She heard Lexa's sword swing down. She heard it slice through flesh. She didn't feel it.
So she cracked open her eyes, and in front of her, Emerson spluttered, blood rising out of his mouth and spilling from a cut from his shoulder to his hip, and he keeled over, landing on his front in the grass field, his blood dripping down Lexa's sword and onto her hand.
"She killed Emerson…" Octavia gasped, stepping back. Clarke backed up with her, eyeing the Commander's sword, watching each drop of Emerson's blood drip off the end of the sword and stain the grass below. Her gaze rose up from the sword to her hand, white-knuckled and covered in blood. Her gaze flicked to Lexa's face. Scarred. Old and new. And she could only guess that that wasn't the extent of the scarring.
"He tortured her. For a year." She looked into Lexa's eyes, who were focused on the pool of blood soaking into her boot's fabric, still leaking from Emerson. Lexa's focus suddenly switched to her, and she pulled Octavia back as she herself stepped back when the bloodshot eyes looked into hers. Octavia raised her sword by her side, watching Lexa's carefully. Lexa watched Octavia's sword raise too, and changed her grip on her own sword, adjusting her stance.
"O. Put the sword down." Clarke put her hand on Octavia's hand, pushing the weapon down. "She can't see us a threat, she'll attack, and you are not going to attack back. Not with a sword."
"What the hell, Clarke. It's my job to protect you, you're the Heda." Octavia glanced at Clarke, and both missed Lexa's eyes narrowing at the word 'Heda'. Had she not stepped in Emerson's blood, neither of the two would have heard Lexa move, and Octavia wouldn't have been able to raise her sword in time to block Lexa's swinging sword from slicing the both of them in two.
"Get your gun!" Octavia shouted at Clarke as she parried Lexa's second swing, pushing the reaper back. Clarke wasted no time, diving away from the fight as the two brunettes grabbed at eachothers wrists, holding them there, swords crashed together, trying to shake the sword out of the others grasp. Both bared their teeth and pushed against the other, held in a tough stalemate. Until the gun went off and Lexa faltered. Clarke had shot her gun into the air behind Lexa, and as she took her focus off Octavia for just a second, the younger girl twisted Lexa's wrist, wrenching the sword out of her grip.
"Get her sword!" Clarke levelled the gun to Lexa's head, safety on, distracting the Commander. Behind them, Octavia grabbed the second sword, holding them both defensibly. Lexa looked between the two, fists clenched, finally eyeing the gun. Clarke gulped, watching Lexa's eyes dilate and focus. She prayed to whoever was listening that Lexa didn't know about the safety switch, didn't know that she couldn't fire at Lexa, no matter what.
But it seemed no-one was listening. Lexa dived at Clarke, hand swiping at the gun before Clarke could use it as so many Mountain Man guards had before, knocking it to the side as she bought Clarke into a tumble, hand at her throat, and vice versa.
"Grab some rope or something!" Clarke shouted hoarsely, gripping at Lexa's neck just as she was doing to her. Her right hand and Lexa's left were to the side of them, Clarke's right hand, with gun, trapped by Lexa's left hand. Clarke rolled Lexa, trapping her for a few seconds before she was flipped again. Black encroached on her vision, and she knew if Octavia didn't hurry up, this wasn't going to end well. Just as she began to cough, rope fell around Lexa's neck and pulled her off Clarke, instantly slacking. Clarke shook her head and jumped up. Octavia, rope in hand, stood behind the coughing reaper, rope hanging loosely around her neck. Wordlessly, Octavia and Clarke grabbed an end of the rope and tied it round Lexa's waist while she coughed. Her arms were secured at her sides, and Octavia tied a knot in the rope behind her back, ignoring the glare from Lexa. Clarke picked up Lexa's sword, since Octavia dropped it, and threaded it through her belt, catching her breath.
"You're gunna have a nice handprint there, Prisa." Octavia joked, holding the two ends of the rope, looking at Clarke's neck. Clarke shook her head and headed over, taking one of the ends of the rope from Octavia.
"Shof op, Oktavia." Clarke pulled on the rope and Lexa and Octavia started moving back towards the forest.
"What are we going to do with her, Clarke?" Octavia nodded towards Lexa, who was growling very softly as she trudged along. Clarke cast her gaze back to Lexa. Her tattered boots were covered in blood, mostly Emerson's by the freshness, but she had no idea what went on that past year. how she wished she'd have checked the ground outside the Mountain, even for confirmation Lexa was actually dead. The Commander's trousers were ripped and covered in specks of blood, splash damage from Emerson's body being cut in half. The same could be said about her coat. Her face however. The broken nose with blood dripping out of it was her own doing, but the thing that angered her the most was the scars. One that crossed across her eye looked particularly painful and big, and Clarke frowned.
"We'll take her back to mom. We've cured so many reapers. She can do it again." Clarke didn't look at Lexa again for the whole journey.
