A/N: Hey everyone! It's my birthday today and to celebrate it, here's another early chapter. It's something like a filler anyway that represents the history of Meliodas' and Yamis strong friendship. It's also supposed to explain what Meliodas really knows about Yami and Zeldris.

(Btw, I'm already writing on the final chapters... I'm so sad to end this journey sometime soon :( )

Have fun reading and don't forget to comment and vote if you like the chapter! -Xx

Chapter 28 - Best Friends

3.000 years ago

A strong pain ran through my body. Everything around me was black and I discerned nothing but the pain that was floading through my body. Where did it even come from? I tried to focus to find the source of my suffering but my whole body felt heavy and painful. But I had to find out what was wrong with me and where I was.

Suddenly, I felt something. A touch. Where did it come from? I felt it again and slowly realized that something or someone touched my head. I finally wanted to know what was going on and tried everything in me to finally regain control over my body.

My eyes fluttered open and I looked into beautiful green eyes and at messy blonde hair that surrounded the face of the person leaning above me. A hand caressed my forehead and hair. I let my eyes wander back to the green eyes that shined even brighter and looked like emeralds as they filled with tears that instantly began to run down the face.

"Hey... What's wrong?" I breathed out in a quiet voice. My throat felt like burning because it was dried out and I gulped from the pain.

But I didn't get an answer so all I could do was keep laying where I was and look into these green eyes as the person continued to cry. "I'm so happy you're here" is all the person said after what felt like minutes. Oh, Meliodas.... What has happened to you?

Trembling, I lifted up my arm that felt really heavy and moved my hand through his blond hair until I reached his ear and then let it slowly wander it along to his cheek, touching his face very softly. My fingers stopped for a moment as we just continued to look into each others eyes, before I let my hand continue wandering along the side of his face. With my thumb, I stopped his tears from running down. "Are you okay?"

Another time, I didn't get an answer. Instead, his tears became more and he began to sob. It was the only sound to be heard in the room. His tears dropped onto me and soakened my clothes but I didn't mind. I was in terrible pain but seeing my best friend in a state like that just broke my heart. I really wished I could take his pain.

His sobs became louder and suddenly, he wrapped his arms around my neck as good as possible, before he burried his head in my neck, crying into it. I winced in pain for a brief moment but then moved up my heavy arms to hug him.

"I'm sorry" he mumbled into my neck when he realized that I was still in pain but I didn't mind. I just held Meliodas close until he was done crying.

"I'll check up on your wounds" he said sometime later and moved away from me and I knew he was trying to stop his breakdown. I watched him walk away from where I laid and grab some stuff before he walked back to me. "Here" he said and held a glass of water in front of my face. He slowly moved it down to my mouth so I could take a few sips and I felt my throat to get better immadietely. He placed the glass aside and grabbed a clean linen sheet. "I need to check up on your head now so you need to sit up a bit, okay?"

"My head?" I asked but already did as I got told. I bent my arms and slowly pushed myself up with my elbows. I still didn't remember what was going on but I used this moment to take a look around my surroundings. Meliodas and I were in a small room with wooden walls and a wooden floor. I laid in a bed made of hay and there was just one single wooden chair that Meliodas sat on at that moment. There was also a table that had some bottles and different stuff on it that I wasn't willing to figure out right now. We even had a small fireplace that warmed up the room.

I looked back into Meliodas' eyes that were full of worries. "This might hurt some" he said softly and then fumbled around my head until I felt a strong pain at the back of my head before I saw an old linen that was soaked with blood. Meliodas wrapped the new linen sheet around my head.

"Meliodas, what happened?" I asked and let my left hand wander up to where the pain came from. I felt a strong pain when I touched the sheet. More carefully, I tried to feel through the sheet and it felt like there was a big hole in my head.

"Looks like someone knocked you down" said Meliodas and when I laid back down, he began to move his right hand through my hair. "I found you all bruised up. You were in a really bad state. I... I feared you were dead" he choked out in a broken voice and I saw new tears forming in the corner of his eyes.

"Don't cry" I whispered.

"When I checked up on you, you were still breathing. Very weakly, but you were alive." He quickly whiped away the new tears with his free hand and he forced to wave a small smile at me and I could see how relieved he really was that I was okay.

"It got me pretty bad, huh?" I joked to cheer up Meliodas.

"What are you even doing here? How did you get here?"

"I'm not even sure where's . Where are we?"

"We're in Britannia. In the humans world."

"Britannia?" I asked and Meliodas nodded and I finally began to remember. I knew that I was in the humans world but I didn't remember anything else until now. "I came here to help you" I said and looked at Meliodas worriedly. I hadn't been able to help him.

"How could you be so stupid? Why did you leave the castle? Have you lost your mind?"

"I love your kind words" I said sarcastically and hoped to cheer him up for good but he just sighed. He really wasn't in the mood for any kind of humor.

"I'm sorry, Yami. You don't know how happy I am that you're here with me."

