The group staggered slowly back to Camp Jaha, exhausted, injured, but alive.

The war against the Mountain Men, fighting for their freedom against Oblivion and, finally, escaping the nuclear blast had taken its toll on them. Not a single person was without some sort of injury. Kane was bleeding from a head wound, Bellamy's right arm had been sliced by some debris from the blast. Raven's leg brace had been destroyed when she had been thrown away by the shock wave, and needed to be carried by Wick. Indeed, many of the delinquents had barely survived their blood being drained from them.

But they were alive. That was the only thing that mattered.

Octavia walked out in front. She was covered in scrapes and bruises from her brutal duel. Perched on her shoulder was Cleo, the Lace Monitor having escaped the mountain with her, and now stuck by her side, as if they were each other's way of remembering who they'd lost.

Clarke meanwhile ambled alone near the back of the group, lost in her own world. The eight hour walk back had finally given her enough time to process what had happened, and now she wished she hadn't.

She could think only of the people she lost, the people she could have saved, the lives that didn't need to have been taken in this bloody war. So many innocent lives had been lost, just to save the lives of a few that were stuck inside the Mountain. She couldn't help but wonder if it was really worth it.

That wasn't what was causing her agony however.

It wasn't the lives she'd lost. It was the lives she'd taken.

She felt the dull weight of the pistol in its holster on her thigh as she walked, forever reminding her of what she'd done. She firmly shoved her hands into the pockets of her jacket, in a desperate attempt to try and stop their furious shaking.

She remembered killing that old scientist (who she now knew was named Hans Van Dyke) in that dreadful room. Remembered the storm of bullets that poured from the rifle she had held, slamming into the old man's body, tearing the scientist to shreds, as she mercilessly held her finger jammed down on the trigger. She knew it was something that needed to be done. Hans Van Dyke was an evil that got what he deserved, for doing what he had done to her friends. But Clarke couldn't escape from the feeling of satisfaction she felt when she killed him so brutally. She had become a murderer. And she had liked it.

That wasn't even the worst of it though.

She couldn't stop flashing back to that image of her mother, lying dead on the floor of Mount Weather, blood trickling from the bullet hole in her forehead, so round, smooth and perfect in its lethal precision. The bullet wound she had inflicted.

She had killed her own mother. She tried to keep convincing herself shooting Abby was another thing that needed to be done, or else she would have shot Bellamy and they all would have been killed by the explosion. But why couldn't she have simply maimed her? Why did she aim straight at her mother's forehead, and pulled the trigger so quickly?

That memory haunted her, tormented her. She didn't know if she would ever be able to recover from the inescapable fact that she had murdered her own mother, the only family she had left. That wasn't who she was. She was meant to be the good guy. Yet, in taking lives in cold blood, without remorse, she had become the very evil she had been battling against.

The group let out a collective weary sigh of relief as the gates of the camp came into view. The resident citizens were quick to open the gate and rush to the aid of their people. A cacophony of joy and relief could be heard as people realised their friends, their sons and their daughters were alive.

But none were from Clarke.

She stopped outside the gate, her feet unable to move any further. The sights of the joyous reunions only served to further remind her of what she had done, the people she hadn't been able to save.

Bellamy noticed her despondency, walked over and stood by her side. "Hey, we can get through this." He said quietly.

Clarke stared blankly ahead, unable to look him in the eye. "I'm not going inside." She declared.

Bellamy shifted so he was now standing in front of her. "Clarke, you did what you had to do. We all did." He told her. "Please come inside."

Clarke stared at Bellamy. Saw the look on his face, the pleading look, begging her to stay. But she knew she could not. She felt tears forming in her eyes as she shook her head sadly. "Seeing their faces every day… It's just going to remind me of what I did to get them there. Of what I lost…" she trailed off.

She forced herself to look Bellamy in the eye, but she found him staring not at her, but rather over her shoulder, a look of abstract disbelief on his face. Confused she turned around and followed his eyeline. What she saw both shocked her beyond belief and chilled her to her core.

