A/N - Hey :) This chapter is almost 4000 words and it is something I have been wanting to do for a while but I wanted to do it right. Please enjoy and then let me know what you think because I spend my entire night writing this and I really hope you guys like it :) xx

When Lexa's eyes flickered open she found the image of her long dead girlfriend lying on the cabinet beside her, and for a moment her heart paused in her chest as she took the paper with tentative hands, gently stroking her finger along the charcoal lines of Costia's jaw.

"Luna and I were up for most of the night to make that perfect." Clarke smiled, as she stepped into the room, carrying two plates of food for the both of them.

Lexa's eyes were wide as she looked at Clarke, "You did this?"

"Who else?" Clarke grinned, "When my dad died, I was always so scared that I would forget his face, I must have drawn him a thousand times over whilst I was in the sky box, just to keep the memory etched into my brain. I wanted to make sure that you had something permanent that you could look at, Luna said that as far as she knew you had never had a drawing done."

Nodding her head, Lexa ran her fingers over the surface of the image again, "We never seemed to have time, and once she was gone? I wanted to be alone."

"You said you wanted to tell me about her." Clarke said gently, "I have all day if you'd like to talk to me."

Lexa carefully placed the picture to the side as she took the plate that Clarke was holding out, "If you are willing then I would like that very much. But, I don't really know where to start..." She trailed off sadly, unable to sort through the jumbled mess of memories that she had done her best to avoid for seven years.

Clarke sat on the bed carefully, crossing her legs to balance her own plate on her lap, "How about I ask you questions then? And if you don't want to answer then I'll just ask a different question." When Lexa nodded gratefully at the solution Clarke offered, the sky girl rested her chin on her hand and looked at Lexa thoughtfully, "Then I suppose the most obvious first question is how did the two of you meet?"

Lexa - Aged 7

"This is ridiculous." Anya said suddenly, making Lexa jump out of her skin and nearly fall off the branch she was clinging to as she watched the market.

"Anya!" Lexa hissed, "You nearly made me fall."

Anya shook her head despairingly as she ducked her head to follow Lexa's eye line, sighing when her suspicions were confirmed. "The girl has been in the city for less than a month and you have been following her incessantly without once saying a word to her. This is hardly the way to make friends Lexa, especially when you are supposed to be at a training session with Titus."

Lexa shrugged before grinning at Anya impishly, "Titus is teaching us how to throw knives today, I thought he would prefer if I wasn't there."

Before she could help it, Anya smiled fondly at the small warrior, "Yes, I don't know how many more holes in his robes he can take from you. And as much as you may deny it, none of us buy that it is accidental. Especially not with Luna congratulating you after every session where you do it."

Lexa laughed quietly before her attention was drawn away as the person she was watching moved closer to the base of the tree she was hiding in.

"This has gone on for long enough." Anya said determinedly, "Either go and introduce yourself or come home with me now." She gave the ultimatum, watching Lexa's brow furrow as she tried to find a way to stay without actually leaving the safety of her hiding place.

Anya quickly decided that enough time had gone and decided for her, darting further along the branch to shove firmly, sending Lexa tumbling to the floor.

"Are you ok?" A gentle voice came from above her, the soft brown eyes of it's owner coming into Lexa's frame of vision as she took the offered hand in a daze. Standing up, she suddenly realized who had helped her and opened and closed her mouth uselessly, before finally settling on just nodding.

"I'm Costia." The slightly taller girl laughed, looking round as her father called her back, "I'll see you around some time?"

After Lexa watched Costia leave she finally found her voice, "Lexa, I'm Lexa." She whispered.

"Are you sure about that? Because you sound confused." Anya teased as she dropped down beside her, "Come on Lexa, Titus will have my head if I don't return you soon."

Clarke laughed as Lexa's cheeks burnt red, "You followed her around the city until Anya got bored and pushed you out of a tree? Where was your confidence then Lexa?"

Lexa glared at her as she chewed on a piece of meat, before swallowing and shaking her head, "I didn't know anything about her, all I knew was that she was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. I was a child, I had no idea what I was feeling, I just wanted to speak to her but I managed to make a fool of myself and figured that she would never speak to me after that embarrassment."

Tilting her head curiously, Clarke asked her next question, "So how did you next meet with her?"

