Echo was pulling weeds out of the vegetable garden when she heard footsteps creeping up behind her. There was a shovel to her right. She knew that most other people in her situation would grab it and whirl around in mindless panic. But she had better instincts than that. You had to put thought behind the fear. Always. If you couldn't think, then you couldn't move. Doing nothing was better than doing something foolish. If she was patient, if she waited just a few heartbeats, her brain would kick into gear and whisper the things she needed to know. She had spent years honing her physical skills to compensate for those lost heartbeats.

She finished yanking out a particularly spiky weed and listened hard. Her nails dug so hard into her palms that she knew it would leave a mark, but she was rewarded for her efforts. From a distance, it had sounded like an ominous robotic march. Up close, there was more than one sound. The sound of boots dragging in the dirt. A bag flapping against a leg with each step. A faintly hummed tune. With that last sound Echo was sure of the intruder's identity. She felt herself relax, all the stale air leaving her body as she started breathing again. That was something she needed to practice more, now that she was out of the space bubble. She could still think through fear, but she also needed to breathe through it.

Madi plopped down on the ground with her legs crossed, facing Echo. Her face was a little red, so Echo suspected the girl had run part of the way. She had seen her do it before, running full-force through the valley, then slowing down at the finish, skipping along at a leisurely pace. She wasn't sure if it was a form of exercise, a way of saving time, or just a fun game. Madi's hair was falling out of her braid, and Echo had a strangely maternal urge to fix it for her. She squashed it down, along with the remnants of her paranoia.

She couldn't quite pull off a smile, but her mouth twitched suspiciously. She was genuinely happy to see Madi. The girl was a breath of fresh air, literally and figuratively. She could switch between youthful enthusiasm and a quiet calm in a flash. Echo wanted to learn how she did it. She had a long list of things to do, and the ability to summon extra pep at will would certainly help. But it just wasn't in her nature.

Without any sort of greeting, Madi started digging right into the dirt with her hands. She knew to pull weeds out at the root. Echo gave her an approving nod and threw a pair of gloves into her lap. Madi pulled a face at her, but she put them on. They were about three sizes too big for her, but she didn't let that get in her way, and soon her pile of weeds was as big as Echo's. There was no giggling or singing, but they had their own kind of fun. They got competitive, trying to find the ugliest weeds.

"This one looks like it has rotten fangs. A broken vampire." Echo nodded the head of the weed up and down to demonstrate.

Madi copied her puppetry. "Well, this one looks like Murphy."

"You're right, it does. Let's put that one in his sleeping bag later." The best part was that he would never suspect Echo as the architect of the prank. Everyone underestimated her sense of humour, and she liked it that way.

The weeding job was done within the hour. They were good gardeners and good company for each other. It was something their group had been missing lately, the ability to just be good company.

Madi waited until the last weed was uprooted before beginning conversation, staring at Echo straight on. She didn't skirt around the words or use their work as a distraction. It was refreshing in a place where everyone was always glancing away before opening their mouths. They missed half of every conversation that way. "I want you to help me make friends with Bellamy."

Echo considered her words carefully. "You don't think that Bellamy's your friend?"

"Not the way I want him to be. Not the way I imagined." Her eyes were wistful.

There were things Echo could say about imagination. Sceptical and bitter things. Luckily, this situation didn't call for them. "Relationships can be complicated. But the simple truth is that Bellamy likes you Madi. He cares about you."

"I know." She tilted her head like a bird. "I was really excited to meet him. I'd been waiting for it for such a long time. And he seemed thrilled to meet me. We clicked. We talked really easily."

"And then things changed."

"Now, when he's not avoiding me, he's always so grumpy and stern, like he wishes he had a reason to scold me. How do I fix that?"

"You're shooting up so fast. We can all see it. You were a little girl. Clarke's little girl. He couldn't help but love you. Now you're growing into a clever, headstrong woman. That's hitting a little too close to home for Bellamy."

"I see."

Echo could see that she really did see it. Madi wasn't asking why things were as they were, she was just asking for a solution. Dozens of strategies crossed her mind. Ones that would work. But could she really tell this kid to trick her boyfriend with subterfuge?

