."

"No can do. My time is almost up, but we have time for one more stop." Ciel stumbles away from the ghost's sadistic grin but can't hide as the scene shifts.

The room isn't very large or clean, but has an atmosphere of comfort to it. Near a fire is a girl that looks so much like Elizabeth that Ciel mistook her until he registered the other, older woman that was the original. Noise strong enough to cause an earthquake echo in the room as each child makes the amount of noise equivalent to ten. He expects someone to say something, but the mother and daughter continue to laugh and chat in their position near the fire. Ciel feels a sting of longing in his heart at the scene, wondering what his life would be like with little feet pounding on his floor. True, he is still in the middle stages of life in which it isn't too late for him, yet due to this reputation, the chances are zero to none.

His longing only doubles when gifts are brought home by the father. Each child treats the wrapped boxes as if thry're a gift from the savor himself! Every gift is met with either a shout of victory or a groan of defeat when socks appear. The father is soon met with an avalanche of kids as they hug him in gratitude and scamper off to play.

"Guess who I saw today?" Elizabeth's husband asks as he kisses his wife's cheek.

She laughs happily, making Ciel flinch slightly. "Oh, I don't know."

"Why, it was Mr. Phantomhive! He was working late, even with his partner ready to die." He shakes his head in amazement. "Ain't he a hard worker, or is he just alone?"

Ciel turns his back and glares at Grell. "Take me back," he yells, "or make them change!"

Grell smiles at him, pointed teeth glowing in the firelight. "This is the past; it can never be changed. Just as your family is forever gone, this event is forever in history." But he snaps his fingers, not appearing by Ciel as his bedroom comes into sight. Exhausted in heart and mind, he doesn't even bother to move from in front of the window before passing out.