A/N: Sometimes I will not define the grounder's language intentionally and other times I will define it. You will see that English definition after the sentence in italics.
Chapter 7:
When they arrived at the command center, Lexa separated their hands so she could sit on her throne. She asked Clarke to stand next to her. There were over 20 people in the room. Some were dressed as warriors, but others were not. Clarke guessed they were the advisors or council members.
Lexa spoke in her own tongue and appeared to be incredibly serious. They all listened intently and looked over at Clarke occasionally. There were nods, of course and then Lexa looked over at her.
"I just told them that you're staying in the capital with me and your sanctuary must be upheld. You have been pardoned of any crimes against our people and if anyone else violates the sanctuary, they will pay with their lives as Nadok will pay later in the circle." Lexa took Clarke's hand. Clarke looked around not knowing what to do. "While Clarke is not of our clan, I value her opinion and will consult her about our-"
"Heda, this is unheard of." The voice was Indra's.
"Shof op, Indra. Em pleni!" Lexa's voice was more than authoritative. "Clarke has protected her people above all else. She is a leader and brave warrior who destroyed the Maunon. You will embrace her." Lexa's eyes gave off a glare that made Clarke fear her briefly.
"Sha, Heda." Indra followed.
"Now, let us discuss the Old Ones."
Lexa motioned for one of the people to bring Clarke a chair. It was an oversized stuffed one like the one she'd seen in that house she'd broken into. It was sat next to Lexa's throne and Clarke met Indra's eye. She knew Indra wasn't her number one fan already, but seeing her next to Lexa where Indra thought she should be, probably just made it a lot worse.
They spoke in English only in short bursts. Clarke got tired at trying to keep up so she eventually just stopped entirely knowing Lexa would catch her up later. The meeting took about an hour before Lexa dismissed everyone.
"I'll be right back." Clarke told her while she still sat on her throne. "Indra, hod op."
Indra turned and waited in the doorway reluctantly.
"Sky Girl?"
"I know you and I aren't exactly friends, but if I'm going to stay here, I'd like to at least try to get along. Can we do that?" Clarke tried hopefully. Indra was important to Lexa so Clarke wanted to extend an olive branch.
"I will tolerate your existence in my city, Clarke of the Sky People. I will obey my Commander as is my duty, but that is all."
"Octavia served you well. She-"
"Octavia did not obey as was her duty. She is no more to me." Indra turned to leave.
"Indra, will you at least translate something for me?" Clarke asked in a hushed tone since Lexa was just on the other side of the room.
"Speak your words, Sky Girl."
"What does ai hod yu in mean?"
Indra just laughed. Clarke looked back at Lexa who was looking at the two of them inquisitively.
"It means Heda finally told you." Indra expressed still laughing. "You are not who I would have for her. She should be with her own kind; not someone from the Sky Clan, but as long as you do no harm, I will not interfere." With that Indra was gone. Clarke had it confirmed. She wasn't sure if she felt it back entirely. Was she ready to say those three words it took her so long to say to Finn and even then, she really only said them in part because he was dying by her hand. Lexa loved her. Ai hod yu in meant I love you and Lexa was right. Clarke did know it when she'd said it earlier. Thoughts raced through Clarke's brain. Saying things like that had always been difficult for her even before she landed on the planet. Based on Indra's laughter, she was sure that to some, this kind of expression was seen as frivolous, but Clarke knew what it meant to Lexa to be able to say those words to someone.
"I will speak with Indra." Lexa approached. They were alone in the room.
"It's okay. She's never going to like me. I might as well get used to it."
"She will protect you though."
"I know. She's loyal to you." Clarke agreed.
"Do you still want to go to the circle?" Lexa gave her an out.
Clarke nodded and the two of them started walking that way together. Clarke reached for Lexa's hand as she proceeded down the street hoping that was okay and Lexa took it.
"This is the first time this has happened, Clarke."
"What?" Clarke wasn't sure what she was referring too.
"Commanders do not normally display affection with their houmons in public."
Clarke looked over at her.
"Is that what I am?"
Lexa held back a smile. Clarke could tell now what it looked like when she wanted to express something other than serious authority, but was unable.
"We don't really have a word for what you call boyfriend or girlfriend, but it is what I would like you to be." She looked over at Clarke. "I would like you to be ain."
"Mine?" Clarke translated.
"Yes."
