Chapter 6: Miscommunications, Lies, and the Secrets We Like to Keep Hidden

Clarke's POV

To say today couldn't have been the worst day of my life was a lie, and trust I've had a great number of worst days of my life. The day when I decided that the best course of action for peace with the grounders after Fin's attack was to end his life myself, or the day I chose my people over the people of Mt. Weather, then I truly believed there couldn't possibly be a worst day then this, then I met Lexa and felt like maybe life was once again on the mend only to lose her forever. As if in my short life, I hadn't already been dealt enough then A.L.I.E became know to us and by association the second apocalypse.

Then after six years of peace, quiet, and absolute bliss everything erupted and blew up in my face all over again. I had started the day with a plan to free our people, only for that to backfire at me. When the riots started, as I helped my friends set up camp, I had a feeling of forlorn, but never did I once think that Gaia would stoop so low as to challenge my daughter to a duel with one of her non-nightblood novitiates.

To make matters worse Aurora had apparently forgotten that we had to keep it a secret that both she and Madi were born nightbloods. It was at that moment when the guards held me back and I watched both my daughters reveal themselves that I felt an energy jolt through me helping me free myself and rush to my daughters' side.

"They are both children…" I said after I had picked up Aurora from the floor, "my children. And nobody here is going to force some flame upon them just so that Octavia can get relieved of her burden and you all finally get rid of the unwelcomed commander."

I could feel the whole room's gaze on me and felt like an ant about to be squashed my somebody's foot. I held Madi and Aurora tightly and tried to flee the room, however Gaia ordered the guards to stop me and contain me once more.

My ears were ringing I could not here whatever Bellamy, Octavia or Gaia was saying and then I felt Madi shift her body away from me slightly to look at the scene that's when I finally heard Bellamy's words, "I have a proposition for you, you let Octavia kom Skaikru and Clarke live freely in exchange Madi and Aurora will both begin to prepare to take on the flame under Gaia's instruction. However, since Madi is older she will take on the flame now so long as a council with the representatives and trustees of our new heda is formed."

My eyes widened in horror and I struggled against the guard with more intensity than before. I couldn't speak for they had already gagged me; all I could do was hold on to my girls as I tried to free myself.

How could Bellamy even consider that an option? Couldn't he see that if Octavia who was already an adult could barely handle the pressure Madi and Aurora would surely crash. What about their childhood? Which would be no more, their time filled with training to understand the flame and battle strategy, Plus, the grounders would probably want the title, of heda, to be won via a conclave which would place the sisters at opposing sides and I just couldn't let that happen.

"Why should we do that?" Gaia asked, "we can just follow through with the sentences and still take the girls and train them."

"Because if you imprison our mom and kill our aunt why would we ever do anything for you?" Madi's words sounded loud and clear in my ears and I felt like the world was spinning in circles. "Afterall I've always known that Aurora's father is Bellamy and I too have come to see him as that from Clarke's stories these past six years."

Then finally it stopped, and I felt a burden lift, while the guilt set in. I turned to glance at Bellamy and attempted to convey my apologetics with my eyes. He looked at me with cold eyes and a clenched jaw and I knew then and there that when this passed, we would be still deeply troubled.

After Madi's little outburst Octavia and I were temporarily placed in the containment chamber, to wait for the final verdict. I was tied to a pole tightly so I couldn't move much, and Octavia was placed on the other side of the room.

"I don't blame you," Octavia muttered from where she stood, "I understand why you felt it necessary to hide the fact that they were nightbloods."

From the corner of my eye, I could see her attempting to look at me. She had apparently been beaten at some point in the trajectory from the pit to this chamber because her face was smeared in blood and her arm seemed to be bruising.

"What I don't really understand is why you kept it a secret from Bellamy… I mean you guys have been a team since a few days after our arrival here. You always told each other things straight and figured things out together." She took a moment to breathe before she continued, "I mean towards the time of Praimfaya I even envied you a bit."

