A/N: I decided to change the rating from T to M after the last chapter, just to be sure. I hope that's okay with everyone :)
The sun was already high in the sky when they awoke. For a moment Lexa felt unsettled; as the Commander she often rose early, and it did not befit her to sleep in. But as she rolled on her side and saw two bright blue eyes staring back at her, all that fell away.
"Hi," she said, voice hoarse from sleep.
Clarke was smiling, her head resting on her hand as she looked down at Lexa.
"Hi," she replied.
"Have you been awake for long?" Lexa asked her.
"Long enough to know that you look adorable when you're sleeping."
"I am not adorable," Lexa frowned - which, in Clarke's opinion, just proved her point.
Clarke raised an eyebrow and smirked. "You sort of are, Commander."
Lexa grumbled something and turned around, curling once more into the furs and closing her eyes, deciding that a few more minutes wouldn't hurt. She felt Clarke wrap an arm around her middle and press her face into the back of her neck. Lexa smiled.
And Clarke smiled too. Because Lexa had given her so much - most of which she was sure she didn't deserve - and now she was lying here, pressed against the girl she was fairly sure she loved on a beautiful, late morning.
"Thank you," Clarke whispered, pressing a kiss to her neck. Lexa laced her fingers around Clarke's on her stomach.
"No. Thank you, Clarke."
"So…You and Lexa, huh?" Raven asked with a raised eyebrow, bumping her shoulder into Clarke. Clarke focused on the empty cups she was collecting and hoped that her blush didn't show too much.
Raven chuckled. "Good for you, Griffin. If she makes you happy, then I'm happy for you too."
"Yeah… She does," Clarke mumbled. Raven glanced at her, a knowing smile on her face, and moved around to the other side of the table.
"You might want to talk about this with your mom, though. I'm not sure she knows about how serious you guys are, and more or less thinks that Lexa's simply been patching you up to be a leader again. And I'm not sure how she feels about that, either."
Clarke frowned, silently wondering how much her mother had picked up from what was going on between them. She was considering her words as Raven picked up a stack of empty plates and went to carry them into the Ark. A little while later, she came back out with Monty and Jasper who she had apparently dragged out of bed.
"You guys wanted a party, remember? Help me clean this shit up so Abby might not kill us if we ever ask for one again."
They grumbled something, but started helping around camp anyway.
"How are you not dying with a hangover headache?" Clarke asked her, feeling a slight heaviness above her own eyes and knowing that her friends had been drinking much more than her.
"Oh believe me, I am," Raven said, slumping down on one of the benches. "I've had worse though."
At that moment Octavia walked out of her tent and Clarke realized that it could, indeed, be much worse.
"You guys are cleaning?" Octavia grunted in disgust, walking towards them. She squinted her eyes against the sun and her hair frizzled around her head. "It is way too early for that." She spotted Lincoln as he exited the tent as well.
"Well, only one way to deal with a hangover on the ground," Octavia sighed. "Lincoln! Come fight with me!" Her face wrinkled in pain at the volume of her own voice and she swayed a little on her feet but dragged him confidently to the training ground, leaving her friends sitting near the table.
"Yeah," Raven said, "I think I'm just gonna stick to old-fashioned aspirins."
Clarke decided to take Raven's advice and went to find Abby. After all, it was about time she talked things out with her mother. She found her in her room, apparently working on Medical administration behind her desk.
"Hey, mom?"
"Clarke," her mother shot up from her desk with a smile. "Is everything all right?"
Clarke nodded. "I was hoping we could talk." Abby nodded and Clarke closed the door behind her. She moved to sit on the cot and faced her mother, who had sat back down in the chair.
"Did you sleep well?" her mother asked, and Clarke's ears immediately burned as she nodded, trying to hide her smile.
"Well, I'm really glad you've been feeling better. I've missed you, hunny."
Clarke swallowed. This was not what she came to talk about, and she didn't want to think about it, but she knew it was inevitable.
"Yeah, I'm sorry," she said, again apologizing for the hurt she had caused by shutting everyone out and letting herself wallow in grief. "I shouldn't have pushed you away like that. I know you were just trying to help."
It was quiet for a while, both unsure of what to say.
"I wanted to talk to you about Lexa," Clarke began. About me and Lexa, she wanted to add, but she was cut off by her mother before she could continue.
