Clarke was in bed when Lexa finally reached their cabin. It took time for everyone to see Clarke's sketchbooks, and she had to settle Abby down. Lexa was happy to remove her clothes and get in bed beside Clarke, and happier when Clarke turned toward her.
"I'm sorry I left you there. I bet Mom had a lot to say."
"She did, but she agreed to let you tell her what you want her to know when you're ready."
"Thank you. I do feel better, though. I won't have to censor myself so much."
"Is that what you are calling it?"
"Calling what?"
"The past days. Were you censoring yourself, Clarke?"
"No. I was being a jerk. I'm having a hard time dealing with the fact that I murdered two people in cold blood. I probably should have censored myself. I'm sorry."
"I do not like when you stay away from me."
"I didn't like it, either, but I didn't want to dump all of my crap on you. You already do so much for me. I would have been content to die in that cave, and you saved me. You keep saving me from myself, and sometimes I forget it's not your job."
"It is not a job."
"It is. Sometimes being here makes everything worse, but they're my people, my family, so I can't stay away."
"It is a visit, Klark," Lexa told her, her tone softened by Clarke's apologies. "We will go home when your mother is certain we are no longer ill. If not for that, we would be on our way to Polis."
"We'll have to come back at least once before the wedding."
"We can get all the details worked out while we are here. Marcus has offered his help."
"What do you think about him doing the ceremony?"
"Is that what you want?"
"I think he'll take it seriously."
"I like Marcus. If he is your choice, I accept."
"Who does the bonding ceremony in Polis?"
"Titus."
"I never heard anything about him the whole time we were in Polis, and this is the second time he's come up in as many days."
"I do not speak with him unless I need to or he asks to see me."
"Why?"
"Tradition. The Fleimkepa documents our history, so he needs to be outside the daily happenings."
"So we don't need to meet him before or anything?"
"Only when I tell him my intention." Lexa took a deep breath. "He will not like it."
"Why?"
"That is a long story and it is late."
"Ok." Clarke leaned up to kiss her before settling beside Lexa. "Love you."
"I love you, Klark." Lexa sighed contentedly and hoped they would sleep.
100 – 100 – 100
They managed a few hours rest before Clarke's nightmares woke them. This time, Clarke latched onto Lexa and did her best to match her steady breathing. It took a long time for her to settle down again, but the second time, she slept until dawn.
When Clarke woke, Lexa was sleeping. She contented herself with looking at Lexa's tattoos while she waited for her to wake up. Their intricacy fascinated Clarke, who wondered what design they would share to mark their bonding. First, though, she had to find a ring for Lexa. She didn't want anything fancy, but it would have to be made of a strong material. She looked at Lexa's hand and wondered whether a wide band would interfere with the things she did.
Clarke hoped Marcus would have time for them today. In addition to talking about the wedding ceremony, Clarke wanted to ask him to act as Skaikru's ambassador. She needed to talk to Bellamy, too, to make sure he understood that custom dictated that he, as her second in command, remain here unless she needed him in Polis.
"You are thinking too much," Lexa grumbled.
"Can't help it."
"It is still early, Klark. I do not wish to be awake."
"Are you sure about that?" Clarke kissed along Lexa's collarbone to her neck, and nipped at her pulse.
100 – 100 – 100
After a late breakfast, they headed into the Ark. First stop was the Medbay, where Nyko cleaned Clarke's hands again. He handed Lexa more salve and a clean pair of gloves, and told Clarke to leave them off as much as possible.
From there, they went to the meeting room, where Marcus was working on a computer terminal. He looked up, and looked pleased to see them. "Good morning."
"Good morning, Marcus," Lexa answered, and Clarke said, "Hi, Marcus."
"How can I help you?"
"Two things today, if you aren't busy," Clarke said.
"I always have time for you two."
Lexa pulled out a chair for Clarke, and sat next to her. "First," Clarke said, "I'd like you to be Skaikru's ambassador in Polis."
"What does that entail?"
"You will represent Skaikru when the clans meet, or travel to other capitals if needed. Those things do not happen frequently any longer. The ambassadors have not met this year, and unless there is some threat or major disagreement, they will not meet until midwinter," Lexa explained.
"I thought that the other groups' leaders met at midwinter."
"Ambassadors, too, to work out the details of any agreement between krus."
"Why me, Clarke? Why not Bellamy?"
"Lexa said sekens aren't ambassadors, and Bellamy's still a bit of a hothead. I think you know enough about us to make sure that Skaikru isn't taken advantage of in trade agreements and mature enough not to attack another ambassador for saying something stupid."
Marcus smiled. "Bellamy's improving," he said, "but you're right, he's still a bit impetuous."
"Will you do it?" Clarke asked.
"If that's what you want."
"It is," Clarke affirmed.
