Okay this is more of a clexa chapter but there is a lovely Bellamy/Echo moment at the end... anybody know what their ship is going by the name of?

I am curious...

Anyway I hope you're all still enjoying it and I'm sorry if things are going a bit slow since mount weather but I'm trying to sort a few things out before the next drama comes into play.

There's a mini drama and then a BIG drama... The BIG drama will be the end of this fic and I currently have two fitting endings planned so we shall see which one I go with... hmmm

It does depend on whether you all want angst or ANGST?

I'll leave that with you now on to the chapter...

Oh I's also like to reply to the longest review yet...

kiarcheo: I am so happy that you caught on with what I was trying to get through with the whole Abby/Lexa, Raven thing... Also my plans for Bellamy and Echo are all starting to come together so I hope you enjoy the ending to this chapoter and the relationship between Echo/Lexa is hinted at... I'm planning a scene between them in the next chapter or so... so it's coming!

Please enjoy!

Disclaimer: Nah don't own nat

Raven arrived back first. Her horse carried her through the woods and to the edge of the grounders camp, she smiled and patted the horse, this was the perfect solution to her leg. No procedure or brace could ever replace the feeling of riding this horse through the woods. She didn't need to be able to walk to run through the woods like this. Even the pain in her backside was worth it. She could never get over the fresh air hitting her face but feeling it against her skin as she rode was something completely different.

Octavia and Clarke broke through the tree line a moment later. Clarke shifted uncomfortably in the saddle as they approached.

"I don't think I'm going to get over the pain"

Raven shook her head, "It's fully worth it to be able to run again"

They took the horses back and Raven made her way back towards the Ark to have a longer talk with Abbey about what the procedure would entail. Octavia turned to Clarke as they were tying the horses up.

"She loves it more than I thought she would"

Clarke nodded and smiled at Lexa's horse, "I think she appreciates the horse more than the brace"

She frowned in thought, "Do you think she'll go through with the procedure?"

"I don't know" Clarke looked at her face, "Do you want her too?"

"I want her to be happy" She bit her lip, "But your mum says it's painful"

"If it's what she wants..." Clarke trailed off knowing that Octavia already knew this, "You've really gone above and beyond for her O"

"Like I said. I want her to be happy"

Clarke watched her for a while. She was glad they were on speaking terms again. Raven was right, it was easier to forgive herself knowing that Octavia and the others did.

"When do we leave for Polis?"

Clarke pursed her lips. She and Lexa had been arguing about that topic for the last few days. Lexa wanted to leave as soon as possible whereas Clarke wanted to make sure her people could at least take care of themselves first. It didn't help that Lexa was avoiding her either.

"That's err still being decided"

Octavia nodded and followed her back down the path towards camp Jaha. They were approaching the gates when the sounds of a shouting crowd drew their attention. Clarke turned towards the source of the noise. It was coming from the grounders camp.

Clarke growled and narrowed her eyes, "I swear to god…"

"Clarke don't"

She looked at Octavia who was watching her with guilty eyes, "What do you know that I don't Octavia?"

"Don't get mad" She stepped forward to grab her arms, "She didn't have a choice Clarke, tradition dictates-"

"I don't give a dam about their traditions" Clarke stormed away towards the building crowd.

She had no idea what Octavia was going on about but Lexa had been ignoring her for long enough. Breaking through the grounders she stood at the edge of a drawn out circle and her jaw dropped as Lexa was thrown to the ground. The man that stood over her was twice her size and stood with a drawn sword.

He swung towards the commander who rolled out from under the blade just in time. She pulled herself up into a standing position and Clarke could see the dirt smeared across her face. They locked eyes for a moment and Lexa at least had the decency to look guilty.

Her opponent followed her, swinging around to face her, he pulled his sword up ready to strike her across the chest. She moved backwards and just avoided the end of blade as he dived towards her again. This time she jumped into a roll towards her sword that had been discarded at the side.

