Familiar Fire

Chapter Twenty

And it was true. When she woke up, she remained in Ban's arms. However, they were no longer in what used to be Escanor's tavern. Walls towered around them, almost giving the appearance of a maze. Before Aurora could speak, Ban noticed her confusion.

"We're at a fighting festival dropping off some alcohol, but I think we're a part of it now."

"But saying as I can sense two Ten Commandments, it's not going to be that easy." Aurora spoke nonchalantly, but her words startled Ban. Not for himself, but for the redhead in his arms that he had grown rather attached to. The girl raised a hand to his cheek and he leaned into it.

"We'll figure it out. I'm starting to feel better anyway." Of course, that was a lie, but she wanted him to stop worrying. However, he knew her too well. He grabbed her fidgeting hand before she even realized she was fidgeting.

"It's gotten worse, hasn't it." Aurora was about to lie, but Ban looked at her like he already knew the truth. He sighed and let out a sigh. She carefully reached down and raised her shirt to show him. She had already torn a few of the stitches and the area around the cut was pink, meaning it was most likely infected. It had resumed bleeding as well. He looked down at it then back up in worry. Aurora shook her head. She was immortal. This meant quite literally nothing to her. "What can I do?"

"Nothing. Actually, I am pretty hungry, do you think you would make something to eat?" Ban's eyes sparkled at the request. He placed her down and built a fire. When he wasn't looking, she put one of her blades in the fire. While he was trying to find food that he could cook, Aurora took the blade out of the fire and placed it on her wound. She hissed in pain, but the sound of her cooking flesh was louder.

"Seriously, Aurora?" Ban ran over, taking the blade out of her hand. "You're done with blades. You're just going to stab yourself again."

"Well it stopped bleeding."

"There had to be a better way to do that. One that didn't hurt as much."

"Oh come on, I barely felt it." Ban rolled his eyes at the girl and started cooking. "I guess this is sort of our first date." Ban laughed. They were doing things entirely out of order. They had already confessed their love for each other before going on a date.

"I guess it is. We have to make it special then." Once Ban was done cooking, he turned a tree stump into a table and placed the finished dish on top of it. "My lady." He said, offering her a hand up. She snickered and accepted it. Once she was up on her feet though, he quickly wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against the wall as they heard footsteps approaching.

"This is...earth-crawler meat...isn't it?"

"It looks like another clueless victim fell prey to its soul-crushingly awful taste." Aurora's eyes widened, hearing Meliodas speak.

"Let me say hi to him first cause you guys have to do your stupid reunion thing." She whispered slightly, her face mere inches away from Ban's.

"It's not stupid! It's heartfelt!"

"I get it, you have a not so secret bromance with the man that raised me. So let me say hi first." Ban rolled his eyes. "Are they...are they eating our food?" Ban placed a quick kiss on her lips before turning to walk over to the two boys, but Aurora grabbed him by the back of the shirt and tugged him back. "I'm saying hi first. I've known him longer and I thought he died." Ban sighed and nodded. Leaning back up against the wall. "Are you seriously eating someone else's food? Not cool, Mel." His green eyes widened in shock.

"Do you...Do you know who I am?"

"I'm not quite sure. I watched the Meliodas I knew get murdered." Without another word, the redhead ran to him wrapping her arms tightly around him, him doing the same. They held each other for a minute, both relieved to have the other again. "Oh! There's someone I think you might want to see." Once Ban started walking over, she stepped a safe distance away from the two, knowing what was about to occur.