"Trigedasleng"

Clarke excused herself from an older Floudonkru couple and walked over to Luna drink in hand. She sat in the vacant chair to the right of the leader after receiving permission and gazed at the exuberant celebration.

"You purposely did not tell me" Clarke accused stalwartly. There was no need to elaborate, for they both knew whom she was referring.

There was a pause before she responded. "I did."

"Why? Did you think I would run?"

Her eyes turned sad at the thought of Luna's distrust after months of companionship. Truthfully, Clarke did not know what she would have done if she knew the arriving emissary was Lexa. Would she have run again? Was she always going try and find a way to escape the past?

"No Klark, it had nothing to do with trust." Luna placed a hand on top of hers with a firm but gentle grasp. "You are at your strongest when your emotions are pure. Your heart has found some semblance of peace in Leston, but you cannot hide from the world forever."

Clarke's hand twitched beneath the firm and weathered hand. "Such purity and compassion are not meant to sit idly by. You are a wild thing born for greatness. And to do great things you must know your heart."

Luna's gaze turned to face the tan skinned Commander across the crowd overseeing the people with an impartial expression from a raised dais.

"I am not hiding," Clarke rebutted while surreptitiously gazing at Lexa. Luna only raised a tolerant eyebrow. "Okay, maybe just a little," she admitted catching Luna's stormy eyes.

"You are a wild thing Klark. But every wild thing needs a den in the winter and a mate to take comfort in."

Clarke stared at her with slightly open eyes wondering how much about Lexa and Clarke's history the woman knew. She had told the elderly woman of how they met from a clinical standpoint and had left out their more passionate encounters. Perhaps her feelings were more obvious than she thought. Sometimes, Clarke wished her heart did not want what it appeared to want.

The dancing around her drew more boisterous. Clarke politely refused another dance offer to stay at Luna's side. She felt too overwhelmed to take pleasure in the occasion.

"You should enjoy this Klark. One day this will be your life, if you choose it."

"What do you mean?" she asked off handily still preoccupied by the dancing around her.

"You must find your place. I will not be on this world forever."

Clarke turned at the change in tone from her mentor and snapped her gaze to Luna who was forcefully looking ahead. "Luna, what are you saying?" There was a slight tremble in her voice belaying her cool.

"I am old and ill. You have much to learn and do before I die."

"But the treatments," Clarke started a waver in her voice. Across the fire, her blue eyes connected to the hazel green of Lexa's. What Lexa saw must have startled her for her expression turned concerned.

"…Are not working." Luna faced Clarke with a worn but content smile. "Do not fret, I have lived well. No doubt I have at least another summer, perhaps two. Before you leave, because you will be leaving with the Commander as I command Klark of the Sky and Boat People, you must choose a second, along with a convoy. You must earn your title amongst us, as the Commander is the only one to grant you such privilege and entitlements."

"Can a second have a second?" Clarke asked confused and forced her eyes to look somewhere other than Lexa. She knew she was going to leave her home in Leston at some point in order to return to Camp Jaha and with any luck rekindle the relationships she had left to decay. Clarke hoped they were still repairable.

"You are not my second Klark. I am training you to replace me."

If possible Clarke's eyes grew wide, before a grim line formed on her lips and she nodded accepting the honor and her fate. While some part of her knew why Luna had been assessing and training her each day, it still came as a surprise. The Trigedakru selected their leaders differently, but the rules were less stringent among the different clans. Perhaps, some did see her as divinely gifted. Leading a clan meant responsibilities to an entire people, and it also meant releasing herself from the bonds of the Skaikru. Could she really give up her people to lead another clan? Clarke regarded Lexa's imposing form once more. Could she give up her people to rule under the woman who had betrayed her? Would she need to? Luna's offer felt more like an expected mandate.

At long last, her life was becoming clear and within a few moments it shifted drastically becoming complicated once more. What more would she need to sacrifice to finally live? When and where else could she feel as free as when she swam in the ocean and felt the warmth of the sun on her face?

Clarke stared into the fire and ignored the boisterous laughter amongst the crowd. In her heart, she knew what Luna said was true. But this celebration would last another few days, and for tonight she could afford to leave a little early. Clarke excused herself after she finished her drink. She waded through the crowd wanting nothing more to hold her son and breath in his scent and smiles. It was time to stop hiding.

But perhaps it could wait until tomorrow.

Hazel green eyes followed the blonde as she disappeared in the night. She was a great hunter and possessed ample patience. It was best to approach cautiously and with great care if one expected to earn the trust of a wild animal.

Early the next morning, Clarke found herself in city hall resuming one of her projects. She forcefully pulled away the sheet covering part of the wall and hiding her mural. It drifted lazily to the ground. She sniffed and sneezed twice at the dust produced and Jacob laughed. Clarke joined in and picked him up from his position on the ground surrounded by blankets. He was beginning to creep on a regular basis and even scoot. He was a little slow because of his right leg, but she assumed all babies were less than graceful when learning to maneuver in the environment. Clarke wondered how well he was going to crawl and if ambulation would be possible in the future.

