A/N: sorry for the wait everyone, but I've got you all an extra-long chapter this time! yay! I had lots of fun writin' this on, and I'm looking forward to start working on the next one, yepper. As always, I love all of you guys for leaving all the reviews, and, uh... happy belated thanksgiving!

Disclaimer: see chapter one, and I don't own the song, "Blame It On the Moon," I believe Katie Melua wrote it.

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"Though We Walk Through the Valley"

Chapter Eight - "Blame It On the Moon"

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Victor was unable to think.

But even if he could, he wouldn't want to.

As he idly ran his fingers across Emily's hair, he let his mind drift. Nothing was there to bother him, or them. No problems to think about, no dilemmas, no hesitation, no sadness, or guilt… just for now, if even for a few seconds, it was just the two of them. That moment was for them, and them alone. And Victor wouldn't have it any other way.

But as all things in the world, the moment had to end. Emily, though very reluctantly, loosened her grip on Victor, and straightened herself. She couldn't bring herself to look him in the eye. She was looking off to the left somewhere as Victor looked on at her. He was still in a bit of a daze, thoughts of awkwardness or nervousness gone from him.

"I don't want to know," Emily spoke suddenly, still not looking directly at Victor's face.

He tilted his head in confusion and asked, "Know what?" He wanted to take both of her hands in his, but decided against it.

She seemed a bit angrier with this, her reply adding a bit of frustration in its tone along with the sadness. "I don't want to know why you're here." It didn't help in Victor's confusion, though. He was about to question again, before she spoke once more.

"I just… I'd rather not know… I know for a fact that you're coming here was an accident in some way or another, and you'll…" She swallowed hard, and snapped her head in his direction, now looking at him with pain-filled eyes.

"You'll leave."

Victor could only stare as those words escaped her lips. Guilt came back at him full throttle, and he frowned. He wanted to apologize, tell her how sorry he was for all the pain that he had caused her, how sorry he was for making the mistake of leaving her in the first place… but he knew it would make nothing better. It would probably make her even more upset. And he wouldn't blame her.

A small tear fell from one eye, and she quickly lifted her hand to wipe it away. "So… if it's not too much to ask, Victor…"

She grabbed hold of both of his hands, beating him to the gesture.

"Let's just go and have some fun, okay?"

For a moment, Victor debated on whether to sit her down and actually tell her the real reason he was there. But in the end, he figured it best to pretend for just a little bit. If it was what she wanted, then he would pretend.

Enclosing his fingers around her hands, he smiled and nodded happily.

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As before, as the two walked down the brick-road street, they received many stares. Thankfully though, the people in the Land of the Dead wouldn't go up to them and attack Victor with questions, or anything of the sort. This Victor was happy for.

This time, he let Emily lead him, even though he had a good guess on where they were going. Once again, the entire walk was silent between both of them. Neither felt awkward, however. Occasional glances and smile were exchanged, and that was conversation enough for both of them.

Emily thought to herself for most of the trip, sometimes even forgetting what was going on around her, losing herself in her brooding.

She couldn't blame herself, though. The man whom she had fallen more in love with than she had with Barkis, the man who left her for another woman, the subject of all of her dreams and nightmares for the past month… was walking right next to her. She had believed that when she left the chapel was going to be the last time she'd ever actually see him. She'd wished in her heart for his happiness and a fruitful future, in the arms of a perfect wife, and even little children someday. She was truly happy that he had found such a wonderful life.

Though when she was all alone, she would allow her darker desires to surface. Though she wished for her love's happiness, she longed for that happiness to be found in her. She wanted him to have loved her, to have died to be with her that night. She wished that Victoria hadn't come into the chapel, so that Victor would be there with her.

She knew she was being entirely selfish, thinking more of herself than Victor. But… she knew she couldn't help it either. No matter how much she would try to tell herself that she didn't wish for those things… she knew deep down that she did. And this would bring guilt onto her nearly as strong as her grief.

A soft squeeze from Victor's hand brought Emily from her thoughts abruptly. She turned to look back at him, and he was smiling that gentle smile that she loved so much. She returned the smile, and turned back to look ahead of her. And there she saw their destination.

Just as Victor had thought, the Ball and Socket Pub, with it's circular windows in the front, and wooden sign swinging back and forth from above the doorway. Victor let out a small chuckle.

"I remember this place," he whispered just loud enough for Emily to hear. She smiled to herself before continuing on toward the building and going inside.

Victor had to keep himself from smiling like an idiot as he entered the small pub. Lively music sounded from the stage, colored lights shone from all around, people chatting happily. It all made him feel so carefree, what he had been longing for all his life. He could've slapped himself for being so frightened of it when he had first been there. But now, the fact that everyone around him was dead, (and very obviously at that) didn't bother him in the slightest.

Just as he had outside, inside the pub, Victor earned quite a few stares from a handful of people, but he did his best to ignore it. He noticed a couple people smile his way, but other than that, he paid no attention.