"Heda has returned!" The shout came as Clarke and Octavia neared the rebuilt Ton DC, Indra moving out of the camp to greet them. Indra's group had been hiding in the forest, awaiting the signal to attack, when they watched all of their friends and family and fellow warriors get shot down by the Mountain. Silently, they had all returned, seeking refuge in Camp Jaha for some time, before they moved back to Ton DC with the help of some of the Sky People, and they rebuilt the village. It served as a place of both clans, the Skaikru and what was left of the Trikru. Which was not many at all. Indra paused in the treeline when she saw the trio, hand on sword.
"Leksa." She breathed out, looking between the three. Clarke and Octavia reached her, and Indra called for two warriors to take Lexa to the cell where the first Sky People met the Commander. "Gently." She growled as they tried to placate the Commander, who was pulling on the ropes.
"Indra. I want a warrior on the fastest horse sent to Camp Jaha right now. Bring back my mother, and tell her we have a reaper she needs to save." Clarke walked with Octavia and Indra to her, Lexa's, tent, taking off her, Lexa's, shoulder pauldron.
"I will go, Heda." Indra promised, turning from the duo and shouting orders to the others. Clarke entered the tent and threw the pauldron and cloak onto the war table, taking Lexa's sword out of her belt and dropping it on top of the cloak. She sighed and fell back into her, Lexa's, throne, running a hand through her hair, sweeping it back.
"It's going to be okay, Clarke." Octavia stepped towards Clarke. She had long forgiven Clarke for condeming Ton DC and all the Grounders at the Mountain, becoming her personal guard and the two were best friends.
"Is it?" Clarke asked, looking up at her. "We never checked. We didn't know. Lexa has been alive for a year, and we just left her there! We just assumed she was dead, along with the others, but she wasn't, O! She was alive, she was kicking, and I let Cage do this to her!"
"There was no way you could have ever known Clarke. We have her back now, your mom will heal her, and we- you'll have Lexa back." Octavia smiled, and Clarke opened her mouth to reply when they heard shouting coming from outside, and Clarke shot up, grabbing Lexa's sword and moving out of the tent, Octavia close on her heels. The shouting was coming from the cell, where they arrived just in time to see one of the warriors swing at Lexa, who ducked the swing as concrete dust exploded from the wall where the sword hit it. The warrior, Titus, readied his sword to swing again while Lexa was on the floor wiping at her eyes, when Clarke pressed Lexa's sword into his neck, drawing blood.
"What the hell do you think you are doing, Titus?" Clarke growled, sword still pressed to his neck as Octavia took his sword from him, and two other warriors kept Lexa in the corner. Clarke lead him out of the cells, and back above ground.
"She is weak. Corrupted by the Mountain. I am putting her out of her misery." Titus held his hands up as he was marched across the village.
"You'd do your best to remember that she is your Commander." Clarke nodded and two warriors grabbed Titus and pushed him towards the tree.
"She is no Commander of mine." Titus growled at Clarke, and she narrowed her eyes at him.
"Heda. Leksa requires a healer. Titus succeeded in drawing blood." One of the other warriors told her, and Clarke nodded.
"Titus, you attempted to kill the Heda. Jus drien just daun." Clarke turned to walk away, whispering to Berth as she passed "Frag em op."
"Clarke!" Clarke looked up at her mother's shout, who was being helped down from her horse by Indra, carrying the reper supply kit, a pack Clarke had suggested they make, which included everything they needed to heal a reaper.
"Mom!" Clarke ran over to her mother, grabbing her by the hand and leading her to the cells.
"Clarke, Indra says you have a reaper that needs healing. Quickly." Abby followed her daughters lead, Octavia trailing behind, as they made their way down to the cells.
"Mom, this is very important. More important than any reaper you've healed yet. Sorry O." She cast a glance over her shoulder to Octavia, who shrugged. Clarke opened the gate to the cell and Lexa looked up, baring her teeth again.
"Oh my. The Commander." Abby's eyes widened, and she gasped.
"Mom. You have to save her. Beja."
"So, you are the new Heda." Lexa ran her fingers along the throne arm, looking around her tent. Not much had changed. The tent was the same as before, Clarke had hardly changed anything in a year.
"Well, they couldn't find the next Commander. Because your soul hadn't moved on, I guess." Clarke watched from the front of the tent as Lexa walked around, inspecting everything.
"Well, you once told my soul to stay where it was. I was only following orders." Lexa raised an eyebrow, glancing at Clarke, who smiled.
"I guess so." Clarke watched Lexa come to a stop in front of her. Clarke kept her gaze down at their feet, focusing instead on the dried blood on Lexa's boots. "I can't believe you survived all that time." Lexa cupped Clarke's chin and lifted her head by her jaw until she was looking at her for the first time since the forest, and Clarke blinked back tears at the state of Lexa's face. Blinked back tears from the guilt she still felt for the deal she made at the Mountain.
"Life's about more than just surviving, Clarke." Lexa whispered as she bought her lips to Clarke's.
Ai don hon yu.
Ai don hon yu - I found you
