I was hardly aware of time passing as I stared up at the ceiling, not allowing myself to sleep as I knew what horror would await me there. Lexa had most likely departed from camp by now, riding with her accompanying warriors to where her people awaited in Polis. My steady concentration was interrupted when my mom burst in unannounced, her mouth already moving rapidly as she lectured me on my inability to follow instructions and do as I was told.

Letting the sharp words flow over me I made no comment as she expressed her disapproval and returned my gaze to the ceiling once more. After realizing that her words were having no effect she finally fell silent, performing a quick check up before leaving once satisfied that my health was not deteriorating due to my change of location. Peace fell once more and I was on the verge of falling into a light sleep when there was a heavy knock on the door, my eyes flying open at the unexpected sound.

'Clarke? You want to tell your bodyguards to let me in?' Raven called out from the other side of the door.

'Let her pass' I told the warriors and a second later the door was pushed open and Raven entered holding a large tray.

'Well hello stranger' she greeted me with a large grin, 'I thought you might be hungry.'

She crossed the room and placed the tray down on the bed, filled with a variety of food that she must have collected from the canteen. Just looking at the food made me aware of how ravenous I was, not having eaten a proper meal in a long time.

I pushed myself up into a sitting position as Raven placed the tray on my lap and took a seat at the end of the bed. She then watched with amusement as I began to devour the food with barely a pause between bites.

'Sorry, this is the best food I've eaten in weeks' I apologised, making an effort to be somewhat more dignified in my manner of eating.

'Don't worry about it' she chuckled, pulling a face when I pulled the tray away from her reaching hand.

'Come on Clarke, you're not the one who's had to listen to Abby complaining about your inability to follow instructions for the past hour' she complained and she did have a point so I lowered the tray to let her grab what she wanted. There was more than enough food left, it seemed my mom was trying to feed me up.

'So what have I missed around here?' I asked as I continued to enjoy the food, listening intently as she told me about the attack on camp and all of the events that had unfolded in my absence.

'You should've seen Lexa fighting, I wouldn't want to get on her bad side any day of the week, especially not now that I've seen her wielding a sword like she did' Raven continued, clearly in admiration of the warriors impressive skills.

Even just the mention of her name had the smile falling from my lips in a matter of seconds, it was hard to believe that she had been here not a few hours ago, even harder to think about how long it might be until I see her again.

'She'll back in no time' Raven said after a beat of silence, my eyes flicking up from my lap in surprise.

'What?' I managed to say, a smile spreading across Raven's face at my confusion.

'Lexa, she'll be back before you know it' she reassured me, her smile widening when I continued to stare at her in silence. 'Well as nice as this catch up has been I actually have work that needs doing.'

She pulled herself up from the bed, reaching back to take the now empty tray from my lap.

'And don't hide away in here forever Clarke, your mom said that you can get up and about over the next few days but it's whenever you're ready. I know everyone's desperate to see you' she told me, hesitating in the doorway to look back at me. 'See you around, don't be a stranger.

I smiled and nodded in response, watching as she left the room and pulled the door shut behind her. It was strangely peaceful once she had left and it wasn't long before I found myself drifting off to sleep, still tired even after all of my resting.

I spent the next few days in my room, allowing my body the time it needed to rest after my ordeal. Most of the time I slept but sometimes it barely seemed like seconds had passed when I was ripped from my sleep, my breathing uneven from a forgotten nightmare. I supposed it was better that way. It took a few moments to recover from the memory and I decided to make good on my promise to Raven not to lock myself away from everyone. It had now been three days since she had visited and I could not hide away for much longer.

After a quick wash and change of clothes I limped down the corridor, my sprained ankle still bothering me and was surprised by how many people stopped upon seeing me and inquired after how I was. It almost seemed unreal and yet I fixed a smile on my face and told them all that I was doing well.

The words soon came automatically and I barely had to think as they spilled from my lips, the people reassured by it all the same. I was considering returning to my room just to escape the looks of sympathy from those that saw the collection of bruises that were only half hidden by my jacket and I pulled self consciously at the sleeves. As I was turning back I caught a familiar glimpse of short black hair at the end of the corridor, and began to make way towards the familiar figure.

