"Did you mean it?" Clarke asked.
"Did I mean what?" Lexa responded, running her fingers gently through the blonde hair of the girl laying at her side with her head on Lexa's chest.
"Did you mean that you'd treat my people as your own?" Clarke responded, keeping her head nestled into the brunette while wrapping her arms tighter around her waist.
Lexa gently pushed Clarke away from her a few inches, until she could meet the girl's eyes with her own. She felt a knot grow in her stomach as she wondered where the blue eyed girl in her arms could be going with this, but she kept her voice calm and even as she said,
"Clarke, I am the commander of the thirteen clans. I do not swear an oath that I do not intend to keep."
"So," Clarke began, "does that mean you would be willing to hang out with my friends?"
Lexa breathed a silent sigh of relief.
"What would this entail?" She asked Clarke, still unfamiliar with the Sky People's ways.
Clarke stifled a giggle at the commander's confusion. Unsure of how to explain, she simply said,
"You'll see. But it'll be fun. Promise."
When Clarke returned to the commander's tent and saw Lexa wearing her armor she frowned.
"What is it, Clarke?" Lexa asked in a worried tone, stepping toward her.
"You're wearing your armor." Clarke said.
"Of course." Lexa replied, confused. "We are traveling to Arkadia, are we not?"
"Yes, but you're not going to be fighting any battles." Clarke responded.
"How shall I dress then?" Lexa asked, already shedding layers of armor.
"Um," Clarke swallowed, unable to formulate a response as Lexa continued to undress in front of her.
The brunette smiled slightly when she looked up to see Clarke staring at her. Clarke puffed out a loud breath to calm herself and found Lexa a pair of tight, black pants and a soft, long-sleeved top that made Lexa look more like a typical teenager. As she pulled the clothes on her tanned body, Clarke thought how nothing could make Lexa look any less powerful, or any less beautiful.
Once Lexa was dressed she looked at Clarke and asked,
"Is this more suitable?"
"Just one more thing." Clarke said as she moved behind Lexa.
With quick, gentle fingers, Clarke carefully took out Lexa's braids, Letting her long brown hair fall down her shoulders in gentle waves. Clarke moved back in front of her and took a step back to look her over.
She couldn't help the smile that rose to her face.
"Perfect." She said, letting her eyes meet the deep green ones of the girl that stood before her, feeling glad that Lexa had not put on her war paint today, as it afforded her an unobstructed view of all the wonderful slopes and planes of Lexa's incredible face. Taking Clarke's hand in her own and intertwining their fingers, Lexa led them out of her tent.
It was a nice day, and the sun shined warm on their faces as they rode their horses to Arkadia. The few members of the guard escorting them had lingered back a few paces so that they may be afforded more privacy, and the girls allowed themselves to revel in this rare moment of solitude that they shared. Lexa smiled warmly as she watched Clarke stroke her horse's mane absentmindedly as she talked to Lexa of paints and charcoals and stars and books. Lexa loved to listen to Clarke talk about her passions, and it seemed all too soon that they arrived at the gates of Arkadia. They were immediately let in, and they slipped off of their horses and allowed them to be taken to the stables by a kind woman from the Ark. Standing on a path in the middle of the settlement, Lexa turned to Clarke, unsure of what she was supposed to do next.
"Come on." Clarke said grabbing Lexa's hand and leading her towards the Ark.
Hearing the heavy steps behind them, Clarke stopped.
"Lexa," Clarke said, "you're not going to be in any danger."
Understanding her meaning, Lexa waved a hand toward the warriors behind them.
"Leave us." She ordered.
As the men wandered away the girls continued their way toward the Ark. As they came nearer to the entrance Lexa was suddenly so amazed at how something so large could float among the stars with ease. Once inside, Lexa allowed herself to continue to be guided along by Clarke's hand as she silently took in the sights around her.
"There they are." Clarke announced, snapping Lexa out of her daze.
Lexa looked to see that they were standing in the threshold of a small room. Inside, Octavia Blake and Raven Reyes were sitting together on one of two small beds that had been pushed together against the far wall, pouring over papers and bits of glinting metal that littered the bed that the two were not sitting on. The girls looked up when they heard Clarke's voice.
"Hey!" They said at the same time, both smiling. Raven began to clear off papers and gadgets to make room for their guests.
