May We Meet Again
Chapter 14
Mitchsen
Rating: M

"I just…. I can't do this Beca." Aubrey complained, picking the wooden sword up off the ground.

"Yes, you can. It's hard, I know, but you can at least get the basics down. I don't expect you to use swords regularly but knowing the tactics my clan will use will be helpful in countering them." Beca reasoned with the blonde. Honestly, Beca didn't fault Aubrey for struggling with the weapon. She didn't have a particular talent for swords either. She much preferred daggers and the bow.

"I guess you're right. Let's go again." Aubrey sighed. Beca stiffly nodded before she and Aubrey stood opposite each other, blades drawn. Beca could see the calculating look in Aubrey's eyes, a true testament that even after all this time. Aubrey was still analyzing Beca's movements and predicting her actions. Something that she struggled with initially.

Beca took the first move, this time, jabbing forward slightly to provoke a response. Beca had learned over time that Aubrey was an extremely patient fighter. She would wait an indefinite amount of time for her opponent to make a move. In and of itself, that wasn't a bad thing. But Beca had learned that playing the waiting game took time out of training sessions. And since they had very little time, all of it was precious.

Beca stepped forward into her jab and Aubrey easily deflected it off to the right, pushing the brunette back. And she followed through, swinging left at the brunette's side. Beca managed to sidestep the swipe and catch Aubrey's blade on her own. They exchanged similar blows for the good part of ten minutes before Beca locked blades with Aubrey and overpowered her, shoving her blade down as Aubrey lost her grip on the sword and the wooden blade clattered to the floor.

Aubrey groaned, burying her face in her hands. "That was better that time Aubrey," Beca said, bending down to pick up the fallen sword.

"I just don't have a feel for this Beca. It feels so foreign to me." Aubrey said. Beca gave the blonde a sympathetic look.

"I know what you mean." Aubrey looked up.

"Do you? Because from where I'm standing, you're like a master with a sword." Beca let out a loud laugh.

"I'm hardly a master. I know my way around a sword, sure. But I'm not really that great. I'm very similar to you, which actually has made teaching you a lot easier. You excel with daggers and the bow like I do. My chief always had me play my strengths to cover my weaknesses. Swordplay is definitely not my thing." Beca admitted.

"Great, so if I go up against a swordsperson in your clan I'll get killed in less than ten seconds. Just great." Aubrey groaned. Beca shrugged.

"Not necessarily. If Skaikru lets you be an archer you might easily be able to stay out of the way of our ground fighters." Aubrey pondered that thought.

"I guess you're right about that. Though I can't say I know much about Bumper's plans for defending the camp. I've been mostly missing in action for a while now." She said with a shrug. "I do know that they're planning on low to the ground openings to stick the barrel of a gun through." Beca hissed slightly at the mention of guns. Aubrey frowned. This hadn't been the first time Beca had an adverse reaction to them. "What is it you have against guns?" She asked cautiously.

Beca frowned, thinking about how she wanted to answer the question. Beca looked up through the grating in the ceiling and saw that they had been at training nearly all day and it was coming into late afternoon. Time to call it quits she supposed. So she took both swords and beckoned Aubrey to follow her to the fire pit and sit with her.

After the two sat down, Beca sighed. "Did you have guns on the Ark?" Beca asked. Aubrey nodded. "Then I don't expect you to understand our aversion to them, but just hear me out," Aubrey responded affirmatively.

"Okay."

"You know, just like I do, that the Great War is what threw our world into ruin. It's why you grew up on a space station." Aubrey nodded. "I don't really know the history of the Ark, but down here it was natural selection at its finest. Those rare few that had the genetics to resist the radiation and were lucky enough to avoid the war itself reproduced and eventually the radiation resistance spread to all of us."

"But it was a long process. And still, some of us are born without the immunity or the full protection. Some of us are born with mutations due to the radiation. But that's beside the point. It's been passed down from our ancestors that survived the war and the fallout that ultimately it was the guns and the bombs that started the war. Both are abhorrent to our culture because of that. We kill any member of any clan for using them. You've got to understand that it's against the laws of the Coalition to use guns. Another reason that the Commander feels she needs to get rid of you." Beca finished.

