A/N: This chapter had me conflicted. There's an important scene here and I really wanted to write it like the rebels see it: in a blur, something that isn't clear until it's over. I hope it wasn't too bad. I'm thinking about going back to it in the next chapter through the character's memory and emotions so that I can portray the scene a little better, actually write about what happened. Would you like that? As always, let me know!

Framed by "... ..." are Clarke's memories, just in case it got you confused.

There must be SO many mistakes, but I was in a hurry to publish this *shy smile*

I mostly use the italic for sentences written in English but meant to be in another language, be it Trigedasleng or Italian. And if there are no " " it's someone's thoughts.

Also... I'm looking for a beta to go over the story and help me with a few points and to get new ideas, so if you want to help me, contact me on tumblr my username is justawordunsaid or on twitter Sara_NobodyO

If you like it, please leave a review! Enjoy!


Chapter Twenty-Seven: Wanheda

Clarke reaches the bed and breaks, she starts crying and sobbing, struggling to keep quiet as not to draw attention from outside. She knows Aeryn would immediately know what's going on and would come to her, and she doesn't want it. The Ice girl has lost a close friend, a family member, and although Clarke feels her chest constricted and it's hard to breath, she knows it would be selfish to take Aeryn's comfort when the girl must be grieving even more than her.

She has done everything she could, she has prepared the rebels for the attack, if they want to have a chance at saving Nyx they need to attack soon, they can't wait for the Moon warriors. They are going to get Nyx back, then they can attack, and if they don't manage to get her back, they will destroy the Queen's guard and kill the Queen for good. She knows that the rebels will stop at nothing now, they lost the woman they looked up to, the woman who pushed them to fight for their freedom, the woman who put her life on the line for years just to protect them. Now their feelings are what can give them the power to win. Clarke knows it, but she also knows that she cannot risk Nyx's life.

And that's why Malaya is the only one who knows the whole plan. Because she's the one Clarke trusts the most to see it done.

Now she allows herself to grief, now she allows herself to think about Nyx and the friendship they have built. She lets the memory lull her to sleep just to jerk her back to awareness.

She goes back to those few days before leaving Cristallo, when Nyx had trained with Clarke, Faith and Wit in the forest.

... ...

Nyx is playing with Faith while training her, Wit laughing with Clarke, then Malaya joins in, scolding them for fooling around instead of practicing, and Nyx and Faith attack her, starting a game Wit soon joins. All three of them against Malaya, Clarke watching surprised at how Malaya plays along, faking a scowl on her face that doesn't hide the amusement in her eyes.

Wit calls for backups as Malaya manages to disarm him, he looks at Clarke pleading and she laughs, Faith attacks Malaya from behind, but the older rebel is quick and fights her off. Nyx jumps out of nowhere to aid Faith and Wit is suddenly on his feet again, trying to overpower Malaya with a small dagger, having lost his sword.

When Nyx is about to disarm Malaya, Clarke joins in, her sword clashing with the brunette's as she protects Malaya's back. Faith gives her a dumbfounded look and she throws her a wink before catching Nyx's smirk. She got distracted and the rebel is about to strike her, when Malaya switches them and blocks Nyx's blow, leaving her to fight off Wit and Faith.

They dance around each other until Clarke manages to disarm Wit and push him to the ground, with Faith cornered and forced into surrender by Malaya, the two allies approach Nyx together, Clarke's grin firmly in place and a smirk barely showing on Malaya's face. Nyx doesn't give, confidently twirling her sword at them. Soon Malaya disappears from sight and Clarke is left to fend for herself.

As Nyx is about to win, Clarke struggling under the fierce attack, the brunette sends Clarke a kiss before delivering the last blow that is suddenly blocked by Malaya, who managed to make Nyx lose track of her surroundings long enough to sneak behind her back, disarming her from behind.

