Chapter 22 - Remembering Her

3rd persons POV

Zeldris looks at Yami, which looks down at him with worry and a hint of shock. "Zeldris, answer me. Do you remember who I really am?" she asks him sternly. Zeldris blinks as he can't remember how he got here or what she is talking about. After all, he doesn't even remember what happened in the past minutes. His head is resting on her lap and as he looks into her blue eyes, he doesn't care about how he got here or how close they are because he feels very safe right now. And as Yami forgets about their situation for just a brief moment, she begins to move her hand through his dark hair because Zeldris is all she cares about right now.

Suddenly, her expression changes and the worried look in her face changes to surprise. "Your pain... it's gone..." she says quietly but Zeldris doesn't even remember being in pain. It's like the last couple of minutes have been erased from his mind. He tries to figure out what the last thing is that he can remember but he gets lost in the beautiful color of her blue eyes every time he tries.

He closes his eyes to focus, as Yami continues to comfort him by moving her hand through his hair. A picture of Zeldris sitting next to his brother Estarossa is the first thing that comes to his mind but he knows that this isn't his last memory because it wouldn't explain how he got here.

He remembers that Yami said goodbye to him and that they haven't seen each other again for the next few days. He never stopped wondering what made Yami run off like that. So, after another long day, he looked up at the stars in the sky and thought about their secret meetings and how she managed to give him feelings like happiness, peace and calmness. And then...

He tries to remember what happened afterwards but the next thing he remembers is how his vision got all blurry and he spread his wings to take off. This memory doesn't even really feels like his own. It's more like a memory of a drunk person before they had a blackout. Suddenly, his eyes shot open and he meets Yamis blue eyes. They look so familiar that he finally knows that he hasn't just met her a short while ago.

"I know you!" he says surprised and his eyes widen. He feels a strong connection between the two of them that he cannot quite assign yet. He knows her from a long time ago but he can't remember where from. He lifts himself up in a sitting position and locks eyes with her. "I know you... but where from? Who are you really, Yami?" he asks her and tries to remember it. Yamis eyes have widened in shock as she fears the upcoming. Once again, she remembers her conversation with Meliodas she had earlier and all the things he said about the whole erasing memory thing. As she doesn't answer him, a sigh escapes Zeldris lips and he closes his eyes once again, trying to remember where he has seen this pair of blue eyes and her black hair for the first time.

the final day of the Holy War

They really walked right into a trap. He didn't trust the whole meeting with the Goddess clan in first place and when his father ordered him to stay behind, he knew that something was up. In the end, all he could do was to stay behind and watch his comrades getting attacked. Zeldris had watched angrily how many of the demon race got erased by the goddesses before they all split up shortly after Elizabeth had appeared to stop the fight but got attacked by her own race.

Zeldris was making his way through the nearby forest as his father had given him a new order, when a sudden sting in his heart and head were so strong, that he winced in pain and hit the ground roughly as he got unable to fly. The pain in his head intensified until he passed out from it.

When he woke up only a few minutes later, he couldn't remember why he was laying here and the last thing he could remember, was his fathers order that he still had to obey.

Zeldris opens his eyes and returns the shocked look that still comes from Yami. "When I woke up again, I couldn't remember you anymore..." he thinks loudly and looks deep into Yamis eyes. Tears form in his eyes as he remembers who Yami is. "I forgot about you! How could I forget about you?" he exclaims and his voices rises as he can't understand what had happened. After all, she's the girl he fell in love with and he just forgot about her.

But then, Zeldris sees how tears roll down Yamis face as she realizes that his memories have come back for good. He instantly feels the urge to protect her but he finally knows where this feeling comes from, so he pulls her straight into his arms and holds her close to comfort her. Her sobs are the only things that can be heard and Zeldris begins to rub her back until she calms down.

Yami looks up into Zeldris' dark eyes as her heart begins to race even faster. Her worries and fears fade more with every second that she looks into Zeldris' eyes. Zeldris pushes off his metal gloves and moves his right hand to her face and his bare skin touches her cheek softly. He begins to stroke it with his thump and Yami closes her eyes, trying to hold back the new wave of tears as she tries to enjoy the feeling of his skin on hers. When she opens her eyes again, they're filled with sadness. "I'm sorry Zeldris" she breathes out. "It's all my f-" she begins but gets cut off when Zeldris' lips are pressed against her own. Her eyes widen in surprise but his kiss is so gentle and when she closes her eyes to kiss him back, it's already over.

"I'm done seeing you cry" he says softly and continues to stroke her cheek with his thumb.

"I missed you so much" she whispers and new tears roll down her face but Zeldris whipes them away.

