And here is finally the end of the first volume of this fanfiction. I hope you liked it. Feel free to share it to make it known. I will start the 2nd volume in about two or three weeks. The time for me to work on the plan of this volume 2, to catch up all my ongoing series, because I'm quite late on it ^^
The second volume will tell the story of how Clarke and Lexa met and how their love was born. It will be much more fun. Then there will be a volume 3 that will explore the two years during which Lexa lost her memory. I'll keep you posted as soon as I start writing volume 2. See you soon :)
Clarke moved away from Lexa's face as she spoke words they no longer expected. Her eyes were wide open, she couldn't believe what was happening. She was probably in a state of shock, her pupils were dilated, she couldn't breathe normally.
In her eyes it was so unreal that she didn't know if she should believe what she had just heard for fear that it was only a dream, a dream from which she would have liked never to wake up.
Lexa saw well the doubt and the stupor in the eyes of her wife, then to take her out of her torpor, she tenderly took her hand, intertwined her fingers there and making then completely made of the world around them seized her lips with an avidity which left no room for doubt.
By this kiss, Lexa wanted to make Clarke understand that she had come back, that her memory was there again and that she never intended to let her go. She put all the strength of her love in this kiss, all her feelings, all her life. And her whole life was Clarke, it always had been, even when she had lost her memory, inside she felt that she was missing a part of herself, that part she could only find with Clarke by her side again.
She had come back completely and she never intended to let this powerful feeling that animated her heart slip through her fingers again.
When the air dried up, that their lips asked grace, Lexa stuck her forehead on that of Clarke who still did not believe so much it was unreal. She whispered to her again that all this was real, that none of this was a dream. Clarke couldn't find her words, she couldn't talk anymore, she was almost in shock and Lexa's lips that were so soft to her had been the tornado she was waiting for so long.
Neither of them could hear the crowd chanting Lexa's name and wishing Philemon dead. They were in their own bubble, in their own world, nothing else mattered more than each other's eyes at that moment.
But reality suddenly caught up with them as Clarke's father laid a hand on his daughter so that Lexa could continue the ultimate challenge.
He had looked at his daughter with attention, did not want to rush her, and even if he had not always been for this love which united the two young women and had even opposed to it, he had finally understood. He had finally understood that he could no longer oppose it, that it was the salvation of his daughter and at the same time of his people.
The love of his daughter would finally allow a lasting peace between two peoples who had never really been at peace until this union. And he was determined to do whatever was necessary to make it work in time.
He also admired the fighting spirit of this woman who had won his daughter's heart and was willing to fight to save her when she herself was wounded.
Few people were capable of such a sacrifice, even for love. So the gruff man that he was, as his daughter sometimes liked to call him, approached Lexa and put his hand on her shoulder as well. He had now the hand posed on the shoulders of the two young women. This gesture made start Lexa who had her glance always carried on that of Clarke.
By reflex she had a short moment of retreat, quickly reassured when she saw that it was only the father of Clarke who had the hands posed on their two shoulders.
A silent dialogue settled between the three characters. Melchior, him, was with Neven and took care of the possible overflows which there could be from where the presence of the five hundred men came in reinforcement. All of them had received absolute orders to keep calm and not to attack under penalty of being sentenced to death. They had come in peace, the latter having found a common enemy with Isarian in the person of Philemon, creating at the same time a reason to finally establish peace and ensure the continuity between their two clans.
Rose and Léonie were now in the front row with Nayak who could not help but growl at Philemon.
As for Alexander, he had joined the two women, no longer wanting to hide the fact that he clearly did not support Philemon and also considered him a traitor.
This one was moreover at the worst, he knew that it was the end. So he said to himself that the only way out was to win the supreme challenge. It was for him the only solution for him to get out of it alive.
Lexa was despite all this, seriously injured in the shoulder. And in spite of the fact that her wound is not mortal and normally would heal very quickly, she still wanted to make this last fight.
Clarke tried to convince her to let her fight, that she wasn't tired and that she would defeat him without difficulty, but Lexa didn't want to hear anything, it was her fight, and even if she was handicapped of an arm or a leg, she wouldn't let Clarke risk her life for her.
This courage left Clarke's father admiring. Still not having removed his hands from the shoulders of the two women, he finally did so. He turned then towards his daughter who still did not let go of the glance Lexa, hardly realizing that her father was near her, then he affirmed to her that the challenge had to continue, that it was her choice and that she had to respect it, that it was the law.