Bellamy smiled when he saw me approaching and closed the distance between us to pull me into a quick hug, mindful of my healing injuries.

'It's good to see you Clarke' he said genuinely, taking a step back to look me over. It felt like such a long time since we had last seen each other.

'Yeah, you too' I replied, it had been some time since our trek down south and it was good to see a friendly face. We had been through a lot and I didn't need any automatic response when talking to any of my friends.

'Sorry to leave you so suddenly but I'm going to be late if I stay much longer' he apologised hastily after glancing down at his watch, continuing on down the corridor past me, only pausing when I called out to him.

'Where are you off too?' I asked, turning to face him, surprised by his sudden urgency.

'Scheduled training session with Lincoln' he said after a small, almost unnoticeable hesitation. 'I'll come and find you later' he assured me, flashing me a smile before continuing on down the corridor with long strides.

I watched him go with a frown, wondering if I had been imagining his odd behaviour. Maybe the training session had been part of his guard training, it was unlike him to be so worried about time management if it was just informal. Pushing thoughts of Bellamy away I decided not to dwell on it and moved further through the Ark to find the rest of my friends.

I was soon lacking in energy as each movement began to take more effort and exited out of the main door to take a seat on a bench outside. It was cooler out in the open air and it was nice to close my eyes briefly and savour the feeling of the breeze on my face.

A familiar voice drifted across the open space and I opened my eyes to see Lincoln stood over by the fence boundary, discussing something with one of the guards.

I wasn't surprised to see him in camp, he must've been part of the force that Lexa had assigned to aid the reconstruction of any damage inflicted upon the camp during the battle. I stood up from the bench and moved over to where he stood, the guard giving me a swift nod before leaving us to it.

'Clarke, it's good to see you up and about' Lincoln greeted me warmly, a smile growing on his face as I got closer. 'How are you?'

'I'm doing okay, getting there' I admitted, not bothering to give him the same rubbish about being fine that I had to all those other people. He would see straight through it in a second.

'I know it's not easy after everything that happened, but I wanted to thank you for bringing Cage's path of destruction to an end. I know that I speak for all of Trikru when I say that it was nothing less than what he deserved' he said sincerely, not wishing to stir up past memories but I accepted his thanks all the same.

I frowned at him as silence fell between us, remembering Bellamy's words from earlier.

'Is your training session with Bellamy over already?' I inquired, watching a frown form on Lincolns face as he shook his head slowly.

'I haven't had any training sessions today' he told me, 'and I haven't spoken to Bellamy for at least a few days now.'

We both shared a confused glance, none of the pieces adding up. Bellamy clearly wasn't at any training session so where was he?

'Clarke you're up! Glad to see you're listening to me' Raven called out as she approached us, her wide smile faltering when she saw our expressions. 'Woah, what's going on here?'

'Do you have any idea where Bellamy is?' Lincoln asked, both of us watching as Raven nodded immediately.

'Yeah, he's in that council meeting that Abby called, or it could've been Kane' Raven replied, her answer tailing off but it made little difference, that was all the information I needed. Raven asked what was going on as I moved past her back to the Ark but I didn't reply, knowing that Lincoln would fill her in.

I didn't need to go very far before I saw Bellamy coming up the corridor towards me, a few of the Ark guards not far behind. It looked like the meeting had just finished.

'Clarke I-' he began, slightly taken aback when I abruptly cut him off.

'How was your training session?' I inquired pointedly, watching realisation cross his face as he sighed at the question.

'I see you've spoken to Lincoln' he began, thinking carefully about how best to phrase his words. 'It wasn't with bad intent that I didn't tell you about the meeting.'

'Like hell it wasn't! Why not just tell me the truth to begin with?' I countered, not quite understanding what his motive had been for lying in the first place.

'You only just got back to camp, I wanted to give you some time to readjust and there was nothing urgent that required your presence' he told me. That just made me even more furious, it was true that I had been through an ordeal recently but it was not something that I wanted to be used against me. It was a load of rubbish and we both knew it.

'It's not my attendance to the meeting that I'm bothered about, it's the fact you lied straight to my face about it' I bit back, both of us now getting more wound up with each passing second.