He turned his head toward the stage as a familiar voice joined in on the jazzy tune. He couldn't help himself from smiling even wider as he saw Bonejangles up there, belting out the words in that rough, jazzy voice of his, swaying the beat of the music. A band of skeletons sat off to the right of the stage, playing various instruments.

The whole atmosphere almost made him want to giggle like a child on christmas morning, but he held it in.

"Victor, dear!" called a gruff woman's voice from in front of them. Victor looked around for a moment before finally spotting the plump old woman, head of the pub's kitchen, Ms. Plum. He smiled at her, as did Emily, as she waddled up to the both of them, angrily shoving other people out of her way. When she finally stood before the both of them, a warm smile came to her face, and she took Victor's hand and patted it in a mother-like fashion.

"Oh Victor dear, I can't tell you how wonderful it is to see ya here again," she said cheerily. "We've all missed ya quite a lot. You've probably already noticed that we all remember you." Victor nodded, and chuckled lightly.

All of a sudden, a loud crash sounded from the kitchen. No one else noticed it, since the bar was already filled with noise, but the three of them flinched as the crash was heard. Ms. Plum sighed and rolled her eyes.

Patting victor's hand once more, she said, "Well, I unfortunately I have to tend to some bonehead workers in the back. No pun intended… anyway, enjoy yourself, Victor. And you too, Emily."

Emily smiled in reply, and the old woman was once again making her way back into the kitchen. Victor laughed again, saying to Emily, "I remember her, too."

Just then, the song Bonejangles had been singing ended with a roll of the symbol. People quieted their talking to listen to what the jazzy skeleton was going to say. He padded his way to the front of the stage, quietly snapping his fingers to an unheard beat. Once the pub was relatively quiet, he spoke.

"Hey there, all you ladies n' gents!" he called in his cool, raspy voice. "I've got a special treat for you all tonight," there were a few cheers amongst the crowd. "A real gifted little lady, some of you might remember!"

The cheers amongst the crowd grew a bit louder, and Emily leaned over to Victor half-shouting above the noise to him, "I think I know who it is!"

Bonejangles spun around to the back of the stage, pointed his fingers toward to moth-eaten red curtain, and bellowed out, "Lizzy Limbs!" And at this, more cheers erupted from everyone, as well as from Emily, and a figure stepped out from behind the curtain.

As Victor looked at her, he noticed she couldn't have been more than thirteen-fourteen when she died. As everyone else's, her skin was a pale blue, her large eyes a faded yellow. She had short, straight (but matted) hair, and her hoop-skirt dress had tears all along the bottom, and holes scattered across it, and her blouse. Victor noticed with a small flinch, that her pointer and ring fingers were missing from her left hand.

As the cheers and applause died down a bit, the girl spoke to the pub in a soft voice, "I've got a special song prepared for all you guys here!"

Next to Victor, Emily was smiling excitedly. Without taking her eyes off of the stage, she leaned over again and said to Victor, "Ooh, I can't wait to hear. She's got such a lovely voice." She paused for a moment before adding, "It's a shame she only comes around once in a while."

Lizzy had said something else, but Victor couldn't make it out above all of the cheers and hoots from the people around him. As she finished whatever it was she had been saying, she turned to the band and pointed to them, and they started playing a melancholy intro to the song. Soft guitar, with a bit of drums and symbol. A couple of people walked out to the dance floor and began making up their own steps as the song started up, and Lizzy began to sing in a soft, majestic voice,

"Gonna blame it on the moon,

Didn't want to fall in love again so soon."

Still holding onto one of Victor's hands, Emily grabbed hold of the other, and stepped in front of him, and childish grin on her face.

"Come on, Victor!" she shouted above the music. "Let's dance, come on!" She lightly tugged on his hands, but he smiled sheepishly and shook his head.

"I can't dance!" he replied, tugging back.

She frowned playfully. "Aw come on Victor, you just have to go with the music!"

He shook his head again. "No, I'll look like a fool out there!"

She pouted for a moment, but then smiled at him. "Oh fine then. It's your loss, though!" And with that, she let go of his hands, and made her way over to the dance floor. For a moment, Victor thought it impossible to dance on your own to a slow song such as the one Lizzy was performing, but as he watched Emily, he was proved wrong.

"Now that it's gone too far to call for halt,

I'll blame it on the moon, because it's not my fault

I didn't think that this would happen so soon

So I'll blame it on the moon."

Victor's watch on Emily soon became a daze as she swayed back and forth with the utmost grace to the song's rhythm. Her arms curved in every position possible, adding more beauty to the dance, and she seemed to be almost floating, her feet so expertly grazing the floor. Her hips moved from side to side slowly, in sync with her ghostly veil swaying to and fro.

Victor felt his heart pick up speed at Emily's beauty. She spun around in her dance, and he could see her face for only a moment. Her eyes had been closed, and a wistful smile lingered upon her lips. The soft, purple light shined on her face from the stage, and accented her blue skin with a gorgeous radiance.

The young dark haired man swallowed hard and subconsciously began fiddling with his tie.