Lexa smiled one last time to Clarke, she saw the worried look of this one, she was terrified to lose her again whereas she had just found her in her entirety.
But this one then asked Clarke's father to move away, what he did without asking his rest, he knew that they needed to be alone in order to talk to each other.
Once done, Lexa promised him that she would not lose this fight, that she would kill Philemon, that she loved him, had always loved him and that in the future she would love him until her last breath.
She also told him that having regained her memory had made her regain all her strength, and that her main strength had always been the love she had for the young woman, that it was always what had made her move forward in life. That was the reason why, during the two years she had lost her memory, she was stagnating, not moving forward, doing everything by automatism and duty. She didn't have Clarke's love at that time, so even without her memories, her life had never been the same.
Clarke was moved by this, and she finally gave in to the young woman's will. She couldn't stand up to her. In any case she had never succeeded in doing it, it was enough for her of a simple glance right in the eyes of the young woman so that this one yields to all her requests and all her desires.
Lexa kissed then furtively, but intensely the lips of Clarke and replaced herself in the center of the arena in order to make this last fight which would lead her to the end of all, but to the beginning of all things.
Proudly, she went to choose a shield in addition to her sword. She knew that this one would reassure Clarke slightly.
Philémon, him, waited patiently. The people were in a frenzy, they had made little fuss that the Zenarians were there. Finally, the people wanted peace too and had had enough.
Philemon chose a sword as his weapon, along with a javelin. Lexa knew that he was an excellent thrower, so he was to be wary.
Once he and Lexa were in place, Clarke's father was out of the arena and only the two fighters were left inside, the gong for the last fight finally sounded, giving way to two warriors who wanted to make the one in front of them bite the dust.
Although the gong sounded the beginning of the hostilities, the two circled each other without attacking, each one gauging the other, trying to detect a possible fault.
Philemon finally spoke to Lexa to try to destabilize her.
- Aren't you ashamed? Making an alliance with the people who killed your parents!
- My parents died in an accident, the Zenarians had nothing to do with it! Toisa Lexa.
- In Zenarian territory, so they are responsible!
- My parents wanted peace when they went there, that's why they were there! If the horses of their cart got carried away, broke and fell into the void, it's not their fault at all!
- I remind you that I was there that day, so you can't make me doubt it!
- And in any case, it doesn't matter, my marriage to and your greed for power with the sacrilege of neutral territory makes us allies with the Zenarians, whether you like it or not!
Philemon looked Lexa straight in the eye and finally said:
- When I'm done with you, the next one to go will be Clarke, if I have to die, I'll take her to my grave!
Lexa's body shivered at the thought. She couldn't stand it, she couldn't tolerate it, and it stirred up a hatred she had never known before.
So she threw herself at Philemon, shouting with her sword in her hand. He dodged the blow without any difficulty and hit her back with a kick that threw her off balance.
Clarke clenched her fists when she saw her wife in trouble. Whatever happened, she had decided that Lexa would not die today, even if it meant stopping the ultimate challenge herself.
She was about to engage the fight when she saw that Lexa was waving her hand to tell her not to interfere, that it was her fight.
Lexa got up, grimacing with pain, picked up sand on the ground and threw it on Philemon who, for a moment, was blinded by the grains of sand insinuating themselves inside his eyes.
Then she took advantage of this lull to hit him in turn with her sword. He had just the time to protect himself by also raising his, but he lost slightly the balance. Lexa then gave him a kick in the chest, which had for effect to make him vacillate.
Like a coward he then moved away from the young woman while moving back carefully, sword in hand. Lexa did not immediately understand why he was doing this. But suddenly remembering that he was an ace with a javelin, she suddenly laid down on the ground to avoid the javelin that Philemon had just thrown at her and that would have hit her in the chest if she had not had this saving reflex.
Her memory had returned, her reflexes as well, only the pain of her two previous wounds was a hindrance and prevented her from moving properly as she wished.
Then Philémon threw himself again on her, and this time he had the rage and had finished playing, he gave blow for blow, Lexa sometimes managing just to avoid them, but she fought valiantly under the cries of her people and the worried glance of Clarke who encouraged her more and more.
The fight was the longest of the day. That made well thirty minutes that it lasted and exhausted the two fighters. And although having already fought all the day, Lexa had miraculously recovered her strength by recovering her memory then by seizing Clarke's lips which had an immediate invigorating effect on her.
When Philemon, at the end of his strength, tried one last time to stick his sword into her, it is with skill that she knelt down to dodge it, took out a dagger that she had hidden inside her clothes and stuck it into Philemon who collapsed on the ground while writhing in pain.
