Ai Hod Yu In

Chapter 7

AN: Hey guys. Sorry that this chapter took a bit longer than I meant. School just started back up for me so I was having a bit of trouble figuring out how to balance this story along with work and school. Never fear, though. I'll have it figured out soon. Thanks so much to all of you who have been so amazing about this story. I appreciate all of you guys who are reading, reviewing, following, or favoriting. You guys make my day every time I see a new one pop up. Anyways, I'm sure you didn't come here to hear me ramble so on with the story.

Clarke wanted to simply wallow in grief for her friends and her pseudo-son forever. She would have, too, if it was not for Madi. With Madi around, Clarke knew the danger was not over. She wished that she could stick around and find out who had turned them in. She wished Nala, Marcus, and Gustus were still alive. They weren't, though. Finding the traitor wouldn't change that. She supposed she would have to come back once she was settled into her new home.

Thinking about it made it seem real, though. Where could she go? Anywhere she went, she would be hunted. She was Wanheda, the commander of death. She was the mountain slayer. People wanted her dead everywhere.

The safest place was Arkadia, but they would have questions of course. How could they not? If Clarke returned home with a baby that she kidnapped, they would turn Madi over and probably lock up Clarke herself.

She'd have to pretend that Madi was hers by blood, she realized. She'd have to claim she'd either been pregnant when they sent the 100 down, or had gotten pregnant soon after. Since they'd likely done medical checks before sending them down, she'd probably have to go with after. The timeline would be close, but not impossible. She'd say she found out in Mount Weather, and had to leave from there. People would likely assume Finn as the father, and she'd have to let them. She hadn't really talked to anyone else in the beginning, at least not seriously. And Finn was no longer around to correct their assumptions anyways. Taking a quick glance down at Madi, Clarke supposed she could pass as Finn and Clarke's daughter.

Clarke finally set Gustus's body back down and stepped out of the room. She needed she and Madi's things, and she had to go. There could be more fleimkeepers out there, and Clarke was not particularly inclined to find out. It was easier to instead pretend that she was in a rush and be gone by the time anyone found out what fate had befallen the little family. Hopefully they thought Madi had been taken by the fleimkeepers back to Polis instead of by Clarke herself. It would make things much easier.

"We are going to be okay, little one. I'm so sorry about your family, but I promise that we will be okay. We are family. I will protect you til the end. That is my vow to you," Clarke whispered to the baby as she packed all their things, "But now it's time to go home. I wish that we could stay here and mourn your parents. I wish that there was some other way to keep you safe."

Clarke knew she needed to go as soon as possible, but she wasn't ready yet. This little village may not have been her home for long, but it felt like she had been here forever. This little family had been hers. This little house, even, had been hers. It felt like a betrayal to Nala and Marcus, to take Madi and run without looking back. It felt like a betrayal to Gustus, who had been so talented when it came to art. It even felt like a betrayal to the Clarke she had once been, so full of morals and ideas of the good in people. That Clarke would have been so angry that she was practically kidnapping this child and taking her as her own. She'd have thought that this was wrong. That Clarke was a foolish girl who had never even dreamed that she would take a life.

"You know, my friend Bellamy will just love you. He helped to raise his sister, you know. Where I come from, people don't have siblings. Only him. He would tell me that I'm doing the right thing. He would tell me that if I needed forgiveness, he'd give it to me. I'd be forgiven with no second thoughts. We're constantly forgiving each other for mistakes we've made. He'll probably be mad at me for a while, but he'll love you from the first time he sees you. And who could blame him? You are the cutest little thing. Let's go home now, little one. Let's go home."