In one clean swipe she spun round and faced him pulling the blade across as she did. Clarke stepped back in shock as his head was ripped away from his body. The blood splattered across Lexa's front as she pulled his head up.

It wasn't until the body had landed heavy against the ground that the cheers erupted around them. Only Clarke remained silent as Lexa turned to face them with the head still in her left hand.

Lexa's gaze met Clarke's and the anger that had been burning at the pit of her stomach came to the surface as she stared Lexa down.

Clarke waited until they were safely back in the commander's tent before erupting, "What the hell was that? I mean seriously Lexa I thought this was meant to be times of peace and mourning! One minute you're giving Raven a horse and promising peace to all then next you're ripping a man's head off"

Lexa sighed and began wiping the blood and dirt from her face, "Clarke he challenged my authority. Tradition dictates that I accept the challenge otherwise it would only spread more doubt amongst the men. He stood up in front of all my men and declared the lack of faith he had in me… I know I promised you peace and that will happen but for now my people need to have complete faith in me and that wouldn't have happened if I didn't accept"

"Are you even sorry?" Lexa stopped her actions, "You took a life, after everything we've been through, you took a life"

"Clarke are you really going to question me on taking a life?"

Clarke stepped closer her anger building at Lexa's insinuation, "Don't you dare! Don't you dare put this on me! I did what I had to do to save my people what you just did was only to satisfy your own need"

Lexa was the one growling now, "It wasn't for nothing and these are the traditions of my people Clarke! If I hadn't accepted and the faith of my people lost then do you really think the alliance would still stand between our people?"

She shook her head, "What if you had died?"

"I didn't"

She said it so simply but everything she was saying only infuriated Clarke more, "But what if you had? What would have happened then? Would the alliance have stood then?"

"Is this really about the alliance?" Lexa whispered it and Clarke noticed how close they were standing. She refused to let Lexa walk away from this though.

Pushing the other girl roughly and stepping away further, "Yes it's about the alliance. I only just saved my people, all the people that died, I don't want it all to be in vain for the sake of your pride"

She dropped into the spare chair and rubbed her temple. Lexa angered her in ways she didn't think possible until meeting the girl.

Lexa dropped the cloth and knelt down in front of Clarke, "This had nothing to do with my pride Clarke you have to believe that. I am sorry that you had to witness that but it was necessary and I'm not going to promise that it won't happen again because it probably will but my people have faith in me because of what I just did. Yes, If I had died then the alliance might no longer have stood but there is no saying that it wouldn't. That man wouldn't be the one to take charge the new commander would be chosen and it would be their decision of whether to keep the alliance"

Clarke took this all in and lowered her hands as she looked down at Lexa. With the blood gone from her features she looked almost innocent. Almost. She let out an exasperated laugh and closed her eyes, "So is this what it's going to be like from now on? You fighting to keep the faith until someone eventually kills you and the alliance is broken?"

"No" She pulled herself up into the chair next to Clarke, "This won't last forever Clarke and peace will come"

"When?"

Lexa bit her lip and Clarke knew she was hiding something, "Lexa" She warned, "Why have you been avoiding me?"

"I haven't" She denied but one look from Clarke was enough to silence her, "Okay I have been avoiding you but not for the reasons you think"

"I don't know why you've been avoiding me, that's the point!" She was shouting at her now.

"Clarke we need to get to Polis as soon as we can"

Clarke threw her head back and groaned, "Oh not this argument again… Lexa we've been through this I can't leave my people until I know they can care for themselves"

"They aren't incompetent Clarke, they're very capable of caring for themselves without you there for a few days"

She looked at the commander for a few moments and noticed something on her face that she hadn't seen for a long time, fear, "Lexa what is it?"

When she didn't reply straight away Clarke tried again, "Why do we need to go to Polis so soon?"

Lexa rubbed her face and the cracks from long sleepless nights was starting to show, "The twelve clans have called for a meeting of commanders and they've asked for the leader of the sky people to be present"

"Why?" Clarke frowned but she felt a sudden jolt of nerves.

