(A/N)

I'm back!

Sorry I took so long to update - there was a mixture of me being busy and not being able to think of what to do next, so I wasn't able to continue. But I finally got this chapter written! Hopefully I'll be able to continue like before, but that's no guarantee. I still have a lot of work being piled on me at college, and I may have to get a job soon to help pay for my classes. But I'll try, especially since I know what I want to do in the next few chapters.

Anyway, while I've been gone, I've gotten really into Discord, and have made a few buddies there on some Nanatsu no Taizai servers. I decided to make one, so I thought I'd share the link here, in case anyone wants to join. Fair warning - there won't be many people, as in the moment that I'm posting it here, there is only me. But I hope that you guys will join; it would be fun. here's the address for my Discord server: discord .gg/Dt2bY8 (Remove the space between discord and .gg)

"Well, that was…" Diane trailed off, leaning heavily against the table as she watched Zinnia and Helbram slowly fly back to the forest on the hillside. The ginger fairy looked to be particularly distressed, and Diane wore a look of concern for her.

"Confusing? Stressful?" King supplied helpfully, also watching the fairies through the windows of the tavern.

"Yeah…" She paused, going quiet as she thought. "I wonder why Zephyr-chan is so upset; he always seemed content with his life before." She glanced towards the stairs that led to the bedrooms, where the fox shade had disappeared moments before.

"What he said was the truth, though," King pointed out, leaning back in his chair. "He's left out of most things, and, from what I can tell, Zinnia doesn't seem to take his worries into account as much as she should. He can't even speak to most people. Wouldn't you get frustrated, too?"

"I suppose you're right…" A look of sympathy crossed her face. "Poor Zephyr-chan."

King pressed his hand to his mouth in thought before murmuring quietly. "And I also think…"

"Huh?" Diane tilted her head.

He looked back up at her. "Don't you think that Helbram and Zinnia have been spending a lot of time together these past few days?"

The giantess smiled. "Like you and me?" She nodded and, blushing slightly, twirled her hair in her fingers. "Uh huh."

King blushed furiously and began to stutter. "Y-y-y-yeah. L-l-like us." He stopped and swallowed hard. "I think that Zephyranthes-kun is jealous of Helbram."

"Jealous? Just because she's spending time with someone else? Hmmm…" She stopped messing with her hair. "But couldn't he just hang out with them while they're together?"

King sweatdropped. "That's not what I'm trying to-"

"Yo, King, Diane~ Whatcha doing back here?" Ban's voice sounded from the open door as it creaked open and he stepped into the tavern. He sauntered across the room to their table and yawned. "I thought you were having a date in town."

Diane squeaked and King's eyes widened as both of their faces blushed matching shades of red. "S-stupid Ban!"

Ban just grinned before his eyes turned to the window that the two had been watching. But Zinnia and Helbram were already far out of sight.

"Has Zephyr-kun always been like that?" Helbram asked me after we returned to the forest. He scratched his head. "Because I don't remember him being like that at all."

I shook my head in sorrow. "No. This is a recent thing. I don't know what's going on…" Instead of returning to the treetops, I sat down on a spot on the ground cleared of leaves and debris before pulling my knees to my chest and resting my chin on them. Does Zephyr hate me now?

I hadn't really wanted to return to the forest. I'd actually wanted to go with Zephyr back to my room, but it hadn't seemed like the best idea, so Helbram and I had come back here.

Helbram plopped down next to me, letting out a sigh. "I'm sure he doesn't hate you." He looked back toward the open field in which the Boar's Hat stood. "In fact, it seemed more like what he was feeling was directed at me."

I mentally slapped myself for forgetting about Helbram's heart reading. "Really? But I still don't see why he would feel that way…" I glanced up to find the green fairy looking at me.

He hesitated. "He left too quickly for me to figure that out…" Helbram told me lamely.

"R-really?" I narrowed my eyes.

He scratched the back of his head. "Yeah."

Sighing, I looked back to the open field, where I could just barely see the Boar's Hat's door closing behind Ban. I leaned back, pressing gently against a tree, and closed my eyes. "This is just… I don't know. I want things to go back to the way they were. Not like a few days ago, but how they were years ago, when you would visit me outside of the Fairy King's Forest. That was a good time - one of the happiest times of my life. But… It won't go back to that, will it?"

Helbram folded his legs and leaned forward slightly. "No, it probably won't."

