Summary: A devastating betrayal on all sides throws the Holy War into question. Meliodas and Elizabeth are left to make sense of the events, and how to move forward.

A/N: Welcome to this oneshot. The most recent chapters have been... well, they have been a lot for sure, but mostly (to me at least) they have been inspiring ideas I had never considered before. One of those is this oneshot.

Please be warned for SPOILERS of the manga through Chapter 224.

I'm always delighted to hear from you, both good and bad, so please feel free to leave a review or send a message. Thank you for reading.

Elizabeth opened her eyes and blinked at the ceiling. Her vision swam for just a moment before clearing. The canvas of the tent swayed slightly as a breeze blew outside, the color a soft beige that told her it was late afternoon.

Why was she sleeping in the afternoon? She turned her head and found the tent empty. It didn't surprise her that he wasn't there… after all, Meliodas would not be sleeping the day away either.

She glanced down and realized she was wearing a sleeping gown, and not the tunic she had put on that morning. She and Meliodas had left at dawn, heading out to do their rounds before meeting with Gloxinia and Drole. They had scouted the demon army moving in, and there were two Commandments with them. The demons were heading to—

Suddenly it all came back in a jolt: her confrontation with Ludociel, the fight with Derieri, the summoning of the Indura. Tentatively she raised a hand to brush on her jaw, feeling the tender bruise under her skin. Her lips pressed together as her eyes went unfocused, then swam with threatening tears. The demons… they had been killed. Her own clan had exterminated them, extinguishing their lives in holy fire until they were nothing but ash.

All at once she was scrambling out from the covers, stumbling as she fell to the floor. Her hands dug into the packed dirt and grass of the ground as the tears began to run in rivers down her cheeks. All the prisoners were gone. The families who were being held were gone. The children… gone.

Never had she thought that her own clan could do such a thing. She had been witness to cruelty and kindness in every race. Elizabeth knew the 'cursed' demons could show an incredible amount of love and loyalty to one another. She knew the 'blessed' goddesses, her own mother, could be vengeful and arrogant. There was sin and grace on both sides.

The children…

She covered her face with one hand and heaved a sob. They were gone, and there was nothing she could do. Nothing any of them could do.

The flap to the tent opened and someone spoke her name. Then familiar arms were pulling her close, and Elizabeth buried her hands into familiar locks and pressed her face against a familiar chest. "What's wrong? What is it? Are you hurt?" he cried, pushing her hair back from her face.

"Meliodas," she gasped, and he tightened his grip around her.

He held her like that for a while, sitting on the ground with his back against the mattress. Meliodas pulled the goddess against him tightly and let her cry, silently rubbing her back and allowing her to get it all out. When Elizabeth began to finally quiet, she nearly collapsed against him, the last of her energy and heartache draining away as the tears dried on her cheeks. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"For what?" he murmured back, dragging his fingers through her hair.

Elizabeth stared at the collar of his shirt, tracing the stitching with her gaze. "They are dead, aren't they? The demons."

She felt him swallow slowly. "You saved Monspeet and Derieri. They would have killed their own bodies and spirits in their wrath."

"Yes," she whispered again with a shuddering breath. "But the prisoners… I didn't know, Meliodas. I swear I didn't know."

"Of course you didn't," he answered, pressing his lips on the top of her head. "I never once doubted that."

His words were comforting, as was the rise and fall of his chest and the strength in the arms that held her. Meliodas was not an overly affectionate person, and kept her at a respectful distance despite the fact that everyone knew the truth about their relationship. Still, he rarely touched her in front of the others, rare to even give any signs of tenderness other than a warm smile or a fond look. It was only moments like now, when they were alone, would he hold her and whisper to her the way she longed for, the way she wanted to be with him.

She clung now to those words desperately, remembering the accusing glares from the demons she had faced, the agony and bitterness from the ones who stole their own lives away just to become beasts of destruction. The memory sent a shiver through her: the black eyes, the animalistic snarling, the faces that showed only the drive to desolate everything and everyone in their path. It was horrible, and she had been so frightened; not for herself, if anything she deserved to feel those claws and those teeth for failing so utterly. No, she was frightened of losing again, losing control to Ludociel, of having to watch more death.

