A week later.
Clarke has been training with the Nightbloods every day for the past week. She's figured that gaining some fighting skills before going to war isn't such a bad idea. Of course, she already knows how to shoot a gun, and in the months spent into the woods, she's become quite good with a knife too. Her aim could definitely be improved, as it's not nearly as deadly as Lexa's. But most of the times she manages to throw her knife and catch her target, even from a very long distance. As for other weapons, Clarke's always been envious of Octavia's sword fighting skills, but she's never had time to train with her. In her defense, to take down Mount Weather they needed to be able to use a gun more than anything else, since the enemy was armed with fire weapons as well. But the enemy they're about to face now is going to use swords, knives, and spears. The Ice Nation warriors are skilled in hand-to-hand combat and, if she wants to have a chance of surviving and winning this battle, she needs to learn how to fight like them. And that leads us to why she spends as much time as she can sparring with either Aden or Lexa. Truth is, Clarke prefers sparring with Aden a lot more. For one, because it's almost impossible for her to stay focused when her beautiful girlfriend is standing right in front of her, covered in sweat and flexing all of her muscles. And second, Aden is a much more patient teacher.
Although it's barely past dawn, Clarke and Aden have already been sparring for an hour or so. Lexa had to attend an early meeting with some clan leaders to discuss a possible increase of food supplies coming from the capital. Since Clarke didn't feel like staying in bed alone, she got up as well and went looking for the boy. All the Nightbloods have been very eager to spend time with her this past week, so when she showed up in their room this morning, they practically jumped out of their beds to get ready for the training session. Clarke imagines these kids must miss their families very much, and that's why they got so attached to Lexa. And now her too. What surprises her most, though, is how quickly she's grown fond of each one of them as well. They're like the little brothers and sisters she couldn't have on the Ark.
"You're getting much better at this." Aden says earning a snort from the girl underneath him.
"Says the boy who just pinned me to the ground for the fourth time in a row." Aden shrugs before moving away from on top of her to help her up.
"I've been doing this for years. It took me much longer than a week to come as far as you have."
"Guess your teacher wasn't as good as mine." Clarke says with a conspiratorial smirk.
"Lexa might disagree." He chuckles.
"Please. She does nothing but praise you all the time." Clarke gives him a gentle shove on the shoulder.
"That's because I'm her favorite." He shrugs as a small smile appears on both of their faces.
"That's because you deserve it. You'd make a great Heda if her spirit chose you."
"Thank you, Wanheda."
"Please, just call me Clarke." For a whole week, she's been trying to get the Nightbloods to let go of the formalities, but it seems as though they really cannot stop calling her Wanheda.
Aden smiles at Clarke's annoyed tone. He knows she dislikes the appellative, but to him and his companions it's just something to be proud of. Only one of them will have the honor of being called Commander. The others will have to train for years for nothing. But Clarke, she's the Commander of death. Her power is envied among all clans, Queen Nia of Azgeda herself is trying to have it for herself. And Clarke doesn't even want it. Worst. She despises it and rejects it continuously. But he guesses that's because Skaikru's culture is very different from theirs. They give value to different things, and they don't take pride in such a name as Wanheda. He understands the problem isn't with heda at all. It's death. Clarke doesn't like to be reminded of all of the people who died because of her. He gets that. But there's something Titus taught them right from the beginning: leaders are called to make hard choices, and they cannot escape the consequences of their decisions; leaders must never forget those who died at their hands, but no matter how much blood they have on their hands, they must own their name and keep on leading.
"Alright. Let's try this again." Clarke gets in position, and then adds in a resolute tone: "don't go easy on me"
"Careful what you wish for, Clarke."
With that they start sparring again. They keep at it for a good couple of hours. This time Clarke is more focused, and she even goes close to sending him to the ground a couple times. If that counts as an improvement.
Finally, they're too tired and thirsty to keep that up, so they choose to continue their training another day. They are standing by the side of the training area, drinking some fresh water, when Clarke feels a small hand tapping on her back. She turns to see two big blue eyes looking up at her. She smiles softly at the little girl standing in front of her as she crouches down to be at the same eye level as her.
"Sha, Trish?"
"Can you show us those knife tricks of yours again? We'd like to learn some." The little girl asks sheepishly, making Clarke smile even harder at how adorable she is.
"Of course." Clarke takes Trish by the hand to drag her where the other Natblida are standing. "You coming?" She asks Aden.
"I don't know... Is it safe? I think I'd rather stay out of harm's way." He mocks her, to which the girl answers with an amused shake of her head and an ironic "Very funny."
The kids stare at her in awe as she shows off her best tricks, making each of them try ever so often. She's teaching the youngest Naitblida to throw a knife at a moving subject when she feels some movement behind her back. Startled, she turns quickly to throw the knife at whoever is approaching from behind. It takes her a second to recognize the person as Octavia, but it's still too late for her to stop the weapon flying straight to her friend's face. Thankfully, Lincoln is walking right behind his girlfriend, and he's fast enough to realize what's happening and get her out the way just in time. As the knife ends up sticking to a wall behind them, they all sigh in relief.
"Damn Clarke, is this a way to greet your friends now?!" Octavia jokes.
"Oh my God! I'm so sorry!" She rushes to her friends to make sure they're alright as the kids burst out laughing.
"There's nothing funny about this! I was a moment away from getting stabbed!" Octavia pouts, making them laugh even harder.
