Chapter 1

Clarke sat at the table and looked around the hut. Emori and Murphy were together. Lexa, Anya, Echo, and Luna were in one corner talking. Indra and Gaia were sleeping on some of the cots, but they had taken some space between them and Emori and Murphy. Octavia was watching her, but she was huddled up with Raven and Madi near the stove.

Clarke was tired, but she knew that she wouldn't sleep. The storm wouldn't let her. She honestly didn't want to sleep either. There was too much on her mind.

Echo crossed the room and sat down beside her. Clarke looked up into her brown hazel eyes and gave her a small smile. Echo knew that she need comfort, but she didn't know how to give it to her at the time. She'd seen Clarke in a multitude of situations, but this was something new for them both.

"Have you tried telling them about it?" Echo asked her.

"No."

"Do you want to?" Echo questioned as she looked around the hut.

She knew that it was a loaded question for Clarke. She didn't often talk about her past lives too much unless it was something that was needed for them to survive some event. Or, she'd learned something that would help them do something different completely than they had done before. Clarke was all about changing things, but she wanted to take the least amount of lives possible. She was still angry with the Mountain, but she knew that she could possibly save some of them. She knew that their knowledge could help more people survive in the bunkers that they'd found in her countless lives. It was a necessary evil that they had to deal with. And, if Clarke wanted it, then Echo would find a way to make it happen. She didn't need Clarke to tell her everything. She knew enough from her own lives and from looking deeply into Clarke's eyes. Clarke was Wanheda and honestly, for Ash kom Az, or even Ash kom Azgeda, that was enough to make her listen.

"I don't know," Clarke said and let out a breath.

She looked up into Echo's eyes again. In that moment, Clarke felt a lot like Lexa must have in her life. Lexa believed that having feelings was bad, that Love was weakness, and tried to remain as stoic and unmoved as possible. Clarke knew that she could never do that, but she held on to one of Lexa's mantra's like it was her personal phrase and mana in one. Clarke bore it all so no one else had to. She kept all the pain and suffering that she'd endured through out her many rebirths and lifetimes to herself. But, it wasn't because she feared that they would all think that she was crazy. She knew that they would believe her as soon as she showed them the scars and her blood. No, it was because Clarke hadn't found the answers to end the cycles. She didn't want to burden them with her pain without a solution. Hell, she wasn't sure that having them all with her now was even going to work. Her eyes darted around the room, settling on each of them there with her now. The only one missing was her mother, and she'd be there soon enough. In the end, her eyes settled back on Echo and held.

"I still don't know why you saved me," Clarke told her.

"Yes, you do," Echo replied simply.

"It can't be that simple, Ash. It never is. There has to be more to it," Clarke demanded.

"Then, tell them about it and see what they say."

"I...I...can't..."

"Yes, you can. You need to. If you want them to understand, you need to make them aware of everything. You can't keep it all inside. I swore to you in those ice fields that I would save you and keep you alive if you would just live up to your name of Wanheda. I am still here, aren't I? I haven't left you. And, so many times, I tried to get to you so I could help you, to tell you that the procedure worked, but either I get captured by the Mountain or I woke up too late to help you. But, I figure out that you had Octavia, so I knew that you were guarded," Echo told her. "Every time I wake, I start south, either to get to Lexa or you. I know that you need me beside you."

"I do."

"Then, bring them the rest of the way in, Clarke. You've told them the legend. You've given them their symbols. Give them your history. Make them understand even more deeply that you truly are the Commander of Death," Echo pleded with her.

"I don't think that they are all..."

"Then tell Lexa and Octavia. They deserve to know it, to know all your truth. Octavia is your sister as much as Raven. She's fought along side you the longest. She still fights for you and with you. And, Lexa is your niron. If you can't tell her... Raven and Luna trust you completely and they've only had one rebirth. Let them in further, Clarke. I know things that none of them do. Hell, I even know about everything with Anya even though no one else really does, but those that understood what you said to her early," Echo said as she reached across the table and took Clarke's hand. "Give them more to love you for, give them more to understand how hard this has been for you, but give them more to understand what we are all fighting for."

"I have you and Octavia," Clarke replied.

"But, you could have us all," Echo countered. "That is why we are all part of the Twel, Klark. You've taken all our, but Madi's vow, give us back yours. We all bear your blood in some way. Will you deny them the truth just because it might hurt some of them?"