"What did I just say?" he says with a smirk and Yami laughs slightly.

"I'm sorry" she says and closes her eyes as she leans her face in Zeldris' hand. Zeldris looks at her with loving eyes and a small smile forms on his lips as he remembers the last time he has seen her 3.000 years ago.

3.000 years ago

"I don't trust this whole thing, Zeldris" she said and he could see a mix of worry, fear and disappointment in her eyes. She always was so easy to read. It's one of the reasons he abhored her so much in the beginning. She let her emotions controll herself and never even tried to hide her true feelings. Even if she never really told anyone but Meliodas how she really felt, he had always been able to read it in her eyes. When it came to her feelings, she was something like an open book to him. Whilst he thought about her like that, his eyes looked at her derogatory.

But actually, he was really happy that she had refused his offer because he didn't want her to join them anyway. She was safe as long as she stayed in the castle. The Holy War was in full swing and just like Yami, he didn't have a good feeling about the upcoming meeting with the goddesses and he would have never forgiven himself if Yami would have gotten hurt.

"Alright" he said as cold as always as he tried to keep his composure. The only reason he acted so cold hearted towards Yami was to protect her. She was never allowed to know how important she really was to him because it would only put her in danger. But Zeldris wasn't just scared to lose her in a fight. She had lost Meliodas already when he betrayed his own race and Zeldris didn't want her to lose another friend. Because even when they're friendship was so different from the one with Meliodas, he knew that she cared about him as well. Despite his enormous abilities, he was afraid that something would happen to him today that he could no longer take care of her.

Without another word, he turned around to leave her whilst his heart felt really heavy as he left her behind. But then he felt Yami grabbing his hand and when he turned around to look at her, he was already embraced in a tight hug. Sometimes he forgot about her strength and underestimated her development of the past 2.000 years. Yami burried her head into his chest and he could feel her hot breath against it. And even when it was difficult for him, because he was afraid he would never be able to let go of her again, he returned the hug. For just a brief moment, he closed his eyes and focused on the feeling of having her near him so that if anything happened to him, she would be the last thing that he remembered. He tried to put all of his love and care for her into the hug before letting go of her slowly.

He looked into Yamis beautiful blue eyes and he still believed they were the most beautiful pair of eyes he had ever seen. Those blue eyes were really rare and didn't even exist in the demons world but they fitted her perfectly. Her eyes were just as special as the rest of her. Tears began to form in his eyes as he realized how much he loved her and that he had never been able to tell her. "I know" she whispered and he looked at her in shock as his eyes began to widen slightly but he tried to keep his composure and not show her any further feelings. He wondered if she really knew that he had loved her for so long... If she really knew how he truly felt for her.

Yami opens her eyes again and locks them with Zeldris. She places her hand on his one, which is still resting on her cheek. She closes her eyes and wonders for how long she had tried to forget the feeling of Zeldris' near and ignore her feelings. And even though she had hoped that his memories will never return, she can't deny how good it feels to be so close to him. But the time has come for her to be honest to him. She covers his hand in her fingers and places it down.

"Zel... The reason you forgot about me... That's me. I asked Gowther to erase me from your memory."

"W-why would you do that?" he stutters.

Yamis POV

Zeldris looks at me with a sad expression on his face and it's the moment I have feared so much. It was hard enough to erase his memories because I knew it would hurt him if he ever finds out. But telling him the truth, eye to eye, is at least just as hard. I take a deep breath and tell him what I have done 3.000 years ago, without looking him in the eyes because I feel too bad about it.

"I'm sorry, Zeldris" I say once I'm done explaining. "I really thought we wouldn't see each other again and that it would be for the better."

Zeldris lifts up my head by putting his thump and index finger under my chin but I still look away in shame. "Now will you finally look me in the eyes?" he chuckles in a soft voice and I slowly do as told and see Zeldris smile at me. He then brings my face closer to his own and places another soft kiss on my lips, which I return instantly this time. "I love you, Yami" he says and all of my five hearts that are left, stop beating for a moment as I hear those words for the very first time. Those three words I wanted to hear for so many years.

"I love you too" I whisper. "But aren't you mad?"

"Right now, I'm more than happy to see you're still alive. I was afraid to never see you again when I left the castle." Zeldris lets go of my chin and places his hand in mine, intertwining our fingers and looks down at them with a smile. "It's been a while since I did that."

I tilt my head to the side as I try to understand what's going on. "I don't remember you being such a softie."

Zeldris laughs a soft laugh but doesn't look away from our hands. "There's a lot you don't know about me" he says with a quiet voice and I can't help but wonder what he means by that.

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