For The One Who Was Always By My Side

He wandered through the human village aimlessly and  if he was being honest with himself, he was completely lost. 

Elizabeth had run off and left him standing here, in the middle of a human village. The last time he had been in a human village, he had been responsible for burning it down with Aranak and Zeno. 

There was a large crowd in front of a big building  which seemed to be in better shape than most of the houses. It's windows were made out of colorful glass and there were some gold ornaments on its roof. 

"I'm sorry", Meliodas asked a random human, "what's going on here?" 

"Oh" The blond human turned around, "Miss Annabeth and the chief are getting married!" she said. 

"Married?" 

"Yes, don't you know what that is?" she asked him, looking down on him with a small frown on her face. 

"Should I?" 

Oh damn, he was supposed to know that, judging by the look on her face. Playing human was hard. 

But she only smiled and explained what a marriage and a wedding was, that her name was Martha and that she was living nearby. 

"How long does something like that last?" 

"Forever!" 

"Isn't that a little bit long?" 

"When you love someone?" she shook her head, "No, it probably isn't enough."

And with that, she turned towards the entrance of the church and clapped along with the crowd as the bride and the groom came out. 

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She walked towards him with a grace only a princess could possess. 

Elizabeth was dressed in a white gown with golden accessories, her shining silver hair stitched up and her hands clutching a bouquet of pink flowers. 

Her father was guiding her all the way down and slowly, with a nod of his head, laid her hands in his. Meliodas thought she was breathtaking and as he looked into her golden eyes, he remembered. 

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"Meliodas?" 

They sat together on the steps of Heavens theater. Her head on his shoulder and both of them looking at the horizon where the sun was slowly disappearing behind the mountains. 

"Yes, Elli?" 

He lifted his head to look at her. What was wrong? 

"You won't leave, right?" 

He frowned at her. How could she ever even think of such a thing? And then slowly, he remembered. His pocket seemed unbelievably heavy now. He had forgotten completely about that thing. 

Meliodas took a small, silver ring out of his pocket. It wasn't much, just something he had picked up out of curiosity, but well, it could come in handy now. 

The demon shifted positions and took her hand, slipping the ring on her finger. 

"Elizabeth, do you know about the thing humans call marriage?" 

Now she just looked confused. 

"No… Why?" 

"When two people love each other, at least in the human race, they get married. There's a bride and a groom. The father of the bride leads her into a building called a church, that's where people can actually get married, and hands her to the groom, as a sign he's leaving his daughters well-being to another man. After that, they get matching rings they never take off. As a sign they will always stick together...I've never thought particularly well of humans, but that sounds like a very beautiful tradition."

"Meliodas, where do you know this from?, and why are you telling me this?" 

"When we were in the village near us, a woman named Martha told me about it after I asked what was going on." 

He now fully turned towards her and looked into her eyes. Elizabeth thought there was a strange kind of determination in them. 

"Elizabeth, when, after all of this nonsense with the demon-goddess-conflict is over, I'll gift you a real ring."

"What do you mea-" 

"I won't leave you, Elizabeth, and I want you to be by my side. So, after this chaos is over, I'll ask you to marry me, and hope you haven't grown sick of me by then."

"And I'll say yes."

And he kissed her. The sky was illuminated with stars as the sun had already set by now and Meliodas could see that somewhere in the west, people fired some fireworks. 

He'd marry this woman, no matter what his clan may think. This was the one he wanted to grow old with and stay with to the end of his days, and he will.

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"You may now kiss the bride!"

He, in a swift motion, lifted the veil over her head and kissed her. Clapping echoed through the walls, the loudest coming from Diane and Ban next to him. 

As he and Elizabeth walked down all the way to the carriage, he was doing so with the greatest smile he ever had. 

"I love you Elizabeth."

"I love you, too, Meliodas." 

He promised he'd marry her. He'd never regret his choice. He had no regrets left.