So here is the second chapter to my story. I should have known that it wouldn't be a one shot. I am keeping the theme of dreams so this chapter is also about a dream AND about Lucille and Kohaku's relationship.

I had a lot of inspiration for this chapter. The first came from the very beginning of Volume 2 of Grand Guignol Orchestra. There was a picture of Eles and she had puppets of the three men. I loved that picture so that is totally in this chapter. The second came from the end of GGO volume 2. There was a picture of a guy who looked exactly like Kohaku but it wasn't. He was wearing a maid outfit though and I loved it so that went in there too. And also inspiration came from Kaori Yuki's other manga Godchild. Cain and Riff have very intimate moments together and those moments inspired me for Lucille and Kohaku.

In this story all the chapters are named after songs. They weren't necessarily inspired by the song, but the song title/lyrics fit ^_^ This one is Save Me by Nicki Minaj.

This chapter was supposed to be cute because of the puppets but it actually turned out very dramatic! I'm warning you now, so go on in and enjoy!

"What exactly are you doing, Eles?"

Eles looked up from her work to see Kohaku raising his eyebrow at her. She smiled as she lifted the fabrics in her hand so he could get a better look. Gwindel looked up from his hedgehog to see the fabrics as well. Their car was currently parked with no destination ahead of it. They had no mission so the four of them simply stayed in the car, waiting on something to do; Lucille and Eles in the backseat and Kohaku and Gwindel in the front.

"I'm sewing. I bought some fabrics and sewing equipment at the last town. I get bored listening to you guys argue all the time so I needed something to entertain myself," Eles laughed to herself and went back to sewing. Kohaku nodded at her but was aware that she missed his point.

"I see that you're sewing, Eles. What I should have said was: where did you get the money to sew?"

Eles looked away from her sewing again but this time placed her eyes on Lucille, who was resting his head on the window. His eyes were already closed, but he seemed to close them tighter when he heard Kohaku ask his questions.

"Well, Lucille gave me the money," Eles said, looking at Kohaku.

Kohaku nodded again. "Lucille, darling, wake up, please. I need to talk to you."

Lucille shuddered when he felt Kohaku's hand on his cheek. Kohaku may have sounded sweet, but Lucille could hear the venom behind the love. He kept his eyes closed, pretending to be asleep, knowing it would never fool Kohaku.

"Lucille…." Kohaku said in a sing-song voice.

Lucille was going to continue to avoid Kohaku when he suddenly felt pain all through his cheeks and jaw. Kohaku pressed Lucille's cheeks in with his hand and from the look on his face he was enjoying it.

"Ok, ok! Let me go!" Lucille cried as best as he could. Kohaku kept his hand in place for a few more moments before finally letting go. Lucille rubbed his cheeks, while glaring with all of his might at Kohaku.

"I gave her the money."

"And where did you get the money from?"

"Don't be such a jerk, Kohaku!" Lucille yelled. "Eles works just hard as you and Gwindel so she deserves a cut of the pay!"

"You gave her the money from our missions? That's supposed to pay off our bail, Lucille!"

"I know, Kohaku. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I knew you and Gwindel wouldn't agree. But Eles deserves something for working with us. I can't just let her work for free," Lucille told him. He looked at the violinist with sad eyes and could see him start to melt.

Ever since Kohaku fell off of the car and Lucille told him about his dream, they grew closer and more trusting with each other. Even Eles and Gwindel were able to see the change between them. Since that change came about, Lucille learned that Kohaku would bend to pretty much anything the singer wanted. Lucille continued to look at him with sad eyes and kept apologizing for not telling him about giving Eles money.

"Fine!" Kohaku yelled, turning around to face the windshield. Lucille smiled and stretched his hand to Eles, receiving a high five from her. He only just starting trusting Kohaku fully, but he never had that issue with Eles. He always trusted her and could confide in her. He told her about how he kissed Kohaku at the hospital and that he thought he was falling in love with the dark haired man. He also told her how he wasn't sure how Kohaku felt about him. They were both able to see how he treated Lucille with more kindness and even affection, but he never showed if he actually loved him. Lucille didn't know it but Eles had a plan to see if Kohaku felt the same way that the singer did.

"Don't worry, Kohaku. I don't need to get paid. I have entertainment now," She held up what she had been sewing and Kohaku turned around in his seat to see it.

"The hell are those things?" he nearly yelled.

On Eles's fingers were four puppets: Herself, Gwindel, Kohaku, and Lucille. Lucille touched his puppet and smiled widely.

"These are precious, Eles. It didn't take you too long to make them!"

"Nope. It only took me a couple of days. Thanks for giving me the money, Lucille. Now I can play with them when I get bored."

"They're very accurate," Gwindel said.

"No, they aren't! I'm in a damn dress!" Kohaku yelled.

"Not just a dress," Lucille said, touching the Kohaku puppet. "You're in a French maid outfit."

"Why the hell am I wearing that, Eles?"

Eles thought he was going to reach over and rip up her puppet. "I had dream about us and you were in a maid outfit," she stated.

"A dream? Are you serious? What is it with you guys having dreams about me?" Kohaku turned back around.

"Let me tell you about it, Kohaku! I think you'll like it!"

"I'm in a dress! There's no way in hell I'll like it!"

