Hi everyone! ^^

It has been a while, I'm very sorry about it .

Life has been hectic but I was finally able to finish this last chapter! :D (I'm very sorry to have left you on edge for so much time! Please, forgive me! "^^)

(A special apology to ness345 and Pau! I wasn't able to write faster, I'm very sorry! I didn't want to mess with you for so long!... just for a little while! ;P XD)

I hope you'll like this ending ;D

Ah! By the way…Happy New Year to everyone! :D (I'm always late "^^ XD)

Merlin woke up startled from her restless sleep.

Her body was sprawled on her couch in a messy position, she was confused and at first couldn't remember what had happened, then it all came back to her in a rush. She wasn't totally sure what was a dream and what was the reality, it had been all so real, her pain had been all too real, she could still feel some of it in her chest.

Her realizations were real too, she could tell, like she could tell that she hadn't been thinking straight in her dream; it wasn't love's fault, it was hers for not doing…well, nothing.

The Mage sat up and took some deep breaths to try to calm her racing heart, and refocus her brain.

Could it have all been a dream? Or only part of it? And if that was the case, which parts?

She swallowed, hoping and dreading to know the answer to that.

But she did need answers.

With a sigh she stood up, readjusting herself to be presentable enough, and got out of her room, walking towards the bar, where she thought to find at least some of the Sins.

"Escanor...are you sure?"

The Boar immediately stopped, frozen at the top of the stairs, at those words.

"I...I t-think it would be for the b-better."

No...no, no...no, no, no, no, NO!

It couldn't be!

"But...you would have to go away, we would never see you again!"

She remembered this conversation, she had already heard it, in her dream.

What did it mean? Had she dreamed about the future? Would everything really turn out like in her dream? Would she really have to see the man she loved be taken from her? Would she have to live in pain the rest of her life? Would she have to live the rest of her life without knowing love, without Escanor?

"W-well… I would be s-sad, but in this way I could p-protect everyone, make a real d-difference. She doesn't seem like a b-bad person."

Her fists clenched even more.

The real question was just one: would she really let all of that happen?

The answer was obvious.

Fueled from her determination and the awareness that she really did care for the man, she took the first step down the stairs.

There was just one question that she needed to ask him.

"Is that really what you want?"

Her words startled everyone in the room, but she had eyes only for Escanor, locking her gaze with his.

She continued walking until she was directly in front of him.

"Will you really be okay with that?"

The Lion seemed to be trying to find his words, and was evidently startled by her questions and her resolute tone.

"Well, I won't! I'm not okay with this."

She exclaimed with conviction, pinning the stunned man in front of her with the passion in her eyes, she didn't care about the others' gasps of surprise.

"We can try to reason with her, but you're not part of the bargain, Escanor!"

The Boar's eyes suddenly softened, she took a step forward, her hand reaching his blushing cheek, staying there and caressing it with her thumb.

"You're too valuable..."

Her voice was almost a whisper, so soft.

She wanted to add 'to me' to her last phrase, but she felt like she had already exposed herself too much in front of everyone; it would be enough for now, but she planned to have a private conversation with just the two of them, later.

Her dream, or whatever that could have been, had shown her the results of her not doing anything, closing in inside herself for fear of being hurt, and letting the only right thing in her life go away.

She wasn't stupid, she won't do the same mistake again. She refused to let him be taken away from her, not before giving her all to make him stay.

She'll fight for him this time, for him and herself, and their possible future together.

If staying back to just watch for fear of exposing herself didn't work, then she had to act, and expose everything she could, doing everything in her power, fighting head on, so that she wouldn't regret anything.

Slowly the Lion raised his hand to cover hers on his cheek, he wasn't sure to not be dreaming right now, but he couldn't help the gentle and happy smile that found its way on his lips.

"If that is your w-wish, Merlin."

She frowned at his words.

"It shouldn't be only my wish…"

She was beginning to feel unsure, did he want something else? Someone else?

The Mage started to retract her hand from his cheek, but his grip on it tightened, surprising her.

"I don't want to l-leave, but I want to p-protect you, and everyone…"

He was blushing but she could also see the determination in his eyes, and smiled softly.

"The best way in which you can protect and help us is by staying with us."

He had never seen her eyes so open, he could feel that she had lowered the walls that were always carefully raised up around her, he was shocked but grateful, he wanted nothing more than to stay forever by her side, in whichever way she deemed alright.

A cough from someone of the others broke the moment, and the two Sins stepped a little back from each other, breaking contact, turning to look at their comrades.

