A/N: Sorry this one took so long... In my defence, it was mostly written on Saturday, but then a weird glitch happened and several paragraphs got deleted. Rest assured, I will finish this fic. I'm not going to leave it hanging. Speaking of this fic... I've noticed lately that there are a few fics popping up both here and on Archive of Our Own that appear to be heavily influenced by this one. They are basicly rewrites of some of the scenes written here. I don't mind if I have inspired you to write something, in fact I think it's actually really awesome! But I do mind not being credited for it. Seriously, draw inspiration from a scene, or borrow a made up creature, character, or plant if you'd like. You have my blessing to do so. Just credit me for what comes from mine, please? :)

Kudos to those who recognized 8675309 and the Zelda reference. And sorry about all the fluff... The fluff bunny overlords have taken over this fic. lol

IlIlIlIlIlIlIlIlIlI

Lexa helped Clarke walk down a broken path to the left of the ruined mansion. It was slow going, partially due to Clarke's ankle, but primarily due to the path itself. It had been beautiful once. A path of circular stone discs lined with rose bushes and statues. Now the statues lay at regular intervals across the path, features unrecogniziable in the broken piles they had become. The rosebushes were overgrown, radiation making them grow several times their original size. The bushes were now as tall as trees, their blooms big enough to fill two hands. The roses glowed softly around them, the pink, yellow, white, and red blooms surrounding them with their sweet scent and giving them light to see.

Lexa cursed as they had to stop-again-so she could cut some of the path clear of the overgrowth. "It will be worth it. It WILL be worth it. It will be worth it..."

Clarke smiled at the mantra. "I could help?"

"Have you ever handled a sword before?"

"Nope."

"Then no. I've known you for... five candlemarks maybe? And in that time I've seen you fall off a horse twice. I'm not certain you are capable of handling a sword without harming yourself. Or me." She added.

Clarke was almost offended. Almost. But then Lexa glanced at her and she saw the playfulness in her smirk. She stuck out her tongue at her instead. "Oh come on, how hard can it be? Handle goes this way, pointy end goes that way. Easy."

Lexa rolled her eyes. "Ok first, it's called a hilt, not a handle. And second, no. I don't trust your co-ordination, and close quarters is not the ideal place for learning."

"Ok, fine." Clarke pouted. Lexa made another swing and Clarke pounced, knocking the blade from her hand and shoving her into the bushes before she could pick it up. She picked up the sword, grinning her victory at Lexa. "Ha ha!"

Lexa sighed. "What are you doing?"

"Proving I'm not as clumsy as you think I am." Clarke said, wagging the point of the sword at Lexa. "Oops."

Clarke had misestimated the swords length. Lexa's eye twitched as part of her armour fell to the ground, the buckles having been cut, leaving her shoulders and part of her cleavage exposed. "Clarke..."

"Sorry! That was an accident. Did I hurt you? Please tell me I didn't hurt you!" Clarke asked, panicking as her eyes scanned Lexa for any sign of injury.

"I am unhurt." Lexa assured, taking mercy on the blonde. "Now release my sword and unhook me from these infernal bushes!"

Fears eased, Clarke relaxed. "Oh good, I'm glad you're not hurt. Wait. You're stuck?" Clarke smirked as Lexa struggled, the bush holding fast. "I don't believe it. Lexa, the great and powerful Commander, has been beaten by a bush."

Lexa stopped struggling and glared up at her. "If you tell anyone about this, I will feed you to the koi. Got it?"

"Don't worry Oz, your secret's safe with me." Clarke said, rolling her eyes playfully.

Lexa frowned. "Oz?"

Clarke shook her head. "Don't worry about it. Now let's see..."

"Clarke? What are you doing? Clarke? Clarke!" Lexa's voice became more desperate as Clarke continued to inspect the path, ignoring her. "Stop thinking about what you are thinking, and put the sword down before you hurt yourself!"

"Will you relax already?" Clarke said, glancing over her shoulder. "Before I was imprisoned, I was training to become a surgeon. Co-ordination is my middle name. You have nothing to worry about. Ah, here looks good."

Lexa scanned the area where Clarke was looking. Her eyes widened as she saw the branch that the blonde had likely noticed, and also the exposed root which she probably hadn't. "Clarke, no, wait-"

Too late.

Clarke swung, miscompensated for the weight, and tripped over the root. The sword went flying through the air, landing a few feet on the path before her as the branch she had severed crashed down on top of her. "I'm ok!" She called.

Lexa waited for her to free herself from the branch and climb to her feet before she said it. "I told you so."

"Oh shut up." Clarke said, smiling sheepishly.

