Chapter 30

Clarke, Maddi, and Skairkru 2.0 had the guns, therefore had the advantage. Robert McCreary's little scheme to trade Clarke's knowledge of the Ground for himself with Bellamy had been a fiasco. And now, holding one hundred people in their ship was quite an easy task.

"Any news about the bunker?" Jane asked Clarke once they were all seated around the fire that first night.

"No," she said, her shoulders sagging. "I wish I had better news. We found where they are, but there was way too much rubble and couldn't move anything. They're stuck underground, for now."

"Did they have enough oxygen?" Harper asked.

"Yes, they should. The bunker was conceived to hold 1200 people for many years. They've only been there six years." She stared at the dancing flames of the fire, trying not to look directly at Bellamy. She had missed him for six years, and here he was, married to Jane with two kids. No, three counting Octavia in the bunker. She had hoped their time together on the Ground before Praimfaya had done something to him and that he would wait for her.

"But we have some free workers," Murphy said. "Let's use the ELIGIUS people to take out the rubble."

"How?" Monty asked. "There are only thirteen of us, and one hundred of them."

"We have the guns," Echo said, a sly grin on her face. She was happy to finally get some real physical exercise and fighting, what she had always been trained to do.

"Yeah, I know that," Monty replied. "But how to we make them work for us? They'll be outnumbered once the bunker is opened. And then what?"

"War?" Harper suggested. "But they know they don't stand a chance. And there is a whole armory in the bunker."

"They don't know they'll be outnumbered," Bellamy said, keeping his voice low. "We simply tell them we need their help to get what's inside that building. Weapons, food, and other supplies. Which is true. We just don't tell them there are people inside."

"Bell," Jane said. "You're forgetting we all heard Clarke tell you over the radio that the bunker had gone silent, too. There's no way they didn't get that."

Bellamy cast a glace towards Jane, and chuckled. "See? You're the head of this unit," he said, winking at her.

Clarke's heart froze. Six years ago, before they flew back to the Ark, she had told Bellamy to use his head, too, and he had said "I got you for that." Well, turns out his head was Jane, now. Even after all this time, she still had hope. Until now. But not anymore. The only person left on her priority list was Maddi. And she would do anything to keep her safe. Anything.

"Fine," Clarke said. "Let's just tell them that if they help us take out the rubble from the bunker's entrance, we're gonna share what we find down there. Only we won't. And there will be more than a thousand of us against one hundred of them."

"If they're not already dead in the Bunker," Emori said. "Sorry," she quickly added when Jane and Bellamy shot her a look. "Forgot your kid was in there." She threw a small stick in the fire and everyone was silent.

"I'll take the first watch," Bellamy said after some time. He stood, took one of Clarke's guns and turned to his people. "The rest of you, try to sleep. Tomorrow we're digging."

"I'm coming with you," Clarke said, then stopped in her tracks. "If you don't mind," she added to Jane.

Jane made a special effort and forced a smile. "Sure. Go ahead. You haven't seen him in six years." She bent down, taking Persephone in her arms and placing her on her hip. "Come on, princess. Let's find somewhere to sleep. Atticus? Come with me, honey." She held out her hand and Atticus slipped his little fingers in her hand. She walked away with her two children, unaware that Bellamy was watching her go with hearts in his eyes.

That made Clarke wince inside. She told Maddi to go sleep in the Rover and that she would join her after her watch. Maddi went out in the woods, undisturbed by the darkness.

"So…" Clarke started once she and Bellamy were comfortable on a log. This would be awkward. "You got married, huh?"

"Yeah," he said a small smile on the corner of his lips. "Best years of my life."

Clarke didn't say anything. She wanted to punch him in the face and tell him how she waited six years for him to come back, and how she called him every year and how-

"I heard your calls," he simply said, out of the blue. "Not right away, but three months after we arrived in space." He paused, his eyes still on the ELIGIUS ship. "I completely lost it, you know? I locked myself in the Com Room to listen to you. I couldn't answer, since our emitters had fried when they took the Ark down." He paused again. Should he tell her everything? "Jane tried to kill herself twice in one week because of that…" he trailed off. He had trouble swallowing now. Talking about that first year on the Ark was more painful than he had imagined.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"It's not your fault. It was mine. But then Echo destroyed the radio and we couldn't hear you or anyone else, anymore," he said, not stopping in his story. "That's when I realized I was acting like an idiot, and using only my heart. And I remembered you told me to use my head, too. And so I did." He managed a smile. "A few weeks later, I asked Jane to marry me. One thing led to another, and there were three kids on the Ark." He stopped, taking his breath, and keeping his eyes on the ship. "And then they radioed us. And here we are."

