Author's Note: I wanted to say thank you for all the reviews and kind words. And a thank you, too, to everyone who has followed and favourited.
Prompt: How Bellarke got together.
They are arguing again, and this time there is serious sort of tint to their vitriol. The pair obviously thinks no one is watching, though they are standing just outside her brother's small cabin, and there are more than a few people milling around the communal brazier.
Including one very interested sister.
This isn't a new thing, not by a long shot, but their disagreements have been fewer and fewer over the past year. She's noticed they aren't as attached to the hip as they once were, and they never go on missions together (not that the good doctor is allowed to tag along anymore). She chalks it up to the innumerable responsibilities they've been saddled with over the past year, and between making a home for the 100 to brokering peace with the Grounders - she may have had something to do that - they haven't had a lot of time for anything other than a few hours of sleep.
And she isn't an idiot. She sees the lost look they get when the other passes by, too overburdened to talk, or the way they brush fingertips and shoulders, brief touches that ground them. She also sees the way her brother smiles stupidly when the princess laughs, or the way the princess' eyes shine when her brother does that dumb grin.
But listening to them now, she thinks all of their minor disagreements from the past year have really come to full, because neither one is holding back. People have begun to leave the warmth of the fire pit to find heat somewhere less awkward, and even her stoic, charming husband has inquired if they should leave.
Like hell she is going to miss out on this one.
So she wraps her Grounder's protective arms around her, and listens to the full-blown World War IV while her husband strokes her stomach (he keeps doing that now that they know they are expecting).
She hears words like "no", "never", "you aren't the boss of me", "just try it", and her personal favourite, "who died and made you king?"
And then, over all of it, she hears, "none of what we've accomplished matters if I lose you".
Instantly, her eyes dart to her brother, who looks shell-shocked and confounded that he'd say such a thing out loud. For her part, the princess looks just as stunned, but she recovers quicker, taking hold of her partner-in-crime and dragging his face down to hers. The kiss is quick but raw, and Octavia can see every emotion coursing through them both. They need each other like metal needs fire to bend, and even if they can't see it, she knows they're on the right path.
Then her brother wraps his arms around his princess, and nearly hoists her off her feet as he returns her advance with a kiss so searing it sends Octavia's eyes scurrying back to the fire. From behind her, she can feel her husband's deep rumble of a laugh, and she grins silly at his words.
"It's about damn time."