Nyx is turning around in protest when Clarke points her sword at her chest, breathing heavily from the fight. Nyx looks at her in shock as if she expected Clarke to let her face Malaya for a last chance at winning, then she bursts out laughing.

Clarke lets her sword fall to the ground before she is tackled by a laughing Faith and Wit who scream in victory, claiming that they only needed to wait for her to be too tired and bring her down. Clarke has no strength left to push them off and is grateful when Malaya forcefully pulls them off her, smacking Wit on the head as Nyx goes to ruffle Faith's hair, the girl trying to escape the gesture.

The blonde stays on the ground, looking happily at her new friends, laughing together as a family, and she realises how lucky she is to be included in their dynamics.

... ...

Clarke lets herself smile between tears.

... ...

Aeryn wants to dance, and when she wants something she gets it. At first she forces Chayim to dance with her, but then declares that he's boring, so she pulls Faith up from her seat where she had been gossiping about everyone and they dance for a while, fooling around the fire happily. After a while though she tries to get Nyx and Clarke to join in. Clarke relents after a short while, because she knows better than refuse Aeryn, Nyx puts up more of a fight, but eventually she is dragged in the middle of the others by Aeryn and Wit, Clarke shrugging and pushing her from behind, shooting her a half-apologising look as Nyx glares at her.

Soon Clarke understands why Faith said it's so funny to watch Nyx dance, or, one would better say, attempt to.

After a few clumsy attempts at swinging her body around, the brunette rebel claims she hasn't had enough alcohol for this and retrieves a full glass from Kora, who's still sitting down. When she joins them again, she's dragging the other girl with her, hoping to share the embarrassment. But Kora smiles sweetly at her and start dancing all around her, making Nyx grunt annoyed.

"Why does every girl have to flirt with me?" she slurs tipsy. All around people laugh, some of the women pointing out that she would do a great lesbian. Nyx flips them off and starts a very embarrassing dance with Goral as both of them are drunk, awful dancers.

Kora has found a girl and is all over her already, the girl not seeming to mind one bit, and Clarke is dancing with Faith, the girl urging her to move faster, wilder. Until the brunette from earlier approaches and Faith gets pushed toward her by a smirking Clarke.

There is a loud cheering as Katarina approaches Malaya and literally forces her up and into a dance. What shocks Clarke the most is how beautiful of a dancer Malaya is. The couple moves extremely gracefully, twirling around each other, the flame casting shadows to join them in the heavenly dancing. They move as if nobody else existed, lost in their world, eyes locked with each other, fierceness in their gaze and passion in their movements. They mesmerise everyone with their confident moves, then Aeryn joins them and the dance turns erotic, the three of them find their way comfortably around each other, hands brushing and bodies alight, it seems like they know each other's body in intimate ways and recall private dances in that more chaste one.

Clarke feels herself starting to heat up as Aeryn looks her way and throws her a lust-filled smile. The Ice girl then leaves her companions and reaches for Clarke's hand, pushing her body flush against the blonde's, her hands find their way into wild dirty hair and Clarke complies as Aeryn leads her into another dance. This time it's slow, Aeryn lets her swing gently as she twirls around Clarke, hands never leaving the blonde's body-

"And I get the cute girl!" they hear Faith shout, unaware of the loudness of her voice, she's facing Xavier and staring him off. The girl behind her, who just kissed Faith, is blushing profusely and trying to pull Faith away from her contest with the boy.

Xavier just laughs at her drunkenness and retorts "Well then, I'll just go get Wit and Chayim, they always like some good fun", he wriggles his eyebrows at her and gets the reaction he wanted.

She lets go of the girl she has been eyeing all night and jumps up victoriously "I knew it! I knew you three banged each other!"

They all watch amused as Xavier pulls a girl close, kisses her gently and then turns to Faith again. "Looks like you lost your buddy for the night", he laughs louder as she twirls around to see the girl walking away. She turns toward him shocked and can't seem to put a sentence together before she decides to cut it and runs after the girl.