"So you use bows, daggers, swords and whatever else because the use of guns is against your culture?" Aubrey asked for clarification. Beca nodded in affirmation. "I guess I had never thought of it like that." Beca shrugged.

"Living on the Ark, I didn't expect you to. From why I understand they still use guns up there for intimidation. And it's still quite effective." Aubrey nodded.

"Yes, it is. Grounder culture is still foreign to me as ever, but I guess I can understand your reasoning for banning the use. But I don't think you guys are going to convince Bumper and the others to give them up." Beca just snorted.

"That wasn't the intention," Beca said, the lingering implications as clear as day. "So Skaikru, what's your story?" Beca asked conversationally. She had been gathering more and more tidbits of information on the strange group that fell from space. She had been scouting the hunting parties when she wasn't training Aubrey. She didn't have much time left. Only a few days to figure out what she was going to do. She had yet to tell Aubrey of that, but she just couldn't bring herself to tell the blonde. It would shatter the little joy she had found in her life.

"We were the people that escaped to space during the war." Aubrey shrugged. "Back when there were different countries I'm told. A number of the largest and most powerful ones had space stations and were able to launch some of their leadership and their brightest minds into space in order to preserve our species. We obviously didn't know Grounders had survived down here. We thought we were the only ones to survive." Beca chuckled.

"Eventually, all the space stations realized that we needed each other to live and expand so it was a joint effort to combine all the stations into one, which is the Ark. We did what we had to. To survive." Beca nodded. She fully understood that one would do anything they had to to survive. "But up in space, I think we grew cold as a people," Aubrey said sadly.

"I remember stories of life on Earth, the freedom and independence that it had provided. I had always imagined as a kid what it would have been like to grow up on the ground. During that time. What would I have been doing? Going to college or getting a good career. Now on the Ark, it was expected that I'd follow my father into Ark leadership, that is until I got myself arrested." Beca blinked at the vulnerable tone that Aubrey held in her voice. That was the last thing she had expected the blonde to say. Beca looked into the ashes of the fire pit.

"It's not worth thinking about the what ifs. It's worth thinking about the now and the future." Beca said. "What ifs only make you sad. Thinking about the future gives you something to work for and look forward to." Beca said.

"I get your meaning. But what's so great in looking forward to my people being annihilated by yours." Aubrey said bitterly. Beca recoiled a little bit at the statement and the quick change in tone in Aubrey's voice.

"I... " Beca was at a loss for words. She didn't want to make an awkward situation worse, but she needed to come clean at some point. "I wish I could stop the war." She admitted to her own surprise. "But I can't. I don't have that much time left." She said. "I've put it off as long as I can, but I can't go against the Commander and my chief."

"I know you can't. But isn't there some way to come to a peaceful resolution?" Beca raised an eyebrow.

"Even if it were possible, do you think Bumper and his group would agree to it?" She challenged. Aubrey sighed.

"No, I guess you're right. I just… I don't want to lose them." She admitted. "And I don't want to lose you." She whispered, almost inaudibly. In fact, Beca wasn't sure if she was supposed to hear that from how quiet it had been.

"I…." Beca started. "My hands are tied with this Aubrey. I've done all I can do to give you a fighting chance." She said quietly. "Even if I could convince Kommissar and the Commander to make peace and even if it worked, I couldn't stick around." She admitted and she felt an uncomfortable knot tighten in her stomach as the words fell from her mouth.

"Then what are you doing here Beca? Not that I'm not grateful, but you're risking life and limb with this." Aubrey questioned in a somewhat harsh tone. Beca bristled at the comment. "Sometimes what you say, I feel like this is more a burden for you and I'm like your little pity project to alleviate your conscience of destroying my people later this month!" Aubrey nearly exploded.

"Where the fuck is this coming from all of the sudden?" Beca spat back. "I'm doing this because you gave me a fucking chance." Beca's more colorful language coming back with her anger. "You've been the only one of your people to see me for more than a monster. And the only person besides Jesse in my life that has seen me for more than a leader." She nearly yelled. It was amazing how fast Beca's temper could be provoked.

"I want the truth Beca," Aubrey said, lowering her voice. "What are you really doing with me?" Beca took a deep breath to try to calm herself down. She remained silent for a minute or two, she and Aubrey just sat, not speaking.

"Fine, you want the truth?" Aubrey nodded slowly.

