Ofelia is gone. Elyza stands over Alicia's shoulder as she peers out the door through the peephole. She leans in towards Alicia's warmth slowly. She licks her lips as she watches Alicia. "Mmm… sweetheart?"
Alicia is murmuring under her breath as she counts the walkers that go by. Elyza can tell the girl only has one thing on her mind, her mother and Strand. She doesn't even spare a glance at Elyza. "Not now. Not until we save them."
Elyza sighed inwardly and promised herself that she would clarify what their relationship was after they saved Strand and Madison. All the more incentive for her to fight hard right? Alicia turns to Elyza and nods to the door. Elyza for one, doesn't think this is the best option, but Alicia is one hell of a stubborn girl. Alicia believed in the world more than Elyza did and it was refreshing. Elyza could barely remember the days back when she believed in the good of the world as Clarke Griffin.
She's ready to follow her ray of sunshine anywhere, which is why Elyza is so surprised when Alicia turns around so that they are mere centimeters apart and presses the dirk she stole a few minutes ago back into Elyza's hand. There is no explanation. Her green eyes meet Elyza's blue ones.
"Mebi oso na hit choda op nodotaim."(May we meet again.) Elyza can't help as it slips out of her mouth because unlike Clarke, she knows that she can lose anyone any second, especially in battle. She knows that every moment can be the last.
Elyza thinks maybe Alicia didn't hear her despite the close proximity, or maybe she just chalked up the phrase to Elyza's craziness, since all Alicia does in response is smile before turning around and charging out the door.
That girl certainly whipped Elyza's head up into a frenzy. Elyza shook her head clear and crept out after Alicia. They were able to creep forward relatively undisturbed for a dozen or so paces, killing only a few walkers here and there. Then they made the fatal mistake of turning around the corner. Elyza hears Alicia's barely audible gasp. She whips around so fast she almost runs into Elyza. Luckily Elyza has already taken a preemptive step backward. She turns on her heel, grabbing Alicia's wrist on pure instinct and running the other way. They sprint together back down the hall the other way and run into… whoa, who would've guessed? Another damned hoard.
Elyza thinks that she should be used to this by now. Happiness never lasts. Except Alicia is the one at her back dispatching the zombies and she doesn't want Alicia to die. There's nothing she can think of to do though, and a familiar sinking feeling settles in Elyza's stomach. She stabs a zombie straight through the rotting ear hole, slashing the head off another with a powerful jerk of her arm. Then, she grabs two zombies and bashes their heads in on each other.
Elyza is instantly aware when Alicia is gone from her back and glances over to see her prying over the elevator doors. "Hon', what are you doing?" Elyza asks as the walkers slowly drive her back despite her best efforts to keep them at bay. She can see the fear and apprehension in Alicia out of the corner of her eyes and then Alicia jumps onto the cable. Elyza's heart leaps into her throat as Alicia slides a few feet with a grunt before gaining a proper grip.
"C'mon!" Alicia calls to her. Elyza knows that she's about to be overwhelmed and kicks the closest walker away, toppling several others as it goes flying backward.
She looks at the shaft. It is a gaping hole, and Elyza knows she will die if she doesn't jump, but she might die even if she jumps. Suddenly it strikes her as Alicia looks up at her with desperation that Elyza must look exactly as Lexa did when Lexa was about to jump off that ledge to get away from the pauna. It is that thought that propels her feet to leap upward toward the cable. She lands a few feet above Alicia.
Walkers plummet to the bottom of the shaft with a crunch not even a second later. Their harsh breathing and the moans of the walkers as they try to reach the two of them echo in the elevator shaft.
-0-
"Alicia!" Elyza calls out desperately as she tries to hack through the walkers to follow after Alicia. Alicia is charging straight through, without another thought in mind other than making sure that her mother is alive. Elena and Hector struggle behind them not to get overwhelmed.
Only Elyza is close enough to hear Alicia ask, "Mom?" Alicia's face looks so heartbroken at the potential that her mother is one of those things. It makes Elyza wonder how she would react if the one with the uncertain fate was Alicia.
As Alicia catches a glimpse of the walker's face Elyza is already yanking her towards the trapdoor that Hector and Elena are wrenching open. She drops to her knees next to it, watching Elena descend, and then Alicia (she is relieved at this one), and then Hector. Elyza hops onto the ladder and slams the trapdoor shut just in time to hear the banging of and squelching of walkers slamming into it on the other side.
The victory of escaping the bar is rather short lived though, because they run straight into a locked door. Elyza whips around instinctively and starts fighting to hold them off. "GET IT OPEN, ELENA, GET HER TO SAFETY." Elyza roars.
She hears Alicia banging on the door in desperation. Just a little longer Elyza thinks as rotting blood splatters in her face with each zombie that goes down. She just needs to buy a few more seconds for them to get the door down, a few seconds will make all the difference, she promised herself.
Then it happens. "It's open!" Alicia cries, and Elyza kicks down a nearby stack in the hallway before turning and sprinting through the door. By the time Elyza has the door closed behind her, trying to catch her breath, Alicia is in Madison's arms.
It has been a very, very, long time since Elyza has been held. Not since she said goodbye to Raven. She never thought she'd miss it again. As Strand settles into place next to her with an approving look, Elyza thinks maybe she misses hugs. She misses the embrace of her loved ones.