'It was just about plans to make some improvements to the camp, you didn't need to be there so just let it go' he snapped, running out of patience with the whole argument. He wasn't the only one.

'If it was just a regular meeting then why not just tell me where you were going rather than make up some rubbish about a training session?' I threw back, exasperated by his inability to grasp what I was getting at.

'Let's be honest Clarke, you haven't been here for a long time now. Not just because of your capture but before that when you were far more content to move in with the Grounders and fill your head with some delusion of power than stay here with your own people. Matters at this camp stopped concerning you a long time ago and that won't be changing any time soon' he informed me sharply, anger flashing across his features as I continued to push him for a further explanation.

This rant had been entirely off topic, he had apparently mistaken my anger at being lied to for fury at not being included in the meeting. I was ready to tell him exactly what I thought of his petty behaviour when Kane approached us from the same direction Bellamy had appeared from, seemingly the last one to leave the meeting.

'Everything okay here?' he asked us, eyes flicking between our tense postures.

'No problem here sir' Bellamy finally responded after a moments silence, maintaining direct eye contact with me before excusing himself and brushing past me down the corridor. I didn't bother to watch him go, instead making an effort to relax my stance when Kane's gaze drifted back to me.

'I see you're settling back in nicely' he said with a hint of a smile, thankfully not commenting further on what he had just witnessed. 'I believe your friends are planning some drinks tonight in honour of your return, it would be nice of you to attend.'

I nodded my head reluctantly at the request, it wasn't all that appealing at the moment but I could hardly refuse when it was for me.

'I'm glad to hear it, see you there Clarke' he said, smiling again before moving past me and continuing on down the corridor at an unhurried pace.

I returned to my room soon after, not having the energy for any more interactions. The conflict with Bellamy had not been resolved as quickly as I would've hoped, not that I was in any mood to discuss it with him further any time soon. For now I informed the warriors outside the door that I was not to be disturbed under any circumstance and sank down onto the bed to enjoy a few hours of peace to think things through.

My injuries were were becoming less bearable with each minute and I took a few pain relief tablets with a swig of water to ease the pain as I lay in a peaceful silence.

I was more than happy to stay in here for the rest of the night but I remembered my agreement to join the others for a few drinks, it would be rude of me not to attend. Pulling myself up with a sigh I decided to join them for a while to see how everyone was, I could always make my excuses to leave if I wasn't feeling up to it.

Emerging from the Ark I headed for the area around the side where a number of small tables had been set up for social gatherings. Many of the Ark guards tended to use this space to relax with their co-workers after a long shift; I saw a number of them reclining on the chairs in small groups as I got closer.

A couple of tables had been pushed together and my friends were gathered around it, already hooting with laughter as the drinks flowed freely. Raven was the first to spot me approaching and waved me over with a large grin, pulling out a vacant chair for me which I gratefully sank into. My leg was playing me up and it was a relief to be able to take the weight off it.

I was almost immediately pulled into a rather amusing conversation with Miller, Harper and Monty who were sat to my left, astounding me with how relaxed everyone was. It was only recently that we had been on high alert over Panther attacks and the threat from the Reapers. It was almost unreal to see everyone engaging in normal conversation and jokes when we had only just pulled through a battle. It was something that I was going to have to adapt to, unable to relax quite so easily as my friends could.

Bellamy sat just down from me on the opposite table, unusually quiet as he made an effort not to make eye contact, neither of us ready for conversation after how things had gone earlier. I turned down Ravens offer to get me a drink, repeatedly in fact as she continued to try and persuade me to join in with the celebrations. It seemed we were not only celebrating my return but all recent successes of winning the battle against the Reapers, any excuse for more drinks.

People began to slowly trickle away after a while, some having to be up early the next morning for guard duty, others stumbling to their rooms for a much needed sleep. It was getting late and things were beginning to quieten down when someone approached my table and I glanced up to see Bellamy stood in front of me, two cups in his hand.

'Peace offering' he said, holding out one of the cups to me. I hesitated for a second before reaching out and taking it from him, it was a start. 'I'm sorry about earlier, I said some things that I shouldn't have.'

