Disclaimer: I don't own any character here. They belong to Yana Toboso.

Author: Rita Namikaze

Rating: T

Category: one-shot, song fic. The song used in this story is Promise of a Lifetime by Kutless.

Genre: Angst/Romance

Pairing: SebasCiel

Summary: "It's a promise of a lifetime… to love you forever and always."

Note: inspired by chapter 41.

Warning: SA. For anti-fan: please click the Back button. By the way *ehem*… Ciel-chan is very OOC.

Promise Of A Lifetime

"Stay by my side, no matter what"

"Yes, my Lord"

It was a promise.

A butler must not break his promises to the Master.

…

"I have sworn under the moon"

It was a promise.

A butler must not lie to his Master under any circumstance.

…

And yet, he broke his promises to me.

…

It had been a year since he lost his butler.

Every night, he would curl up like a little child in his bed, waiting for someone to hold him until he fell asleep.

Sebastian…

And he would call out the demon's name quietly, a feeling of grieve striking through his very soul.

Sebastian…

Tears would find their way up to his once sharp grayish blue eyes, and he would have to force them – again and again and again - to stop wetting his already stained white pillow.

Will you help me fall apart

Pick me up, take me in your arms

Find my way back from the storm

As you show me how to grow

Through the change

A year just wasn't enough for him to forget such a person, no, demon.

Sebastian…

…

He found himself standing in front of the butler's grave.

It was nearly midnight. The cold wind was blowing, freezing up the very last drop of his existence. Yet, he didn't move an inch.

"Remember your promises to me, Sebastian?"

No one answered.

"You promised, Sebastian. You god damn promised to never leave my side, no matter what. Why are you still lying there?"

No one replied.

"Get up, Sebastian. This is an order…!"

Dead silence.

You could never forget how to be in love with someone. You just try to live without them.

…

Morning light swept through the curtain of darkness in the little Earl's bedroom.

He twisted and turned, not wanting to wake up just yet. The warmth of his thick blanket was simply too charming.

Not that he liked staying in bed for that long. He often had nightmares about many things, and that kept him awake almost all night. However, being a little child as he was, he still wanted his precious rest.

Unfortunately, those dreams lately had always, always, in a wicked, disturbing, disgusting way, been about the one and only Sebastian Michaelis.

For God's sake, he couldn't imagine just how his butler's images kept flashing through his mind every second in his half-awake sleep. And the part he disliked the most was to see himself having a hard-on every single morning, and no one was going to take care of it.

Oh how he hated that demon for leaving him here in this lonely huge house.

Ciel couldn't remember how many times he had told himself that his butler had already gone, forever. But how was he going to do it, when even the darkest corner in the Phantomhive mansion would remind him of Sebastian?

"So pathetic…"

…

All the extra workers he had recruited before had retired. They said they couldn't bear the heavy atmosphere in the mansion and the load of work he had assigned for them to do anymore.

Weaklings.

The only ones left were Tanaka, Maylene, Bard and Finny. However, there were more wrinkles on Tanaka's face, and the others were being even more hopeless with their work since they were getting older as well.

Even Ciel himself was aging. Time passed by, and the loneliness he bore on his shoulders had gone from bad to worse each day.

I am falling to my knees

As I sing a lullaby of pain

I am broken in my melody

As I sing to help the tears go away

Despite already being an adult, he still had to struggle to keep the tears out of sight of other people. He would only let them flow freely down his handsome face at night, when everyone had gone to bed.

He would still sneak out of his bed at midnight to secretly visit Sebastian, and patiently ordered his used-to-be butler again and again to stand up from his grave.

He knew this was going to nowhere, but it helped him cope with this unbearable pain in some way. Sebastian could have got his soul, his body, and his heart forever if the demon hadn't died so easily.

A chuckle escaped Ciel's mouth. However hard he tried, he still couldn't find any method to get rid of those nostalgic images of his butler, his and his only. Every time he closed his eyes, they would appear again, just like they wanted to mock him.

I still remember the pledge you made to me.

…

It was a gloomy rainy day when Ciel found a mysterious wooden box under his butler's bed.

He had never dared to come in Sebastian's room, as it held too many memories of them together. But now he felt like he could just overcome the pain and give it a shot.

And he found it.

"What could this be?"

He slowly opened the box.

There lied a letter, a crow feather, and a diamond ring.

He lifted the ring up questioningly. Sebastian had never worn any ring on his fingers since he used to wear gloves all the time, not to mention such an expensive one.

The crow feather… Looked like a kind of pen to him.

Oh, and the letter. It seemed to have turned to yellow as it was written a long time ago, and there was some kind of…stains on it.

Were that teardrops?

Had demons ever shed tears?

Ciel reluctantly opened it up and read.

Dear Young Master,

By the time you find out about this letter I would have likely been dead. I didn't mean to leave you like this, especially so soon, but I have to. Please understand. I have my own reason.

In case you're wondering if our contract would still be intact after I "die", it would. I will still keep an eye on you, even though I can no longer be with you. When the time comes, I shall find you. And I will still love you like I always have.

In this box, there is a diamond ring. I have never had the chance to give it to you, but when you finish reading this, it shall belong to you. To keep or not to keep it is your choice, I wouldn't say a word.

And now, here comes the main part.

Will you marry me in hell?

Yours always,

Sebastian Michaelis.

Ciel couldn't hold back tears. However, they weren't tears of joy… but of despair and hatred.

"How could you not tell me?"

He took a glance at the ring, and threw it against the wall.

But it didn't break. It never would.

Just like their love for each other.

…

Blood was everywhere. Screams were everywhere. And corpses were everywhere.

Such a beautiful scene, Ciel thought to himself. Eventually he could avenge his family, and who could have known that the Middleford family was in this from the start?

Hah.

He had fulfilled his promise to his father, mother, and sister. Now what else did he have to do that he forgot?

The contract.

Oh right, the contract.

Sebastian had said that the contract was still there, waiting for him to complete his mission.

Years had passed since the butler disappeared. Would he still keep his promise?

And he waited.

…

And waited.

…

And waited.

…

Suddenly, a strong pair of arms wrapped around him with such longing that he felt weak against them.

A familiar voice echoed in his ears as he started to shiver from the pleasure.

"Long time no see, my Master."

Tears gradually found their way back onto Ciel's deep blue orbs as he closed his eyes.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I wouldn't have had the chance to see how you would miss me if I had, would I?" The demon chuckled as the young Earl tried to hide his blushing face away without success.

"You broke your promises."

"I was still with you, it's just you couldn't sense me around. I have been watching you all the time.It's a promise of a lifetime, to love you forever and always… "

He lifted his master up and started walking away from the bloody scene.

"Are you lying to me?"

"Young Master… Demons never lie." The black butler paused. "And you haven't answered my proposal."

…

"Will you marry me in hell?"

…

Ciel opened his eyes and realized he had been standing there alone all the time.

Promises… So they are meant to be broken, aren't they?

A cold wind blew pass his body as he slowly fell to the ground.

…

Ciel cracked his eyes open.

All he could see was a pair of blood red eyes staring at him lovingly, and he felt himself being lifted up from the cold ground.

"Now…" A familiar voice rang through every little corner of his soul. "Will you marry me, Young Master?"