Clarke noticed he fiddled with a ring on his finger. His wedding band.

"Wow," she said. And then after a while, she added: "I wish you hadn't told me." She couldn't look at him. "When I stayed back to fix the signal tower, I really thought I was going to die. And I was happy, thinking that you would live. But then I survived. And I was alone. I knew you were alive and I imagine you thought I was dead. Until you heard my radio messages…" she trailed off, looking at the stars above them. "I was hoping you'd wait for me." She took a deep breath.

"I wanted to," he said softly. "But I also knew that Jane needed me. And Octavia, too, even if she was thousands of miles away, under the ground. But I couldn't let them both down. And I realized I needed Jane, too. And now that we have Atticus and Persephone, I realize that I need them, and they need me."

Both were silent for a moment, and stopped talking altogether. There was nothing else to say, really. Both had made choices during those six years, and their priorities had shifted. They still wanted to fight for their people. But above all else, their priority was their families. Jane and the kids for Bellamy, and Maddi for Clarke. Although she was not her biological kid, she loved her as if.

The next morning, Clarke and Bellamy headed to the ELIGIUS ship to talk with Robert McCreary, both holding guns.

"We have a proposal for you," Bellamy started.

Robert crossed his arms over his chest and raised a suspicious eyebrow. "What."

"You've been jerks to us, but you were our ride home. There is a place buried under rubble that is full with supplies – weapons, food, blankets, water, you name it. We need your help to help dig it out."

Robert McCreary snorted. "And why would we help you? And do we even have a choice?" he said, jerking his chin in the guns' direction.

Clarke and Bellamy exchanged a glance.

"If you come willingly, we won't have to force you," Clarke said.

"Once its dug out, we share what's inside," Bellamy said. "We take what we need, and you take what you need. After that, it's every group for itself."

Robert McCreary stared at them for a moment. He turned around and talked silently but animatedly with his people. Clarke and Bellamy waited.

"Fine," he said, coming back. "Lead the way."

Clarke got out of the ship, followed by the ELIGIUS crew and Bellamy brought the rear. Murphy, Echo, and Harper waited outside with the other guns, and Clarke gave her rifle to Jane, leading the way in the Rover, driving slowly. Maddi, Persephone, Atticus, and Jasper rode with Clarke, enjoying the ride and laughing hysterically. Clarke smiled, too, hearing their laughs. But the bunker was on her mind. Were they still alive? Would they be able the dig out the rubble? Would she see her mother again?

Outside, the ELIGIUS group marched behind the Rover, surrounded by Skaikru 2.0 with the guns.

Five hours later, they were at the edge of Polis. Besides the broken tower with only a handful of floors left, the city was unrecognizable. Everything was rubble and destruction.

"Where's your treasure chest?" Robert McCreary asked sarcastically.

"You see that tower?" Clarke said.

"You mean that bigger building?" he said.

Clarke nodded. "It's half a mile south from there." She paused. "Let's go." She started walking and the rest followed. Bellamy carried Atticus on his shoulders, Jane carried Persephone piggyback style, and Monty carried Jasper Junior. They made their way through the rubble and arrived closest to the bunker as they could at nightfall.

"Listen up!" Bellamy called out, Atticus still on his shoulders. "We camp here tonight and start digging in the morning." He turned to Clarke. "Is there still game out here?"

She shook her head. "No. Not a single animal was left."

"What did you eat, then?"

"Roots, vegetables, fruit, …"

He spoke up again for everyone to hear. "We'll eat once we get to the bunker."

They set up camp around the rubble. Clarke opened her bag and got food out. "I thought that we would need to eat," she said, softly. "I had some in the Rover." She distributed the food between the thirteen of them. It was not much each, but it would have to do.

They slept fitfully, keeping watch on the ELIGIUS group.

At dawn, they all woke up and Clarke told them where to start digging. Jane stayed behind, looking after the three kids, anxious to find out if the people in the bunker had survived. She couldn't wait to see Octavia again. Would she even recognize her? She would be seven years old, by now.

