A/N.: Hello everyone! Here is the 3rd chapter! Sorry for the late, I had two other fanfics to finish and completed! (^^) I hope you will enjoy this chapter and please review!
The letter C is for... the word "Childhood".
It was a moment far before the third princess of Liones set herself on a journey to find the Seven Deadly Sins in order to stop the cruelty created by the Holy Knights and save the kingdom, before the Seven Deadly Sins were even labelled as traitors... In a restaurant with open space on a terrasse were the Sins currently reunited for lunch together, however the most important of them―their captain were missing (Merlin, Escanor and Gowther too were absent though each of them due to personal reasons).
"The captain is sure late even though he was the one who called all of us over... I wonder if something happened?" The fat chubby man, which was the human form of the Grizzly Sin of Sloth―King looked over his shoulder at the entrance in order to see if there was any sign of the captain approaching or not, but he had yet seen anything.
Sitting at his opposite and crossing his legs on the table while drinking a bottle of ale and almost seemed half-drunk was the Fox Sin of Greed, Ban. "Oi King~ Stop worrying over the Cap'n alreaaady, he is strong enough to take care of himseeeelf~" Ban sing-songed in a disturbing manner but even so King could only sighs at the man in front of him who was doing nothing but irritating him, "Yeah of course I know but..."
"―Sorry for the wait you guys, something sudden came up which led me to come later than expected." The familiar voice of their captain was finally heard as King looked behind him in relief while Ban was giving him a look of 'Didn't I told ya?' on his face which got ignored. However both of them soon froze upon seeing the unexpected thing their captain was carrying...
"Mm? What's wrong? Is there something on my face?"
"N–not on your face, rather..."
"...?" Yes, it was the Dragon Sin of Wrath Meliodas and the captain of the Seven Deadly Sins. He was as he usually presented himself and saluted them with raising a hand up, yet―in his other arm he was carrying a baby, yes a baby, a cute little baby with big blue eyes and short silver hair wrapped inside a cloth and laying comfortably in his arm while staring at the world curiously.
'...?!' Suddenly King felt himself sweat buckets as he was completely shocked by the scene... No, it couldn't be possible, right? After all the captain was strong for someone as child-like and surely older than how he looks, but still...
Ban however suddenly sobbered from his drunk state after the interesting sight in front of him as he released an amusing 'Oh?' and laughed as he asked: "What's with that Cap'n? Your hidden child or somethin'?"
"Wait a second, Ban! You can't ask something like that so rudely, try to learn some tact!" King immediately admonished Ban while Meliodas didn't seemed much fazed as he took a seat with the baby still in his arms. "Oh―Well..." He was about to start explaining but before he could another voice cuts in the conversation...
"Captain~! Where were you all this time? I got tired waiting! Did something happened..." Soon the voice stopped upon seeing the baby in Meliodas' arms, the person who spoke was the Serpent Sin of Envy, Diane, as a giant she couldn't stay with them on the same ground thus was forced to lean her hands on the barriers of the restaurant open space which was situated of many meters from the ground, but thanks to that she could stay with them and isn't forced to sit down.
Upon seeing Diane, King immediately started to panic as he tried to calm her down of anything that could make her angry and prevent another catastrophe. "D–Diane, first listen to me calmly, it isn't what you think. How about we all listen silently to Captain's explanation and―"
"UWAA~! IT'S A BABY!" However Diane didn't even let him finish as she immediately cried out in exclamation and amazement, but the tone of her voice was far greater that most of the other customers cringed at the loud sound and covered their ears while shivering, the Sins however seemed to be used to that and unfazed by it, if it weren't for their hair to have suffered of a similar sensation of being blown by a strong gust of wind.
"It's an human baby, I know that―!"
"Is that so?"
King silently sighed to himself as he heard Meliodas and Diane's conversation, in that way it should end up alright without any bloodshed (from the captain). Now that he thought about it, before he erased Diane's memories during her childhood, didn't they also came across a couple having a human baby in the old hunter's village? Aah... That time's Diane was sure adorable to his eyes...
"How cuuuute! Then? Where does this baby come from?" Diane cooed as she entwined her fingers in delight.
Meliodas opened his mouth to answer: "Ah, well about it..." But as if it was his fate or something, he was never able to finish...
"...Or do you think that I would say that? TO HAVE A SECRET CHILD WITH SOME UNKNOWN WOMAN WHILE YOU ALREADY HAVE ME AND TO THINK THAT YOU DARED TO BRING THAT SAME CHILD IN FRONT OF ME, CAPTAIN YOU IDIIIIOOOOT!" And thus Diane's teary punch send Meliodas flying through the restaurant and knocked all the tables and chairs down like a bowling ball hitting all its target in one swing. STRIKE!
'...I spoke too quickly.' King thought bitterly and was now trying to calm Diane's anger down while Ban only laughed his heart out in return. Meliodas found himself being trapped under a great number of reversed tables on him, but don't worry everyone, only Meliodas took damages (which he can handle easily) and the baby was safe from all harm as she could only blink in a confused manner in return.
