Tags: Second in my Rewritten series, Childhood, Alternate Universe-Canon, Eventual Bellarke, Alternate Universe-Different First Meeting

Birthday Present

The marketplace smelled like cloves, leather and sweat as Bellamy pushed his way through the crowd, clutching the leather cording he had brought to trade to his chest. His mother would probably be furious when she found out he had taken it, but today was O's birthday, and he couldn't just let it pass without giving her something special to mark the occasion. Mom always gave O a new set of clothes. They were made of whatever scraps of cloth or discarded pieces of clothing she could get her hands on. Bellamy, however, liked to get her something less…useful. Something just for her that he knew she would like and wasn't a cast-off from him.

Lost in his brainstorming of what kind of gift he would get Octavia this year, he didn't see the little girl until it was too late and they were a tangle of limbs with chess pieces strewn about the marketplace floor.

"Ouch," the little girl rubbed her elbow as they both scrambled to sit up. She couldn't have been much older than O, maybe six or seven, and she had blond curls and the bluest eyes he had ever seen. Her hair was tied back with a grey-green ribbon that was the same color as O's eyes. Their father's eyes, mom was always telling her. Bellamy couldn't really remember what their father had looked like anymore.

"Are you okay?" he asked, reaching out to pick up one of the chess pieces she had dropped. One of his friends had taught him to play, but he wasn't very good at it. He knew enough to know that he held the white king piece, though.

The little girl nodded and scrambled to pick up more pieces, taking the king from him. "Thank you."

"You play chess?" he was curious since he had just learned last year at eleven years old.

"No…but my friend Wells does. My dad said we could get a set so he can teach me when he comes over to play."

Jealousy coursed through Bellamy at that. So many times in the last five years he had wanted to have friends 'come over to play', but that wasn't an option for him - for obvious reasons. He swallowed the bitter taste and said, "That sounds like fun," as he grabbed another pawn, barely avoiding getting his hand stepped on by a passer-by.

The edge of that pretty ribbon swings over her shoulder as she shrugged. "I guess. I'd rather draw pictures."

"Clarke! Clarke, where are you?" The girl's head shot up at the booming voice.

"Over here, Daddy!" she called as she took the pile of chess pieces from Bellamy's hands. A large man with blonde hair just like the girl's…Clarke's…appeared at the back of the aisle.

She gave Bellamy a grateful smile and said, "I've got to go." She stood up and wiped off her knees, careful not to spill the basket of pieces in her hands.

As she turned to leave, her ponytail swung, bringing his attention back to that ribbon. "Nice ribbon. Where did you get it?" Maybe, just maybe, he could find something similar at the seller's stand.

She turned back to him, curiosity on her face. "I don't know, why?"

Feeling nervous, he rubbed the back of his neck as he tried to think of an excuse. "It's my…friend's…birthday, and I think she'd like something like that."

"Really?" Clarke reached back and pulled on the end of the satin, her hair tumbled to her shoulders. She grabbed the hand that wasn't nervously playing with his too-long hair and placed the perfect gift for O into his hands. "Here. Thanks for helping me find all the pieces."

Before he could thank her, she ran off and into her father's arms. He lifted her up and Bellamy could hear him asking, "Why did you give that kid your hair ribbon?"

She shrugged her shoulders and answered, "He needed it more than me."

Notes: So...I know that part was really short, but hopefully everyone will enjoy it. Let me know what you all think!