Hello. Well, sad to say it, but this is the last chapter. It's not much, so I kind of consider it to be an epilouge, but, I guess not. So, everything is over, but I wanted to write this little bit out first before the stroy ends. If you'd like, you can leave one final reveiw at the end.

Thanks to everyone who read this, it's my most popluar story to date. Also, thanks to Random Person, Ayllise, and Rainstorm-Mosspath for all the awesome reveiws. Thank you so much!

I do not own Pandora Hearts in anyway.

~Rubi

~Sucker Punch~

Chapter 12: Something That Never Changes

Needless to say, things got considerably better for the two after that.

As days went by, Leo slowly got better, much to Elliot's relief. In the fourth day of his recovery, most of the effects caused by the poison had dissipated. During that time, at first, Leo would try his best to sleep, managing to do so most of the time. Later on, Elliot would find him peacefully reading, which did show that at least he had gotten well enough to read his favorite books again. The only thing that affected Leo now was the slight cold that he still had, but that was okay.

All the while, Elliot was constantly nursing his servant back to health. Leo didn't mind it, but he would tease his master about it at times. The noirette found it quite amusing to see Elliot blush furiously and get flustered whenever he brought it up, and so, he would lightly chuckle, being careful of his still sore throat.

Anyhow, a week and a half later, mainly due to Elliot's constant care, Leo was back on his feet and feeling better than ever.

Normal life resumed, and, eventually, their coming days were filled with their own brand of 'normal'.

"Elliot, I'm going back inside, just in case you start wondering where I am." Leo told his master as he stood up from his chair in the gazebo.

"Okay." The young Nightray answered, still working on evening out the edges of his snowman with his sword of all things.

"Besides, I've had enough of reading outside for one day. It's getting quite chilly out here."

"I said it was okay." Elliot insisted. "Go on ahead, I'll be along in a minute."

"Alright, don't stay outside for too long." With that, Leo left Elliot to finish his work, his footsteps quietly echoing in the fresh fallen snow. Meanwhile, Elliot was focused on perfecting his snowman.

See, Leo had talked him into it in the first place. So, together, they had built a snowman just to their liking. Elliot however thought that the edges needed to be more rounded, so he fetched his sword and used it to carve out the edges to suit him. Leo had just sat back in the gazebo reading a book while Elliot did all this. He had kept telling his master it was fine, but, knowing Elliot, he probably thought differently.

As is the relationship between the two; evermore contrasting each other and strengthening their friendship as only they could accomplish.

After a good three minutes, Elliot decided that it was now perfect.

'There, finally done.' He thought with absolute satisfaction. He returned his sword to its holster and looked at his work…no, him and Leo's work.

Leo had been right about one thing; it was getting colder outside, and it might be a good idea to get back inside the manor, feeling a little chilly at the moment. Shivering once, Elliot made his way back over to the door that served as the back door. Right off, he expected it to open, but this time was different.

The door was locked and he couldn't get in.

'What?' He tugged at the cold brass doorknob, willing it to open. 'Come on, come on!'

It still didn't open, and now his hands were shaking from the cold air of winter.

"Dammit." He hissed, his breath becoming a white wisp in the air. "Leo, if this is revenge for what happened last week this isn't funny!"

He tried shouting for his servant, if he was actually in the room on the other side. He then resorted to calling out for someone, anyone to open the door and let him in. No one was on the other side to open it though.

Realizing that no one was there, Elliot let his head fall against the door once in frustration.

"Great, just what I needed."

He wasn't sure how much time had passed now, but he was sure of one thing; he was utterly frozen by now. Laying up against a tree, Elliot watched his shaky breaths mist upon contact with the frigidness of the air. His arms were wrapped around himself in an effort to stay warm, but that tactic wasn't doing him any good.

'So, this is how Leo felt when this happened to him, huh?' Elliot wonder, closing his eyes.

The cold was making him tiered for some reason that he couldn't explain, and he really wanted to sleep, but he knew he couldn't do that, not in this weather. It was really starting to show the cold was getting to him.

Elliot started to think back to the events of two weeks back, how it all began. Leo leaving the dinning hall for some stupid reason, when, in reality, the poison had started to take effect, shown by when he woke up in the middle of the night. Elliot remembered the first time he met Ash, how shy she seemed, but, probably because of Leo, opened up to the both of them.

Then he remembered when she had come back, dripping with rain and bearing devastating news. He remembered their conversation, and how he had cried alone in the piano room while everyone else was asleep. Then came the events of two days after that night, when Ash had proposed a plan to locate the antidote in the city of Neshi. They had left right away, and then, of course, there was the memory of when he told Leo he was leaving. Elliot found it odd that, right then and there, Leo seemed desperate to make him stay. Maybe, like Ash had been, Leo was lonely without his master around.

There were memories of when they had gotten to Neshi, how they had found the fencing studio and met that despicable man, Algood. Elliot remembered when the stage collapsed that same day, taking him down with it and rendering him unconscious until he woke up back at the inn. Throughout those days, Ash's logic was her primary weapon, gathering truth and getting them closer to the answers.

Memories skipped right ahead to when they had been captured and Elliot was faced with Algood in a sword fighting match. There had been a moment where, Elliot had been fully exposed to attack, but Ash had saved him with a pistol she had on her person, hidden possibly. Then, there was when he saw the Chain, Phoenix, and how she turned Algood's body to ashes with it's power.

Then…she…was dragged into the Abyss? No, she…she had been, no doubt about it. For an unknown reason, Elliot had found this memory to be hazy, and he now wasn't entirely sure about the circumstances of her death, but…she was in the Abyss.

