Stolen Petals

"Coming down, Meliodas! Just give me a sec!"

Sakura stood up and tapped her boots to make sure that it was securely on. She gave one last look at the window before she let out a sigh, grabbing her umbrella, Sakura made her way out of the room.

…

When she arrived to the bar she saw Ban sitting there. His back faced to her with a blank look on his face. She wanted to sit next to him and tell him to stop looking so down, but she knew she couldn't do that anymore. Not after what she had said to him all those years ago.

It didn't take long for him to see her from the corner of his eye and sneer at her, "You know, no one really wants you here."

"Speak for yourself, Ban. I really enjoy having Sakura back after all these years." Diane glared at Ban before she sent a smile over to Sakura.

"Thank you, Diane. It really is nice to see you again too." Sakura completely ignored Ban and went over to where the princess sat with Hawk.

"You two shouldn't fight like kids, after all you guys you use to be so close." Meliodas announced as he came out from behind the counter.

"Use to be, Captain. Besides that was a long time ago." Ban corrected his captain with a bitter look on his face.

"A very long time ago, so long that it doesn't need to be brought up anymore." Sakura raised a brow at Meliodas who just sent her a grin.

"What are you talking about? You guys were basically dating back then, after all you guys did use to fool around a lot!" Meliodas laughed out loud as Sakura and Ban turned to look at the shorter boy with a glare so intense.

"When we say shut up, that means shut up!" Ban and Sakura yelled out, both throwing the disgusting food before them. Both plates smashing into his face causing him to fall back.

Ban and Sakura turned their head to look at both of each other with their glares now directed at each others, "Don't copy me!"

"You copied me!"

"No you!"

Elizabeth, Diane and Hawk could see the sparks between them. Their eyes both staring intensely at each other.

"What does he mean by 'fooling around'. Sakura? Ban?" Elizabeth tilted her head in question. Both Ban and Sakura turned their head towards Elizabeth, not knowing what to say to her question.

"We would make jokes together, that's all." Ban answered nervously. Sakura on the other hand couldn't help but laugh out at how he explained 'fooling around' to the young princess of the royal family.

"What Ban means is that we were once lovers, but like we said that was a long time ago." Sakura softly laughed out.

The princess nodded her head in understanding before realizing what that meant, "Oh...OH!" She gasped out before she looked at Sakura and then to Ban and back to Sakura again, "I'm so sorry I asked! I didn't mean to be rude at all, Lady Sakura! I just-!"

"Don't worry, Princess. It was nearly a decade ago, we're over it at this point. Right Ban?" Sakura looked over at Ban, who nodded his head in hesitation.

After the little incident with their past and all, Ban had left and decided to take a short rest on the steps of the tavern. Being with Sakura had brought up some memories that he didn't really like to think about even if they were the only memories he had seen in his head for the last 5 years. After he had been imprisoned, she was all he had thought of along with Elaine.

No matter how he felt for Elaine, he couldn't deny that what he did with Sakura was wrong. He knew he was in love with Elaine, she knew too but that didn't mean that would stop her from loving him. He had used her and abused her without evening knowing it. Every time they had spoken about Elaine, she had been hurting but he ignored it all, how she hadn't lashed out before was beyond him. After all what sane woman would happily listen to their lover talk about their ex lover, no matter how understanding they were.

'But that doesn't give her the right to slander Elaine like that! She doesn't even know her!...But from the amount of times I've talked about Elaine to Sakura, she might as well have known her just as I did…'

Ban huffed out a sigh as he opened his eyes to look at the grey clouds, a frown formed on his face, "It's going to rain soon."

Ban turned his head to the side to see Sakura sitting on the steps beside him, "I hope it won't stop us from getting to King."

"Yeah, well I wouldn't get so upset about it, after all it's just King. Besides for all we know he might actually be dead." Ban closed his eyes again. The Sakura that sat next to him was not the same Sakura that used to lay next to him all those years ago.

Her hair was now longer, reaching her hips and not her neck. Her body was relatively the same but looked even more slim and toned than before. Her eyes looked more tired and not nearly as alive as before. But everything else was the same. No scars were visible on her body nor any injuries, and that swirl from that night so long ago was gone. The swirl that was on Meliodas's forehead as well.