"So, what are you proposing Merlin?"

Meliodas was grinning, he and the others seemed happy and relieved by her stance, she was the only one who could have changed Escanor's mind.

"We'll confront her, and tell her that we are not interested. Escanor is not on the market."

She heard some of the Sins snicker, and the man in question flushed to his neck. She needed just a second to understand why: what she had said, or how she had said it, could lead one to think that she was making a claim on the Lion.

The Mage quickly turned towards the stairs, hoping to be able to hide her own blushing cheeks, she had embarrassed herself enough for now.

The Boar had spent the rest of the afternoon in her lab, distracting herself and thinking about the conversations she had to have very soon.

She sighed.

It was strange but she was nervous, or maybe it was to be expected as she had decided to give her all for this, and was worried that something would go wrong.

She shocked her head, thinking like that was counterproductive.

Finally she called forth all of her determination and the fear of losing the man she had found out she cared so much for, and teleported outside his room. Luckily there was no one passing there at the moment, so she lifted her hand and knocked, faking a confidence that she wasn't feeling.

After only a few seconds the door opened, and she could see the surprise on Escanor's face, he hadn't been expecting her.

"Hi Escanor."

She smiled gently.

"Merlin! W-what are you doing here? Ah!... I… I mean…"

"Can we talk?"

She interrupted him, fearing that she would change her mind if she had to wait too much.

The Lion was confused but slowly nodded, let her enter his room and closed the door.

She made her way towards his bed and sat down, motioning for him to join her by tapping the place next to her. He swallowed, nervously and slowly went to sit down on his bed, at a polite distance from her, making her smile in amusement.

After a moment of tense silence, mentally she sighed and pushed herself forward.

"I wanted to talk to you about the situation at hand."

Now she seemed to be the stalling one.

Escanor just looked at her, nodding.

"Are you really okay with what we decided earlier?"

She dreaded and was looking forward to hearing his answer to this question.

"I mean, if you prefer to do things differently, or if you were.. interested.. in knowing Camila more…"

She trailed off, her voice almost catching in her throat and was unable to maintain eye contact.

The Lion was looking at her almost stunned, he had never seen her act like this.

Slowly, a bit unsure, he reached out for her hands, taking them in his own, watching them together, pensively, while rubbing his thumbs on her knuckles.

Merlin was waiting with bated breath for his next words, and when he lifted his eyes to her face, she couldn't look away from his serious gaze.

"Merlin, I…"

He hesitated a moment, as if trying to decide the better way to say what he wanted.

"I want to stay by your side… f-forever."

He was totally red, blushing hard, but his gaze never left hers, he was very serious.

And he has practically confessed to her.

She was left stunned for some moments, she hadn't expected this, then slowly but surely a big warm smile sprouted on her lips, she felt light, and her heart was beating faster.

"I would like that very much."

The Lion was taken aback by her answer, he had never hoped that she would return his feelings… Was she really?

"You mean…?"

The Boar chuckled lightly.

"Yes. Yes, I think… I had a very bad wake up call, so to say."

She returned his caresses on his hands, intertwining their fingers more.

"I seem to have developed deeper feelings than I had thought, for you. I do want you by my side, I don't want you to leave me… but I'll have to make sure what exactly I feel for you, I'm not very familiar with… love."

The Mage was blushing. In the spur of the moment earlier she had thought that maybe she loved him, but she wanted to make sure that it was really it.

Escanor smiled gently, his beautiful blue eyes sparkling with emotions.

"You don't have to worry, I know that you need to understand everything a-around you, and I'll be r-right here helping you."

He lifted their latched hands and kissed her fingers reverently, he couldn't, and didn't want, to rein in his feelings anymore.

Merlin's eyes softened, she smiled gently, then took a hand away from his, and put it on his cheek, caressing it.

Slowly she moved forward, giving him time to decide if he was okay with this, but he also moved towards her, and their lips made contact, unsurely, they were just touching lightly, then gradually they put a little more pressure; they were pressed together more firmly, and they both could feel static passing through their bodies, just from the simple and innocent contact of their mouths.

It didn't last long, they didn't deepen it, it was just a gesture to promise each other more, to welcome the other into their lives more intimately.

They broke contact, sighing and smiling, they would have time to discover more, later.

Suddenly she seemed pensive, looking straight at him, and the Lion watched her, confused.

"Mmh...I really like your moustache."

She affirmed, grinning and winking at him.

