So, I decided to keep this fic on this site after all...and WHOO it's done! Enjoy folks

"This really isn't safe Helbram." King commented as he was led blindly through the forest.

"Don't be such a stick in the mud, Harlequin! Besides, I've only flown you into one tree!"

"That's one tree too many." He muttered, and Helbram pressed a finger firmly to his lips. King first tried to bite him, but he only ended up sort of grazing his finger with his teeth, so he gave up and kissed it. "Are we almost there yet?" He asked through Helbram's finger.

"Just a minute~!" Helbram sang.

True to his word, he slowed to a stop only a few moments later. "Can I open my eyes now?"

"Sure." Something in Helbram's tone made King slightly concerned what he was up to. He opened his eyes to find himself floating above a large, calm, pond that glimmered in the moonlight. At least, that's what he saw for a few moments before he was quickly pushed into the black water.

He gasped at the wrong time and water flooded into his mouth. As suddenly as before, a hand curled firmly around his arm and pulled the disoriented Fairy King to the surface. King came up sputtering and coughing, but he could still hear Helbram's laughing. He scowled at him. "So this big surprise was a drowning attempt?"

Helbram's green eyes were twinkling from a mixture of the moonlight and amusement, "swim with me!" He looked so thrilled that King couldn't even imagine saying no. Not to that face.

"All right, fine." He sent up Chastiefol in its Luminosity form so they could explore the pond for a few minutes, King levitating in the water more than treading. It was rather peaceful for a little while, but he should've expected that Helbram would eventually splash him. King found he wasn't even mad; instead a playful smile tugged at his lips. "Now that you've started this…" King lifted one finger and a ball of water shot back at Helbram. "You better hope you can swim faster than me!"

The other fairy grinned and dashed away through the water, his wings pressed close to his back so that they stayed mostly dry. Helbram was one of the few fairies who never seemed to mind getting his wings wet anyway. "Is that a challenge, Fairy King?" Even as he swam away on his back, kicking as much water as he could at King, he was still surprisingly fast.

King dove under the water and formed a small bubble of air around his head. His goal was to surprise Helbram, and he knew he'd have to move quickly or the other fairy would start to get concerned. But where was he in this dark water? Focusing on where he'd seen him last, King swam as rapidly as possible. It didn't take him long to find him, but he was nearly kicked in the face by the treading fairy's feet. That would work. He grabbed the foot in front him, pulling Helbram down under the water. It took a minute as he fumbled around in the dark, but he eventually located Helbram's head, his face, and then his lips, and King cupped his face with his hands as he leaned in and kissed him.

Though King had extended the air bubble around both of them, Helbram eventually pulled them both back up to the surface. "So what do I get now that I won?" King said with a grin.

But Helbram rigidly turned away, clearly no longer paying attention. "Do you hear that, Harlequin?" King frowned. He'd been enjoying where this conversation was going. "Someone's coming." Helbram whispered.

Listening carefully, King realized he heard voices now as well, ones he instantly recognized before they gave their identities away instantly.

"Don't worry Elizabeth! If there are any monsters in these woods I'll be sure to pork chop 'em!"

"Thank you Hawk! But let's hope we don't run into anything at all!"

"Helbram, it's fine. It's just-" King's words turned into a squeak when Helbram clamped a hand around his mouth and pulled him close to his chest. Honestly, was that really necessary? He was glad Helbram wasn't as naïve as he had been hundreds of years ago, but he could be incredibly paranoid some times. It seemed impossible anything could set him even more on edge, but recent worries about being discovered by the Sins certainly didn't help. King supposed he was to blame for that.

But Elizabeth and Hawk weren't people he should be scared of, and King decided to show that to him. "It's okay, Helbram, I know them."

Shrugging off Helbram's arms, he rose up out of the water to meet his friends. Elizabeth and Hawk came out of the trees at that exact moment, and when they saw the figures in the pond, they both began screaming. The noise startled King, and he began shouting as well.

"W-wait! Sir King, is that you?"

King tried to compose himself and act as if he had never been screaming. "Yes, Princess. I'm sorry if I scared you."

"More like she scared you!" Hawk shouted, and Helbram started laughing.

Elizabeth tilted her head in confusion. "Who is that? Is someone with you?" The pair glanced at each other, and then both began to fly over to the princess and the pig. "Oh! A fairy!"

Helbram respectfully lowered himself to one knee, head bowed. "Hello, Princess. I'm Helbram."

"It's nice to meet you, Helbram, but you don't have to be so formal!" Helbram smiled and quickly jumped out of his bow. Elizabeth stared at him for a moment, taking in his hair, his eyes, the way he held himself. "This may sound strange, but you are Sir Helbram, aren't you? You are the same person as that Holy Knight."

Helbram twitched noticably. "I was a Holy Knight. I'm not part of that crowd anymore." King flew closer to Helbram and grabbed his hand, rubbing a finger over his knuckles in what he hoped was a comforting gesture.

"And you two are…friends?" She asked with a strange smile.

