Chapter Text
"So when you say She was your daughter..." Meliodas allowed his voice to trail off.
"I meant exactly what I said. Tiana was our daughter," Ban confirmed, "It's not the easiest thing to explain. Harlequin and I didn't always fight like this. There was a time when King trusted me if you can believe it."Ban sighed heavily.
'I was so in love with Harlequin, truth is, I still am and always will be," He continued, "We had something special. You remember that, don't you, Harlequin?" King glared silently at the man, tears streaming down his face as Diane attempted to comfort him.
"Go on," Meliodas pressed. Ban hesitated.
"It's hard to describe what it was. It's like holding Heaven in your arms. You're willing to die for them. If they told you to bring 'em the moon, damn it, you'd find a way. You know?" Meliodas nodded.
"Yeah," The blonde sin confirmed, " I know exactly what that feels like."
" I met King through Elaine. He didn't trust me at all. But I knew there was something about him. He was tough but had a gentle heart. He showed it a lot more back then. Didn't take me long to realize I wanted to know more about him. For the longest time, he wouldn't let me. I kept coming back and each time I did, he'd let me stay a little longer before kicking me out. Finally, three years after we met, I helped save one of his friends and I think that was our turning point. He invited me to stay that night. A few years later, we were happy and inseparable: Harlequin, Elaine, and me. My family, used to say I went there lookin' for a fountain and found my heart. Once in a while, the three of us would have little adventures, never far from the forest, but one day, King and I went for a walk, and I suggested we take the next step. He refused and explained to me that it was possible that if we did, well, you know how it goes,"
"How what goes?" Elizabeth questioned.
"Feel free to jump in here at any time, "Ban called to King.
"You dug your hole, Ban. You can get yourself out." King replied coldly.
"You know when you-I-We could end up with a kid." Ban struggled to finish the explanation.
"I've never heard of fairies having kids," The captain said, shaking his head at the thought.
"Obviously, We can." King sniffled. "Fairies are usually born from the plants in the forest. Fairies rarely fall in love and end up carrying a child, a. It's even more rare that we fall in love with humans. The ones that do, well, some of them leave the forest and we never see them again. Some remain in the forest, but the humans don't stick around. The fairies born from those unions are raised as any other fairy. They don't call their parent mom or dad, because we don't typically have them. All of us are involved in raising and teaching the younger ones. Carrying a child is really hard on our bodies Just because we can, it doesn't mean we should. Depending on who our mate was, there are...different factors in the process. We only ever chose to be with one person in that way. But it changes us. So we have to be absolutely sure before we make that decision."
"After he explained things to me, I waited a while and then asked him for our daughter. I promised him I'd be there and our kid would never have to go through the things I did. We talked about everything, he knew about my family and that I wanted so much more for Tiana." Ban added.
"And like the moron I am, I believed him. I believed him, and I agreed." King said incredulously. The process is painful for us, from the moment it starts, and it only gets worse. But I did it because I was blind, I loved him so much, I never thought he'd ever do what he did. I struggled for months with her. I couldn't eat, could hardly drink. I spent months away from the forest when I couldn't hide how bad it affected me. We don't announce to anyone when these things happen, all Elaine knew was that I wasn't myself. She tried to read me, but couldn't. Tiana was born three months too soon. We had four days with her. She took her last breath while I was holding her."King sobbed. It's my fault she's gone."
"That's not true. You did everything you could for her. I'm the one who let her down. If anything-" Ban began.
"You're damn right you did!" King cried. "She needed you. We made a promise to her."
"There's no excuse for what I did," Ban conceded. "I can't explain what was happening. We were losing her and you were so weak and you'd nearly died. I just shut down. None of it felt real to me, and I didn't know what to do."
"I'll tell you what you don't do, Ban. Walk away from your daughter when she's struggling to live. If it had just been me you left, maybe it would've been different. But Tiana deserved better. She-"
"You're right," Ban interrupted, "She did. Both of you did, I didn't feel like myself. I don't know any other way to describe it to you. I went back, but you weren't there. But don't you think for a second I didn't feel it. I was losing everything."Tears were flowing from the immortal man's eyes.
"I can't fix what I did. She was just as much a part of me as she was-"
"You sure as hell didn't act like it, did you?"King spat, anger took over as he glared at Ban.
"Never question the love I have for our daughter. I loved her as much as you did. I was the one that asked for her, that should tell you something. "I can't blame you for hating me. Hell, I hate me. I won't ask you to forgive me, Harlequin. But damn it, stop being so hard on yourself."
"It should have been me."King sobbed. "She should be here. I had my chance to live. I-Why wasn't it me?"
"Y-you're here because something out there knew I'd need you," Diane replied, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Y-you found me and took care of me and- I still need you."She kneeled on the floor, pulling him into her arms. "I'm so sorry." She whispered in the fairy's ear.
Meliodas remained silent, not sure of what to say. Elizabeth reached out, taking his hand. A look of deep sorrow in her eyes. The dragon sin gave the princess' hand a gentle squeeze.
"So that's the real reason you hate Ban?" the dragon sin asked.
"That's part of it, then there was Elaine. First, it was my daughter, then my little sister, I couldn't let him take anything else from me. If You wanted to kill me Ban, you should've just done it and gotten it over with." Ban sighed.
"You don't know what you think you do." the fox sin replied. "She saved me so I could watch over you. One of the last things she said to me was 'Take care of my brother, he needs you.' I've been trying, but you don't make it easy. You're not the only one who misses her and feels guilty." King stood up, leaving Diane's embrace.
"You got what you wanted, everyone knows, now just stay away from me." The fairy demanded, He opened the door and disappeared. Ban hurried after him.
"Didn't we just do this?" Ban yelled after the fairy, followed by a faint response from King that no one could make out as the door closed again.
"What are we gonna do, Captain?" Diane sobbed.
"Not much we can do. We've done enough I think, probably too much. I guess now we wait and see if those two can work it out."
"If they can't?"
"I don't know, Diane. We'll just have to wait and see."