He was left speechless for just a moment, and then began laughing, joined also by her chuckles.

They had needed this to disperse some tension.

When their laughter died down she looked seriously at him.

"You have always protected me and fought for me, tomorrow let me be the one to do that for you."

He could see and feel her determination, this was something that she needed to do, so he just smiled and nodded.

"I trust you."

The day after, every Sin was gathered in the main room of the tavern, and if they noticed a change between two of their comrades, they didn't say anything.

Merlin and Escanor were sitting close together at a table, their hands searching and finding each other under it, clutching one another for reassurance and comfort.

They tried to behave with nonchalance, but couldn't stay apart.

The Mage needed some quiet to concentrate and think, she was preparing herself for any scenarios she could imagine that could happen with the werebeast deity. The Lion was providing her the calmness that she seeked, and was pointedly frowning at everyone who tried to come near her or address her, and that look, in his night form, was pretty shocking, so the others quietly complied and let them be.

Soon the door of the bar opened and Camila entered the Boar Hat.

The tension was suddenly palpable.

The Catastrophe stilled, something had changed, she could feel it, and immediately sought out the man that she was here for. Instead of locking gaze with him, her eyes were instinctively drawn to the woman sitting besides him: her gaze was almost feral, and if she was the one thinking that, it was surely true.

The deity frowned and tensed, those golden eyes, so like and unlike her own, were obviously challenging her.

She looked for some time between the two, then sniffed the air, catching the different smells, until she had no more doubts.

"You tried to claim him so that I wouldn't want him anymore."

She addressed the Mage directly.

The situation wasn't exactly like that, but the Boar didn't feel the need to correct her rival.

"Wrong thinking."

The werebeast took a couple of steps and stopped right in front of their table.

"I challenge you!"

Camila almost barked, baring her teeth, pointing her finger towards the raven haired woman.

Merlin smirked, giving any predator a run for their money with her expression.

"I was waiting for this."

She stood up, slowly and calmly,

"I should have known that talking wouldn't be enough. I accept your challenge and I challenge you myself."

She walked around the table to stand in front of the Catastrophe, then moved her head closer and whispered:

"Bring it on."

The deity let out a low growl and turned towards the door, to go outside. The Boar followed, tacitly agreeing to take this outside.

Escanor didn't know how to feel: on one hand he was worried for Merlin and didn't want her to risk being injured because of him, on the other hand he had never seen her like that, and he would lie if he said that seeing her so possessive and determined didn't arouse him.

Needless to say that all the presents followed the two women outside.

They had walked some distance away to have more space for their confrontation, and were standing on opposite sides, staring down their opponent.

Camila growled, crouched down, and transformed in her werebeast form, howling and baring her fangs at Merlin, who just levitated in the air, preparing herself.

There was just a moment of complete stillness, then the deity suddenly ran forward and lunged at the Mage.

It had begun.

The Boar dodged and prepared a counter attack with her magic, but her rival was well versed in fights too, and was also very agile, and swiftly avoided her attack.

The raven haired woman frowned, this would be more difficult than she had hoped for, and she had to stay focused or she risked to find herself in a bad situation.

First of all, she had to maintain her distance, Camila was a close-up fighter, while she wasn't, if she was able to stay away and attack her from a distance she would have the upper hand.

Merlin began launching ranged attacks, staying in the air, away from the werebeast, and while she was able to scratch her opponent, she was unable to really injure her.

Camila was analyzing the fight too, and also arrived at the conclusion that she had to come closer to the other woman, so she went on dodging and trying to shorten the distance between them; suddenly she jumped, trying to surprise her opponent, wanting to arrive directly in front of her with that move, but the Mage teleported swiftly, reappearing behind the deity, and launching an attack that hit the other one on the side.

Camila howled, that had been painful, but she was far from done, and turned around, trying to reach the raven haired woman again. The werebeast tried the same move again and the Boar responded in the same way, but it had been a trap, because this time the Catastrophe was expecting her to vanish and reappear behind her, and was able to reach with her claws, scratching her on the stomach.

Merlin grunted, gritting her teeth, immediately putting as much distance as possible between them, while holding her stomach protectively.

The more the fight went on, the more the two were able to land hits on the other.

They were both tired and panting.

Camila suddenly decided to go for it, putting everything she had in this, she hoped, last attack; she was able to reach, closing her claws around the Mage's neck, forcing her down from the air, making her land forcefully on her back, while the deity hovered over her, sure in her victory now.

