A/N: Chapter Summary: Freckles gets her first real hair cut. If only Ciel could share her joy in the change.

Freckles wasn't a baby... Far from it, actually. She was 15 now and had handled worse things in her life, and now felt like she could take on the world without so much as blinking her good eye any. There was nothing too scary for her to manage and she would be damned if she didn't do it all with pride-

"Has he done it yet?" She squeaked.

From the moment her hair was washed and the towel was wrapped around her neck, she felt like bolting. If not for the threat of sharp scissors behind her neck and her locks on the line from any sort of movement, she would have. She was nervous as nervous could be, and the only thing keeping her grounded was the prince's agreement to hold her hand during the whole ordeal.

"Not yet, be patient." Soma said, his kind voice instantly calming her down a little. "Its silly to be scared, you're in good hands."

"Then why hasn't he cut anything yet?" Freckles whined. "I'm gonna die if I have to wait any longer!"

"I apologize, Ms. Freckles, but your hair does contain quite a few tangles-" Agni spoke up, voice as kind as ever despite things. "They're a little difficult to get out."

"Can't you just cut them or something?" She stiffened up when once pull send a shock of pain through her head. "Ow- watch it!"

"Sorry- My apologizes." Agni muttered, but the pulling continued.

It eventually got to the point that Freckles became prepared for another pull, tensing up in preparation for the next sting- which eventually stopped all together. She felt pulling from something, and something tickling the back of her neck and shoulders but pain didn't follow either of them.

"There, finished." The butler mumbled, and Freckle's felt him step back from her. "With brushing it, anyhow-"

"To think that your hair was this long.' Soma chimed in suddenly, fetching a mirror and holding it up for Freckles to see herself in.

She took it gently and held it up to her face and slowly took a peak. He was right, her once neck length hair now fell in waves down her shoulders and looked smooth as butter. Even her bang drifted down passed her chin.

"Oh wow! That looks real pretty!" She exclaimed, brushing her long fingers through it. "Its like some kinda magic, it is!"

With a renewed sense of confidence, she set the mirror aside and went as still as a statue. Now that she had extra locks to spare, she felt much better about having it cut.

"On with it then!" She announced. "I wanna show Smile my new hair!"

Ciel was just sitting down to his lunch, enjoying the peace and quiet for once. He felt the slightly inkling that the silence wouldn't last, but chose to ignore it... A huge mistake on his part.

"CIEL!"

There was no time to gather what was happening before a pair of arms wrapped themselves around his neck in almost a choke hold. Since he couldn't breathe, he narrowed out the hug as coming from Soma or Lizzy, and that logically left only one person.

"F-Freckle-" He choked, trying to loosen her death grip. "W-What are you-"

"Check out me new locks!" She exclaimed, shoving him back suddenly and sticking her head directly in his face.

"I can't-" Ciel coughed as a he accidentally took in a mouthful of hair.

Freckles must have noticed him struggling because she released him suddenly there after.

"Oh, right!" She stepped back quickly and did a quick twirl before halting.

Ciel steadied himself before taking a good look at her.

To say he was amazed would be an understatement. If it weren't for her clothes and smile, he never would have recognized her as Freckles from the circus. Her hair now laid in clean waves around the base of her neck, the split ends having been cut away and soft layers being added. Her bangs were swept off to the side, now framing her burnt eye instead of hiding it-

The sight of the injury made Ciel's heart stop. May it be out of disgust or sympathy for her, he did now know. What he did know was that the cut would have been beautiful if not for the hideous scar that it now framed. How Freckle's could beam so proudly over it, the same way her 'siblings' had beamed at their own missing limbs, was beyond Ciel. It also further worried him, as he would never be able to teach her how to be a proper lady with the confidence of a street rat.

So despite her smile and obvious joy over the change, he knew he would have to put a stop to it immediately. He would have to end the madness before some honest soul with a loud mouth ended it for him.

"Absolutely not." Ciel said stiffly. "You can't go around with that eye visible.'

"But- I really like it for once." Freckles stuttered, and Ciel could see her pride instantly deflating. "The guys said it looks right good on me and its diff-

Still, he couldn't help it if society was cruel and would not accept such an unsightly scar. It was just common sense that it should be covered at all times.

"Either change the way you wear your bangs or I'll get you a hat and veil to cover it with." Ciel huffed, dropping his voice to almost a threat. "Now. Before I loose my ability to stomach my lunch from looking it."

With a soft huff, he watched as Freckles turned from him and walked away, her freshly washed hair falling in front of her bowed face as she did so...