Clarke's head snapped up. She knew what those would meant. Echo had sworn fealty to her as soon as she felt that Clarke really was the legendary Wanheda and not just someone called that because of what she'd done. She'd got to witness it first hand. She knew that Echo was right. She'd suffered alone for hundreds of lifetimes, but now she had support. She had so much support. She looked around the hut.

The wind was still howling outside. The rains had started, but there was a lull in it. She knew that it wouldn't last. The rain would be back. The wind would pick up and the storm would continue. For now, she had the break and the time needed to get it off her chest, to let them in completely. They had all sworn their allegiance to her and to their cause to save as much of Man that they can. She owes them the same.

"Gather the chairs around. I only want to tell the tale once," Clarke stated as she looked up and met Echo's eyes again. "Tonight they will hear the tale of the Echoes of Ice."

Echo nodded. She knew that Clarke would tell them all the truth, her truth, their truth together. Clarke would be able to fill in some of the gaps that Echo hadn't given Octavia. She would be able to fill in a lot of gaps that even the rest of the Twel didn't know existed. She would finally be opening herself and letting them all help to carry the burden of her many resurrections and lives that she had lived with them knowing and unknowing or completely alone.

Clarke stayed at the table. Her eyes followed Echo as she moved around the hut. She saw her as she stopped first at Emori and Murphy. It was an odd place to start, but then again, it wasn't. Emori was hurting but healing. She wouldn't really be able to move too much in order to hear the stories that Clarke was going to give them. She looked up and saw Murphy's blue eyes on her. There was a slight nod. Clarke wasn't sure if it was a sign of respect for what she was about to do or if it was a sign of thanks for not making them all move closer to Clarke. Either way, it didn't matter. She dipped her head back to him. She knew how essential he was to her mission. He was a survivor. He was a fellow "cockroach." Plus, Murphy was the best cook among them.

Echo didn't stay with the two long. She moved next to Indra and Gaia. Clarke again watched as she moved. She looked on as Echo knelt down between the two cots. She was keeping herself low and non-threatening. It took seconds, not even more than one, before Indra had a knife to Echo's throat. Clarke felt Octavia and Lexa bristle at the move, but relax when they saw Indra move it away. Echo hadn't even flinched.

Indra looked over to Clarke. Their eyes locked, dark brown with vivid blue, in the low light of the hut. Clarke could tell that Indra was studying her. She was looking to see if the words of Echo were the words of the "chosen one," the Wanheda herself. When Indra saw the look in Clarke's eyes, she nodded and sat up on the cot. She looked around the hut and then to Gaia. She said something low and they both moved, dragging a cot with them to be nearer to Emori, and Echo moved on to the rest of the group.

Octavia and Raven had already moved to Clarke's side at the table and sat down. She knew that they would have move soon. They wouldn't be able to stay there. Clarke watched as Lexa, Luna, and Anya started moving to the little gathering on their own. Echo walked with Madi over towards the stove before she came back to the table. She looked at Clarke, but she gave nothing away about what was about to happen.

"Madi is over on a cot in the corner, near the stove," Echo told her as she waited for Clarke's further instructions.

"You're hoping that she'll sleep?" Clarke asked her.

"Sha," Echo replied.

"What did you tell her?" Clarke inquired.

"That her mother needed to talk with the rest of about what had happened in the past. She knows enough that she didn't need to hear it. She wants to be her for you, Clarke, but she knows that she is still a child. She respects you enough to let you tell her what she needs to know. Besides, she even asked if it was about the ice fields. When I acknowledged it, she knew that you wouldn't want to hear it all. So elected to sleep by the stove to stay warm, but I think that she also planning to make you tea if needed."

Clarke just nodded. There wasn't much else that she could say to that. She knew that even though Madi didn't have her blood, she had memories of past lives, and in most of those, Clarke told her stories of her friends and their relationships. She glossed over a lot of it, but Madi wasn't a fool. She must have gathered enough through her own rebirths to know what she needed to know. Clarke would ask her about it later, but for now, she had the rest to tell.

"We need to move the table closer. I'm going to want it between me and the rest of everyone. And, if we have any of Indra's ale..." Clarke started.

"O, you and Raven move the table and make it so we can all sit down near Emori. I'll get some ale and glasses. It's story time," Echo stated as she looked from Clarke to Octavia.