She walked back to Lexa and looked at the bush behind her. She blinked, startled to see that instead of thorns like she had seen in her picture books, these rosebushes were covered with hundreds of tiny twig-like hands, many of which were now grasping onto Lexa's hair and clothing. "Huh."

"Today would be nice. Preferably before sunrise. We are safe enough at night, but when the sun wakes them up they will quickly drain us dry."

"What do you mean?" Clarke asked, trying to break their grip one branch at a time.

"Oh, did I not mention it? These bushes are bloodsuckers. They're relatively harmless at night, but when morning comes and they awaken, they close around their prey. The fingers lengthen, break through their victims skin and drain them of all the moisture in their bodies." She nodded towards the ground. "Look."

Clarke looked. She hadn't noticed it before, but the ground beneath the bushes and behind Lexa's feet was littered with bones, some of which she recognized as human. She shuddered. "Oh."

She resumed tugging at the branches, but while those hands were small in size collectively they were strong. Every time she got part of Lexa free, more hands moved to take over the freed space. She huffed her frustration. "Ok, new plan."

She moved to Lexa's front, a blush tinting her cheeks as she got an excellent view of exactly how much cleavage she had exposed. "I... um, need this..." She stammered, trying not to look, as she grasped the hilt of Lexa's dagger and freed it from the sheath.

Lexa noticed her struggle. Amusement gleamed in her eyes as she fought to keep her face neutral. She couldn't resist teasing the blonde. Just a little. "My eyes are up here Clarke."

Clarke's face burned. She stammered out a frantic apology, closing her eyes firmly shut as she backed away from Lexa, stopping only after tripping over a loose stone and falling on her butt. "Oof!"

Lexa couldn't hold it back. She laughed, bending over as much as the bush would allow as she howled, her eyes watering from the strength of her mirth.

"Oh haha, very funny." Clarke grumbled.

"The look... On your face..." Lexa wheezed.

Clarke smiled slightly, shaking her head at the woman's antics. She returned to her feet with more ease than she had previously and walked back to Lexa, an idea tempting her mind. So you want to play do you? She steeped into Lexa's personal space, almost pressing against the woman as she looked to the branches behind her, giving Lexa the impression that she was going to cut her loose.

She paused. Turning her head, she whispered in Lexa's ear. "You know... I don't believe I will free you. I kinda like you like this. Still." She pulled back, trailing a hand down Lexa's face, her neck, across her collarbone, then down further to toy with the edge of her torn shirt, just over her breasts. "Helpless." She said the word seductively, a promise in place of a threat.

Lexa swallowed. She had stopped laughing the moment Clarke had invaded her space. "Clarke..." The warning did nothing to hide the catch in her voice, the breathless want in her tone. By the look in her eyes, she knew it.

Clarke looked in Lexa's eyes, seeing, perhaps for the first time, a glimpse of the woman's soul there. How vulnerable the girl was behind her mask of strength. How desperate she was to be able to let go of that mask, and lean on the strength of another. In that moment Lexa's eyes were the mirror of Clarke's own self, and suddenly she understood. She needs this. She recognized that need, for it was the same as her own. Empathy shot through her on the heels of the realization, Lexa's need mirroring her own.This is more to her than want, or payment for a debt. The dagger fell from her hand, landing point down in the ground beside them.

"What happened to hurt you so, that all you want is to be free?"

The moment shattered. Shutters slammed down in Lexa's eyes, shutting her out. Lexa glared at her from the roses. "Cut me free. Now."

The words were angry, an order from a leader that expected to be obeyed.

But there were no leaders here.

Clarke shook her head. "No."

"Clarke!"

Clarke saw her anger, but also knew the desperation behind it. The need to run, to hide, to lick at invisible wounds. To be alone and fight against impossible hopes, to hurt at their passing, to summon walls to keep them back and build up a mask of strength so as to never be hurt again.

She knew that mask. Had once worn it herself.

It was a lie.

It had crumbled and fallen apart at the feet of the woman whose eyes glared at her so angrily now. A woman who now felt her own mask beginning to crumble, who wanted to hate Clarke while also wanting her to set her free.

Clarke knew all this, because those eyes had once been her own.

She grasped Lexa's jaw, looking into her eyes with the same compassion that had once been her undoing. She pulled her in for a forceful kiss, trailing the hand at her breasts down to her waist, pulling her flush against her.

Lexa resisted, fighting her hold.

Clarke clucked her disproval, fighting against that resistance with tender kisses along her jawline, hand slipping under armour to caress the bare skin at Lexa's hip.

"Clarke..." Lexa breathed, breathless under the familiar assault. "Don't."

"Don't lock me out." Clarke murmured, kissing her deeply once again.

Lexa shut her eyes, tilting her head up to break the kiss. "Please... I can't. Not this. Not yet."

