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Chapter 3: The Plan

This was not part of the plan, Meliodas lamented as he followed Elizabeth down the corridor.

Getting her set up with a nice safe life in the castle.

That was part of the plan.

Becoming a knight of the kingdom and saving powerful individuals from execution or imprisonment to serve as his squad.

That was part of the plan.

Guard her and her home, but keep his distance.

That was the plan.

"Come on, Mel! Hurry up!" she called from up ahead, the pitch of her voice teetering on the edge of a frustrated whine.

"Coming" he called back, lazily waving at her.

Playing babysitter to her while Baltra found a new nanny was definitely NOT part of the plan.

Meliodas didn't, and would never, regret dismissing that horrible woman who called herself a nanny. What he hadn't expected was for Baltra to assign him to help fill the void caused by the woman's abrupt exit. It wasn't much, just during the hours when Elizabeth couldn't be with her sisters and their nannies and only until a new one was arranged, but it was still far more than he had ever intended.

There was also the matter of not letting too many people, including the Sins, find out. He didn't care that part-time bodyguard to a four-year-old wasn't exactly an upward move from Captain. What he didn't want was anyone connecting a line between him and her. It was bad enough that it seemed the King was starting to figure things out. It wasn't as if preventing Elizabeth from falling to her death or wander around alone at night, made him the best choice to serve as her temporary bodyguard. The King presumably knew more than he was supposed to. The arrangements for Elizabeth had been agreed upon with the late Queen and she was supposed to have kept the details secret. The fewer people who knew about his and Elizabeth's shared history the better. He had enemies and unfortunately so did she. Especially after what happened at the base of the tree.

A small hand gripped two of his fingers, "You're so slow!" Elizabeth complained pulling on him, in an attempt to drag him along faster. He could tell she was using all of her strength by the angle she leaned forward at and the determined look in her eyes. He conceded and allowed himself to stumble as if she was actually dragging him down the hall. She smiled up at him in triumph.

Ok, that was pretty cute.

Once she was setting the pace, they reached the garden quickly.

"Now what Princess?" he asked with a smile.

"Can we play a game?" she clasped her hands together in front of her and rocked back and forth, teaming with energy.

"Sure" he shrugged, using his usual aloof act to disguise a quick scan of their surroundings, checking the windows of the overlooking building and along the tops of the garden walls.

Elizabeth didn't respond and after a second he glanced down at her. She was frowning up at him."What?" he asked.

"You're being weird" she announced, spinning on her heels, she walked away from him.

His eyebrows shot up in surprise, what did she mean by that? "Hey, I thought you wanted to play a game?" Meliodas called after her.

"No, I want to climb trees now." she said distractedly, more focused on reaching for the lowest branch of the same big evergreen that she had fallen out of two days ago.

"Well, be careful. Can't have you falling on my watch." he joked, leaning up against the trunk of another tree where he could keep an eye on her while she climbed.

But, she wasn't trying to reach the branch anymore. Elizabeth stood at the base of the tree, with her back to him, holding very still (something he hadn't seen much of from her).

Oh. Probably not the best idea to bring up falling out of the tree two days after she'd watched her father nearly die, even if her memories of the event seemed a little distorted. He hadn't meant to spoil her fun.

"Kidding." he called, trying to lighten the mood.

She didn't respond. Without a word she turned and slowly walked to the little pond that occupied the other corner of the garden. Sitting down at the edge, she pulled her knees up to her chest.

Meliodas crossed the garden and crouched down next to her. "Hey, aren't you going to climb trees?"

Elizabeth's voice was soft and sad when she spoke, "No. I'm never climbing trees again." He watched her absentmindedly push the lily pads around with a stick she'd picked up from the ground.

"Why not? I thought you liked to climb trees." He tried to peer around to see her face.

"People get hurt when I climb trees. And Daddy says I'll fall," she said quietly, while pushing down on a lily pad watching it submerge before it buoyed back to the surface. Her lip quivered and Meliodas caught the beginnings of tears in her eyes.

He understood. He wanted her to be safe too. But, she had looked so happy perched at the top of that tree with her arms stretched out. He grinned, his decision was made. In one fluid motion he scooped her up and stood, striding quickly across the garden, he placed her on the branch she'd been trying to reach before. She stared at him in confusion.

