Mara kept her hands clasped in front of her, one holding her wrist firmly. Lexa had seated herself along with the rest of the ambassadors. Clarke was still at her side, the boys continuing to fan her, but she wasn't thinking about her sunburn right now. Mara was the only thing anyone cared about right now. She had their full attention as she stood there, the guards had dropped back slightly, but still flanked her.
She was not afraid.
The ambassadors and Lexa were shaded under the thicket overhead and the pergola, but Mara was standing outside of that protection, the sun lighting her pale skin, making it even more obvious which clan she heralded from. Her red hair had turned strawberry gold under such light, the frizziness more obvious with every little fly away glowing like straw.
"Queen Nia had a great many plans, as many of you know, perhaps some of you do not. She had plans for her rule, for the Commander, for our people, and for me. Her life was ended before most of those plans could be carried to fruition. And I am thankful for that."
She met Lexa's eyes with a nod.
"Right now, my people believe I rule from the shadows, using our Azgeda Elders to speak for me. They do not know what was done to me, who I am, or what has transpired. My mother, the Queen, needed me to be someone our people would follow unquestioningly, even if they never saw me themselves. She created a grand illusion and it is working."
"Wait, I don't understand. Why did Nia hide you all this time?" Clarke asked, glancing to Lexa quickly to make sure she wasn't overstepping. Lexa was still watching Mara, unfazed by Clarke's interruption, so she took that as a sign to go ahead. "What did you do to make her hate you so much that she would go to such lengths to keep you from becoming Queen?"
Mara tilted her head back with a bitter smile. "My mother sent me away after I was born. She had no use for me at the time. I lived with my father's family though he was killed in battle. They were rare people in our harsh world – they showed me love and kindness."
She sighed.
"We lived in near isolation, seldom seen by other people outside of the family. But I was shown the good in this world. The wonder that is peace. When it was time for me to return to my mother's side, they tried to resist, they did not want her to take me."
She looked around, making pointed eye contact with every ambassador she could.
"My mother killed them all and reclaimed me. But she was too late. I was not the child she wanted, I never would be. She saw that soon enough when I began training at her side."
"Your skills fell short of her expectations?" Lexa asked.
Lexa's words were flat, there was no taunting or edge to them, just a matter-of-fact tone. But Clarke knew better. Lexa was looking for something.
Mara narrowed her eyes at her. For the first time since walking into the throne room last night – all she had shown until now was coyness and solemnity – she allowed a flash of anger appear.
"Do not mistake me, Commander," she said coldly. "It is not my abilities as a warrior that she showed distaste for, it was the lack of blood-lust behind them."
Lexa sat back in her chair with a thoughtful expression. She'd gotten what she wanted.
"I did not share her insatiable appetite for power and violence," Mara continued. "All her training, all her teachings, they failed with me. I was shown a better world in the isolation of my childhood. I made promises to my true family to never become what she is and they died trying to keep me from her grasp. I will not fail them."
"But she hid you still? Your whole life?" Clarke pressed, looking for the answers.
Mara swallowed harshly. "She imprisoned me. Tortured me. Attempted every form of manipulation possible to make me change. To become what she wanted the next Azgeda Queen to be. A brutal, cunning, merciless monster to take control over not just Azgeda, but all of the clans. This was her goal."
Lexa shifted and clenched her jaw. That was enough to show how she still felt about Nia's unending mission to dethrone her.
Mara finally released her linked hands and gestured to Lexa knowingly. "However, when you defeated her and she was forced to kneel before you on the battlefield, joining the Coalition, she realized that she was running out of time. She'd had years to break me, to mold me into her image, but it still had not happned. I continued to resist her and your power, Heda, grew with every day."
Mara took a few steps away from Lexa and the ambassadors, but made sure that she never turned her back fully on them.
"I was a lost cause and Queen Nia needed another heir, but I am her only child. She was unable to have another. So a new plan formed. I bore a child at her behest, one unspoiled and easy to shape. She would not make the same mistake with her grand-child as she did with me. The day my son was born, they ripped him out of me, and immediately whisked him away to be cared for by a select few of my mother's inner circle. He will be raised in secrecy, inundated with the most savage and insidious of the old ways, trained to be one of the greatest warriors, and when he is of age, he will step forward as King."
Lexa watched her with dark eyes. She was absorbing all of this in silence, but some of the ambassadors were still unconvinced.