'What are you two doing here?" She asked.
"We came to hang out with you guys." Clarke responded.
"The commander is allowed to hang out?" Raven teased. "Doesn't she like, always have to be doing commander stuff?"
As Raven was speaking Octavia rose from the bed and walked to where Lexa was still standing uncomfortably just inside the door. She extended her forearm to grasp the commanders and gave a respectful nod as she said "Heda."
Clarke turned around to the dark haired girls.
"Can we just call her Lexa today?" Clarke asked.
The two girls just stood there, both obviously uncomfortable about abandoning the rules of etiquette that they were trained to adhere so strictly to.
"I know what we need." Raven said and she got up and opened a drawer in a small metal cabinet that stood in the corner. She came back to sit on the bed, proudly holding a bottle of amber liquid. She plopped down and motioned for the other girls to join her. As Octavia resumed her spot beside Raven, Lexa came and gracefully sat cross-legged beside Clarke. Raven uncorked the bottle and took a swig before passing it to Clarke.
"Monty's moonshine." She told the blonde.
Clarke nodded and took a sip before handing the bottle off to Lexa, who was hesitant, but gave in and drank some of the liquid anyways.
After a couple of hours of chatting and passing around the bottle, the girls had actually come to be much more at ease. Lexa was sitting with her back against the headboard of the small metal bed. Clarke laid with her head in Lexa's lap, her body running the width of the two beds, her feet dangling off the far side. Octavia had stretched out on her stomach next Clarke, careful not to make contact with Lexa's long legs. Raven was sitting against the other headboard beside Lexa, telling them all of a device she was currently working on. Lexa found her gaze drawn away from the girl that was speaking and down to the beautiful face occupying her lap. A pair of eyes bluer than the skies met hers as she began lazily tracing patterns on the blonde's scalp. They didn't even notice that Raven had stopped speaking until she cleared her throat loudly, causing the pair to look up. Both girls blushed, expecting teasing, but instead both Raven and Octavia were smiling at them.
"You know, at some point O and I hated both of you," Raven began, still smiling, "but now here we are."
"Exactly how things are supposed to be." Finished Octavia.
As the sky grew darker outside the little window above their heads, Lexa thought that they ought to be leaving if they wanted to make it back to Polis before dawn, but she said nothing, not wanting to be the one to suggest that this evening come to an end.
Lexa awoke in the middle of the night, her and Clarke both laying on their sides, facing one another. To her surprise, Lexa found there was also another arm draped across the pair. She raised her head up slightly to see that the arm belonged to Raven, who was laying on her stomach on the other side of Clarke. She must have thrown her arm over them in her sleep. Just as she was about to lay her head back down, Lexa noticed Raven twitching slightly and mumbling urgently in her sleep. Careful not to wake Clarke, she reached over and rubbed Raven's shoulder lightly until the twitching and mumbling stopped.
"I saw that." Octavia whispered into the darkness.
"Shhh" Was Lexa's only reply as she laid back down and fell asleep again until morning.
When the four girls found seats at an empty table in the mess hall for breakfast, it wasn't long before several others joined them. To Lexa's surprise, Abby Griffin even walked over, placing a hand on Lexa's shoulder and kissing Clarke on the top of her head before walking away to tend to her patients in medical.
After breakfast, as they prepared to head back to Polis, Raven and Octavia accompanied the two girls to the gates.
"We should do this again soon." Said Raven before pulling Clarke into a tight hug.
After also giving Clarke a hug, Octavia walked over to Lexa and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before turning to head back to the Ark with Raven. Although Lexa knew that this was an endearing custom of the Skaikru, it still took her by surprise, and it was a moment before she regained her head and climbed atop her horse.
As she rode back to Polis in silence, Clarke looked over to find that Lexa's eyes were brimming with tears that threatened to spill over.
"Lexa, what's wrong?" Clarke asked, suddenly worried.
Lexa shook her head, unable to describe what their time in Arkadia meant to her, or how she had felt like a normal girl for the fist time since becoming commander.
"Nothing's wrong. I just…thank you, Clarke." She choked out.
Clarke nodded, hearing the gratitude in her voice. As she reached out to take Lexa's hand, she couldn't help but smile. The commander had taught her how to be Wanheda, but she had taught Heda how to be Lexa.