Silence filled the air, neither comfortable, nor uncomfortable. It just was. The breeze blew, rustling the leaves, and cooling the warm air. When I started to hear the chirping of crickets and to feel the warmth of the sun on my skin lessen, I opened my eyes again, only to find that Helbram had nodded off beside me.

He was slumped forward in the most uncomfortable looking position, but his eyes were closed, and his breathing was so even that there was no doubt that he was asleep. He was even ever so slightly leaning on me - just enough that I didn't notice until I opened my eyes.

I smiled, blushing lightly. I'll wait a bit longer before returning to the tavern.

It was fully dark by the time that Helbram and I returned to the Boar's Hat. Bats were flying to and fro, and moonlight filtered through the thin layer of clouds. I entered the tavern with Helbram on my heels, to find that the room was empty of customers, but some signs of them still remained, such as empty cups and spilled food. We must have arrived just after closing.

"Ughh, why didn't you wake me up sooner? My neck is killing me." Helbram was rubbing his neck with a vaguely pained expression.

I just giggled quietly. "You looked so peaceful, how could I wake you?"

He grumbled, but didn't argue. I thought that I had managed to catch sight of the edges of his lips lifting ever so slightly, but when I looked again to make sure, he had stopped.

Scanning the bar, I saw that most of the Sins were gathered around one of the tables, drinking. Again. Is all they do here drink? I guess if you're drunk all the time, you can't get a hangover…

Helbram immediately burst out laughing. "Do they really drink so much here?" He wiped a tear from his eye as he slowly stopped his laughter.

My face reddened. "H-hey! Stop reading my heart! It's embarrassing."

"Fine, I'll try. Though I can't really help it; you're way too loud."

I looked away and tucked some hair behind my ear before continuing towards the table that the Sins were gathered at. Just then, I noticed that Zephyr was in fact sitting near everyone's feet, on the opposite side of the table from Hawk. The fox shade looked my way before quickly averting his eyes.

Merlin - who I was slightly surprised to see here - stood up upon mine and Helbram's arrival. "Now that everyone necessary is here, I can say what I have discovered."

Everyone necessary? I couldn't help but wonder at the words. The only one not here was Gowther. Did that mean that it didn't matter if he heard what she was about to say?

"Recently there have been problems brought up to me concerning the new fairy," she started.

"Is she talking about me?" Helbram questioned, but no one answered.

"It sounded interesting, so I decided to look into it. Upon further examination I found the reason behind Zephyranthes's problem." Merlin smirked at the fox, while he perked his ears.

Zephyr's problem? What problem?

"It appears that when Zinnia used her Spirit Spear to mend Helbram's ties - or as she likes to call them, connections - she used her own ties as a base." I started to tell her that I already knew that, but she held up her hand, stopping me before I could get out the first syllable. "This caused Helbram to gain the ties that Zinnia formed with people that Helbram didn't know, such as almost everyone in this room. Even if he doesn't know someone, he will still have the same relationship with them as Zinnia has as long as he is using her ties." The Boar Sin looked back at Zephyr. "As long as this is happening, you will continue to experience the unpleasantness you mentioned." She faced me now. "And as long as he is using ties that are not his own, there will continue to be complications that come up."

"Complications?" Helbram had a look of utter confusion painted across his face. "What's going on? What problems are you guys talking about?"

"No clue." Ban's words didn't help in the slightest. He didn't even seem interested in the conversation as he leaned back in his chair and picked his ear with his little finger.

Diane and Elizabeth seemed almost as confused as Helbram, and Meliodas was watching Merlin intently. Harlequin looked away from his friend almost guiltily.

I couldn't bring myself to meet the green fairy's eyes. "You've been having… problems… Since you were fully revived. Like the other night, during the fireworks, you seemed to disappear mentally. As soon as you saw some humans, it was like you were lost. And when you returned, you didn't remember the last few minutes. There were other times, too, but that was the most noticeable one." Before he could ask more questions, I turned my attention back to Merlin. "So, you found the cause, but how do we fix it?"

"To put it simply, you just have to separate," she said bluntly.

"Separate?"

"The easiest way to do this will be for you to leave for a time, and to allow Helbram to form his own ties, overwriting the ones he's borrowing from you."

I stared at her. I had to separate from Helbram, so soon after I had gotten him back? That just didn't sound fair. Then another thought struck me. "I have to leave the Sins?"