His apology was sincere and I gestured for him to take a seat, I would not be forgetting our argument so soon but there was no need for any more conflicts tonight.

'To your return and the camps safety' he said, tipping his cup towards me and I raised mine in return, both of us then taking a sip of the alcohol. Octavia slipped onto the seat beside her brother as we set the drinks down, glancing between us as she placed her sword on the table, I doubted she ever went anywhere without it.

'You two kissed and made up yet?' she inquired, smirking when Bellamy shot her a dark look. 'Well it's about time, I couldn't stand to see him sulking for much longer.'

I smiled at that, Bellamy muttering a few insults at his sister before standing and excusing himself as he had guard duty that night and needed to change. Octavia laughed at whatever her brother had said, a sound I hadn't heard in some time and found myself smiling in return.

'Welcome home' she said, draining her cup before moving off to find Lincoln by the fire. Her words struck me as odd, things had changed since I had last been here, Bellamy's earlier words echoing in my thoughts. I had spent most of my time in the Grounder camp before my capture whether it had been to aid them in wiping out the Panthers or for other reasons and it made me wonder if I truly did fit in here anymore.

I rose from my seat and stretched for a moment, my muscles having cramped after being sat in the same place for so long. After wishing my friends a good night I left those that remained outside and headed back to my own room, leaving the rest of my drink on the table. Could it be that the camp was truly in a state of peace for once? It seemed almost impossible after the recent events and I was not about to believe it too soon.
-

For the next few weeks I focused on recovering from my capture, ensuring that all of my injuries continued to heal which they did. My bruises were soon barely visible and it wasn't long before my limp disappeared completely and my movements became less rigid. There was little to do around camp as most repairs had been completed, Raven had the electric fence working once more and for once there was no enemy to plan for.

It would have been useful to practise my sword skills after such a long time but the one Lexa had given to me so many months ago had been taken from me when I had been captured. One of the Grounders had offered theirs for me to use but it had not compared to the light weight handling of what I was used to.

This left me with few options and there was little opportunity to distract myself from the thought of Lexa's return which was constantly on my mind. With every day that passed I became more and more agitated, less prone to spending my time with those around me than pacing my room working out how much longer she would be gone for. I had sent the two warriors that Lexa had told to remain with me back to TonDc, they weren't needed for anything here.

It was as if the camp was becoming more confined as the time passed, I missed the days out in the forest practising sword skills with the commander or improving my hunting techniques. The residents of Camp Jaha had been used to the limitations of the camp boundary but I just felt trapped.

It had been almost two weeks since Lexa had left for camp Jaha and I was emerging from my room one morning as Miller was coming down the corridor towards me.

'Just the person I was looking for, you've got visitors at the gate' he told me, continuing to talk but the rest of his words fell on deaf ears as hope rose in my chest. His words trailed off when I slipped past him and hurried along the corridor, almost colliding with my mom who was coming in the opposite direction. She opened her mouth to speak but I quickly swept past her, nothing was going to hold me up.

I emerged from the Ark and headed straight for the gate, first noticing the two Grounders that were ushered inside by the guards. My eyes flicked past them as the gate closed at their backs and disappointment crushed any hope that had been present. It was just the two of them, they were alone. Taking a steadying breath as the two warriors approached, I tried not to show the crumbling that I felt on the inside.

'Clarke Griffin, the commander has a message for you' one of them addressed me, and I nodded for him to continue. I had not seen either of them before and assumed that they usually resided in Polis rather than TonDc.

Rather than reciting the message as I had expected, the warrior reached into his jacket and pulled free a small scroll of paper bound with the Commanders symbol. I reached out to grasp it with a shaking hand, turning the paper in my hands as Kane approached us.

'You are most welcome to stay for as long as you want before making the return journey, we can supply you with any provisions you might need' he offered them, the larger man grunting in thanks but declined, they would only remain for a short rest before setting off once more.

Kane followed after them as they returned to their horses and I retraced my steps back into the Ark once more, not noticing my mom approaching until she spoke.

'Clarke' she began and my gaze flashed up from the scroll of paper to see her walking towards me, her steps unhurried as she neared.