King smiled shyly. "We're a little more than that."

Elizabeth's eyes widened. "Sir King, that's wonderful! I'm so happy for the both of you! Will you come back with us to the Boar Hat, Sir Helbram? I was just gathering some water to make everyone a cup of tea."

Helbram smiled at the idea, but then he saw King's face and the smile faded. "Maybe some other time."

"Oh…all right then." Elizabeth gave King a questioning look.

"Princess, I…I haven't told Diane yet. I've been afraid to. I don't think she'd take it well, you know?"

Elizabeth had that strange look on her face again. "No, I don't think she would. Is that why you've never told us about Sir Helbram before?" King nodded. "Hm…Sir King, what if I helped you? Would you be willing to tell her then?"

"How?"

"What if I try to bring up the topic to Diane slowly and see how she reacts? I can come find you later and tell you how she'd take it, and then you can tell her the rest!"

That could work. King glanced at Helbram, who shrugged. "You should go with them, Harlequin. You can follow them and then see her reaction firsthand." King smiled at him. He knew Helbram felt uncomfortable whenever Diane was concerned, so he was glad he was being so supportive about this…although, it was also quite possible Helbram was just getting fed up with their secrecy and wanted to get this over with. Either way, it was a good idea. He turned back to Elizabeth and began discussing the details of the plan.

"Thanks for coming along to gather fruit with me, Diane!"

"No problem! It's always nice to get some girl time!"

Elizabeth agreed with a beam and they continued walking through the forest. King followed quietly in the bushes, waiting for the moment when Elizabeth finally asked, "Diane? How would you feel if one of the Sins were in a relationship with someone?"

Diane paused mid-stride and turned to look Elizabeth up and down. "So…you and the Captain…"

The Princess's face turned scarlet, and she shook her head vehemently. "oh, no, it has nothing to do with me!"

Now the giantess balled her fists. "Then he's cheating on both of us?!"

"That's not it either, Diane! It's King I'm talking about!"

At first, Diane's face was completely blank, and the lack of reaction concerned him. After a moment, her eyes widened in shock briefly before she faked a smile, but King had known her long enough to understand she was trying not to cry. This wasn't the response he had expected at all. "King is dating someone?"

Elizabeth nodded, her face still red from Diane's early comment.

"Do you know who this person is?" She finally asked.

But King didn't hear Elizabeth's answer as he suddenly became aware of a presence behind him. "Helbram?!" he hissed, "You're not supposed to be here!"

Helbram gave him a half-smile. "This is really important to you, right? I wanted to be here with you in case things didn't turn out the way you wanted. Also…" He put his arms behind his head casually. "I was curious how long it'd take you to notice I was following you."

King sighed, knowing full well there was nothing he could do about Helbram being here now, but hopefully they'd stay quiet and Diane wouldn't-

"Hey, Elizabeth, did you hear that?"

"N-no, I didn't hear anything, it's probably just a rabbit, or something we should leave alone, don't you think?"

Helbram stifled a laugh. "She's as bad at lying as you are!"

Diane kept glancing back and forth between the Princess and the bushes, and it appeared she was staring straight at them. "Let me make sure it's not one of those…what did King call those mushrooms?"

"Chicken mangoes?" Elizabeth suggested.

"Matango." King automatically corrected under his breath.

Diane continued, "It's better to look for it now to make sure it doesn't sneak up on us."

King gritted his teeth. What would be the best option right now? They could try to disappear further in the forest. They could just pop out of the bushes and tell Diane the truth. He could also come up with some lie, but that would seem fishy considering the conversation the two girls had just had, and he really couldn't come up with any explanation for Helbram, who Diane would surely recognize…

"Wait, Diane!" Elizabeth shouted.

Yes, disappearing into the woods seemed like the best option, but why was Helbram shaking his shoulder right now?

"King?" The fairy's mouth dropped open at the sight of Diane staring down at him as she knelt in front of the bushes. "What are you…?" Her eyes drifted over to Helbram, and after a tense seconds, they narrowed. "You…I know you."

"Do you?" Helbram said dryly.

"You're that Holy Knight who attacked the Capitol. The one who hurt all those innocent people just to make us look like the bad guys."

Helbram averted his gaze and started picking at his ear. "Rings a bell."

King watched as Diane's arm pulled back for a punch, and he finally gathered his thoughts enough to try to stop her. "Wait!" He said flying in front of Helbram, "Don't hurt him!"

"Why not, King!? He tried to kill you! He tried to kill me!"

"I know that. But he isn't that same person anymore! He would never do something like that now!"

Diane looked back and forth between King and Helbram with a strange look on her face. "Why are you defending…?" She eventually glanced over at Elizabeth, who nodded. "No. Don't tell me."

Suddenly, King felt arms pull him close from behind, and Helbram's head rested on his shoulder to look at Diane. King could only imagine the smug expression on his face as he answered simply. "Yup. He's mine." Though King felt his face growing hot at his words, Helbram soon started running his fingers through his hair, and King leaned into his hand instinctively.

