3,000 Years

I Hate You

Goodbyes had always been hard. Over the three thousand years of endless lifetimes and romances you would think it would grow easier - saying goodbye. But, if anything, with each passing life and each ticked off tragedy, goodbyes only grew tougher. Bitter. They were the parts of the story that Meliodas liked the least; they were the parts of the story where Elizabeth would forget. After each goodbye, the story would begin again, reset and renew. Only, its two starring characters would never be anew.

They were always the same.

Fog fills the sky today, gloomy and eerie and foreboding. It hangs thick and heavy, moist and misty, blocking out the sun and the clear blue sky. Along with the wisps of fog came rain, pouring, spitting, heavy rain, that rolled down rooftops and wet the already muddy earth. Chilling winds wailed across the land, clawing and pulling at anything it could lay grasp on. In all, the weather was terrible. In all, the weather was symbolic. In all, the weather represented the storm beginning to come.

"I'm doing this for you," He says it for the millionth time, the infinite time, forceful and weary and oh-so-tired. He does not want to draw this on. He does not want to make her suffer. But this, making himself suffer in her place, was the only solution for them. It was the closest Elizabeth could ever be to a true happy ending.

"But what's the point if you're not here with me?" Elizabeth raises a brow, not at all willing to back down. Despite knowing that she will die, that she will be leaving him behind yet again, she does not want a different ending. She does not want a reprieve. She wants a completely happy end.

"That's the problem, you care about me too much!" Meliodas exclaims, exasperated. The sadness within him, desperation, turns sharp and icy. Spiteful. "If you didn't care so much then maybe this wouldn't have happened."

She gasps, outraged, her blue eyes wide with shock. Over the many years she had heard many things. There had been several times when he grew tired, annoyed, with the situation and had openly expressed his frustration. Time and time again she had been there to help him, to try and shoulder the heavy burden that rest upon him. But never before, never in her many lives, had he directly assaulted her on it. Never before had he blamed her for it all.

"Well, if that's true, then..." Elizabeth bites her lip, her eyes welling with tears. She sniffs, steeling herself for what she was about to say. Readying herself for the irreversible. Her insides squirm as she stares at him, glares at him, and utters the final, sealing words. "Then, I hate you, Meliodas."

"Elizabeth- " He falters, pauses. In all of the years that have passed, the countless lifetimes, she has rarely resorted to such words. She has rarely declared that she hated him. He has done many things to warrant her resentment: tricking her, lying to her, even downright assaulting her when they first met. Meliodas was not one to be spared of Elizabeth's hatred, he knew that he was worthy of it, but what he didn't get was why she said it now. Why she chose to say she hated him when he knew she really didn't.

"I-I hate you!" She shouts at the top of her lungs now, her voice wavering as more fresh tears escape from her eyes. White with tension, her fists ball at her sides, the nails biting into her palms. "I hate you, Meliodas! I hate you!"

Again. She hates him. She says that she resents him, but he knows better. He knows that she is just doing this for him to be happy. Again.

"Don't..." Meliodas' dark gaze softens, the rain wetting his tan flesh as he shakes his head. "Don't lie, Elizabeth," He is calm, collected, as he pulls her into a hug. "Don't lie to yourself to save me."

"But- " Her words are swallowed by an aching sob, her arms wrapping tightly around his neck. She breathes in his familiar scent, knowing that eventually it will no longer be that. It will no longer be there. "Please, don't do it, Meliodas. I really will hate you if you do."

"You know it doesn't work like that," A tug on the corner of his lips. Amusement. His arms snake their own way tighter around her, unwilling to let go. Not yet. He wants this small moment to last a little longer. To exist a little longer.

"But it does!" Elizabeth protests, her voice muffled. Another sniff escapes her, this time firmer. "If you just forget about me, you'll be happier. You can...move on."

Rainfall fills the silence between them, the little drops pittering and pattering. Silence had never been hard for them to find, not when they had known each other for so many years, but today it is hard to break the silence. To stifle the calm. Any one word could ruin it all, break the small moment of calm in the middle of a raging storm, and once the calm was gone, everything would return back to the new normal. They would return back to the new normal.

"I couldn't do that," Meliodas finally speaks, his fingers sifting through her fine silver hair. "That's the last thing I'd do."

"Then I still hate you," Elizabeth mumbles. Despite her petulance, her arms remain around his neck, unwilling to let go just yet. "I hate you for doing this."

"I know," He breathes, closing his eyes as he rests his chin atop her chest. He knows. But one of them has to be the bad guy here and he would rather be the villain of this tale. "But it has to be done. One of us have to suffer."

They stay there for too long, clinging to each other as the rain soaks them to the bone and the silence fills their empty hearts, hoping for anything, something. Just one hope. Just a single reprieve in their endless tale of life and death.