Both crews started digging. By noon, they were all drenched in sweat and hungry again. So Bellamy decided to send Clarke, Monty and Echo with a small group from the ELIGIUS ship to go look for food – roots and other things Clarke would tell them to take.

They came back three hours later with enough for everyone. But it was like the digging hadn't made any progress.

On the third afternoon, after pulling and lifting and carrying and grunting and being baked in the sun, the entrance to the Bunker was finally cleared.

"What do we do now?" Jane asked. "The door only opens from the inside."

Bellamy's shoulders dropped.

"We'll bang on it until they hear us," Clarke said. "Raven, you and Echo work on the radio. We have to get through to them by any possible way."

Raven and Echo nodded and went to work.

"Bunkerkru, this is Raven Reyes, do you copy?" she waited three seconds before repeating her sentence. "Bunkerkru, this is Raven Reyes, do you copy?" and on and on it she went.

Bellamy and Murphy found metallic poles and started banging on the door.

"Wait a minute," Robert McCreary said. "I thought this was full of supplies, not people."

"There are some people inside," Bellamy said, hammering the pole on the door again. "We just don't know how many are still alive, or if they're alive at all."

"His daughter is down there," Murphy said. "Leave the man alone."

"Just how many people are down there?"

"We don't know," Bellamy lied. Well, it was only half a lie. They knew how many went down there six years ago: 1200. But now? They had no idea.

They went on, changing the people pounding on the door, and Monty had recorded a radio message that would go on a loop.

A little after midnight, Raven was woken up by something new.

"Raven Reyes, this is Marcus Kane, do you copy?"

Kane repeated the message three times before Raven realized she wasn't dreaming and that the Bunkerkru were responding.

"Kane? This is Raven. Over."

"Raven? Where are you?"

"We've been bashing on the bunker's door for hours. You have to open it."

"We tried, but there was too much rubble."

"We dug everything out. You can come out, now."

"All right. Be ready in two hours. We have to tell everyone and organize the exit. Over."

"Okay," she said grinning. "See you in two hours. Over and out."

She scrambled to her feet and discreetly woke up Murphy, Bellamy and Jane.

"I made contact with Kane," she said, keeping her voice low so that the ELIGIUS crew wouldn't hear. "They're coming out in two hours."

"Two hours?" Jane asked. "Why this long?"

"Apparently there's lot of people to move, and they have to get everything organized. Come on, let's wake the others and let's go wait by the door."

In a matter of minutes, the whole group of Skaikru 2.0 was packed around the door, waiting. Jane started to pace up and down of what was left of the temple. Atticus, Persephone and Jasper played in the debris of the Polaris pod that had survived a drop to the Earth and two radioactive death waves. Both Atticus and Persephone were Nightbloods, like their mother.

"Jane, stop pacing, you're making us all dizzy," Bellamy said, inviting his wife to sit on his lap for the remaining waiting time. Jane sighed and accepted his offer. She sat on his lap and let him wrap his arms around her.

Clarke tried not to look.

They were silent, all praying to see their loved ones again.

Finally, the two hours were up, and true to Kane's word, there was a sound of unlocking, and the bunker door hissed opened. Marcus Kane came out first. He walked out and headed directly to his long lost adoptive kids. He hugged Bellamy so tight, Bellamy thought he would choke.

"I missed you so much," Kane said, almost losing it. Then he hugged all the others, too. but Jane kept her eyes on the door. Why wasn't Octavia coming out? Or she already had and she hadn't recognized her? How many seven-year-old girls were down there, anyway?

The whole Skaikru 1.0 came out, but no sign of Octavia.

Azgeda followed, and Echo stayed hidden behind Raven and Murphy. King Roan had banished her during the Final Conclave, when she cheated. And she doesn't know if her clan knew about this or not, and how they would react if they knew she was alive.

One by one, the clans walked out of the Bunker, eager to finally get out.

But where was Octavia?

Finally, Trikru walked out. Indra came out last of the clan, holding a little girl by the hand. She had long dark brown wavy hair, her father's nose and her mother's hazel eyes. Indra stopped at the top of the stairs and pointed Jane and Bellamy to the little girl.

"You see that man over there with the dark hair, and the woman next to him with the same eyes as you?" Indra said, and Octavia nodded. "They're your mommy and daddy, Octavia. Do you remember the stories I told you?"

