"I'll try to keep them away from you for a while but I don't know for how long I can do it" says Zeldris as we both stand on the roof of the Boar Hat, right next to the window of my room. He has to leave before the night is over and Meliodas or his friends will realize we had a special guest.

"Thank you, Zel." I walk some closer to him and wrap my arms around him to say goodbye. "Please be careful."

"You too" he whispers and gives me a little peck on the lips.

We let go of each other and Zeldris unfolds the wings on his back but then turns back around to look at me.

I look at him with a crooked smile. "This feels familiar" I refer to the day 3.000 years ago when we seperated for good.

"Not really" he says confident and pulls me close to him fitfully. He smiles at me and gives me another kiss before letting go of me again. "Mind if I come visit you tomorrow night again?"

"That's too dangerous, Zel!"

He just laughs softly. "I think I can handle my brother, if neccessary. We'll just keep quiet."

"You won't accept a 'no', right?"

"Absolutely not" he smirks and waves goodbye before finally taking off. I keep standing on the roof and watch him fly away before I head inside to rest a bit before the new day starts.

"Hey Ban, wake up!" I say to the Fox Sin the next morning and drop an apron on his lap. His pale blue hair is even more messy than usual and a hint of drool escapes the corner of his lips while he's still sleeping off his drunkenness.

"Hhmm... Why are you stressing me out?" he complains, his eyes fluttering open and waking up everyone else with his loud voice.

"You're the best cook in here and someone's gotta make breakfast" I say and place two cleaning buckets and swaps in front of the others. "And someone's gotta wipe the floor" I gesticure to the rest of the group and head to the kitchen to clean the empty mugs from last nights party. I haven't slept much but I feel better than the last days and even forget about the bad mood I was in last night.

Hawk joins me in the kitchen and Ban follows just seconds later and searches for suitable ingredients. "Why are you in such a hurry? It's not like there's any battle to fight right now" he asks me and yawns.

"Don't start to feel safe, Fox Sin Ban. This war is not over just yet."

"You're such an entertaining person" he says sarcastically and begins to cook.

"I'm sorry I'm less fun than Meliodas. Wait... I'm not. Someone's gotta be the grown up."

"That's way too much conversation for an early morning" is all he answers and lets out a yawn.

I chuckle but remain silent to give Ban the time to wake up fully whilst we do our things. I grab two tablets and place the clean mugs on them to carry them back out to the bar. But when I step outside the kitchen, I slip on the wet floor that Howzer and Gowther are cleaning. The tablets and mugs drop on the ground loudly but before I hit the ground as well, a pair of arms catch me and place me back on the feet.

"Well, well, well, always nice to have a beautiful woman in my arms. And I like when you need my help" Meliodas giggles and lets go of me, a playful smile on his lips.

"Always there for me, hm?" I smirk at my best friend and pick up what I have dropped. "Well, which of you two do I have to teach how to clean properly?" I ask the two men with swaps in their hands and see Howzer turning red instantly. "Oh Howzer..."

"Now, there's still no sign of any demons near the kingdom..." Meliodas thinks out loud whilst we all enjoy the breakfast Ban has made for us.

"That's kind of weird, isn't it?" asks Diane.

"Yeah..." says Meliodas and gets lost in his thoughts before he lifts up his head to look at me. "Yami, what do you think?"

I choke on my food in surprise and have to cough briefly. He doesn't suspect anything, does he? He can't know about Zeldris. He wouldn't be so calm if he'd know about Zeldris... "Me?" I breath out.

"Well, yeah... What do you think? You know them just as well."

I have to think of an excuse fast if I don't want Meliodas to find out what was going on last night. The longer I think about it, the more of the group look at me. I sigh and drop the fork and let my eyes wander along the big group. "Maybe they're planning something. They surely haven't given up but we should use the time whilst they're gone."

The sunny morning sky has turned into dark, heavy rain clouds over the course of the day. It's been raining for hours, which has made the work of digging the graves in Liones' cemetery difficult and there's no sign for it to stop anytime soon. But the bad weather fits to the mood of everyone. I took Zeldris' advice to heart and together with our friends and the rest of the Holy Knights we collected the deceased fighters from the city and the surrounding area in order to bury them.

Together with some of the Sins, I stay behind and watch as the others say their goodbyes. It hurts me to see how many of them have died and how many of my and Meliodas friends have lost their lifes.

Jericho stands by the grave of her brother and Ban stands next to her to comfort her. I haven't met Jericho before but it seems like she and Ban have some kind of connection. And even though he's not doing much, I can see how much stronger he makes her.

But what touches me the most are the group of Holy Knights, Howzer, Gilthunder, Dreyfus and Hendrickson that look at the graves of all the dead Holy Knights.

"The souls of the noble Holy Knights have found their final resting place here. Please pray for those who made the ultimate sacrifice by laying down their lives for the kingdom, for the people" says a priest.

"You died far too soon" says Howzer in sadness and then turns away his face to hide the pain.

I look at the others and see Jericho staring at her brother as she tries to stay strong. "I never even had a decent conversation with my brother" she says in sadness and begins to cry. Ban places his hand on her softly whilst the tears roll down her face. She leans against the Fox Sin and gives in to her emotions.

Dreyfus and Hendrickson stand together and look at the dead bodies in silence and even though I stand a few meters back, I can sense their tension and all the pain they are in. "That's all my fault..." I hear Dreyfus say and Hendrickson comfortingly places a hand on the shoulder of his friend.