Elizabeth whimpered with the memory, seeing nothing but the empty eyes when she closed her own. Meliodas' mouth pressed against her temple, and then trailed down her cheek before she tilted her face back a bit to look at him. She expected him to move away, to give her one of his sweet smiles that came more often now, or to do something silly to make her laugh. But instead, his mouth hovered against hers, his breath fanning on her lips, before pressing against her.

The kiss was slow, and cautious, and Elizabeth closed her eyes, the lashes still heavy and damp. This was not the first time he had kissed her; they had shared a dozen others, each when one needed the other. The first had been after a battle, when she thought he was gone. The dust and the dirt had swirled in the air around them in a thick, choking cloud, and when it settled she saw he was missing. She had screamed for him then, searching frantically as she gasped desperately for air. When the demon finally appeared, also searching for her, she had let go a cry and launched herself at him, pulling him tightly against her and sealing her mouth on his for a long, heart-pounding moment.

She had kissed him again, later that night, a chaste kiss that was shared when they were back at camp and safe and exhausted. It was sweet and relaxing, unlike the frenzied passion of earlier, and when he teased her lips with his teeth Elizabeth had erupted into breathless laughter.

That was the last for several days, until after a meeting between the clan leaders. Meliodas had proven himself time and again, but the others wouldn't hear of having a demon prince and general in the strategy meetings. Elizabeth had been furious, standing and shouting at the others, her eyes flashing as her temper flared. Meliodas had to practically drag her from the tent as she ordered everyone out of the alliance, and she had turned and lashed out at him in her fury. Hot tears of frustration had been threatening to spill, and when she threatened to go back in there and tell them what she really thought of them he had grabbed her and kissed her until she was silent and still in his arms.

Elizabeth smiled a bit at that memory as she tilted her head, opening her mouth under his. She slipped her arms around his neck as his arms went around her waist, but the kiss stayed tender even as it grew deeper. This was all she really wanted, and when they finally broke apart she kissed his cheek softly.

"Are you okay?" he asked quietly.

She nodded, her hand sliding down his chest. "Yes. It's just—this war—" She sighed heavily.

"This war will end," responded Meliodas. The seriousness in his tone and in his eyes were reassuring as he said, "All wars end. Then we will have peace."

"At what cost?" Quickly she swallowed and squeezed her eyes shut, willing a fresh round of sobs back. "Ludociel ordered the deaths of… of hundreds of demons today. The goddesses took their lives as if they were nothing." She looked at him sadly, her eyes tracing over his set face, the unreadable mask slipping on that she hated so much. "I failed them. I failed you."

"Never," he said. His thumb rubbed against her elbow.

A tightening silence passed between them, and Elizabeth felt her anxiety start to grow. When the others found out what Ludociel had done, what would they do? Would the other clans still be allied with the goddesses, even after such a heinous act? Or would she be thrown out of Stigma, considered just as traitorous and untrustworthy as Meliodas had once been?

But… the fairy clan had to have known. Lord Gloxinia, at least… the captives had been held in the Fairy King's Forest, after all. Perhaps then her betrayal would not be for the death of the demon captives, but her own defiance against an Archangel to save two of the Ten Commandments. Her temples began to thrum as she wondered who knew what, and when. Gloxinia had been with them, she remembered, when they had faced the demons. So who had aided the goddesses?

"Elizabeth? What is it?" asked Meliodas. His hands squeezed her arms, bringing her back to herself.

"What do we now?" she asked in return. She couldn't tell him about her doubts. Not yet. Not when the pain of her clan's treachery was still so fresh.

He smiled at her then, finally, and the warmth on his face washed over her. "That's easy," he replied. "We fight again. We go back to Stigma and we do what we came to do."

Elizabeth lifted her hand and caressed his cheek before nodding. He stood and pulled her up to her feet, waiting patiently by the door and turning around as she changed. She glanced over her shoulder as she removed her clothing, a flash of heat staining her cheeks when she quickly undressed. But Meliodas stayed facing the flap of the tent, making sure no one entered, and not stealing a look of his own.