Limping over the rise, left hand clutching his right shoulder, face covered in soot and dust, came Aerrow Eroxin.

Somehow, he too had survived the explosion, after Clarke had left him behind.

The mood immediately became much more tense. The fact that Aerrow was still alive meant he was still a threat. He must have followed them back here to kill them. Bellamy eyes hardened instantly at the sight, and he slowly unslung his rifle from over his shoulder and took aim.

Suddenly though, Aerrow put his hands up and shouted "Don't shoot!"

Clarke's mouth dropped open slightly at his words. Could he somehow have… switched back… to his old self? It didn't seem possible. But then again, it didn't seem possible that he could turn against them in the first place. She eyed him nervously as he approached.

"Aerrow… is it you?" she asked cautiously as he walked up. He stopped dead in his tracks at her voice. She saw the look in his eyes. They were so full of sadness, like he was ready to break down and cry. "It's me, Clarke" he said, voice weak and crackly, "It's me."

In that moment, she knew. Somehow, she just knew that it really was him. She rushed over and through her arms around him. Aerrow returned the act, hugging her close to him and burying his face in her hair in utter relief.

He didn't know it, but he had Cleo to thank for his rediscovered identity. The drug Oblivion had injected him with had not completely dissolved his memory, that was impossible. It had simply shut off the electrical impulses in the section of his brain that controlled his memories, essentially 'blocking' him from his memory. When the Lace Monitor had bitten him, and injected him with her venom, the properties of the venom had reacted with the drug, nullifying it and restoring his memory.

It was a very long time before he and Clarke separated. When they did, Clarke just stood there, staring at his changed face, the once purple blue eyes now bright blue. She had so many questions, but she had no idea how to ask them. "What happened" she eventually choked out, "What did they do to you?"

Aerrow instantly closed his eyes and visibly shuddered as he relived those memories, terrible memories. "I sometimes thought that Sara and I were… meant to be together… in a way." He said quietly, in a raspy voice, "Turns out that was true."

Clarke stared at him, confused. "I don't understand." She said.

Aerrow sniffed. "My whole life has been a lie." He started, "They created me, they bred me, they controlled my life. I was never anything more than an experiment. Subject Alpha."

Clarke took a step back in surprise. "What do you mean?"

Aerrow smiled ruefully. "Oblivion, the people who captured me, they'd been breeding people, blending ethnicities together for generations, heightening natural attributes, until eventually there were two such subjects. I was one. Sara was the other."

"Their plan was that we were to conceive the final subject, the 'perfect human', but then…" Aerrow trailed off as tears began brimming in his eyes. He took a deep, shaky breath before continuing. "They injected me with Sara's DNA, Clarke. Turned me into the child we would have had. They blinded me from who I was and then they made me-" Aerrow cut himself off before he totally lost it.

As he spoke, Clarke had progressively been filled with more and more horror and sadness at what he had been through. No one deserved that, to be physically turned into someone else, and then forced to fight against their friends. No wonder he was distraught as he was.

Bellamy had heard the entire thing, and was equally as shocked. "Aerrow I'm sorry…" he began, "I can't imagine…"

"Just be glad it wasn't you." Aerrow said suddenly, looking directly at him.

Bellamy frowned, confused at what he was getting at. He assumed Aerrow simply meant not being in the same position, but there was something in his gaze that told him there was something else… something more…

"I wasn't even meant to exist." Aerrow told him, deadpan. "My parents had another child before me, but the genetic binding wasn't right, so the child was adopted into another family. Your family."

It took Bellamy a second to understand what Aerrow was saying, but when he did, the realisation hit him like a tonne of bricks. His jaw dropped and his eyes widened. "You mean we're…" he breathed.

Aerrow nodded at him, eyes firmly fixed on his. "Brothers." He said simply.

Bellamy was forced to turn away and pinch the bridge of his nose. His mind screamed at him that it shouldn't have been possible. No, It wasn't possible. But his blood transfusion had been successful. His blood had been compatible with Aerrow's, something Abby said wouldn't work, unless he had the exact same blood type, which could only happen if they were directly related.

