I am so so so so so sorry for the long wait! I was so stuck in the middle of this chapter that I needed a long break before I was able to pick it back up. I am going to try really hard to not keep you waiting as long for the next chapter!

The air felt thick inside the small room on the top floor of the tavern. A mixture of sickness, antiseptics, and uneasiness filled the room as six deadly sins, a princess and a talking pig gathered around their trusted ally, companion and friend's unconscious form.

The doctor had just left. He had treated Meliodas' wounds to the best of his abilities, given the limited resources she had at hand, but that had barely been enough to keep him alive. The bloodloss in itself would have been enough to kill him if it hadn't been for Merlin's medical skills. She had been able to quelch the bleeding enough to give him a fighting chance with layers upon layers with gauze and bandages, keeping a tight pressure on the injuries.

The doctor had performed delicate surgery to reduce the pressure on his spinal nerves and fixate the spinal column around the injury. Now, he was finally stitched up and stabilized, but still heavily sedated. His usual sunkissed skin was ashen and sickly, and his breathing heavy and ragged as he lay, hooked up to IV bags with liquids and pain medication.

What were the most concerning going forward, was the injury he had suffered to his lumbar vertebrae. The sword had inflicted severe damage to his lower back, and there really was no telling the effects it would have on his body before he woke up.

Elizabeth was still keeping her hopes up that his demon powers would be able to heal his body once he was strong enough, and Merlin still didn't share her suspicions about that not being an option for the time being. She glanced towards Goater from time to time, making sure that he wasn't about to spill either. There was no doubt in her mind that he had figured it out as well. But, there was no reason to make everyone even more worried. Once he was conscious, they could talk it over and figure out their next steps.

Elizabeth picked up the chair by Meliodas' desk and pushed it over to his bedside. Dutifully, she sat down and rested her warm hand on his feverish and clammy cheek, wiping away droplets of sweat before she turned and picked up the lukewarm rag resting on his forehead in the soothingly chilled water in the bowl on his bedstand.

"He's so pale," she murmured with a frown, pressing the piece of cloth lightly to his neck.

"It's the blood loss," Merlin reasoned calmly. "He's probably going to be out for a while."

Merlin leaned her hand on the princess' shoulder. Elizabeth peeked up on the powerful mage, blurry-eyed and flustered. "We should get something to eat and keep our strength up," Merlin added, managing what she hoped was a comforting smile to the young goddess.

"I want to stay with him. Someone should be here, once he wakes up." Her voice came out frail and broken. She was hoping it would sound willful and strong, but that was as much as she could manage right now.

Luckily, no one argued with her. Merlin nodded.

"I agree with you, princess. We will take turns sitting with him. You need your rest too. Someone will be up with some food once it's ready." She started ushering the other sins and Hawk out of the room, leaving them to their solitude.

Elizabeth kept a brave smile on her face until the door finally shut. The tears she had tried to hold back finally came in steady streams, but she wiped them away vigorously.

"I promise, sir Meliodas, I will not cry- I will not fall apart this time. I'm going to be strong- for my friends, and most of all, for you," she whispered as she writhed onto the bed and nuzzled up beside the sleeping sin, gently stroking the unruly bangs away from his face and feeling his chest rise and fall with each lifesaving breath. All the terror and uncertainty of the day was finally catching up to her, and she could feel her body growing heavy from the exhaustion. She was soon resting calmly, body curved along the outlines of Melioda's still form and soft hands tangled in his unruly golden locks.

Soon her own strained breaths evened out and was replaced with soft sighs as she was lulled into a fitful and exhausted sleep.

Ban was seldom at the loss for words. He could definitely choose not to speak, as he had demonstrated fairly well while imprisoned at the Baste Prison. But, since being reunited with the sins, and most importantly, his beloved Elaine, there was a new sense of easiness to his being.

The happy-go-lucky man he once had been seemed to be back. It wasn't just an act, a mask he would put on to pretend that everything was fine to make people stop prying. It wasn't a shell he had crawled into to protect himself from being hurt again like so many times before. He was genuinely and truly happy.

