Hi, if you don't mind, could you do #2 with ten commandments meliodas and goddess elizabeth.

Here you are, I hope you like it!

Response to the prompt challenge I have listed here.

There was a noise, and Elizabeth was instantly awake. She did not open her eyes, instead honing in on whatever it was that was inside her tent, lurking, slinking slowly towards her. Every instinct was on alert, every sense attuned to the intruder. There were many things she had learned since leaving her position as princess, and defending herself from an attacker was one of the firsts.

It was just steps away now, and Elizabeth moved. At once her eyes were open and she sprang from the mattress, diving towards the figure she could just make out in the darkness. There was an “oof” as they connected, and Elizabeth used all of her strength to roll until her knees were planted into its hips and her hands around its neck. “Got ya!” she hissed.

“Elizabeth, it’s me.”

The choking voice jolted her from her anger, and the goddess quickly let go and moved off of the demon. “Meliodas! I’m so sorry! I didn’t know it was—” Then she narrowed her eyes, sliding backwards. “What are you doing here? It’s the middle of the night.”

“I know that. But I needed to—damn, did you have to choke me?” He cleared his throat for several moments, and she peered through the dark to see him rubbing his neck. “Is that something I showed you?”

“No,” she hissed. “Now tell me what you’re doing here.”

His hand slid on her arm, and Elizabeth jerked back. “What’s wrong?” Meliodas whispered.

“You’re in my tent, in the middle of the night,” she whispered back. “You snuck in, and I still haven’t heard why.”

“Is there a light in here? Maybe that will help.”

She heard him stand up, and she did as well; but as Elizabeth was about to tell him where to find the lamp, she realized she was only wearing a dressing gown, and if he lit it then he would see more than she wanted him to see. “No! Keep it dark!” she squeaked, seeing him stop his search as her eyes adjusted.

“What’s wrong now?”

“I just don’t want the light on.”

“Why?”

“I just don’t!”

Meliodas snorted. “You know I can see fine in the dark.”

Elizabeth yelped and dove for her mattress, pulling the blanket up to cover herself. “You’re such a pervert!” she snapped. “Now tell me what you want and get out!”

“Hey,” he answered, “we’re supposed to be partners here.” There was a dip on the mattress as he sat, and Elizabeth swallowed nervously. It was true, Meliodas had become their newest ally, and an unexpected one at that: the eldest son of the Demon King himself, heir to the throne, had for some reason decided to defect to their side. Many still did not trust him, Elizabeth included. But he had given them accurate information about the plans of the demon clan and assisted in fighting in their last two major battles, so he had begun to win over the respect of some of the others, including Gloxinia and Dolor.

But Elizabeth was still suspicious.

“Partners, yes,” she replied. “But partners don’t crawl into each other’s tents while they sleep and scare them half to death.”

“Oh, did I scare you?” That mocking tone of his grated against her nerves, and she grit her teeth. “Sorry about that, princess.”

“What are you even doing here?” she demanded, trying to refocus the conversation. Meliodas loved to tease her, sending jokes at her expense flying every time they were in the same room together. One of the goddesses had made a remark about little boys pulling on little girls’ pigtails, but Elizabeth had dismissed that as ridiculous. “Aren’t you supposed to be in the demon realm, doing whatever it is you do there?”

“I left.”

Elizabeth shook her head, blinking rapidly. “You what?”

“I left. I’m done with them.”

She laughed then, bowing her head. “Very funny. For a moment there, you really had me.”

He did not respond, so eventually her laughter died away, and all that remained was a heavy silence in the tent. Elizabeth stared at his silhouette, which had not moved an inch since her laughter had begun. “Meliodas,” she whispered, “did you—what have you done?”

“I left them, Elizabeth,” he replied. His words were quiet, devoid of his usual joking, each one piercing her chest. “I had to. He knows.”

He knows. The reality of that was the final knife, and Elizabeth gasped. The Demon King now knew what Meliodas had been doing, and his life was in danger. “You need to go,” she whispered, reaching out to grab his arm. No longer caring about her dressing gown or his teasing jokes or how he had scared her half to death, she pressed on him, quickly scrambling to her feet. “You need to go somewhere safe, before he comes to find you. We can’t let him find you, we can’t—”

“Elizabeth, it’s okay.” She froze and turned around. He was holding her hand, keeping her from moving any further, and the goddess shook her head. “Meliodas, you’re in danger,” she insisted. “Where do you think he’ll look first?”

