Clarke didn't expect them to set out immediately, but at Lexa's behest, they all eagerly set foot on the journey to Polis. Due to a lack of horses, Lexa willingly offered her stallion to Clarke's usage. Bellamy on the other hand requested to walk, either afraid of the beasts or was too proud to be seen as incapable of foot travel. At the start of the journey, Lexa had started to happily walk beside Clarke, sharing the reins, as Clarke anxiously trotted at a safe pace. Anya and Indra weren't satisfied at the sight, and both insisted that the Commander take one of their steeds. Lexa knew it wouldn't do to share the saddle with Clarke again, like she had done when escorting her as a prisoner, but the soft spots growing in her heart wanted to continue the journey like this. She wanted to forget about everyone else besides them and share her knowledge of horseback riding with the young Skai woman. She wanted to watch Clarke's confidence trump her anxiousness, because she could already tell that Clarke had the gift to quell any self-doubt with her spiritual strength. She wanted to watch Clarke's smile grow as she began to tame the beast. It was a small moment of bonding, but the thought of spending quality alone time with Clarke made her heart feel incredibly light.
Lexa had obliged, taking Anya's horse, knowing that continuing any special attentions towards Clarke would not help her request for their soul bond to stay private. They trekked for miles on end, and when they did stop, it was to let the horses drink from streams. Bellamy would let himself collapse against a tree trunk at these moments, no doubt dying to massage his feet. Even though Clarke was riding horseback, she too was exhausted. Her thighs felt a peculiar strain, no doubt from sitting so wide for hours, and sweat began to stick to her face. The leaves decorating all the branches of every tree couldn't keep the powerful heat of the sun rays out. Clarke felt utterly disgusting. Not to mention the sweat pooling against her chest and abdomen, making her wish that she could have a moment of privacy to air out her shirt, especially to rid herself of the sweat accumulating under her breasts.
By the brink of sundown, they had decided to finally set up camp. At least five miles ago they had passed the village of Ton DC, and both Bellamy and Clarke had wondered why the Commander hadn't ordered the party to stop and rest there. The two just began to assume that Lexa wasn't one to waste time, and that the more miles they tackled today, the less they would have to do tomorrow.
Bellamy decided to tail Gustus for a bit, as the titan of a Grounder began to make a campfire. Seeing as how Bellamy had missed most of the survival lessons that morning due to the secret diplomatic meeting, he indulged his curiosity and watched the roaring fire be born.
"You look like you could use a bath," came a bold voice.
Clarke was startled by the comment, and a part of her wanted to take offense, but she knew that the sweat spoke for itself. Anya was rolling out her sleeping kit as she watched Clarke self-consciously wipe her brow of sweat.
"I'm just not used to this kind of travel," Clarke defended herself honestly. "In the Ark, the closest thing I've experienced to this was the fitness center, but then again… there wasn't a sun beating on me for hours."
"Your people are going to be extremely sensitive to everything," Anya stated, handing Clarke a piece of fabric from her satchel, "If the sun makes you weary, imagine the winter. I bet your people haven't experienced a winter in your sky home."
"True," Clarke admitted, taking the fabric. She hesitated as she held it against her forehead, waiting for Anya to nod in confirmation that she had indeed given her the cloth to clear her perspiration. "I'm not going to lie and say that we haven't been sheltered from a normal Earth environment, but to be fair, there are only so many realistic privileges that the Ark could afford without crippling the systems we needed just to sustain life…" As she said these things, she could feel her father's watch sticking to her skin, and the heavy band reminded her of her father's crusade to bring the truth about the Ark's sustainability to the people. With a heavy heart, she shook the trauma from her mind and continued speaking. "But we will adapt, don't worry. It shouldn't take us more than a year to acclimate."
"I'm sure your people will."
Clarke felt ambivalent at this, wondering if the Mentor was expressing true faith or not. Sensing Clarke's hesitation, Anya chuckled and sat down on her sleep kit.
"There's a riverbank not too far from here," Anya said, pointing behind Clarke's shoulder. "Not even fifty feet straight away, and you'll start to hear it. You should take a moment to wash up, if you want. Will you need help getting there?"