"There's not a ceremony or anything is there?" Clarke worried. She knew she wasn't ready for that.
Lexa again avoided a smile.
"No, that would come later if we chose it. For now, it's enough just to say it."
Clarke thought about how she got here. She recalled Lexa originally mentioning the capital and then the destruction of Mount Weather and then her leaving Camp Jaha for nowhere in particular, but maybe she was always headed here. Maybe she was destined, if she believed in anything like that, to end up in the capital with Lexa, the girl who's hand felt like it fit so perfectly in her own.
"Okay."
Lexa stopped walking and turned toward her.
"We are stronger together than we are apart, Clarke." She placed her hand on Clarke's cheek and leaned in connecting their lips. It was a brief kiss and nothing like the ones dripping with passion they shared before, but it was enough to get the attention of the hundreds of people walking toward the circle alongside them. "Now, they know."
"That I am yours?"
"That we belong to each other."
Clarke let out a small smile and they continued walking in the direction of the circle.
When they arrived, it looked like an outdoor amphitheater built into the ground so that the top level of seats was actually at ground level and you had to walk down into the earth to get to other levels and the center, which was an open round space. Tonight there were gallows awaiting someone to hang. Lexa walked down the aisle way. People parted as she processed with her guards and Clarke at her side. We made our way down to the center and she walked Clarke to the side to sit. She did and watched the rest of the crowd join and then hush almost immediately when Lexa raised her hand. A boy who looked to be able as old at Clarke was brought down one of the aisles and was pushed to kneel in front of his Commander.
"Yu don ge finga au, Nadok. Ron ai ridiyo op." Lexa ordered Nadok to confess.
"Disha Skaikru ste nouseim, mou bilaik Maunon kom oso." Nadok replied.
Clarke didn't know what that meant.
"Jomp em op en yu jomp ai op." Lexa replied. Clarke remembered hearing those words the day Gustus tried to get the grounders out of the alliance. It meant something like if they're against me, they're against her. "You want her dead, you speak her words." She pointed at me. Nadok looked over toward me.
"My people suffered because of you."
"You do not speak for the clans. I do. Do you believe you would make a better Commander than me?" She asked him.
"No, Heda. My family is dead."
"Many families are dead. That is war. There is sacrifice in war. Every warrior of our clan knows this."
Nadok dropped his head.
"I am to die, Heda. Kill me now. I have confessed."
"Very well."
Lexa motioned for two armed warriors to lift Nadok up and take him to the gallows.
"Heda!" Nadok screamed as he was carried.
Lexa walked over to Clarke and sat beside her. She leaned in to whisper in her ear.
"If I show mercy, people will see me as vulnerable. They will think they can disobey, but know that I wish I could be merciful sometimes."
Nadok had a noose applied and without ceremony, he was dropped to hang. Clarke closed her eyes, but resisted the urge to turn her head. She didn't want the grounders to see her as having mercy either.
"Join me out back?" Lexa asked as they walked through the front door of the house they were sharing.
It was dusk and after the hanging, there was no need for either of them to stick around so they came back to the house. Lexa followed Clarke as they walked to her favorite spot in the capital.
"What's this?" Clarke asked when she saw a blanket spread out in front of the water with food on top of it.
"I often have my evening meal out here." She recalled their eating in tents as compared to eating in a house, which was a new thing for both of them.
They sat and enjoyed their meal alone together. The sun had set and they were still sitting outside listening to the sounds of the woods. The crickets chirping, the wolves or other animals howling, the water rushing joined in unison to create music. Clarke looked to see that Lexa, who'd been silent for the last several minutes, had her eyes closed. Clarke stared at her and noticed that the black make up was now slightly smeared from wear. Lexa's eyes opened and caught her stare.
Clarke reached for a cloth they'd been using as a blanket and knelt in front of Lexa before Lexa straightened her legs and Clarke straddled them.
"No more war tonight." Clarke dipped the cloth in Lexa's cup of forgotten water and started to wipe away her war paint. Lexa watched her movements as she did and put her hands on Clarke's stomach under her shirt. She slid them around her back and held onto that spot until Clarke's cloth was more black than white. The two stared at one another for a moment and Clarke's arms went around her neck. "My father used to tell me stories." She began. "He was my favorite storyteller." She smiled and Lexa rubbed her back as she spoke. "He told me about what the ark was like when he was young and when his parents were young. I never met them. They died before I was born. He was funny and smart and I looked up to him. My favorite story was the one about how he got my mother to marry him."