"I'm glad the Commander was able to talk to you, Clarke. I guess she was one of the few people who knew what to say to get through to you."
"To get through to me?" Clarke frowned, suddenly feeling defensive. "I didn't really need anyone to get through to me, I knew perfectly well what had happened and was quite aware that we won the war."
"That's not what I meant, Clarke. I just mean that she was the right person to help you get through a hard time, and I'm happy that she did."
Clarke averted her eyes to the floor, forcing her breathing to calm down. "She sort of did more than simply help me through a hard time. She went out of her way to make me feel better." Clarke bit her lower lip. "We've been spending time together and I think that maybe I could finally find some peace - with her." She swallowed, preparing herself for whatever reaction this was going to get her. "She makes me happy, mom."
Abby simple stared at her for a while, not sure of what to say and not sure she completely understood what her daughter was getting at.
"Clarke, I understand that you and Lexa share some sort of connection and I think it's great that she's been able to help you so much. But don't forget what she's capable of. She's still the Commander who sent 300 warriors to kill you and ordered Finn's death. Don't tell me you've forgotten what she's like," Abby argued.
"No, mom," Clarke said, feeling her stomach turn. "In fact, I've only just realized what she's really like, and it is not the heartless savage you make her out to be. You can't keep blaming her for what happened in the past, and Finn sentenced himself to death - you know that. She cares for both our people and she cares for me. I hope you'll be able to see that too, one day." When her mother didn't reply, Clarke left the room without saying anything else.
A little while later, Lexa sat down next to her in the circle around the fire pit. Clarke looked up and smiled, but Lexa had noticed the frown that had been on her face.
"What's wrong?" she asked, about ready to kill whoever had brought this discontentment to Clarke.
"Nothing," Clarke answered, shaking her head. Lexa nodded, it was obvious Clarke didn't want to talk about it.
"Is Octavia feeling ill?" Lexa asked suddenly. "I noticed she was rather unstable on her feet during training, which seems unlike her."
Clarke chuckled under her breath. "No, she just has a bit of a hangover from yesterday. She'll be fine."
When Lexa looked confused, probably wondering what in the world a hangover could be, Clarke added, "From the alcohol. She drank too much and now her head hurts." That seemed to clear things up and Lexa nodded in understanding. Skaikru and their weaknesses.
"The council meeting was two days ago. It won't be long until I must leave for Polis," Lexa mused. Clarke looked at her, but she didn't continue.
"You're leaving?" Clarke asked quietly, like she hadn't always known that Lexa wouldn't stay here forever.
Lexa nodded. "I'm leaving Arkadia. But maybe I don't have to leave you." Lexa faced her. "Come with me, Clarke."
Smiling, Clarke nodded. Of course she would come with Lexa. It had popped into her head multiple times lately, although they hadn't really talked about it in definite terms. The Ark barely felt like home anymore, and maybe a visit to the Capitol was just what she needed. Maybe staying with Lexa was what she needed.
Lexa gave her a warm, relieved smile, glad that Clarke had agreed. In all honesty, she wasn't sure she could find it in herself to leave if Clarke wouldn't come with her. She would try and make up excuses to stay, and then probably would have to leave anyway at Indra's insistence (Commander's duty and all that), but her heart would ache - although she would never admit that.
"I'm going to Polis," Clarke murmured, as if saying it out loud would make it seem less surreal.
"Clarke's going to Polis?!" Octavia slumped down next to them around the fire pit, Raven following close behind. "Let me come too, Heda, beja."
"I would expect no less of you, Seken kom Indra," Lexa responded, and it made Octavia flash a big grin as she nodded her head in thanks.
"Well then, I'm tagging along as well and there's nothing you can do to stop me," Raven stated with a smirk and Lexa was going through all the ways that she could, in fact, stop Raven from coming with them (including tying her up to a tree or stealing her brace while she slept), but Clarke agreed that she should join them and Lexa realized there was no reason for her not to.
"Abby's gonna love this, her daughter running off with the Commander to the big, shiny capitol," Raven remarked, grinning at her own sarcasm.
Lexa swallowed and realized that she was probably going to have to speak to the Chancellor about taking her people to Polis. Surely Clarke and her friends could make these decisions for themselves, but as a fellow leader Lexa still felt she should inform Abby. It would be the respectable thing to do.
Lexa sighed. She was not looking forward to that conversation.
