Title: I want to be Small

Theme: #7 Superstar

Fandom: Nanatsu no Taizai/Seven Deadly Sins

Pairing: KingxDiane

Note: Major Spoilers for Season 1 of the anime and all the way up to Volume 15 or thereabouts.

Disclaimer: I have no claim to any and all things related to Nanatsu no Taizai, although I do now own a beautiful King figurine that is so pretty and perfect that I desperately wish I could own him just so there can be cuddles. Cuddles with King! Eeek!


I want to be Small:

She wanted to feel beautiful.

There were a number of things in her life, different observations, situations, that had lent a certain lack of self-value to her thoughts. She was strong enough not to dwell, to keep herself from being overcome by the negative emotions she felt. Yet she couldn't stop them from occasionally creeping up on her, quietly poking her shoulder when she least expected, slithering in a minute drop of uncertainty when confronted by happenings around her that only magnified the tiny shred of doubt in her mind.

Diane was pretty. She was aware and even pleased by that fact. She was a girl after all and spent a good portion of her morning maintaining her hair, scrubbing blemishes on her lightly tanned skin, and going through a series of warm-up exercises to keep her body and mind in peak condition. As far as humans went, she was what they referred to as "A catch!", if only in all but one exception.

Her size never used to bother her so much when she was a child. She had always known what she was. Giants were well known if not commonly seen in the kingdom of Liones. Being alone had been her true dislike of her life in the human lands. While a human could hold a conversation with her they were not able to truly understand. She was twelve feet tall when they were five. She couldn't play their games or join in their houses. She liked to be around them but eventually it would end the same. Her height would be the thing to force her dismissal from whatever settlement she had been frequenting. Calls of "Giant! Monster! Nuisance!" had all been directed at her after her tall stature had caused some form of accident. Luckily most humans had spared her a kind word but the few that did not usually had the sharp end of a weapon pointed at her regardless of her claims that told of peaceful intention.

Harlequin had been the first person who had truly accepted her for who and what she was without a bit of hesitation. He had awoken to her tending to him and the appreciation that he offered her was truly genuine, something she hadn't realized she hadn't experienced until he gifted her with it. He cured her of the all-encompassing loneliness that had been plaguing her for so long. He taught her things she had never imagined were true, played games with her daily, and looked after her. He was her protector, confidant, and friend. When she was with him she never thought about the draw-backs of her height nor did she realize how rescuing him from the riverbank would later prove to be the best thing she had ever done.

Diane returned to the giants one day, fueled by a longing to fit in. With the giant clan she was bolstered up in their impressions of her, showcasing skills that impressed their chief, Matrona, and gifting her with the second truest friend she would ever make. Sadly there were drawbacks that came with living with the large grouping of behemoths. Firstly was the collective way of thinking. Her views on life were not shared by the majority of the others in the community. She was considered odd for the way she felt towards other races and the lack of drive to seek out battle. Diane did not blindly follow Matrona, though she did care for her, and spoke out whenever she felt the need. While she was grateful to be tutored in her skills, the sheer absence of like companionship drove her to sadness.

Meeting Meliodas marked the first time in her unknowingly shrouded memory that she had ever felt five feet tall. The feeling left an impression on her and she was more than happy to join his side as one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Meliodas drew her into girlish giggles and adolescent blushes, causing her excitable thrill coupled with gratitude for a chance to be among others that seemed to accept her.

It also marked the start of her self-doubt.

No matter what she did, no matter how much she announced her feelings or showed him with her actions that she cared, Meliodas never responded the way she wanted him to. Diane couldn't understand. She was attractive. She was fun. She was powerful, dependable, and loyal to him. So why couldn't the Captain ever look at her the way she wanted him to? His treatment of her was no different than how he spoke to and interacted with the other Sins. It irked her. She wanted to be special to him. If she delved further she would realize that she merely wanted to be special to someone.

Diane, after meeting the Captains pale-haired companion Elizabeth, could only bring herself to blame her height. It had to be the only reason. Thirty feet tall was more than just a stretch for a man that was barely even hitting five feet. Her proportions made her look large and unseemly from her perspective and she began struggling with her own self-worth.

She wanted to be small.