Lexa - Aged 8

It had been just over three months since Lexa had first heard Costia's voice, and in that time she had passed 8 winters. She had been keeping a subtle eye on the intriguing girl but hadn't attempted to try and speak with her, too embarrassed to even consider it after the complete failure of the attempt Anya had orchestrated for her.

Lexa was walking through the market, on her way to meet with Luna to sneak away from another of Titus' ridiculous lectures, when she heard a muted scream and then the clatter of something falling from a dark narrow alleyway that ran along the back of the market district in the capitol.

Without stopping to think about the potential dangers, Lexa headed straight for the sound, to be met with the sight of Costia backed into a corner by three of the teenage street kids who hassled the younger ones for money and food on a regular basis, bullying them out of anything they had. Lexa had encountered them twice before but had on both occasions just slipped away without causing a fuss.

The large, tough looking, boy at the front lifted a short stick in the air about to hit the unarmed girl in front of him and Lexa saw red. Sprinting down the alley she leapt up and landed on his back, clawing at his face with her nails before wrapping her arms round his neck. She could have taken him if he had been alone, but his friends soon moved in to help, grabbing onto her waist and yanking her off their leader, throwing Lexa to the ground before viciously kicking at her ribs.

When Lexa stood up, her black blood was dripping from a cut on her lip where she had bitten it and the three boys visibly paled.

"Shit, she's one of the kids in training to be the commander." The smallest of the three said, pulling on the ring leaders arm to get him to back away, knowing they were in a lot of trouble if they were caught attacking Lexa.

The leader shook off the arm, stepping forwards to stare down at Lexa, who was tiny in comparison but stood tall regardless, "This girl? She's so small, I think that we would be thanked for getting rid of such a puny little waste of space."

He threw a punch but Lexa was quicker, whipping out a knife from her belt and jabbing it into his upper arm, twisting it before jumping back out of his reach as he flailed in agony.

"Leave now and I won't kill you all." Lexa said confidently, gripping the blade of her knife with sweaty hands as she prayed they would just listen and leave.

With their leader too distracted by his pain to speak, the other two quickly grabbed his arms and dragged him away.

Dropping the knife to the ground, Lexa turned round to look at the girl she had rescued with concern, "Are you ok?"

Costia's eyes widened in recognition, "You're the girl who fell out of the tree in the market. So you can speak!"

Lexa smiled almost shyly, holding out her hand, "Lexa, I'm Lexa."

Smiling, Clarke leaned her head on Lexa legs, looking up at her girlfriends face as she listened, "Always the hero aren't you?"

Lexa laughed but shook her head, "I was a small child, what I did was far more foolish than heroic."

"How small are we talking?" Clarke asked curiously.

Reluctantly, Lexa stood up from the bed before holding her hand to her waist, "I was about this tall when I met Costia, as I said, I was a very small child."

Clarke laughed as Lexa retook her seat, "So how did you two end up together then?"

Lexa smiled as she thought back to the early days before the death of their Heda had become imminent, "Costia and I were friends for three years before we were ever more than just friends. But I know I loved her from the very first time I saw her."

"Come on then," Clarke grinned, "Tell me what happened?"

Lexa - Aged 11

"Sometimes I just want to take my knife and shove it right in Titus'-"

Costia clapped her hand over Luna's mouth as she ranted, "Enough Luna, you may be a night blood but you may still be arrested for threatening to murder Heda's advisor."

Luna shook her head, "You don't understand, you should have heard the way he spoke to Lexa! Everyone knows that she is better than the rest of us at basically everything, but he never stops pushing, it's like he wants her to be miserable."

Costia frowned as Luna started recounting for the tenth time how unfair Titus had been in their lesson that morning, pushing Lexa to her limits as the rest of the night bloods sparred with each other.

As they turned the corner, they saw Lexa herself, limping as she came back from the healer.

"Lexa!" Costia called out in concern, rushing over to the other girl, ducking down so Lexa could put her arm around Costia's shoulder to take the weight off her injured leg. "What happened?"

Lexa smiled slightly as she saw Luna's furious look as the other night blood stood in front of them with her arms crossed over her chest, "It was just a small injury during training, nothing to be worried about."

