Prompt: Meliodas and Elizabeth stop in a town while traveling and there happens to be a musical festival. Elizabeth singing. Meliodas playing an instrument. And dancing. I believe were the basic bullet points of the prompt.

This is canon divergent, because I've written them dancing a lot so I took this one a step further. Part of this was inspired by the tale of Omashu from Avatar the Last Airbender.

TRISTANNE DAY

Their plan to stop in the town of Sonum had been a lucky one. With a musical celebration well underway, there was plenty of opportunity to earn some profits off the merriment. However, the idea of working all night during Sonum's Tristanne Day celebration did not sit well with the employees.

"Come on, captain, be fair. How often do we get to relax? This is just the thing we need to get our spirits up." Diane was leaning toward the window, her cheek pressed to the glass. She was pouting.

Meliodas considered and she did have a point. "Well, I suppose it won't hurt. We do still need to work some of the night, though. This is a business, after all."

"Yeah, yeah. So let's say that we work the crowd until sundown. Then the night is ours." Hawk had been just as anxious for the prospect of festivities as the rest of them, once he heard what the evening menu would contain.

"You know, there's even a sign up going around for performances. You should totally hit that up, captain." Ban was grinning, though he had not given his opinion one way or the other on attending Tristanne Day until now.

Meliodas was about to comment, but Elizabeth spoke first. "Does that mean we will be given the opportunity to perform…if we wanted to?"

"That's the impression I got, but I couldn't really tell ya for sure, princess." Ban scratched inside his ear as he answered.

That was apparently all she needed and Elizabeth bowed and excused herself. She had made sure to repeat that she would be there to work with the others until sundown, but that she needed to see to something important.

Meliodas gave her his okay, because what else would he do? He wasn't her keeper. But his curiosity was definitely piqued. While they worked to set up a few barrels down in the town square, Elizabeth was no where in sight. When he returned to the Boar Hat, calling her name and checking her–their room, technically, since he was happy to share–but Elizabeth wasn't there.

"Hey, Hawk, you haven't seen Elizabeth by any chance?"

Hawk shrugged as best a pig could manage the gesture with no shoulders. "Beats me. Haven't seen her since she excused herself earlier. Come to think of it, where did she get too? Hope it's nothing serious."

Meliodas raised his hands, shaking his head and reassuring Hawk that he was sure she was fine. And he was sure. He had the sense that she wasn't in any danger, yet her absence was still making him worried. Meliodas wandered around under the guise of work, but really he was still searching, his eyes constantly checking for a shimmer of platinum hair or the edge of a pink blouse.

"Hey, captain, look what I managed to dig up." Ban came from slacking off somewhere, offering something to him, "Check it out. I'll bet it still works, too."

"Geez, Ban, how far were you digging to scavenge up that old thing?"

Ban grinned.

–

Elizabeth had settled on her walk, pulling out the quill and roll of paper she had stashed in her bag. She looked back over her shoulder. The Boar Hat was still in sight, though she was a good mile or so away. The trees were thicker here and she hoped that meant there would be less of a chance that someone overheard her.

"I wonder if I can still do this. It's been so long." She dipped the feather tip in ink and then searched her thoughts for the words. She'd jotted down a handful of poems in her younger days. Just short collections that conveyed things she had trouble articulating in speech. Emotions. Colors. Things that she'd seen or done that day. She had quite the collection under her bed, though, now that she thought of it, that collection was probably lost now.

She owed Sir Meliodas so much. He had given her an invaluable gift in helping her. Something she could never repay, though she had often tried to find ways. Cleaning up their shared room. Washing clothes. Organizing long neglected store receipts and bill tabs. Very small gestures that, so far, he had never once mentioned. Not that she was looking for his attention. But a part of her had longed for some way to show him her gratitude in more than just odd jobs. And so this Tristanne Day had been quite fortuitous for her.

As Elizabeth thought about her time at the Boar Hat so far, as she reflected on what it–and he–had come to mean to her, the easier the words came to her. And soon her fingertips were smudged in ink and her hand cramping.

She blew on the final lines to help them dry and then rolled it all carefully up and hugged it to her chest. It was hardly comparable to all he had done for her, but maybe, he would enjoy it and that would be enough.

–

That night, just before the sun had set, the Boar Hat employees were finishing up their tasks to start enjoying the rest of the celebration. Meliodas had just served his last ale and was about to see where Elizabeth had gone to, since she had appeared just before opening and had been lost in the crowd ever since. He was curious still about what had kept her away, but he wasn't about to pry. He might, however, poke a bit to see if she would share voluntarily.

He was about to set out when a hush fell over the town and lights were lit around a platform. The crowd began to settle down, taking seats where they could. Some of them sitting right where they'd been standing, curling up their legs on the stone road. Meliodas looked around him, feeling their excitement for whatever was about to happen. Now that everyone was seated, he could see over their heads. He found Elizabeth easily, though she was paying rapt attention to the platform. So he looked too and a speaker was setting up and suddenly the town was filled with his voice.

"We are here today to celebrate the founding of our town. Tristanne Day marks the founding of Sonum. When the brave Tristan fell in love with the princess Anne many decades ago." Drums sounded in the speaker's dramatic pause, then he was moving again, his body animated to better tell his tale. "They met one faithful day, at a festival just like this, during a dance that would spark their beginning until their tragic end years later, when the princess Anne was lost to him, in this town they had wanted to call home…"

It was quite the tale, Meliodas had to admit. Sure, it was full of inaccuracies, but the town's version was much better than the original. Tristan and Anne did make Sonum their home, and thereby the town, but it was a lot less bloody than they depicted. Also, they didn't fall in love over a dance, they had been in love much longer than that. It was the dance that had made them kiss for the first time, their first admittance of their feelings.

When the story was over, the music began in full swing. Those who had signed up were ushered to the platform on their turn. Meliodas hadn't signed up for anything, but he wasn't entirely sure that Ban hadn't submitted his name anyway. Oh well, if his name was called then that would be a surprise for everyone.

He worked his way through the crowd until he found Elizabeth. Unfortunately, he didn't have the opportunity to open his mouth before her name was echoing over the crowd.

"Excuse me, Sir Meliodas, I'll be right back."

"Huh? Wait, where're you-"

Oh. She had signed up to perform. Elizabeth got up on the stage, looking out at the crowd and blushing slightly. "Um, hello. I'm afraid I don't have any music accompaniment this evening. But I hope that–"

"Wait! Stop!" He was running, dodging people to get to the stage and shouting. As expected, Ban was waiting with his dug up treasure in hand.

"I figured you'd change your mind, captain."

Meliodas thanked him and then headed up to the stage. "Elizabeth, do you mind if I accompany you?" He held up the instrument, only just cleaned of dust and cobwebs.

"S-sir Meliodas, I didn't know you played. I, I'd love for you to accompany me."

"Yeah, it's not big deal. I learned how to play the zither as a kid. Never really lost it, ya know? Like fighting, you never really forget."

"You play the…zither?"

"Yeah, why?" He joined her on the platform, checking the strings to make sure the zither was tuned. "Now, I don't know what you're planning so just start and I'll join in when I can."

Elizabeth nodded, her fair cheeks bright red as she turned to the audience. She parted her lips and the sound that came out was quiet and soft, the words unintelligible. As her confidence gathered, she grew louder, her words bolder. The lyrical, sweet trill of her voice catching and rising over the town, expanding like a feeling over everyone.

Meliodas nearly forgot to play. He joined in after a moment, catching a few words until their meaning began to claw for his attention. He played in time with her, his jaw hanging, and it was more the feel for the music that moved him and less his conscious thought. He couldn't shake the idea that she was singing about him. About them. About the Boar Hat and their adventure so far and their promises and their near failures and their successes. She was the melody. He played the harmony. Together, it was a song that when they finished, was met with resounding applause.

Except, Meliodas didn't really hear anything else.

Elizabeth turned to him, still bashful, and said over the noise of the crowd, "I know that there is no way to thank you for everything you've done. But I wrote those lyrics as a small gesture of my gratitude."

He was stupidly silent while she spoke and before he could think of an adequate reply, they were being shuffled off the platform for the next act. Meliodas set down his zither near the stand they had set up earlier. He would retrieve it later. For now, he had one last thing to do before the night was over.

–

Elizabeth moved far to the back of the crowd. She was happy to see all the smiling faces. Children dancing with their parents. Lovers holding each other close while music engulfed the chilly night in a blanket of warmth. She watched a pair for a time, remembering the tale of Tristan and Anne. How sweet that this towns history was created by such a touching story, even if tragic at the end. Tristanne Day was one she would not soon forget.

"There you are. Man, you've been disappearing on me all day."

Meliodas approached her, hands in his pockets and a grin on his face. That look sent a fluttery tingle through her body. She was still nervous about what he might say in response to her song. It was a confusing mix of dread and excitement. A combination that nearly made her queasy.

Fear won out and Elizabeth hastened to forestall hearing his reaction by speaking first. "You don't have to say anything, Sir Meliodas. I only wrote that song because I wanted to somehow express…but I know that it doesn't even come close to…what I mean-"

She stopped when his knuckles tapped gently against her forehead. She opened her eyes and his face was so close to her, his grin close enough she could feel his breath.

"Don't be silly, I loved your song. I don't know why you'd think otherwise."

She beamed, validated in that one sentence and, somehow, that was all she had needed.

"Come on, I wanted to ask you to dance with me at least one time before the night ended." He moved his hand from her forehead and held it out to her.

When he pulled her off her feet, swinging her around until she was laughing, she felt her worries slipping into the night, consumed in merriment. While they spun and giggled and bent and dipped, their noses nearly brushed and they froze together, smiling and winded.

"Hey, you know, it's like that story."

"P-pardon?" Elizabeth felt her heart race behind her ribs, her nerves surging toward her stomach in anticipation of something she couldn't name.

"The story. With Tristan and Anne. According to the tale, they fell in love during a dance."

"Sir…sir Meliodas what are you–"

"That's not how it happened, though. Not exactly. Truth was, they'd been in love for a long time before that. They just never said anything about it." He moved his arm and spun her out, both of them reaching far into the night before she twirled back and into his arms.

She was breathing sporadically now, her senses firing on what he could possibly be implying.

"I'm pretty sure they kissed, too."

"Wh-what are you-"

Poor Elizabeth couldn't get out a word as he danced faster and faster. When she was nearly sick with the anxiety of what he might be implying, both their hands intertwined and held in front of them, their steps brought them close together once more. Their noses nearly touching.

And as her heart thundered in her ears and the wind kicked up the loose strands of her hair, his smile hovered closer to her lips. Elizabeth closed her eyes, waiting, tilting her head, swooning into the almost moment.

He stopped, his eyes still open, and so close that she felt his words, "Only difference is, I don't plan on losing you."

Then he kissed her, the barest touch and she wanted to melt, her insides so deliciously warm and happy, her anxiety and nerves instantly calmed to a soothing, lingering bliss that stayed with her when he eased back. Her heart could shatter it was so full, so content. She'd never felt something so powerful in so small a gesture.

He pulled back further, looking at their clasped hands, and then he was easing her into another dance. Slow and paced, with easy steps that they both matched instinctively. And they danced long after the music had stopped and the day had ended. Long into the night. And Elizabeth would hold that night close to her heart in case she ever needed it. She sealed away the memory of every second, of every action, to be cherished forever.

The End