Anyhow, through it all, he had managed to get back home; He had saved Leo.

'Yeah, I did save him, didn't I?' Elliot shivered again, and he was brought back into reality.

This cold was getting to be unbearable, and Elliot was just barely managing to stay awake against the it. He knew he couldn't let himself fall asleep, if he did, things would only go from bad to worse.

He wondered if anyone was looking for him, and he also wondered how much more he could take.

"You'll be alright, Elliot-kun."

That voice, the soft and bright tone; he knew that female voice. Opening his eyes, he could of sworn he was hallucinating at the sight of the girl hovering in front of him, still wearing the same clothes as when she had died that day.

"Ash…?" He carefully asked.

She only smiled at him. "You made it after all. That's great, Elliot-kun."

"You…how are you here?"

"I only came to make sure." She plainly answered. "It's great that Leo-kun is feeling better. You're so sweet."

"Huh? What are you-" He cut off his own sentence when he saw that she was starting to fade back away into the now falling snow. "Ash!"

"Take care."

She said no more, completely vanishing into a white wisp, much like his own breath that kept freezing in the air.

'Was that just a mirage?' It did seem unlikely that she could appear before him, because Ash was in the Abyss. Well, then again, the Abyss is strange in itself, so, it wasn't entirely impossible that she had come from there, only to say hello.

Elliot closed his eyes once more, sleep threatening to drag him under.

"Elliot!"

That voice shook his looming sleep away, but his eyes still wouldn't open. Something then shook his shoulder and that finally made his eyes open. The figure that entered his vision was blurry at first, but then it focused, revealing Leo in front of him, worriedly looking at the other, the servant's breath also misting in the air.

"Ugh…Leo…?" Elliot choked out.

"What are you doing out here?" He asked, concern clearly in his voice. "Are you alright? I've been looking for you for the past half hour."

"The door was l-locked." Great, now even his voice was shaking.

"And you've been out here all this time?"

Elliot nodded in order to answer. "Yeah, it's quite cold out here."

If he wasn't so cold, his face would of heated up instantly when the servant put the back of his hand to the side of Elliot's face. "Elliot, you're freezing!"

"W-well, then I'm glad y-you found me."

"Oh, Elliot." Leo could tell his master didn't enjoy being locked out for a half hour. "Let's get you inside and out of this weather."

"Feeling better now?" Leo asked Elliot, who was sitting on his bed with a blanket draped over his shoulders, most of his other clothes thrown aside except for the shirt he was still wearing. Much to the noirette's relief, his master seemed to be doing better than when he was outside.

Leo vaguely recalled being in the same situation the winter after Elliot adopted him. Although, it had been much longer; two whole hours compared to the half hour Elliot had been out there. Leo was surprised he hadn't gotten hypothermia or something like that, especially after being out there for such a long amount of time. Afterwards, Elliot had made him some hot chocolate with a dash of mint, which he was grateful for and quite enjoyed.

"Yeah, I am." Elliot was still a bit cold, but not like he had been when he was outside.

"That's good to hear." The servant replied, who was sitting on his bed to, calmly reading a book.

Elliot pulled the blanket closer, trying to absorb all of it's warmth. "I'm tiered."

The tone of his voice caught Leo's attention. To the noirette, the other's voice sounded a tad bit odd. "Elliot? Is something wrong?"

"No." The room suddenly spun for a second, but Elliot pretended like he didn't notice.

"Elliot, are you sure? You don't sound too good." Leo had caught on quickly, putting his perceptive skills to work again.

"Leo, I'm fine." He wanted to say something else, but he ended up coughing a few times instead.

"That cough tells me different." Leo insisted, putting down the book and going over to Elliot. "There's definitely something wrong with you."

"Shut up, I'm perfectly alright. I don't need you fawning over me."

"Stop denying it. You have a cold." Elliot stiffened when the servant's hands moved toward his neck. "Here, I'll unbutton your collar for you."

"Are you always so observant?" He asked as Leo unbuttoned the collar on his shirt.

"Yes, that's just me." Was the reply as he finished and took the blanket from the other. "Now lay down."

Elliot did as the servant insisted, throwing the sheets over himself. It felt good to have his head resting against a pillow.

"Hey, I know it's been awhile, but I'm still sorry about not telling you that you were poisoned." Elliot had no idea why he was saying this, but he felt like he needed to.

"It's alright, you've apologized and that's over and done with now."

"No, I mean it. Sincerely."

Leo was silent for a moment, but then smiled. "I know you do."

"Good." Elliot then closed his eyes and nuzzled his head into the pillow.

He heard Leo sigh at this. "You probably caught a cold because of the weather outside."

"Not my fault I was locked out."

"Alright, that's enough. You shouldn't talk so much right now." Leo moved closer to his master and readjusted the sheets over him, pulling them closer to him and making sure they were even. "Are you comfortable enough?"

"Yeah, I'm good." A smile could been seen across his lips. "You know, this is how it really ought to be; a servant taking care of his master."

"Oh, even though you took care of me for a week and a half?"

"You know what I mean."

Leo chuckled lightly, once again amused. "Would you like me to bring you some hot chocolate with mint in it?"

"Sure." Elliot answered. He opened his eyes just as Leo walked over to the door. "Hey, Leo."

"Yes?" He said, turning back to his master.

"Thanks. I couldn't ask for a better servant."

The look the two shared then was something nether one would be able to forget.

"You're welcome, Elliot."

You are what I've always been looking for.

Someone I can speak with openly.

My friend and equal…

~Fin