When Madison mouths "thank you" to Elyza, over Alicia's shoulder, undoubtedly for taking care of Alicia, Elyza doesn't need to think. She knows that she wants Alicia's embrace, because she loves Alicia.
-0-
It is so late that night when they finally make peace with Oscar's group and get alone time to rest, Alicia all but collapses into bed after stripping off her soiled clothes. She looks absolutely radiant as she smiles up at Elyza tiredly. Her brown locks fan out beneath her on the stark white sheets. Her now exposed skin is smooth and beautiful. She could be a model if it weren't an apocalypse. "Not coming to bed?"
Elyza's heart dares hope, but her head does not. She raises an eyebrow and nods to the other bed. "I'd love to be in bed with the most beautiful girl I've ever seen, but I don't think your mother would approve."
"It's a zombie apocalypse. Screw my mom", Alicia says lightly. Elyza's lips quirk up at that. Alicia is still a rebellious sassy teenager at heart despite everything that has come to pass in the last few days.
"Pretty sure you don't want me screwing your Mom, 'Licia", Elyza answers jokingly.
Alicia blanches at that thought. "Okay, never mention my Mom again while I'm trying to get you to cuddle with me."
Elyza can't help but laugh at Alicia's expression until Alicia starts laughing with her. It is a solid minute before they can both calm down enough to actually form a coherent thought, and when they finally do, Alicia opens her arms as if to welcome Elyza into her embrace.
She glances down at her blood caked leather jacket. There's no way she is wearing that into a clean bed, but the dirk is still sheathed in it. Except, Alicia's face is so welcoming in the warm light of the bedside lamp. There's no menace, no danger with Alicia. There is no need to cling onto the dirk anymore so Elyza flings her jacket onto the floor to avoid soiling anything else.
Alicia pulls Elyza close the moment she's under the covers. Elyza's heart drums at Alicia's close proximity. A hand comes up to caress Elyza's cheek and Elyza's eyes flutter closed. This cocoon of warmth could make her forget about any world ending danger. "Do you want to talk about that knife?"Alicia asks.
Elyza shakes her head. There's nothing to be said about the dirk anymore. It's a relic of her long forgotten past, but her present is here, with Alicia, not a dead lover. Once upon a time, her attraction to Alicia had been because of her shared looks with Lexa. Now, Elyza realizes that Alicia and Lexa may look similar, but they were completely different people that she loved in two different ways. Through all the years, even when Madi had been by her side, Lexa's death had pained her. The grief never went away and the wound remained open and gaping wide. Now it was starting to scab over. Even though she had time traveled to bring Lexa back, Elyza had instead fallen for somebody else entirely.
"Be my girlfriend, Alicia." It just slips out of Elyza's mouth. Her eyes fly open when she realizes what she just said. Alicia's hand freezes on her cheek, eyes wide with surprise. Good surprise? Bad surprise? There is no way to tell, but Elyza knows she has to forge on because she can't let this just be something that slipped out of her mouth without thought, something that was half-assed. "I swear to you, Alicia. I vow to treat your needs as my own, and your friends and family as my friends and family."
Alicia's hand trails behind to cup the back of Elyza's head as she leans in. "Of course", Alicia murmurs before pressing her lips to Elyza's.
-0-
Elyza watches as Alicia tries to convince Madison that she doesn't have to lead the horde off the pier. They all know better than that. Madison was never Elyza's favorite person. Personally she didn't owe her anything. The problem was, Elyza Lex couldn't just be a separate entity from the rest of the world anymore. She had Alicia, and she was going to make sure she kept her promise from last night. "I'll do it", Elyza interrupts with a finality.
Madison looks surprised, and then relieved that she doesn't have to tempt death again just yet. Alicia however, frowns and pulls Elyza so that they're close enough to have a private conversation in this not so private glass hallway. "Are you sure?" Alicia doesn't say Elyza doesn't have to, because somebody had to do it.
Madison wisely decides to pretend to wander off in a sudden fascination of the decorative plants. Elyza meets Alicia's apprehensive gaze with her signature smirk, "Don't worry, I got this sweetheart. I've gotta come back to sweep you off your feet."
Alicia punches her lightly in the shoulder, "Not the time, Elyza." She doesn't say the rest and it hangs in the air between them. A tear escapes Alicia's eye and travels down her cheek. The unspoken truth that either of them could die trying to secure this hotel. A thousand things could go wrong. Blue eyes simply meet green. A bubble is formed away from the rest of the world, a bubble of their own where it is just them.
Then with a metaphorical pop, the bubble is shattered as the rest of the group signals that it is time to go. Alicia nods resolutely and starts to step back, but Elyza grabs her, pulling her into a hug. She puts her mouth to Alicia's ear so that she's sure only Alicia can hear it. "I love you."
"I'll always be with you", is what comes out of Alicia's mouth in answer as she slips out of Elyza's arms and dashes off. The deja vu hits Elyza so hard her knees almost buckle, her heart is wrenching. How the hell could the two people she love do and say the same exact things? What if she never saw Alicia again just like Lexa? Memories of Lexa swirl in her mind as Elyza runs off towards the horde of walkers.