"Just listen!" Eles said and then she started on her story.

Once upon a time there were three siblings. These three siblings were royalty and lived in a giant white castle in the middle of the land they ruled. They all got along and ruled the land together rather than having one of them step up to take charge. Things worked out better that way since they all had good ideas about how things should be run. The economy was good, their people never went hungry, most of the people had jobs, and no one seemed to dislike the way the three of them were ruling. They lived in a perfect Wonderland.

"Nothing is ever perfect, my dear sister," Prince Lucille said one day. He looked at his twin sisters and smiled at them. Princess Eles looked shocked at his statement while Princess Celes didn't change her expression at all.

"But just look outside, Lu! Our people are happy! There is nothing more we can do to make things better because everything is perfect," Princess Eles argued.

Prince Lucille kept smiling. He always loved his sister, Eles, for her childish, if not naïve, outlook on the world. She kept her innocence and it made Lucille believe that not all hope was lost. She always wore white and he couldn't help but think that it was the perfect touch to add to her pureness.

"What he's trying to say is that even when something seems perfectly clean, there are no doubt hidden stains," Princess Celes interjected.

Lucille and Eles both looked her. Lucille never thought it would be possible for twins to be so different from each other. If Eles was the naïve child then Celes was the realistic pessimist. She wore black, the opposite of her sister, and was always quick to remind her two siblings when things were not going right or when things would never even work. She had a dull attitude and never tried to understand her brother and sister's optimism.

"Yes, I suppose you could put it that way," Lucille said. Eles just gave him confused look. He smiled and put his hand on her head. "Nothing you need to worry about, dear sister. I was wrong. If you believe everything is perfect, then it is."

Celes just rolled her eyes and stood to leave. "Where is Gwindel? I want him to go on a walk with me."

"I believe he's cutting the roses. You might find him in the garden," Eles answered.

Celes scoffed. "You would think a butler would be closer around to the ones who pay him."

"He does have a whole mansion to keep up, not to mention an entire staff to manage, and employers to answer at their every beck and call. Give him a break, sister," Lucile said.

A growl was the response he received as he watched Celes leave the room, her heels clicking angrily on the floor.

Eles didn't seem to notice her sister's annoyance as she stood up and grabbed her brother's arm. "Let's go the kitchen and see what the cook is making for dinner!" she said excitedly.

Lucille laughed as he was dragged down the hallway to the kitchen. Before they made it there, Eles stopped and pointed down the hallway.

"Who's that? I don't think I've ever seen him here before," Eles said.

She was pointing at a man with who seemed like he really didn't belong in the castle. He had on a long trench coat that went to his ankles, the black color of the coat matching the black of his hair. The collar of the coat stood upward and covered his mouth and nose, making him look more suspicious than he should have. The man was looking at a large portrait and didn't seem to notice the two of them walk up. Lucille moved Eles behind him as he addressed the strange man.

"Excuse me? Can I help you with anything, sir?"

The man jumped as if he was startled and stared Lucille in the eye. Lucille remained calm but wanted to gasp at the large scar the other man had. It went from his forehead all the way across his face. Lucille wondered what could have possibly happened to the man, when he suddenly gave a curt bow and spoke.

"Forgive me. I am looking for Princess Celes. I'm new here and don't know my way around the castle yet."

"You're…new here? A servant?" Lucille asked.

"Yes! In fact is that Princess Celes behind you?" he bowed again. "It's a pleasure to see you again, Princess Celes."

"Oh, I'm not Celes!" Eles told him, coming out from behind Lucille. "My name is Eles. I'm Celes's twin sister."

The other man's eyes grew wide. "Oh, you're her sister! Of course, my apologies. And that must mean that you're Prince Lucille. My name is Kohaku. It's wonderful to meet both of you."

"Pleasure," Lucille said hurriedly. "Celes never told us she was hiring another servant. In fact, we are actually full on our staff. Have you talked to the head butler as well?"

"I can't say I did. Princess Celes said I could have the job without speaking to him."

"No, I'm sorry. You'll have to speak to-"

"Kohaku! You made it!" Lucille was interrupted by the sound of his other sister, Celes, who came running down the hallway with Gwindel following behind her.

"Kohaku, I assume you've already introduced yourself to Lucille and Eles?"

He nodded. "Yes, ma'am, I did."

"Lucille, I know it seems like I hired him without bringing it up to you and Eles, but this man is amazing. He was recommended to me by a friend and I thought that you could use another pair of hands."

"I could use another pair of hands?" Lucille asked, putting emphasis on the 'I'.

Celes nodded. "Yep! I hired him to be your personal servant. He works for you and only you. He'll wait on you hand and foot. You're always so busy since you're the oldest of us siblings so I thought having your own servant could give you a little break. You'll die young if you keep going the way you are."

Lucille looked at Celes as if she were crazy. "Celes, I appreciate the thought but, I don't need my own servant. We have plenty of servants who can do whatever I need them to. Why do I need-"

"Because Kohaku is different than the others!" Lucille was getting really tired of being interrupted. "Kohaku will be there for you no matter what. He'll do anything you tell him to do and you said it yourself that this is a big mansion to run! If all three of us are keeping the servants distracted then it's making Gwindel's job that much harder! Lucille, I implore you to use Kohaku and you'll see how this will make your life easier."

