33

Sweet and Sour

CLARKE

The blackberry exploded between Clarke's teeth in a mess of juice and seeds and pulp. It was altogether sour, altogether sweet. And before she swallowed it down, she had already popped three more onto her tongue.

"So..." She mumbled through purple-stained lips. "I can eat as much as I want here and not actually consume a single calorie, right?"

Lexa chuckled as she stepped up behind Clarke, wrapped her arms around Clarke's stomach and nuzzled into the curve of her neck. "You don't need to worry about calories, Clarke."

"I'm not worried." Clarke replied, plucking another fat berry from the vine and holding it over the space above her shoulder. She felt Lexa's lips close around the offering, the tip of her tongue running slowly along the ridges of Clarke's fingertips before wrapping around the actual berry. "It's just that, ever since she got rid of her brace, all Raven ever seems to want to do is go running or jump rope or do fucking burpees. She's getting so fit, it's disgusting. And maybe I'm just a little, teensie bit jealous. I mean... You should feel the girl's six pack... Its ridiculous."

"I don't care how flat Raven's stomach is." Lexa answered, digging her way beneath the hem of Clarke's shirt and running her fingertips along the soft skin of Clarke's stomach. "There's only one tummy I have any interest in feeling." She said, giving Clarke's tummy a playful squeeze in the tickle spot she'd recently discovered drove Clarke crazy.

Clarke swatted at her hand but grabbed it before Lexa could actually pull it away. She tucked Lexa's fingers into the tight space behind her belt buckle, so that her fingertips would be far away from her tickle spot, but her arms would still be around her. Lexa didn't fight it. She liked holding Clarke as much as Clarke liked being held.

"No calories." Clarke hummed happily as she popped another handful of berries into her mouth. "Though... I suppose if I can't consume calories here, that means I can't burn any either, huh? Which is a shame. Because burning calories with you is one of my favorite activities." She laughed.

"ONE of your favorite activities?" Lexa snickered and Clarke could hear the smirk in it. "I would have sworn it was at the top of your list." She teased, and Clarke shuddered as Lexa somehow managed to squeeze her way through the tightness of the belt buckle and was slowly, meticulously working her fingertips lower and lower. Because Lexa knew tickling was only the SECOND best way to drive Clarke crazy.

Clarke swatted at Lexa's forearm this time and Lexa laughed as she pulled her hand free of Clarke's waistband, leaving Clarke tingling with the ghost of her touch. Clarke swiveled in her arms to face her.

"Lexa, EVERYTHING I do with you is my favorite activity. Just being here is my favorite activity." She said, reaching her own fingertips into the space behind Lexa's belt buckle and giving her a sharp tug forward until they were close enough for their bellies to touch. Until they were close enough for their lips to touch.

"Me too, Clarke." Lexa sighed happily as she pulled out of the kiss. "Me too."

Clarke swiveled in her arms again, this time tucking only Lexa's thumbs into her pants before resuming her berry picking. "Now behave yourself."

"Or else?"

"Or else I won't share." Clarke answered, even as she held another berry into the space over her shoulder.

"I'll try." Lexa mumbled through her teeth as she plucked the fat berry from Clarke's fingers. "But no promises."

"Hey, Lexa..." Clarke began, because it seemed with every answer she got about this mysterious place another ten questions popped into her head."

"Yes?"

"When I go back to the real world, and we're not together here... Where are you?"

Lexa rested her chin gently against Clarke's shoulder, apparently thinking of the best way to answer. A quiet moment passed.

"I'm... On the Other Side."

"The other side? You mean... Like Heaven?"

"You could call it that." Lexa answered thoughtfully. "Heaven... The Endless Sea... The Great Horizon... The Land of Eternal Light... The Other Shore... The Endless Spring... It's a place with many names."

"What's it like there?"

Lexa didn't hesitate this time. "Beautiful." She said. "Beautiful."

Clarke waited patiently for her to elaborate, her curiosity absolutely peaked.

"It's a lot like here, actually." Lexa said. "Only a lot more crowded."

"There are others there?"

"Yes, of course." Lexa chuckled.

"Like who?" Clarke asked, turning again to face Lexa so she could see her properly.

"Well... In MY place on the Other Side, there's Anya..."

"Wait.." Clarke interrupted. "What do you mean YOUR place? Does everyone have a different place?"

"Yeah... Sort of. It's kinda like here. How I had the meadow and you had the river... In MY place there's forest and a peaceful, bustling Polis and everyone I've loved and cared about. But there are other places. I imagine for your people it might look like the Ark, or space."

"Eww... MY place would definitely NOT look like the Ark. Not unless I end up in Hell." Clarke laughed.

