Bellarke – Brave New World
The planet Monty found was more than they ever could have hoped for. Like Earth, it was mostly water, but the planet was still highly vegetated. When the last of human kind arrived, they were captivated by the lush greens and vibrant flowers that crowded the area they landed in. They quickly became acquainted with the people who lived there, who were able to speak to them via translators that were implanted into their spinal cords.
They were fairly humanoid, as they were bipedal and had faces, but they looked more reptilian, with shiny scales covering their bodies. The species was very peaceful, and listened with great interest to their story, and even showed sympathy for their lost planet, as silver tears traced down their leaders' cheeks. Jolinka, their main leader, embraced Bellamy and Clarke's hands and offered them a large piece of land for the humans to settle on, as well as supplies to help them get set up. There was a large abandoned city there, and it was perfect. Jolinka's tears were matched by Clarke's. Finally, peace. Finally, she could be better.
Bellamy and Echo hadn't gotten much time alone since everything happened back on Earth. It had been a flurry of action, and then over a hundred years of sleep. After Raven had organized a plan to get them landed on the planet, Jordan had asked them if they wanted to wake up anyone else before they woke everyone. Bellamy had declined, and he saw the reproach in Echo's eyes when she woke up and saw him. But there was no time to talk, no time for intimacy, as there was too much to do, too many people vying for his attention, too much grief.
When they were airlifted to the settlement they were given, Bellamy felt like the luckiest man alive. There was a small road with a stretch of small homes, typically concrete but they were painted varying colours of green to match the foliage. The people he loved most all took up there, with Jordan taking a hut for himself, Murphy and Emori moving into the house at the very end, Raven taking one house and her pilot moving in next door, and Clarke setting up in the house painted the brightest green with Maddie. The house next door to Clarke's was destined for himself and Echo, and he was overjoyed when he went in and saw that the bed was large and comfy, there were chairs set up, and even a kitchen to cook in. It was more than he had ever hoped for.
Bellamy turned at the door opening, smiling big at Echo as she stepped cautiously inside, looking around. His grin fell away at her first words, though.
"We need to move. We can't stay in this house. Maybe the next street over has an empty one."
"What? Why?"
"We're right next door to her. I don't trust her, Bellamy, and you shouldn't either. She helped us back there, but that doesn't change the fact that she left you to die in the pit."
Bellamy was speechless for a moment. "…Echo."
"Don't, Bellamy. I know you forgive easily where she's concerned, but fortunately for both of us, I don't have a blind spot in her shape."
His face burned as if she had slapped him. She was right, he did always forgive Clarke, for anything she did, because he knew her. He knew that she would do anything to protect the ones she loved, and that all her decisions had come down to that. But she always did the same for him.
"Echo, I trust her. I forgive her. She made a mistake when she did that, but I had just betrayed her. She was looking out for her daughter. You know me, and my judgment. If you trust me at all, please trust me on this," Bellamy said, looking at her pleadingly.
"I trust your judgment on most things," Echo said quietly, as she strode towards him quickly, the look in her eyes dark. "And believe me, I know what she means to you, otherwise I would have killed her the minute the doors on the ship closed on Earth."
Bellamy took a few steps back, startled. The very idea of Echo killing Clarke made him run cold, his skin prickling in goosebumps. "That's enough, Echo," he said, firmly, hoping she couldn't detect the faint tremor in his voice. "I love you. I'm with you, we are moving in here, so we can be close to our friends. We just lost Monty and Harper. Clarke is family to me, just like Spacekru is. I know that you didn't spend time with her, but the rest of us did. You know how it was for me on the Arc when we first went up. If you love me at all, you wouldn't even consider doing that to me, or, or the rest of us."
The room, which at first seemed so joyful, became stifling, and Bellamy needed to get out. He turned away and discovered the door at the back that led into a small garden. Once he got outside, he planted himself on the grass and took deep breaths, counting to ten. He had used this technique when things were still bad on the arc, and he would have panic attacks often. Monty had helped him learn it.