Lucille was not convinced. He thought the entire idea was ludicrous. He rubbed the bridge of his nose before looking over at Gwindel.

"Do you agree with this, Gwin?"

"If the mistress says it is a good idea then I have no qualms about it. It will not effect me whether you decide to take this man on as your employee or not."

"Very good answer, Gwin." Lucille said, rubbing the bridge of his nose even harder. Gwindel was no help, so he turned to his other sister.

"And you, Eles?"

"I like the idea!" Eles said excitedly. "You do work hard since you have to make all of the official calls. Having a servant do some of your normal, every day things could be nice. Not to mention you can talk to him when you don't have us to talk to, since he'll always be by your side."

Lucille felt trapped in a corner. One sister wouldn't let up, the other was over excited, and the butler didn't care one way or the other. He looked at Kohaku, who had remained silent throughout the entire conversation.

"And you, sir?"

Kohaku let out a chuckle. "I'll be happy to be your personal servant, if you'll allow me to be."

Lucille sighed loudly and finally stopped rubbing his nose. "Ok. You can be my servant, but only on one condition…."

And so, it was that Kohaku became Prince Lucille's personal and permanent servant. At first Lucille was extremely apprehensive, but soon he realized that Kohaku was helpful to have around. He did whatever Lucille asked him to do without hesitation or complaining. Not only did he do it without complaining but he made sure he did the job well. Lucille was never unsatisfied with the work Kohaku did. He was the perfect little servant.

However, there was one time that he complained and whined. When Kohaku first started to work under Lucille, there was a condition that the prince required of him. On that first day, Lucille took his new servant up to his room and opened his closet door. Kohaku was surprised to find that the closet was full of women's dresses. He raised his eyebrow but did not question his new boss's sense of style.

"Ah, this will do perfectly," Lucille said, pulling out a dress.

"What…what is that?" Kohaku asked.

Lucille smiled widely as he ran his hand over the little French maid dress, complete with an apron and head piece. "This is your condition, Kohaku. This is your uniform and if you refuse to wear it you can show yourself to the door."

"B-but this is a dress! I'm a man!"

"Well, so am I and I see nothing wrong with wearing a dress. Take it," Lucille held the dress out to Kohaku. "Unless you think you would rather look for another job outside of the castle."

Kohaku looked at the dress with disgust, but knew he had no choice. He snatched the dress from his new boss and was about to change into it, but he stopped and stared at Lucille. The blonde prince crossed his arms and smiled at him, making the other man shiver. Kohaku thought it would be bad idea to change in front of the prince; he did enjoy wearing dresses, after all. There was no telling how he would react to watching someone change into the maid outfit.

"If you can show me my quarters, I'll change in there." Kohaku quickly said. Lucille grinned even wider and motioned for his servant to follow him. And that was the beginning of Lucille and Kohaku's relationship.

A few months had passed since Kohaku joined them. He still wore the dress and he still did an excellent job. One day, while Kohaku was bent down tying his master's shoes, Lucille spoke to him.

"How did you meet Celes?" Lucille asked him.

Kohaku paused tying the laces to look at the prince. "Well, I worked for one of her friends. Unfortunately, that family had to let me go but recommended to the princess that she take me on. I met with her and she liked me and then suggested that I work for you and only you, rather than work for the entire castle."

"Why did the family let you go?"

Kohaku avoided his master's gaze and went back to tying the shoes. "Their son had died. His parents, the people I worked for, were devastated. They fired everyone, but I was particularly close to their son. They didn't want to just fire me so that's why they called Princess Celes."

Lucille nodded and watched as Kohaku stood up, indicating he finished tying the shoes. Lucille looked up at him from his chair before slowly reaching out and taking his servant's hand in his own.

"Prince?"

Lucille smiled at Kohaku. "It may sound selfish but I'm glad you came to work under me. You work hard, you don't complain, and you make sure I'm always happy and comfortable."

"That's my job, Prince. I'll always make sure you're happy." Kohaku said.

"You've been with us for six months now, Kohaku. I feel closer to you than anyone else, even Eles and Celes. You're different, Kohaku."

"Don't say that, Prince. Those girls are your sisters. You love them more than anything, especially more than some lowly servant."

"I do love them, but I also consider you more than a servant. You're my best friend, the only person I can confide in. You won't judge me based on my decisions and even though you do what I tell you to, you let me know when something I do or say is wrong. You won't let me make mistakes, but if I do make a mistake you won't blame me for it. You're so much more than a servant to me."

Kohaku shook his head and took his hand away from Lucille. "No, I'm just a servant. Nothing more, nothing less. I do what you tell me because it's my job. I listen to you because I'm supposed to." He turned around so he wouldn't have to look into the prince's eyes. "I tell you when you're wrong because you always think you're right. Don't glorify me to something that I'm not."

Lucille stood and tugged on the bow from the apron Kohaku was wearing. "You're a bad liar. How come you want me to think you don't care about me?"

"Because I don't. This is a job for me, a way to make money. That's all."

Lucille stopped tugging on the bow and wrapped his arm around Kohaku's waist. He felt the other man tense up and smiled as he started to smell his hair. "There you go, lying again. No one likes liars, Kohaku. Now, as your master, I demand that you tell me the truth."

