It's been ages...hasn't it? :P Enjoy.

Ciel Phantomhive

Our arrival at the mansion was met with a warm welcome by my old servants who had remained at the mansion, constantly taking care of it, protecting it from salesmen who learned quickly enough to leave the Phantomhive manor alone.

"My lord, are you sure I can't get you a cup of tea? Or any biscuits perhaps-?"

"No, I'm fine Mey-Rin." Ciel waved away her advances. The moment he walked in the door, he was bombarded by bullets and statues. (Yes, statues.)

Ciel had to dodge and deflect as best as he could while holding Elizabeth. The second his servants realized that it was him, they stopped.

"Yes. I am home." Ciel said impatiently. Bard, Finny, and Mey-Rin stood before him, slack-jawed.

"Are you going to fetch me some tea? Or do I-? Gah!"

Ciel nearly did drop Elizabeth that time, as the Phantomhive servants converged on their old master.

"Ciel!" Mey-Rin sobbed hugging his midriff as best as she could. Finny latched himself onto Ciel's leg, and Bard was hugging him from behind. Ciel would've toppled over from the weight had he not been a demon.

"Sebastian." Ciel said. Sebastian snapped to attention.

"Yes my lord?"

"Would you get these three off of me? As I am a bit preoccupied holding Elizabeth." Right when he said, 'Elizabeth' the three servants let go and stepped back.

"Lady Elizabeth!" Mey-Rin gasped. "What is she-? What are you-?"

"I'm going to take her upstairs." Ciel interrupted.

"Oh how scandalous!" Mey-Rin giggled, a slight blush making it's way onto her face.

"What?" Ciel snapped.

Bard chuckled, and Finny turned away to hide his now scarlet face.

"What are you talking about?" Ciel asked again.

"Ooh!" Grell cackled. "You're taking the lady upstairs! Alone." Ciel narrowed his eyes.

"And?"

"Oh Bassy, why can't you do the same to me?!" Grell turned to Sebastian, who sighed tiredly.

"What the bloody hell is wrong with you four?" Ciel began to walk past his servants to the grand staircase. However, no one seemed to notice the minuscule blush that had made it's way onto Ciel's stoic face.

Ciel reached upstairs just as Elizabeth decided to try and move in her sleep. This made everything ten times more complicated for the young demon who had to try and keep holding her as she moved.

"Dammit..." Ciel muttered darkly, as Elizabeth quite literally did a complete 360 in Ciel's arms.

Why did she move so much in her sleep? Honestly...

Finally he reached the guest bedroom, and opening the door made his way to the bed and gently set the blonde down on the feathery mattress. It ticked him off to no end how his servants poked fun at him for bringing Elizabeth upstairs. How they giggled like school-children. How suggestively they acted.

Immature humans.

He never acted like that, not even when he was a child. Though one could argue that he technically never was a child to begin with. At least not after the tragic death of his parents.

Ciel decided long ago to give up searching for why his parents were killed. He'd decided instead to focus on the new life before him.

And to focus on the shattered remains of his former life as well.

To be quite honest, he didn't expect any of the people he left behind to change. The one childish thought, the thought that they wouldn't change, stayed with him while he stood at the gates of eternal damnation, and then again, when Sebastian took him back to the human realm to live and grow until he decided to visit the place that would make him immortal in every which way. For now, he would continue to grow, and his features would continue to become more and more attractive and irresistible to humans.

This was an automatic change that occurred when one became a demon. The human turned demon would become more beautiful to attract humans to their features. Scarily, this proved how shallow humans could be, not bothering to look on the dark and ugly inside, but rather to gaze on the beautiful exterior.

Sort of like lying. How the truth could be ugly, but the lies were pretty. People were much more prone to believe lies.

From the bed, Elizabeth rolled over to face Ciel, who still stood there silently.

Elizabeth...He certainly never thought that she would change. She was so full of life and happiness, until that child-like innocence disappeared beneath the dark and evil of the underworld of London.

He vaguely remembered reading in the papers (When Elizabeth first made the decision), that she would be taking over her deceased fiancee's job as the Queen's guard dog.

Upon hearing this news, he almost returned. Ciel didn't know why he felt so protective of her, or why after 3 years of pretended to be dead, why he'd return just because she took up his former job.

