Ai Hod Yu In

Chapter 14

A/N: Well guys, apparently inspiration and time have both struck at the same time. I can not believe that I am managing 4 chapters in the span of a few days, but here we go. Hope you guys enjoy!

Clarke held Madi, making sure the both of them were able to see the view of Polis well. In the past few days, she'd refused to speak to anyone but her child. She'd eaten, bathed and changed clothes. She'd been fairly free for a prisoner, but she still had no doubt that that was what she was.

The door opened behind Clarke, and she turned around quickly. It came as no surprise to her to once again see Lexa. She'd been trying to get her to talk for days.

"What part of 'I won't see you" was unclear?" Clarke asked her. She crossed the room to the cradle they had given her for Madi, gently laying the child in it. Then she turned back around, staring at the woman who she probably hated most in this world.

"I respected your wishes for a week, Clarke. We've got bigger concerns." Lexa looked calm and poised as she stood there, and Clarke felt her anger come back all over again.

"We don't have any concerns. I am concerned for my daughter, and that is all."

"Yes, we do. And if you'd allowed our healers to look over the child, perhaps you would be less concerned," Clarke felt the same surge of panic she'd felt the last time she'd heard that suggestion. Luckily, Madi had not been injured in the fall while they were with Roan, but she still had to ensure no one here would discover Madi's blood, "I'm hosting a summit with Skaikru at sundown. You both will be returned to your people."

"You went to all that trouble to capture me just to let me go?"

"I went to all that trouble to save you. In the process, I saved your child as well. You should be thanking me." Clarke couldn't help but laugh at that statement.

"You know when I could have used saving?" she asked rhetorically, "When you abandoned me, all of us really, at Mount Weather."

"Clearly, you didn't need my help."

"Clearly." Madi began to fuss. Clarke turned away from Lexa, instead going back to Madi and beginning to rock her. She was much better company anyways, and she always knew when Clarke wanted out of a conversation.

"You're angry, Clarke. But I know you. What you've done haunts you. And it's easier to hate me than to hate yourself." Lexa wasn't exactly completely wrong there, but she wasn't right either. She hated herself, yes, but Madi and Gustus had begun to teach her how to forgive herself. It certainly wasn't the right reason to have children, but it was a reason nonetheless for Clarke.

"Oh, I can do both."

"What would you have done if their leader had offered you the deal? Save your people at the price of mine. Would you really have chosen differently?" It was an interesting question that Lexa was asking, and certainly not one Clarke had considered before.

"I don't betray my friends." She knew that was a lie even as she said it. She'd had friends of sorts in Mount Weather. She'd betrayed countless friends to get here.

"But you did. You had friends in Mount Weather."

"Those deaths are on you too." Yes, she had betrayed those people. Lexa had backed her in a corner though, "The only difference is you have no honor and I had no choice."

"It helps no one to dwell on the past, and that's not why I'm here. You're right, I'm not just letting you go back to your people. I want something more. I want your people to become my people." Clarke looked at her for a moment, trying to decipher her endgame with this. "I'm offering Skaikru the chance to join my coalition, become the 13th clan. No one would dare to move against you because that would be moving against me."

"Just leave me alone." Clarke could even hear how tired she was in her own voice. She knew how she felt about that plan though. Lexa had betrayed them once before, she could not trust she wouldn't do it again. Still, her people could make their choice, "I'm done. Do you understand that? I left. Maybe I was going back, but I was never planning on becoming a leader again. I just want to raise my daughter where she belongs, in Arkadia."

"You can't run away from who you are, Clarke. You were always a natural leader. Join me. Bow before me and your people will be safe."

"Bow before you?" she finally realized what was going on. "You don't give a damn about my people. I know why you're here. I made you look weak at Mount Weather. And now the Ice Nation is exploiting that. Well, if you want the power of Wanheda, kill me. Take it. Otherwise go float yourself, because I will never bow to you."