King watched Diane's face carefully. He couldn't read her expression.

She rose to her feet slowly. "I don't know what you did to King…"

"Diane?" Elizabeth called. "What are you doing?"

"But you better let him go right now!" She suddenly reached around King, plucked up Helbram, and tossed him forcefully into the ground.

"Diane, no!" Elizabeth shouted.

"Stop!" King yelled at the same time.

"You guys stay out of this!"

Helbram gathered himself to his feet and rose into the air, shaking the dirt out of his hair. "Do you really want to do this?"

"King isn't yours, you cocky jerk!"

The green-haired fairy sighed, though a smirk played on his lips. It had been a while since he'd been in any sort of fight. "Have it your way." He closed his eyes, and six roots of the Sacred Tree sprung in a circle around him, writhing furiously.

Neither of them had their weapons, but they could both still do a significant amount of damage. King watched them in horror, knowing he should do something, stop one of them, either of them, but he wasn't sure who to start with, or who would be less angry with him later for not stopping the other, and he was still recovering from the fact this was truly happening, and-

"Double Hammer!" Diane screamed, and two stones sprung from the ground and rushed towards the fairy, who raised his arms as the roots reared up and raced towards Diane.

"FULL COUNTER!"

The roots and the stones broke apart and disappeared as Diane and Helbram were both flung in different directions, and King had the sense to send Chastiefol for Diane to land on as he caught Helbram in his arms.

"Sir Meliodas!" Elizabeth cried happily. King was glad too, though he was annoyed he hadn't had the power or the decisiveness to stop them himself.

He looked over Helbram to make sure he was all right, then he let him go and flew over to Diane, who was clearly still seething. He tried to ask if her she was okay, but she wouldn't answer him. Wouldn't even look at him.

"Why did you get in the way, Captain?!"

Meliodas smiled casually. "You got way too ahead of yourself, Diane. Shouldn't we at least give the guy a chance to explain himself before we attack him?"

Diane opened her mouth to respond, then closed it quickly. She crossed her arms and flopped down on the ground and looked away from all of them in a huff- but not before sticking her tongue out at Helbram, who waggled his fingers at her.

King looked back and forth between them nervously as Meliodas remained silent. "I suppose you want a thank you or something?" Helbram asked.

"That'd be nice." Meliodas smiled, "but how about I ask you the questions I should have when we met with Ban, okay?"

Helbram nodded, landing on the ground next to King.

"You've been following the Boar Hat for a while. Why?"

Helbram jabbed his thumb into King's side, and King squeaked. He probably should have expected that. "For him. He's hopeless without me."

"When you killed all those people as a Holy Knight, you were under Hendrickson's control, right?"

Every part of Helbram bristled, but he nodded. "That's right."

"And you're not under anyone's control now?"

"No." Helbram said firmly. "I'm not."

"Feel like attacking people again?"

"Not unless provoked." He said with a glance at Diane, who scowled back at him.

Meliodas paused and nodded slowly. Then he grinned. "Awesome!"

King stared at him in shock. "That's it?"

"That's it! You pass."

"What? Captain? Don't you think he's suspicious at all? Don't you have any more questions for him?!"

"Not really. Oh!" Diane looked at the Captain expectantly. "I guess if you're going to be sticking around, maybe you can help us out in the Boar Hat or even in a fight sometime. We could always use more help with the Commandments free."

Helbram looked surprised, but his face soon became one of delight. "Yeah! Sure!"

Diane stood up with a glare for everyone. "I don't want any part of this. I don't want him around, ever." She stomped off into the woods.

"Diane! Wait!" King shouted, but Helbram grabbed his arm before he could fly after her.

Elizabeth gave him a reassuring look. "It's okay, I'll talk to her and see if I can make her a little more open to the idea." She ran after her friend.

Helbram's hand traveled down his arm until they were hand-in-hand. His smile was tinged with a bit of sadness. "Don't worry, Harlequin, I'm sure the Princess will win her over. And even if she can't, I'll try to do it myself. I'm sure we'll get used to each other."

King flashed him a grateful look. "Yeah. Everyone warms up to you eventually."

"Oh? Are you possibly referring to how you couldn't stand me when we first met?"

"I still can't stand you." King muttered, trying to hide his smile.

Helbram cupped his hand around his ear. "What's that? I couldn't hear you. Say that to my face." Helbram ordered, and he gently lifted King's chin. The moment their eyes met, King hovered the extra few inches between them straight into Helbram's lips.

"Mhm. That's what I thought you said." Helbram nodded after they eventually pulled apart for air.

"So I'll just go back to the Boar Hat, then."

King flew back a few feet away from Helbram, flailing his arms in a frenzy. "C-Captain! I didn't realize you were still here!"

"No problem, I'm leaving now. Don't do anything I wouldn't do." Meliodas winked and disappeared into the forest.

So Diane sort of took over this entire second half, but I don't really mind because I love her dearly. Well, not enough to give her King, not this time, anyway. ;)
Hope everyone enjoyed this story!