Clarke understood. Some wounds heal in minutes, days, weeks, or even months. Others take years, and even then they may never go away. Whatever had happened to Lexa was clearly in the latter category, and if she wasn't ready to talk about it, Clarke wasn't going to force her. But that doesn't mean she has to bear the burden alone.

"Shh..." Clarke breathed, lips brushing along Lexa's skin, ending in the barest caress across her lips. "It's ok. You don't have to talk about it. You don't have to say anything at all if you don't want to. Just don't shut me out. Let me be here."

Let me be your strength as you have become mine.

The thought was not spoken. It didn't need to be.

Lexa understood. Closing her eyes once again, she nodded.

Clarke smiled. "Good."

She stepped back, breaking free of the few hands that had managed to grab hold of her, and bent down to retrieve the dagger. Cutting Lexa free was much easier than attempting to break the branches by hand had been and soon, Lexa was able to step away from the bloodsucking rose bushes. She helped Lexa pull the last of the stubborn hands from her hair as they stepped back onto the relative safety of the path.

Lexa retrieved her dagger, resheathing it as she approached her sword. "Clarke."

Clarke looked up from the branch she had just begun dragging off the path. "Yes?"

Lexa glanced over her shoulder. "Next time you have me bound and helpless, I expect much more than a simple kiss."

Clarke's jaw dropped, a furious blush spreading across her face at the implication. "Um."

"I also expect to be naked." She said as she passed Clarke, continuing to clear the path ahead.

Heat pooled in a different part of her body, the image of Lexa, bound, naked, and wanting only for her painting itself in her mind. "Um."

Lexa's laughter resounded around her, snapping her out of her trance. She dropped the branch, quickly straightening from her hunched over position to hurriedly limp after her, glaring at her in mock reproach as she caught up. "That was mean."

Lexa smirked. "Payback for being a tease."

"I'm a tease?" Clarke's eyebrows rose. She cast a significant glance at Lexa's bosom, which the now freed woman had done nothing to cover. "And what do you call that, oh foul temptress?"

Lexa smiled. "A promise for more later, if you're good."

Clarke's mouth went dry. "Um."

Lexa chuckled, deciding to stop teasing the blonde. She wrapped her arm back around Clarke's waist, lending her support once again as they continued to walk down the path. "Thank you."

Clarke glanced at Lexa, smiling in response.

One day, maybe Lexa will tell her the truth. Until then, this would have to be enough.

IlIlIlIlIlIlIlIlIlIlIlI

The path opened into a small clearing. A stone bench faced the remains of a ruined stone fountain, it's carvings made unrecognizable by time. Fallen roses and decayed leaves floated in it's water, rain having replaced what time had stolen. More crumbled statues lay in piles around the edges of the clearing, three spaced evenly apart on each side. All the stone here had been stained green by generations of leaf rot, creating a different sort of beauty than the glowing stones of the courtyard before.

Glowing rose buds surrounded the clearing, the ring ending on either side of what had once been a gate. The gate led to their destination, but seeing the roses that were not yet ready to open had given Lexa an idea. She grinned, slipping away from Clarke as she moved closer to the bushes. Silently, careful not to be caught by the hands again, she gathered an armful of the rosebuds.

"Hey!" Clarke yelped when the first of the rosebuds, a glowing yellow, hit her right in the centre of the back. She spun around, just in time to catch the next one, pink, in the face.

Lexa laughed, pelting Clarke with more rosebuds as she ran around her.

"This means war!" Clarke yelled, limping over to the bushes to get her own projectiles as Lexa stopped to reload.

They played much like children in the snow, dodging around the fountain, climbing over the bench, anything to strike the other and avoid getting hit in turn.

"Ha!" Clarke yelled in victory, successfully thowing what was certain to be a direct hit.

Lexa grinned, catching the white bud from the air and throwing it back, hitting Clarke on the hip.

"Hey, no throwbacks!" Clarke protested, laughing as she plucked a glowing red from the ground to throw at Lexa.

Lexa dodged with ease, grinning as she scooped up a pink bud to throw at Clarke.

Clarke tried to dodge, but yelped as the move put her weight on her injured ankle at a bad angle. She fell to one knee, hissing slightly.

Lexa ran over to her, dropping her glowing ammo on the way. "Are you hurt? Do you need to be taken to a healer?" She asked, truly fearful that her impromptu rose bud fight had led the blonde to further injury. She knelt down next to Clarke, fully prepared to lift the blonde and carry her to Naveen on her back if need be, when it happened.

Clarke smirked up at her, and only then did she see it. The red bud glowing softly in her hand, and the generous pile beside her. "Gotcha."