The day Elizabeth and Diane were left behind with the Boar Hat bar while the men filed into Vaizel happened to be the day that turned her thinking on it's head. Wandering in the forest looking for supplies for dinner, Diane turned to Elizabeth's aid when the smaller woman cried out. The two had developed a friendship as Diane slowly began accepting the woman's role in the Captain's life. The two confronted a mushroom of ridiculously large size and Diane could only imagine what roasted pork served with mushrooms would taste like as she knocked the creature on it's bulbous head. It retaliated with a dense cloud of spores and Diane experienced a moment of pain as if someone had taken all her muscles and bones and squeezed tightly.

The result had her completely derailed with excitement. She was as small as a human, standing just an inch or so taller than Elizabeth's usual height and she was enthralled by the change. She immediately set out to see the other sins, mostly Meliodas, with Elizabeth tucked in her gratuitous cleavage and clothed in the same clothes that Elizabeth wore when the Captain made it a point to grope her. Now that she was small there was nothing stopping the Captain from noticing her! She would show him that she was just as grope-worthy as Elizabeth.

Her expectations were dashed when the Captain responded with little interest. In fact, it troubled her that the Captain hadn't recognized her while the expression on King's face proved to her that the fairy had identified her instantly.

After that day she began thinking long and hard. She had always, in her mind, been infatuated by the Captain. He had been the first being she had met to make her feel like a person and not just some giant. He treated her well but no differently than any of his friends and she slowly realized that it was that point which he had always been trying to make. He cared for her deeply, as a friend, but not the way she wanted him to. He was kind, never outright telling her such words but he was also kind enough to knock her down when she went over the wall with her imaginings. He let her dream while never making her any promises and she was grateful for it. By the time Elizabeth had been kidnapped by Vivian and Diane witnessed the Captains outrageous fury, she had already decided to give up. She was no fool. She could see that she was not the one who he would go to the underworld and back for. Still it pleased and flattered her when King told her that if it had been her that had been kidnapped, he would go to her without another thought, as mad as the Captain had been over Elizabeth. She didn't say it then but she was beginning to realize that King meant a lot more to her than she had ever realized.

There wasn't much time after that to harp on the drawbacks of her height. In battle she presented a bigger target but she was built tougher than any human and it took more than one hit from Dreyfus at full power to put her on her knees. Helbram did the rest and as the world began to blur at the corners and a large shard of ice headed straight for her, she blacked out, the scent of flowers in her nose. Her unconscious state did not last long. The familiar smell in the air made a memory of something unidentifiable bring the words, "Harlequin..." to her lips and she cracked open her eyes with difficulty to see,

King.

He was battered, torn, and bloody, but she could hear him as he spoke calmly to Helbram, who was now in the form of a sharp-eared fairy. He was clearly fighting to defend her, strategically always keeping himself in front of her and allowing no stray attacks from Helbram's weapon to fly past him. Around her was a barrier, keeping her safe, the feeling radiating from it like the brushes of a kiss against her skin. Watching King from the back, seeing how determined he was to protect her, it made her want to cry.

It was stronger than the feeling she got when the Captain had first spoken to her. King didn't make her feel like she was five feet tall. He didn't make her wish she was small.

King made Diane feel as if she always wanted to be by his side.

She didn't want to change herself. The Serpent Sin of Envy didn't want to crave what Elizabeth had or bemoan the shortcomings of her having been born a giant. She wanted to simply be Diane, without any cover up. She wanted to be herself.

And she thought, with a sad and secure smile, that it only fit that she would be able to finally learn how to accept herself for who she was from the same person who had taught her to be herself when she was a child, as she was slowly remembering.


-Owari-


Whoot! I updated on time! So proud of myself. Anywho, I just want to say that being over a sixth of the way through this challenge and realizing I had yet to do a fic through Diane's POV made me feel bad. I may be ridiculously in love with King but I do adore my big girl as well. This whole fic was prompted by the line in the manga when Diane confesses to Elizabeth and Hawk that she wanted to be small. I personally really love Kiane because King has never wanted her to be any different than she is. Diane is a beautiful and fun girl who deserves the best and it's all I can do to not sob uncontrollably while we wait for out two favorite sins to be reunited with their memories and feelings intact.

On that note, remember that updates are every Sunday. The person who gave me the theme list explained that I only had to update every month but I felt like that would be too long. We need more Kiane and we need it now!

As always, thanks for reading! Only Twenty-three more to go!