I feel kinda sad… this might be the last chapter of the story already. Well, scratch that. This IS the last chapter, I'll make it really long XD well training days have increased. There goes my beautiful Saturdays… even now, I've just come back from softball DX horrible, horrible. Anyway I've babbled enough. Chapter 7—

Winter was such an enigmatic, bewitchingly forlorn season. Beautiful, innocent white snowflakes fluttered solitarily in the cold, resting gently on the even, thickly snow-covered ground, immediately losing its individual uniqueness, unable to be told apart from its many other uncountable companions.

The young earl pressed both his palms on the window, his face close to the strangely melancholic scenery outside, his breath steaming up the glass. His sapphire blue orb flashed, stung with unshed tears, but he refused to let a single drop slip out from his eye, it was Christmas eve.

Christmas. The season of giving.

Giving? How ironic, when I am depriving him from his freedom.

Ciel withdrew his hands and walked back around his desk to sit in his armchair by the warm, friendly heat crackling in his fireplace. Letting his eye drift shut, he tumbled into the unfathomably dark yet comforting vortex of the resolution named sleep.

x.o.x.o.

Sebastian opened the door to Ciel's study gently, letting his crimson red eyes take in the sight of his Bocchan sound asleep in his armchair, a still-wet track of his tears snaking down the left side of his face, from his eye to his jaw.

Something snapped inside him, as he stayed frozen in his spot in front of the wooden door, a feeling of unworthiness, as if he had somehow failed in his job as Ciel's butler, even though he was but the most excellent butler there was.

The butler of the Phantomhive household caused his master's tears to be wasted, where are we now?

The adamant will to dry Ciel's tears overwhelmed Sebastian and melted his demonically emotionless heart, but something held him back, something prevented his legs from moving forward, something prevented his hands from reaching into his pocket to bring out a handkerchief. Something. Something prevented him from bringing comfort to the Bocchan that belonged to him.

Something made him turn around and walk out of the room, closing the door so softly it made no sound at all.

x.o.x.o.

Bocchan,

I apologize for those tears that you have shed. It must have been my fault. Bocchan, you should avoid sleeping outside in your armchair like that. You might catch a cold.

Your faithful butler,

Sebastian Michaelis

x.o.x.o.

His blue eye fluttered open, the cold sunlight immediately piercing his vision in a merciless attack. He stood up, stiff, to have spent a whole night in a chair. He looked outside the window and sighed softly. The snowfall had become heavier overnight.

The date circled in red on the calendar caught his attention. It was already Christmas Day. He pulled at his rumpled shirt, desperately trying to make himself appear presentable, if even the slightest bit. He went around to his desk and positioned himself in his chair, the pen poised over a fresh sheet of slightly yellowed parchment.

x.o.x.o.

Sebastian,

Isn't falling snow exquisite? They resemble frozen drops of tears, unable to reach under the ground, trapped above the earth, hard and alone. I sympathize with them. However, how can such sorrowful things still appear so beautiful? I guess there are two sides to everything.

I apologize for not knowing how to atone for my mistakes. But I know I'd like to tell you one thing: Merry Christmas, Sebastian.

If there is anything you might possibly desire, I might be able to grant it.

Just tell me.

Ciel Phantomhive

x.o.x.o.

Sebastian saw through the gap in the door his Bocchan putting something into his drawer, his desk a mess: parchment and paper were strewn all over the wooden tabletop, a couple scrap pieces falling onto the floor.

Ciel got up and started to walk out. Sebastian stepped behind the door as Ciel opened it, walking down the corridor, not even sensing the familiar dark aura watching him from behind.

Sebastian entered the spacious study, ready to clean the room. He walked towards the table, gathering up the loose parchment and paper, stacking them neatly in a corner, placing a paperweight on the top of the stack. He placed the pens in the glass cup and dusted the table.

Just as he turned around to tidy up the shelves, he noticed that one drawer was not shut tightly. He was about to close the drawer when he noticed the corner of an envelope sticking out. He opened it completely to see a whole drawer full of envelopes all marked with two words in Ciel's rushed, cursive handwriting: Sebastian Michaelis.

He picked up the one sitting right on top of the mess and slit the seal on the back with Ciel's silver letter opener.

Sebastian,

Isn't falling snow exquisite? They resemble frozen drops of tears, unable to reach under the ground, trapped above the earth, hard and alone. I sympathize with them. However, how can such sorrowful things still appear so beautiful? I guess there are two sides to everything…

x.o.x.o.

Ciel knocked once, twice, on the door of the butler's room. There was no answer. He tried the handle and it turned, opening the door to reveal the small, dark room. Ciel entered and switched the lights on. Most of the light fell on the table in the corner of the room, and Ciel could see a small black box on the side of the table.

He walked towards the box and lifted the heavy lid. Inside was a whole pile of envelopes, marked with one word: Bocchan.

He gingerly picked up the one right on top and opened the unsealed enveloped, sliding out a sheet of paper.

Bocchan,

I apologize for those tears that you have shed. It must have been my fault…

x.o.x.o.

The butler's light footsteps thudded on the thickly carpeted corridor, envelopes clutched in his hand.

The boy's heavy steps echoed softly as he ran down the dark hallway, his fists clenched around stacks of envelopes.