Costia sighed, knowing that if it was a small injury then Lexa would simply be refusing to let it affect her, but she let the lie go, knowing that any attempt to push would just be met with strong denial.

As they walked back toward where Lexa's room was to allow her to rest her leg, they saw Titus coming in the opposite direction towards them.

"Last chance to let me kill him." Luna muttered to Costia, who shushed her quickly.

Titus loomed over the three girls as he looked at them disapprovingly, "A Commander should not show their weakness for the world to see." He stared at Lexa pointedly, who forced herself to stand straight and remove her arm from Costia's shoulder, bowing her head to her tutor respectfully.

"That's ridiculous." Costia said before she could help herself. "It's hardly for the world to see, and surely it's better to lean on others for a moment rather than pushing yourself too far and then being forced to depend on others for the rest of your life. Besides we're inside the Commander's tower which is basically impossible to get into."

"Yes, which makes me wonder how you keep finding your way back." Titus shot back before Costia just rolled her eyes in answer, spurred on by the gleeful grin on Luna's face that she could just see out of the corner of her eyes.

"You're not going to be able to get rid of me Titus, no matter how much you might want to, I have permission to be here from Heda himself."

They walked away quickly, ducking into Lexa's room before Luna collapsed with her back against the door, laughing as she pulled Costia into a hug, "That was brilliant, although he is going to kill you when he next sees you."

"Luna could you give us a moment." Lexa said quietly as she stared at Costia with an unreadable expression.

"Of course," Luna said quickly, backing out of the room as she recognized the expression Lexa always got before she started yelling at them for causing trouble.

Beckoning Costia closer, Lexa took her hand nervously as her face softened, "You just stood up to Titus."

"I have done it before, although usually you are angry afterwards." Costia said, confused about Lexa's reaction.

"You did it for me, you stood up to him for me." Lexa breathed out as she stared at Costia wonderingly, as though she had just seen something that she had been missing for years.

Costia stared at Lexa, "Lexa what are you doing?" She murmured, as Lexa's nose bumped against her own.

"I'm not really sure." Lexa answered honestly, as their lips connected in a pure, innocent kiss, that was a first for both of them.

Clarke smiled, as she tapped on Lexa's arm to get her attention.

Blinking her eyes a few time, Lexa caught sight of Clarke's face again and smiled back at her, "I'm sorry, it's been so long since I deliberately thought back to any of this."

Grinning, Clarke trailed her thumb across Lexa's cheek, "Don't worry about it, I'm here to be patient and listen, I get the feeling that this is something you needed to do."

Lexa nodded, twisting round slightly so she could lie down on the bed, pulling Clarke towards her, wanting to do nothing more than just hold the other girl. "You're right, I did need this."

Lexa - Aged 13

The two girls laughed against each others mouths as they sat next to each other on the bed, unable to resist tempting fate with one final kiss before Lexa left for the lesson with Titus that she was already late for.

"What is this?" Came the stern voice of her tutor, the voice that sounded horrified at what he was witnessing. "Lexa kom Trikru come here at once!"

Her heart pounding in her chest, Lexa quickly cross the room to stand in front of Titus with her head bowed, "Teacher I can explain-"

"Love is weakness Lexa, I thought you knew that. You disappoint me, I want this girl gone by nightfall!"

"No!" Lexa cried out, catching his arm as he turned to leave, "If she goes then so do I!"

Titus glared down at her angrily, "You are a night blood, if you walk away from the capitol then you will be hunted and killed."

"Then kill me." Lexa bit out, equally as angry, "Because I will not let you keep me away from her. I have done everything you have asked my entire life, but I won't do this."

Costia stood helplessly, watching as they squared up to each other, knowing that any intervention on her part would only make the situation worse than it already was.

After what seemed like an eternity, Titus shook his head in disgust, "Fine, but if I find you to be slacking in any of your studies then I will do a lot worse than just ordering her removal from this building."

With wide eyes, Clarke stared at Lexa in surprise, "You really told him to kill you?"

Lexa nodded, "Everyone knew that Titus favored me, I took a gamble that he would not risk losing the most promising candidate to become the next Heda. We had kept out relationship hidden from him for over two years, he had no idea that we were actually in love, so most likely assumed that it was just a childhood infatuation that would eventually pass."

"So you won that argument against him." Clarke said, respect for her girlfriend evident in her eyes.