"Envied me? Why? O, Bellamy loves and thinks about you before anything else. He is always concerned for your safety. I mean I don't want to point fingers, but apart from the solution he gave back there, he could have easily suggested that you continue to hold the commander mantle until things were settled and there could be a new government set in place, but instead, he sought out to keep you safe and take away the burden that you've carried in the last six years and by doing he jeopardized the safety of my daughters." I turned my head away from her and let out the tears I had been holding back all day.

Octavia stayed silent before she took a deep breath and spoke, "that's exactly my point. Maybe if you'd just told him the entire truth we wouldn't be here right now, but as for your plan of government it wouldn't have worked."

"Why not?" I responded aggravatedly.

"Because Clarke I've had to use methods of violence just to keep these people for this long. I had to create strict punishments for people who disobeyed me. These people hate me! I made sure of that, and as such, they've just been waiting for the right moment to strike." She took a minute before she continued, "Gaia is so centered in her faith, that she has done nothing but rile up the opposition this last year."

"I am sorry Octavia…" I said sincerely, "However, I cannot help but think that this is your problem, not mine or my daughters. They should have never been involved and Bellamy is as much to blame for that as Gaia."

I was angry. I was betrayed. I felt like I had all those years ago in Mt. Weather… Alone. I didn't care if I sounded selfish. I certainly didn't give a dam what Octavia thought of me. I was a mother above all else and no one put my kids in danger without feeling my rage.

Bellamy was Aurora's father, he was supposed to look after her, to protect her and instead he was partially to blame for this newfound threat. It didn't matter that he hadn't known that she was his daughter, all that mattered was that she and her sister were people who needed his protection, people I had trusted him blindly to protect.

I had filled the girl's heads with stories about Bellamy, my hero. They loved him, and yet he had chosen his responsibility to his sister over them.

I heard the chamber's door open but refused to turn around. "How could you Clarke," Bellamy said from the doorframe.

I didn't bother to respond and chose to instead glare at the pole that I was currently tied to.

"Answer me! Dammit!" He said stepping forward.

"I have nothing to talk to you about Bellamy," I said, mustering the coldest voice I could.

"Well, I think you do! How about we start with, why didn't you tell me?" He said loudly.

I sighed and closed my eyes before choosing to answer, "how about I didn't know how to tell you or when would be the right time?" I stayed silent before continuing. "I didn't feel it right to tell you yesterday when there was a feeling of impending doom in my stomach, and I certainly didn't think it was appropriate to share it with you while you embraced and kissed Echo this afternoon."

I could see his shadow relax slightly before he spoke, "Clarke when we talked yesterday this should have been the first thing you told me!" He began to walk back and forth. "I mean, don't you at least think I have a right to know I have a daughter."

"You weren't here! You haven't been here in her life at all, heck! You've known her for two days and didn't even realize it when she looks and acts exactly like you. I bet you've been telling yourself that I probably slept with some other guy after we slept together." I was practically screaming now, "we agreed that morning that we would talk about our relationship after Praimfaya, but that didn't mean I didn't already love you and had committed myself to you. Hell, Bellamy, you're the only guy I've been with since Finn so I don't even know how you couldn't have seen how clear it was that she is yours."

Bellamy apparently didn't take kindly to my words because he didn't respond and instead walked out of the chamber, locking it without even a word.

I felt my knees weaken and I fell to the floor as I cried at the pain.

"I am sorry Clarke," Octavia muttered.

"It's not your fault O. It's not your fault…"

Bellamy and I had too many unresolved issues, lies, and misunderstandings. Too many years apart that had created an infinite wedge in our relationship, we weren't the same people we'd been six years ago. That's for sure.

Bellamy's POV

I had expected Clarke's indignation, I had put our daughters' lives in danger in her eyes, but couldn't she see that this was the best course of action. Yes, Madi would hold the flame and with that the commander title, but it would be in name only she would have a council behind her to guide her every step. Yes, both she and Aurora would have to start training to fight each other in the conclave, but we had time to find a way to avoid a conclave.