The red hit her directly above her chest, falling back to land in her lap. The next quickly followed, and the next, each hitting their target as Lexa lunged to her feet, trying to get some distance between her and the cheating blonde. Bud after bud impacted her body, mostly focused on her rear as she fled. She circled around the clearing, Clarke turning to follow and continue her barrage. How long did she plan this? Lexa wondered, raising an arm to block a headshot as she ran. She jumped over a pile of stone that had probably been a statue once and turned, making a beeline towards the fountain. She ducked behind it, the barrage ceasing as she used it to finally escape the blonde.

"Come out here and face me like a man you coward!" Clarke challenged.

Lexa grinned, peeking around the statue briefly only to duck behind it again, a yellow projectile flying past her. "No! You cheat!"

"It's not cheating, it's using available resources to level the odds in my favour." Clarke paused, then added. "Besides, I'm injured. You have an advantage."

Point. Lexa acknowledged, though she'd rather have her blood drained by the bushes thorny hands than admit it. She looked around, noting to her dismay that the bushes in the safe zone were fairly bare. She chanced another quick glimpse, this time getting hit in the face with a white blur for her trouble. She scowled as she ducked back behind the statue, ignoring Clarke's laughter as she pondered her options.

Clarke still had quite a few buds around her, and more on the bushes close to her on her side of the clearing. Lexa had a scarce handful of buds left on her bushes, and only a few lay scattered on the ground where she could safely reach them. It appears that my choices are to either commit suicide, or surrender. She grinned, reaching for the white bud that had so recently struck her. No choice at all really.

"Surrender!" The blonde demanded.

"You mean you wish to surrender to me? Very well, I accept."

"Ha! Give up Lexa! There's no way you can turn this around. Surrender, and I shall show you mercy. Fight, and face my wrath!" Clarke taunted.

Lexa snorted, chuckling at the mockery of a threat. She jumped out from behind the statue, throwing her meager armload of projectiles at Clarke as she charged. "Never!"

Clarke yelped, instinctively shielding her face before gathering her ammo to fight back, throwing double fistfuls of rose buds at Lexa as she approached. They ran out of ammo at the same time, their last buds impacting in midair to fall uselessly between them.

Lexa uttered a wordless cry as she tackled the blonde, Clarke spreading her arms to catch her moments before impact. They fell to the ground together, Clarke cushioning Lexa with her body, and Lexa cushioning Clarke in turn, protecting her head and shoulders with hands and arms. They grinned at each other, eyes twinkling from the fun they had had.

"That. Was awesome." Clarke said, looking in Lexa's eyes.

Lexa smiled, loving the joy she saw in the cornflower depths. "I admit, that was more fun than I have had in a very long time."

Clarke returned the smile. "Same here." She tilted her head. "Was this what you wanted to show me? I love it, but I find your estimation of danger to be highly exaggerated." Her tone gained a teasing lilt. "I'm not that clumsy you know."

Lexa laughed a little, shaking her head slightly as she replied. "No, this was just a detour. What I really wanted to show you, is through there."

She pointed at the gap in the rose bushes, Clarke's eyes following the motion.

"And the danger is hardly exaggerated." She said sombrely. "We could easily die in there Clarke, with nothing to be found of us save our bones come morning. Possibly not even that. There's a reason I didn't tie Naveen when we left her. She can be trusted to wait, but she can also find her way back should we not return."

She had Clarke's full attention now. She searched Clarke's eyes, looking for any sign of doubt, or any hint that the blonde still believed her to be exaggerating. She saw none and felt a moments satisfaction, knowing the sky girl was taking her seriously. Good. That will make surviving this easier. Technically, it was possible that they could pass the gate and return without incident, but it was highly unlikely. Better to be safe. Safe would be not going at all, her practical side argued. Nothing about this night has been practical. Why start now?

"Do you trust me? I will not think less of you if you don't." Lexa said, offering Clarke an out.

"Hmmm..." Clarke said, giving Lexa a contemplative look. "Depends. If I say yes, do I get the sword?"

If they weren't already on the ground, Lexa would have fallen over. She settled for palming her face instead. "No."

"The dagger?" Clarke asked hopefully.

"No!"

"Please?" Clarke asked, her trembling lower lip threatening a pout.

No, not that! Anything but that. No... No. Nooo ah drat. Lexa groaned, repeatedly smacking her forehead as the pout fully formed on Clarke's lips. "...fine. You can hold the dagger. In the sheath. On your waist. But no sword!"

Clarke smirked in triumph. "Fair enough. Shall we go then?"

Lexa sighed, exasperated by the one who held her affections. She rose, pulling Clarke to her feet with her. She offered Clarke her arm and motioned to the gate, stepping forward so they could walk through together.

"As you wish."