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Midnight.

The exact moment between the night and the morning. Where two things so different met for just a minute then waved a fond farewell for another day, parting as equals. It was a beautiful way to think of the night and of the day.

Sad, yes, but beautiful.

It was the exact moment Ciel Phantomhive awoke for the second time since becoming a demon. The boy scrambled out of bed, went to the windows and threw his curtains open to see the moon. It was full that night. Ciel gasped at it's magnificence like he was seeing it for the first time, which he was. Through his demon eyes, in any case.

The night seemed brighter, more radiant. It was breathtaking.

But that wasn't why Ciel had awoken. In fact, Ciel wasn't quite sure why he had awoken. Perhaps it was because he wasn't at the Phantomhive estate but another estate the Queen had granted him. As long as he remained her faithful dog, no one would know that Lord Ciel Phantomhive was alive.

Especially not Elizabeth. The young Lord had loved Lizzie dearly and had been looking forward to making her his wife but he had never been . . . in love with her. That didn't, however, make him feel any less guilty. He had seen, while hiding in the shadows like a ghost, the young Lady's face when she had read the note that spoke of the last Phantomhive's untimely and extraordinarily unexpected death. Lizzie had been forlorn. Grief-stricken. Heartbroken.

Ciel put his face in his hands before using his hands to push back his hair.

Sebastian.

The young Earl froze. Where, in heaven's name, had that thought come from?

In heaven's name. Ciel sniggered to himself. The irony of that phase was quite amusing in a childish sort of way. He was a demon now, after all.

Due to the absence of his eternal butler, Sebastian, Ciel quickly dressed himself. He struggled with the laces on his shoes but he managed. The small bow wasn't nearly as perfect as Sebastian always made it but it was good enough.

The young demon snuck out of his room and quietly made his way to his study.

The house was dark, no candles were lit, the curtains were drawn but this didn't matter. Ciel could see where he was going. He reached his study and slipped inside. "Aren't you meant to be in bed?" asked a sudden voice, causing the young lord to jump.

"Sebastian . . . W . . . what are you doing in here?"

The demon butler was leaning against the wall, one foot flat against it. "I could ask you the same thing, my Lord." his voice was resentful, bitter and angry.

"I couldn't sleep, what's your excuse?" the young Earl snapped somewhat rudely.

The elder of the two pushed off the wall to stand unsupported, shaking with anger. "I kept up my side of the deal and now you can't keep up yours. The very least you can do, you selfish little brat, is treat me with a little respect. You forget, my Lord, that I could crush you if I so wished."

Anger boiled in the younger demon. "How dare you threaten me?"

"Very easily!"

"I am your master!"

"I don't care!"

"You would go against the contract?"

"At least, if I did, I would be free of you!"

Ciel's anger bubbled down and his voice became excruciatingly tiny. "You . . . You wish so much to be free of me?" Sebastian didn't answer. He didn't have to. Ciel knew how much the butler hated his master.

Distressed, the young master fled from the room.

The jealous soul of a middle aged woman was easily devoured by the new demon. All the woman wanted was to know if her husband was having and affair and to destroy them if he was. It only took a few hours to confirm the woman's suspicions, destroy her husband and to consume her.

Ciel wasn't totally unfeeling towards the woman; he laid her on her bed and made her look as dignified as possible. She could have been sleeping.

Ciel had once seen Sebastian sleeping. By accident, of course, but Ciel had still witnessed how peaceful, how young, how perfect the elder demon looked in sleep.

He was thinking of Sebastian as he made his way home, his heart weighing heavy with guilt and holding back tears he longed to shed. The young master was a selfish little brat; he always had been but he would try not to be. He would try to be better. He would.

Just as long as Sebastian didn't leave him.

The butler wasn't there to greet the young master when he returned which seemed to confirm the little Lord's worse fears.

Snivelling, the Earl made his way to the roof of the mansion and sat there, staring at the view but not really seeing it. Tears escaped and rolled down the boy's cheek as he curled into a ball, hugging his legs close as if trying to keep himself together.

"Meow." said the sudden voice of a stray cat.