Uzac spoke out this time. "Why should we believe you?" he asked harshly. "How do we know you're not just another impostor sent to throw us off while the real Queen plots to attack when we let our guard down?"
"Commander, please end this!" Askeli said impatiently. "She can weave all the tales she likes, but it means nothing without proof. If she is just a storyteller, she's a poor one at that."
Jarunn held her hand out to Akseli, urging him to be silent before Lexa had to silence him. "While it is true," she said, looking at Mara, "that we are inclined to believe your story, that we do wish for you to be the Queen so that it will mean a different outcome for our...conflict with Azgeda...it is still just a story." She shrugged helplessly. "Your royal mark has been branded on several impostors. We have no tangible evidence that you are who you say you are. Isn't there anything else you can offer?"
Mara looked at Jarunn for a long moment before turning back to Lexa. She seemed to be internally debating something and a tense silence filled the air as everyone waited for what she would do next. Finally, her jawline tightened, she made her decision. Mara reached up, ripping open her jacket. She flung it to the ground in front of Lexa and pulled her shirt over her head, tossing it on top of the jacket. She stood before all twelve ambassadors, the guards, and Lexa, naked from the waist up.
Murmurs rose high and alarmed from the ambassadors. Clarke covered her mouth, Lexa inhaled sharply, Jarunn turned away, Akseli was uncharacteristically silent, Uzac looked at the ground, and even Indra, who was standing on the edge of the pergola, seemed thrown.
There wasn't a single, tiny spot on Mara's skin that wasn't covered with scar tissue and burns. Her breasts had been cut off, with giant, ugly, jagged scars in their place. There was not a single smooth piece of healthy skin to be found. From the neck up, she was untouched, but she turned for them, putting herself on unabashed display, and let them see how her back, her torso, her chest, her arms, everything...was devastatingly and sickeningly brutalized.
"You," Mara said hollowly, gazing at Jarunn, "said last night that I had no Azgeda scars." She met Jarunn's wide eyes with cold ones. "You were not looking closely enough."
"Your mother did this to you?" Clarke managed to choke out, horrified.
"Queen Nia of the Ice Nation never took no for an answer." Mara fixed her gaze on Lexa again, almost challengingly. "You know that well, Commander. Help me find my son, take out the Azgeda Elders so that I will assume the throne."
If Mara's appearance affected Lexa, she was not letting it show one bit other than her initial, short little intake of air that Clarke was sure only she, and perhaps the guard standing closest to Lexa, heard.
"Yu gaf in chilnes, Heda."
You desire peace, Commander.
"You want more for our people than the life we offer them now. Queen Nia hated you for it, many of my people despise you, but the stories they told...whispered in dark corners with bitterness and rage...they meant something different to me. You were not an interloper, a child emperor, weak and toothless. I knew that you were so much more than anything our people have ever seen. I believe that still. That is why I stand here today, open to your will, because I believe in the Commander that my people so mistakenly abhor. I believe in a better way and a better life for all our people. I cannot do it without you."
She took a deep breath.
"Help me find my son, Heda. Together, all of us," she looked around at the ambassadors, "we can change our world for the better. No more violence. No more war. Is that not the true goal you seek with this Coalition?"
Silence fell heavily upon them. The ambassadors didn't dare speak. Most of them were too shell shocked to speak, really. And all of them were waiting for Lexa's response.
"Dress yourself," Lexa said quietly, firmly, but not unkindly.
Mara nodded and collected her clothes. She was putting her shirt back on when Lexa continued.
"You have given me much to think about. But, unfortunately, as the others have pointed out, the question of your identity still remains. Your story is a moving one, but it alone is not enough."
Lexa wasn't going to let this revelation of Mara's brutal torture deter her from the plan she set out with today. It was a shocking, gruesome thing to see, but it still didn't mean she was the Queen. Even if Lexa did fully believe her by now, she still needed something more tangible for evidence. Mara's tale of endurance was heartrending and desolate, but Lexa could not accept something as crucial as this on emotion alone.
She gestured for one of the guards to step forward. He offered Mara a long, thin sword, which she accepted with some apprehension. Mara looked to Lexa warily and then swiveled her head around to gauge her surroundings, trying to figure out what was coming next.
"A demonstration of your skill will help lend credence to your claim. You have already professed to be a more than worthy opponent so I do not think this should be much of a task for you."
Mara's eyes grew hard and her brow was drawn deeply. Clarke could see her wrestling with it. Mara wanted to know if this was a trick. Was Lexa really just asking for a demonstration or was this the way she intended to have her executed?