They all laugh again as they watch a very drunk Faith try to convince the girl to come back.

"Who let her drink?" Nyx asks from behind Clarke, her own drunkenness subsiding a little.

Xavier looks away and hurries off to another fire to join some friends and Goral attempts to take some silent steps back, but Nyx catches him and slaps him in the back of the head. He looks up at her and shrugs "Ops".

"Well, Faith was right about Katarina and Malaya apparently though" Clarke says after a while, sitting again, Aeryn at her side with her head on Clarke's shoulder. Aeryn simply nods and Clarke tells her amused, "And I think you know a lot about it, huh?"

Aeryn just smiles up at her and plants a chaste kiss on Clarke's cheek before resting against her shoulder again, almost dozing off to sleep.

... ...

As sleep is finally taking her, her brain conjures few last scenes.

... ...

"Not everyone. Not you"

"We won't take deals, Clarke."

Lexa steps back, until her back hits the table, then green eyes struggle to focus, caught up in blue ones. Clarke can see all of her then.

Nyx's back hits a tree and she uses a branch to lift herself up and avoid Clarke's kick. Then, from that same branch, she smiles at Clarke and tells her she almost got her.

Lexa and Clarke talk about fighting skills, Lexa offers to train Clarke in hand to hand combat. They spend an afternoon fighting, Clarke is tired at the end of the day, but Lexa gives her a small smile and assures her she has done good. They eat together and later, when they are about to march against the Mountain, Lexa has an armour for her.

Nyx picks up a dagger, she's silent for a long time before she tells Clarke the weapon's story. It was her mother's. she tells Clarke about her family, she opens up as Clarke has done when she told her about her father, about Wells, about Lexa. At the end of the story, Nyx gives her the dagger.

Clarke doesn't take the armour.

Clarke accepts the dagger and ties it carefully at her side.

"I made this choice with my head and not my heart"

"You are my people".

... ...

Sleep finally takes her and dreams of happy moments and possibilities dance before her closed eyes, never to be reached.


The rebels follow her like they followed Nyx, they wait for her orders, slowly advancing on the royal palace. Silently, they take out soldiers in the streets near by, getting closer and closer, until they stop just outside the gardens that surround the palace. They avoid the guards, hide in the shadows, wait for Clarke's signal to attack.

They don't know they're alone, Clarke told them their friends from the other camps would join them soon, they don't know Clarke never meant for the attack to happen today.

They are ready to fight and die for their Nation, for their people, family, friends, they're ready to put their lives on the line for Nyx, for Clarke, ready to follow the Sky Princess to their death. They don't know she doesn't mean to be the one leading them to victory.

Clarke looks at the unkempt gardens, still able to see the gracefully powerful beauty that once was, she catches it in the light shining through stubborn leaves, that refuse to fall, the spirit of Ice still breathes beneath the darkness the Queen has cast upon the lands. She feels the power of this Nation roll off in waves of heat from the people behind her, the people who have her back right now, ready to fight.

She looks around, she can see the people she has come to call her own, they're all waiting for her to do something, waiting for a gesture, anything to tell them that the war has begun. But she doesn't do anything, she stares in all the eyes she can see, until her gaze meets Malaya's and there's a sadness, a hurt, there Clarke didn't expect.

Turning around she can see Xavier, Goral, Katarina, Rokh, Jivin, Chayim and Wit, they all came thinking they would get Nyx back fighting the guards, they know nothing of what Clarke has discussed with Malaya, they look at her and nod, smile, grin, each of them offering her support in their own way. Wit smiles reassuringly, Chayim grins at her, Xavier gives her thumbs up, Katarina offers a solemn nod, Jivin and Rokh smile, Goral sends a little wave. They are all there for her and Clarke feels comforted.

That morning, saying goodbye to Aeryn was hard, it felt like a small betrayal not telling the girl what she was really going to do. She left Malaya a message for the others, to say goodbye.

