A Healer's Soul (A Black Butler/Kuroshitsuji Fan Fic)

Chapter 1

Hey guys! Sorry this is a day later than expected, I promise I had a good reason. I WAS AT A ROCKETTES PERFORMANCE!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

Please tell me I'm not the only one amazed by that and loves the Rockettes. Gotta love the classics!! And no, I don't live in New York so that was a really amazing experience.

Also, for those of you who don't know, a tunic is like a long shirt/short dress.

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Cory had calmed herself down a little while ago, when Sebastian, Ciel's butler, had brought in tea for his master and her. It was just so good to see him again, and finally be rid of the hell she'd lived in for the past two and a half years.

While most people had only assumed for two months that the young Phantomhive had been dead, It took Cory an entire year to find out that little fact, thinking he was really and truly dead for all that time. That jut contributed to Cory's discontent with her home and with her family. Her father hadn't even thought to tell her that her best friend was alive. It was almost like she was dead too at times. 

"Cory?" Ciel asked, and Cory looked up, realizing that both Ciel and Sebastian had been trying to get her attention.

"I'm sorry, Ciel. What was it you were saying?" She smiled politely. She mentally slapped herself. She was with Ciel now, he'd care for her, and she wouldn't have to worry about her father anymore.

"I asked why you were here, Cory, not that I'm not delighted to see you again. How did you even get here? I don't see your carriage anywhere," Ciel was seated next to her on a plush red couch, looking at her expectantly and sipping his tea. Cory looked down to her own.

"That's because I didn't come here in a carriage," She replied softly, frowning slightly down at her tea. She couldn't help but let out a laugh as Ciel almost choked on his drink.

"W-How? Your manor is all the way on the other side of London!" Ciel sputtered.

"Necessity, I suppose," Cory shrugged, "I just knew I had to get here, and I couldn't take a carriage or I'd be caught and made to go back home. So I packed light and walked."

"You walked all that way? But your manor is one of the most outlying mansions. It must have taken days!" Ciel said, his voice becoming hushed at the end. Cory just stared down at her tea, the tears welling up in her eyes. She almost jumped as Ciel rested a hand on her shoulder. She turned her head to look at him, his eyes conveying his worry.

"Why?" He asked in a hushed voice.

"Because of my family," Cory whispered, her eyes screwed shut for a moment. After a few seconds of silence, she tentatively opened her eyes. Ciel and his butler both looked shocked. Cory sighed.

"Remember, before the fire, when my mother died?" She asked Ciel. He nodded mutely. How could he forget the time before his parents' death? It was when all of his happy memories took place. "After that, my father changed. He wasn't as happy, he stopped spending time with me, and became completely absorbed in his work. It became almost as if, to him, I had died along with my mother. I suppose that was because I was a reminder of her, and that was too painful for him. The servants were always kind to me, and they sort of adopted me once my father started ignoring me. I helped in the little things if they let me, and they took care of me.

"A few months after the fire, a woman came to my estate. I'd seen her before, as she'd come before a couple of times. I'd never talked properly to her before, so I couldn't claim to know her. Even her name was unknown to me. The next day I found out from our maid that my father had proposed to the woman the night before over dinner and they were now engaged. The wedding was to take place in a month's time. I kept silent about it for a long time, but then the day before the wedding came and my father still hadn't said anything about it. I didn't do anything though.

"The day of the wedding, the maid came in, and dressed me for the wedding. I went anyway, with the servants. I ended up sitting in the back of my own father's wedding with the servants just to avoid making a scene at the wrong place. I had to sit by and watch as that woman, that stranger, was made into my stepmother.

"She ended up finding out about me, not from my own father, but from our sweet maid. The girl was always so thoughtful when it came to my well-being. My stepmother ended up doing nothing as well. She wasn't cruel to me by any means, like my father, she just chose to ignore me. I only existed to the servants.

"I thought you were dead for a long time, just over a year, but what hurt even more almost was how I found out that you were alive. Our butler told me. He'd found out from someone in town who was talking about you with a friend and rushed home to tell me. When we finally decided last month that I had to run away and start my own life, yours was the only name to come up when we questioned where I would go to. After that, we bided our time, knowing that I couldn't go by carriage or my father would know that I was gone. He's been in a series of long and tiring business meetings the past couple of days, and we decided that if I was to leave, the time to do so would be now, as he was distracted and wouldn't notice for a few days.

"So I packed light, everything fitting in my bag over there," Cory looked across the room to the corner, where a tan knapsack rested against the wall, "and walked. It took me almost four days, as I started at night, but I made my way here. I had packed some food, but not much, so I had to ration it appropriately. I'm afraid I'm still rather weak though," It was easy to see that Cory was, in fact, extremely weak from her ordeal, and very hungry too. Ciel knew that she was too proud to admit it though. He probably would have been as well. So he didn't say anything, opting instead to wrap his arms around Corianna again.

Ciel couldn't bear to see Cory like this. When they were children, she used to come over all the time along with Lizzie and they'd all play together. Cory was the one who kept Elizabeth from strangling Ciel every time she saw him. And when Lizzie demanded it, she'd even play the villain so that Ciel could be the handsome prince and Lizzie could be the princess and he could rescue her. Cory never complained about being the bad guy, in fact, most of the time it ended with them all becoming friends and her willingly giving Lizzie back and then coming to live with them so they could go on more adventures together.

Long story short, Cory had always been the tough one, even though she was a girl. She could handle whatever came her way, so seeing her like this made Ciel despair too. How could her father do such a thing to her? He always seemed so loving when they were younger.

Ciel took a good long look at Cory, the first one since he'd first seen her. Her clothes were dirty, not in the best of shape, but they still looked like her style. She wore a long tunic that came down to her mid-thigh and tight pants with boots. Her tunic was a deep forest green and she had a brown braided belt fastened around her waist. Her pants and boots were both the same brown color as her belt. She pale aquamarine eyes where watery and her wavy light brown hair was messy, sticking up out of place. It still shone golden in the light streaming through the windows though, just like he remembered, but it was longer, reaching down a few inches past her shoulders. Altogether she looked rather disheveled.

She was beautiful as ever, but she looked like she been sleeping on the ground for a few days, which she had. She was thinner than she used to be, and looked a lot weaker than Ciel knew she was inside. Ciel started when he realized Cory had noticed her staring at him. Ciel blushed deeply and looked away but Cory just laughed, a melodic sound like the chiming of a bell, even though they both knew that they were more like a brother and sister than anything else. Ciel couldn't help smiling that that hadn't changed either.

"Then it's decided," He said suddenly, looking back at Corianna, who glanced at him questioningly. "You'll stay here as long as you like, you'll be safe in my household and I can support you financially for the time being," Cory opened her mouth to protest, but Ciel interrupted, "You can repay me by helping me on my cases, and I'm not going to let you say no or go anywhere else because I know that you don't have anywhere else to go."

Cory frowned at him, but then considered the options and nodded mutely. She, of course, knew already about Ciel being the Queen's Watchdog and all. Their families had been extremely close for generations, it wasn't just them and their parents.

"Good. We'll go into town and get you some clothes and other things you'll need later. For now, you must be in need of some sleep. After you wake up we'll eat. I'll show you the guest room," Ciel told Cary, standing up and taking her by the hand to help support her weak frame, leaving Sebastian to take the lady's knapsack from the corner and follow after the pair, wondering what had gotten into his Young Master.