[And after some explanations...]
"""A PRINCESS?!""" The three present Sins cried out in shock as Meliodas nodded calmly to their words while letting the baby playing with his fingers in her small hand, "Yeah, the third princess they said."
"But why is someone as important as a princess was entrusted to Captain?" King wondered as he got completely captured by the little girl's cuteness and couldn't help himself but to come closer and to poke her chubby cheek with his index finger... which was a little too close to the captain's tastes as he was trying to push King's face away with all his strength as he continued on speaking, "Well about that... first when I do like this..." Meliodas handed the baby to King, and King was about to receive her until―
*Clunch!*
"It end up like that." In the end King couldn't receive the baby as Meliodas explained because once she felt that she was going to be away from Meliodas' arms, she immediately use her small hand to clench Meliodas' red shirt and refused to let go no matter what. Even if he tried to pull her away it didn't worked... or rather, did he seemed to be smug of it? King didn't understood well, he was a fairy and as a fairy even if he was no good at it, reading in other's hearts wasn't that difficult... but was the captain troubled or happy of it? He couldn't understand at all.
"That baby's power is amazin'~" Ban commented.
"I remember that Bartra was crying because his daughter wouldn't let go of me." Meliodas thought and smiled a little at the memory, it was kind of funny, the king of Liones being jealous of one of his servant because his daughter prefered the latter over her own father (even though she was adopted).
"But what will you do about it?" Diane asked as now that she understood the situation, she was way calmer and understandive than earlier. "Today was a day of rest but starting tomorrow we would have mission again, right?"
"Hm... Well, I'll try what I can do right now so don't worry about it. For now I have no choice but to keep her, I'll take her back to the castle later on."
"If you say so Captain..."
"..." The little princess was watching the Sins with curious eyes as Meliodas started to ask what they should command to eat or drink, but even if the other persons seemed to be interesting too, her eyes were only locked on the Dragon Sin of Wrath.
This is what happened a little earlier before Meliodas rejoined the Sins back, he got called at the castle and thought that it was for something important only to witness the king playing foolishly with his new baby daugther which was in the arms of the queen. The queen then noticed him and handed the baby over, saying: "Would you like to hold her too?"
He pointed at himself in confusion before Queen Caroline placed her new daughter carefully in his arms, he held her like he was told as he steadied her head in his hand so she wouldn't be uncomfortable, she was sleeping peacefully and he didn't wanted to wake her up. "Like this?" He asked the queen who smiled in return, "Yes. You are very good at it, do you perhaps have any experience with it?"
"Nope." It was the truth, he held no much experiences over taking care of really young children.
"Be careful to not drop her!"
"I already know Bartra, calm down a little will you? ...Oh." Now the little girl woke up, Meliodas froze slightly, would she start go crying? Should he give her back to the queen?
"...Ehe~" However she didn't cried nor did she looked afraid, she just extended her small hands towards him and smiled brightly with slightly flushed cheeks. Meliodas felt himself being slightly entranced by the adorable sight as he had a similar flush on his own cheeks. It was almost as if he could see flowers dancing around the little girl as he opened his mouth to talk, "...Say, Bartra―"
"I won't give her to you." A straight and direct answer as if he read right through him.
"I didn't asked anything yet though?"
"I already said that I won't give her to you. Aren't you the one who brought her to us? We won't let you take her back any soon."
"...Tch."
"Oi! You said 'Tch' just now, didn't you?!"
"Then how about we ask her with who she want to be?"
"Give her back! There is no way I'm leaving my daughter in your hands!"
"Too bad for you, she already is."
"Ahaha!" Watching the two men fighting over the cute little baby, Queen Caroline couldn't help but burst out of laughing even though it may be unrefined from someone of her rank, the sight was too much of a joy to behold after all. In the end, Meliodas won and was allowed to keep the baby for the rest of the day, thus Bartra ended up in tears.
"Oi, oi, oiii... Aren't you sleepy yet―? It is already morning you know―?" Meliodas called out to the baby still in his arms drowzily as the moon was now high in the sky and stars were scattered in the night. He originally went to give back Elizabeth to the royal family as promised but she still refused to let go of him thus Queen Caroline accepted to allow Elizabeth stay with him for the night much to the dismay of the still crying king. Even if the girl was still feeling energic enough, Meliodas started to get tired to the point of falling asleep at any moment.
"Uuh..." Oh? Meliodas noticed that the baby was trying to fight to stay awake but had an hard time to do so, her eyes started to close and open, close and open, until at a moment they stayed closed permanantly. Starting to feel some hope, Meliodas carefully and softly moved the baby from his side and was about to put her on the bed...
"...!" Before the baby immediately woke up and gripped his shirt tightly once again, now back to being all energized.
'So it's still no good!' Meliodas hanged his head into despair as he started to give up in many ways, maybe he was really not made for that kind of thing? Fighting various monsters was far more easy than to keep up with this little one.