"No, I should be fine, thank you." Clarke nodded, and eagerly set off for the promise of cool clean water. When she found it, she immediately began to strip out of all her main clothing, being just left to her underwear. She knelt down against the stream and plunged her hands into bed of water, gasping as she had not anticipated it to feel like it was freezing. Shaking the temperature of her mind, she cupped a large amount of the water and splashed it against her face, which elicited another gasp. It felt beyond refreshing. Dipping her hands in the stream again, she scooped up more water and splashed it against her shoulders, then down her arms, and then a large splash against her stomach, which made her tense for a brief moment. Using the cloth Anya had given her, she began to dry herself off. When she felt content with her drying, she put her bra and shirt back on, but then pulled her underwear off and knelt back by the stream. Clarke began to scoop more water from the stream and splash it against her legs and her pelvis, making sure to clean and cool her body off. Of course she would love to take a full bath, but that wouldn't be able to happen out in the wild. She would need to do that with a safer water source. Hopefully Lexa could provide one when they arrived in Polis.
Clarke felt blessed. Sure she had to keep things a secret for now, but how many people actually got to meet their soul mates? And actually got to be with them? She didn't even have to search the back of her mind to know that Lexa was being sly, and that the Commander was more than happy to take Clarke back to her home. The election couldn't have worked out any better for the two of women. Clarke faintly smiled as her imagination began to take life, filling her head with thoughts of intimacy and sweet lingering touches. In the midst of all her contemplations, she was astonished to realize that her strongest desire was simply a kiss. With the stereotypical expectations of young, passionate lovers, Clarke assumed she would feel an undeniable urge to make love, but no, her heart beat feverishly to feel her lips against Lexa's. Making her thoughts come to an end, she finished drying herself off, put the rest of her clothes back on and made her way back to the camp.
Because Lexa requested keeping their bond private, Clarke decided to stay besides Bellamy the whole night, to her own displeasure. They ate besides the Grounders at the campfire, they told a few stories here and there to pass the time, but soon they all went to sleep against the ground.
When Clarke woke up, she noticed that it was still night. The stars were piercing white against the black sky, and the moon peaked through the branches of trees. The sound of crickets in the distance was oddly entrancing, and she swore she heard an owl hoot. Sitting up, she took a look around the camp, seeing that everyone else was still sound asleep. Except for Lexa.
The Commander was wide awake, peacefully staring off into the sky as well. Clarke wondered what the young leader was thinking- if she was constantly planning ways to lead her people, or if she was taking a moment to be captivated by space. Feeling Clarke watching her, the Commander turned to meet her gaze, and smiled gently.
"Couldn't sleep either, huh?" Lexa asked kindly.
Eagerly powered by an unforeseen magnetizing force, Clarke got up from the ground and started quietly walking towards Lexa. She wanted to be closer to her, and this moment of being together while everyone was sleeping seemed like an opportune moment. Before Clarke could finish her short trek, Lexa had stood up too, and met her soulmate half way.
"It's still too risky here," Lexa whispered, "Let's go somewhere else. That museum I told you of a while ago, it's not too far from here. If you want to go, we can have some privacy there."
Clarke's heart picked up in pace, feeling excited at the implication of all the possibilities that could come from privacy.
"Of course," she replied, knowing that she wouldn't be able to resist.
Boldly, Lexa reached out her hand for Clarke, who more than happily took it. Linking their fingers together, the Commander then began to lead Clarke through the thick and dark foliage, having no trouble traveling through the dark. This was no problem to Clarke, as she was completely lost in a dreamy haze, feeling safe and content in the private company of her soulmate. Due to her daze, the time spent traveling was unknown to Clarke, and soon they found themselves at the doors of a grandiose rundown building with some old Doric columns still in place.
"The Old World had a habit of collecting all their artifacts of history and art in many of these buildings nearby. A lot of the foundations have collapsed, but this one is still mainly intact for some of the wings." Surprisingly, Lexa's authoritative demeanor was nowhere to be found, and was replaced by that of a young woman who was eager to impress a lover. She was smiling sheepishly as she held the large wooden door open for her soulmate. Clarke passed through.
Even though the building had been destroyed by the nuclear wars, the museum was still magnificent. Moonlight crept through the shattered windows, and showcased some of the artwork hanging on the walls and busts, both marble and metallic. Clarke wanted to set off and explore everything she could find, but didn't want to do a second of it without Lexa by her side. Grabbing hold of the Commander's hand, she gently escorted her lover with her.
At each piece of art she had recognized from old text books, Clarke proudly informed Lexa of, specifying oils, pastels, charcoal- Monet, Picasso, Van Gough, Dahli- Renaissance, Baroque, Colonial, abstract- she knew them all. Lexa was enthralled by her soulmate's cultured education, letting Clarke feed her mind with new knowledge of the Old World. Her favorites were the paintings with monsters, most specifically Goya's Black Paintings including "Saturn Devouring His Son". The story intrigued the Commander, haunting her intuition: the concept of someone devouring their children in order to preserve their own life… Lexa couldn't fathom such savage selfishness. As Commander, she would never dare to kill the people she had the honorable responsibility to protect just to save herself.