Sakura looked down at the pale blue haired man beside her, "We can be grown up this, right Ban?"

He opened his eyes to look directly into her orbs, "About what?"

"About that night 10 years ago, when I..when I had said all those awful things about…"

"I don't blame you, Sakura, but I don't forgive you either. You had no right to say what you said but I also know that what I did to you was terrible and I'm sorry for that but-"

Sakura cut him off before he could finish his last sentence, "But you don't love me. Ban, I realized that a long time ago and I don't expect you to love me back either. If you want me to be honest, I wouldn't love me either after what I did to you, but that doesn't mean I forgive you either. I loved you more than anything or anyone else, but yet you called me a mistake when I said that. Those aren't easy words to forget, Ban."

Sakura stood up without looking back at the man she once loved, or so she told herself, "Now, I hope we can at least be friends again. After all we were best friends before we became lovers." She sent him a real smile before she looked back forward and walked over the edge of Hawk's mother. Her person disappearing from sight causing Ban's eyes to widen and hurriedly rush up and over to the edge to see that she was gone. He turned his head to see that she was already walking away and towards a run down village.

"Wait-!"

"Hey! Look's like Sakura's already getting a head start!' Meliodas laughed out as he slid down the green pigs back followed by Hawk and Elizabeth leaving Ban by himself on the back of the pig.

…

"This is the Necropolis?" Diane looked around and saw ruins of buildings and dead land.

"How did a run down place like this get a name like that?" Hawk questioned.

The group looked around the dead, rundown village. There looked to be no living soul anywhere near the place.

"Who knows, maybe something happened long ago." Sakura answered the pig as she looked all around, seeing no one around gave her a weird feeling.

"Maybe there was a huge massacre here where the dead come out at night." Ban laughed at how Hawk and the princess shrieked when Meliodas came out from behind them and scarred them.

"Well whatever the case, Elizabeth come back to the tavern with me. It's time to set up for tonight." Meliodas smiled over the the princess who eagerly nodded her head.

"What about me, Captain?" Diane cutely asked the much smaller man.

He's shot a smile at her, "You can be our build board girl, Diane. Bring in as much customers as you can!"

"Right on it, Captain, and afterwards we can go have a fun time!"

Melissa's laugher at the giantess's suggestion, taking her somewhat serious plans with a light heart.

Soon after, Meliodas, Elizabeth and Diane along with Hawk left back to the tavern leaving Ban and Sakura to their own plans.

No words were exchanged clearly when the two past lovers went different directions. Both mumbled incoherent words before going in whatever way.

Sakura has headed towards the hills to see the dead village from above. By the time she had gotten there she could no longer even see the sun. The grey clouds had covered most of it only allowing small rays to seep through.

As she reached the top of the hill that overlooked the small village known to hold the Necropolis, all she could see was dead, dead and even more dead. There was no one anywhere in the village. Most of the buildings were broken and had missing roofs or walls.

Her jade eyes scanned over to a certain area to see a floating boy on a staff fighting Ban and behind them where two small bodies stood in fright.

Sakura made no movement to stop the fight but instead she kept watching on, trying to see where this fight would go. There would be no use in her jumping in to help Ban, after all he couldn't physically be killed by a mere staff. The closer she looked at the staff the more a figure began to flood in her mind, just who on earth had a staff like that. It had to be someone she knew or else it wouldn't had been bugging her.

But it didn't help her seeing as the boy who owned the staff had his back to her.

"That hair… No, it couldn't be- but it could...there's no way. King couldn't have turned into a kid after looking like a grown man...but King IS a fairy and that is Chastiefol in his hand… Haha no way that's King!"

Sakura began to laugh out at the thought of that being King. No way in hell was she going to believe that the small floating child with Chastiefol was King. Even if it had been 10 years, there was no way in all hell, heaven and earth that King could get that small. Though she couldn't deny that Chastiefol was definitely in the person's hand and the only person who could truly wield it's power was King himself.

"Things just don't get easier for us do they?" Sakura spoke aloud to the nature around her. Kicking up her umbrella and placing it on her shoulder she headed back down to the village to see if she could find the Necropolis; her interest in Ban and the floating boy had died.