Meliodas grinned to himself as he held his sleeping mate in his arms. He nuzzled her ear softly, letting out a contented sigh as he took in her sweet scent that now held a spicy undertone to it. One arm was wrapped around her, holding her close to him, and his other hand rested firmly on her stomach, stroking it with slow, gentle caresses. It was the last day of mating season, and he could feel his instinctual side slowly fading away... but the instinctual pride he felt at having planted a seed in his mate remained.

Elizabeth was pregnant.

As his eyes slowly faded from onyx into his usual emerald green, Meliodas curled himself around his sweet princess protectively. Nothing would ever harm her, not as long as he was alive. And goddesses help whatever poor soul dared lay a hand on her or his unborn child. Not even his rational side would be enough to save them from his unbridled fury... from his wrath. Even the thought of it had his blood boiling already. No. Nobody would ever harm what was his. He would make sure of it, even at the cost of his life.

Even beyond that, seeing as he couldn't really die.

His mate suddenly seemed more... vulnerable now. As he realized his immortality, he worried about her mortality. What would he do... when Elizabeth grew old? When... when it was time for her to leave him. What would he do? Perhaps... perhaps it was time to look into a way to keep her at his side forever. Humans were so frail, after all, and there was only so much he could do to protect her. He couldn't keep her from growing old or getting sick... and that worried him.

He sighed heavily and buried his nose in her hair as he held her closer. He could worry about these things later. Right now, all that mattered was that she was by his side. And she was pregnant with his child. His hearts all skipped a beat at this. He was going to... going to be a father. In all his three thousand years, he'd never gone this far with any woman. He'd never once thought he would be a father. Hell, even when he'd been in good standing with the demon clan, the thought of siring a child never occurred to him. He'd pondered about mating one day, but only to a female worthy of the honor, and no demoness had ever caught his eye. So he never actually thought it would happen.

Yet here he was with a pregnant mate. And he couldn't be happier. He gave up on his heavy thinking in favor of taking a nap with his princess, his Elizabeth, his mate. With a sigh and a smile, he dozed off. They would need plenty of rest before they set out to return to the tavern with the good news.


"They're back!" Hawk squealed in joy as he saw two familiar figures approaching the Boar Hat Tavern. Immediately, the rest of the sins rushed outside to greet them. Mixed emotions hung in the air. What had happened during the past five weeks? Had Meliodas lost controlled and hurt Elizabeth, or had things gone well? Was he still under control of his more demonic urges? Was Elizabeth okay with everything going on? As the couple reached the tavern, the sins seemed to let out a sigh of relief as they found Elizabeth unharmed and wearing a happy smile, and Meliodas looking bright and cheery as usual.

"Hey guys. Miss us?" the Captain of the Seven Deadly Sins grinned at them all in his usual way.

"Of course we did, you idiot! You've been gone for five weeks!" Hawk snorted, before trotting to Elizabeth to make sure she was okay. Elizabeth smiled and hugged the pig happily. "Did he hurt you, Elizabeth? Are you okay?"

"I'm perfectly fine, Hawk. Sir Meliodas was a perfect gentleman." Elizabeth laughed with a blush staining her cheeks. Meliodas grinned at that. He wouldn't go as far to say that he was a perfect gentleman. He was all demon for the entirety of mating season, and she knew it. But it was the truth that he never hurt her... at least, not past the initial pain of taking her virginity.

"So ya finally got in her pants. Was she as good as she looks?" Ban chuckled as he came up beside Meliodas to slap his back in congratulations. Meliodas' eyebrow twitched in annoyance.

"Talk that way about my mate again and you'll see why I'm the sin of wrath." Meliodas warned. Mating season may be over, but he could tell his instincts were still raging through his system. He wouldn't tolerate any disrespect towards his mate. Ban, thankfully, caught the hint with his tone of voice and backed off. He'd rather not get another scar from the captain.

"So then... you're really mates now?" Diane asked as she looked between the two. Elizabeth blushed prettily at her question and Meliodas gave a smirk. He glanced at his mate and held out his hand to her. She got up with a smile and a blush and moved into his offered arms.

"That's right. It's official now." Meliodas told them as he pulled the collar of her shirt down just enough to show the sins his mark on her neck. Diane and King looked at the swirling black mark in fascination, and Gowther scribbled some notes into his book as he observed everything going on.

"I'd heard that demons place marks on their mates, but I've never actually seen one before." King hummed as he looked at the mark. "Then again, I was born shortly after the demon clan was sealed away, so it makes sense."

"Still, that's really cool. It's just like the mark on your forehead." Diane commented. Elizabeth blushed under their curious gazes. "Ne, Elizabeth, what's it like, being mated?" Diane's question had both Elizabeth and King blushing furiously.

"I-I um... I-I would assume it's... kind of like being married." Elizabeth flustered out an answer. "I-I really haven't had time to, um... process." Her answer only made Diane blush as the giantess realized why Elizabeth didn't have time to process everything. King had a nosebleed and passed out as he realized this, too. Diane decided to leave it at that for now, but swore she would have some girl time with Elizabeth soon to talk about stuff like that.

"Sheesh, give the happy couple some space, guys. They just got back, after all." Surprisingly, it was Ban that was trying to shoo everyone away from the new couple. Meliodas raised an eyebrow at this. Maybe his warning to Ban had startled the immortal more than he'd expected? "Really, now, they probably want to clean up and get some real food. I'm sure all the poor princess has had to eat has been the captain's horrifying cooking." he said as he walked back into the tavern to go make some food. Everyone stared at him and his odd behavior. But then they realized he was right, and they followed him back into the tavern, as well. They could talk more about the past few weeks later.


