Now and Forever

Chapter 8

"Well aren't you in a bit of a mood!" his father said with a laugh. "I'm disappointed that it took you so long to recognize me."

"First of all, it's just your voice. Secondly, it's been how manythousands of years?"

"Sadly not long enough to dull the sting of your betrayal...and I had such high hopes for you" he sighed. "I'm not sure where I went wrong, you could have been truly great; you were one of my finest creations and your brothers would never have done something like that. But then, they also wouldn't have brought shame to the entire Demon race as you have by falling head over heels for some pathetic little servant of the Goddesses. Tsk, how very far the apple has fallen from the tree. You know, I can't even make it ten feet without someone bringing that up. It's very embarrassing."

"Yeah, that must be terrible" Meliodas commented dryly "though it pales in comparison to how little I actually give a damn."

"Still as witty as ever I see! You get that from my side, you know."

"Why are you here?"

"As I said before, just to talk. We're getting stronger, you see, and while I can't actually leave this dimension you so kindly helped to trap us in quite yet, I wanted to let you know that you can expect a heartwarmingfamily reunion in the somewhat near future. And I can't wait to meet this soon-to-be fiancé of yours, her soul sounds absolutely delicious! Elizabeth, wasn't it?"

"This fucking conversation is overand you won't be getting anywherenear her."

"Or maybe" his father continued with delight "I'll hold you down and make you watch as I very slowly devour her soul. I hear it's actually quite painful. Hmm, yes...that does sound far more entertaining!"

...

Meliodas woke up seething. He felt a hand on his shoulder and, quickly turning towards it with a low growl and radiating pure demonic energy, was brought up short by a pair of startled blue eyes filled with concern. His pitch black eyes, demonic markings and energy went out like a candle flame. He blinked and suddenly, he was back to normal. "I'm sorry if I woke you" he said with a tight smile.

Elizabeth sat up and looked at him closely; she could see the bags under his eyes and the look of absolute exhaustion plainly written across his face. "I think we need to talk" she softly replied.

"It's nothing to worry about; a bad dream. Probably just something I ate."

Elizabeth lifted her hand and softly caressed his cheek. He blushed at the unexpected contact and, closing his eyes, gently leaned into her touch. "We need to talk" she repeated. Maybe it had been her conversation with Diane or the lack of an audience but she wasn't nearly as embarrassed about touching him right now as she usually was.

Her hand is so warm he thought as he closed his eyes. I have to protect her from my family, but to do that, I'm going to need my power back. He was frustrated that Merlin had taken it without even talking to him. And while he could somewhat understand why she had done it, he felt as though he should have at least been consulted first. He was truly afraid that if something did happen to Elizabeth, if he lost her, it would be Danafall all over again and just the thought of it made his stomach twist.But if I don't get my power back then I'll have no chance. I can't live, no, Iwon't live without her, so I'm going to have to take that risk.

He opened his eyes and looked at her with such a defeated expression that she began to second guess her statement. That was, until he took her other hand in both of his and nodded.

"You start" he said.

The Princess drew her hand back from his cheek and placed it in her lap. She took a deep breath and desperately hoped that she was doing the right thing.

"Sir Meliodas, I have one thing to ask you and one thing to tell you. First, will you take me to the ball?"

He laughed and she could feel the butterflies in her stomach. It was a sound that she hadn't realized she missed so much; there hadn't really been a lot of laughter in the past few weeks.

"Of course! Though I feel like I should be the one asking you!"

"It's been over two weeks! You were running out of time!" she grinned.

Over two weeks! he thought in a panic, has it really been that long already?

A quick squeeze to his hand brought him back to the conversation. "So" he said as he cleared his throat "that was the question, now what did you want to tell me?" As she looked at him, he could see the fear and panic in her eyes. "What is it? You know you can tell me anything."

She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths before opening them. "Sir Meliodas, I'm afraid…" "Of what?" he interrupted, instantly protective "just tell me and I'll take care of it!" She let out a shaky laugh "No, I'm afraid of what will happen if you don't like what I'm about to say."

He felt both a general sense of dread and his stomach drop as though someone had thrown it off a cliff. "Ok" he swallowed nervously.

"I don't know how else to tell you, so I'll just say it." She closed her eyes and took a few more deep breaths in a useless effort to calm her breathing. By this point the suspense was killing him.

"Sir Meliodas…I love you."

He sat there dumbfounded as she quickly continued "I'm sorry if this is an unpleasant surprise but I just really needed to get that off my chest."

She looked at the Captain in alarm as he started to laugh so hard that his eyes began to water. "I-I'll move my things to the castle in the morning" she mumbled, turning red as she watched him gasp for air. However, as soon as she made a move to get up, he gently pulled her back down onto the bed.

"Look at me, Elizabeth." The Princess was so mortified by his laughter that she refused to meet his eyes. Still chuckling, he placed a finger under her chin and gently lifted it until she was looking at him. She gazed into his emerald eyes and saw that they were filled with absolute relief.

"I'm sorry I laughed. It's just, you have no idea how much sleep I've lost over this! I'm not sure if you've noticed but I haven't exactly been myself lately." She merely raised an eyebrow in response and he flushed. "Of course you've noticed" he mumbled.

"But anyway" he continued as he began to slowly close the distance between the two of them. His finger was still resting under her chin and he slid the rest of his hand until it was lightly resting along her jaw, gently guiding her.

"What I'm trying to say" he gulped, noticing as her heartrate increased and her eyes grew wider. "Very poorly, I might add…"

"Yes?" she breathed

"Is I love you, Elizabeth Liones, with all my heart" he finished as he gently pressed his lips to hers.