"Naw... You're too stubborn for Hell." Lexa teased. "The devil would try to torture you and you would constantly argue and fight with him and he'd get so fed up, he'd throw you back out."

"Hey..." Clarke huffed. "Too STUBBORN for hell? You're supposed to say I'm too good-hearted for hell. Too kind... Too..."

"Caring... Compassionate..." Lexa cut over her, planting a kiss along Clarke's neck and shoulder with each adjective she listed. "Loving... Gentle... Beautiful... Generous... Selfless... Forgiving... Courageous... And..." She paused to nip at the sharp point of Clarke's collarbone. "Stubborn."

"Yeah... I am stubborn." Clarke admitted with a chuckle. "But Raven called me ornery once and I think I prefer that label."

"OK, so it's decided... You're coming to the Other Side because you're too ORNERY for hell. So..." She paused thoughtfully. "What would YOUR place look like then?"

"Lexa..." Clarke wrapped an arm around the arms wrapped around her, weaving her fingers around the backs of Lexa's. "Wherever your place is... That is my place too."

Clarke didn't have to turn to see her to know that Lexa was smiling. She could hear it in the simple quiet between them, feel it in the curl of Lexa's fingertips against her own.

"But I interrupted you..." Clarke said. "Who else will I see when I get to your place. I mean... OUR place?"

"Well... Really, people can come and go as they please. We can visit others in their places if we like. But most often, I usually run into Anya and Gustus and Aden... Luna's little brother and Lincoln..."

"Lincoln?" Clarke interrupted, feeling like her brain might explode with all the new information. "You see Lincoln?"

"Yes..." Lexa laughed. "All the time."

"Can you speak to him?"

"Of course." Lexa laughed again.

"Could you ask him..." Clarke hesitated, thinking of the sadness in Octavia's eyes. Clarke remembered how broken she had been after losing Lexa for the second time. But once she had devised the plan to make nightblood, the grief had been eclipsed by hope... powerful, beautiful hope that was like medicine for her soul. And she wished she could share that hope with Octavia. Even just a little piece of it. "Could you ask him to give me a message for Octavia? Whatever he wants to say... I think hearing anything from him would be... I think it would mean everything to her."

Lexa didn't say anything. She just nodded with a small smile. And Clarke knew that she understood.

"Thanks." Clarke murmured as she moved in for another kiss. But almost as soon as their lips locked Clarke pulled back out of it.

Lexa frowned at her in confusion.

"Wait..." Clarke started because another question had popped into her mind. And the rational part of her told her to shove it right back in and forget about it. But the other part of her blurted it out before the rational part could act. "Is Costia with you on the Other Side?"

Clarke frowned at Lexa's smirk.

"Yes..." Lexa answered. "She is."

Clarke just stared. Not sure of what to ask next. "And you don't..." She paused. "You know..."

"Don't what?" Lexa asked, feigning confusion. Clarke knew it was an act. Clarke knew Lexa knew exactly what she was asking. But Lexa let the silence hang far too long. And now Clarke was glaring.

"Don't worry, Clarke." Lexa finally snickered, reaching for Clarke's tickle spot again. "I already told you... There's only one tummy I have any interest in feeling."

Clarke squirmed away from her touch, anger and relief battling inside of her. She tossed a plump blackberry at Lexa and watched as it exploded on her cheek and slowly oozed its way down her face, leaving a streak of deep purple-red. But Lexa only laughed harder as she pried the sticky berry from her chin and popped it in her mouth.

"You're so cute when you're jealous." Lexa teased her and Clarke huffed as Lexa expertly dodged the second berry before catching the third right between her teeth. Lexa smirked, apparently impressed with her own skills.

"But..." Clarke said in a quiet voice. "You loved her."

"Yes... I did." Lexa admitted. "I loved her. But Costia understands... There is no jealousy on the Other Side. There is only compassion and understanding and forgiveness. And she understands... I loved her. But I LOVE you."

A second passed before Clarke realized that this was the first time Lexa had ever actually spoken those three words aloud. Not that Clarke had ever doubted Lexa's feelings for her. "Attack her and you attack me..." That was the first of Lexa's 'I love you's.' And it was followed by a million more. Lexa shouted those three words in huge gestures like swearing fealty and declaring 'blood must not have blood.' And she whispered the words through little smiles and soft glances and tender touches. Lexa spoke those words to Clarke with every breath and every beat of her heart. But this was the first time she had ever spoken them with her beautiful voice. And this time, the words left Clarke speechless.

"I love you, Clarke." Lexa repeated, grasping Clarke's purple-stained fingertips in her hand. "I love you. I love you. I love you."

And Clarke tried to memorize the sound of those three little words so she could replay them over and over and over again. And she fell against Lexa and melted into the kiss, savoring the sweet and the sour of Lexa's tongue.