"If there is one to blame, then the blame is on me" he says but Dreyfus shakes his head.

"My dear friend, the guilt is all on me" he says and I step in.

"Stop it. Neither of you is to blame. You didn't choose to get controlled and you had no controll over your actions. I know you both tried to fight against what was inside you. But to be fair, these demonic powers are very strong. Even for Holy Knights."

Dreyfus looks at me surprised but then nods thankfully. "Lady Yami, I see Hendrickson was right. You surely are a special lady. Thank you."

"Hendrickson said what?" I ask and tilt my head to the side in confusion before looking at Hendrickson, who now stands there ashamed. Hendrickson has been talking about me? I wonder what he has said...

"You know, he hasn't spoken so highly about anyone since he met Meliodas" continues Dreyfus and Hendrickson turns away from us.

"Everyone..." the King of Liones interrupts us. "...as king, I ask you to peacefully send off the souls of those who lost their lives."

It's late afternoon when everyone is on their way back to the Boar Hat. The rain still hasn't stopped and our clothes are all soaked. I don't know about the others but I'm beginning to get cold and we need to head inside before we all catch a cold. I let my eyes wander along the Seven Deadly Sins and wonder who of them could really get sick. Diane maybe. King? I'm not sure. Ban definitely not. Merlin could but she would heal herself before we even realize she had one.

I'm so much lost in my thoughts that I barely realize that Meliodas slows down until he walks right next to me. We both get some distance to the group in front of us.

The both of us remain silent for a couple of moments, still walking way behind everyone else until we both feel better just by being close to each other.

"So... You and Hendrickson? What's going on between the two of you?" my best friend asks me with a small smirk on his lips.

"Hendrickson and me? What are you talking about?"

"Now, even a blind man could see that there's something between the two of you." I raise an eyebrow at Meliodas, that walks next to me with his hands in his pockets. He looks back at me and shrugs his shoulders. "Well, what was that about earlier?"

"Hendrickson and I are nothing but friends, Meliodas. I'm just... I'm there for him. Because someone has to. He feels so guilty for what happened but you and I, we both know that even such strong Holy Knights like Hendrickson or Dreyfus can't stand a chance against a strong demon like Fraudrin. He needs to hear this. And he would've needed to hear it from you because you know him for so many years. He's not to blame and I don't want him to feel guilty. ... Also, he's way too old for me."

Meliodas laughs out loud. "Yami, you're over 5.000 years old. There's barely anyone who's older than you."

"You can't call a woman old!" I say in a faked shocked tone and touch the place where humans have their heart so it looks like his words have really hurt me.

"Stop crying, grandma" he teases me before his look becomes more serious. "Hendrickson is a good catch. I would support the two of you... Just so you know."

I flinch at his words. I appreciate his support and kindness but I can't believe that we're having this kind of conversation just sometime after we talked about Zeldris. "You know my heart belongs to someone else, Meliodas."

"Yes... I know..." he says empathically and looks at me lovingly. He begins to scratch the back of his head as he thinks about how to continue. "We still haven't talked about yesterday." Meliodas looks at me concerned and I can sense a hint of sadness in his eyes. I can see how much he cares and worries about me and this fact only warms my heart already.

"I know and we still won't."

"Why? Please don't push me away. I'm your best friend. You said we're a team, remember?"

I sigh and hate him a little for using my own words against me. Life was easier when Meliodas didn't know about my feelings for Zeldris and I wonder why I ever told him about it. "There's nothing to talk about, that's it."

"But you love him... And I thought-"

"Mel... Nothing that Elizabeth has told me was anything new. We knew Zeldris would try to attack and kill us from the very beginning, right? I was always very aware of the danger coming from him."

"Thinking about something and it actually happening are two different things."

He's right. I can't deny his words because he's right and all I'm telling him is what things should be like but I let my feelings fool me. I knew it wouldn't be easy to see Zeldris again after all those years but I never expected to meet up with him secretly or that his memories would return. I never expected things to turn out the way they did. But I believe that Meliodas wouldn't understand what I did. I don't understand them myself. And I always need to remember myself to focus on the right things to do.

"Don't worry about me, Meliodas. I promised to help you. And when we meet the Ten Commandments again, I will be right by your side to fight them. That means that I'll fight Zeldris as well if he's going to try to hurt any of you."

"I won't let you fight him" is all Meliodas says sternly. "I won't let you fight against the man you're in love with. Even when this man is Zeldris."

"Zel is not a bad guy, Melio. And I still won't let you fight your own brother."

"Well, I fear someone has to fight him."

Silence accompanies us for a moment whilst I think about everything that has happened recently. I move my head up to look at Meliodas and his green eyes meet mine immediately like he instantly felt that I want to ask him something serious. "Meliodas... We're just among ourselves. Please tell me, do you really think the other Sins have a chance against the demons and Commandments? They're really strong. But even the two of us barely stood a chance and lost some of our hearts. So... Do they have a chance? Do have a chance?"

Meliodas looks at me serious. "All I know is that they are our only chance."

A/N: Hey again! I don't know if you like what I'm writing about Yami (you) and Hendrickson. Truth is, I just really love Hendricksons character and wanted to involve him in the story some more than the other Holy Knights. He's supposed to play a special role and I just like what I came up with so far. I'd love to hear who your favorite Holy Knight is (and why), so I'd love to read it in the comments!

As always, feel free to comment any kind of feedback! And don't forget to vote if you liked this chapters! And tell your Zeldris-loving-friends about this story :)

-lots of love xx