At this point in time, probably for the first time through all of his years, he felt content with his life; where he was, what he did, who he was and who he was with.

And then- something like this had to happen.

Everything seemed to be going so well. There was peace in Britannia, and the tavern was thriving now that he was the fulltime cook (not to mention that the lawsuits for poisoning their customers had gone from about a 25% to a zero since he had taken over) . They went from place to place and met exciting and interesting new people- not only to gather information on the whereabouts of the sins. They were all finally together again.

The girls were finally getting the hang on the waitressing. Their food costs were cut in half and they were actually gaining profit now that they finally were able to balance their trays properly, which consequently had made Hawk lose several (much needed) pounds. Meliodas ran the bar expertly with all the knowledge and ale he had gathered from years and years of touring Britannia with the Boar Hat.

Everything seemed to be going well. Everybody was content.

But now Meliodas was lying unconscious in bed upstairs, unable to heal with a severe injury to his back. Nobody knew exactly what was going on- only that whatever was happening to their captain was strange and bad.

He reached towards the top shelf in the kitchen placed behind the bar, his kitchen, where he stored all of his seasonings ( they were placed there to limit Meliodas' access to them- thus hopefully, but not necessarily successfully, also limiting the amount of damage his atrocious cooking could do when he was trying to help).

His mouth tugged into a small smile as the memory came to mind, but it fell as suddenly as it had occurred. He didn't have much medical experience. He didn't really have the use for it, as his body regenerated by itself no matter how severe his injuries were. Words like 'lumbar vertebrae', 'septic-shock' or 'anemia' didn't mean anything to him.

(The word paraplegic did, however).

Because that was what the doctor and Merlin had discussed behind closed doors just before the doctor had left (Ban had large ears) . He couldn't quite understand how that could happen. Meliodas' demon form had many flaws, but its healing abilities was not usually one of them.

But, the way he had spasmed when Elizabeth had tried to heal him proved that something was up. Something wrong.

Sure, Meliodas might not have the strength to heal himself right now, but he should be able to do it once he was rested, right? Even if Elizabeth's powers had been ineffective, wouldn't mean that he wouldn't be able to heal at all?

Still, Ban had a terrible feeling about it by the way Merlin was acting.

Maybe there was something special about that blade that the malicious fairy had been using. Like the one Meliodas had been stabbed with when they were at the Sky Temple. Maybe it was some kind of strange fairy-poison that blocked out Goddess, and maybe even Demon abilities too?

He had never heard of something like that, and when fighting the ten commandments, King should probably have mentioned something about it, 'cause that sure as fuck would have been helpful.

But, knowing King, he probably would have no idea anyway.

As if on cue, King came floating into the kitchen, cuddled up in Chastiefol. His lazy golden gaze peered around the kitchen and his mouth scrunched into a frown as he set eyes on Ban.

"When's food ready?" he moaned, propping his elbows under him and resting his head in his hands.

"It's done when I've finished cooking it." Ban realized how strained his voice sounded. All this stress was making him agitated, and he really didn't feel like dealing with King's bullshit right now.

"I'm hungry," King sulked and floated a little closer, but stopped abruptly when Ban's fist hit the counter with a loud smack, making the items around the kitchen rattle. As the sudden noise faded out, a pressuring silence gathered around them.

"You only ever think about yourself!" Ban snapped and shot a dark look towards the red-head. "Here I thought I was the sin of greed. Cap'n is fighting for his life, and all you can do is complain about dinner," Ban snarled dangerously.

King looked taken back at first, but quickly got a hold of himself and scowled venomously back.

"Seems like I just lost my appetite," he finally muttered and turned to leave. Ban didn't stop him. Instead, he continued chopping veggies with exaggerated force, throwing it into the pan of boiling broth.

He continued preparing the incidences with added violence when the door behind him opened again. An exasperated sigh left him as he tried to calm his anger.

"Ban?" a careful voice asked from the doorway. The furious flame inside Ban's chest was immediately extinguished as Elaine approached him.