'But still she is sure a strong-willed little princess―that makes me wonder how she would become when she grow up. She is surprisingly sharp with her senses, is it because babies are more sensible of things around them? I don't know at all... Now, what to do...?' Meliodas was about to sigh however upon seeing the little baby clutching even harder to him with her small trembling hand and tears ready to fall from her eyes as her lips trembled which gives signs that if he continued to try to push her away from him, she would start to cry.
"..." Seeing this, seeing about how much she didn't even wanted to leave his side for a single second―from a millimiter of distance, instead of being annoyed Meliodas' gaze softened as he gently narrowed his eyes and came to rest his forehead lightly against the baby's. "...Elizabeth."
Tears were already falling down from the baby's eyes and rolling down her cheeks but once she heard her name being called by him rather than anyone else, she widened her eyes in reaction. Yet Meliodas didn't stopped, he gently held Elizabeth's small hand that was holding his shirt and softly clenched it so it wouldn't hurt her and in the gentlest voice he ever used, he said to her: "It's alright. Even if you let go of this hand, I will never disappear from your sides... 'kay?" He finished with his usual sunny grin and the seriousness that he previously had disappeared almost as if it was an illusion, now instead of his forehead, it was his nose that was brshing against the little girl's.
"―" And with a miracle, as if the baby understood the blond's words, she slowly and finally for the first time in the day, let go of his shirt and closed her eyes as all the fatigue that she endured during the day caught her up, fell asleep in Meliodas' arms.
Meliodas caught the small hand that was earlier always clenching his shirt so hardly and gently rubbed the slight bruise that the princess caused to herself in exchange of not letting go of him, it must have hurt for a baby and yet she didn't let go? He gently wiped away the beads of tears at the corner fo her eyes before brushing some of her bangs away and left a lingering kiss on her forehead. He then opened his eyes to look at her sleeping form with an affectionate look as he whispered those words to her: "...Good night, Elizabeth." ―At least, until she wake up, he would stay at her sides like she wished for.
{Bonus: Elizabeth's first words}
Around the time when Elizabeth started to grow from a baby to a toddler, she still refused to separate herself from Meliodas thus he spended all his free time with her much to her delight and his own upon seeing her smile. Recently Elizabeth seemed to be able to speak a little more than the untelligible words she pronounced thus Meliodas decided to try to teach her some. This happened during a day when the two played together, Meliodas started to get used on how to react around her and didn't hesitated to play with her more than necessary.
"Meliodas." He told her when she was wriggling on his body, trying to reach his hands while he toying with hers.
"Me―li―da―" Hm... If he was a woman then maybe he could be satisfied with it but unfortunately he wasn't.
"Me–li–o–da–s." He repeated once again. He was ready to repeat it no matter how much it was needed, he wouldn't be satisfied until he heard it right after all.
"Me―lio―da―?" Ooh...? It was starting to progress, but still not successful yet... or was his name too difficult to pronounce for a really young child? Maybe yes, just when he was thinking about giving up, he felt a small hand touching his cheek and saw below him Elizabeth with her shining eyes and bright smile trying hard for him, "Meeliash―Meriodaaash―Meliodas―" But before she could even finish her successful first word, Meliodas already succombed and hugged Elizabeth tightly as a reward for her efforts and rubbed his cheek against hers while she still tried to call his name right, he didn't cared if he was spoiling her too much anymore. And when Elizabeth finally said her first word with success in front of Bartra, the latter felt that he was truly going to lost it.
Preview of the next chapter: Elizabeth made the error of mistaking alcohol for water and got drunk... How would Meliodas deal with this now drunk Elizabeth?
A/N.: This scene must happen around the time Elizabeth is still a baby but already adopted by the Liones royalty! I thought about how Meliodas would have taken care of Elizabeth during her babyhood (I don't even know if this world even exist XD) if he had taken care of her during her childhood!
[REVIEW CORNER]
– fantasy.92's review at the previous chapter: "my friend! It's great! It explains a lot of things!"
My answer to your review: Thank you as always! Though it don't explain a lot since it isn't canon but I still wanted to write it like that!
– merendinoemiliano's review at the previous chapter: "Good work. For an idea, whath do you think of Elizabeth and Meliodas swapping place? I mean, she's the immortal one, while Meliodas is reincarnated costantly."
My answer to your review: I'm glad you liked it! I did thought about a chapter having Elizabeth and Meliodas swapping places but I mean more swapping bodies so sorry for not being able to answer your request... but if you want fanfics like that then I can recommend you fanfics that speak of that on the site archiveofourown! For example "Wreathed in Sin, Wrought by Destiny" by writting_addict or "Nanatsu No Taizai: Role Swapped" by Angel_Shimizu!
– Guest's review at the previous chapter: "Do you are have the stupid?"
My answer to your review: ...Are you perhaps insinuating that I am stupid? Or is that perhaps you didn't liked the idea of the previous chapter?