Thinking about Monty sent a new wave of grief through Bellamy. The tears streamed openly down his face as he sat and missed his friend, who had always seemed like the best of them all. Harper was a comforting presence, always kind but quick to make everyone laugh. Bellamy had his face buried in his hands when he heard clothing rustling from his right. He ripped his head up and looked over, but relaxed when he saw it was Maddie, who must have also just come into her back garden. A look of deep concern passed over her face, and she made her way through the grass to sit down next to him.
"Are you okay? You looked so happy when you were heading into your house."
"I'm okay, Maddie. Just thinking about Monty and Harper. I miss them. I wish you had gotten to know them too."
"Me too. Clarke used to tell me stories about them all the time. She's pretty upset too, but she doesn't want me to know."
"She probably just doesn't want you to worry," Bellamy offered, with a small grin.
"I know. She told me that she thinks that they were the luckiest out of all of you," Maddie said, quietly, glancing back to her house.
Confusion ran over Bellamy's face. "Luckiest? How did she figure that?"
"They were in love for almost their whole lives. They were happy, and happy just to be together and live in peace. They got to have a son and raise him somewhere that wasn't full of conflict. She said they were lucky that they both found each other to share that with. They grew old together and they have died, but now they are with Jasper again, and their families. And we will see them again."
Bellamy's tears ran fresh, and he reached out and put an arm around the little girl when he saw she had tears in her eyes, too. She whispered into his shirt, "Do you think we'll be able to have that? Peace?"
"I really do hope so."
Life settled in smoothly on Planet 2, as they had taken to calling it (the name was unpronounceable for their tongue). They began farming the land to help supplement the food that was being supplied by the Jolinka and her people. A council was formed, composed of Diyoza, Bellamy, Clarke, Abby, Indra, and Kane once he had recovered. Jolinka was able to provide healing medicine that worked at a rapid rate but made Abbey very nervous. Raven and Shaw also frequented the meetings, but they were often too busy working on new tech or learning how to use the new advanced equipment provided to be bothered with it.
Bellamy was struck by how familiar this all felt, back to when they had been preparing for a nuclear fallout. Almost all the same players, but vastly different stakes. Everyone seemed to take Monty's sacrifice to heart, even Diyoza, and they tried to be more tactful and calm in all their decisions. Diyoza had her baby girl, who she named Hope, and it felt like a curse had lifted when Clarke walked out of the delivery room with the baby to introduce her to Kane.
Echo had apologised to him that day, and they had moved into their little house. Bellamy had never lived a domestic life before, and at first, he found it odd, but he was getting used to it. Echo seemed to have a harder time adjusting, and at times he could find her pacing around the living room as if she was caged.
Clarke had become a regular fixture in his life again, and it was such a relief that finally landed in the same place it almost didn't feel real. Soon, they found themselves falling into their old habits, and at the rate this was going Bellamy was the happiest he had ever been.
That was, until he arrived home after dinner with the council one night to find Echo packing her things into a bag. "I'm sorry. I'm moving into Raven's."
"What's going on?"
"Bellamy." She paused with her bag on her shoulder and blade on her back and took a deep breath. "I love you very much, but I can't do this anymore. Back on the Arc you told me things wouldn't change when we got back to the ground, but we both know they have. It's not your fault. Everyone thought she was dead." With that, Echo gave him a kiss on the cheek, and then headed straight to the door.
Thankfully, things weren't awkward with his friends as he had worried they would be. Like any good family, they took change in stride and worked around it. Echo didn't seem to be taking the breakup very hard either, and for that Bellamy was grateful.
A couple weeks afterwards, they decided to have a campfire. They pulled up chairs and all crowded around, sticking their hands out for warmth.
Jordan was playing a card game with Maddie and Emori, which evidently called for lots of excited shouting. Bellamy was smiling at the familiarity he saw in Jordan's face when Clarke plopped down in the seat next to him.
"Do you think Earth would have been like this if humans hadn't fucked it up so badly?"
Bellamy chuckled. "Maybe"
"Do you think we're going to fuck this planet up?"