Soon, they exited the wing they spent a good hour spectating, they had entered a new wing full of old books, hardcover and paperback, covered in dust. Lexa let Clarke go on up ahead without her. She watched her soulmate run her index finger down the spines of multiple novels, muttering the titles hungrily, getting a little excited every time she found a title she was familiar with.
This whole experience was more pleasurable than Lexa had anticipated. They had spent the past hours nurturing each other's minds with mythologies, theories, history, and learning about each other's thought processes that the intellectual stimulation was simply arousing. Feeling spiritually fulfilled by Clarke's refreshing intelligence, Lexa caught up to Clarke and stood beside her, watching her soulmate still fumble with the novels.
"I would've killed to have all this on the Ark," Clarke said breathlessly, too excited by all the printed pages in front of her. So many worlds. So much knowledge and wisdom yet to be cracked and stored in the temple of her mind. Pulling a book from the shelf, she carefully searched the pages of the antique and delicate binding. She wanted to read to her soulmate, and give her the same pleasure she received from investing her mind in the printed words. But she didn't want to get carried away and bore Lexa, fearing she would become Sonia reading the story of Lazarus to Raskolnikov, who was so overcome by the personal significance of the story that she read with ecstasy- Dostoyevsky was a family favorite among the Griffins, and Crime and Punishment was Clarke's guilty pleasure. It provided insight to the rapid mental decline of a murderer, and the young woman had always wondered if living with blood on your hands really made people rabidly sick…
Before Clarke's vision could make sense of the words on the pages, she felt Lexa's hand gently caress her arm. Looking up from the book, she watched Lexa graze her fingers slowly against her arm yet again, a ghost of a smile on her lips, as she dreamily gazed her at own actions. Clarke softly closed the book, wanting to witness this rare moment of affection.
"Lexa?" she questioned softly, causing the woman to look up at Clarke. She could see the green and hazel blend patterned in Lexa's irises like a supernova, even in this white moonlight. The Commander did not respond with spoken language, but with instinctual human communication: touch. She ran her hand up Clarke's arm and up her shoulder, still ever so delicately, and with her other arm, wrapped it around the Skai girl's waist, and slowly pulled her against herself. With blissful consent, Clarke let herself be pressed against the Commander, subconsciously setting the book aside back on the bookshelf before placing her hands on Lexa's lower back. Feeling her eyes flutter, her entire body anticipated more of Lexa's touch, which was slowly rewarded, as Lexa's hand slid up behind Clarke's neck, unintentionally massaging the woman. With her heart practically sighing in relief, she relaxed in Lexa's hold as the Commander sweetly kissed her. Lexa's lips pressed tenderly, with care and attention to Clarke's equally affectionate reciprocation. Her greatest desire from earlier that day was being fulfilled, and Clarke relished in this first loving action with her soulmate. But the tension of desire is a powerfully escalating drug, and Clarke found herself wanting to be closer and closer to Lexa, wanting to press her body even more firmly against the older woman. She tightened the embrace between them, and knew that Lexa could feel her breasts press against her own chest. Delirious to the fever of lust, Clarke kissed Lexa confidently, paying little attention to the woman taking quick gasps of breath between kisses, and soon slipped her tongue into the surprised Commander, who pulled back from the kiss.
Too drugged from their ecstasy to be hurt by the disengagement, Clarke simply asked "What?" in regards to Lexa's stunned face.
"I don't want this to get… there... yet, Clarke," the Commander said.
"I wasn't trying to send that message, Lexa," Clarke said, "I just wanted a deeper kiss."
Lexa smirked amusedly. Clarke knew that she was just trying to be cautious, and at the same time, probably just wanted to take it slow. Just because you're destined to be with someone doesn't mean that they're obliged to go fast with you.
"I know," Lexa explained, "I just don't know if I can trust myself."
Clarke understood the implication, and truth be told, she didn't know her own limitations either. Now that she had tasted the passion of their kiss, she could only imagine the appetite of more physical affection.
"We should probably get going," Lexa continued. "We still have a long way to travel and we need some rest at least."
Nodding in understanding, Clarke slipped her hand into Lexa's once more and let herself be led out the building.