A/N: This part was exhausting, emotionally and mentally, to write. I really hope it was worth it. Read it all the way through before deciding if you want to kill me. There may be another part after this one if anyone wants it. Review and let me know. Thanks for reading, you're all awesome.

Chapter Twenty One

Blood had already started to seep into the ground before Clarke had made it past the outside set of tents, she had never seen the Grounders fight a war before, but she had never been so relieved that it hadn't come to war between their two people. She had known at the time that the Sky People wouldn't have stood a chance, now she knew they would've all be dead within minutes. She saw Indra charge at a man twice her size, duck underneath his arm, turn and slit his throat, before she moved on to the next person. Mixed in amongst the clashing of swords she heard gunfire, her people were holding their own, though at that moment they were all her people.

She turned as she slashed her sword through the stomach of the man who was running at her, she watched as he fell to the floor before standing over him and thrusting her sword through his chest.

"Clarke!" she heard Octavia yell, "behind you!"

Clarke pulled her sword out of the dead guy on the ground, turned it in her hands and thrust it up behind her, knowing that she hit something when she heard a groan. Pulling her sword down she turned again watching as the now dead Ice Nation soldier fell to the floor.

"Does anyone have eyes on Lexa?" she heard Bellamy shout above the clashing of metal on metal.

"Centre of the camp!" she heard Monty call back, "not sure if she's alive though… die you motherfucking son of a bitch!"

Clarke turned looking for her friends, seeing nothing but a wall of Ice Nation soldiers battling with Grounders. She caught sight of Octavia as the younger girl leapt through the air, taking down an Ice Nation soldier before stabbing the tip of her weapon through his mouth and twisting it, snapping his neck. At that moment Clarke couldn't help but think Indra would be proud seeing the younger girl fight that way.

Looking around her, Clarke now noticed three Ice Nation fighters moving towards her, she took out a second blade from the holster on her back, holding them both out at arm's length the blonde girl started to turn, her eyes flicking from one soldier to the next, then the third. She felt a bullet wiz past her head, noticing the fighter coming from behind her was no longer there. She saw Jasper standing with his gun held up at his shoulder before he turned and ran, shooting another fighter on his way. As Clarke was backing up, keeping both blades outstretched she noticed she was nearing a structure, not a tent, this was made out of metal. The two Ice Nation soldiers started closing in on her, she looked from one to the other then back again, a blur of colour passing her eyes from the roof of the small metal building, she looked again to see Lincoln break the neck of one of the fighters, leaving her to deal with the one.

She looked at him as she started spinning the blade in her right hand, as he got closer to him Clarke crossed both blades at his neck height, pulling them back and watching as his head left his shoulders, showering her in blood. Spotting a fighter headed in Indra's direction Clarke looked around a little, the older woman already had her hands full with two soldiers. The blonde girl spotted Bellamy.

"Bellamy!" she called, motioning over to Indra.

"Got it!" he said, raising his gun and firing a single shot.

Clarke let out a breath as the soldier dropped just behind Indra. She ran towards Indra, jumping onto the back of one of the fighters, she drew a knife and slit his throat as Indra drove her sword through the chest of the other fighter. Clarke fell on top of the guy she had just killed and was about to get up as Indra pushed her out of the way, easily killing another woman who was coming at Clarke.

"I did not need you to help me Sky girl." Indra said as she pulled Clarke to her feet.

"You clearly did." Clarke replied with a little smile.

Clarke pushed Indra out of the way as she stabbed her knife directly into the heart of another Ice Nation soldier.

"Heda will be proud of you this day." She heard Indra say before the older woman moved away to fight.

Clarke stepped around another of the tents, catching sight of Jasper backing himself into a corner.

"Jasper!" she called.

She watched as Jasper lifted his gun.

"For Lexa! He yelled as he started firing randomly.

Clarke watched as all of the soldiers forming a wall in front of him dropped to the ground. She watched as he stood there breathing like he hadn't had oxygen for hours, a small smile forming on her lips as he nodded a little.

