Chapter 3:

"So, let me get this straight—" Briggs' low booming voice interrupted Clarke's steady pace, causing her to stumble over absolutely nothing. They'd been roaming through the different terrains for almost a full day, putting a real damper on Clarke's time schedule. Thea quickly noted how Clarke's three days turned into a full week at the drop of a hat. At least Stella fully supported her alteration. "—you're just going to walk into camp and say, what? Hey, this is your daughter. She wants to know you. Come on, Clarke, your plans are historically better than that." He was right, as always. Clarke knew she was being foolish thinking that she could just walk through the electric fence, which she swore she would never step through again, with a four year old daughter and microscopic pieces of hope.

Clarke shrugged, glancing over her shoulder at her daughter. Lidia had fallen asleep an hour ago on the back of their horse, clinging to the hair to keep her grip. Stella commented once or twice about moving her but Clarke denied the request. Stella normally got under Clarke's skin because she preferred to hover but she was a good friend. She cared deeply for Lidia and that's all that really mattered in the end. Unlike her other friends, Stella was significantly older. She was at least thirty-seven years old without any children.

It made sense that she would cling to Lidia.

"It's not like it's going to be easy no matter what I do." Clarke claimed, "It's not just about Bellamy. I need closure. I need to say goodbye to these people for good. Especially if things fail with Bellamy. I don't know what we're going to do if he wants to be part of Lidia's life. I don't know how we're going to handle things." Clarke sighed, "I just know that we have to do something for Lidia's sake."

"Right." Briggs nodded, "If he turns out to be a complete ass-hat, I'm going to gut him."

"Really? Language." Clarke scolded, "That's exactly what she needs to repeat to my saintly mother." She snorted at her own joke, "Uncle Briggs taught me tons of ways to say I'm going to kill someone. Cool, right?"

He chuckled, "Whatever, little mama."

…

"Lidia, honey…" Clarke pulled her daughter onto her hip. If she weren't used to her weight, she would probably peel over. "Don't pull my hair, okay?" Lidia nodded sleepily, gripping her mother's shirt as they walked through the vaguely familiar forest area. Thirty minutes and she would be in front of the electric fence. Thirty minutes and she would have to face her every fear. Her heart was beating out of control and her throat felt like it was going to close up.

She would probably shoot Bellamy if he rejected their daughter. It was a simple thought in her head, at least. She didn't know what she was going to say, what she was going to do, how she was going to introduce Lidia to everyone—she just knew that she had to.

The minutes passed and before she was ready, she was in front of the gate. It was opened and that struck her as odd. They'd always had a closed-gate policy before. "Let me take her." Stella said and Clarke passed Lidia off to her. She needed both her hands free in case she needed to choke someone out. Her little group blended in with the other travelers. Other grounders moving in and out of her former home like it was an open market.

Times were changing, she understood this.

She was surrounded by strangers until she saw the familiar pin-back of her mother's hair. It was the same style Clarke sported for years. She started to breathe heavily before Thea pushed her forward, "Mom!" The word fell off her lips and before she knew it, she was faced with a woman she'd spent a lot of time trying to avoid. "Uh…hey."

Abby was shocked to see her.

The silence between them indicated this.

Her mother went to open her mouth—to say something after all the years of silence. But a little voice broke through whatever she was going to say. "AUNT OCTAVIA!" Lidia squealed over all the ruckus around them at the sight of the brunette and her very large Lincoln one hundred feet away. She wiggled through Stella's grip, her feet hitting the ground in a run.

"Okay, so that's my daughter Lidia." Clarke told her mother with wide eyes, "And I'm going to chase after her because she runs really fast." She left a shocked Abby to follow after her daughter. By the time she caught up, Octavia was holding Lidia in her arms. Octavia was holding her little girl tightly, hugging her with the widest grin on her face. Clarke stopped running and panted. "She's really fast."

"Clarke!" Octavia squealed in a Lidia-like fashion, "Holy shi—crap you're here! You are here!" Her excitement died, "Oh my god…you're here and Bellamy is here and oh my god… oh my god."

Eventually, Thea caught up with Clarke and Lidia. "Well, look at this. Family reunion. Um, Clarke…kind of think your uptight mother over there is havin' a panic attack." She nodded, "Nice to see you again Octavia."

"Thea." Octavia nodded, "I see you brought Briggs."

"That I did." Clarke forced a smile because her heart was breaking apart by the minute. "Listen, uh, you know why I'm here. We knew this day would come and Lidia wants to meet him. She wants to meet Bellamy and I can't tell her that she can't. So, I'm here…"

"Aunt O." Lidia hummed, "Uncle Briggs said that if—" Clarke clamped her hand over her mouth and shot a look over her shoulder towards Briggs.

"Can we just get this over with?"