-Chapter 14-

"Oi~ Cap'n," Ban drunkenly sang, his face still on the tabletop. What? Still conscious? This is the longest he's lasted until passing out Meliodas noted.

"I'm going to take a trip after this." Ban uttered. Meliodas was half listening since he figured this was just more of Ban's drunken rambling. "M'kay," Meliodas replied. King rolled over on the Chastiefol pillow onto his stomach to face Meliodas. "Hey Captain, now that we've saved the Kingdom, are you going to stay here with Elizabeth?" Meliodas was surprised to hear this question from King.

"Why do you ask?" Meliodas inquired. King looked at him and then looked at the ground, "I want to know where you'll be because wherever you are, Diane will also be there." In a quiet voice after, he muttered, "She's in love with you after all." Meliodas was again surprised at this comment from his friend. Meliodas was aware of King's feelings towards Diane, but he had never seen King pout over Diane's obvious infatuation with him. Out of respect for King, Meliodas had tried to make it clear to Diane that he had no interest in her romantically over the years. Yet Diane, for a reason unbeknownst to him, still professed her love for him practically every day.

"Also, I thought you would want to stay here since-well, we're no longer enemies of the kingdom," King continued. Meliodas scratched the back of his head.

"Well, I was thinking of opening up the Boar Hat here. But it would also be a good idea to find Escanor." King seemed puzzled at the last thing he had said.

"Why would we need to find Escanor?" Meliodas hadn't told the rest of the sins yet about the conversation he had had with Merlin- about how she couldn't the gray demon or Hendrickson's lair.

"I just have a feeling we're going to need to regroup again," Meliodas said. King raised an eyebrow. Best to not tell him anything now. He should enjoy the festival, Meliodas decided. Luckily for him, he didn't have to find something to change the subject because Diane and Elizabeth were making their way back.

Diane was carrying a huge steaming roasted boar on a plate drizzled with a thick sauce in her right hand. In her left hand, she carried a heaping plate of sliced cooked duck. Meanwhile, Elizabeth struggled to hold up a large platter containing a mixed variety of vegetables and fruit. She smiled sweetly at the group, even though Meliodas could see her arms trembling under the immense weight of the platter. He leapt up to help her.

"Oh thank you Lord Meliodas, but I think I can carry it all the way myself," she said while her legs shook. Small sweat drops slid down her face, but she continued to make her way to the table. Meliodas smiled at her determination. He was reminded of the time they encountered the Weird Fangs group. Elizabeth had surprised him when she put her life on the line to help a little boy. It was that moment when he had realized that she had become someone special to him and that he wanted to protect her with his life.

When Elizabeth reached the table, she lightly placed the platter on top. When the heavy weight was off her hands, she released a large sigh. She wiped some of the sweat off her forehead and she smiled accomplishedly. Meliodas jumped onto one of the benches next to her and placed his hand on top of her head. He lowered his face to her ear and said, "Good job." He turned to the others and clapped his hands together once, "Let's eat!"

Diane put the two dishes she was carrying on the table too. She made her way to sit down next to King. King looked pleasantly surprised and slid Chastiefol quickly under Diane before she had sat down. Diane felt the soft cushion beneath her and she smiled at King, to which King reciprocated with a giddy smile. Ban raised his head up from the table top- his nose piqued at the savory smell emanating from the food.

"All right~~!" Ban cheered as he yanked one of the slices of duck off the plate and stuffed it in his mouth. The rest of them followed suit and began helping themselves to the meal.

"This is really good!" Diane exclaimed as she bit into one of the boar's legs. "We should serve this at the Boar Hat!" she added through bites. "If we did, I'm sure the place would be full every day!"

"As long as Captain doesn't cook, the place will continue to get customers," Ban joked.

"Hey, before you all came, I was doing just fine with the place," Meliodas said as he grabbed a slice of duck. Elizabeth chuckled. She noticed a small bit of sauce on Meliodas' face and she took out her handkerchief.

"Lord Meliodas," she said. He turned to her and she wiped his face with her cloth. "You have a little bit of sauce on your face," she smiled. Meliodas was caught off guard and he wound up staring at her before he managed to react.

"Oh thanks Elizabeth," he said with a smile. That's weird; my cheeks feel a bit hot, he thought, returning to his meal.