"I was happy to be free

Didn't think I'd give myself so easily."

Victor now knew he was blushing, and mentally cursed himself for it. He hoped the dark lighting in the pub wouldn't make it noticeable.

Still in a bit of a daze, Victor began walking forward. Part of him was screaming at him to stop, that it would only end in embarrassment. But with an unknown ambition, he kept on walking, easing between groups of people here and there. His eyes never left Emily's dancing form.

Suddenly the entire pub seemed much bigger, more space between him and everyone else. Atop the stage, Lizzy began moving to the song herself as the instruments played the slightest bit louder. Victor's heartbeat now felt like it was following the beat of the song.

Emily had yet to notice him, which he was thankful for, for reasons unknown to him. He kept on walking toward the dance floor, and it seemed to take much longer than it looked like it would. Maybe it was just because he was so nervous. But after what felt like an hour to Victor, he was only a mere feet away from Emily, who had her back toward him and was now just slowly moving back and forth, her arms tucked in to her sides slightly.

He walked up behind her as Lizzy finished the second verse of the song. Still oblivious to him standing right behind her, Emily continued in her swaying, lost in the music, inattentive to everything around her.

Still allowing his subconscious to guide him, Victor placed his arms around Emily from behind, and placed his hands atop hers, gently pressing them to her abdomen. Her eyes flew open at the contact, and she let out a surprised gasp. Her dancing ceased, and she quickly turned her head to look at whoever it was that had snuck up on her. And when she saw Victor's smiling face inches away from her own, her eyes went wider. After the moment of shock had passed, she was finally able to let a smile creep out onto her face, though she still felt entirely nervous. She couldn't help but wonder wildly in her mind, what he was doing. Didn't he… wasn't he with… Victoria? What…

Her thoughts ceased as Victor gently rested his cheek on her head and closed his eyes. Her nervousness started to disappear, and she turned her head back to look ahead of her. She slowly began moving from side to side once more, and only when Victor followed suit, did she allow her eyes to close as well. Victor's fingers intertwined themselves with her own. She could barely hear Lizzy's serene voice from the stage,

"Now that it's gone too far to call for a halt,

I'll blame it on the moon, because it's not my fault.

I didn't think that this would happen so soon…

So I'll blame it on the moon…"

Neither of the two could interpret what was happening at that moment. Victor hadn't even thought about going up to Emily in the middle of the song, and Emily was just ignoring her confusion for that moment. Her conscious was demanding to know why Victor was behaving the way he was. Wasn't the entire reason he was down there an accident? Sure, she didn't let him explain, but that was because she had been sure that was the only reason he was there with her – a misunderstanding.

Just like last time.

What else could it be? That was the question that kept her from allowing her hopes to rise. There was no other plausible reason for his showing up there, and she wouldn't let her mind think any different. She didn't want… to be let down again. She had been through it twice, and didn't think she could make it through again.

But… Victor was… he was being the Victor she dreamed about. The Victor that had chosen her instead of Victoria, the one that had chosen to stay with her and not called their meeting an accident… a "mistake."

Why, though…? Why was he…

Emily was broken from her thoughts abruptly, as she heard Victor say her name. She turned her gaze toward him again, and looked at him questioningly.

She didn't think she had seen anyone with such a look on their face. She couldn't even name what it was that was flashing in his large eyes. Her expression changed to a bit of concern. He looked like he waned to say something, but no words came from him.

"What wrong, Victor?"

"So I'll blame it on the moon…"

The song ended, and cheers erupted form the crowd around them. Though neither of them even noticed, still looking on at one another rather intently. Victor opened his mouth for a moment, and then shut it again. With a frustrated look on his face, he looked down for a moment, causing Emily's worry to increase. When he looked back up to her, he looked almost… scared.

And then, without warning, Victor leaned into the precious little bit of space that was between them, and softly pressed his lips on Emily's. The concern in her eyes immediately left, replaced with shock, and she could've sworn that she felt the faintest hint of a heartbeat echoing through her ribcage.

Though before the tiniest bit of happiness came to her, one word flashed across her mind.

… Why?

She stood stock still in Victor's hold, not daring to move, almost scared to. Only about a moment later did Victor pull away from her, his eyes filled to the brim with fear and desperation. He looked at her, waiting for her reaction, also not daring to move an inch.

The shocked expression hadn't left her face, though it soon became clouded over with something that mirrored incredulity. She couldn't… she could barely even think. Confusion began to overwhelm her, the question of why not ceasing it's constant run through her mind.

Suddenly, without thinking, she abruptly pulled herself out of Victor's arms. The fear in his eyes maximized tenfold as she stood there in front of him, still saying nothing. Though after a few horrible seconds, she finally found her voice somewhere in the screaming going on in her head.

"Victor, I… what are you…" She couldn't even finish. She had no clue what to do… and it didn't help when Victor suddenly looked like he had been slapped in the face. She felt horrible, and happy, and guilty, and confused… too many things all at once, she couldn't think straight.

So with one last look of helplessness, she turned and quickly made her way out of the bar.