Elyza and Alicia stared at each other, stunned that they both remembered the name of this abandoned city.

Alicia sat on a low block of stone and dropped her head into her hands. Her mind was racing and this crazy pressure was building in her head.

Elyza sat down across from her on an old tree stump. "Alicia, what the hell is Polis? I don't even know if I've ever heard that word in my life, but it just came out of my mouth, and yours too."

Alicia took a deep breath before answering. "I'm sure you've heard the word 'polis'. Likely in a world history class. A polis was an ancient Greek city-state and functioned as the hub of trade and politics. Basically a Greek state capital-"

"Hey, you said that word before," Elyza interjected.

"What?"

"Capital. You said, 'You should come with me to the capital,' and you looked like you were having another déjà vu moment. Before we remembered Polis."

Alicia shook her head. "Elyza, this is freaking me out." She stood and started walking through the old marketplace. Debris was strewn about, but she could make out some of what it once was. Part of a piano, window shutters, a boat oar, metal barrels.

"Me too. Wow." Her blue eyes opened wide in amazement. "I keep getting these fragments of memories. Are they memories?"

Alicia looked at her earnestly. "I don't know, but I'm getting them too. It's places and faces and names and wonderful and terrible things."

Elyza nodded. "Okay, how about this. We'll tell each other all these... fragments we're seeing and maybe they'll start triggering some answers for one of us. We both knew Polis, so I'm betting other memories will overlap too."

"But what the hell would those answers be, Elyza?"

The blonde shrugged. "Maybe where these memories are coming from?" There was a sudden, excited glint in her blue eyes. "Alicia, do you think reincarnation could be a thing? Oh my god. That could explain these scattered memories. What if we knew each other in a different life, and that's what we're remembering!"

Alicia shook her head. "No way."

"Why not?"

"I don't know. That's like, Merriam-Webster crazy."

Elyza chuckled. "Then just humor me. Here, I'll start." She took a deep breath. "I remember... a two-headed deer."

Alicia recoiled. "What?"

"I know it sounds weird, but you can't question everything I say! C'mon, tell me something you saw."

"Okay, fine. There were a lot of things, but let's start with... candles. Lots and lots of candles."

Elyza giggled. "Really? Candles?"

"Hey, you said I couldn't question you, so you can't laugh at me!"

Elyza cleared her throat and tried to wipe the smirk off her face. "Fair enough." She started to pace slowly as she racked her brain. "Okay, there was also... a watch on my wrist. I think someone had given it to me."

They settled into a steady rhythm of bouncing images and names off of each other.

"I had a throne."

"I was in a space station."

"Giant gorilla."

"War paint."

"Anya."

"Wells."

"Gustus."

"Finn."

"Costia."

"Mount Weather."

"Reapers."

"Wanheda."

"Ascension Day."

"Nightbloods."

"Jus drein jus daun."

"Thirteen clans."

"Fealty."

"The Flame."

"More than just surviving."

"You had a tattoo on your back."

"You had a cut over your eye."

"May we meet again."

The girls stared at each other in disbelief, trying to grasp whatever was just beyond their consciousness.

Alicia suddenly clutched her stomach and doubled over in pain. Her throat constricted from the shock and she gasped for air, slumping back down on the stone block she had sat on before.

Elyza rushed to kneel in front of her. "Are you okay?"

Alicia looked stunned as she tried to steady her breathing. "I felt this... shooting pain... in my abdomen... just here."

Elyza touched the hem of her shirt. "Can I?" Alicia nodded so she lifted her shirt to inspect the source of the pain. Elyza pressed lightly into her skin to see if anything felt amiss. She furrowed her eyebrows. Nothing seemed wrong. "Can you tell me more about what it feels like?"

"It's going away," Alicia commented with a deep sigh. "But god, it was the strangest thing. It felt like I'd been shot."

"But you feel okay now?" Elyza asked, watching her carefully.

"Yeah. I mean, I'm not actually hurt. It was just another déjà vu moment. A very vivid one." She furrowed her eyebrows. "It's like I remember being shot. I remember the sensation, the pain - while in reality I'm fine."

"I'm starting to wonder what reality actually is," Elyza muttered. She realized she still had her hand on Alicia's bare abdomen and started to pull back, but suddenly remembered something and let her fingers slide to the other girl's back."

Alicia smirked. "Really? Right now?"

Elyza blushed. "Shut up. I said I remember you with a tattoo on your back." She looked up into Alicia's eyes. "It was definitely you."

"I've never gotten a tattoo," Alicia responded with a shrug.

Elyza moved to look at her back, recalling the details. "It was intricate, with circles and symbols I didn't recognize. Seven circles..."

"...one for every Natblida that died when the Commander chose me." Alicia gasped at her own words and Elyza moved to face her again.

"You were the leader - the Commander!" Elyza announced excitedly as the memory started to resurface. "You said before you remembered having a throne!"

"Ai laik Heda..."

"You like what?"

"No..." Alicia concentrated, trying to anchor all these remnants of a past life to something she could actually believe was possible. "It was a different language."

Elyza looked impressed. "You speak a different language?"

The brunette shook her head. "No, I don't. But I did..." She brought a hand to her forehead, trying to sort out the jumble of memories "Dammit, Clarke, I never believed reincarnation was real, but these moments aren't just foreign ideas. I feel that now. I've lived them all."

Elyza froze. "Wait, what did you call me?"

"What do you mean?"