Lexa waited for one of her warriors to step out with his own sword drawn. When he did, the guards left Mara's side and took up a new post on either side of Lexa. Mara was free with a weapon in her hand, they had to prepared for anything.
Lexa raised her hand before letting it fall forward as she said, "Stot au."
Begin.
The warrior charged at Mara and the ring of steel on steel echoed through the grove.
Later, after the ambassadors were dismissed, along with the warriors who participated in Mara's test, only Clarke, Lexa, Indra, and Mara remained with a handful of sentries still off in the woods, surrounding them.
Mara passed the test with flying colors. Clarke was stunned by her strength, her speed, and her sheer skill. They handed her weapon after weapon after weapon and she defeated each opponent with frightening ease. Clarke was immensely grateful that Lexa had promised not to get into a soulou gonplei with Mara because while Lexa was an extraordinarily skilled fighter, Mara was a formidable opponent, so much so that she never wanted to see them face each other like that. It would be much too close of a fight.
Mara was sweating from exertion, as well as the heat, breathing hard as she was still coming off her last opponent. Lexa had one of Clarke's boys, the fair haired one, bring Mara water from the well.
Lexa approached her freely, hands held loosely behind her back, but Indra stayed close, her hand ever still on the hilt of her sword. Waiting. Coiled and poised for an attack. Clarke pulled her hood back over her head and stepped out from under the shade of the pergola as well to join them.
It was Lexa's turn now. There was nothing left but a choice to make and only the Commander could make it. She could believe Mara and work with her. Or she could kill her and go to war the Ice Nation. A war that not only meant a great many of her people dead, but also that if she were not completely successful, she risked a bitter and vengeful king rising fifteen years from now to take vengeance and embroil their world in yet another war – a time far off enough where it was likely that Lexa would likely not even live long enough to be present for it. Then she will have left the next Commander and future generations of her people with the exactly same fate as the past.
"You played your hand well, Mara," Lexa said coolly as the woman gulped down the water offered and beckoned for the boy to retrieve more. He looked to Indra who reluctantly nodded and ran to refill the jar.
"You come to me and proclaim a desire for peace before an entire chamber of my people. You beseech me for help. If I refuse and declare war on Azgeda, I appear obstinate and against reason. You have passed every test I could offer. You have convinced the 12 clans that you are the rightful Queen of Azgeda."
Lexa took a deep breath, settling herself, and she tilted her head, seemingly innocuous. The boy returned and Mara accepted the water, but she took shorter sips this time. Her eyes never left Lexa.
"You risked your life in coming here, but that is because it is all you have to offer me. Your life. You have no power so I have no Queen. And yet you want me to help you retrieve your son and reinstate you to the throne? Why would I go through all that trouble when I could simply end Azgeda royalty altogether? I have the numbers and new technology to bring Azgeda to its knees. I don't need a Queen. They will answer to the Commander and no one else."
Mara stared down at her with her mouth in a hard, thin line. "Because you do not wish to rule Azgeda," she said, handing the jug back to the boy who was waiting on the sidelines. He took it and disappeared quickly.
"You dare to tell me what I do and do not desire?" Lexa replied coldly, stepping closer. "You know my thoughts better than myself?"
Mara immediately shook her head in apology, knowing she had misstepped. "Commander, I ask for my son. In return, you will have my loyalty, my life, my son's life, and every generation of Azgeda royalty will be made to swear allegiance to Heda kom Jus. I will make it so. This is a chance to avoid a war, to stop bloodshed, and let people live in peace. The old regime must change and you have already begun - let me help you finish it."
"If your son is returned to you, I have no guarantee of this lasting loyalty you promise."
"No, you do not," Mara admitted honestly. "But you have a choice between trusting me and planning a single, targeted attack or you can wage a full scale war against an entire nation. A war that which will fill rivers with the blood of both our people."
Mara folded her hands in front of her once more.
"What do you choose, Commander?"
Clarke peeled off sweat drenched clothes that clung uncomfortably to her abused body, each wet tug feeling like another layer of her skin was being ripped off. She donned a clean, silk robe and went into the bathing chamber of Lexa's suite. The attendants had drawn her a cool bath, anticipating the need for it after such a sweltering day. When Clarke went into the room, the most beautiful, overwhelming fragrance hit her. She breathed it in deeply, surprised by how calming it was.
"What is that?"