"Go ahead, Princess," he encouraged, "climb as high as you want."

"But...I'll fall," she protested.

"You won't fall, but if you do, I'll catch you" he reassured " but... maybe only climb really high when I'm around. OK?"

She blinked at him for a few seconds then she extended her hand, holding out her little finger, "Promise you'll catch me?" she asked.

He wrapped his own little finger around hers and locked eyes with her, "I promise" he answered seriously.

She smiled at him and he thought he'd succeeded in reassuring her when she paused, "But what if Daddy comes?" She asked looking at him with wide worried eyes.

"Then I'll come up and get you so he doesn't have to." He answered without hesitation, "I'm a Knight. It's my job to retrieve Princesses from trees." He joked.

She gave him a wide smile and giggled "You're not a Knight Mel, you're a big kid" she announced, catching him off guard. Before he could protest, she was climbing the tall tree, faster than he thought possible for a four-year-old in a dress. It didn't take long for her to be waving down at him from the top.

He waved back.

Mel wasn't very tall for a big kid, but he looked even tinier from up here.

This was going to be great. He wasn't like Nanny. He didn't yell at her when she got excited and pulled him down the hall. He was nice. He let her climb trees and she didn't have to worry about falling or Daddy. Nanny used to say that she would fall one day and that would teach her. What it would teach her, she wasn't sure, but it didn't seem like a good thing. But Mel promised he would catch her. Elizabeth smiled, trying to think if she knew of any even bigger trees to climb.

She wondered what else he'd let her do.

Maybe he'd take her outside the walls?

Or to visit his funny friends?

Elizabeth spent a little while at the top of the tree, but it was cloudy and when she felt the first few drops of rain blow in on the breeze she decided to climb down. She spotted Mel stretched out on the grass of the garden, facing her but with his eyes closed. She frowned down at him. How was he supposed to catch her if she fell when he was sleeping? He wasn't even paying attention.

"Mel!" She yelled, doing her best to sound like she was scared.

"What's wrong?" he called back, without moving. She frowned at him again, she had been hoping for a bigger reaction than that.

"I'm going to fall!" she cried dramatically grabbing a branch and leaned out over open space.

"No you're not," he replied in a bored tone, though one of his eyes cracked open, "but you will if you keep doing that."

"But you said you'd catch me" She pointed out, pulling herself back towards the tree.

"I will" he responded, eyes closing again.

"But you're not paying attention" She complained, climbing down a few branches.

"I am" he protested.

"Your eyes are closed" She pointed out.

"So?"

"So, how are you supposed to catch me if you're not watching?" She challenged hands on her hips.

"I'm really fast." He said casually as if that was obvious.

"How fast?" she eyed him.

"Fast enough," he responded stretching and tucking his arms under his head.

Elizabeth was getting frustrated. He was kind of being a jerk. He'd promised to catch her and he wasn't even paying attention. No one was that fast.

She'd almost made it to the bottom of the tree, she was only one branch above the lowest one. She could jump from here, she'd done it before. Glancing over she found him still lying flat on the ground with his eyes closed. She crouched down and hopped out of the tree.

He was holding her up by her armpits "Wow" she breathed, "you ARE fast." Maybe he wasn't joking when he said he was a Knight, it WOULD explain the sword and the weird friends.

"You didn't believe I'd catch you..." there was a hint of disbelief in his voice.

She smiled brightly at him, still suspended in the air. "I do now" Elizabeth began to kick her legs and he took the hint and set her down on the ground.

His face shifted into its usual smile, "I promised, didn't I?"

She smiled back, then she had an idea, "Wanna play tag?" and without waiting for his response she smacked his arm, "YOU'RE IT! she yelled and took off running as fast as she could for the covered passageway that led out of the garden. She nearly tripped on a depression in the stone of the walkway that she had never noticed before, but soon she was in the passageway and out of his sight. Mel might be fast but she knew hiding spots.

This was going to be great!

He waited, giving her a head start.

He'd never known a reincarnation when she was so young, as he listened to her giggling echo off the walls of the passageway, he realized that once again he cared for her. But it wasn't in the same way as it had been in the past, right now, he felt more like a big brother to the little girl. That was a role he was familiar with. So, if that was to be his role in her life(at least for now), then he would embrace it.

No, that hadn't been the plan but plans change.