This is dedicated to my friend Marlene! They encouraged me to write a story with the characters of Madi, Bellamy and Clarke after the season 5 reunion. Even though I didn't do right after their reunion, I tried to include some of those details as well. Thank you for the inspiration and I hope you all enjoy!
Disclaimer: I mention The Iliad and The Odyssey in this fic. Both of these epic poems are written by Homer. If you are not familiar with them, I highly recommend looking into them! They're fantastic to read.
Home
For the first time in his life, Bellamy was utterly content on planet Earth. Never before had he felt peace like this, nor had he been surrounded by so many people that he loved.
He tightened his grip around Clarke's shoulders the slightest bit, gently reminding him that she was, in fact, real. She was, in fact, very much alive. He had spent six years of his life thinking that he had lost her to the roaring and unforgiving flames of Praimfaya. He had thought that he had left her behind to die.
He was never so happy to be wrong.
His eyes left the top of her head, swooping over to where Madi sat a few inches away. She leaned against Clarke's side, a wide smile spread across her face. Clarke held a book in her hands, her melodic voice filling the air as she read out loud to Madi. Not only was he surprised that Clarke was alive, but he was surprised that she had this young girl that she looked after.
He would never forget that feeling when he first met Madi. He didn't have the slightest clue who she was, but she never hesitated. "Bellamy!" Her voice was as sure as her aim.
Bellamy couldn't help but let a smile spread across his face. They were his world. Three months ago, he never would have thought this would be his life. Sitting in a lush forest, the smell of fresh rain all around him. Having the woman he loved pressed into his side, the girl he considered a daughter only feet away.
He glanced towards the rover, where the rest of his family stood. Kane, Abby, Emori, Murphy, Raven, Echo, Harper, Monty, Octavia, Miller, and Jackson. Even when his eyes landed on Indra, he never wavered – he could very easily consider her family too.
So much had changed, but so much had remained the same since the last time he stood on this beautiful, terrible, heartbreakingly wonderful planet.
He couldn't believe that it had only been three months since he returned to Earth. It felt like a lifetime ago, with everything that had happened since. Bellamy guessed that life on Earth just moved faster than life in space, because he felt this same way on his first trip to the planet.
He would never forget the feeling of Clarke being back in his arms. He would always remember the way they both sobbed into each other's shoulders – "I'm sorry," "I'm proud of you," "you're alive." The rest of the group had left them alone for a while – both trying to come to terms with the fact that they both managed to survive the death wave.
It wasn't long after that when Madi came looking for Clarke. From the moment Bellamy was first introduced to her, he knew that he would do anything to protect her. She was just a child; a child that had lost everything she had known during Praimfaya, a child that had saved his life, and a child that cared for Clarke just as much as he did. He had always been good with children, so nobody was surprised when Madi and him gravitated towards each other. And it wasn't long after that until people considered Madi, Clarke and Bellamy one solid unit.
A family.
"Bellamy?" Madi's call broke him from his thoughts. "The Iliad is great and all, but can you tell me something different?"
"Something different?" he echoed back.
Quickly, he ran through myths that he remembered from Ancient Greece and Rome. His favourite epics were The Iliad and The Odyssey – that's what he had grown up reading. It seemed that Madi had a knack for history and Greek mythology, just like he did. The adventure, deep morals, and the tragedy called to both of them. It was almost like he had known Madi for her whole life, they were so similar.
"Something happier," Madi encouraged. Clarke let out a hearty laugh and shut the book – The Iliad – and placed it on the grass.
"I will be the first to tell you – don't get your hopes up. Greek mythology is almost always filled with pain and unhappy endings. The stories of heroes are almost always dampers." Bellamy chuckled and rubbed his face. Clarke smiled sheepishly at him and leaned up to press a kiss to his cheek.
"Well, now I have to think of a myth that has a happy ending," he teased back.
Clarke's smirk widened. Her expression was teasing, and he didn't think she ever looked more beautiful. She radiated happiness and peacefulness. Bellamy instinctively reached up and brushed a lose piece of hair behind her ear. Clarke's expression softened the slightest bit, her love and appreciation for him shining through her eyes.
They had been apart for six years, but he had never felt more connected to her. His heart clenched painfully at the reminder of their separation. All he could do now was pull her tighter.
"I'll tell you The Odyssey," Bellamy told Madi. He could feel Clarke settling into his arms. "I will warn you – I am no Homer, but I do have some of the basics still memorized. We'll have to track down a true copy of the epic so you can truly hear the beauty in his words." Clarke chuckled.
"So you mean to tell me you don't have the huge tale memorized, word for word?" Her fake shock amused him.
"Surprising, I know. It's not like it has hundreds of pages," he teased her right back. Their jokes and their happiness was effortless – just like breathing.
As he began telling the tale of a character's journey back home, he felt a wave of peace wash over him.
He was surrounded by family and friends with no more battles to fight – at least, not in the near future. The woman that he loved was pressed into his side, the child he considered his own a few inches away. He could hear the birds calling to each other across Eden, and he could feel the chill of the fresh breeze on his skin.
He was home.