When she was ready, she walked over and slipped her hand in his, and he smiled up at her once again. Elizabeth remembered another kiss just then, when Stigma had won the loyalty of the giant clan. They had celebrated that night, the ale flowing as they toasted the alliance and a swift end to the Holy War and peace to Britannia. She had held his hand then too, his cheeks flushed with the bonfire and the alcohol and the spirited atmosphere, and Meliodas had yanked her up against him and kissed her sweetly and soundly.

Together they walked outside, and made ready to leave the camp on the edge of the forest to return to the headquarters on the other side. But as they finished their preparations, a young man ran over, his clothing showing his status as a page in the army. "Lady Elizabeth! Lady Elizabeth!" he cried.

She spun around with wide eyes, and Meliodas immediately shifted in a protective stance. "What is it?" she called, a hand pressing on the demon's arm. "What happened?"

The page ran up to them, heaving for breath. There was a bleeding cut on his head, and his clothes and arms were covered in dirt and blood. "It's Stigma. It's been attacked."

Meliodas grabbed her hand. "Let's go!" he shouted, but the page shook his head.

"There's nothing left. Stigma is gone."

Meliodas sat by the fire, staring into the bright flames. His shoulders were sore, still tight with tension, and his hands gripped one another as he hunched forward, elbows resting on his knees. Eyes unblinking, he welcomed the little throb behind his eyes from the brilliance of the fire. Pain kept him focused.

It was difficult to think of how much had changed in just one day. That morning he had headed back towards the forest to meet with his friends and stop the advancing demons that he had scouted on their approach. It was supposed to be quick and easy; but Karmadios had proven a more difficult opponent than anticipated, nearly forcing him to take him out to stop him. Still, they were successful, even rescuing a pack of humans and bringing them into the alliance.

Rou. He had trusted him, foolishly. Prince Meliodas would have never made such a mistake.

Leaning forward a bit more, he pressed his mouth against his steepled fingers. The bloody destruction that had awaited them when they arrived at the forest was beyond anything they had imagined. They had spent hours searching for survivors, and the stories they told as Elizabeth healed them were maddening.

To her credit, the goddess had remained strong. Her eyes and face had been sympathetic but composed as she tended to the wounded. They drew comfort from the goddess, her healing magic and sad smile soothing away their injuries and fears. Together they assisted in moving everyone to a new settlement, a temporary camp now that theirs was destroyed.

There were not as many survivors as they had hoped, and Meliodas had worked to gather the bodies of the dead. But more stunning than those that were dead, were those that were missing. Elizabeth had asked after their comrades: Drole, Gloxinia, Gerharde, Rou, and Meliodas had just shaken his head. She nodded, taking in a shaky breath before returning to her task.

He kept the truth to himself, unwilling to go into it at that time. How could he explain what he felt? The energy he immediately recognized as soon as he entered the forest? It meant only one thing: their friends were dead, or worse.

"You should eat something." Her gentle voice startled him out of his thoughts, and he blinked up into the darkness as she sat down on the bench beside him. She carried a bowl with some bread and meat, offering it to him with with a concerned look. "Here, take this."

"I'm not hungry," he murmured, turning back to look in the fire.

Elizabeth sighed next to him. In the corner of his eye he saw her place the food down, and then shift so they were side-by-side, facing the flame. They sat in silence, just as they had earlier; but this time he offered no words, his own emotions too raw to give.

The last time they had suffered a loss this badly, they had sat together just like this. He remembered how she had slid her hand over his, and their fingers had entwined. Her healing magic went to work immediately to soothe his cuts and bruises and aching muscles, and as the tension had left him his head sank against her shoulder. Elizabeth had comforted him then, her fingers stroking his hair and neck in a delicious way he didn't know could even exist. She had kissed his forehead, whispering sweet words, before he turned his face towards her—just like she had to him, hours ago—to let her lips brush against his in a feathery kiss.