She knew she had to be nearing the centre of the camp now, the map that Lexa had left her showed that it was a big camp, but Clarke was feeling like this was a city rather than a camp. She noticed Ice Nation people fighting each other, she knew she had to be getting close.

Stopping dead in her tracks she saw Lexa. Her body beaten and bleeding, her arms hanging from two chains, Clarke couldn't tell if she was still breathing, but she certainly wasn't conscious. She felt someone push her aside, stumbling she turned around to see Kassius swing his long handled axe at one soldier, hitting him in the face with the flat side of the axe, before bringing it round. Using the handle to block a sword, he kicked the other attacker in the chest, before swinging the axe around again hitting the first attacker square in the face. Pulling the axe from the guys face he turned his attention to the second soldier, slashing his face pretty much in half before he turned back to Clarke.

"Is she alive?" Clarke asked Kassius as they both backed up towards Lexa, weapons drawn to fend off more attacks.

"She's breathing," Kassius replied, "and I count at least 15 of our people who have given their lives to keep it that way. Make their sacrifice count."

Clarke saw another fighter heading towards her, now fighting on instinct she kicked his legs out from under him before stabbing him through the chest, swinging the sword to stop another attack. Misjudging the distance between her and the other fighter Clarke felt the sword of her attacker slash through her jacket and cut deeply into her arm. On instinct she dropped the sword. Using her left hand, she pulled her second blade and stabbed upwards as she dropped to her knees. Aiming for his neck, she watched at the blade instead travelled through the soft skin under his chin and straight up into his brain. As she pulled it out she couldn't be sure just what was on the blade, but the sight nearly made her vomit.

"Good shot." Kassius said as he grabbed her under her arm and lifted her back to her feet.

"Accident." Clarke replied as she looked around them for the next attack.

Instead of Ice Nation fighters she saw Octavia, Lincoln and Indra all making their way over to them.

"Lexa..." she heard Octavia said.

"Focus!" Indra said, though Clarke didn't know just who the older woman was talking to, "it is not yet over."

The 5 of them created a barrier around Lexa, their backs to the Commander, their weapons ready to protect her life. Monty and Jasper were the next to arrive at the centre of the camp, from what Clarke could tell they were both bloody but relatively unharmed. Bellamy was up next.

"I'm out of ammo." He said as he stood next to Octavia.

Clarke reached to the holster on her back and pulled out her second blade, she reached across Indra and handed it to Octavia, who then passed it to Bellamy.

"Thanks Princess." He said.

"Is that going to stick now?" Clarke asked, her eyes scanning the camp.

"Lexa likes it." Octavia replied.

"Focus!" Indra said.

They all dropped back into silence, as a group of Ice Nation fighters headed towards them. She saw her people, Sky people and Grounders together, coming in behind them. They were outnumbered and trapped.

"This is it." Indra said.

"Wait…" Clarke replied, taking a look back at Lexa, she then looked at the approaching soldiers who were now realising they had nowhere to go.

Clarke was suddenly feeling a conflict building within herself. They could let them surrender, they knew they had no other way out. Lexa's voice popped into her head 'don't let emotion stop you now'.

"Lay down your weapons and we may let you live." Clarke said to the Ice Nation fighters.

"Clarke…" Octavia said.

"This is your only chance." Clarke said.

They looked amongst each other, before one by one placing their weapons on the ground.

Clarke looked at Kassius and Indra.

"Get her down…" she said, her voice cracking slightly.

They both nodded slightly before turning around and walking to where Lexa was. Kassius started to loosen one of the chains while Indra worked on the other. Clarke looked to the Grounders.

"Sound the horn." She said.

They did as she asked, and she just hoped that her mother would reach them in time. Clarke turned her back on the army as she watched Indra and Kassius as they slowly lowered Lexa to the ground. It was obviously to Clarke, from the way that Lexa's legs collapsed under her, that the Commander was in serious trouble. She felt her chest start to tighten at the sight, as Kassius moved Lexa slightly so she was lying flat, he placed his fingers on her neck, checking for a pulse.