She felt more than heard him take a sharp intake of breath. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have come here. I’ve put you all in danger.”

He stood then, and Elizabeth hurried to stop him before he reached the flap that led outside. “No! Wait!” The goddess jumped in front of him, her wings flying outwards, and Meliodas came to a stop. “That’s not what I meant. We can handle them, you know we can, but Meliodas, why…” Her mind spun and her heart pounded. “If they find you…”

A tear hovered in the corner of her eye, but when he simply shrugged again, she huffed at him in exasperation. “If they find you, you’ll be done for,” she said slowly. “Even you can’t stand up to all of them. Not all at once. Didn’t you say before—if the Demon King found out, it would be…”

She couldn’t bring herself to say it, but she didn’t have to. “A fate worse than death,” he murmured.

Elizabeth nodded. “A fate worse than death.”

“Yeah, well. I was just being dramatic.” He tilted his head and joked, “I mean, what fate could be worse than death?”

“Meliodas.” She stepped towards him, reaching out, and her fingers grazed his cheek. “Why would you do this? You could have—you could have gone to him. Given our secrets to them, to save yourself. In fact…” What was she doing? Encouraging Meliodas to betray them to the enemy? But the thought of him dying, bloody, broken, it was too much. “In fact, there is still time. You can go back, and I—I won’t tell anyone—”

He caught her hand and held it firmly. “Elizabeth, listen to yourself. I wouldn’t ever do that. I would never betray you.” The tear that had been perched so precariously fell then, and Meliodas sighed. “I love you too much.”

“You what?” Her voice was flat, her eyes grew wide. “What?” She felt the demon take a deep breath, but she interrupted, “Wait, wait a second.”

With a flick of her wrist the two lamps inside the tent were lit, and Meliodas stood before her, blinking rapidly in the sudden light. He was dressed in plain clothes, nothing at all with him, not the armor of the demon clan, or his signature cloak, or even a weapon on his hip. His blonde hair was as wild as always, but his face… Elizabeth stared, unbelieving.

The black mark of his clan that had covered his forehead and the right side of his face was gone. It had been fading, little by little, as the days went on, as they worked together and fought together and fought each other over working together. It had been fading and fading until it was just a little stain, a line of black ink that stood on his brow like a scar. But now… it was gone.

He smiled at her, a smile that was free of any scorn. His cheeks were a bit ruddy, which could be from the cold, she was sure was from the cold, it couldn’t be that he was blushing. And his eyes… clear of darkness, green as clover, sparkling like the emeralds in the scepter of the queen.

“I would never betray you, Elizabeth,” he said. “I couldn’t, because I’m so in love with you.”

Her heart was beating so fast, it was if he had stolen the breath right from her lungs. “You love me?”

Meliodas nodded. “I know it’s not—ideal. But I can’t help it. Ever since that day we met, I just… I can’t explain it. All I know is every time I look at you, I feel like… like I can’t help it. I just love you.”

Elizabeth gasped a breath, and then her arms were around him, pulling him tightly. Never in her wildest dreams would she have imagined Meliodas saying such a thing—but she had, hadn’t she? Deep down, all this time as she had watched him, worked with him, she had seen a new person emerge, one that she cared for, one that now confessed he cared for her in turn. “You’re not leaving,” she whispered to him fiercely.

His arms went around her back and he held her just as tightly. “Okay.”

“You’re staying with me. We’re staying together.”

“Okay.”

“Because I love you too.”

She felt his fingers squeeze a bit and smiled. “I hoped you would.”

“We will figure this out. I will keep you safe, I swear it.”

Elizabeth pressed her forehead on his shoulder, and they stood just like that for several long moments, enjoying this first time of just holding each other. Once her pulse began to slow to a more reasonable pace, and her heart stopped pounding in her ears, she felt her face growing warm. “I’m still in my nightgown,” she whispered.

“Yes you are,” he laughed, not for the first time, and certainly not for the last.