It was a few hours before the girl – who was undoubtedly Elizabeth, Meliodas couldn't deny that that it was her – woke up. Meliodas was watching over her, with the others occasionally checking in on them both – Hawk was concerned for Elizabeth, Gelda and Zeldris more worried over Meliodas – but ultimately leaving Meliodas to his thoughts.

Meliodas was leaning on the bed, his head resting on his arms towards the end of it. He idly picked at the threads on the sheet, unable to focus on anything in particular. He didn't want to focus on anything right now, actually. He almost started thinking when he glanced at Elizabeth, but he'd quickly look away, sigh, and go back to thinking of nothing.

Nothing was far better than actually thinking of what Elizabeth being there could mean.

He jolted when she stirred, scrambling to his feet and kicking the chair to the other side of the room. Her face scrunched up and she made a small sound before her eyes opened. Meliodas watched as she blinked, her brows drawing together as she stared at the ceiling before she sat up and glanced around.

Elizabeth frowned at seeing Meliodas, and he released a breath he didn't know he had been holding. Mercifully for him, her eyes were blue. He had never been so relieved to see those blue eyes.

It took him a moment to notice that she was inching towards the wall, hand clutching over her heart and eyes darting about the room. "Um… Where… where am I? And who are you?"

He smiled gently at her. "You're in my tavern, The Boar Hat! You collapsed as soon as you walked in," he explained. He reached for a mug Gelda had brought in earlier and offered it to Elizabeth. "You must be thirsty, you were out for a while."

She hesitantly accepted the water, looking down into the cup before slowly bringing it up to drink. She took a small sip at first. It tasted like ordinary water. She waited a few seconds before swiftly drinking the rest. Meliodas busied himself with cleaning up the bedside table, where there was a bowl with some wet cloths that had been used to clean some rust off Elizabeth earlier.

She watched him for a moment, still a little uncertain – she was royalty, after all, she knew not to trust strangers so quickly – before taking in more of the room. It was fairly plain, though there were some knickknacks on the few shelves and one painting hung on the wall.

"Is… Is this your room?" she asked. Meliodas glanced up and hummed slightly, shaking his head. If Elizabeth sighed a little in relief, neither of them mentioned it.

"It's a spare room, above the tavern. Mine's on the floor below, along with my brother and his wife."

Elizabeth nodded slowly, and seemed like she was about to say something, but her words died on her tongue as the door opened.

"Hey, Zeldris and Gelda- oh! She's awake!"

Elizabeth stared at Hawk, her eyes widening and mouth falling open slightly. Hawk frowned, looking to Meliodas with a glare. "You didn't do anything to her, did you?"

Meliodas crossed his arms with a small huff. Before he could respond, Elizabeth hopped from the bed and crouched by Hawk, a bright smile on her face. "A talking pig! Oh, I always asked Father for one, but he never did get one for me. What's your name?" Hawk blinked at her in confusion, perking up at Elizabeth's excitement soon after and striking a proud pose.

"Hawk-"

"Pork." Meliodas cut Hawk off, a blank expression on his face. Elizabeth tilted her head.

"Pork?"

Hawk's eyes widened. "No, Hawk! Hawk! Not pork!" he panicked. Elizabeth giggled, patting Hawk's head reassuringly.

Meliodas watched Elizabeth carefully, searching for any sign that there might be something wrong, but he found nothing. Sighing softly in relief, he let his shoulders slump a little. Just a little bit.

He heard a low grumble, and blinked in surprise as Elizabeth startled, her cheeks tinting pink and she mumbled a quick apology. Meliodas tilted his head at her. "If you're hungry, we have food you can eat."

Elizabeth brightened at the prospect of food. "Really?"

Meliodas nodded. "Yeah, my brother can probably whip up something for you."

"I was trying to tell you, Zeldris and Gelda went into town for some more food," Hawk said. Meliodas blinked, then shrugged.

"I'll cook her something!"

He left the room, Elizabeth close behind, before Hawk could warn her.

Meliodas cooked quickly, not as used to being in the kitchen as his brother but he wasn't totally lost. It looked and smelled great, and soon he was placing the plate in front of Elizabeth.

"There you are!"

"I… thank you. First you help nurse me back to health, and then you make me food…"

Meliodas and hawk looked at each other, Meliodas smiling and Hawk rolling his eyes. "You should taste that before you thank him, lady," Hawk said.

Elizabeth frowned slightly, before shrugging. "I'm thankful no matter what," she said firmly before taking a bite of her food.

Her eyes widened and she grimaced at the taste that hit her, but still she finished the bite and took a deep breath. Meliodas and Hawk leaned forward, Meliodas with a knowing look and hawk with one of pity.

"Horrible, right?" Meliodas asked, propping his head on one of his hands. Elizabeth nodded slowly. "Knew it."

Elizabeth smiled, though, her eyes watering a little as she took another bite, much to the surprise of the other two. "Still, it tastes absolutely delicious."