I could see that when it came to her children, Clarke's mind was clouded. She would act recklessly if it meant she kept them safe. Maybe I was the kind of parent that makes bad decisions for their children, but I can't see how having my judgment clouded helped to make it any better.

When I went to the containment chamber I was not in the right state of mind. I had so much pent up frustration and anger. My best friend who I had just gotten back had hurt me in the worst way possible.

I mean, Clarke knew that I had always held resentment towards my father since he was never in the picture. I had always sworn that if and when I had children, I would be there to support them in every single moment. Granted it wasn't within her power to tell me while I was in space, but I felt that the moment I landed and saw her that should have been the first thing she told me.

Maybe I shouldn't have gone to see her the moment I had made sure that Madi and Aurora were okay with Monty and Harper. I should have probably waited for the both of us to calm down before I confronted her.

I needed to apologize for the way I had treated her, but first I needed to deal with the words she had thrown at me knowing they'd hit too close for comfort.

"Bellamy, talk please, you're scaring me," Echo said as she patted my back gently.

I sighed, "Echo, how am I supposed to not hold any anger that she kept the fact that I am a father from me?"

She looked forward and changed her facial expression to one I couldn't quite make out. "I think you need to put yourself in her shoes Bell."

"I am trying, I am seriously trying, but I just can't imagine knowing something that important and keeping it from somebody I supposedly care about." I shook my head as my eyes watered.

Echo turned her head down before she spoke again, "think of it like this, you guys liked each other before Praimfaya and agreed that when everything had passed you would discuss getting involved in a committed relationship, however things happened the way they did and she sacrificed herself, so that you and the rest of us could live. When she realized she was pregnant it was too late to tell you, she did everything by herself for those six years Bell!"

"Don't you think I know that. Neither of us could change the way things happened then, but she had so many chances to tell me since we returned."

Echo then stood up, apparently, everyone could see something I couldn't because she was very determined to make me understand.

"Bellamy you don't just spring on someone you haven't seen in six years that they have a child with you. She probably wanted to give you time to settle before she sprang the news on you, plus we probably made her feel a bit uncomfortable this afternoon when Monty and the others arrived."

I was beginning to understand but still felt like things would have turned out better if I had known.

"I am going to go check on the girls, I might not have been in their lives for the past six years, but I am going to make up for that now." I left without waiting for a response from Echo.

Monty and Harper's temporary room was right beside ours, so I only had to walk a few steps before I had a clear view of the two girls that had led to this discussion. I noticed Aurora was still crying helplessly and decided to stay silent hoping to listen to what Monty and Harper were telling them to cheer them both up.

"Why didn't…mommy…tell me though," she said between sobs and hiccups.

I felt my heart constrict, I hadn't thought about that at all, Clarke had not told Aurora I was her father either. My guess is Madi had somehow come to the realization using basic context clues based on everything Clarke told her.

"Your mommy wanted to first get to talk to Bellamy, so they would get to tell you together," Harper said softly taking the little girl's hands into her own.

Monty smiled sadly at Madi who was scrunching her eyebrows together. "This is all my fault," she said a small tear fell from her eyes.

"No, no honey! That's not true and you know Clarke would never believe that," Monty said taking her into his arms so she could place her head on his shoulder.

"But if I hadn't said anything then Bellamy would still not know, and Clarke would have told him when she felt ready and then they would have told Aurora together."

"But if you did that, then Bellamy's sister would be burning at the stake right now. Madi, you did the right thing," Harper said picking Aurora up.

I realized that Harper and Monty were taking the brunt of something that was mine and Clarke's responsibility, so I let them know I was hereby knocking on the wall.

"Bellamy come here, I think you need to have a chat with these pretty princesses," Monty said as he let go of Madi. I nodded in response and watched carefully as Harper placed Aurora on the bed before she took Monty's hand and they both left the room.