'Bocchan!'

'Sebastian!'

Master and servant faced each other, panting lightly, until their eyes reached the hands of the other, their hearts stopped beating.

Envelopes fluttered gently onto the ground in the space between them, resting in a small heap.

Sobs wrecked his body as his sapphire orb filled with tears, trickling in a steady flow down his pale, slightly flushed cheeks. 'Why didn't you just tell me?'

Sebastian continued to stare at Ciel as his tears reached the ground, soaked up by the carpet. 'Bocchan…'

'Why didn't you tell me anything? What's the point of writing all these letters if you don't even give them to me? What's the point of hiding them all in a box?' Ciel's sapphire eye started to glow fluorescent violet. 'Sebastian! Answer me! This is an order!'

'Bocchan, please calm down—'

'Just answer me!'

'Bocchan, I couldn't bring myself to tell you all these verbally. I wrote the letters, because these words were weighing on my heart so heavily I thought I would no longer be able to breathe properly. Bocchan, please understand that your reason is probably the same.'

Ciel's tears continued to spill as he forced himself to nod in agreement.

Sebastian placed a gloved hand on Ciel's shoulder. 'Bocchan, please don't cry. If word were to get out that the butler of the Phantomhive household caused his master to cry, what would people say?'

Ciel's heart broke into a million pieces. He had decided. 'Sebastian. Merry Christmas.'

Sebastian's eyes widened but he felt the first genuine smile tug at the corner of his lips. 'Well, thank you, Bocchan. Merry Christmas.'

'Sebastian, break the contract.' A last tear slipped from Ciel's eye as the words were uttered from his lips.

'Bocchan…?'

'That's an order. Break the contract. It's the last command you'll ever get. Just do it.' Ciel turned away and he felt Sebastian's hand slide from his shoulder.

'Bocchan, do you understand the weight of your words?' Sebastian's usually smooth, suave voice was now slightly hoarse and whispery. 'Bocchan?'

'Shut up, demon. I have given you the freedom that you desire. Now just accept it and don't question my decisions.' The broken pieces of Ciel's heart swirled with the breeze and disappeared, dispersed together with the snow and wind. Sebastian… letting you go is the hardest thing that I have ever done.

Sebastian slowly came down on one knee and brought his hand to his chest.

Ciel turned around to hear his butler utter the reply one last time.

Sebastian looked up and his wet crimson eyes pierced into Ciel's, who clenched his fists and tried to stop his knee from trembling.

'…yes, my Lord.'

The atmosphere broke and Ciel turned, running away from his former butler as fast as he could.

Sebastian stood up slowly, staring after Ciel as he dried his wet eyes with his thumb. 'I will definitely return for you.' Bocchan, you will always be my master, even if the contract is broken.

x.o.x.o.

Ciel stood beside the tree quite a long way from the front of the mansion, watching a dark cloaked figure disappearing into the night. He had avoided Sebastian for the rest of the day, afraid that if he made eye contact or spoke with Sebastian, even saying goodbye, he would change his mind about letting him go.

'Sebastian…' he whispered. 'I know you'll return someday. I'll wait for you until you do.'

x.o.x.o.

A Winter Several Centuries Later

A little girl sat in the snow, holding her injured bleeding knee. Tears fell from her frightened eyes as she waited, lost and alone for somebody to help her.

She was suddenly engulfed in a warm pair of strong arms, and a voice murmured in her ear. 'Ojou-chan*, are you hurt?'

She turned around to see a young man smiling warmly at her. She shook her head slowly. 'My knee…'

The man ripped out a hem of his shirt and bound it tightly around the small bleeding knee. 'It's all right now, ojou-chan. You'll be fine. Now, where are your parents?'

The little girl shook her head. 'I don't know… I got lost… mommy is at a big house somewhere around here, but I went out to play and I fell.'

'Let's go find your mother. She must be worried.'

They walked together in the snow, looking out for the 'big house' that the girl had been talking about.

The girl suddenly tugged on the man's sleeve. 'Wait, onii-chan*. The house is around here!'

The man looked at the direction the girl was pointing to. 'Oh?'

'I know because when I walked from the house, I saw this tree with the statue of a boy sitting next to it!' the little girl happily stumbled over to the tree, pointing at the figure sitting next to it.

The black hair, tinged with some blue, was finely dusted with layers of powdery white snow. The only visible eye of the face was closed, since a black eye patch had covered the other. The arms were clasped together at the stomach. If it had been spring, it would look as if a boy had fallen asleep by the tree. It was a tranquil sight.

The man turned to the girl. 'Do you know the way back from here, ojou-chan?'

The girl nodded happily and skipped away, shouting, 'thank you onii-chan!'

If she had stayed facing the man just a little longer, she would have seen his crimson eyes glow a fluorescent violet.

She would have seen the single teardrop that was making its way down the side of his face.

*Ojou-chan= little girl/ little lady

*Onii-chan= big brother

A/N: okay! It's finished! About the sequel… I think this is actually kinda good for an ending so maybe there won't be a sequel (: I cried writing it. Yeah. XD wow this is a long chapter. I put in lots of effort for this one since it's the last chapter (: PLEASE REVIEWW! THANK YOU! XD