"You didn't call me Elyza just now, you called me Cl-"

"Clarke," Alicia finished as she searched her companion's eyes. She whispered the name again, testing it. "Clarke..." A hand shot to her mouth in confusion and surprise. "Oh my god. Clarke!"

That name resonated in Elyza with the oddest sense of familiarity, and looking into Alicia's eyes now felt like she was looking at an entirely different person. Alicia cradled her face with her hands, studying it up close. To Elyza, Alicia suddenly looked so much more soulful - like she had knowledge and wisdom far beyond her years. Then it clicked. Everything came back. Elyza's gaze widened as she fully took in the woman before her, seeing her now with new eyes. She gasped. "Lexa?"

Lexa nodded and smiled as tears ran down her cheeks. Clarke, still kneeling before her, laughed in disbelief. She moved in between Lexa's legs, placed one hand gently on her thigh and the other behind her head, bringing their lips together.

Clarke was shaking with emotion and couldn't hold back the tears that sprang from her eyes as she kissed and touched the woman she had loved for so long, so long ago. She broke the kiss and leaned her forehead on Lexa's. "I missed you so much," she whispered. "For decades."

"But surely you..."

"No. There was no one else, Lex. You were it for me."

Lexa could hear the anguish in her voice and pulled back just enough to look into eyes that were just as full as hers. "I'm so sorry," she replied, a fresh wave of tears streaming down. "I'm so sorry I left you in that world." Lexa slid off the stone block to join Clarke on the ground. She wrapped her arms around the girl in a fiercely strong and protective embrace, and Clarke just let herself crumple into her. The longing and heartbreak of decades and lifetimes racked her body and she sobbed. They stayed like that for several minutes as Lexa held her, running her fingers through golden blonde hair and trying to soothe the precious soul she had somehow managed to find again. No matter the distance apart - whether it was earth and sky, or east and west coast - their paths were always meant to cross.

"Hey," Lexa whispered softly. "It's okay, Clarke. You're okay. I've got you now."

Clarke slowly sat up, met her steady gaze, and attempted a smile as she wiped her eyes. "Your voice. God, how I missed your voice. No one says my name like you do, you know."

Lexa laughed, dabbing away a few fresh tears. She stared at Clarke in sheer wonder. She brought a hand to her face, touching her softly and slowly as though it were for the first time, tracing each feature, committing them to memory once again. "How is this possible?" she whispered.

Clarke shook her head. "I don't know. A second chance, perhaps? Because things didn't happen the way they were supposed to the first time around?"

A mournful expression came over Lexa and she spoke in quiet earnest. "Oh, Clarke. I am so, so sorry." She tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. "I always knew I could die at any time, but that day was ironically the first time I had let myself imagine we might have a chance at a future together." Her head dropped, and Clarke brought a hand under her chin to gently lift it up again.

"Well, look at us now," Clarke smirked. "Together. In the future." Lexa laughed in spite of herself and Clarke smiled at the sweet sound.

Lexa gazed at Clarke for a few moments. "I love you, Clarke."

Clarke just stared back, slightly taken aback by the abrupt declaration.

Lexa smiled at her reaction. "I'm only sorry I never said those exact words before to you. I did think them many times."

Clarke's smile was tinged with sadness as she shook her head. "But you didn't need say it. I knew that you loved me, Lexa. You proved that to me through your actions. I knew it, even if I was too stubborn to accept it for so long."

Lexa shrugged. "You had every right to be stubborn."

"And you had every right to be cruel and unrelenting. Merciless and power hungry. You literally held the world in your hands, and yet you were kind, patient, understanding, trusting, and brave. Your greatest battle was fighting against hate and for peace."

Lexa looked away, eyebrows furrowed. Her memories were continually returning to her and becoming more and more detailed. "It was so hard, Clarke," she said sincerely, completely opening up to the woman she loved. "I wanted to do so much more."

Clarke saw the tears welling up in her eyes again. "Hey, Heda," she soothed with a smile as she took her hands in her own. "You don't even fully know the impact you had on the world. Remember when I told you your legacy would be peace? It was. For as long as I lived you were heralded as a legend, one of the greatest souls of our time."

"Truly?"

"Yes," Clarke replied in earnest. "Those who remained loyal to the memory of the Commanders saw you for the visionary that you were and tried to pattern the world after your teachings."

"The memory of the Commanders?"

Clarke let out a long sigh. "So much happened after you were gone, Lexa. So many terrible things. There was good that rose from the ashes, but I always knew deep down we never were able to accomplish what you could have if the world had been lucky enough to keep you."

Lexa just nodded, trying to process all she was saying. "Clarke," she began hesitantly. "How long did you live? And what happened after I was gone?"

Clarke chuckled. "Why don't we go find ourselves some food and water, like we actually came here to do," she added with a smirk, "and I'll tell you everything."

Author's note: Wow, you guys. I actually got really emotional and even cried a bit as I was writing about Clarke and Lexa remembering everything - remembering each other. That's never happened to me when I've written. Damn. That was crazy. It hurt so good. So I was originally planning to combine what I have planned for the next chapter with this one, but as I wrote this reunion it just felt like it needed to stand alone. Soon more will be revealed about how and why this reincarnation came about, as well as the zombie apocalypse, and what the girls will be able to do with that rediscovered knowledge. Thank you to those who have read and left comments - the feedback helps so much! I'd especially love to hear what you think of this chapter. Thanks!