Ciel looked around at it. The thing was so thin, so feeble. The young Earl held out a small hand and allowed the black, patched brown, cat to sniff it. The cat allowed the young master to stroke it as it purred loudly. "Are you hungry?" Ciel asked gently picking up the creature. The cat meowed and sort of sneezed as if to say 'duh'. Smiling slightly, Ciel carried the beast to the kitchens where he poured out a saucer of milk for the animal. Sebastian would have loved this.

The cat lapped up the milk gratefully. Once the cat had licked the dish clean, the little Lord treated it to a dish of dry tuna and water. Ciel watched the creature with a diminutive smile. It was so small and fragile this little creature.

Just like me, the young Lord thought miserably.

When the creature had finished its meal, it began rubbing its cheek on its new friend's hand. The boy stroked the cat and got up. "I have the oddest urge to name you Snuggles but I'm not quite that cruel."

The cat sneezed its agreement.

"Are you male, little kitty?"

Sneeze. An affirmative.

"Atrer, then." Ciel told the cat. "That shall be your name."

Sneeze. An agreement.

"I chose it because it means dark in Latin." Ciel picked up the purring feline and carried it to his room. The creature leaped on to the young master's bed as the young lord changed into his nightshirt and took off his eye patch. Ciel lay down next to Atrer and the creature curled up by the boy's neck, his little head resting on the master's shoulder. This was a comfort to the young demon as he cried himself to sleep.

Sebastian didn't greet his master when the boy returned, he just stayed in his room until nightfall.

He was fully intending on leaving. He passed the master's room on the way to the stairs that led to the ground floor, and stopped. Inside the room, Sebastian could hear the soft purring of a sleeping feline. Curious, the elder demon entered the young demon's room to find the master asleep with a cat curled up at his side, resting his fragile head on the master's shoulder.

Getting closer, the sight of tear trails were visible in the corners of the master's eyes.

The cat suddenly awoke and lifted his head and glared at the intruder. When Sebastian took another step closer, the handsome creature hissed, waking the young master who sat up slowly and stroked the animal reassuringly. "you're leaving, then?" the young demon asked noticing the coat Sebastian was wearing. The same coat he had worn when visiting Alois and his horrid butler, retrieving Ciel's blue diamond ring.

The boy sounded so broken.

Sebastian nodded. "I am." he bowed. "Goodbye, my Lord."

The Earl said nothing.

As stubborn as ever. Sebastian thought.

Ciel watch Sebastian as he left.

He wanted to go after the elder demon, to beg him not to go but his pride didn't let him.

Then, just a minute later, he heard the front door slam shut and he burst into tears.

Screw dignity, the young lord thought and scrambled out of bed, startling Atrer.

He ran bare footed down the corridor, down the steps, threw the door open and ran after Sebastian. When the boy finally reached the elder demon, he grabbed Sebastian's sleeve. "Sebastian." he said, his voice small and pleading.

Surprised at both the tone and the fact the young Lord had even bothered coming after him, Sebastian turned to look at the boy. The sight that greeted him was astonishing. Still in his nightshirt with tears streaming down his pale face, the young earl stood stripped of all pride and dignity.

"Please, Sebastian." Ciel begged resting his forehead on the arm he held on to. "Please don't leave me. I'll do anything you want. I'll stop being so pigheaded, I'll stop being so demanding just, please, don't go."

Sebastian didn't move, didn't speak. The feelings that shot through him at that moment had him temporarily immobilized. One of them was pure and utter shock. He could feel the soft vibrations of the body that clung to him as the child sobbed quietly. Sebastian's immobilization faded and he dropped to his knee before the young master. He cupped Ciel's face with both hands and, with only a minor amount of force, made the new demon meet the older demon's eyes.

"Master. . ." Sebastian began but found the words absent from his lips.

"I'm so sorry, Sebastian," Ciel sobbed. Sebastian found him hating the sound of his master sobbing, the sight of his tears and the desperate sorrow in the little Lord's eyes. "I'm so, so sorry."

Ciel's sobs were brought to a abrupt halt when his demon pressed his lips to the young demon's in a soft kiss.