"I've never had someone like you in my life. Someone to listen to me. Jesse is awesome, but he's also a guy. He'll never even be able to pretend to understand me on a deeper level. My chief? She's like my step-mom. I can't confide everything in her. There are things that I'd never want to tell her. The Commander? She's only interested in shaping me into a smaller version of herself." Beca said.

"What does that have to do with me?" Aubrey questioned, not seeing the connection. "I can't even comprehend you."

"No, but you listen. And you try to understand me. That makes all the difference. The effort. I've never given you a reason to trust me. Yet you took care of me. And let me go. And trust me every day to not kill you. I'm returning the favor. I trust you. Perhaps against my better judgment, but you can't ignore the gut feeling." Beca finished.

Beca saw a small look of disappointment on Aubrey's face, but as soon as it appeared, it was gone. Replaced by a look of understanding. "Don't you have any girls your age in the clan?" Beca nodded.

"Of course, there are. But the entire clan sees me as a leader. I've been trained and groomed for it since I was young. I grew apart from everyone that could have filled that role. You don't see me as that. I'd go as far as to say that you almost consider me a friend." Beca said, though her insides twinged at the word friend.

"Just a friend…" Aubrey murmured to herself, before responding, "You're right. I do. You're doing more for me than anyone ever has except Chloe. I think it would be hard for me to spend as much time as I do with you and not develop some sort of friendship." Beca nodded. "Sometimes I guess I just wish things were different. That we could have been friends in the past. Before the war." Beca just shrugged.

"Like I said, living in the past or thinking about the what ifs is pointless," Beca said, ever the realist. "But if it's any consolation, I wish for the same thing," Beca added. "It's a shame that we grew up on opposite sides. Maybe if you had been born on the Ground, we could have been more than that." Beca said absentmindedly.

"What do you mean by that?" Aubrey questioned abruptly. Beca winced after she thought about the implications of her words. It wasn't that she denied that could have been a possibility in an alternate reality, but that she had just admitted it.

"I just… Never mind." Beca tried to deflect. But Aubrey wasn't going to let her sidestep this one either.

"I'm serious Beca. I need to know." Beca frowned, feeling defensive at being pushed.

"It's nothing you need to concern yourself with." She snapped, quickly putting Aubrey in a defensive mode.

"What did you mean, 'more than that.'" She pressed. Beca pinched the bridge of her nose. She knew in her heart of hearts that she had more than friendly feelings towards Aubrey. And she knew, very deep down, that she had harbored these feelings for a long time. But she refused to think about the implications. Her life had been simple before Skaikru. And at this point, she just wanted things to go back to simple again.

"I don't want to talk about it," Beca said coldly.

"Well, I do." Aubrey pushed. "I'm not letting this go again. You have to tell me." Being ordered around, in such an insistent tone of voice pushed Beca over the edge. The two had been sitting next to each other near the firepit and without further thought, Beca surged forward, capturing Aubrey's lips with hers. To her surprise, Aubrey didn't flinch away from her or push her away.

The two sat lip locked for a few seconds before Beca snapped herself out of her anger. Coming back to her senses, she knew she had royally fucked the situation up. She had allowed her short temper to get the better of her. Being provoked into acting on impulse. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have." She said bitterly. "That was inappropriate," Beca said, internally kicking herself.

She went to get up from the ground, wanting to separate herself from the awkward and embarrassing situation she found herself in. Aubrey surely didn't feel anything for her besides friendship. Beca was her mentor. Her friend. But as Beca tried to stand, Aubrey grabbed Beca's wrist, pulling her back down and moving in, kissing Beca, a little more passionately than the two had previously.

"Don't. Apologize." Aubrey said after she released Beca's wrist and lips. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to kiss you." Beca's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"Really?" She asked and got a nod in response. 'Well, this makes things a hundred times more complicated for me.' Beca thought to herself.

The two spent a little more time in each other's company. There was a bit of an awkward air between the two of them after the kiss, though, so Aubrey didn't stay for long after, allowing both herself and Beca to get space from the situation and think about it.

The two had established that they had feelings for each other that went beyond simply friends. But neither of them knew what to do about it. Beca was going to be forced into decimating Aubrey's people and there wasn't anything she could do about it. As much as she might want to.