He also felt a distinct and very heavy sadness, because it meant Octavia wasn't really his sister. The person he cared about more than anything else in the world wasn't even related to him as it turned out. He didn't know how he was going to deal with that. He suddenly felt Aerrow's hand on his shoulder. "Hey," he said quietly, "Octavia will always be your sister."

"Did someone say my name?" Octavia asked as she walked up, totally oblivious to what had just been revealed. She walked around Bellamy, and froze instantly when she saw Aerrow, alive.

"It's me, Octavia." Aerrow said quickly, instantly locking eyes with her. But unlike the last time, they weren't filled with blank anger. They were soft, kind. Soulful. Like they used to be. Octavia instantly sensed something was different. It really was him. Somehow, he had returned.

"How did you escape?" Octavia asked, still in shock.

"The Reaper tunnels." Aerrow told her. "I woke up and saw the countdown. Knew I needed to get out of there as fast as possible, and the tunnels were the closest escape."

Octavia could only stare at him, completely unsure of what to feel. Aerrow seemed to notice this and walked away from Clarke and Bellamy slightly, over in front of her. He placed his hand gently on her shoulder and smiled faintly at her. "You beat me." He told her simply, yet with a faint trace of cheerfulness in his voice.

Octavia looked down at the ground briefly, then back up at him and nodded slightly. "I needed to save my friends."

Aerrow nodded slightly at her in understanding, but also respect. The corner of his mouth curled into a smile as Clarke and Bellamy joined them. "What happens now?" Bellamy asked cautiously.

Aerrow looked at him sadly. "I can't stay." He said quietly but evenly. "Not after what I did to them. They'll never see me the same way again."

Clarke touched Aerrow on the elbow. "You won't be alone this time." She said, "I'm going to go with you."

Aerrow turned his head to look at her, surprised by what she had just said. "Clarke?" he questioned.

She simply returned the look and replied, "We've both done things, things there's no forgiveness for. Neither of us needs to stay behind."

Bellamy closed his eyes and winced internally. First Clarke, now Aerrow too. All his friends were just going to… leave. Vanish. He wished he could convince them to stay, or that he could understand their reason for leaving. But he was unable to do either.

"Where are you going to go?" he asked, trying to contain his emotions.

Aerrow kept his eyes fixed on Bellamy's, his expression even. "I don't know." He said simply.

Bellamy just stood there, desperately trying to come up with something, anything to say to make his friends stay. But he couldn't. Clarke embraced him and whispered "May we meet again." In his ear, as the two of them said their silent goodbyes.

Meanwhile, Aerrow faced Octavia once more. She stared back at him with sadness in her eyes. She was disheartened that he wasn't going to stay, but at the same time she wasn't going to say anything to try and convince him to stay. "You were right." He said suddenly.

Octavia frowned slightly. "About what."

Aerrow smiled warmly at her. "I was wrong about you. You are a warrior, Octavia. You proved that today."

Octavia and Aerrow embraced gently, sharing one final moment in each other's company. Aerrow kissed the top of her forehead softly and whispered. "Thank you."

As they separated, Cleo suddenly scurried up from behind Octavia and quickly climbed up Aerrow's body, re-taking her customary position on his shoulder for the first time in over a week. Aerrow grinned at the sight of his faithful companion.

"I think I should give you these back." Octavia said suddenly, pulling his swords out from behind her back. Aerrow smiled and shook his head. "Keep them." He said simply, "You're far more worthy of wielding them than I."

Octavia smiled at his gesture, but was unable to hide the sadness on her face. He had been a genuine friend to her, and she wished more than anything that he would stay around and guide her, teach her to become better, stay by her side as her friend. But that wasn't going to happen.

"Goodbye, Octavia." Aerrow said quietly, his eyes lingering on hers for one final moment, before he turned away and joined Clarke and together, the two of them began walking back the way they had come, away from the camp, leaving behind them the pain, the sorrow and the grief. But also their friends.

