She remained behind the tree line, watching Earth's new guests from afar.

The asteroid mining colony - the prisoners - had landed three days ago. 2201 days since she'd been left behind. 2201 days since the other delinquents had returned to the Ark.

She didn't blame them, not at all. She hadn't expected to live when she climbed that tower, hadn't expected to make it back to the semi-safe lab, hadn't expected the nightblood to allow her to survive the radiation.

Now, she was the Grounder. The only Grounder, aside from Madi, whom she'd left behind in the rover.

Now, she was the native, watching a group of prisoners descend from the sky. As she hid in the tree line, she could only think of the spear that had pierced Jasper's chest, before they knew they weren't alone, before they had become murderers, before the world had ended all over again.

This time, she watched the unaware intruders as they explored the ground.

They thought they were alone, just as she had. They thought they were free to roam from their metal cage, feeling the Earth for the first time: its soft air and delicate foliage. They tiled their heads towards the heat of the sun for the first time, just as she had. Just as they had. Just as he had.

Perhaps she was a fool to think he was still alive. To think they any of them were alive.

But she couldn't let go of the sliver of hope that had splintered its way into her heart.

Her heart. He was her heart. She knew that now.

The group continued to move farther from their ship, which had luckily landed in the meadow, one of the largest pieces of green grass that was left on Earth, at least from what she had seen in her six years since Praimfyra.

They were rejoicing, the men and women. She could hear their whoops and laughs from where she stood. It was almost funny, seeing some of the larger, horrifying men in their glee, so reminiscent of her own when they first landed on the ground.

The fear that swam in her belly was threatening to be overthrown by tears, though she wasn't sure why. Tears of joy to no longer be alone? Tears of fear? Tears for remembering her first days here?

She swallowed them and ducked toward a nearer tree, her rifle tight in her hands. The colony appeared to have no weapons on them, but that didn't mean they were unarmed, as the ship most likely held a cargo of ammo and weapons.

She let her fingers glide against the wood of the rifle, where she'd painstakingly etched each name of those she wanted to remember. One for everyday she was alone on Earth, until there was no one left to remember, until she had listed everyone she had ever known. It was weeks after that, when she was beginning to feel the hungry loneliness begin to eat her insides, when she found Madi.

She was perfect. A little ball of a human, the only living, breathing thing she'd had seen in years, gripping her legs to her chest behind a rock.

Clarke had broke down in joy. In hope. In memories.

Now, years later, Madi had become one of her only reasons to continue living, the other being her people in the bunker, and her friends who'd escaped to the Ark.

All of them. She missed all of them, dearly. She couldn't bare to think of what had become of them, after six years. They were supposed to be back by now. He was supposed to be back by now.

At night, when the Earth was as deathly silent as it had ever been, she let her mind wander. She had tried to stop it, but it was no use. She was alone on a planet that was supposed to be full of people, and the only way she could populate it was with her memories. Her memories of him. She fought them, fought them until she was sick, but it felt wrong to be alone in this place where they were supposed to be and not remember them.

There were times when she thought the only thing that kept humanity alive was her memory, and that thought hurt more than she could have ever imagined, but she couldn't let them go.

It was then, in those dark times when she was alone, with only the faint light of the stars and the moon to sing her to sleep, that she realized what she had been too distracted to realize before.

Bellamy.

Bellamy. How had she not seen it before? How could she have been so blind?

It wasn't until she was alone - so utterly alone, not running away, but the only one left - that it had begun to dawn on her.

All that she was, all that she'd ever been on this Earth, it couldn't be... not without him. He had always been part of her new life on the ground. He had been there from the beginning, even when she had hated him, even when, somehow, he had become her other half. After all they had done, after all they had faced, after all they had sacrificed, he had become part of her.

She hadn't realize it until that part of her was missing.

The heart to her head, the light in her darkness, the hope when she was hopeless.

He had been there all along, and she'd never realized... he was what kept her believing. He had been her strength when she was weak, and she had been his.

And now... now he was gone.

She clutched her riffle tighter, tracing the letters of his name where she'd carved it next to the trigger.

The colony continued their joyous reunion with the ground, running through the tall grass and tackling each other, laughing all the while.

Clarke watched them for hours, hidden behind the tree line, as they ran and yelled, laid and rolled, laughed and cried.

The sun had just begun to set when they finally began to organize themselves, whilst being awed by the pink and orange colors that the sky painted for them. She couldn't hear them, but she could clearly make out a commander ordering the men and women about.

Fire. Food. Water.

He'd placed them in groups, and Clarke began to worry that they would be venturing into her woods. Into her Eden.

But it was then she saw the commander signal to the ship, calling more criminals out into the meadow.

Four men emerged from the ship, heavy chains in hand, pulling, pulling...

And then she saw them.

She saw him.

The delinquents, pulled from the hollow belly of the ship, walking begrudgingly with their hands cuffed in iron.

Raven... Murphy... Emori...

Bellamy.

Alive.

Alive.

She wasn't sure what happened next, or how she was suddenly was barreling down the hill, riffle slung over her shoulder, but she found herself standing in the glen, wide eyed and breathless, in front of horrified men and women.

And him. And Bellamy.

He looked as if the air had been stolen from his lungs, still as the death she thought had claimed him.

His hair was slightly longer than she remember, and a shadow of a goatee hugged his mouth, but other than that he was the same Bellamy she kept alive in her memories.

The colony of prisoners was scrambling, some running into the ship for weapons while the others stood shellshocked.

"Bellamy," was all she could croak out. It was a broken, desperate word on her tongue.

The colonists were yelling now, something about a grounder, but she could only hear a tight buzzing.

"Clarke," he answered, in that broken, heartfelt way he said her name.

And it was all she needed to hear.