The next couple of days proceeded in much the same way. Aubrey would join Beca at their training spot, work on swordsmanship and when it neared to the late afternoon, the two would stop and talk for a while before Aubrey went back to the Skaikru camp. Though they did avoid the subject of their relationship for those couple of days. And Beca would follow, unknown to her Skaikru pupil of course.

The Grounder would mostly keep to the trees, doing her last bit of scouting of the Skaikru camp and their people. From Beca's observations, they were improving, but not fast enough to be a threat. Beca often sighed to herself. She almost wished that Aubrey's clan would be able to help her. But the blonde was by far the most talented of the bunch, thanks to Beca's training.

One of the things that Beca couldn't believe, however, was that Aubrey's clan was completely oblivious to her improving skill. It wasn't like Aubrey hid it very well. When Bumper and the rest of them were working on combat roles with the rest of the kids, Aubrey often outshone her instructors and yet she was mostly ignored. Beca always shook her head at their stupidity and ignorance. And Beca asked the blonde about it.

"Why does Bumper write you off?" Beca asked while the two sat in front of Beca's makeshift fire pit. Aubrey frowned.

"What do you mean?" Beca almost smacked herself. Aubrey had no idea that the Grounder followed her most days back to her camp.

"I just mean, you never talk about whatever combat training you're doing back there. I figured you still don't hunt with them, even though you are the most skilled. I was just wondering why he doesn't make use of your skills." Beca made up a weak excuse on the spot. Aubrey raised an eyebrow but didn't comment. The Grounder had a feeling that Aubrey knew that she was being followed.

"Bumper and I have never seen eye to eye. Even as kids before he got himself locked up. We lived near each other on the Ark. I don't think he wants to admit I'm better at something physical than him. Back home, I was always the brains and him the brawn. Makes sense I suppose from our upbringing. He was the son of one of the mechanics and I was the daughter of one of the council members. We each had our strengths." Beca scoffed.

"If I was him, I wouldn't let such a talent go to waste. It's such a pity to see that he does." Aubrey frowned.

"So what, you wish things were more difficult for you in this war?" Beca shrugged.

"I admit I had hoped your people would offer a challenge." Aubrey grimaced.

"I wouldn't underestimate them. You might far outmatch us in combat intelligence and technique, but we can more than match your environmental intellect and passion." Beca laughed a little.

"I highly doubt that." She said, a little proudly. Aubrey just shook her head.

"Just a warning. Take it or leave it." Aubrey replied shortly. Beca shrugged again.

"I'll take it into consideration." Beca sighed. "We should discuss…. This." Beca gestured between to the two of them. Aubrey nodded slowly.

"We should. I think we've avoided it long enough." Beca nodded in agreement.

"I... " Beca started but faltered. What could she really say? 'I really like you, but I'm going to be forced to kill you, so we can never happen.' Yeah, that would be really romantic. "I'm sorry," Beca said stupidly. She just couldn't think of anything else to say.

A/N: Somewhat of a cliffhanger until the next chapter where we tackle the kind of real internals of this relationship. Now, this does mirror Lincoln and Octavia, but obviously, I wanted my own spin on the story. Hence why the beginning of this relationship is really raw and uncertain. And frankly a little abrupt.

I will be the first to admit, I'm not 100% happy with this. I wanted a really organic and as I said, raw, start to this relationship. Hence why I didn't drop a lot of foreshadowing of this relationship in the narrative. There have been hints of Beca's feelings for sure throughout the story. I also wanted this story to feel a bit one sided. I usually write from a point of view where you know what all the different parties are thinking. But I've been, purposely, trying to limit the scope of what Aubrey has been thinking unless it was essential to the storytelling aspect. At least in terms of knowing exactly what she's thinking, rather than what Beca is observing.

It's been an adventure for my writing style in this one. A lot of different things from my usual work if any of you follow my other stories. It's been a rough translation though and as I said, I don't think I hit everything I wanted to on the head 100%. But that's what writing is for me. Testing things out and getting feedback from people who enjoy reading my stuff. And if people get enjoyment out of me improving myself, well hey, who am I to complain?

Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. It's a little late because I started a new semester of school this week and I'm going to be hella busy this semester. So chapters will probably come a little slower and probably usually on weekends when I have more time. Mistakes are my own, leave a review if you want. Thanks!

A Charmed Vampire