"From the healer," Heykin, Lexa's First attendant answered as she arranged towels next to the porcelain tub. "Pliya. She advised using the oil of bluma lami to help with Wanheda's discomfort. I hope that is alright?"
"Lavender..." Clarke remarked in wonder.
"You know the flower?"
Clarke shrugged. "My Earth Skills class is paying off tonight."
"I don't..."
She remembered who she was talking to and immediately apologized to the confused girl.
"Sorry." Clarke smiled. "I haven't actually smelled the real thing until now. It's...it's lovely."
"It contains many useful healing properties," Heykin offered. "It should help, even though you look much improved already."
"Yeah, I didn't think it would get better this quickly either. Thank you, Heykin."
The girl nodded and took Clarke's words as a dismissal, leaving her alone with the bath. Clarke removed her robe and eased herself into the cool water. A loud moan escaped her as the cool water soothed her still burning skin. It cleansed her of the sweat and grime from the long hot day – she could feel it all slipping away as she submerged herself in the water, feeling more relaxed and at peace than she had in the last 24 hours. She rested against the back of the porcelain tub gently and laid her head back, trying to get as comfortable as she could.
The door opened again, but Clarke kept her eyes closed. She didn't need to see her to know she was there.
"Bluma lami. One of my favorites."
"Definitely one of my favorites now too," she replied. "It was Pliya's idea."
"Are you warming up to her now after your tantrum this morning?"
Clarke's eyes flew open and she turned her head to look at Lexa.
"She slapped me!"
"She tapped you on the thigh, Clarke. You are exaggerating."
"She slapped a sunburned patient on one of the worst burned spots. My reaction was entirely warranted."
"She was simply examining the severity of your burns."
"Slapping is not an acceptable form of examination."
"In your world, perhaps, but not in ours."
Clarke pursed her lips, but wisely chose not to respond. Lexa was right. While the Skaikru had a great deal more of modern medical technology, it certainly didn't invalidate the knowledge that the Grounder healers had in using less technologically advanced, but certainly time honored, and proven advantageous methods cultivated from the Earth itself rather than in a test tube.
She still didn't think it was necessary for the woman to smack her tender, sunburned thigh just to see how Clarke would respond!
"You going to take that off yet? Or are you just going to wear it all night to prove your point?"
Clarke had lamented throughout the day how hot it was, but Lexa, fully dressed from head to toe in her heavy, formal, Commander clothes, insisted that Clarke was simply unused to such weather on the ground. She insisted she wasn't bothered at all by the heat and that it was nothing. Of course, as she said it, the back of her neck was glistening with sweat and Clarke could see the wet stains on Lexa's clothes when she was up close. Another good reason to wear all black, it hardly shows anything – sweat or blood.
"Is that your subtle way of asking me to join you?" Lexa raised her eyebrow.
Clarke grinned lazily. "Commander, I didn't think I had to ask..."
She swore she saw Lexa blush, but Lexa turned away too quickly for her to really know for sure. She started removing her clothes at once and when she got to the very visibly sweat stained underclothes, she had to peel them off her body just as Clarke had to do herself earlier.
"No, no, you're right. It was actually pretty chilly out today," Clarke said wryly, shaking her head in amusement.
Lexa tossed her a dirty look before stepping into the tub and lowered herself in slowly. She closed her eyes and hissed in relief as the cool water covered her. She ducked underneath for a moment, soaking her hair, and came back up with a sigh and wiped her face.
"Admit it, Lexa."
She opened her eyes, studying Clarke for a moment, before finally lowering her head in defeat. "It was warm today, yes."
Clarke smiled and chuckled gleefully to herself. It amused her to no end that she got Lexa to cave and admit that, while necessary, having them be outside today was not the easiest thing to do.
"You are healing quickly," she remarked, looking Clarke over. "It's not as red as it was last night or even this afternoon."
Clarke raised her arm out of the water, inspecting the color there before looking down at her chest, stomach, and legs and nodded approvingly. "Much better. Way more pink than red now. Still tender though."
"Oh."
Clarke looked at Lexa, confused by that tiny little utterance. Lexa seemed...disappointed. The reason hit her and Clarke couldn't help but smile, her heart fluttering to see Lexa react that way to not being able to touch her.
Clarke leaned forward and put her hands on Lexa's bare calves and pulled her towards her.
"I said it's 'much better'."
The arch of her eyebrows and the seductive curl of her mouth had Lexa grinning in return. She went eagerly into Clarke's arms and turned around, resting gently against Clarke's front while Clarke opened her legs wide enough for Lexa to settle between them.