But there was no comfort tonight, no hand holding, no whispered solace.

Meliodas looked at her, and saw that she had turned her face away, her silver hair and creamy skin glowing warmly from the fire. She was so beautiful, the most lovely thing he had ever seen. Lovely enough to give him pause, to draw the eye of a killer, to move the heart of one who had destroyed his ages ago. Her lips parted with a small sigh, the sound sending a shiver along his neck. She made that sound often when he touched her, and it stirred his demon soul more than he cared to admit.

Only once had he come close to returning to the callous demon who took what he wanted. Elizabeth had been teasing him about something or other, and her laughter and the way her hair was twisted on the back of her neck and the sparkle in her eye when she smirked at him over her bare shoulder had nearly been his undoing. He had kissed her then, as well; kissed her and pushed her underneath him and rocked against her enticing body until they were both gasping and moaning. She had pulled him closer, to his relief, instead of pushing him away; but it was enough of a mistake that he had been relieved to stop himself before it went too far.

He had tried very hard to be gentle and slow with Elizabeth, and the opposite of who he was and who he had been. So he was loud and garrulous around her, when the prince had been silent and cold. He offered her smiles instead of scowls, requests instead of demands, support rather than derision. Meliodas tried to deserve her affection. He tried to become someone she should love, instead of the one she did love.

He felt her shift as she said, "I'll leave you alone." Slowly she stood, but Meliodas reached out and grasped her hand.

"Stay," he said.

Elizabeth looked down at him, seeming to hesitate. Shadows covered her face, making it impossible for him to tell what she was thinking, and it was a relief when she took her place next to him again. Meliodas pulled her hand into his lap, closing both of his hands around hers, rubbing his rough palm against the softness of her skin.

He searched his heart for something to say, but found nothing. Fortunately, Elizabeth spoke first. "We have to stop this war," she whispered.

Meliodas nodded. "There is a way."

"There is," she sighed. "I've been thinking—"

"Tomorrow," he continued, interrupting her as if he had not heard, "I will go back." Meliodas ignored her again when she gasped and hurried on, "I will return to the demon realm and make a deal with the king. I'll get him to forgive his grievances and call a cease to the fighting. I know if I go and—"

"No."

Meliodas stared at her hand, still clasped tightly in his own. "I know if I go he will listen to me. He wants me too badly, he wants—"

"No!"

"He wants me to take my place again and if I—"

"No!"

The shrill sound of her voice made his eyes snap up to hers. Tears were falling, again, but her eyes were wide in hurt and shock. "You would leave me?" she whispered.

Her question felt like a knife in his chest. "Elizabeth…"

"If you go back now, you'll never come back to me," she continued. Her voice wavered a bit and her breathing hitched. "He could kill you, and then what would I do?"

"Elizabeth." Her name came out harsher than he intended, and she looked away. "You would leave me so easily," she murmured.

"Of course not!" Only one other time had he heard that tone in her voice, that tightness that felt like a piercing in his own chest. They had argued, not their first or last, but their most intense one. Elizabeth had wanted him to take her to the demon realm so she could make a case directly to the king, and he had refused. She was furious with him, and he returned her anger, calling her foolish, chastising her for her ridiculous blind faith in everyone. She had retorted that is what she had been told by others about him, and the truth had shocked him out of his temper.

Immediately she had apologized, horrified over hurting him in her ire; but Meliodas was glad to know the truth, that she believed in him knowing who he was, instead of in spite of it. They had held each other then, both mumbling apologies as they kissed each other's anger away; he had confessed that he loved her, and she had confessed that she loved him.

Instantly he moved, kneeling on the ground in front of her, his hands grasping her waist to keep her in place. "This is the only way to stop all of this. I would never—" His fingers clenched against the fabric of her shirt. "Both sides lost so much today, and I can't let that happen again. Not ever again."

Elizabeth closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them again, the hurt was gone. It was replaced by tenderness, and he nearly cried in relief that she accepted his words. But then she brought a hand up to caress his cheek and whispered, "There is another way."

