CLARKE

"Wow, I'd never thought I'd say this, but you're terrible at this!" Trying to keep from laughing I quickly suck my lips into my mouth. Lexa gives me a death glare.

"Not helping, Clarke!" she grumbles.

"I'm sorry," I nicker, unable to control myself any longer, "It's just... how can you throw spears - and knives! - piercing moving body parts from afar... yet not shoot a single arrow?"

She takes another arrow from her quiver and places it in position.

"I can shoot!" she sets me straight - eyes on the target as she pulls the string back. As she lets go the arrow whistles towards the tree about thirty feet away from us, missing it by at least an arm's length. A deep sigh escapes her. "I just can't hit."

I make my way to the tree for what feels like the hundredth time - my job for the day as I promised her to help her train - and look back at her over my shoulder, beaming. "Which is of course the least important part, so why bother, right?"

When I return to her with the collected arrows she groans again.

"I just hate that I can't use a hunting rifle. Or that knives and spears are so ineffective. I always sucked at archery," she mutters in frustration. "Why do you think I choose swords?"

I hand her the arrows and boop her nose with my index finger. "You'll get the hang of it. I'm telling you, before you know it you'll be the hunter of all hunters."

She scoffs. "Yeah, right."

"Just give it time," I cock my head, a smile lingering on my lips. "You know we've got plenty, right? Now that we're here."

Although her moping is wondrously adorable I'm glad to see the corner of her lips quirking up.

"We made it, didn't we?" she smiles, making me grin as well.

"Sure looks like it." I step closer and place my hands on her hips. Pulling her in with no resistance from her side our noses graze, and I softly hum, "Though honestly every place with you feels like home."

I give her a light peck, but she surprises me by pressing her mouth firmly to mine, reconnecting our lips as soon as they lose touch. With her tongue running across my lower lip I surrender without giving it a second thought and open my mouth to welcome her - ignoring the bow that's now pressed against my back as she pulls me even closer.

By now we've been this close, this intimate, more often than before I lost her, but it doesn't seem to make any difference. It doesn't seem to matter. I honestly don't think I ever get used to it. My stomach still flips, my heart still feels like it's about to explode as soon as our lips touch, as soon as our tongues collide - as soon as we breathe as one.

It doesn't take long for the rest of my body to respond, craving for more. More hands. More lips. More Lexa. I briefly open my eyes to see if she's with me... and realize we're still in the middle of this small yet very public beach.

"Wait, wait!" I mumble against her lips. With my hands on her shoulders I reluctantly push myself away from her a little. "Not here."

She takes a deep breath, then glances over my shoulder to our cabin, half hidden behind the trees. She grabs my hand. "Okay. Let's go home."

I stop her by pulling her back, sighing, "The other's are there." As soon as she's facing me again I lift my hand and tuck a lock behind her ear. "Guess we haven't made it just yet."

We exhale in unison.

"Now what?" Lexa ponders, suddenly looking a little lost.

I shrug. "Back to practice?" I lean in to nudge her with my shoulder, then swiftly press a kiss on her cheek, making sure to stay away from her lips this time. "Play a little Cupid?"

"Make the trees fall in love with each other?" she snorts. "Sure, why not?"

Adjusting another arrow she gets in position again, draws, and releases.

"Yesss!" I cheer as the arrow hits the trunk. "See?"

She shakes her head.

"What?!"

"I was aiming for the other tree!"

My shoulders sag. "Oh." I move my eyes from Lexa to the tree with the arrow, then back to Lexa. "Well, at least it's stuck. That's progress."

Lexa puffs, telling me she doesn't agree, but already prepares for the next shot, not ready to give up - what I absolutely love about her.

The next two arrows are definitely more in line with the target, hitting the ground right in front of it. I stay quiet this time, not wanting to come of as annoyingly cheerful, but I exult in silence when I note the hint of a smile on her lips.

I leisurely wander to the tree again and kneel down to pick up the two arrows, freezing in my motion when I don't find two but three of them in the sand. Did I miss one before?

The third one is partly hidden under some leafs, which is why I don't notice the difference until I pull it out. Unlike Yumiko's, which we're using for practice, the fletching is quite small and although black and white as well the color seems slightly off.

"Clarke?"

I look up, watching Lexa walk towards me, a curious look on her face.

"What's up?"

As an answer I show her the arrow.

"You found us an extra one? Cool!" She stretches her hand to take it from me, but I'm already examining it again, more closely this time.

"I'm not sure we're talking lost and found here," I mumble. "I think I know this arrow."

She squats down besides me. Her eyes break from the arrow and find mine. She raises her brows. "You do?"

I slowly nod. "I think it's from Echo."

"Echo? The Azgeda spy?!" Lexa's eyes grow even bigger.

Understanding her confusion as she still doesn't know the full story, I chuckle. "Believe me or not, but she's one of us now."

"Shooting arrows at us? Doesn't look like it!"

"Trust me, if she'd been shooting them at us we'd be lying on the ground right now, bleeding to death." Unable to stop it I feel my lips curl into a goofy smile. "She's not one to hit the wrong tree."

"Oh, shut up!" she snarls again, though with laughter sparkling in her eyes. She playfully pushes me backwards, my butt hitting the sand before I know it, and grins at me like this settles the score.