"Oh that's right, King, you have to try some of the grapes. The guy at the stand said they were especially juicy this time of year," Diane said. King nodded his head, "Sure, I'll try some!" Diane looked happy to hear that and she grabbed a couple of grapes from the platter. "Here you go!" she said, "Open your mouth." King did so and Diane dropped a couple grapes into his mouth. King chewed them and excitedly exclaimed, "They ARE juicy!" I can't believe it! Diane just fed me! It's almost as if we were a couple King cheered happily internally. Diane smiled and her cheeks turned a soft pink.

Elizabeth grinned at Diane. Back at the food stall, Diane had specifically asked the man if he had any juicy fruit. When Elizabeth asked why, Diane had responded by saying, "A long time ago, King told me he enjoyed eating fruits that were very juicy…he said they were his favorite." Elizabeth wasn't certain, but she thought she had seen Diane blushing when she said this.

…

When the food was almost finished, Elizabeth heard a small sound coming from behind her. Pugo-pugo-pugo-pugo Elizabeth turned to look and she saw a small pink blur leap from the ground onto her shoulder. When she looked towards her shoulder, she saw a small pink pig, angrily fuming.

"Hey you bastards! Did you eat without me?!" It squealed. Elizabeth realized it was her friend Hawk. She picked him up from her shoulder and held him in her hands. With his present small size, she found that she felt a new joy at being able to hold his small warm body within her hands, but accompanied with that joy, she also felt a small languishing desire to be able to hug his entire body again.

"Hawk! There's still some food left."

"That's right. Besides, with your small size, you don't need to eat as much." King added.

"Here you are," Meliodas grabbed a small bit of meat off the boar and stuffed it into Hawk's mouth. Hawk looked mortified. He jumped onto Meliodas' head and began to bite at his strands of hair.

"You bastard! You fed me some of my own kind, didn't you?!" Meliodas easily picked up Hawk from his head and held him up in front of his face with two fingers. "What's the big deal? You've eaten boar before?" He began poking Hawk's snout with his finger, taunting him in jest.

Just as Hawk bit his finger, an announcement came on through the loud speakers.

Attention: The fireworks will begin in a short while. Please gather in the center square to view the fireworks.

Elizabeth clasped her hands in joy at the announcement. She loved fireworks and couldn't wait to see them. "Let's clean up here and get ready to see the fireworks!" she said, trying to contain her excitement. She and Diane cleared the table and went to throw out the scraps, while leaving some for Hawk. Ban sluggishly got up from the bench. His gut had expanded after the meal. He took Hawk into his hand and started to walk away.

"Hey! Where are we going?" Hawk cried. "You don't want to watch the fireworks with us?" asked Meliodas. Ban placed Hawk on his shoulder and grabbed a bottle of wine.

"Nah. I'm gonna head up to the Boar Hat with Master." Ban stopped and he looked back at King. "You know, I told Elaine I was going to make her mine someday. I'm always wishing to wake up and for that 'someday' to be here already." He turned to Meliodas, "If you have somebody you'd throw away your life for, you should make them yours before you have to wait for a 'someday' like me." King and Meliodas both stared at Ban with wide eyes. Such a serious comment from Ban was something unexpected and surprising. "Ban…" King said with a saddened look. Ban walked away with Hawk squealing, "Oi what was that about? What are you talking about?"

King and Meliodas said nothing to each other. Both of them were left thinking about Ban's comment. Finally, Meliodas said, "That must have been the wine talking." King nodded and chuckled nervously, "Yeah, of course. Otherwise Ban would never say that."

Elizabeth and Diane returned from throwing away the trash. "Shall we go to the center square now?" Elizabeth asked. Meliodas could see from the gleam in her blue eyes that she was very eager to get going. "Actually I should probably find a different spot to see the fireworks. I don't want to get in the way," Diane giggled. "I'll go with you!" King shouted immediately. He smiled giddily at Diane and she nodded her assent.

"Meet us back at the Boar Hat," Meliodas called after them. It was just Elizabeth and Meliodas left. The sky had darkened and the stars were shyly beginning to reveal themselves. A brisk wind blew and Elizabeth's hair swayed, releasing the sweet smell Meliodas could recognize anywhere.

"Hey Elizabeth," Meliodas said, "How about we go to the best fireworks viewing spot in the whole kingdom?"