"Good," Lexa agreed. "At midwinter you will come to Polis and take the brand for Skaikru."
"What does that mean?"
"You will be branded with the mark of the alliance. It is not large." Lexa held out her arm and showed him where the mark would be placed and its approximate size.
"I guess it could be worse," Marcus said.
"It will heal quickly," Lexa assured him.
Marcus nodded. "And the second thing?"
"The second thing is actually a couple things about the same subject," Clarke said. "We'd like to you perform our marriage ceremony here."
"I'm honored, and I'll be delighted.
Everyone smiled, and Clarke continued. "And we need to talk about the ceremony. Lexa said you have access to a bunch of different ones."
"Yes." Marcus saved his work and opened the information he found about wedding ceremonies. "Why don't you read through this, and I'll come back in an hour."
"OK," Clarke said. She and Lexa moved when Marcus got up and sat so they could both see the monitor.
They were chatting when he returned. Clarke handed him some papers where she wrote what they wanted. He read them, looked at them, and smiled. "It will be a beautiful ceremony," he promised them. "Anything else you need from me?"
"Not today," Lexa answered, and stood. Clarke got up, too.
"I'll see you later," Marcus said, and they left.
"What now?" Clarke asked in the hall.
"You should speak with your friends."
"What are you going to do?"
"Help Indra train the young ones."
"Guess I'll see you for supper."
"You will," Lexa said, and left Clarke to watch her go.
Clarke went to Raven's workshop and sat on an empty stool. "Lexa said you wanted to talk to me."
"You took off early last night. Everything OK?"
"I had enough of my mom acting like I'm 12. She asked about my hands and looked at Lexa and said, 'You let her do this?' like Lexa makes decisions for me or something."
"Quit acting like you're 12 and she'll treat you like an adult."
"I didn't come here for a lecture, Raven."
"No lecture, just advice." Raven finished soldering and looked at Clarke for the first time. "What have you been doing?"
"Nothing. We met with Marcus. He's gonna be our ambassador in Polis."
"Is he going to be there all the time?"
"I don't think so. It's pretty close, and there's the radio."
"I don't think your mom will think the radio is the same as a goodnight kiss."
"Are you kidding me?"
"No. Are you blind? They're like conjoined twins or something."
"That explains why she doesn't wear her ring."
"She's happy, Clarke."
"Good. I want that for her. Guess I get to have the talk with Marcus."
"That sounds fun." Raven started testing the circuit board she finished soldering. "So when's the bonding ceremony?"
"We'll announce it when we're ready. There's gonna be two ceremonies, though."
"Two?"
"One here, one in Polis."
"You're going to get married here and in Polis?"
"Married here, bonded in Polis. Yes, you're invited to both of them, but keep it to yourself until we announce it, OK?"
"Yeah, I can do that. You know you're fucking up the pool, though?"
Clarke smirked at her. "No, really, I'm making things difficult for the people who bet on my relationship?"
"Yes, smartass, you're gonna cost people a lot of money, except me, because I'm gonna rig it in my favor."
"Have fun explaining that to Trikru."
"I hate it when you're right."
"Some genius you are," Clarke teased her.
"Yeah, yeah, remember that next time you need some impossible gadget built in a day."
"Speaking of gadgets, when are you guys going to check out Farm Station?"
"As soon as Wick finishes whatever it is he's working on. Something for Marcus. Indra's getting a bigger wagon built for us, because from what I learned from Josh and Bryan, there's a lot of really useful stuff there."
"Good. I can't wait to see what you guys come up with next."
"I have a couple ideas. Wick keeps telling me they're impossible, but he has no imagination."
"He's an engineer. That's all math and logic."
"There's imagination in that. Your sketches are all math and logic, at their base. They're pretty awesome, too. Wish they were in color."
"Charcoal's easier to carry around and find. I have colors in Polis, though. I painted Earth on a wall in our home, like it looked from the Ark."
"I miss that view sometimes. I really miss being out in space, with no gravity." Raven looked at her leg brace.
"Have you been swimming?"
"No."
"She taught me to float. It's really relaxing. Maybe she'll teach you. I'll ask her tonight, and if she says OK, we can go tomorrow."
"It's gonna rain tomorrow."
"How do you know?"
"Satellites are still up. I got into another one that doesn't have the super sensitive cameras. It's good for seeing clouds build up and stuff."
"Next time you see a big storm, put out an alert on the radio so people can prepare."
"They knew it was coming, Clarke. I tell Bellamy and Indra what the weather will be so they can plan."
"You guys really work well together."
"Don't sound so surprised."
"I'm not, I didn't realize you would come up with all this stuff."
"You take care of the big picture, we'll handle the details."
Clarke nodded. They chatted for a bit longer before Clarke excused herself to find Octavia.