My heart felt really heavy when I saw Meliodas in such a sad and bad state he was in right now. I moved to the side of my bed and patted on the empty space next to me. "Come here, you need some rest" I said but he shook his head.

"You need to rest, Yami. The bed is all yours."

"Not tonight" I said and smiled at him encouraging, patting once again on the empty space next to me and eventually, he gave in. He kicked off his shoes and then laid down next to me. Our arms laid right next to each other and I searched for his hand and squeezed it.

"I'm so happy I haven't lost you" said Meliodas relieved.

I didn't know what had happened to him but I felt how tense he was and that he was in pain. I squeezed his hand some more and Meliodas turned his face to look at me and I did the same. "I'll be always there for you."

Meliodas and I spent the next days in that small room since I still had to get better. My body was injured badly and I was in strong pain. But we spent the days to talk about all the things that had happened. I told him how some people attacked me instantly when I landed somewhere to search for him and that seemed to be all that had happened to me during the finale of the Holy War. Eventually, Meliodas told me what had happened to him and Elizabeth and that when he woke up, her dead body laid next to him. We didn't know about the curse that got laid upon the two of them back then. I finally understood why he was in such a bad state and broke down crying so many times. He told me that when he had finally burried Elizabeths body and went on a new journey, not knowing what kind of journey it would be, he found me, laying on the ground with dried blood all around me and barely breathing.

I couldn't imagine all the pain he must've had gone through. This really hard time brought us even closer than we were before.

♦♦♦

"There she comes" I heard Meliodas chuckle right before I ran around the corner and hopped into his arms, where he picked me up into instantly. I had stayed in Camelot for a couple of months already to train with Merlin, when she told me that Meliodas was coming to visit us.

Meliodas spun me around for three times before setting me back onto my feet.

In the late evening, Meliodas and I sat by the small pond in the kingdom. The sky was already dark and the stars shined brightly and reflected in the water. He told me about everything that I had missed and what he had experienced whilst I was here to train.

"How are you holding up?" I asked him sometime later, full of worry. By now, we already knew about the curse that laid upon him and Elizabeth and he had lost her several times already. I hadn't always been with him when this had happened but just knowing about it was almost unbearable.

Meliodas just shrugged. "I'm having the best times when you're with me."

"Really?" I smirked and Meliodas chuckled.

"How are you holding up? I heard that you and the king have become really close."

"You mean Arthur? He's a sweet boy."

"Sweet? As in sweet?" he smirked and chinked with his eyelashes and made big eyes.

I punched him in the arm playfully. "Stop that. We're not close like that. We're something like friends."

"Aww, stick-in-the-mud" he complained. "I was hoping for cute babies."

"Gross!" I exclaimed. I looked at the water in front of me and remembered the final day of the Holy War. If the Ten Commandments got sealed away, did that mean that Zeldris was still alive?

"You're still thinking about him, right?" asked me Meliodas in a quiet voice and he seemed just as lost in thoughts.

"Him?" I asked and tried to hide the surprise in my voice.

"The one you were in love with when you rejected me. Does he belong to the demon race?"

"Y-yes."

"You never told me who it was."

"Yeah..."

"Why?"

I thought about his question and what to answer. At first, I didn't know that I liked Zeldris. I thought the weird feeling I got whenever he was around me was because we didn't really get along and he scared me so much in the beginning. And when I realized that I was crushing on him, I didn't tell Meliodas because it just felt so weird. Zeldris wouldn't like me back so I saw no point in telling him. And when his younger brother and I got closer, Meliodas hadn't been there anymore.

"It never mattered" I said finally.

"So much time has passed. When he's still on your mind, then it does matter. And I can feel and see how you tense up whenever I mention him. Does that mean that I know him?"

I sighed and remained silent whilst I wondered what to do. In the end, it was the way we could talk to each other and how easily Meliodas could read my mind and how we understood each other, sometimes without words, that made me open up to him. We shared a special bond and he was the bestest friend I could ever wish for. "No judging?" I asked.

"No judging" he said consensual.

"It's Zeldris."

I heard a slight snort from my friend as he laughed. "Good one. Now, who's it really?"

"I thought no judging" I complained and exhaled through my nose. I wasn't ashamed of my feelings for Zeldris but I didn't knew how else to tell Meliodas that I was being serious.

Meliodas looked at me in surprise. "You were being honest? Zeldris, really? ...How? I mean.... I'm not judging you but Zeldris?"

"Man... Was I just as supportive with you when I found out about you and Elizabeth?" I said sarcastically and Meliodas chuckled. He placed his hand on mine and I looked up at him.

"I can't explain it either, Melio" I said desperate but to my surprise, Meliodas smiled at me and then put his arm around me to pull me close to his body.

"When Zeldris is the one you're in love with, then so be it. If you prefer the grumpy type of guy, then so it be."

I chuckled and nudged him in the side. "I hate you sometimes."

"That's what best friends are here for, right?"