I took a moment to observe the state of being in which each girl found herself. Madi was, by all means, holding her feelings in like a champ now, she had red eyes which pointed obviously to the tears she had shed but otherwise held herself like the warrior Clarke had raised her to be. Right now, in her eyes, I was not trusted.

On the other hand, Aurora looked like she was about to fall of a cliff. She like her sister had red eyes, except hers were swollen and told a story about how deeply this had hurt her. She still had tears streaming silently and well she looked at me like I was the greatest thing she could have ever imagined and more.

I kneeled in front of where she sat and patted the space next to her at Madi. Technically my daughter was Aurora, but Madi had said I had too, become her father through Clarke's stories, and as such, I would be her father. Madi followed my instructions and took a seat beside her sister.

"I want to apologize to both of you," I said gently.

Madi looked confused, but Aurora didn't seem to really understand what I had just said.

"You have nothing to apologize for Bellamy," Madi whispered, "I do." She looked

"Hey, no none of that. You heard what Monty said and I know your mom and I agree with that." I took one of her hands and one of Aurora's. "Madi, you did the right thing. Clarke and I…" I sighed unable to say what exactly was going on in my mind, "she and I have too many misunderstandings between us and it is only thanks to what you did that we will be able to overcome them."

"But she wasn't ready for you or Aurora to know yet," she continued.

"Yeah, but you didn't say anything with the intent of hurting anybody, quite the opposite. You did it to save your aunt and that is what our family has always been known for. Yes, we make tough decisions when we need to take care of those we care about and that's what you did." I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, "that's what I did when I said to begin training you girls. Trust me even without knowing you were mine I would have never suggested that unless I truly believed it was the only way for all of us to get out of this as unscathed as possible, however, Clarke said something very important to me and that is that as a father I failed to protect you."

"But we're fine daddy!" Aurora who had stopped crying said.

"Yeah, but I didn't put your wellbeing as a first when I made that suggestion and that's what a parent does. They think of what's best for their children and then they think about others." I noticed that Madi was looking at me with a smile plastered on her face and I couldn't help the joy that surged knowing that even though she didn't trust me she still believed that the man her mom had told her stories about was in there waiting to resurge.

"Alright, Bellamy please tell me what we're going to do about Clarke and Aunt Octavia," Madi asked in an upbeat tone.

I looked at her noticing that she didn't want us to dwell too much more on what had happened and instead wanted to focus on how we were going to get Clarke and Octavia out of containment.

"Bellamy!" Echo called out in the hall.

"Just a second," I said wanting to finish the conversation with my girls before we went off to decide how we were going to get out of this place soon. "Madi about that, let's first see what Gaia and the others want, if it is something we can agree to like the things we've already discussed then we will go with their plan, however, if they insist on keeping them contained I will have no choice but to help them escape and we'll all flee to the valley."

She nodded with a small smile she stood up and clutched her sister's hand.

"Come here, girls!" I said opening my arms so that we can indulge in a much-needed hug.

"I love you, daddy!" Aurora said as Madi and I helped her into the hug.

"I love you both as well," I said laughing as Madi made a comment about how she didn't think I'd be as mushy as Clarke.

This was truly the life, now if only I could free my sister and Clarke everything would finally be heading in the right direction.

Raven's POV

The dropship had just landed in the docking area when I went to greet them hoping that they'd be willing to take Murphy and I straight down. After all our people had kept their part in the deal.

However, when the gates opened, I was surprised to see Abby and Jackson gagged with their hands tied behind their backs.

Ok so maybe negotiations hadn't gone as well as Monty had told me over the radio comm.

"Grab those intruders!" Diyoza ordered.

I turned to Murphy who was right behind me and yelled, "Murphy run!"

A/N

Hey, there guys I hope you're all enjoying the story. I want to say thank you to all of you who have taken the time to review, follow, and favorite it is truly a blessing to see you guys enjoying this story. I hope that continues to be true and please don't kill me I know the story is going slowly, but I just fell like it's better to take things one day at a time. Until the next chapter!

Stay Safe

Emily1050