"Hey," he said raggedly and plastered on a smile as he turned to greet her.

"I was looking for Harlequin, I thought he came in here," she said hesitant and looked around the kitchen.

Ban quickly sobered.

"He came by," Ban mumbled, biting his lip as he felt a new spark of anger light up.

"Oh," she mused worriedly before adding, "I asked him to help you with dinner... Guess he didn't feel like it. He's been so fidgety since we got back. I thought it might help to gather his thoughts."

The tall man could have kicked himself. Obviously, King would never waltz into the kitchen and just offer to help. He would have disguised it in some stupid way of saying that it took too long until he was ordered or seemed to "realize it would be better if he had" to help.

"Dammit," Ban sneered and rolled his eyes in exasperation. The small fair-haired girl arched her eyebrows before reluctantly asking, "What happened?"

Ban sighed wearily and rubbed his face.

"Do you mind taking over here for a moment? I need to take a piss." He handed her the knife and untied his apron, tossing it at the counter and stalked with long strides out of the kitchen.

For a short while, he stood at the center of the bar and wondered where King would disappear off to if he had upset him, which, the asshole that he was, he probably had manged pretty brilliantly. He seriously doubted he would have gone back to his room. The malformed, wonky extensions they had built to the Boar Hat now that they were all traveling with it, usually wasn't the first place any of them would go to hide.

Meliodas' room was probably out of the question too. Knowing King, he would be painfully uncomfortable staying with an unconscious Meliodas. He would have no idea what to do with himself. That really only left two places, and as King was not a distraught teenaged girl (even if he could've fooled Ban sometimes), he probably hadn't locked himself in the bathroom.

Ban went outside. The weather was as grey as their day was. The wind brought droplets of the oncoming rain from the west with it, making it feel even more soured than it already was.

Apparently, Ban knew King better than he had anticipated, as he spotted him floating gently on Chestiefol high above ground level, right outside Meliodas' window. He was too high up for Ban to see what he was really doing, but he had his suspicions that he actually knew that too.

"King, stop feeling sorry for yourself and come down here," he shouted, unnecessarily loud and startling King to the point where he almost slipped off Chestifold.

"Shut up, asshole," King retorted quietly, crawling his way back onto his snuggly green pillow with strained fingers.

"Stop being so dramatic and come down," Ban repeated, standing with his hands on his hips. King relented. His eyes rolled around exaggeratedly as he gently floated down and stopped a little over Ban's head, making sure that the large man had no other choice than to look up at him.

"What?" Ban huffed in a grimace.

Ban simply stared at him for a short moment. "Listen, King. I shouldn't have snapped at ya. We're all worried about Cap'n, I shouldn't have let it out on ya."

King's eyes narrowed. Was Ban actually apologizing to him? When he was the one who acted so childish?

He fidgeted with his hands and stared down at Chastiefol with a frown. "Yeah." His voice was drawn out and faint, careful, even. "I guess… I guess I'm sorry too. It's just… what if he doesn't get better, you know? I don't think he'll be able to handle that. What'll happen to the tavern? The group?"

"Don't talk like that," Ban said warningly, but with no anger in his voice. "We can't afford to think like that. We have to believe that he's going to get better. Cap'n needs our support, not any of that doubty negative shit."

"Ban, we need to be realistic about this-"

"I am being realistic," Ban raised his voice. "If we give up on him, he'll give up on himself! You know how he is. He won't do shit for his own benefit, he does everything for us, his friends! If we don't have faith in him, he'll wither and die. Maybe not literally, but… the Melioda's we know and love, won't be anymore. We've seen this happen before, King. That lil' bastard is as strong as the support he has around him."

Bleary eyes looked back at Ban's heated demeanor, and he couldn't help but admire the fire he saw. How would one become so strong-willed? What did he have to do to become as confident in anything he did?

...this was as good a time as any to start trying. Slowly, King nodded his head, more and more determinedly. "Yeah," he said and started to sit up on Chastiefol. "Yes." He added, with a bit more vigor.