"I think today was a success," Clarke said. "Well...as much of a success as it could be, I suppose."
Lexa was not as quick to agree. "A decision was made. We have a plan of action now, at least. Or...we will have a more concrete one soon."
"You don't want to talk about it anymore tonight, do you?" she said knowingly.
Lexa looked over her shoulder at Clarke with a sad sort of smile. "Not really. Would that be alright?"
Clarke kissed her cheek and then trailed those kisses down her neck until she reached the junction of her shoulder. There she stopped and leaned her head against Lexa's.
"Want to talk about what a buttface Akseli was being?"
Lexa's laughter was lighthearted and pure as it rang throughout the chambers.
"Or..." Clarke said softly, when Lexa's laugh faded, "we could just sit here and not talk at all?"
Lexa sighed and rested her head against Clarke heavily...gratefully.
"I'd like that."
"Lexa?"
"Mm?"
"You were incredible today."
Lexa didn't respond.
"I'm proud of you."
Lexa breathed in deeply, still silent.
"And the fact that you're - that you're with..." she stumbled over the words before taking a deep breath and willing them to come out the way she needed them to. "I'm grateful to be able to know someone like you and to..." she trailed off, unable to finish that. Not that word.
Not just yet anyway.
"Guess I got lucky," she murmured, resting her chin on Lexa's bare shoulder.
"It is not luck, Clarke," she replied quietly. "It is fate."
"You believe we were fated?"
"As are all things."
"I don't believe in fate or other things like that."
"Then I will believe in them for you."
Clarke reached out to where Lexa had draped her arm over the edge of the tub and entwined their wet fingers.
"Sounds good to me."
They stayed like that for a while, peaceful and silent. Lexa fell asleep, but Clarke nudged her into waking and they helped each other wash up. Lexa had to take the utmost care in sliding the soap over Clarke's tender skin, but she was freer when she scrubbed into Clarke's scalp, washing her hair. The noises Clarke made with Lexa's hands in her hair were practically obscene and Lexa loved it every second of it.
They toweled off and Clarke put her robe back on before heading back into Lexa's room. Dinner was waiting for them in Lexa's sitting area and they didn't bother to dress before digging in. Lexa ate lazily as she laid on the couch, her towel but a scrap of material covering next to nothing while Clarke was more careful with her robe tied around her and sat up in the armchair.
It was a comfortable and restorative silence that settled over them. Just being near each other like this, without having to worry about anyone else seeing them, getting to be their true selves at ease, it was more intimate and connective than anything words could have done.
The remaining heat from the day had burned off as night settled in, bringing a crisp cool breeze into the room that was a balm to Clarke's scorched skin.
Pliya had stopped by the suite to bring Clarke more salve and she marveled at how much better Clarke looked than the night before – it was both an honest fascination and a bit alarming for her because she'd never seen such healing before.
The salve had helped tremendously though and she was feeling much better than the night before. The redness fading so quickly did have Clarke wondering if it had something to do with her body filtering out radiation damage, replacing the damaged cells at a more accelerated rate than the average grounder.
Clarke thanked her for the salve, promised that it was really all her good work, and went straight to Lexa. She didn't say a word, just handed her the jars, took off her robe, and laid over the furs on the bed.
"Are you sure you need this tonight, Clarke?" Lexa chuckled at her eagerness. "You seem to be feeling much better."
"I'm still red and sore."
"Pink now."
"Pink is still not the color I should be."
"That is true," Lexa conceded, unable to stop smiling.
She went to the bed, kneeling over Clarke who was looking up at her with bright, mischievous looking blue eyes and a knowing uptick in the corner of her mouth.
Licking her lips, she swiped a generous amount of the ointment out of the jar and spread it over Clarke's chest, just as she did the night before. Clarke hissed quietly at the cool, slick feeling against her skin. But before Lexa could do anything else, Clarke seized her waist and pulled her on top of her, so that she was straddling Clarke instead.
"You have a better angle that way," she said innocently.
Lexa's smile grew wider.
With her hands back on Clarke's skin, Lexa moved down, coating her breasts thoroughly. She took her time, more time than necessary to just make sure she was covered with the salve. Her fingers circle the hardened pebbles, squeezing lightly when she heard a contented murmur of approval from Clarke.
Clarke stopped her again, this time sitting up and pulled at the ties of Lexa's silk robe. She pushed the gown open and off her shoulders so Lexa was bare to her as well and laid back down cheekily.