She then stood up, sword in hand, looking at Philemon as he died. He had lost the little grin he had at the very beginning of this supreme challenge, he knew that for him the end had come.
Lexa did not feel joy at this, however, on the contrary, she was pained. This man had been raising her since she was a child, and even though she resented him, she still felt a certain amount of grief knowing that he was going to die.
But when he breathed his last, she felt relief, relief that it was all over, but it was all going to start again, that it was all going to start over with Clarke, with peace, with a new life.
But while the people chanted her name, celebrating her victory, she suddenly felt feverish, her eyes turned, her sight became black, her heart palpitated from the efforts she had just made, and she collapsed on the ground under the horrified eye of Clarke who rushed to his wife.
This one landed directly in the arms of Clarke who was now in tears. An absolute silence was then heard in the crowd, everyone held its breath, waiting to know if they had lost their queen, the only one in the history to have survived the supreme challenge.
- Lexa don't fall asleep, LEXA, LEXA! DON'T LEAVE ME Clarke screamed at her with all her might.
She was terrified of losing the woman she loved again. Her own heart paused, waiting to hear if her wife would be okay or if she was losing her life.
Then a beat, a gasp, Clarke, with her head on her wife's chest, suddenly heard her heart, it was weak, but it was still beating, so all was not over, making her hopeful again.
She then ordered the Isarian doctor to come immediately. He arrived barely two minutes after being called and under the worried eye of Clarke and all the rest of Isarian took Lexa to a more appropriate place in order to be able to look after her.
The queen was seriously injured and Clarke, being her wife, should have taken over from Isarian. In the end it was her father, with the help of Melchior and Neven, who controlled his own army of five hundred men who took over.
More than two hours had passed since Lexa had defeated and won the ultimate challenge. The people were waiting impatiently for the invincible queen as she had been nicknamed.
Clarke was at his bedside, the doctor also. This one had reassured him, the queen should wake up, but she had lived a painful ordeal and she would wake up when her body would have recovered forces.
When he left, only Clarke remained at her bedside with Nayak who was also close to her. Rose, Leonie, and Alexander were waiting in the room next to the queen's room where she was resting.
Clarke, although not in tears, had reddened eyes. She had been so afraid of losing the love of her life again that her own heart had stopped along with Lexa's breath. Her palms were sweaty, her heart was on the verge of implosion, an overwhelming array of emotions were running through her mind.
So when she felt Lexa's hand in hers move slightly, she looked at the woman she loved, her heart pounding and hopeful. Lexa opened her eyes slightly, turned her head slightly and was immediately caught by the intensity of Clarke's blue eyes, which she lost inside with a smile.
- C... how are you ? Succeeded in stammering Clarke.
- I am well, but... But who are you ?
The look of Clarke decomposed, the despair gave place to the hope which lived until now the young woman.
She got up, wanted to leave, but was held back by Lexa's hand which clutched hers. She turned around and saw Lexa who was holding back her laughter. And there she understood, she understood that she had just been fooled, that Lexa had wanted to make a joke to her.
Then she detached herself from his hand with vigor, tore off the cushion which she had under the head and threw it to him in full face.
- Ouïïïïïïïïï! Pretended to shout Lexa.
But in front of the disconfited mine of his wife, she apologized immediately.
- It is not funny Lexa, I believed to lose you again, you should not play you of me in this way!
- It seems to me that you liked that I "play" of you at certain moments...
Clarke's cheeks reddened instantly at the evocation of her memories where Lexa liked to play with the nerves of the young woman to stir up a desire which however did not need to be stirred up.
- Lexa, if you were not wounded, believe me that you would pass a dirty quarter of hour!
- Then there I wait to see very expensive!
And as to put in practice her words she put herself astride the young woman, catching her wrists and placing them above her head. This position provoked in the two young women a shiver which invaded them on the spot.
- You make less malignant now Lexa! whispered in a suave voice Clarke in the ear of his wife.
- You are at my mercy now!
- Always... answered her the young woman with the same feverish tone.
They looked at each other intensely, the desire was again there, fully, held back by the fears of the one or the other and Clarke had a lot of difficulty to resist to tear off on the spot all the clothes of the young woman.
But she suddenly remembered that this one was wounded, then she withdrew from the top of the young woman and lay down beside her, encircling her of her protective arms.
Her wife was there again, her memory had returned, and now nothing could stop them from loving each other, neither the war nor the supreme challenges, nothing.
They were free at last and a bright future lay ahead of them.