She hugged him close as he waived his fists and grabbed her hair sticking a strand in his mouth to suck on. Clarke laughed and tugged her hair free with no small amount of tugging.

"Stop this," she shook her head and set him amongst his make shift play area. With the rate he was moving about, she might need to find a better way to keep him from scooting out of her sight. She made a note to keep a close eye on him as she painted.

"Mom needs to get this painting done."

She put her hands on her hips and gazed at the large wall wondering how the famous artists of the past constructed such masterpieces. Clarke had seen pictures of famous artists in books on the Ark. Everyone would see this painting when they entered city hall; she wanted to do it justice and make an appropriate representation.

The preliminary sketch was finished. Painting the mural was more challenging. There were so many colors and it was difficult to get the skyline just right. Clarke painted and repainted many times. She rubbed her noise and unknowingly smeared paint over the bridge.

"What do you think so far, yongon?"

She looked over to see him hands deep in her paints smearing his own mural on the floor. She laughed and wiped her hands on a cloth and picked him up lifting him in the air until he giggled.

"How did I get here?"

She stared into his eyes softly. His skin was soft and unmarked. To be young and innocent again. It seemed so long ago where she had so little to worry about. Her parents had sheltered her from a lot growing up, until the moment where they could not and the moment she decided to take a stand by her father.

Jacob's fingers feathered her cheek and she turned to kiss the fingers. Soft footfalls echoed in the hall. Clarke paid little attention as city hall was frequently visited throughout the day. Jacob's face turned looking over her shoulder and he gurgled reaching out behind her. Her shoulders tensed and she could not fathom why. With trepidation she turned and caught her breath.

For a moment they simply stared at one another.

Clarke bit her lip somewhat nervously. Being in Lexa's presence without the threat of war or the ogling eyes of a crowd was strangely intimate. There were so many things she wanted to say, but she found herself oddly silent. She wet her lips and Lexa was immediately drawn to the brief flash of pink tongue. Jacob struggled in her grip making him known and Lexa's gaze was immediately diverted to the small Floudonkru boy.

"So it is true" Lexa spoke taking in the struggling infant in Clarke's arms. Clarke shifted him to her opposite hip bouncing him.

Her jaw tensed immediately defensive. "What's true? That people are heartless and neglect and abandon innocent children?"

Lexa remained calm and Clarke was slightly disappointed for the lack of response. To be honest, Clarke wanted to get in one good blow and knock the aplomb clean off her face. She wanted her to feel, to know how it had felt to do what she had.

"That you have taken it upon yourself to see that justice is dealt." A small smile graced the leaders lips. She looked upon the righteous blue fire in the Skai girl's eyes clutching the child protectively. It was unwise to threaten a mother, animal or human. Lexa was an accomplished huntsman and knew the rules of the hunt very well. This was no different.

Lexa could not afford to further ostracize this woman. She needed her. There was a war coming. She trusted Clarke and wanted her at her side facing the enemy as before. Lexa had never felt so strong and powerful as when she captured Clarke's lips and gave the order for war in the next moment.

"Not everyone sees it that way." Clarke's eyes softened taken aback, although not ready to let down her guard.

"I may be heartless, but I am smart Clarke."

She said it so softly that Clark was unsure if she had heard her correctly. After she realized Lexa's words, she sucked in a small gasp of air as her throat tightened. She willed her eyes dry and if there was any sheen, it was a trick of the nearly cloudless day and the light reflecting from the sun shining through the pane windows.

Clarke cleared her throat lightly. "What are you doing here Lexa?" The question came off rough almost like a demand.

Lexa ignored the question as she walked past Clarke taking in the unfinished mural. Clarke watched somewhat insecure as the Commander silently viewed her painting. Drawing was a talent she possessed from a young age. In space, supplies were limited and any solid surface touched with charcoal had the ability to become a masterpiece.

"I was not aware you possessed such talent."

To hear such compliments from a hardened warrior and leader surprised her.

"I was not aware you considered such things a talent." Lexa paused and glanced at Clarke from the corner of her eye. "Isn't skill in battle more favorable?"

"Prowess in battle is favorable because it means survival, Clarke. Without these skills a warrior will not discover if they have other gifts." Her right hand rose hovering over a particular section that was still drying. "This is expression. This is life. This tells a story."

Maybe life should be more about surviving.

"And what story does it tell?" she asked curiously.

"Here, your life amongst the stars." Lexa gestured to a section filled with dark sky and twinkling stars and amongst it floated the Ark only recognizable to Clarke.