Smirking Lexa shook her head, "I would hardly call it winning, after than Titus pushed me harder than ever, forcing me to go further and further. But I never let him catch me off guard, every time he knocked me down I got straight back up again. And with every fight I got stronger, and with every fight, he fast ran out of reasons to use against Costia staying with me."

"What about when you became Commander?"

Lexa - Aged 16

When the victory bell sounded, Costia dashed through the tower, bursting into the throne room along with multitudes of other people. She almost collapsed with relief when she saw Lexa sat on the throne, a blade lying across her knee.

Impulsively, Lexa stood from the throne, prompting shocked gasps from her new subjects as she walked to Costia and placed a kiss on her lips, "I am alive, it's ok." She whispered in the girls ear, before walking back to her throne and staring out at her people again as though it hadn't happened.

Titus looked as though his head was going to explode, but he said nothing, wisely keeping quiet as Lexa addressed her new people.

The new Commander recited the lineage of her predecessors calmly, in an even tone, before looking to the ambassadors who nodded in acknowledgement that she was the true Heda.

Then she stood up.

It was customary after a Heda had ascended, for them to announce a task that they intended to complete during their reign, and many had been great deeds that were spoken about years after their death. But none could compare to the near impossible feat that Commander Lexa of the Trikru announced that she would complete. Uniting the twelve warring clans into one single nation.

/

When Costia finally got to speak to Lexa it was already the early hours of the next morning, as the Commander pulled off various pieces of her armor, dropping it haphazardly on the floor to be picked up later.

Crossing the room, she wrapped her arms around Costia's waist and held her close.

"I'm so glad you're ok." Costia cried, finally relaxing as she saw and felt for herself that Lexa had walked out of her conclave with only a single scratch decorating her upper arm. "Although what were you thinking? Kissing me in front of the entire city?"

Lexa smiled at her, "I was keeping the promise that I made to Luna before she left, things are going to be different now I am Heda. Starting with Titus' ridiculous teachings, I love you and I want the whole world to know that we are stronger together."

"You don't have to keep going today." Clarke said gently, as she noticed the dark, sorrowful look in Lexa's eyes, guessing what was going to come next.

Lexa shook her head, "I want to."

Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself before opening her mouth again.

"It had been nearly a year since I became Heda. Nia was fighting me incessantly, refusing to meet me halfway on anything. She believed that she was the rightful ruler and sought to take my power for herself by killing me..."

"Costia loved horses, more than anything else in the world, and she would ride daily. I was at war at the time, fighting an army of Nia's men and it wasn't until I got back that I learnt Costia had been taken and her guards had all been killed. Nia's hatred for me was so strong that she sacrificed nearly four hundred of her warriors as a distraction so she could take the woman I loved from me."

"You were seventeen?" Clarke asked quietly, sounding horrified.

Lexa nodded, "I waited for fifteen days, expecting a message from Nia with an offer to bargain for Costia's life. On the sixteenth her head was delivered to me with a note accepting the terms I had set for Azgeda's entry into my coalition. Nia placed me in a position where I could betray my people, or myself and Costia. From then, I lived for my people and kept everyone else away. Love is weakness, it became the words I lived by, and I truly believed it."

"Until I met you."

Lexa - Aged 22

"Indra, what do you think of these Sky People?" Lexa asked curiously, as they awaited the arrival of the leader of the newest clan.

Indra scowled, "They are murderers, you should just order them all killed Heda."

The corner of Lexa's lips quirked upwards, "We shall see." She said, settling herself back into her throne as she heard Gustus outside, threatening the leader of Skaikru.

"You're the one who burned 300 of my warriors alive." She said, as the girl walked into her tent.

"You're the one who sent them there to kill us." Clarke replied, a statement rather than an accusation.

The tent was quiet for a long moment, the rest would assume that it was for effect of Lexa's part, but in reality it was because she was feeling something she had felt only once before, love at first sight. It was the same look that Costia had carried, the fierce determination to protect. Only this girl tempered it with a will as strong as Lexa's own, a survivor to the core.

Pushing everything away, Lexa focused back on the conversation, before her racing mind could be noticed.

"Do you have an answer for me, Clarke of the Sky People?"

"I've come to make you an offer."

Of course she had.