For a moment, Kohaku felt grounded to the floor. He couldn't speak or think or even breath. His master never spoke to him this way before. The truth? What truth did he want? Kohaku wasn't lying; at least he didn't think he was lying. Their relationship was master and servant. Kohaku did what his master told him to do because it was job. He told him he was wrong because no one else would tell him when he was wrong; someone had to do it!

"The truth?" Kohaku said in a whisper.

"Yes, stop lying to me and tell me the truth, Kohaku." Lucille said into his hair.

"You're beautiful."

Lucille stopped short and blinked twice before responding. "Well, not the truth I was looking for, but a truth nevertheless," The prince let go of his servant and walked in front of him to the door. He had places to go and didn't have time to play around.

"You're beautiful too, Kohaku. I love seeing you in the maid dress. I think I might try to get you a pink one."

The prince left Kohaku in the room, leaving to go find his sisters. Kohaku knew he had an important meeting to go to and all three of them were required to show up. Usually Kohaku was always there, regardless of the importance of the meeting but this time he was not allowed to come along. He stayed put and sat down in the chair his master had just been sitting in.

"He'll want tea when he comes back. And I should go ahead and make his bed properly and then get everything together for his bath." Kohaku went though his list of things to do and sighed. His boss was high maintenance but it was nothing that he couldn't handle.

"Hey, you!"

Kohaku jumped, startled at the sudden voice ringing through his ears. He looked at the door to see Princess Celes walk through it in an extravagant, sleeveless black dress.

"Aren't you supposed to be at that meeting?" Kohaku asked.

"I'm about to leave. You and I need to talk!" She walked close to him and stared down at him like a mother to her son. Kohaku avoided her gaze by focusing on the floor.

"Why isn't Lucille dead yet? It's been six months. Six! How much longer do you need?"

"I told you that I can't just come at him randomly. These things need to be planned out."

"You've had six months to plan it out!" Kohaku tensed as Celes screamed at him. He knew he had been putting off killing Lucille. He wasn't lying when he said that it required a lot of time to plan out a murder, especially the murder of someone who was always being watched like the prince.

"Just give me more time. I promise I'll-"

"You'll murder him tonight. You'll do it when he goes to sleep. And if you don't I promise I will make your life a living hell." Celes pushed his shoulders before storming out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

"Damn. Damn, damn, damn!" Kohaku yelled, slamming his fist on the arm chair.

Kohaku never considered himself a caring person. That was far from the type of person he was, however every now and then a person came along who made him tweak his normal way of thinking. Prince Lucille happened to one of those people.

The prince said that he trusted Kohaku and that he was his best friend. He said that he felt closer to him than anyone else, even his own sisters. No one had ever said things like that before. No one ever felt any sort of connection to Kohaku and regardless if he admitted it or not, he was starting to feel the same about Lucille. Yes, the prince was demanding and annoying and perverted, especially for making him wear that maid outfit, but the prince was also kind and caring and Kohaku could see love in his eyes. He treasured the moments when it was just the two of them. Something has simple as tying Lucille's shoes made Kohaku feel happy and closer to the man.

"What's happening to me?" Kohaku whispered to himself. "What's happening? What the hell is happening?"

He pushed down that bothersome voice that was telling him he had fallen in love the prince. He refused to believe it. He couldn't fall in love with the prince. He had a mission to fulfill and he intended on completing it.

A scoff left Kohaku's lips. "I better not be in love with him anyway. In just a few hours, he'll be as good as dead."

The meeting didn't take as long as Kohaku expected it to. Lucille arrived home with his two sisters trailing behind him. He said he was tired and told Kohaku he was going to skip his bath and go straight to sleep. Kohaku looked from Lucille to Celes and almost cringed at the look she gave him. Kohaku quickly escorted his master up the flight of stairs to his room, helped him change, and put him to bed.

It was almost midnight when Kohaku made his way back to Lucille's room. He slowly opened the door and creeped in, gently shutting the door behind him. The room was pitch black but after six months of cleaning and spending all of his time there, he knew his way around. There was a chair next to the door, so the servant grabbed a pillow from it and quietly made his way to the bed. He climbed on, knowing very well that Lucille was a light sleeper. He straddled his master's waist and waited for him to wake up. He didn't have to wait long.

"Kohaku?" Lucille said, sleep evident in his voice. He blinked a few times trying to adjust his eyes to the darkness. He wasn't able to see Kohaku's face but he could clearly make out the figure. "What are doing? Why are you here?" Kohaku could tell that he was indeed waking up fully.

"I'm sorry, Prince," the servant whispered.

"What?"

Lucille tried to scream as he felt a pillow cover his face. He kicked his legs and flailed his arms but it was useless. He wasn't making contact with Kohaku at all, so he instead grabbed a hold of his servant's hands and tried to move them; they weren't budging. He didn't realize Kohaku was so strong. He listened to his own muffled cries and began to panic. He began to slap at Kohaku's hands in a last, desperate attempt to get him to stop what he was doing. It was no use. He felt the pillow being pressed harder into his face. What was Kohaku doing? Why was he doing this?

