It was fair to say that the last thing Clarke Griffin expected when she entered her room was to see the Nightbloods lounging there

"Aidan has something happened?" she asked confused. She still not sure what to think of these children

"There is going to be an important celebration coming up. Heda has instructed us to prepare you for it as you are still unfamiliar with our ways" he answered in what was an adorable attempt to imitate Lexa's serious tone

"I don't really feel like celebrating right now so I think I will skit instead. But tell Lexa I am grateful for the offer"

She opened the door indicating that the matter was done for her but they didn't move an inch

"This is one of our holiest days. If you ignore it will cause great offense and may create serious frictions in the coalition" another Nightblood a girl who couldn't be more then ten said

Clarke hesitated. She really didn't feel like celebrating but she knew that she couldn't risk more political unrest just because she wasn't in the mood so she agreed.

It was a very strange preparation. For one thing they refused to explain to her exactly what the holiday was about. Apparently it was going to take too long to explain and there were more important things to do. Then there was the actual preparation itself. First they thought her how to dance which was very different from the fun jumping around they were doing on the Ark. This was slow and a bit too intimate for her taste. The she had to learn grounder poetry of all things. She knew some trigedasleng but it was just enough for trade and getting around. She could understand maybe like very third word of the things they made her learn and it seemed mostly to revolve around things like loyalty, trust and there was a lot of mention of hearts for some reason. Probably a violent one

Then they led to the gardens where she had pick flowers an offering. She actually enjoyed this quite a bit. The flowers were beautiful and she kinda never wanted to leave the garden. The next part was the hardest. She had to bake a cake as her final offering. And oh god there was an actual real chocolate there. Not the synthesized crap they ate on the ark but real chocolate like the ones she read in the books about. Apparently this was delicacy reserved only for a select few in Polis but her status as an ambassador and Wanheda let her have access to it. She could barely restrain herself from eating the entire cake herself

And then there was the final touch. The dress. She had nearly half a dozen Nightblood girls putting her in a new dress. Clarke had never really felt comfortable in dresses but this was one was beyond gorgeous and fit her perfectly. The cleavage was a bit too much but she didn't really comfortable complaining to the kids that her boobs were threatening to spill out at any moment. She would just have to deal with it

It was finally time and with chocolate in one hand, flowers in the other(which she put strategically over her cleavage just in case) she was marched to the great dining hall. She was distracted but she still managed to register that instead of the usual guard there were Nightbloods guarding the dining room. The Nighbloods were expected to attend all sorts of different duties but it was still a rare sight to see them as guards

When she entered the room she was expecting to find a great gathering instead it was just Lexa sitting alone and eating her dinner in silence.

" Clarke" said a very confused Lexa as she stood up from the table. Her eyes were wide with shock as she took in Clarke's look and the items in her hands" What are you doing here?"

" I came here for the celebration" said an equally confused Clarke

" You wish to…celebrate Valentine's Day with Me!?" responded a flabbergasted Lexa

" It's Valetnine's day? What?" she turned around at the door slamming and locking several times behind the Nighbloods and saw that she has been well and truly tricked

Lexa's shock had turned into anger as she started pounding at the door and threatening them. Clarke couldn't quite understand everything but it looked like the Nighbloods were about to experience hell in the next training session.

Finally conceding defeat that she wouldn't break through the thick door with her hands she turned and face Clarke

" I apologize Clarke. I had no idea they were planning this"

" I believe you " said Clarke she couldn't help but find the situation a bit amusing, especially after seeing how flustered Lexa was " Oh well it's not so bad. At least I got to have chocolate out of this. In space we only got synthetic crap. Nothing like this

Clarke's grin was genuine as she raised her left hand slightly to indicate the delicious dish in it. Lexa smiled in response, her fury tamed for a moment

"Indeed. Chocolate is a rare delight. It's very hard to acquire it but Luna always saves some for me"

For a moment they just stood there taking each other in. Clarke still remembered the night Lexa had to come to her room after her battle with Roan. She had been composed, majestic, with a beautiful dress and perfect hair. There was none of that now. Lexa was dressed in what Clarke had to guess was the Grounder equivalent of pyjamas. Rougt pants and a shirt and her hair was a bit of a mess. Without the war paint Clarke could see the dark circles under her eyes from a lack of sleep and yet….she was more beautiful then ever before. She had to forcibly tear her gaze away from the breath taking Lexa

" I think these are for you " said Clarke as she offered her the flower. Lexa started coughing as Clarke realized that the flowers had been the only thing hiding the rather sizable cleavage on her dress" I meant the flowers" she added with a grin happy that for once it was the Commander who was unbalanced

"I know that" said Lexa as she tried to compose herself "Please sit. We might as well make the best of this situation"

" So tell me about how Grounders celebrate Valentine's Day" said Clarke as she sat down next to Lexa and took a rather huge bite from the cake. Clarke began to listen to the hypnotizing sound of Lexa's voice and she vaguely recalled that this is the first true Valentine date she ever had. Clarke never got around to the poetry and dancing part(even though the Nightbloods had actually started playing music in front of the door) they were nowhere near this yet. But it was still a good first step. One that a few months later led to some horizontal dancing