Aeryn had kissed her good luck, hugging her fiercely as Clarke weakly returned the embrace. The Ice girl had asked if she felt okay, saying she looked off, Clarke had tried to reassure her everything was alright, but the girl's expression when the rebels left the camp was haunted, and Clarke knew she was responsible for that.

Faith has hidden too well for Clarke to see her now, but she search anyway for a glimpse of bronze red hair, not finding any. She sighs, hoping Faith will forgive her, then she stands up and locks eyes with Malaya again. It's time.

... ... . ... ...

Malaya is the only one Clarke could be sure of, the only one Clarke could ask for help, the only one who doesn't waver as she hands Wanheda over to the Queen in exchange for their friend. She trades the person the Queen wants the most for the person they need the most, and Clarke mouths a "thank you" at her before letting the soldiers take her.

Nyx is yelling in protest, she's struggling against the men's hold as they lead her to Malaya, Faith is screaming too, urging her friends to fight, needing to save them both, but Goral holds her back, Rokh puts a hand on her shoulder, understanding. Malaya keeps a straight face, doesn't falter, stoic expression in place, she waits until Nyx is safe among their lines before ordering the retreat.

Her command is met with protests, the rebels want to attack, to take the city as they came here to do. But she shouts louder, she makes them listen, and most of them are too shocked, too happy to have Nyx back, too confused at Malaya's apparent betrayal of their Sky ally to do anything else than obey. They slowly retreat, the Queen watching them with triumph as Clarke is held by two men at her side.

Xavier and Katarina step up to help Nyx, who shrugs off Malaya's hand when the woman tries to support her. Wit and Chayim are silent and still at each other side, they don't move with the others, they watch Clarke nodding slightly at them and Wit can feel tears threatening to escape before Chayim drags him back, pulling him toward safety.

As they make their way back, Faith starts yelling at Malaya, the woman doesn't flinch as the younger girl shouts accuses at her.

... ... . ... ...

"Why did you let her?" is all Nyx asks when they are finally alone in the tent.

Malaya steels herself, "You are the one they need, without you there is no winning this war. She knows that."

Nyx lowers her head, anger still rushing through her as Aeryn silently enters the tent. She hugs Nyx, happy to have her friend back, but there are tears streaming down her cheeks as she checks Nyx's wounds.

"It was her idea, wasn't it?" she whispers, not looking up from a bandaged arm.

Malaya simply nods, knowing the other girl doesn't really need a confirmation. "The plan to attack still stands. But she wanted to wait for the Moon warriors if we could get Nyx back."

"When should they arrive?" Aeryn asks again.

"It shouldn't be long now. A couple of days maybe."

Silence falls then and it's only broken by Nyx as her voice fills with rage and determination. "We are not waiting."

"And what do you plan to do? We can't save her, Nyx. She knew that when she asked my help."

Nyx stands suddenly, shrugging off Aeryn's attempt at getting her to sit down again. "I said, we are. Not. Waiting." she growls. "I don't care if we can't save her, we are going to try."

Malaya snaps at her then, trying to make her see how stupid that would be, how foolish, how it would only make her sacrifice useless.

Faith comes in as they are fighting, almost yelling at each other as Aeryn keeps quiet, knowing better than to interfere. Faith doesn't care though, she comes to stand in between them and turns to Malaya.

Then she punches her in the face.

Malaya doesn't even stumble as her gaze turns gentler looking at the hurt in the young girl's eyes. Faith starts crying as she hugs Malaya tight. Malaya is shocked at the reaction and it takes her a while to return the embrace. As she looks up she sees that tears have started streaming on Nyx's face again too.

"They are going to kill her tomorrow." Faith manages to get out between sobs. "The Queen wants to do it in the square, she wants everyone to know she's the one who killed Wanheda." her voice is rough and broken, the words barely making it out of her trembling lips. She turns around and buries her face in Nyx's chest, holding on for dear life.