A/N- This idea came to me after reading Day 21- the second story in the Kass Morgan 100 trilogy which everyone should read because *spoiler alert* Bellamy's father is revealed.
Disclaimer- I own nothing associated with The 100 or Kass Morgan.
It had been coming for some time now.
She had known this, everyone had guessed but the part of her, deep down that was intrinsically linked to her partner had known without a doubt.
Bellamy Blake was dying.
His days had been growing shorter, his movements slowing and he would be lost in his thoughts for hours, hardly speaking as he went about his chores.
They never spoke of it, but that night as they lay in bed, he had taken her hand and whispered,
"I'm glad I didn't drop you into that stake pit Princess"
She had chuckled quietly and then stared up at the ceiling of their log cabin and counted the seconds between his exhalation and inhalation until he slipped away.
Bellamy Blake.
Born on the Ark 2222 Died on Earth 2272.
Leader, Brother, Warrior, Husband
The tombstone is too empty.
Clarke wants to add more, she wants to detail his life, this man who had risen and fallen so many times.
Son to Orphan, Guard to Janitor, Criminal to Leader, Enemy to Lover, Outcast to Saviour.
She wanted everyone who saw his grave to know exactly who he had been, it wasn't enough that he was famous for his exploits among the Sky people and their Grounder allies, it wasn't enough that his deeds had been recorded in the archive somewhere to be read alongside hers when the later generations were taught about how they'd returned to Earth. It wasn't even enough that they'd already been immortalised with their names on the statue with the Hundred who'd first set foot on terra firma after all those years.
She needed more words to describe him.
She starts when she hears the bark and her heart breaks when the wet tongue licks her wrinkled fingers.
She supposed if she could only put one more word on that tombstone, it would be Owner.
Fifteen years ago, Bellamy had emerged from the forest acting secretive, sneaking away from dinner and carrying around his backpack like it contained ancient relics stolen from the Tondc museum wreckage. When Clarke had stormed into their cabin that night to ensure that he wasn't a thief among all his other crimes, she'd been startled to find a red faced mammal poking its head out of the top of his backpack.
"I tracked him to a cave" Bellamy explained in a rush, hurrying across the room with a roll of gauze in his hands,
"I found some fox carcasses nearby, I reckon they were hunted by something bigger than them…he's just a pup and wounded and I couldn't…"
If Clarke hadn't already been married to Bellamy for ten years, she probably would have got down on one knee and proposed to him then, which would have been a lot more romantic than the first time around, when she'd stormed across the ruins of Mount Weather, hugged him and then simply told him that he was never leaving her again.
In fact, now that she thought about it, she'd never actually asked him to marry her, or even spend the rest of his life with her.
Oh well.
He'd seemed to have got the message.
Slowly, trying to remember which herbal remedy was best for animal bites, Clarke extended her fingers to the red fox to sniff. There was a cautious noting of scent and then a tentative lick, an offer of friendship in his dark little eyes.
"What his name?" she asked her husband as she sat on the bed and treated the gash on the creature's hind leg.
Bellamy leaned back in thought, his hands on his knees before giving her his one sided smile,
"How 'bout Cesar?"
She rolled her eyes but scratched the puppy's chin, "Cesar"
As with every aspect of their life in Sky Village, their secret was soon discovered.
Bellamy and Clarke had gone to pains to hide Cesar in their cabin while he recovered, sneaking him food and smuggling him in and out of the village for toilet breaks but they'd come home one day to find Cesar in the midst of an admiring crowd. Sitting on one of the long tables, several different hands stroking his fur simultaneously while the whole village seemed to be arguing about what kind of fox he was. The argument seemed firmly divided between Ark survivors and the refugees from Mount Weather, all that could be agreed upon was how cute Cesar was.
Bellamy had waded into the crowd, scooped up the fox and proceeded to explain to everyone how he had come across the pup and assure them that Cesar would not be taking any food from their mouths or inconveniencing them in any way.
The speech might have had more effect if Jasper hadn't been making funny faces at Cesar, causing him to squirm playfully under his owner's arm and delight the crowd.
From that day on, Cesar was an honorary member of the village and never strayed from Bellamy's side. When he'd recovered, the two of them would go hunting together, Bellamy returning with a sack full of game, Cesar with a rabbit in his mouth. They'd sit by the campfire together, their eyes lowering in contented exhaustion. Only under suffrage was Cesar relegated from the prime position on Bellamy's marriage bed to a pile of furs under it when Clarke steadfastly refused to have sex around the fox's sleeping form.
One night when Bellamy failed to return from hunting, Clarke grabbed her medicine kit, her gun and followed the prints of man and mammal to a ledge that had collapsed under Bellamy's weight, his leg was trapped under a rock, he was barely conscious.
But Cesar was standing on his chest, legs spread out, haunches up and teeth bared.
Growling into the night and daring any predator to approach.
When Clarke caught his eye she saw the animalistic gleam and knew in that instant that Cesar would give his life to defend Bellamy.
For the next fifteen years he was the greatest constant in their lives, providing unwavering loyalty, companionship and endless amusement for the people of the village.
The night Bellamy passed, he had one hand linked with Clarke's and the other dangling over the edge of the bed, just touching Cesar's fur.
"Come on boy" she tells the now grey and aging fox, turning away from her husband's tombstone "Let's go home"
Cesar whines unhappily and looks around with milky eyes, searching out his owner, sniffing the air with confusion when he can't find him.
Clarke sighs and crouches down, "I know" she whispers, scratching his ears,
"I miss him too, but you and I have to make do with each other now"
His tongue rasps slowly across her wrist and she pulls herself up slowly, "Dinner time"
Their life is quieter now, there's still the hustle and bustle of village life, there's always someone that needs medical treatment or some possible disease to gather herbs against.
But during the days when she's in the medical hut, Cesar- who once bounced and bounded everywhere- now naps on his worn fur in the corner, and at night the two of them retire early and go to bed.
After the first two nights, Clarke finally relented and allowed Cesar the privilege of sleeping on Bellamy's side of the bed and when the sorrow becomes too much, she wraps an arm over him and weeps into his fur as he whimpers and nuzzles her face.
Clarke Griffin might have been the only woman Bellamy had ever loved but in the end, she'd known that he'd had two soul mates.
Her and Cesar.
When Clarke isn't in her medical hut that morning, James knocks politely on her cabin door and realises immediately that something is wrong.
It's not the fact that it's too quiet or even the fact that it's too cold but it's something.
Ten minutes later, Jasper hurries inside to the first double bed that had been fashioned by the Sky-people, the one Bellamy had been so proud of, to find Clarke curled up on her side and Cesar in a matching position with his paw on her hand.
The romantic part of him wonders if they died at the same time, both eagerly going to meet the man they loved.
Clarke Griffin-Blake
Born on the Ark 2227 Died on Earth 2278.
Leader, Healer, Diplomat, Wife
Cesar (Red Fox)
Died on Earth 2278
Loyal companion and protector
A/N- Written during an impulsive hour.