Lucille couldn't focus on that as his chest began to tighten. Each inhalation was so painful. His lungs cried for air yet they could find none. The fear was overwhelming and he did his best to scream, knowing no one but his murderer could hear him. His own voice was inaudible to him; he wasn't sure if he was saying comprehensible words or not. The muscles in his arms and legs started to feel like weights. Lights began to flicker in front o f his eyes and soon the pain in his chest started to dissolve. His arms and legs fell flat on the bed and even though he knew that it was the end, he more than welcomed it, if just to escape the pain. He never imagined that his last moments would be filled with so much terror. Terror and sadness; sadness that the man he once trusted was now his assassin.

"Please, stop screaming. Please, stop. Don't scream anymore. Please, Prince, stop screaming." Kohaku whispered as he held the pillow on Lucille's face. He couldn't stand the sounds of his master's screams.

"Help…me...oh, please…."

Kohaku pressed even harder as his master tried to cry for help. He wanted this to be over quickly but he knew that wasn't possible. Cruelly enough, suffocation took a long time. Kohaku remembered that he once read in a book that drowning was the most painful way to die. Wasn't suffocating and drowning essentially the same thing? Kohaku moaned at the thought of Lucille being in so much pain.

"Kohaku…please, stop…." Lucille's strained and muffled voice made it to Kohaku's ears.

"Shut up!" Kohaku screamed, unable to take hearing him any longer. "Just shut up! It's almost over, ok? Shut up!"

He watched as Lucille's arms stopped hitting him and fell to the bed, as well as his legs. Kohaku blinked a few times and slowly started to loosen up on the pillow.

"Prince?" he called out to him.

He fully removed the pillow and reached over to turn on the lamp on the desk next to the bed. The light illuminated Lucille's face and Kohaku couldn't help but let out a small cry. His lips formed a perfect O as he stared into the glassy eyes of his master.

He never suffocated anyone before. He thought that when someone was suffocated their faces would turn blue, in almost a comical way, or that they looked like they were sleeping. Neither was the case here. He held his hand to his mouth as he took in the sight before him.

Lucille's mouth was still open in a silent scream. His eyes stared into the dark nothingness, glazed over and lifeless. There was some blue on his face, just as Kohaku imagined. His lips were just a tinge blue, if they could even be called that color. They had darkened a bit and compared to the paleness of his face, one could call the color of his lips black. His face was wet from sweat and from what Kohaku thought were tears as well.

Mission complete.

Kohaku rose from the bed, bringing the pillow turned murder weapon with him. He placed it back on the small chair and left the room, closing the door behind him and ignoring the sob starting to rise in his throat.

Morning came just like any other day. Even though Kohaku got no sleep, he still had things he needed to do. He was still a servant and would be until Celes paid him for his job. After he got paid he would leave and never look back.

He worked with Gwindel to prepare breakfast for the three siblings. Gwindel noticed he was a bit shaky, but decided not to say anything about it. Everyone had their off days and it didn't matter to him as long as his work got done. The siblings always ate their breakfast on the patio. He and Kohaku brought their food to them, just like any normal day.

"Where is Master Lucille?" Gwindel questioned when he noticed only Eles and Celes sitting at the table.

"I'm not sure," Celes said, stirring her tea with a spoon. "Kohaku, did he not want to get out of bed this morning?"

Kohaku blinked as he tried to think of an appropriate answer. "He…I knocked on his door but he didn't call to me. I figured he must have been tired after yesterday's meeting so I decided to leave him alone."

"I understand," Celes said. She smiled to herself and Kohaku couldn't help but think that she was the devil himself. "Thank you, Kohaku."

He closed his eyes, knowing very well what she was thanking him for. He couldn't wait to get his money and get out of there as fast as he could. He thought he would go crazy if he had to spend even a moment longer in that damned castle.

And for a minute…he did think he was crazy. That couldn't have been Lucille's voice….

"I was quite tired but I would have woken up if someone decided to actually enter my room."

Kohaku slowly turned around and forced down his urge to scream. There he was. The prince was standing right in front of him. He had dressed himself and looked like nothing had occurred the night before. He smiled and walked so close to Kohaku he could feel the heat exude from his body.

"What's the matter, Kohaku? You look like you've seen a ghost," Lucille said.

Kohaku opened his mouth but nothing came out. He knew he probably looked like frightened little boy, but to say he wasn't frightened was a lie. He couldn't see it, but he could feel the blood leave his face. He knew he looked as pale as Lucille had looked last night.

"I…I…I…." Kohaku stuttered out.

"You, you, you…? You what?" Lucille reached up to touch Kohaku's face, but as soon as his hand made contact Kohaku screamed and stepped backward, losing his balance. He fell backwards while still looking at Lucille with horror on his face.

"A clumsy little maid, aren't we?" Lucille teased, bending down to pull at Kohaku's dress.

"Kohaku, are you feeling well? You were a bit jittery this morning too," Gwindel said, helping Kohaku stand. He had to hold him since Kohaku was unable to even stand on his own.

"N-no! I feel…so tired and sick. Please, I need to lie down," Kohaku grabbed onto Gwindel's coat and hid his face away from Lucille. He thought he was literally going to start vomiting if he looked at him again.

Lucille nodded. "He does look pale. Take him to my room, Gwindel, and let him rest there for a bit."