"He-he's going to be all right," he said and looked sincerely into the ruby gaze of his teammate. "We're going to help him, and then, he'll be okay no matter what."

"Atta 'boy!" Ban praised with a cheeky grin and grabbed a hold of Chastiefol and pulled them down, throwing his lanky arm around King's shoulders and pulled them with him inside.

Dinner went by in a slightly elevated mood. The talking was subdued and there was a blanket of worry still lingering above them, but Meliodas' fever had lowered, which left them in anticipation for his awakening. Ban had even set aside a plate of broth, hoping Meliodas would be able to eat it during the evening.

Diane, still effected by Merlin's shrinking spell had gone upstairs to eat together with Elizabeth and watch over Meliodas. The giantess had been beside herself with concern but had done her best to hide it in front of Elizabeth and resolved to cry on King's shoulder all afternoon instead.

Admittedly, she was happy to have an excuse to go up and spend some time at his bedside, as well as being a good friend for Elizabeth.

She held the tray with their dinner and two cups of Vanja ale in her strong grip as she approached the door. She knocked carefully with the tip of her boot before she scooted the door open with her behind.

"Elizabeth? I know you're probably not hungry, but you should probably try to eat somethi-"

She paused as she entered the room. "Elizabeth?"

The princess was standing on her knees on the bed, leaning over their leader. Her right hand was resting on his cheek and her eyes watched him intently.

"Meliodas? Can you hear me? Open your eyes, please," she pleaded thinly.

"What- what's going on?" Diane asked and closed the door behind her.

"I think he's waking up," she uttered urgently. "He moved his head and he's mumbling something under his breath- I'm sure of it!"

Diane set the tray on the opposite table of the basin and settled on the other side of the bed. "Cap'n?"

Again, his head shifted and his eyes squeezed shut. Tired, garbled words left his lips in a messy scramble of noises.

"Yes, yes, that's it! Come back to us Meliodas!" Elizabeth exclaimed excitedly before emerald green eyes finally fluttered open.

"E-Elizabeth?" he croaked hazily and shifted his gaze to the giantess. "Diane?"

"Oh, Meliodas! We've been so worried!" Elizabeth cried and threw herself around her sweetheart's neck.

Diane eyed how Meliodas grimaced painfully at the princess's actions and hastily, gently, touched her shoulder. "Careful, Elizabeth. He's in pain."

The silver-haired girl gasped and quickly pulled back with an apology on her lips.

"How are you feeling, Cap'n?" Diane asked, hoping to distract Elizabeth from the guilt-trip she was surly having at the moment.

The small man blinked a few times, looking up at them in a bit of confusion.

"I feel… a little weird," he admitted hoarsely.

"Weird how? Should I get Merlin?" Diane inquired with a worry knitted between her eyebrows.

"I don't know… Maybe." Meliodas tried to pull himself up to a seated position. As he got up on his elbows, his eyes scrunched together and he emitted a sharp cry of pain and fell back down and fruitlessly tried to curl in on himself.

"Meliodas!" Elizabeth hovered over him, scared to touch him and inflict further pain. Diane was already up and running, calling down the stairs for Merlin to get up there.

"It hurts," Meliodas wheezed faintly.

"I know honey," Elizabeth soothed, stroking his hair back. Her tears were streaming down her face now, staining the white blanket covering his bandaged torso as she broke the promise she had made to herself. She was crying- again.

"Elizabeth?"

She could hardly stand how frail his voice sounded, drowned in all that hurt.

"I can't…" The end of his sentence disappeared into a sharp inhale as his whole face contorted into an agonizing grimace.

"I can't… move my legs," he finally choked out.

For a moment, the whole world stopped moving. Elizabeth's head was spinning dizzyingly fast. She peered down at the helpless form in front of her, staring aimlessly into the ceiling with this lost and scared look in his eyes.

This can't be happening.

I'm so sorry for being an asshole with the cliff-hangers, but when I'm done writing, I'm just done. I can't squeeze anything more out and now you guys have waited for sooo long for this chapter and I just wanted to post it! I hope I didn't disappoint you!