Octavia nodded and walked decidedly to Bellamy and Jane. She stopped in front of her father and looked up at him. "Please roll up your sleeve, sir," she ordered.

Bellamy and Jane exchanged a glance, but he obeyed. He rolled up his sleeve, revealing the Trikru burnt scar on his arm. He showed it to Octavia, who grinned. Bellamy and Jane crouched down.

"Why did you want to see it?"

"Because Indra told me my father had the Trikru mark on his arm, and that my mother had the same eyes as me. So now I'm sure it's you." She turned around to look at Indra, who nodded once to her. It was all Octavia needed. She slipped her hand in her father's hand and her other one in Jane's.

"Atticus? Persephone?" Bellamy called out, and the two came running to them. "Octavia," he said, "This is Atticus and Persephone, your little brother and sister. Atticus, Persephone, this is Octavia, your big sister. You remember we talked about her, right?"

Atticus nodded and held out his hand to Octavia. They shook hands, and Atticus looked at his daddy. "Can we go out, now?"

"Yes, but we're staying together." He picked his son up and placed him on his hip, and Jane did the same for Persephone. But before doing anything else, Jane walked up to Indra and hugged her tightly.

"Thank you for looking after Octavia for us," she said.

Indra hugged her back. "It was meant to be, Jane. From the moment she was born, I wanted to protect that child, and I didn't even know her. And I had the privilege to count her as my family in the bunker." She broke the hug. "But she is rightfully yours."

Jane smiled. "I hope you taught her Trigedasleng."

"Of course, I did," she said chuckling. "I raised her like any Trikru child. She even knows how to use a weapon."

"Indra! She's seven years old!"

Indra laughed again. "I know. Trikru children start early. And you know that we train our sons to be warriors and our daughters to be leaders. I hope she'll fallow in her parents' footsteps."

Jane smiled, rearranging Persephone on her hip, who was sucking her thumb, her head resting on her mother's shoulder. "Thank you so much, Indra. Oh, and this is Persephone, Octavia's little sister, and there's Atticus, too."

Indra smirked. "I see you've been busy."

Jane laughed just as Bellamy joined them with Octavia and Atticus.

"What a beautiful family you are," Indra said. "Don't you think, Octavia?"

Octavia nodded.

"Indra, stay with us," Bellamy offered.

"Oh, I don't think I-"

"Indra, we're all Trikru, remember? Please," he said again.

Indra thought for a second and then nodded. "Okay." She followed her newfound family.

On the other side of the temple, Clarke was talking with Marcus Kane.

"Are there still people down there?"

"No, everyone's out."

"What about my mother?" Clarke said. "Where is she?"

Marcus closed his eyes, pain showing all over his face. "I'm sorry, Clarke."

Clarke frowned. "What happened?"

Marcus had trouble breathing. Although it had happened three years ago, it was still fresh pain in his heart. "Three years ago, there was a violent fight between two clans. We tried to break them apart. Abby was hit by a lost blow somewhere and fell, hitting her head-" He stopped, his chin quivering. "She fell on a stair step and-"

"Okay," Clarke said, closing her eyes, fighting the anger and sadness growing inside of her. "I get the picture. Please tell me she died instantly and didn't suffer."

Kane shook his head. "I wish I could. She suffered for three days before dying on a hospital bed. I'm sorry, Clarke." He was about to hug her when she ran away, avoiding debris and people. She ran all the way to the Rover, outside of Polis, where she let out a series of painful, anguish cries. Her mother was gone, and she didn't even get to say goodbye six years ago. Now all she had left was Maddi. She waited for her to come back to the Rover, and they both drove away, needing some space and time. Maybe even a lifetime.

She had lost her mother and the love of her life. But she still had her daughter. Her little Natblida.

"In peace may you leave the shore.

In love may you find the next.

Safe passage on your travels,

Until our final journey on the Ground.

May we meet again."

Clarke whispered the parting prayer for her mother and never looked back.

THE END

Hi! we finally made it to the end! pfiou!

I'm so sorry for the wait, but i hope the lenght makes for it ;)

I finished writing it in the beginning of the week, backing up the document like I do every time, thinking I'll re-read it in the morning and post it then. Next thing I know, when I turn on my computer, the whole document is gone! :O Anyway, my husband managed to find it in my backup on my computer, but I still lost part of the last chapter, so I had to re-write it... sorry!

But it was a great adventure, thanks fo reading and reviewing! see ya! bye!