A/N: Hey! Here's the epilogue! Wow, I didn't expect such a response from the last chapter! 8D Although I apologise if it wasn't all too clear about the betrayal part; basically, since Sebastian saw Ciel in his father's chambers just as he was getting killed, Sebastian automatically thought that Ciel had sold him out to his father, and was only ever planning on acting along with what they were about to do before they got caught. This makes him angry, attracts a demon etc, you know the rest ;) I made the epilogue short because I really didn't want to drag it out; I wanted to make it short but sweet. Take the ending to this as you wish! :D

Silence.

It was, quite frankly, suffocating.

Ciel was sitting rather uncomfortably in his dining room, an old echo of a wish inside him that wanted to be human again, with piles and piles of paperwork to sift through. At least then he'd be able to distract himself.

It had been a week since the incident in Arkoi. After Sebastian's answer to Ciel's order, Ciel had simply kept quiet, completely unable to process the single word through his mind. Only when Sebastian explained to him that seeing Ciel in the King's bedchambers hadn't spelt out a pretty picture for him did Ciel finally understand. The young demon had lapsed into a silence, not speaking on the way back to their home as he took in everything.

His soul had been forced into rebirth because of a twenty-two year old servant's stupidity, a Shinigami's recklessness and a prince's misunderstanding. Now that the roles of master and servant were reversed, Ciel wasn't entirely sure what to think of the situation.

And thus, the minute they had walked through the door, they seemed to have settled into Ciel's human routine. Minus, of course, the other servants, the food and the paperwork. Not a single word had been passed between them both, other than Ciel telling Sebastian to lead the way home when they were still in Arkoi. As uncharacteristically strange it seemed, Ciel had spent the last hour sitting in his large wooden chair, lounged out across it like royalty and keeping his eyes anywhere but on his butler.

Who, of course, had his eyes locked onto Ciel and was studying him; partly in curiosity, partly in animosity. He had assumed that the silence would break after a day or two, what with Ciel's constant need to outright complain, but there'd been nothing from his young demon master. He assumed that, as much as Sebastian was thinking over every little detail of Ciel's previous lives, Ciel had to be doing the same.

As the blinds to the room shifted and the sun was allowed to filter into the room, every speckle of dust was illuminated and Ciel promptly looked up.

And met his butler's gaze for the first time in a week.

They both stared at one another, Sebastian's bored and unwavering gaze locking with Ciel's stubborn and unyielding one. Ciel's eyes flickered blue, as they did often, and for a moment Sebastian saw his old bocchan reflected in the gaze. He saw an American teenager, an English twin boy, a plague-ridden French child, a Chinese general's son, an Indian trader, a Grecian thief and a Grecian servant.

Either one of them would break the silence first, or both would go slowly insane.

"My lord?" Ciel's eyebrow twitched; proof enough to Sebastian that he was listening and not simply staring. Sebastian was oddly reminded of Ciel's Aunt Francis, and decided to ask a neutral question that would be less likely to provoke the smaller demon to attack. After all, Sebastian really didn't need fighting to be added to the list of Ciel-related problems. "Have you given any thought to taking on contracts with humans?"

Ciel's eyebrows knitted together at that, and his eyes searched Sebastian's face for any form of joke. He didn't seem to be able to believe Sebastian's was seriously asking him that, and when he found no trace of amusement, Ciel titled his head back to lean it against the back of his chair.

And laughed.

Sebastian had never heard his master laugh before, and whilst his laughter at the moment was far from an innocent laugh, it was a laugh nonetheless. It was a laugh of disbelief, and when Ciel looked back at Sebastian, he gave another chuckle.

"After… after everything we've just been through, the first thing you ask me is if I've given thought to taking on a contract with a human?" Ciel's face returned to its neutral poker face, but there was a small flash of surprise in his eyes as he locked vermillion eyes with Sebastian once more. The corner of Sebastian's lip twitched, prompting more words from Ciel. "You're actually serious, Sebastian. No, I have not given it much thought. My mind has been… elsewhere."

"Oh?" Sebastian questioned, a hidden smirk on his face as he watched Ciel push back his chair, the scraping sound filling the room. Ciel moved around the desk, leaning against it and smoothing out the front of his jacket before crossing his arms and looking up at his butler.

"Yes. And I've come to a conclusion that you and I, we'll never clear up any misunderstandings. Does that matter? I'm not sure." Ciel flexed his hand out and glanced at the palm of his hand, inspecting his nails before looking back up.

"Bocchan, may I-"

"Let me finish, Sebastian. I am still your master. We need to talk over a lot of things. Maybe it will take minutes, maybe it will take hours. We'll never get along forever, but we can't keep up a suffocating silence. We can't make life if we're at each other's throats or blinded by horrible memories. Make your choice." His tone was formal, still holding the noble air that was drilled into him since childhood, but his head was still held high as he forced Sebastian into a choice.

And Sebastian did. Slowly, but not hesitantly, he moved towards the younger demon. Finally, after chasing Ciel's soul for centuries, Sebastian captured his lips in his own.

They'd never be perfect, and with such a long history, they had no illusions of ever being perfect. But for now, they were okay.

They could make it.