"Kassius…" she said weakly.

"She's alive…" he replied, "her pulse is very weak, but she's alive."

"Clarke!" Octavia yelled.

Clarke turned just in time to feel a blade slice into her stomach. She gripped her hand to the wound as she fell to her knees.

"Kill them all!" Indra yelled, venom in her voice as she rushed to Clarke.

She helped Clarke lay down, pushing her hands hard on the wound to try and stop the bleeding.

"You should not have let them live." Indra said.

Clarke laughed a little as she coughed.

"Yeah…" she said, "maybe not…"

"Your mother is on her way, hold on." Indra replied, looking over her shoulder as the last of the Ice Nation soldiers was killed.

x-x-x

When Abby, Raven and their protection detail arrived at the Ice Nation camp they were met by a scene of carnage.

"Shit…" Raven said as she looked around at the bodies that littered the floor.

"The map Clarke showed us said that Heda would be held near the centre of the camp," one of the Grounders said, "we should go there."

"Clarke!" Raven shouted, getting no reply she looked to Abby, "Bellamy! Octavia! ANYONE!"

"Over here!" Came the reply, Raven could tell it was Lincoln.

The group followed the voices. As they neared the centre of the camp Raven could see two groups, surrounding two people on the floor. One was Lexa, she couldn't see the other person clearly, but then she caught sight of the blonde hair.

"Abby, it's Clarke." She said.

Both women rushed over to Clarke.

"You're going to be okay Clarke," Abby said, trying not to freak out at the amount of blood on her daughters top, "You're going to be okay."

"Go help Lexa…" Clarke said.

Abby looked back at the Commander, she could tell that Lexa had lost a lot of blood, probably over the space of a few days. She looked back at Clarke, her daughter's eyes pleading with her to help Lexa. Abby moved Indra's hands from the wound on Clarke's stomach, ignoring her daughter's silent pleas. Clarke's eyes were no longer focused on her as she turned her head and looked at Lexa. The blonde girls breathing became erratic as she watched Kassius again check for Lexa's pulse. He glanced over at Clarke, his eyes alone letting her know all that she needed to know.

"No…" Clarke said, pushing her mother's hands away, "her heart has stopped… help her…"

"Clarke…" Abby said, "I need you to lay still…"

"Help her!" Clarke screamed.

Abby looked back at Lexa. She took the bag off her back and pulled out some medical padding, she placed it on the wound on Clarke's stomach, before looking at Indra.

"Keep pressure on it." she said, gaining a nod from Indra before she moved over to Lexa, "tilt her head back…"

Kassius did as he was told, tilting Lexa's head back as Abby started compressions on the Commanders chest. Abby was suddenly very aware that what was remaining of the Grounder army was watching her. Octavia was sitting by Clarke's head, running her fingers softly through the other girl's hair.

"She'll be okay Clarke…" she said, her eyes focused on Abby.

It seemed like an eternity before Lexa finally took a sharp intake of breath.

x-x-x

The hours seemed to drag by as Octavia stood by the door of the triage area in Camp Jaha. The walking wounded had been treated by Abby's staff and the Grounders healers. It crushed her to think that this is what it had taken for the two people she belonged to, to start working together.

"You need to eat something…" Lincoln said as he walked over to her.

"I'm not hungry…" Octavia replied, never taking her eyes from the room in front of her.

"Octavia," he said, "it's been two days, you haven't slept, you've barely eaten… Clarke and Lexa would not want you wasting away…"

She shrugged his hand from her shoulder, not wanting comfort from him, her anger the only thing that was keeping her going. She slowly walked into the room in front of her as Bellamy walked up to Lincoln.

"She still won't eat?" Bellamy asked.

"Said she's not hungry…" Lincoln replied, keeping his eyes fixed on Octavia.

"She blames herself for Clarke getting stabbed," Bellamy said, "thinks if she was closer to Clarke she could've stopped it."

"None of us could've stopped it." Lincoln replied, "she just had to let them live…"

"Such a Clarke thing to do…" Bellamy replied with a sigh, "always thinking she can save everyone…"

Octavia nodded at Indra as she walked over to Abby.

