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-Brooke

Chapter 2:

Octavia Blake fluttered her eyelashes, letting out a girlish giggle as Lincoln kissed her sweetly on the jaw. It was a typical morning in her hut and everyone, including her annoying brother, knew not to disturb. Lincoln softly spoke as he went through the day-to-day agenda concerning their lives, none of which captured her attention. "…Indra said a hurricane is brewing on the Eastern coast." The statement alone caused her to straighten up her body, "I could send a rider to check on Clarke and Lidia but you know how the riders love to gossip." Ironically true for death-mask wearing, silent types. "Almost as much as you do, Octavia…"

The brunette cracked a smile, "She's going to be five soon, you know?" Octavia was very fond of her niece even if she hadn't seen her in two very long years. Of course, Lidia could barely speak at two years old so Octavia couldn't explain all the things she wanted to explain to her "twin", as Clarke affectionately called her, over the course of her life. It was difficult to see Clarke and Lidia in the first place, let alone maintain constant communication—Clarke had rules.

Strict, unwavering rules.

Rule number one involved Octavia keeping her distance from the ocean village because the people of the woods made them nervous. Octavia had only been to Clarke's home twice on account of Clarke giving birth to Lidia and the time the first leader passed away and Indra was required to give a speech for Lexa but Lidia was only seven months old at the time of the funeral.

Rule number two was more an unspoken rule, unless Clarke's repeated "Let's not talk about Bellamy.", "Please Octavia…don't mention him", and "O, I just can't go there with you" happened to be an indication that she did not ever want to know about Bellamy's personal or political life. Octavia reluctantly abided by that rule even if she had a thousand things to tell Clarke about Bellamy and life at Camp Jaha.

Even if Octavia found Clarke's rules extremely unfair, she understood that the former leader wanted Lidia to have a good life. If Octavia was constantly around, her absence would certainly trigger some unwanted questions in Camp Jaha—Indra would most likely understand given the fact that she knew of little Lidia. If Octavia roamed freely in the ocean tribe village, even on rare occasion, there would be questions and rumors that would circle back to enemies or even worse, her dumbass brother.

Okay, maybe she was over-doing it when she claimed Bellamy was a dumbass. He wasn't exactly incompetent but some of his past mistakes, including Clarke, could serve as a fair argument against his case of "intelligence." He loved Clarke, really and truly loved Clarke and what did he do? Threw himself into a political marriage because he didn't feel like Clarke was happy.

Fool.

They just came back from a war against the Mountain Men. The rush of starting a new relationship quickly faded and the trauma of their actions, their experiences, and their rugged mental health didn't scream "We're happy, everything's fine!" He thought he was doing the right thing by letting her go. Damn him, really, because he wasn't just letting her go—he was letting his happiness go as well. And maybe after everything she went through with Finn, Clarke didn't want to fight anymore. So, she didn't. She let him, let her go and then she let herself go right out of the gate to never return.

That was Octavia's summary at least, five years makes all the drama hazy. She was vaguely aware of fights and arguments and a disapproving mother but that was then. Bellamy didn't marry the grounder chick from the Plains Clan because she never showed up. Apparently, he wasn't the only one who wanted to call off the wedding, he was just the only one without the guts to actually do it. In typical Bellamy fashion, he recovered—sort of. Octavia swore up and down that he would never recover from loving Clarke but people often disagreed with her. They said, "He's moved on, Octavia. Are you sure it wasn't you that loved Clarke?" Okay, that was Miller…one time…when he was highly intoxicated. The point being, Bellamy started frequently dating multiple women.

Something that he is still doing at 28.

Something that Raven snorts and says, "That's cute" like he used to do to her whenever the subject is approached. Raven is another person Clarke's been completely missing out on. She moved on, too… much to everyone's excitement with Wick. At least Raven and Clarke parted on pseudo-good terms unlike Clarke and her mother.

God, her mother. Octavia didn't even want to go down that route. Abby Griffin never really got over the Bellamy and Clarke relationship outcome—not even a little bit.

"Maybe after the storm passes, we can visit…" Octavia said, "Things have been so busy lately, I feel like I'm failing at my job as favorite Aunt. That woman, Thea, might be taking my place as we speak."

"No one can ever replace you, Octavia."

She sighed heavily as she remembered the bouncing curls of her niece, "She probably can't even remember me." Lincoln ran a hand across his face and watched Octavia smile. "I love you, Lincoln…" She said softly, "I'm lucky to have you…can you see it the way I can see it, though? How happy we could have been if they just fought harder…you and me, Bellamy and Clarke…and Lidia. We could have had such a great life."

"Who says we still can't?"