Merlin was feeling pain everywhere, and her opponent still had a good grip on her neck, causing her trouble to breathe, but she wasn't defeated, not yet, she still had many tricks up her sleeve, but she knew she had to finish this quickly, her strength was beginning to leave her.

With great effort she called forth every little bit of determination, hitting her opponent with a close ranged spell to the stomach, making her roar and fly away from the Mage, who immediately teleported above the werebeast, hitting her again to make her land, hard, on the ground, making her stand down with the invisible force of her spell. To make her point across, the Boar teleported again, landing with one knee on the deity's stomach and one hand against her throat, like she had done, trying to submit the other.

Camila tried to move and free herself, but the Mage just put even more strength in her spell, cracking the ground under her opponent.

"Submit."

Merlin snarled above her face, her eyes boring into her opponent, wild and feral, almost crazy, and alight with power and determination.

"SUBMIT!"

She yelled this time, putting even more pressure on the werebeast, who tried to struggle one last time and then stilled, relaxing, and turning back to her human form.

"I lost."

She conceded at last, displeased.

The Boar stayed still for some moments more, making sure that the Catastrophe had really given up, then lifted herself up from the ground, panting hard, looking pointedly one last time at the other woman, and then turned around to go back to the Boar Hat.

It was taking all of her will to just walk and keeping herself under control.

Her companions had watched all the fight and were silently standing in front of the bar, their mouths open in shocked surprise: they had never seen Merlin looking so fierce.

They let her pass without a word, opening up their formation to make way for her to arrive at the entrance, and the Mage was very thankful for that, she didn't think she had enough strength to even talk, but soon she would have to decide if she wanted to open the bar's door with magic or her own hand, and it seemed the most difficult decision of her life, she was that tired.

Surprisingly she noted that the door was already open, if she wasn't on the verge of collapsing she would have noticed the man that was keeping it open for her, but at the moment she just took the opportunity, and marched right through the threshold.

As soon as she heard the door closing, her steps faltered, and she was sure that she was falling but was unable to stop it.

Her body never reached the ground, because a pair of strong and gentle arms lifted her exhausted form to rest on a warm and comforting chest.

She sighed in gratefulness and let herself go limp in his hold.

Escanor had been watching the fight with the others, using all of his strength and will to not rush out there and stopping it. He had wanted so many times to just transform in his day form and go to aid the Mage, but remembered her words and determination, and he had told her that he trusted her, so he had to stay there and watch as the woman that he loved, more than life itself, got injured and fought for him.

His heart had jumped and broken at every injury she got, and he hadn't known to be trembling until Gowther and Meliodas had each put a hand on his shoulders, trying to ground him and giving him comfort and strength. He had noticed immediately the state she was in when she finally came out victorious from the confrontation, he could read the truth in her eyes that were still fighting, but to stay focused this time.

He had opened the door for her, and quickly closed it again, following her inside, and as he had suspected, as soon as she was behind a closed door and away from the others' eyes, she had let go.

He had swiftly taken off his glasses and took her in his arms, cradling her close, and sighing in relief when she relaxed and cuddled some more into his chest.

The Lion went to her room, leaning her down on her bed, then went to look around for all the things he needed to take care of her injuries.

Merlin was trying to stay conscious, but she couldn't say if she was able to all the time, she was motionless, with her eyes closed, and let the prideful man take care of her; she would have smiled if she had had enough strength to manage that.

Escanor carefully washed, disinfected and dressed all her wounds, he had also wanted to wash her and change her clothes, but she was just too exhausted and he decided that for now her wounds had priority over anything else.

Once he was finished he put everything away, going back to her to make sure that she was comfortable enough and to cover her with a sheet.

He took just another moment to look at her, feeling so grateful that she was okay, and that she had been willing to go to these lengths for him, but he hoped she would never do that again, he couldn't stand the sight of her like this.

The Lion was finally standing up from the bed when suddenly she spoke.

"Stay."

She hadn't opened her eyes, she was just too tired, but she was able to stop him from leaving.

Escanor could only comply with her request, he didn't want to go either, and leaned down, resting on the bed beside her, taking her in his arms, silently vowing to protect her better, and to never leave her side.

Merlin cuddled against his chest, she felt calm and safe in his arms, and was so very grateful to have him with her, to have fought for him, and that this was her reality now.

She drifted off to sleep with a smile on her face.

And it's finished! :D

I hope you enjoyed it! ^^

Let me know what you think in a comment, I always appreciate them so very much! :D

Thanks to everyone who patiently waited for this! 3