No, she decided. She could not. Madi would have Bellamy's honest friendship without any games or lies. Even if Echo had to wack him on the head with her shovel to make it happen. "Just keep being yourself. Give him some time to adjust. He'll get there in the end."

She saw the disappointment on Madi's face, so she tacked on a postscript. "But if you want to speed things along, ask him to teach you something. He'll feel honour bound to say yes, and it will give you a chance to get a word in when he won't walk away."

Madi smiled. "That makes sense. Thank you. Now I'm going to give you some advice in return."

"About Bellamy?"

"About Clarke."

"Clarke." The word came out sharper than she liked, but Madi didn't seem offended. "What about her?"

"You want to get to know her." Madi took off the gloves and started to undo her braid, stretching her hand awkwardly.

"Here, let me do that." Madi turned around and Echo started to redo the braid, being careful to be gentle. She had thought that, like Madi, she was equal to conducting any conversation eye-to-eye, but this one was testing her. "What makes you say that, about Clarke?"

Madi shrugged. "You observe people. It's what you do. But I hardly ever see you look at Clarke. I think that just means that you think about her more than the others."

"You're pretty observant too."

"Sometimes hearing about someone from other people isn't enough. Sometimes you just have to talk to them for yourself."

Echo let out a sigh. There were some uncomfortable emotions about Clarke swirling around in her head, but Madi had reached down to the core of it, the purest feeling. Clarke loved the people she loved. She wanted to know her. It felt important. "I suppose I do want that."

"Good." She could hear a victorious edge in Madi's voice. The kid hadn't been as sure of her theory as she had pretended to be. "The best way to do that is to be a storyteller. Clarke loves stories."

It sounded naïve, but she knew that Madi wasn't a naïve girl, so she didn't dismiss her out of hand. "What kind of stories?"

"Stories about your time in space. She's curious about it. But she's too afraid to ask. If you make the first move, she'll respect that." Madi played with a thorny weed absentmindedly. Echo watched for blood, but Madi was being careful. "Clarke's had a lot of experience making friends with difficult people. She told me those were the best kinds of friendships."

Echo wasn't sure if friendship was exactly the right word for what she wanted from Clarke, but she didn't point that out because she couldn't think of a better one. With an effort, she kept her tone teasing and light. "Are you calling me difficult?"

"You're both difficult. Clarke also said that people just seem difficult when you don't know enough about them. But you're going to fix that. Tell her your stories and she'll tell you hers."

"Alright. That makes sense. Thank you." Echo tied off Madi's braid and patted her shoulder awkwardly. She wasn't a hugger.

Madi turned around, her gaze intense. "But promise me that you'll tell her good stories." The subtext was clear. Don't hurt Clarke. Madi was more aware of the dangerous undercurrents to the situation than she had let on. There was both a plea and a threat in Madi's eyes.

Echo didn't blame Madi for the warning. There were plenty of tales she could spin for Clarke, ones that would cut like knives. They would open up the wounds of being left behind alone, of becoming an outsider to her own people. They were wounds that Echo knew well. So it was both for herself and for Madi that she gave her word. "I promise."

Madi's smile was radiant. "Then we'll both get what we want."

Echo hoped that she was right.

Madi stood up and offered Echo her hand. Echo hesitated for just a second too long, so Madi reached for her hand and pulled. "Come on. Be brave with me."

They had the ring of words that were heard and spoken often. A special mantra between her and Clarke. No one ever told Echo to be brave. Not even when she was a little girl. They always just assumed that she would be. She took Madi's hand. "Let's go be brave."

They started walking towards the campfire. It was close to dinner time, so Echo thought there was a good chance that they would find both Bellamy and Clarke there.

Madi skipped ahead a few steps, then turned back around. "You know, I wouldn't mind, if you wanted to practice on me first. Your stories."

Echo couldn't resist the excited glint in the girl's eyes. It seemed that Clarke wasn't the only one that liked stories. "Well, this one time, Murphy was hogging the bathroom. Emori and I were waiting when we saw Raven walk past with a wrench…"