"Clarke, I haven't asked about your mother. I'm sorry. How-"
"She's fine. She was taken by the mountain. They tried to take her marrow, but we got her out." Clarke explained then stopped herself. She realized she hadn't yet recounted the whole story in detail to Lexa. She'd only received pieces and nightmares. "I don't want to talk about it now." Lexa nodded in agreement and continued moving her hands up Clarke's back. "They met in school. The population was dwindling so there weren't as many kids around. My dad was a few years older, but they were in the same class. They both apprenticed in science and then my mom chose medical and my dad chose engineering." Clarke ran her hands through Lexa's hair. "They were in the cafeteria one day. He hadn't seen her in a couple of years. Once you're in your field, you spend all your time with the others you work with and with your family. She was smiling and laughing and he said he fell for her then. He walked right up to her table and sat down next to her. She was surprised and told him to leave. He just kept looking at her and eventually she just laughed again and he said she should marry him."
"Just like that?"
"Just like that. He told her she deserved better, but that she wouldn't find it on the ark since eligible men were hard to come by. She laughed at that too. They left the cafeteria together and were married a few months later. I came along shortly after."
Lexa just stared up at her and continued to move her hands up and down. "Do you know why I'm telling you this?"
"No, but I'm glad you did."
"It was your smile." Clarke started. She stared into Lexa's eyes; bore into them to make sure Lexa would pay attention to this part. "That's when I knew. I felt it in parts too, but it all added up when I saw you smile the first time the other day. A real smile and you laughed and you became more than the Lexa I knew at camp, in battle, leading her people. That's when I knew. Ai hod yu in. I love you." She gulped after saying it, wondering if it was too soon after the mountain; if she was really ready and able to love again after what happened and Lexa leaving her alone to fight the battle, but there was something brewing inside her that made her confident in what she was saying and that she could be ready to be with Lexa despite what had happened. She hadn't planned on saying it back. The whole monologue she'd just delivered came out of nowhere, but in the moment, it felt right. She trusted the declaration. She trusted herself, which after what happened at the mountain, was a feeling she welcomed with open arms.
Lexa smiled so big it was if her eyes were smiling too. She pulled Clarke in and kissed her as passionately as she'd done before. Clarke moved them so they could lie down on the blanket and pulled off her jacket and shirt. Lexa was wearing a similar black shirt to the white one she was wearing this morning and with Clarke on top of her it would take too long to have her move to take it off so Clarke just pulled from the top and tore it in half. Lexa smiled. That must be that passion part she liked so much. Clarke locked their lips again while Lexa fumbled with Clarke's belt until it was undone and her pants could be unbuttoned. Clarke slid her hand inside Lexa's pants. Lexa's breath hitched the moment Clarke's now confident fingers started working. This time, it was all heat. There was no build up. It was all about getting her there. She moved awkwardly for a moment until she could get her fingers inside and then used her other hand to try to slide Lexa's pants down. She wasn't able to, but she got them down far enough to be able to move her fingers in and out faster, which is really all she cared about.
Lexa's sounds began to cover up the music of nature they'd been so enamored by earlier. Clarke watched her face as she came and felt more turned on by the second. Lexa quickly flipped them over and yanked Clarke's pants all the way off. It didn't take her long to move her face between Clarke's legs and use her tongue to make Clarke feel the way she'd just made her feel. Clarke had to grip the blanket the faster Lexa's tongue moved. Lexa worked until Clarke's muscles tightened and her sounds drowned out all others. Lexa lifted her head and Clarke opened her eyes.
"That was…" She started and then her head flopped right back down on the blanket and she was unable to speak. Lexa giggled and moved back on top of her.
"That was what?" She asked kissing her neck.
Clarke just sighed and Lexa took that as her answer.
"Come on." Clarke started to move and Lexa didn't know where too so she just let her get up. She watched as her naked body jumped into the pool and submerged herself. Lexa stood, removed the rest of her clothing and climbed in slowly. Clarke emerged just in time to press Lexa against the side of the pool and their lips met immediately. "This is what I meant, by the way?"
"Chit?" Lexa asked. What?
"About not just surviving."
Lexa pulled her in and kissed her again. She knew that no matter what else happened, she could do this. Her life could be about more than just surviving.