"It is desolate, quiet, and devoid of energy." She moved and Clarke followed raptly biting back her retorts. "Your fall to the ground and the first encampment of your people." The wooden sanctuary and first camp was yet to be painted, but the dark figures around it proved Lexa's theory.

"Here, your first kill in a cloud of yellow, and here, another." Lexa's fingers ghosted from one part of the mural to another. They followed the shadows in the cloud of acid fog, and the depictions of the grounders first seen through her eyes to where her hand brushed the drop ship and the flames burning corpses alive. "Where you proved yourself my adversary."

Her fingers stopped upon a door. It was a door Clarke had yet to paint, and had been saving for last. It was the entrance to Mount Weather. Lexa's hand dropped suddenly and her face leveled. Clarke saw her fingers clench and imagined that she was seeing the same moment in her mind then, the moment they had parted.

May we meet again.

Part of her, a very petty part, wanted to provoke the leader in this moment. To catch her unaware and vulnerable. But that would be assuming Lexa was capable of vulnerability. Clarke shook herself mentally. Of course she was. Lexa was human. At the moment of abandonment at the base of Mount Weather, was the most vulnerable she had ever seen Lexa. And the most conflicted.

Instead, Clarke swallowed and spoke evenly. "Luna invited me to paint this. She put tools in my hands and let me work freely. Working on it helps me think, or not think. It started out as something small, and it just kept growing, like it had a mind of its own."

Lexa nodded. "You create will."

"I do not understand" she returned in Trigedasleng.

"You impart will and desire into being. You impassion the people and create life from pictures and words. You possess many great talents, Klark."

Lexa's eyes burned into hers with gravity. It felt more than just a compliment about her artwork.

"Mochof." Just as Clarke was about to say more, exactly what she would not recall later, a guard from Lexa's procession approached and whispered in her ear.

Lexa nodded and spoke to him quickly in hushed Trigedasleng.

"I must go." She nodded to Clark quickly and almost hesitantly walked away after bestowing a nod and quick glance at the bundle in her arms.

Clarke was left standing alone feeling unsure with the entire encounter. She still wanted to strangle Lexa, but more metaphorically.

"My heads a mess" she sighed nuzzling Jacob. "What am I going to do?"

"You are doing quite well Thelonious. Might I offer you refreshment?"

He neither paused his work nor acknowledged her presence. If he did, he was fearful that he might succumb to her synthetic beauty as he had in the beginning. It was too good to be true. A beautiful home, safety and everything he could ever hope for provided on a moments notice with only one request.

"Thelonious? Are you well?" He clenched his jaw. "I'm sensing high levels of cortisol and epinephrine."

He braced as room temperature hands moved to his shoulders. A new trick of hers. She was vastly intelligent. The more human she appeared, the more he succumbed and she knew it.

"You are tense. Perhaps I might persuade you to rest?"

He nearly groaned as the hands eased the tension of his muscles. He tried to tell himself that it was not real; nothing about her was real. But this place, what he was doing, what she was asking him to do, was very real. And his friends and people were very real. All of them completely human and their fragile existence were in jeopardy. He was the one threatening the entirety of the human race. Sometimes he tried to forget, and sometimes he succeeded, but not today.

He was not fooled by her kindness. Optimal conditions of his body and mind were her primary directive, among other things.

He stood abruptly and her hands dropped idly to her sides against red chiffon. Always a red dress.

"I'm going to rest."

He did not want to see her calm and knowing smile. He counted it as a victory, but he knew it was only a matter of time. At least she needed him still. She could not afford to lose him. He found it amusing how she thought herself evolved beyond human beings, and yet required their services.

"…a living faith will last in the midst of the blackest storm."

Faith had brought him here; perhaps it would allow him to escape as well.

The celebration tonight was in full swing. If possible it was more exuberant than last evenings, and it had only just begun. Clarke bounced Jacob on her knee from her seat at Luna's side and on the other side sat Lexa. She tried to relax as Jacob was prone to fuss when her moods were unsteady. She was unsure about bringing him, especially after the events at city hall, but India said nothing would be a miss and she was bringing her youngest this evening as well. In fact, there were children everywhere.

Clarke was wearing a similar garb as when the convey arrived yesterday, but instead of a leather breast plate and shoulder covering, it was made of some light but durable metal of a dusty gold coloring. The color of the dress was also a shade of blue she favored.

The meal had yet to be served, and would not until Lexa lit the ceremonial bonfire signifying the unity of the Coalition. Clarke could not help sneaking glances at her; she was an imposing figure. She wore paint around her eyes, different from her typical war shade, but it made her look mysterious and powerful rather than frightening. A small golden circlet covered her forehead and her neck seemed impossibly long with the wide shoulders of her dark jacket.

