The early morning sun snaked its way through the thick, heavy curtains covering the deep windows of the room. The gentle light hit Octavia's delicate face. She opened her sleep heavy eyes, stretched, and yawned before carefully crawling out of bed as not to wake the angelic looking boy sleeping beside her. She had a rough night and had spent much of it talking to Claude about Alois.

She had learned that he was afraid of being abandoned and alone, much like her, as well as being afraid of the dark. She knew he wasn't as cold as he seemed, he just needed love and care even if he was whiny and self-centered. However, she didn't know if she had it in her to love an abusive man.

She crept to the window and slipped behind the curtain. The bright light was warm and welcoming, the opposite of the house. She sat on the bench and watched the sunrise, marveling the beauty. So long had she been surrounded by death that she had forgotten the beauty of life. She closed her eyes and fell asleep with the warm sun on her face.

~~~~~~~~Dream~~~~~~~~~

It was a warm summer day, the wind was gentle and the smell of berries filled the air. She ran about the field, laughing as the dandelions blew everywhere. All was right in the world.

"Tavy," her mother's voice called but from where Octavia wasn't certain.

"Maman?" she asked looking around, "Where are you, maman?"

"Run, Octavia."

The dream shifted, it was dark and there were loud voices. "Find the girl!" angry voices shouted. There was the putrid smell of smoke; Octavia ran but she didn't feel fast enough and she felt large hands grab her and pull her down into a dark abyss where she could see nothing. She was screaming and fighting and clawing.

"Maman, help me! Don't let them hurt me!" she screamed.

~~~~~~~~~~End Dream~~~~~~~~~~

"Maman!" Octavia cried, falling out of the window and waking up Alois.

Alois looked at her confused then is expression turned angry, "What were you doing in the window!? Do I have to tie you to the bed!?" he yelled approaching her, ready to slap her but he noticed she was crying.

"I-I'm sorry, Alois," she whimpered, "I couldn't sleep and I went to the window to sleep. I'm sorry."

Alois softened and stroked her head; her hair was soft and silky. She calmed down and purred softly. That made him smile, the soft sound was soothing. It also made him feel guilty for yelling at her for sleeping in the window.

"Tavy, I'm sorry for yelling at you. I shouldn't have assumed you were trying to run away." He said wiping away her tears.

He does have some humanity, she thought. "I forgive you." She whispered.

She didn't expect him to apologize since Ciel always said he was too self-centered to care about anyone else, yet here he was feeling sorry for yelling at her for not sleeping in their bed.

"Why were you screaming?" he asked gently.

"I had a bad dream," she told him.

"About?" he pressed.

"My mother dying, it wasn't so much as a dream rather a memory of when I was younger. After my mother was killed, I was kidnapped and taken to England. I was from France originally. The things they did were horrible, I know I still bear the scars from the things they did."

Alois was shocked; he hadn't realized that she still had bad memories of when she was younger. Though she didn't say much about her past other than her mother was killed, he didn't know much surrounding her past. He wondered if it was a cult that kidnapped her and tortured her.

"I didn't have a very good past either, the previous Earl was horrible." Alois said, a little shocked he was saying anything but he continued, "He kidnapped many boys, looking for me… He would do things, bad things to us."

He had never talked about it to anyone, it felt right to talk to her about it though. He carefully watched her expression; it remained calm, concerned, and caring. Alois was growing hungry.

"Shall we call for Claude?" he asked.

"Yes, I am a little bit hungry." She said softly.

"First, I want to tell you something,"

"Yes?"

"Come closer," he told her, she did so. He cupped her cheek and kissed her gently on her lips. She stared at him in surprise; she hadn't expected that one bit. She didn't know whether to slap him, yell at him, or just stand there like an idiot. The other two weren't like her so she just stood there tongue-tied and shy. He smiled at her because he could see she was tongue-tied.

She cleared her throat, "How about we call Claude now?"

He laughed but saw her furrow her brow, "Awe, what's wrong Tavy?"

"You," she smiled.