"Anything…?" she asked, looking back at Indra who was sitting between two beds.

"Not yet…" Abby replied, looking at Octavia, "it's going to be a slow process Octavia."

"Healing usually is…" Octavia said, before she walked over to Indra, "You should eat…"

Indra huffed out her response.

"The Commander should be taken back to Polis." She said.

"You know that isn't what Lexa would want, Indra." Octavia replied.

"How are we to know what she would want?" Indra asked, shaking her head a little.

"You can't separate them…" Octavia replied.

"That is not your decision." Indra said, standing up.

"It isn't yours either." Octavia replied, standing her ground.

"Hey," Raven said walking into the room and standing between them, "do you two want to simmer down. Nobody is taking anybody anywhere. I don't think Abby would agree to anyone moving either Clarke or Lexa. They wouldn't want us fighting each other about this, but if I have to, I am fully prepared to make something go boom."

A small laugh, almost like a cough came from the bed to the left of Indra.

"Er… Abby…" Octavia said.

Abby rushed over to the bed.

"Stay still Lexa, your wounds are still healing." Abby said as she checked the vitals on the machine which Lexa was hooked up to.

"Clarke?" Lexa asked.

Abby looked to her right, Lexa followed her eyes.

"Abby… I'm sorry…" Lexa said, her eyes locked onto Clarke.

"You have nothing to be sorry for, Lexa…" Abby replied.

Lexa willed her body to move, wanting nothing more than to get out of the bed and walk over to where Clarke was lying, but this was one fight her mind wasn't yet going to win.

"I was trying to protect her…" Lexa said, "I…"

Lexa closed her eyes and pushed her head back into the pillow, frustrated with herself at not being able to keep her emotions in check.

"It isn't your fault Lexa…" Abby said, trying to reassure the commander.

"It was my fault." Octavia replied, "If I'd have been closer…"

"If any of us had been closer…" Indra said quietly before she straightened up a little, "I should go and inform the army that you're awake Heda."

Octavia stepped aside and let Indra pass.

"Looks like you're not the only one around here blaming yourself, O." Raven said, softly placing her hand on her friends shoulder.

"How's the pain?" Abby asked Lexa.

"Bearable…" Lexa replied as she opened her eyes again, turning her head once more to look at Clarke.

Bellamy put his head around the door.

"Abby," he said, "Kane is looking for you."

Abby looked back at Lexa before looking to Raven and Octavia.

"If anything…" she started to say.

"We know," Raven replied, a small smile on her lips, "go…"

Raven and Octavia watched as Abby left the room, then looked at each other.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Raven asked Octavia.

"Oh I hope so…" Octavia replied with a smile.

"Bellamy…" Raven said, knowing that he was still outside the room, he popped his head around the door, "help us…"

"With what?" he asked, walking into the room, he looked at Lexa, "good to see you're still with us Commander."

Lexa just smiled at him a little.

"What do you need my help with?" Bellamy asked Raven.

"Help O move Lexa's bed…" Raven said with a little smile, "my leg won't let me…"

He nodded a little as he and Octavia carefully pushed Lexa's bed closer to Clarke's.

"Abby isn't going to like this…" Lexa said.

"We're not doing it for Abby, Heda…" Octavia said, flashing Lexa a smile.

Once the beds were close enough, the three of them looked at each other, small smiles playing on all their lips. They all turned to leave.

"Octavia…" Lexa said.

The younger girl stopped and turned back.

"You don't have to call me Heda…" Lexa said.

"Get some rest Lexa." Octavia replied with a small smile.

"Yeah, Commander," Raven said as they all started to leave, "your Princess needs you."

As the three of them left the room, Lexa reached out with her hand, closing the distance between her bed and Clarke's. Softly she placed her hand over Clarke's, lacing their fingers together before closing her eyes again as the events of the last week caught up to her. Everything that she had been holding back flooded into her mind as she felt Clarke squeeze her fingers.