Maybe it was just the possessive demonic side that Sebastian spoke to him about. She was formerly someone in his life, maybe he just felt protective because of that.

Or perhaps it was because he knew that if she did this, she'd no longer be the beautiful and sweet innocent Lizzy. She'd change for sure, and Ciel didn't want that.

Oh how right he was.

Elizabeth did indeed change. Not for the better either.

She became dark. Since Ciel became a demon, this gave him a whole new host of skills. Seeing the darkness in someone's soul was one perk. (This skill helped identify whom a demon should choose to strike a bargain with. The darker and more sad the soul, the more likely they'd make a deal, then make a meal.)

Elizabeth's soul was swimming in darkness. The darkness was heaps of different emotions. Anger, sadness, hate...and loneliness. So much loneliness. She was an empty shell of sadness, lacking any sort of love or happiness.

How could she live like this? It looked horribly painful and bleak.

It surprised Ciel when he remembered that he was formerly the exact same way.

He remembered what it was like. To feel as if there was no more happiness in the world. To feel alone in a sea of people who would reach out and help him in a heartbeat.

He would not let that happen to Elizabeth. He refused. It couldn't happen...It was just wrong.

'But it already did...' He thought sadly.

Sadly? Is that what he'd been feeling for Elizabeth since seeing her again? Was this emotion pity for what she'd become?

Since he became a demon, it was much harder to identify emotions...

Ciel looked down at the sleeping Elizabeth. Again, he felt the unidentifiable emotion shoot through his lifeless heart. This emotion didn't feel like pity. Or at least, that's not how he remembered pity to feel like...

Why were emotions so complicated to deal with?

Elizabeth suddenly muttered something, so quiet that Ciel almost didn't hear it.

"What?" He whispered to her.

She said it again, a little bit louder, and Ciel's eyes widened, and he stepped back quickly from her.

From her closed eyes, tears fell and she spoke quietly. "Don't leave me here. Please...Don't..."

Ciel bit his lip, confused as to what he should do.

She must be mistaken. She was asleep. She probably didn't understand what she was saying.

"You look pale."

Ciel looked over to where Sebastian had appeared moments ago. Did Sebastian hear what Elizabeth said?

"In case your wondering, I did in fact overhear your's and Lady Elizabeth's short interaction. I apologize if I was not supposed to."

Dammit. It was almost like Sebastian read his mind...or more like he read his face and his emotions.

"Yes, My Lord. You are like an open book to me. I know every facial expression of you and can easily discern your thoughts. Though, of course, you already knew that. You've been getting quite good at concealing your true emotions to other humans and other demons but you have yet to fool me."

Ciel allowed a pained smile. "I'm still working at it."

Silence fell between them, before Sebastian spoke again.

"I have worked among humans for thousands of years. I know when I see true pain."

Ciel didn't answer. He didn't want to.

"My Lady is reaching out to you, My Lord. Judging from her reactions since you and her have met, she has missed you greatly but is too proud to let you or anyone else know. She thinks that emotions are weakness."

Again, Ciel remained silent. He learned long ago that Sebastian was very knowledgeable and it was best to listen to what he had to say.

"I heard her words. She called for you. She wants you to stay with her. Even if she hides her true feelings, they are certainly there."

Silence from Ciel.

"I have never, in all the thousands years, ever seen such pure, pure love for another being as Elizabeth has for you. Her soul is like your own when you were a child and you made a deal with me. She longs for love-"

"But I cannot love her. I...I don't even know what love is. Even if I did, I would never be worthy of her." Ciel walked over to Elizabeth and knelt down to look at her face.

"I would never deserve this woman. Not even if I lived a million years."

They were both silent until Sebastian spoke.

"If anyone deserves love, it would be you and My Lady."

YAYY FOR MEDIOCRE ENDINGS! I had NO CLUE where to end this. And again, it's been forever since my last update. I'm not bothering with excuses, because we all know that it's going to be a while before an update...unless I prove myself wrong.

I guess this is an late Christmas gift? Unless you celebrate Hanukkah, then it's a Hanukkah gift. And if you don't celebrate either, then happy holidays! :)

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :)