Elizabeth

Tears fall silently down Meliodas face as he buries his lovers body. He tries like mad to make her a decent grave, but the mud is thick from the falling rain and his thoughts are eating his concentration. His memories of her hair and fingers, once vibrant and full of life, fill his head as he tries to visualize her the way she was before her death. Struggle as he may though, all he can think of now is the feeling of her cold body in his arms and the blood that pooled around them both as he held her lifeless corpse. The dreadfully recent events forcing a loud sob from his chest as he violently rubs his face with his dirty hands trying desperately to stop the tears. She begged him not to cry before she breathed her last, but that was easier said than done. He lowers his dearest into her final resting place and covers her with the soil before falling to the ground and hugging himself. He starts to shake forcefully with silent weeps and just as his heart begins to feel as though it would burn a small hole in his chest a babies howl snaps him back to the present. Meliodas lifts his head slowly, still looking at Liz's grave. His eyes widen as he raises himself off the ground, realizing what was making the awful cries. The sounds grow louder and a bolt of panic shoots through his body. He makes his way from his beloveds graveside reluctantly, but as the weeping grows louder he can feel his feet pulling himself toward the babe faster and faster. He's in a full sprint when he finally finds his way to a inert body that lay in front of him. The woman that lay before him holds a newborn that is wrapped in several blankets and Meliodas has to calm himself before he can pick the babe up, fearing he might drop the child with his hands still shaking from sorrow and guilt. He gets a sickening feeling in his stomach when he pries the mothers rigamortised fingers from her infant, who is still howling from discomfort of neglect. His eyes start to fill with fresh tears as he unwraps the child from it's blanketed cocoon. He can barely see the child's face, but what he can catch a glimpse of frightens him. A pair of big blue eyes, twinged with a faint redness from the crying, stare back into his emerald ones. The tiny nose rolls down to the chin slightly, like the nose of a pixie and the infants mouth is small and pale. He catches his breath and can't believe what he sees.

'Liz?' The voice in his head sounds shaken up even to himself. He knew of reincarnations of course, being as old as he was, but he had never witnessed anything like this before.

'What can the odds of this be? That she should die,' the voice in his head catching as he thinks of Liz dying in his arms, 'in my arms only to be born in the same town seconds later?' His thoughts thundering in his ears.

'This can't be possible, but she looks so much like her even for a newborn.' His tears now spilling from his eyes, he has to look away from the child, yet she demands his attention with harder sobs now, obviously hungry. She sucks between cries looking for something to nurse, but nothing meets her lips in return. Her howls grow louder and louder with displeasure, however all Meliodas can think of is Liz and the thoughts once again consume him. Unwillingly, he cuddles the infant in his arms and nuzzles her face into his shoulder, being careful not to smother the new soul.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. It's all my fault and now because of me, your mother is dead. She didn't even have the chance to name you, or even to gaze into those big beautiful blue eyes." He cries out between sobs. unintentionally he starts to remembers all the good times with Liz and all the things he never got to tell her or say. He's never even once called her by her full name and the feeling of regret causes his words to slip. "Elizabeth." The name sounds so beautiful as it was painful to say, but then he notices a strange discovery. He pulls the baby away from his shoulder and looks down at her, only to see her face twisted up in a smile. "Did I say something to make you happy?" His frown pulling slightly into a tragic smile, almost as if he was humoring the new born and trying finally to fix her of her troubles. She begins to cry once more and he fishes desperately in his head to remember what it was he had said or did to stop her tears. Something compels him to say Liz's true name once more and the baby in his arms laughs this time. "Elizabeth? That's what makes you happy? Liz's name? Did you somehow want me to call you that?" He tries to force a smile through the tears once more, but seeing the babies face light up at him whenever he mentions Liz is to much and he pulls her into his shoulder once more. "Ok Elizabeth, if you really like it that much than I will never stop saying it. Even if it causes me pain, it will be my retribution for the suffering I have caused you and all the others." He can barely make out his confessions to her through his sobs. With her new name being whispered over and again into her tiny ears Elizabeth giggles into the collar of the boys shirt before she breaks down for another time. Meliodas bounces her in his arms and tries to hush her sobs, but he knows she won't last long without a mother and he needs to find her a foster soon. From his days as a noble knight he remembers that one of the nearby kingdoms has a Queen who was currently nursing a baby of her own and makes the decision that it's probably best for her to be raised in a kingdom that wasn't in complete shambles. Though he wanted to stay and tend Liz's grave, he knew Elizabeth needed him now and because he was the one who caused her suffering he felt it part of his responsibility to care for her now. He knew it wasn't enough to atone for his sins, but he couldn't bare to hurt anyone else and was going to make sure Elizabeth was safe this time. He wrapped the baby back up in her mothers blankets and gathered what he needed to make his journey. Heading for the city gates he cradles the infant in his arms and looks down at her now sleeping form. He leans his head in, almost touching hers and whispers.

"Don't worry Elizabeth, I won't loose you again." Meliodas kisses her forehead and carries the child off towards her new home.