Gwindel nodded and was about to leave when Eles jumped up and appeared next to him. "I'll go too! I want to make sure Kohaku is ok."

Lucille watched as the three of them left before focusing his attention on Celes. He smiled at her and sat down, grabbing a piece of bread as he did so.

"Celes, I have some unfortunate news."

Celes just stared at her brother and waited for him to continue. She was not in the best of moods right now, considering Kohaku didn't finish his job.

"We have to let go of Kohaku."

It took everything in Celes not to burst out laughing. She could only assume that Kohaku did indeed try to complete his mission, but had failed miserably. Lucille would never fire his servant, unless, of course, he did something horrible.

"Why is that? Did he do something to upset you?" Celes feigned concern.

Lucille nodded. "He tried to kill me last night. He suffocated me with a pillow and he almost succeeded. Most people don't know that when they suffocate someone they should continue to suffocate that person even after they think that person is dead. If they aren't truly dead, then once air gets back into their lungs they'll be right as rain."

"Oh…oh dear god, Lucille!" Celes ran to her brother and hugged him as tightly as she could. "How can you be so calm about this? We need to call the authorities and have him arrested! Oh, thank God you are still alive!"

Lucille smiled as he hugged his sister back. "Now, now, dear Celes, don't act so upset. After all, we both know you want me dead and gone."

Celes slowly back away enough to look Lucille in the eyes. She looked into them with disbelief written all over her face. "What are you talking about, Lucille? How could you even say something like that?"

"Why else would you hire a mercenary to be my personal servant? Do you honestly think I wasn't suspicious since that first day Kohaku arrived at the mansion? I had Gwindel do some research on him. Imagine my surprise when I found out that he is a trained mercenary, not only that, but also a weapons master. Gwindel was ready to have him arrested that day but I decided to wait it out a bit. I knew you had grown tired of working with Eles and me, but I never expected you would go so far, Celes."

Celes pushed away from her brother, her look of disbelief turning into a look of disgust. She should have known Lucille would have figured it all out. Her brother was no fool. She didn't say anything so Lucille kept on speaking.

"You don't like the idea of working together. You want to rule this kingdom on your own so you devised a plan to get rid of me. Even though I listen to the two of you, I'm the one who makes all of the official calls since I'm the oldest. You knew that once you got rid of me you could call the shots since Eles would never be able to stand up to you. You should have killed me yourself, Celes. I was able to charm the heart of your mercenary. He's yours no longer."

Celes thought her head was going to explode. He had read her like a book. She thought of all the mistakes she had made since she decided she was going to take out Lucille. He was right. She should have done it herself. At least that way she knew that the job was going to get done. However, she relied on another human being and that proved to be her downfall. Celes looked at the table and grabbed the knife that was sitting on it. It only made her angrier to see that Lucille did not falter. He still remained in his seat with that calm, smug look on his face.

"You're so arrogant, brother! I deserve to rule this kingdom! You're right; I don't want to work with people like you and Eles. I have my own ideas and you two stand in the way of me pursuing them! There are so many things I can do for this kingdom if you would just shut up and let me try!"

Lucille chuckled. "No, Celes. The only thing you want is to become a dictator. You want to rule this land with an iron fist to make yourself feel more special. I love this land and I won't let you do anything to harm it."

"Then die." Celes raised her knife and was about to run to her brother when she felt something grab her arm. She looked up into the eyes of her butler and gave a yell as he squeezed her arm, forcing her to let go of the knife.

"Is that all true, Celes? You wanted to kill Lu just so you could rule by yourself?" Eles stood by the doorway to the patio, a few tears falling down her face. Celes had nothing to say to her twin. Telling her it was all true was pointless and telling her how much she hated her was just as pointless. She kept her mouth shut and stared at Lucille as he stood.

"I'm sorry, Celes. Today you're going to get arrested and put in jail. Both Eles and Gwindel heard everything so they'll be able to tell the police what you were up to as well. As for Kohaku, he'll sing when I tell him to. However, he'll be changing his story a bit. I'm going to pretend last night never happened. Instead he came to my room and told me the plan you so deviously came up with. Since he's been working for us for years there was no way he was going to let you kill me."

Celes listened as Lucille told her what he was going do. He was going to pretend Kohaku had been his servant for years? She would get arrested and forced to spend the rest of her life in prison, if she managed to avoid death, while this lowly killer got off free?

"You bastard! You would pick some nobody over your own sister? How could you? How dare you?" she screamed at him.

"No," Lucille said, pulling Celes's hair down so she would have to look up at him. "I'm not picking a nobody over my sister. I'm picking a man I trust and love over a relative whose greed surpasses any thoughts of loyalty and love," Lucille let go of her hair and began to walk away. "Gwindel keep an eye on her and remove her from my sight at all costs. I never want to look at her again."

"Yes, sir," Gwindel kept his grip on Celes, never letting up for a moment.

Lucille touched Eles on her head and she looked up at him with a tear stained face. This was reality and even though Eles seemed like she wasn't ready for it, Lucille knew she would be fine. After all, they had each other. She would miss her sister but she would understand that she needed to be punished.

"Eles, would you be a dear and call the authorities?"