"You wouldn't want to get anything on it, right? It would be difficult to clean."
Clarke's teasing smirk was more than Lexa could stand. She ducked down and met Clarke's lips with more force than Clarke was expecting. She whimpered slightly into Lexa's mouth, but returned the kiss just as passionately. Lexa's hands were still slick with the salve as she slid her hands down Clarke's sides and over her hips. Their breasts slid against each other with glorious friction now that Lexa was covered in the same thing Clarke was.
Lexa broke from kissing her, breathing hard, her mouth still on the corner of Clarke's lips, long enough to gasp out, "Are you sure you're-?"
Clarke answered her in mid-sentence by flipping them over and captured Lexa's lips again, grinding down hard on Lexa's thigh. The slick wetness on Lexa's skin there was not from the salve.
"I'll be gentle," Lexa reassured her, running her hands down Clarke's back.
Clarke met her gaze with dark desire, so utterly filled with need, that Lexa's heartbeat sped up at the mere sight of it. Heat flooded her body, throbbing between her legs.
"I won't."
It was quiet and dark save for the omnipresent flicker of candlelight. Clarke was falling fast asleep, content and satiated with the ghost of an unwitting smile still on her swollen lips.
Lexa brushed the hair away from Clarke's face, tucking it behind her ear.
"Clarke..." she whispered.
"Hm?"
"You said you were proud of me today."
"I am," she replied sleepily, yawning.
"But it is because we were in agreement."
Clarke frowned at that and opened her eyes to find Lexa gazing at her anxiously, worriedly. There was no trace of sleep there for her yet.
"So?"
"We will not always agree."
"Of course not, but that doesn't mean that-"
"It's not the same for us as it is for other people, Clarke. Other people have the luxury of being able to be at odds, to argue, to have different opinions about what is right, but for us...we do not have that same privilege."
Clarke turned onto her side, propping herself up on her elbow. "Lexa..."
But Lexa wasn't finished yet. "We lead our people, Clarke. What happens when one day, our people's needs diverge? What if what I find necessary, you do not? What if I make a choice that you cannot abide by? That you cannot forgive?"
"It won't come to that."
"It could. It might." She paused, swallowing painfully, before whispering hoarsely, "It did once before."
"That was before," Clarke said sternly. "Our entire situation is different now. And we just won't let it get that far, Lexa," she reassured her and reached underneath the covers to curl her arm around Lexa's waist and pull her closer.
"You don't know-"
"You don't know," Clarke cut her off quickly.
"If it ever comes to such a choice, Clarke, you know that I must..." Lexa couldn't finish it. Her eyes were soft and pleading, filled with unshed tears. Clearly, she had been thinking about this for some time.
Clarke leaned forward, resting her forehead against Lexa's. She traced an invisible line with her fingertips from the spot just under Lexa's ear, down her neck, and across her shoulder. Telling Lexa that it would never happen, when Clarke knew full well that it could, was not going to cut it tonight. Lexa was right and there was nothing Clarke could do about that. But it was just a possibility, not an eventuality. It didn't have to be.
Yet, Lexa still needed something more. She needed to know that Clarke was aware of all that could pull them apart, all that threatened their happiness, everything that could steal away the solace they found in each other, and make nights like tonight, the last ones they would ever have together. Clarke knew. Of course she knew. Lexa needed to hear it though.
"I understand," she said softly.
"If I lose you-"
"Shh," Clarke murmured, kissing her softly. "Nothing has happened, Lexa, and maybe it never will. But I promise you one thing: we will find a way. We can't not."
Lexa was silent, her eyes lowered and hidden from Clarke.
"You said everything was fated right? That we were fated? Trust in that."
"Fate rarely leads to a happy ending, Clarke."
"I guess you're going to have to believe in me then."
Lexa finally met her eyes and this time there was a small hint of a smile on her lips. "We'll have to believe in each other," she said.
Clarke smiled and kissed her again sweetly. "I can do that."
Lexa sighed against her lips, eyes falling shut, and snuggled closer.
"Will you sleep now?" Clarke asked.
Lexa just hummed under her breath.
Taking that as a yes, Clarke turned over, bringing Lexa's arm with her around her waist, and pulled her to her so that Lexa was flush against her from behind. Lexa nuzzled into her hair and kissed the back of neck, tightening her embrace, and slipped her leg between Clarke's.
"You're so warm," she mumbled.
"Still sunburned."
"Oh. Right."