"So what was it like?" Diane questioned Elizabeth as they soaked in a natural hotpsring they'd encountered on their journey. Diane was so thankful for these pills Merlin gave her. For once she felt like she could be a normal girl, and have girl talk and real girl friends.

"W-what was what like?" Elizabeth questioned, tilting her head curiously. She was finding herself rather distracted, as she could feel Meliodas' energy only a few feet away. She didn't think Diane could feel it, seeing as she wasn't going on about Meliodas being a pervert for peeking on them. Elizabeth knew he wasn't looking, anyways. He was sitting in a tree with his back to the girls, keeping watch to make sure they, or more specifically Elizabeth, stayed safe.

"You know... it. S-sex." Diane ended with a blush. Elizabeth blushed at this, as well, but she also had to stifle a laugh as Meliodas gave a mental groan, clearly not wanting to listen into this conversation... for more than one reason.

"U-um well... it hurt... at first." Elizabeth admitted, jumping in surprise when Diane angrily raised her fist.

"I knew it! He hurt you!" she said angrily.

"N-no, not like that!" Elizabeth quickly tried to calm her down. "I... it was nothing that could be avoided. M-Margaret and Veronica always told me that your first time hurts... b-but..." she trailed off as her blush deepened as she remembered those countless nights of passionate lovemaking. A shiver went through her and her body tingled. Meliodas grinned into her mind through their connection, giving her a silent promise to take care of her problem later. "Goddesses, it was amazing after that. I've... never felt anything so amazing." Elizabeth was saying before she could even think about it. Meliodas all but purred in her mind at the praise. Diane blushed at the way Elizabeth spoke.

"It was... really that good?"

"Yes." Elizabeth nodded firmly, despite her blush. "T-there's really no good way to describe it... b-but why do you ask?" Diane's blushed deepened at this and she looked away.

"I... I-I was just curious. I-I don't know. Maybe I'm hoping King and I c-can go that far one day... soon." she flushed at this.

"Really?!" a male voice suddenly came, startling both the girls. They both shrieked and covered themselves as King fell from his hidden perch several yards away, having slipped off it in surprise at Diane's words.

"K-King, you idiot! What are you doing here?!" Diane demanded with an embarrassed cry as the fairy fell to the ground. He sat up and rubbed his bottom with a groan, before his eyes landed on the naked giantess and blood shot out of his nose.

"I-I wasn't peeking, I swear!" King panicked as Diane suddenly got an angry aura about her. "I was just staying close by to keep you safe from any danger! Honest! The captain's doing it for Elizabeth, too!"

"He, what? No, he isn't. I'd be able to feel his energy if he was." Diane glowered, looking around for any signs of the captain. It was then that she realized a certain princess was missing from the spring.

A couple of yards away, hidden by dense shrubs and trees, Meliodas had his little mate pinned to a tree as he made love to her, keeping to his promise to take care of her problem. She was panting soft, biting her fist to keep quite as the urge to cry out in bliss came over her. Meliodas swallowed her beautiful moans with a hungry kiss as she fell into nirvana around him. He followed shortly, holding off his moan in favor of biting at her mating mark.

"Where did the princess go?" Diane was quick to worry for her friend, and King began to look around for the princess, too, suddenly worried for her. He hadn't seen her disappear and, even though he knew Meliodas was close by, he didn't think he was close enough to have been the one to grab her. Both sins let out a sigh of relief when Elizabeth poked her head out from behind a tree, looking thoroughly embarrassed.

"I-I'm sorry. Sir King's sudden appearance frightened me and I hid..." The princess flustered, her face a bright shade of red. Thankfully the sins seemed to accept this excuse, as Diane turned back to King with her eyes full of anger.

"See what you did?! You scared Elizabeth! And you were peeping!"

"No, I swear I wasn't! I didn't mean to- I mean-" He tried to plead his case but the giantess wasn't hearing it. Catching the fairy off guard, she landed a solid uppercut to his chin and sent him flying off into the distance until he was nothing but a twinkling star in the night sky.

"Did you have to be so hard on him?" Elizabeth worried over the fairy that was now a star. Sure, she wasn't happy that he'd practically been watching them, but she knew his eyes were glued solely to Diane. Plus, Meliodas was doing the same thing, and she couldn't be mad at him for it.

"He can handle it." Diane huffed, her face still red from the embarrassment of King seeing her in a state of undress without her permission. "That'll show him not to peep on me again." Then she glanced at the princess. "Was what he said true? Is the captain watching, too?"

"No, of course not." Elizabeth shook her head. It wasn't a lie. He wasn't watching. But that didn't mean he wasn't in hearing range. "Sir Meliodas would never do that. M-maybe if I was by myself. But he respects your privacy, too."

"That's a relief." Diane sighed, sinking down into the water. "Sheesh, King really needs to take a lesson from the captain." Elizabeth just smiled, inwardly thinking about the irony. If only the giantess knew what was going on mere seconds ago.

'If King took a lesson from me, we wouldn't be seeing those two for a while.' Meliodas chuckled in her mind through their mating bond. Elizabeth snickered silently at this. Perhaps that would be best. Those two needed to just get together already.