"Another way?" Now he was the one frowning and staring at her. "I don't know what you mean. What other way?"

Her small smile broke into a grin that made his heart skip. "Don't you remember? Our conversation from this morning?"

"This morning?"

He remembered, of course he did, how could he forget? A question asked on impulse, her startled agreement bringing heat to both of their faces. How could she bring that up now?

"We could, you know… We could right now…"

"No, Elizabeth—"

"We could… then they couldn't stop us, they couldn't break us apart…"

"No, Elizabeth." He slid closer, one hand pressing against the small of her back. "I don't want to do it this way. Not to defy them. I want to do it for us."

The excitement that had shined in her eyes dulled a bit. "I want this. For us." His heart pounded as her thumb brushed along his jaw. "What happened today… this war is ending. I can see it." Her voice trembled as she spoke. "We can't force a peace now. There will only be death, until one side or the other is left standing."

"That's not true," he argued back. "We've come this far."

Elizabeth shook her head. "The demons have suffered a great loss. The alliance is betrayed and gone. All we can hope now is to survive. But I believe we can. I believe in us."

Meliodas narrowed his eyes. "You're not making sense. What are you saying? That peace is impossible?" His head shook as he huffed out a harsh breath. "I won't accept that. I won't let you accept it. Not with all we've done."

It hurt him badly to hear her defeat. Elizabeth had believed so passionately in ending the war, had used her magic and her strength and her words so often to turn back the armies and sway their allies to their side. After all, she had brought him out of the darkness, a gift he was still repaying, a gift he would always be repaying. His hand moved along her spine, and he thought of another night, another kiss, when they had laid in bed together, whispering. She had told him of her life in the celestial realm, and he described his own in the demon realm, and then they had kissed one another again and again, their bodies and mouths moving in a slowly building passion.

She smiled then, her hands resting on his shoulders. "I still believe in peace," she said quietly. "I believe the demons and goddesses, and all the races, can live together. But Meliodas, nothing is certain, not anymore. Both sides have shown what they are capable of, and I am afraid."

"You don't have to be," he insisted. "I will protect you. I will give my life for you."

"And that is why I want to give mine to you," she answered simply.

They met at midnight, the moon full and bright in the sky. Elizabeth wore a white dress, a simple sheath common for the goddesses. Meliodas had done the best he could in finding a clean uniform, finally borrowing something from one of the fairy clan.

How she managed to find flowers in the dark she never explained, but there were fresh blossoms in her hair, and she slipped one into a buttonhole on his collar. They stood together as she held a bouquet of wildflowers, the perfume heavy in the air between them. He called her radiant, and she laughed and proclaimed him to be very handsome, before he weaved his fingers with hers as they faced one another.

The parson was a human, one of those who had not been a part of the betrayal. He spoke words that were beautiful, but neither really paid much attention to them in the end. Both were too busy staring at one another, desperate to remember this moment forever, to imprint it into their consciousness for eternity. On Meliodas' side stood the fairy who had lent him a coat, a bit startled and nervous but taking the honor rather seriously; on Elizabeth's was a young giant who had been kept away from the fighting as a page, who cried very large tears that splashed down her cheeks and onto the ground.

How very fitting, the parson said, for all of the clan members to witness such a union.

The words were spoken, the promises made, promises that only death can undo. Let us part only at death, they said to one another, as they squeezed each other's hands.

Then the kiss, the sweetest one out of them all, to bless the covenant. The deed was done, and no one, not the king or the queen or any creature in Britannia could deny that the prince and the princess, the demon and the goddess, were now joined in a way that went beyond family, because it was built on their faith in one another.

"Until death," Meliodas whispered as he kissed her again.

"Until death," Elizabeth whispered back, returning his kiss.

That night their vows were fulfilled, joining hands, joining eager lips, joining aching bodies, so that the promise could be sealed. They did not know that the next day, their gods would leave their places below and above the world to bring their judgment. They could not foresee at that moment that their promise of life could be turned and twisted against them. All they knew at that moment was that their hearts and souls and bodies were now, and forever, together.