Meliodas frowned. He wondered briefly how long Elizabeth had been wandering in that armor. She shouldn't have ever thought of his cooking as delicious. Only one who hadn't eaten in who knows how long would think such a thing. Gelda hadn't said if Elizabeth was malnourished, and Meliodas had assumed that she wasn't by that.

He shook himself from his thoughts, clearing his throat and standing to clean some of the cups to give his hands something to do. He let her eat in peace for a little while.

Eventually, he had to ask.

"What were you doing inside that armor?" He gestured to the rusted junk in the corner. It was impractical to wear that stuff, especially someone like Elizabeth.

Elizabeth pushed her empty plate away slightly, folding her arms on the counter as she watched Meliodas. "It was the only way I could get away from the Holy Knights."

He tilted his head and opening his mouth, but Hawk beat him in asking.

"Why'd you wanna get away from the Holy Knights?"

Elizabeth hesitated, looking down with a frown. "It's… a bit complicated."

"What, are you a criminal or something?" Hawk instantly regretted the question, as Meliodas brought a fist down on his head and sent Hawk crying out of the room. Meliodas huffed as Hawk overreacted, knowing he hadn't hit the pig hard enough to do more than cause maybe a mild headache.

"Ignore him."

Elizabeth shook her head. "No, no. It makes sense he'd assume that." She glanced up the stairs where Hawk had bolted. "Will he be alright?"

Meliodas waved his hand dismissively. "Yeah, he's just being dramatic." Meliodas leaned onto the counter as well, giving Elizabeth his full attention. "Complicated, eh?" She nodded, and he laughed lightly. "I know a thing or two about complicated pasts. You sure you don't want to share?" Elizabeth shook her head.

"I'm certain."

Meliodas hummed, accepting it. He wouldn't dare push Elizabeth. "Well, you're at least out here for a reason. That armor's from a town pretty far from here. So, can I ask why you're out all this way?"

"Oh, um…" Elizabeth began to squirm, fiddling with her hands. "I… I guess, yes." Meliodas patiently waited for her to answer as she debated on how to say this. She glanced nervously to a bulletin board with some wanted posters, grimaced, then took a deep breath. Better to just rip off the bandage. "I'm looking for the Seven Deadly Sins."

Meliodas' eyes widened, and maybe he began to panic a little upon hearing that. Maybe she was slowly remembering, and knew he was in the sins, but the curse hadn't activated just yet? Her eyes, usually the indicator she was remembering, were their normal blue though. But why would she be searching for the Sins?

He recovered quickly from the shock and tried his best not to look worried. "Why are you searching for them? Aren't they traitors to the kingdom? Bloodthirsty monsters?"

Elizabeth sighed, slumping in her seat. "That's… that's the complicated part. And-" she huffed, sitting up straight and glaring at the wall, "and even if they are bloodthirsty monsters, I still need to find them."

"It's not exactly safe. They did kill who knows how many Holy Knights ten years ago."

"Exactly."

Before Meliodas could ask, the door opened and Elizabeth whipped around, eyes wide with a sudden fear overriding the anger he had just seen in her. Meliodas waved at the two entering the tavern though, and Elizabeth glanced at him before relaxing at seeing him calm.

The two smiled at seeing her up and about.

"This is the brother and wife I mentioned. My brother Zeldris, and his wife Gelda," Meliodas explained. Elizabeth glanced at him before nodding and holding a hand out to the two, shaking each of their hands.

She bit her lip, contemplating as Gelda and Zeldris made themselves home at the bar and Meliodas poured them both some drinks. Elizabeth turned to them.

"It's nice to meet you both, I'm… I'm Elizabeth."

Elizabeth hesitated to look up from the counter, reaching up to fiddle with her earring. She heard who she assumed to be Zeldris.

"By any chance, would that be 'Princess' Elizabeth?" Elizabeth flinched, but slowly nodded. She didn't hear any of them say anything after that, and she spared them all a glance.

Zeldris caught her gaze as Gelda smiled. He offered a tiny one as well. "We're glad to see you doing better, Elizabeth."

Elizabeth relaxed and she nodded slowly, glad that they weren't going to make a big deal out of this.

"He said you also helped me- wait!" She turned to Meliodas, her eyes wide. "How rude of me, I completely forgot to ask your name!"

Meliodas glanced over his shoulder as he filled two tankards. He shrugged as best he could. "No need for formalities, I forgot to ask you your name too after all!" He laughed, and handed his family members their drinks. He seemed to hesitate before looking back at Elizabeth. "But it's Meliodas."

Elizabeth's eyes widened, and she couldn't help but look back at the wanted posters pinned to the bulletin board. He looked nothing like the poster. Meliodas snickered, seeing her look over to the poster, and Zeldris hummed his amusement into his drink as he let it sink in for her. She looked back at Meliodas, unsure. He rolled up his sleeve, seeing her disbelief, and she stared at the symbol on his arm.

A dragon, eating it's own tail. Just like the poster, just like the one she had heard marked the leader of the Sins.

"Wait, so… that means…"

"Yep!" Meliodas placed his hands on his hips. "You found one of the Seven Deadly Sins!"