Bellamy followed her gaze to her daughter, who was miraculously able to still act like a child even when she was Heda. "No, Clarke. We won't. This is our second chance, and I will do anything to make sure we don't waste it."
Clarke offered him a small smile and reached over and squeezed his arm. She went to pull away, but Bellamy stopped her with his own. "There's been something I've been meaning to talk to you about."
"I hope I'm not in trouble," she said, quirking her eyebrow.
"You're not," he smiled. He glanced around, and everyone seemed preoccupied. "Maddie told me something, back on Earth." Clarke's face immediately changed, from looking playful to almost shy. Bellamy squeezed her fingers reassuringly. "You radioed? Every day?"
Clarke looked down at their hands, seemingly unable to meet his eyes. "Yes. Every day for 2199 days."
The number astonished him. He knew six years was a long time, but to have it laid out like that really made it seem like a never-ending chasm.
"I'm so sorry, Clarke. We never thought to get the communications systems running. If I had known…" he trailed off, unable to say it.
"If you had known that I wasn't dead? Don't worry, I would have assumed I had died too. Almost did. When the five-year mark passed, I was worried. I thought maybe you guys didn't make it. But we're both here now." At that she finally looked up and smiled. "I don't know what Maddie told you about the messages, but I radioed you, Bellamy. I needed you, to talk to you, even if you couldn't respond - I knew what you would say. You saved me, Bell. You always do."
Bellamy began shaking his head. "I missed you so much, I honestly didn't think I could get through it. But what you told me, back in the lab, that pulled me through. I couldn't let you make that sacrifice and then just give up."
Clarke flipped her hand around and entwined their fingers. "Murphy did tell me you pulled the 'Clarke didn't die for this!' card when he was acting out," she giggled.
Bellamy laughed too, giddy with happiness. Suddenly, Maddie was shouting for Clarke, saying she was tired and wanted Clarke to walk her back. When Clarke got up, Maddie called out, "Bellamy, will you tell me a story before bed?"
Once they got back to Clarke's house, Maddie hopped into bed and Bellamy and Clarke sat next to her. Clarke listened while Bellamy told a story about Monty and Harper and their algae. When Maddie was asleep, they shut her door and went back into the main living room. Bellamy looked around, surprised at the murals that were lining the walls. He recognized the dropship, the lake with the waterfall, the tower in Polis, Lincoln's tattoos, Jasper and Monty laughing, and then he saw his own face. He saw himself emerging from the rover's headlights, holding a mug in his hand. There he was looking up at her as he descended into the bunker on the rope. He's standing, staring out, waiting for his friends before they took off from Earth for the final time.
"I found some paints in the city on one of our food runs," Clarke said quietly. "Now that I finally have my own house, I figured I would decorate it however I want. And I want to remember."
"They're beautiful," Bellamy said, looking around, taking them all in. Still looking, he asked, "You know what you said to Maddie, about how Monty and Harper were the luckiest of us?"
Clarke hesitated, and she sounded unsure when she answered. "Yes."
"When Maddie was telling me that, about how they were lucky to have found someone who they would want to grow old with, have a family with and live in peace, I could only think of you." Clarke turned to look at him fully. "Clarke, they were lucky, but so am I. Beyond all odds, we've finally made it here. We aren't separated for some ridiculous reason, and we get to be here together, without the threat of imminent death above our heads." Clarke cracked a half smile. "I'm lucky, because I love you, and I've found the person who I want to grow old with. I spent six years of my life thinking you were dead, and it was agonizing. Back on the Arc, I would dream about this. I hated myself for never saying it to you back on Earth, but I think you knew. So, I don't want to waste anymore time here."
Clarke moved towards him, laying her hands on his chest. "I did know," she said thickly, her voice full of emotion. "I regretted it too. I still do. And you're right about something else. We are lucky. I was always scared to tell people how I felt about them because it always felt like a death sentence. But not here. Here we get a fresh start, together. I love you too." With that she surged upwards, and when he lips met his Bellamy knew that finally, he had found bliss.