'What is it?' I asked impatiently, wondering what could be so important for her to keep following me all around the place. She was taken aback for a moment by the harsh tone of my voice, not having anticipated such such an icy response.

'I just wanted to let you know that I'm holding a meeting tomorrow and thought you might like to attend, Bellamy told me what happened a few weeks ago' she told me, her eyes drifting down to the scroll but she made no comment.

'Of course he did' I scoffed, moving past her to continue down the corridor. Right now I just wanted to go to my room and see what message Lexa had sent me. It was nothing against my mom, I just didn't want to waste time talking right now.

'Clarke' my mom called after me and I reluctantly stopped to look over my shoulder at her. 'We're all here for you, don't shut us out.'

'Thanks' I said in response, not sure what else I could say, giving her a small smile before moving towards the sleeping quarters of the Ark, thankfully without any further interruptions. Shutting the door firmly behind me I sat on the edge of my bed for a few moments before gently undoing the scroll and revealing the handwritten words on the paper.

Clarke

There is no time for any explanations but I am afraid matters in Polis are far worse than I had anticipated. It seems that my presence here is required for an extended period of time.

I will return to you when everything here has been resolved though how long this will be I cannot say. For now stay safe and I will see you soon.

Lexa

I reread the message several times over, finally placing it down beside me as I let it sink in. For all I knew it could be weeks until she was back, possibly even longer. Just the thought was bad enough and I knew that I could not wait around here any longer. Rising to my feet I grabbed a change of clothes and shoved them swiftly into a backpack, pulling it onto my shoulder as I holstered my gun. I then rushed from my room in the hope of catching the warriors before they left and was fortunate to find them preparing to depart by the front gate.

Bellamy stood in his uniform nearby, ready to instruct the guards to open the gates. Octavia stood at his side, the two of them talking quietly to each other as they waited for the warriors signal that they were ready to leave.

'Hod op!' I called out as the first warrior was about to mount his horse, the four of them turning to face me in surprise.

'Clarke? What is this?' Bellamy inquired as I came to a stop in front of them but I ignored him and focused on the warriors instead.

'I'm coming with you back to Polis' I told them, not sure how they would take such a direct statement but I did not want to risk being refused. Bellamy sputtered in protest as they shared a quick glance, neither of them thinking of any immediate objections to the proposal.

'We only have these two horses, I'll go and retrieve another for you to ride' the warrior told me, making his way to the side of the Ark where a few of the horses were being kept. They belonged to the warriors who had remained at camp to help with repairs but seeing as a large number of them would be returning to TonDc on foot anyway it made little difference to them.

'Clarke you can't just ride off in the middle of the night' Bellamy objected but was quickly hushed by Octavia.

'Will you stop telling her what she has to do, it's her decision' she said in my defence, understanding just how hard it was to fit back into life at camp after spending long amounts of time with the Grounders. To my surprise Bellamy seemed to listen to his sister, relaxing his stance and collecting himself for a moment.

'Are you sure about this?' he asked in a calmer tone, his eyes pleading for me to give him the slightest reason to keep me from going.

'Certain' I told him firmly, holding his gaze for a few moments before the Grounder returned with a horse for me. I wasted no time and pulled myself up onto it's back, looking down to where Bellamy stood frowning as the Grounders also jumped up onto their horses.

'Open the gates' he called out reluctantly and the guards did as he said, swinging them back to allow us through.

'Thankyou' I said to him, nodding in thanks to Octavia as the Grounders led the way out into the night. 'Tell my mom not to worry.'

She would regardless, she continued to tell me it was part of being a mother but she didn't need to. It probably wasn't the best idea to ride off in the middle of the night as Bellamy had said earlier but I knew that she would've attempted to stop me if I'd waited any longer.

Octavia assured me she would and I said goodbye a final time as I followed the warriors out of camp and towards the forest. I had no idea where Polis was located but I trusted that they would get me there safely. No matter how long the journey took it would be bearable because I knew that I would see Lexa at the end of it.

A bit longer than I had planned but hope you all like it, I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon I can :)

Feel free to leave any comments and tell me what you thought