"Yeah, I'm really sorry about that." Clarke says retrieving the knife from where it's stuck in the wall. Once she's secured the weapon back to its place on her thigh, she moves to greet her friends properly. "What are you doing here?" She says as she brings them in for a quick hug.
"We thought it'd be better if we delivered the message ourselves: the Ice Nation army is only a couple of days away from Arkadia. We've already talked to Lexa, and she's now getting the Coalition's army ready to march back with us. We're leaving at noon, the sooner we get home the better. I hope you're ready to fight, Wanheda."
"I've been preparing for this battle for the whole week now. I'm ready." She says surely as she searches for a confirmation from Aden. The boy nods quickly at her, but Clarke can tell he's not very convinced.
Maybe he's right to be worry and to doubt her fighting skills. But what choice does she have? Ready or not, she has to fight for her people.
"Let's go get ready." Clarke states, motioning for her friends to follow her inside the tower.
At a quick pace they should be able to ride to Arkadia in no less than 48 hours. She just hopes it'll be enough to anticipate the Ice Nation, and position the army.
When they reach the doors of the throne room, Clarke tells Octavia and Lincoln to wait outside as she has a word with the Commander. Walking in, she finds Lexa standing in the middle of the room and talking to Titus. They must be discussing who's going to take charge in her absence, but Octavia and Lincoln cannot make it out from where they're standing. They only see Lexa turning quickly towards Clarke as she hears her approaching them. A big smile appears on the Commander's face at the sight of Clarke's figure walking up to her. Then they see Titus nodding his head at the two of them before excusing himself and leaving the room. No words are needed to understand that something is going on between the two women: the way their smiles brighten up when they at each other speaks louder than anything else. Any doubt Lincoln and Octavia might have on the nature of their relationship is soon washed away when Clarke leans in to place a small peck on Lexa's lips. Leaning back, she tells something to Lexa, and then she moves for the door. Octavia and Lincoln follow her to her room, exchanging looks along the way, but never addressing the subject.
At noon, when everyone is ready to leave, they gather in front of the tower to listen to Lexa's speech. When the Commander's done, she gives orders to the infantry to start marching followed by the riders, covering their backs. The Nightbloods wait patiently by the tower entrance for a chance to say goodbye to their dear hedas. Lexa walks to them and gives them all a quick shake of the hand. But when it's Clarke's turn to do the same, all the kids pile up to give her a tight hug. Clarke tries not to get emotional as she hugs them back just as tight.
"Ready to go?" Lexa asks her softly, and Clarke can see she's fighting back tears of her own.
Clarke takes a second to look at the kids and then up at the top of the tower. Then she turns to Lexa and nods. "Ready."
They ride in pairs, Lexa and Lincoln in the front, followed by the other riders, and then Clarke and Octavia for last. Pairing up like that was Lexa's idea. She's reasoned, they could use this time to catch up with their friends.
Lexa and Lincoln talk for hours, chatting happily about everything and anything. But Clarke and Octavia ride in silence for most of the way. Finally, when she's positive they've gained enough distance from the riders in front of them, Octavia breaks the silence. She keeps her voice low, just in case the others could still hear them.
"Sooo... You and Lexa, uh?" Octavia chuckles at the way Clarke stares down at her horse trying to hide the huge blush covering her cheeks. "How long have you two been a thing?"
"We are not a… thing. We're..." Clarke sighs. "I don't even know what we are. She's the Commander, and I'm just me. In her people's eyes she's not supposed to fall in love, let alone with me." Clarke says with a loud sigh.
"Wait. So, no one knows you're together?" She asks in a surprised tone. "And here I thought I was the only one you didn't tell."
"Some people know. They've seen us walking around the streets of Polis holding hands, but we've been trying to be subtle about it. It's not like we had time to make an official announcement or anything. You know."
Octavia can't help but notice the sad tone in Clarke's voice. She knows what it feels like to be in a relationship your people don't agree with. She knows what it's like to be a sky girl in love with a grounder, so she doesn't judge Clarke for being in love with Lexa. If her friend says they can trust her to not betray them again, she believes her. But now she's curious to know more about the real Lexa, the girl behind the armor. So, she asks: "What's she like? The real Lexa, I mean."
"Perfect. She's kind, and caring, and..." Her face lights up as she speaks about the girl she loves. "She's nothing like the heartless and ruthless person everyone knows. It's hard to explain, really. She's just... she's just perfect. I wouldn't know how to say it better."
"Well, I'm glad you guys found each other." Octavia says sincerely.
"You're not mad that I fell in love with the girl who betrayed us and left us to die?" Clarke says shocked. She thought her friend was going to react like her mother did. She definitely wasn't expecting her to be understanding, and even happy about it.
"I know it was your choice to let that missile kill all of those people in TonDC. Just like I know it was your choice to form an alliance with Lexa in order to save our people. I can be mad at you for all the wrong choices you made; but I cannot be mad at you for something you have no control of. Love is not a choice, it just happens. So, I fell in love with Lincoln, and you fell in love with Lexa. And that's okay." She smiles fondly at Clarke to let her know she really means those words. It's okay if she loves Lexa.
"I'm afraid the rest of our people won't see it like that."
"Then make them. Let them see who Lexa really is. Show them all the good things you love so much about her."
"Did that work for you and Lincoln?"
Octavia sighs. "Let's just say… we're working on it."
Both women chuckle lightly at that. Maybe Octavia's right. They'll just has to keep fighting until all of their people will have understood and accepted their love.