As Lexa held up her hand the guards silenced the crowd. Jacob began to fuss and Clarke bounced him against her knee to calm him, but his sniffles could still be heard. Her cheeks reddened when Lexa raised a delicate eyebrow, but Clarke set her chin stubbornly and tucked him against her breast. Lexa smirked and walked to the unlit bonfire receiving a large torch from one of her men. Turning, she addressed the crowd. Her silhouette was bright in the moonlight.

"People of Leston. In fire, we cleanse the pain of the past and in fire we are reborn anew. Once, we were separate, divided by war, but no longer. Today we celebrate the forging of the Coalition and remember the sacrifices of the dead and those of the living that allow us to gather the strength required to defeat our enemies."

Her voice grew loud and ardent and the crowd roared in response encouraged by her powerful words. Clarke could not take her eyes away from the dark beauty. She had forgotten how magnetic her presence was. Lexa's hand drew up sharply and a hush fell over the populace.

Her voice thundered loudly in the night. "We have saved our people from the clutches of the Men under the Mountain." More cheers followed. "They will no longer threaten the lives of our children."

Victory stands on the back of sacrifice.

Clarke was happy that the Trigedakru felt safe once more, even at the cost of innocent lives. They would never know of people like Maya who had fought for their lives. Clarke vowed to tell them one day, and let the memories of the kind souls live on.

None of us is innocent.

Few people asked how peace was obtained. Many of them would never know the sacrifices their leaders made to ensure their safety, to protect their families. Clarke stared hard at Lexa and her eyes softened briefly. Great leaders were called, and also made in times of desperation. Clarke had been desperate when she pulled the lever that irradiated level five.

I bear it so they don't have to.

Lexa's hazel eyes met Clarke's unwavering blue. There was something determined and indecisive in her eyes, but Clarke could think of little that would make the Commander hesitate.

"And they never will again." Lexa spoke quietly, and Clarke imagined it was directly to her. Her voice rose once more and scanned each face. "For among us is a fierce warrior, a star that fell from the sky in a ball of fire and burned our enemies until they were no more!"

The voices rose and Clarke shifted uncomfortably at the eyes landing upon her.

"Sit still, be strong." Luna ordered from besides her and Clarke buried her fingers into her thighs instead.

"To celebrate our forging, it is my will that the leader of the Sky People commence the festivities."

The sudden switch to English caught her attention first, and in the next moment the words registered. Luna had prepared her for this moment, but still Clarke was surprised. It was considered a great honor to stand besides the Commander as a unified front to kindle the flames of unity. As she understood, it was customary for Lexa to perform the act unaccompanied.

India's voice and gentle arms taking Jacob stirred Clarke into action. She stood calmly and walked towards Lexa as the onlookers were strangely quiet. She ignored Luna's approving gaze and Rebekah's awful expression as she passed. She never once took her eyes away from the woman before her. Lexa held the torch beseechingly and their hands brushed as Clarke accepted the burning flame. Her eyes furrowed as Lexa refused to relinquish the torch. She realized by the look in her eyes that Lexa was not going to let go anytime soon. The flame was warm against her face.

Filling her lungs with air, she raised her voice and thought of her friends and family. She thought of the unending cycle of destruction and chaos that somehow belonged to the race of human beings and the beauty and innocence worth preserving.

"An enemy has been defeated, not by one hand, but because of many. United we stand strong. We have learned to save ourselves by refusing to yield even as we are beaten and unable to stand. May our fight be long and our hearts never falter."

Together, hands overlapping, they lit the bonfire.

AN: Thank you for following and reviewing. I greatly appreciate all of you. I look forward to hearing from you and I hope you enjoy the next few chapters filled with Clexa.

There are dark shadows on the earth, but its lights are stronger in the contrast.

-Charles Dickens

If patience is worth anything, it must endure to the end of time. And a living faith will last in the midst of the blackest storm.

Mahatma Gandhi

Translations

Chon ste der- who is there

Mochof- thank you

Ai laik Klark kom Skaikru – I am Clark of the Sky People

Skai prisa – sky princess

Ai badan yu op en nou moun – I serve you and no other

Yu laik yuj- You are strong

Hod op- wait

Shop of – quiet

Jus drein jus daun- blood must have blood

Floudonkru – Boat people

Your fight is not over - Yu gonplei ste nou odon

Splita-outcast, outsider,

Hosa-horse, rider

Skayon-Sky person, arker

Sen in –hear, listen

Sad kiln-make a firm choice, decide clearly

Pleni-enough

Nami-feel me? Know what I mean, understand?

Mounin- welcome

Houmon- wife, husband, spouse

Haukom- how come, why

Heya, hei- hi, hello,

Gon we- leave, go away

Fisa-healer

Chil daun-stand down

Azgeda – Ice nation

Yumi-you and I, you and me

Yongon, ones own child, young one

Hod in- love,

Hodnes- in love