"What do you think this means," she asks as I scramble back to my feet. "She's here?"

My eyes are already scanning our surroundings, peering through the trees for any sign. Of course there's no Echo. If she wants to be invisible, she's invisible. There is a clue though, about twenty feet away from us.

"There!" I point.

It's another arrow, stuck to a tree. It's not a lot, but when we get there and look around again, we spot a third one, even further away from the settlement.

"She's leading us away from Oceanside," Lexa states.

I nod and take her hand. "Come on."

When she doesn't move I face her again. "Please, come with me? Something must be going on. And whatever it is, I feel I really need you with me. And I swear Echo won't hurt you. Or want anything from you. She never did, did she?"

She shakes her head, slowly, but keeps hesitating.

"She watched us at the beach. Maybe even before that." I give her a light squeeze. "Like it or not, but she's seen you already."

Lexa doesn't answer. Instead she inhales deeply, lifts her free hand and abruptly pulls the arrow from the tree. "She might need these again," she murmurs, her voice hardly audible, before looking at me. "Let's go."

We follow the trail of arrows, collecting them all as we move away further and further from the place we call home. By the time we've got our hands full we must have crossed at least a mile. That's where the second surprise awaits us.

Echo is not alone.

Next to her, sitting on the hood of a rusty jeep, is Raven.

There's no point in turning around. They see us as soon as we see them. I quickly glance at Lexa. I know the history between them. I was there.

My own unresolved issues with her are nothing compared to theirs.

As we slowly draw closer I realize that Raven doesn't look shocked by the sight of Lexa. Puzzled, yes. But not dismayed. Echo must have told her about the resemblance.

Or maybe they already know - somehow - that this girl right next to me, dressed in sneakers, tight jeans and a light bomber jacket, is actually the fearless, former leader of an entire nation?

When we're only a few steps away they both jump off the hood. I feel the sudden need to hug them, despite the fact that I know too well how Raven feels about me, but I fight the urge. It's really good to see them again though and it hits me how much I miss my own people.

I'm not sure if they feel the same.

"Hello Princess," Raven breaks our silence. Her eyes are cold. I hate that. "We didn't get the chance to catch up last time. I see you made some remarkable choices again. Or should I just call this the easy way out?"

Before I can answer she looks at Lexa. "You're really her, aren't you?"

Lexa swallows, but doesn't flinch. "You remember?" she asks in return.

Raven lifts her arm, showing us the scar on her triceps. "Call me crazy, but I don't easily forget torture. Not to mention my boyfriend's death sentence."

My eyes are glued on Lexa. She doesn't say anything, nor does she move. I recognize the slight clenching of her jaw though. Just like the fierce look in her eyes. She doesn't want to hear it, but I've been noticing more and more Heda shining through since she remembered her old self, and today is no exception.

"How are you here?" Echo asks.

"I don't know," Lexa answers truthfully, "How are you?"

"Madi," Echo shrugs. "She made me follow you guys the morning you left our camp. Needed to know where to find you, just in case..."

I narrow my eyes. "That's half a moon ago. You've been here all along?"

She shakes her head. "No, I went back as soon as I knew you found a safe spot here. You might not be aware of it, but we got ourselves into a war pretty much straight away after landing."

"See, that's what friends do," Raven snarks, "They stay around when they're needed."

"Yes Raven, I know!" I snap, louder than I want to, "I know I let you down - I let everybody down! You wanna hear me say it? I'm sorry. Okay? I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

If it weren't for the sudden though gentle touch of Lexa's hand on my shoulder I'd probably apologize a thousand more times. Instead I fall quiet and just stare at my estranged friend, my face more grim than she deserves. She stares right back at me, keeping any more possible comments to herself. I guess this is our way of a ceasefire.

Lexa looks at Echo again. "Why did you come back? Need help fighting those Whisperers?"

"Whisperers?" Echo frowns.

"Yeah, those masked idiots. I assume you're at war with them?"

"Actually we pretty much got them already," Echo smirks scornful. "Indra led our army right into their territory, defeated everyone they encountered, and Shaw and Raven blew up their camp - Skaikru style. They didn't stand a chance."

"Not the most peaceful solution," Lexa nods with a blank expression, but with a shimmer in her eyes that tell me she's trying really hard to suppress a grin at least as wide as Echo's. Like I said: once a Commander... "But problem solved," she concludes.

"We wish. Those fools were never a problem. Not for us. Maybe you forgot, with whatever happening to you," she makes a vague gesture, "but the you I know could have finished them with your eyes closed."

I cough, just to check if I'm still capable of making a sound. "Then what is? The problem, I mean?"

Echo directs her eyes to me. "The problem is the fact that after we kill people around here they stand back up!"

"And turn us into them!" Raven adds.

They share a quick look and I intuitively feel that it's time to get nervous. My hand reaches out until it finds Lexa's. Our fingers lace together like silk. Her grip is firm and steady though, assuring me that whatever I'm about to hear, she's with me.

"Which is why we're here," Echo goes on. "It's Madi. She asked us to come get you. She..."

When Echo stays quiet mid-sentence I look at Raven. To my relief I finally recognize my old friend, with sympathy shining through her eyes. Averting those eyes she takes a sharp breath, before looking at me again - the anger on her face now replaced with sorrow.

"Clarke... Madi got bitten."

... ...