Bellamy and Octavia could only watch as the two walked away and eventually, disappeared from sight.

Neither of them looked back.

…

They hadn't walked very far at all when a figure suddenly appeared from the trees in front of them, stopping them dead in their tracks. It was someone Aerrow hadn't seen in a very long time, someone he thought must have been killed: Alexis.

He froze instantly at the sight of her. She was just standing there in front of them, totally calmly. He noticed that she did not need to wear a protective body suit. She wasn't affected by radiation. But then his eyes travelled to the samurai sword held in her hand, and he subconsciously moved in front of Clarke a little.

"We meet again, Aerrow." She said smoothly, "It's been too long."

"Who is she?" Clarke whispered, totally confused at the appearance of this woman.

Upon hearing Clarke's confusion, Alexis grinned slyly. "Why don't you tell her Aerrow, of that night we spent together?"

Clarke's eyes widened at her words. When had this happened? How had Aerrow come to meet this woman? She flicked her eyes to him, trying to read his emotions. His face had hardened instantly, and his eyes had become dark and unyielding.

"So, Aerrow, tell me." Alexis said to him, voice directed in such a way to deliberately hit a nerve inside him, "Who do you really love?"

Aerrow said nothing. Instead, glaring at her, he began striding slowly towards her. His face was not one of affection. He did not stop until he was directly in front of her, only inches away from hers. "Alexis. Leave, now." He growled slowly.

Alexis simply eyed him slyly and whispered back "Make me."

Aerrow stood there, frozen, glaring at her. At then she swung her sword at him.

Instinctively, Aerrow leant back, barely avoiding the swing, but then Alexis attacked him again.

Aerrow was taken by surprise, and had no weapon to defend himself with. When he had first met her, she would have struck him down with ease by now, but Aerrow was not the same person he was then. He was stronger. He was better.

With his heightened abilities, he evaded Alexis's attacks with comparative ease, and then when she swung her sword horizontally at him, he simply grabbed her sword hand, and forcefully threw her away, yanking the sword from her grip in the process.

Alexis pushed herself up off the ground, and found herself staring into the tip of her own sword, held poised in front of her by Aerrow.

"Do it then. Kill me!" she hissed. "Prove what we both knew all along about you: you are a killer."

Aerrow held the sword where it was for a moment, before quickly and forcefully stabbing it into the ground beside her. Alexis glanced at the sword, stuck in the Earth, and her eyes widened slightly. But then her sly smile returned. "So you do love me after all?" she said smugly.

Aerrow glanced back at Clarke, before turning back and fiercely looking Alexis directly in the eye. "If I truly loved you, I would have killed you. It's what you taught me to do." He said quietly. Aerrow turned his head and looked at Clarke as he said. "But she taught me I could be better than that, that I could be something more than the monster I was."

Clarke could not help but smile at his words. He indeed was not that cold blooded killer anymore. He had become something more, something better. Because of her.

Aerrow again looked at the woman lying at his feet. He saw something change in her. She was suddenly overcome with a deep sadness. Her people were dead, she was all alone, and now she had failed in her mission to train him. Suddenly, her life had become meaningless. She had never experienced such emotions in her life, and she had no idea how to react to them.

Aerrow crouched down in front of her. "Live your life, Alexis." He told her gently, "The life you deserved to have."

Without another word, Aerrow got back up and walked back over to Clarke. Without saying a word, he kissed her gently, and held her in his arms, ever thankful for her presence in his life.

He separated from her and turned back to look at Alexis. She wasn't there. The sword was still in the ground, but the mysterious silver eyed woman had vanished.

Aerrow stood there for a long time, staring at the place she had been only moments ago, thinking about everything that had just taken place.

Clarke came up beside him and asked. "So what now? Where do we go?"

Aerrow turned and smiled at her. "I don't know." He shrugged happily, "But I have an idea."

Then he took her hand and together, with Cleo following close behind, the two of them walked off into the distance.

Note: this is NOT the final chapter. I am working on that at the moment and hopefully it'll be up really soon.