Eles slowly nodded and wiped the tears from her eyes. Lucille smiled at that and pulled her into a hug. "That's my girl. I hate seeing you cry. Wipe those tears away and keep your head up."

Eles nodded and returned the hug. "I'll take care of it. You go on. I know you want to see Kohaku."

Lucille rubbed his sister's hair before standing and running to his room.

Kohaku sat on the bed with his knees to his face, rocking back and forth. He sat at the very spot where he thought he killed Lucille. He thought of Lucille's glassy eyes and frozen, pale face. Those eyes…they were the eyes of a dead man. It hadn't been the first time Kohaku had seen those eyes. He knew death when he saw it and he had no reason to believe that Lucille hadn't been dead.

"He was dead. I know he was. He was dead," Kohaku whispered.

"Actually, I wasn't dead. You only thought I was."

Kohaku jumped and backed away as far as could without falling off of the bed. Lucille was standing in the doorway, staring at Kohaku like he was prey.

"I thought…I mean…your eyes…." Kohaku was unable to finish his sentence.

"You almost killed me. Suffocation is not a sure way to kill someone. You should have shot me. Just know that I'm alive and accept it. Can you do that for me?"

Kohaku closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and nodded. Lucille was alive; there was nothing he could do about that. He had other things to worry about now. He would definitely be arrested and probably put to death. Even though the thought frightened him he was more upset to think about leaving the castle. It meant he would never be able to see Lucille again. He covered his face with his hands so the prince wouldn't be able to see the pain etched on it.

Kohaku jumped again when he felt something move the bed. He removed his hands to see Lucille sit down on the opposite side of the bed, still staring at his servant. Kohaku's hands quickly went back up, however Lucille grabbed them and forced them back down again.

"Are you upset, Kohaku?"

Kohaku could only nod. What has this man done to him? He was once a proud mercenary; a killer with no feelings or remorse who worked for any price. Now, he wanted to do nothing more than stay in this castle and work for his master, wearing that stupid maid outfit.

"Kohaku," Lucille said gently. He put his fingers under Kohaku's chin so he would look at him. "You're not going to get arrested. I refuse to have that happen. Instead, you're going to testify against Celes and tell them that she asked you to kill me, but that you wouldn't do it."

Kohaku's eyes grew wide and he couldn't stop the tears from falling down his face. "Why…why would you do that for me? I tried to kill you, prince. Why would you want to save me?"

Lucille smiled as he wiped the tears away from Kohaku's face. "People do crazy things when they're in love," Lucille closed his eyes and he kissed Kohaku on his lips. The other man tensed, but more than welcomed the action. Lucille held his lips there for only a moment before pulling away.

"After all, you tried to kill me. If that's not crazy, then I don't know what is," Lucille said as he pressed their foreheads together. "Oh, and please, call me Lucille. No more of this 'prince' stuff."

Kohaku nodded and lifted Lucille's hands to his face. He gently kissed his delicate fingers before looking him in the eye again. He had no idea what he was doing, but he knew he had never felt so sure in his entire life. "Ok…Lucille."

Lucille seemed to glow when he said his name. He didn't hesitate to press their mouths together again and kiss Kohaku passionately. Kohaku had never felt such fire in heart as he felt their tongues slid against each other. He reached up and touched the prince's perfect face as he opened his mouth wider. Lucille lowered him onto the bed, their mouths still entwined. After many more moments of kissing they finally pulled away. Kohaku stared into the eyes of his once master, now lover. He rubbed his long hair tenderly before pushing the prince's face into his neck. Lucille relaxed and wrapped his arms around his chest.

"I want to stay here and work for you."

"As my personal servant?"

"Yes."

Lucille smiled. "Sure thing. There is one condition I have though."

Kohaku giggled as he continued to play with Lucille's hair. "I'll keep wearing this maid outfit. I don't mind so long as I get to stay with you."

"Oh, you're still wearing the maid outfit," an evil look made its way into Lucille's eyes. "But…I have a pink one now…."

"And that's the end of my dream!" Eles said enthusiastically. She looked at Kohaku, who looked like he wanted to jump over the seat and grab her throat. She was unable to tell how Gwindel felt about it (as usual.) Lucille, on the other hand, had tears in his eyes. She might have been able to take him more seriously if he hadn't taken the Kohaku and Lucille puppets she made and put them on his fingers during the middle of her story.

"That was beautiful, Eles!" he cried out to her. "Who knew you dreams were full of such inspiring romantic fantasy?"

"It wasn't inspiring! It was dumb!" Kohaku yelled.

"No, it wasn't! It was a beautiful dream. I…I thought that the love between us was fair and humble. It was a bit selfish of you to try and kill me just so you wouldn't have to deal with the fact you were in love, but then you didn't care whether you were sentenced to death or put in jail! You just wanted to stay with me! That couldn't have made me happier," Lucille said to Kohaku.

Kohaku looked at Lucille. He noticed earlier that he had been crying, but had done nothing to try and comfort him. He started crying at the part where Kohaku tried to kill him. He supposed that would make anybody sob, but he didn't stop crying for the remainder of Eles's story. Did the dream touch him that much? Kohaku wondered if he thought that the dream was going to come true.

"I'm not as much of a punk as I am in that dream. It was a stupid dream and I don't want to hear anything else about it!"