She shrugged and leant back in the chair, "I actually don't know. When you fell from the sky all eyes were drawn to you Clarke so of course they would be anxious to meet you… as to why they want you at the meeting I have no idea"

"You're worried" Clarke observed.

"I am… anxious" she conceded.

Honestly Clarke wasn't too thrilled at the news either and if it had Lexa showing visible concern then it must be cause for some concern. Clarke knew this couldn't wait but she was still worried about her people.

"I'll have to leave my mother and Kane here then"

Lexa looked up at her, "You'll leave with me soon?"

"It can't wait" Clarke agreed.

"No it cannot…" she paused for a moment and raised her hand to Clarke's, "I want you to know that I wouldn't be taking you if I thought any harm would come to you"

"I believe you" and she did. Looking into Lexa's eyes, she really did.

XoXoXoX

Bellamy was practicing with one of the guns. Him and Kane had started the range towards the back on camp Jaha only the day before to teach anyone that was willing to learn. So far only Monroe, Raven and Monty had shown up.

Bellamy hadn't expected any grounders to turn up but he had thought that a few more of their people would be willing to defend themselves.

He raised the gun again when someone approached, "What is this?"

His eyes met Echo's and he smiled. She was looking healthier than he had seen her in the aftermath of the war. He ripped clothes were replaced with black leather that hung tight around her frame.

She was watching him in amusement. Bellamy had noticed the difference between the two sisters after watching them interact for a few days. Echo and Lexa had the same tough exterior but he had noticed how Echo was much more comfortably with displaying her feelings. She was tough when she needed to be but was happy to smile and laugh along with everyone else. He had yet to see Lexa even genuinely smile. The only person that seemed to be exempt from the commander's glare was Clarke…

Bellamy also hadn't missed the tension between the two sisters on the rare occasions that they were seen to be together. He wondered if they had even talked privately since Echo's return.

"Shooting practice. No good having guns and ammo if only five people can shoot"

She nodded in approval, "Guns have plagued our people for years. Having them on our side instead of aiming at us will take some time for my people to get used to"

He couldn't blame them because he had seen first-hand the way they were treated in mount weather. Bellamy raised the gun again and aimed. They stood like that for a while, him aiming and firing, her watching silently to the side. He was surprised at how easy it was with Echo. She was a part of a culture that was effectively years behind them in terms of development yet they had more right to this land than any of the people from the Ark.

He had called them savages but hadn't they been the ones to destroy the earth in a nuclear explosion in the first place?

When Lincoln had first appeared Bellamy had assumed he meant to kill them. Being wrong was made harder with Octavia's relationship with the grounder but Lincoln had helped save them all in the end.

"Are you going to Polis?"

Echo grunted a yes, "I am part of the commander's guard along with Octavia and Jua"

Jua was a warrior that Lexa had chosen within the last few days. After every member of her guard had fallen in the battle of mount weather she had shown a keen interest in keeping the guard closer to home than before. Octavia had shown herself to be a skilled warrior, he knew that, and a part of him wondered if she had chosen Echo to try and find a way of keeping her sister close. Echo had explained that Jua was a distant family member that had risen fast through the ranks along with Echo and Lexa when they had first started training. That was a long time ago.

She looked to him, "Will you be?"

Bellamy nodded. Clarke had asked him to accompany her and Raven the day before. She wondered if Clarke was trying to keep the people she cared about close as well. Maybe Clarke and Lexa had more in common than he first thought.

Echo seemed oddly happy at that and when she walked away a few moments later Bellamy didn't miss the slight spring in her step. Bellamy grinned to himself and went back to teaching Monty how to aim.

Hope that was a decent chapter for you all

It's hard to write these chapters when there's no BIG dilemma going on around them haha

Sorry for no update yesterday but we were celebrating mother's day early :)

Please keep em reviews a comin - I do love them! :) love you all