Theme 1: Can You Hear Me
"Elizabeth, can you hear me?"
Meliodas tried to run through his endless memories, searching for fear. He'd been afraid before; being a knight came with anxieties. One wrong move and he'd lose his limb or his life. However, with all the wracking, he could not quite come up with a memory that rivalled that fear he felt right now, looking at her unconscious form.
He had finally convinced his party to leave him alone with the third princess for some time so he could watch over her personally, throwing a half-hearted suggestive look Hawk's way to the latter's fury. But his joking, calm demeanor could only mask his hurricane of worries for so long. Now that he was alone with the silence, her injured body, and his thoughts, he couldn't quite keep the desperation from rising to the surface.
"How careless can you be, Elizabeth?" He muttered to her from behind hair-covered eyes, "protecting everyone else but yourself?"
He didn't get a response, which was expected, but he continued his tangent anyways. "You manage to break out those powers to heal everyone, but you can't even muster up a bit to heal yourself? Merlin says your powers stem from selflessness. She's probably right, goddesses know she knows more about magic than I do."
He paused for a moment, looking at the state of her damaged body, injuries of all sizes covering her entirety, her silver hair strewn across the pillow. He looked at her face, and was momentarily distracted, not for the first time, by how beautiful she looked when she was asleep. She almost looked peaceful right now, if not for the obvious impairments.
He sighed, wondering if anything he could say would even reach her, let alone affect her. Selflessness, Meliodas was quickly learning, was one of Elizabeth's most honorable yet troublesome traits. More like recklessness, he thought solemnly. He thought back to the times when Elizabeth - frail, beautiful, reckless Elizabeth - had thrown herself to the enemy, walked fearlessly through calamities to save a child, dragged herself miles in heavy armor to pursue those thought to be notorious criminals just to protect her kingdom. So honorably selfless, so ridiculously reckless.
"But maybe it was selfish of you, Elizabeth. Maybe you thought that your sacrifice was worth it to save the rest of us. But what about those of us that can't go on without you?" He continued to stare into her face, but found himself reaching for her hand. "If you stay here, what will I do? You've trapped me here in this room with you. You know I can't leave you behind."
How could he force her to be more selfish? How could he tell her if she sacrificed herself for him it meant nothing? He refused to be left behind on this world without her. Not again.
"Hey Elizabeth, are you listening?" He leaned closer to her ear as he realized he couldn't get his voice to raise higher than a whisper. "Can you hear me, when I tell you the truth?"
"If you disappear from my life, I'll have no reason to live. So please, live for me."
Moments went by that felt like years, and then there was warmth. A radiating glow had spread along her body, and with wide-eyes Meliodas focused on her injuries as they slowly began to lessen among her pale skin. Finally, he made his way up to her face, several shades of pink coating her cheeks. He never thought he'd be so in love with her blush until it represented her life: her pulsing heart, her awareness. Her bright, unbandaged eye was looking at him with a raw emotion he found himself wanting to get lost in for the rest of his existence.
"Yes, Lord Meliodas. I can hear you."
Thank you for reading! I'm new to writing and very insecure about it, so any feedback whatsoever is massively appreciated! I hope by doing this challenge I'm inspired to write more. As of now I'm not sure if there will be continuity, besides the fact everything will take place post-anime. I'll try to make longer chapters depending on the theme, but this scene came in mind for "Can You Hear Me" even though its a bit short. That's all for now, thanks again!