Here is my piece for NNT Flashbang (@nntflashbang)! I worked with @kuronekotchiiiiouu (who was an amazing partner and made a wonderful drawing) and our prompt was “Soft”. We wanted to focus on Meliodas and Elizabeth’s last night in Liones before going to the Demon Realm, and we started working before chapter 310 came out, so the whole thing turned out way more bittersweet and angst that it should have been. You can find the fic also on AO3.
Enjoy anyway!
Meliodas finally lets out a sigh, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand while he scans the ballroom. It seems that finally things are getting a bit better; most of the guests are on the dance floor, dancing to the sound of the slow, soft air that the musicians are playing now – Meliodas knows it, he has heard it on many occasions, in different Kingdoms, palaces, times, but he can’t recall its name right now.
Not that it matters at the moment. What matters is that his friends finally stopped moping around and glancing at him with sad, unsure eyes and understood that even though this is a farewell party, it’s still a party. He can’t help but smile a bit when he sees Ban spinning Elaine, her wings shining under the light of the candles, the shadow of a smile on their lips, while not far from them, King and Diane are slowly dancing, holding each other, their feet barely touching the floor – is King floating? Really?, Meliodas wonders with an amused huff. He spots also Margaret and Gilthunder, her arms holding his neck and his hands on her waist, their eyes locked in a way that makes it clear that they only see each other. They soon disappear between the other couples, and so Meliodas takes his eyes off the dance floor, looking for the others.
Gowther is not far away, talking with King Bartra, and even though none of them seems amused they don’t seem sad either, not as before at least – Bartra had been in a pretty bad mood all the afternoon, not that Meliodas can blame him. Then his eyes catch a flash of pink – of course Hawk would have been next to the buffet table – before they meet Escanor. He is standing in the corner of the room, his hands joined and his eyes fixed on something in the distance. Meliodas knows what – who – he is watching even before following his gaze; he knows his friend and he knows the look in his eyes, so he is not surprised when he spots Merlin on the border of the dance floor, her black, long dress floating around her like a dark mist.
But he feels his heart pounding when his eyes meet Elizabeth. She is standing next to Merlin, talking with her, a soft and sweet smile on her lips – her smile; when she shakes her head, her silver hair follows her movements, fluttering around her like a silver curtain. He can’t help but stare at her, his gaze traveling on her figure. She is wearing a long, white dress that leaves her pale shoulders exposed, the long sleeves covering her arms; when she spread them – Meliodas wonders what exactly she is saying at this point – they almost look like her wings. He can’t help but think that she looks so much like the first time he met her, a white dressed Goddess with gentle eyes and a soft smile, looking almost too ethereal and innocent in that bloody, broken battlefield.