Kohaku opened the door to the car and scrambled out of it. Lucille called to him but he didn't stop moving. The singer looked at Eles and Gwindel, who both just shrugged.

"Go to him, Lucille," Gwindel said. "I think we both know he's going through some unfamiliar emotions right now. If it were anyone else I would say to leave them alone, but I think he needs you now."

Lucille marveled at the wisdom Gwindel had. He rarely spoke but when he did it was usually something spectacular. Lucille nodded at him and jumped out of the car. Eles looked from Lucille to Gwindel. She held out the Gwindel puppet to him but he shook his head. He held his hand out as if to give her a high five and she put her palm over his. He would have ripped her puppet if he even tried to put it on. She took her hand away and giggled, making Gwindel give her a small smile.

Lucille didn't have to walk far to find the dark haired man. Apparently, Kohaku decided he would just sit behind the car rather than try to run away. Lucille stood next to him for a moment before slowly lowering the Lucille puppet to the other man's face.

"I don't want to see that," Kohaku said.

"Well, you don't want to talk to the real Lucille so I'm afraid you'll have to talk to me," Lucille moved the puppet around to indicate that it was the one talking. He didn't try to disguise his voice as he spoke. He figured it would only serve to upset Kohaku even more.

"Talk to me, Kohaku," Lucille moved the puppet closer to Kohaku's face. He stared at it before looking to the ground and shaking his head.

"What happened between us? When did things change?"

Lucille closed his eyes and sighed before responding to Kohaku's questions. "Well, I suppose it was that day that you fell off of the car. I didn't realize how much I really cared about you, Kohaku. The thought of losing you made me want to give up on life entirely. And then as I lay with you at the hospital I couldn't help but pray that you were going to be ok. I'm…I'm so in love with you."

"Don't say that," Kohaku said. Lucille noticed his voice sounded scratchy. Even though he didn't want to hear it Lucille had to get it out.

"It's true though," He said, making the puppet touch Kohaku's face. "I love you so much. I want to stay with you forever."

"Just stop!" Kohaku yelled, pushing the puppet away. "I don't love you, so don't tell me you love me! You're lonely and want someone to be with, but don't you dare pick me!"

Lucille didn't feel anything as he heard Kohaku's words. He could tell the other man was lying. Considering how Kohaku treated the singer after he got out of the hospital, it was obvious he cared about him. Lucille looked at his puppet and at Kohaku's puppet. Eles's story truly touched his heart. He thought that the two of them could be happy together, just like how they were at the end of the dream.

"You said that in the dream too," Lucille slid to the ground next to Kohaku. "Please, don't lie to me, Kohaku."

"I'm not lying! So stop-"

"No, you stop!" Lucille interrupted him. Kohaku quickly shut his mouth and stared into the eyes of the singer. "Kohaku, in Eles's dream I was a lonely prince and you were my servant. You listened to everything I said and did exactly as you were told. Isn't that just like how things are in reality?"

Kohaku didn't answer as he lifted his knees up and buried his face in them.

"Even now, I'm alone on my throne and I only have my servant, you, who I truly love. Don't break my heart by telling me that you don't love me."

Kohaku stayed quiet and Lucille could feel the tears sting his eyes. He knew Kohaku was cold and bitter. What would it take to melt the other man's heart? Lucille was on the verge of simply giving up and heading back to the car when he felt something on his hand. He looked down to see Kohaku entwine his fingers with his own. Lucille looked into Kohaku's eyes and smiled. The violinist lifted his other hand to Lucille's face to wipe away a tear the singer didn't even realize was there.

"I won't lie to you anymore," Kohaku said. "But don't make me say it. I don't want to deal with this, hell, I don't even know how to deal with this!"

"I'll help you! We'll figure this out together!" Lucille cupped Kohaku's face in his hands, desperately wanting to kiss him. Kohaku turned his eyes away from him as he leaned forward and rested his head on Lucille's shoulder.

"I know we will but for now…let's just keep things simple. Let's just stay like this."

Lucille nodded and kissed Kohaku on the head. He was right. There was no need to rush. Lucille was ready to jump into a relationship with the man in front of him at a moment's notice, but Kohaku wasn't so confident. However, Lucille understood that and he didn't want to force Kohaku to do anything he wasn't ready for. That would only drive him away. Kohaku would come to him willingly and when that day came, Lucille would welcome him with open arms.

You gave me strength
Gave me hope
For a lifetime
This time won't you save me; this time won't you save me
Baby I can feel myself giving up, giving up
Come save me


So, that was it. This chapter was different than the first one cause you were actually taken into the dream. Also, I really like Gwindel and Eles's budding friendship! It wasn't supposed to be that way but it did happen so now I like it haha! Maybe they'll play Cupid to Lucille and Kohaku.

Kohaku is hard to imagine being in love, but I see him as being the type who doesn't want to admit it. He doesn't want to say that he's in love because that involves being vulnerable and letting someone in deeper than most people are comfortable with. In this case, considering that he is with Lucille against his will he certainly wouldn't want to be in love with the man. However, love conquers all, and it's only a matter of time before Kohaku finally breaks down. We can already see it happening by how the chapter ended ^_^

And the puppets will be returning in the next chapter...see you then!