Octavia gave her a look that questioned what was happening, but Echo gave away nothing. Instead she made some gestures and Octavia just moved. She realized that Clarke was about to tell them more, and if she wanted the table between them, she had reason. She didn't need to understand it. She would follow Clarke into Hell and had before. If Clarke need a shield out of the table, Octavia would gladly provide it for her. But, she would also flank her to support her, defend her and to protect her weak side. She knew that Echo would do the same.

Octavia stood up and made a gesture with her head to Raven. The mechanic stood up and helped Octavia move the table. Echo moved around until she came back with three wooden cups and big bottle. Clarke could tell by the look on Indra's face that she wasn't amused that Echo had some of her secret stash, but when Echo poured a single glass out of the three and handed to Clarke in alone, she calmed some.

Lexa, Luna and Anya all watched as Clarke sat back down at the table. She was in a chair furthest from the rest of them. Lexa watched as Echo moved to sit near her. Octavia sat on her right, obviously protecting her flank. Raven sat beside Octavia. It was a silent and subtle support. On the other side, Lexa, Luna sat. Anya moved over nearer to Raven and sat in a chair behind her, a foot cocked up on the rung of Raven's chair. Her sitting there showed Clarke how much she cared for the mechanic because she was honestly protecting Raven from behind.

"I know that you all wondering things about my past lives," Clarke stated as she stared across the hut into nothingness. "Echo and Octavia have had the most with me, but they have not shared them all. I was alone in the beginning for many, many lives. To be honest, I honestly don't know how many rebirths that I have actually gone through. It is something that Gaia was trying to work on me with, but I'm afraid of some of the memories."

"With due cause, I'm sure," Octavia added.

"Yes, but there are some things that I know that I need to share with all of you. In particular, there is one life that I need to get out. It itsn't because I learned a lot in that life, but it was that life that has become the catalyst for the rest of you. It was in that life that I started for real my warrior training, learning about the ins and outs of being the Wanheda, and what it would mean when I finally figured out who the Twelve were. I am ashamed to say that it took me so long to put it all together."

"It couldn't have been easy on you," Lexa stated.

"It wasn't, but I realized early enough on that there were some things that I couldn't change completely, no matter how hard I tried. I had to work with what I knew. I was learning so much about Grounder culture that I used to protect the hundred when we fell, but things always seemed to get out of control because of the Mountain. So, I had to change my focus. I couldn't be worried about fixing anything until I found a way to completely neutralize and deal with the Mountain in a sufficient enough way that Lexa wouldn't be questioned and Azgeda would fall to Roan over Nia."

"And did you?" Lexa questioned.

"It was in my twentieth or so life that I found myself somewhere that I hadn't planned on being," Clarke replied as she looked over to Octavia.

She watched as her friend's eyes went wide. This was news to her. She thought that Clarke had figured out the blood thing earlier than that. But, the longer that she looked at Clarke and then over at Echo, she realized that she wasn't the first. Echo had been.

"Why did you tell me?"

"Because you would have demanded my blood, and to be honest, it took four more lives before Echo found me to tell me that she was remember and reliving. When she told me everything about the Ice Fields that we had endured, I wondered if it was the blood. When we found ourselves free to go to Becca's before..." Clarke started to tell her.

"You wanted to try with me because I trusted you and I wasn't angry with you in that life?"

"Something like that, yeah. I knew that you would be valuable to me with Trikru. I needed you on my side and ..."

"Echo couldn't get you?" Murphy asked as Clarke head snapped over to him.

"I couldn't no. I was still a spy. I was still in Nia's employ and had to act like it. I did what I could to warn Lexa and Anya, but I never could make to Clarke before I was captured by the Mountain. I find to another way."

"And, that was thru me?" Lexa inquired.

"Sha, Heda, it was."

Lexa just nodded. She knew that this was a shock for everyone, but they needed to know. Echo had been the first after Clarke. She'd been the first to get the blood. And, the fact that as soon as she woke, she knew it, meant a lot to Lexa that she didn't demand the right to a conclave of her own.

"I need you to listen. I need to tell you what happened to me in that life. I need to tell you about how I survived Nia and the Ice Fields of Azgeda, but I also need to tell you of the heroism of Ash kom Azgeda and the love that she bears for Wanheda," Clarke told them all. "Our story starts shortly after the Fall of the Mountain. I'd once again irradiated it all, killing over three hundred fifty men, women and children. I committed genocide in order to save forty of Skaikru. You would think after the fifteenth or so time that I did this that it would get easier, but it didn't. I marched everyone back to Arkadia, the Skaikru encampment/settlement on Trikru lands and then fled into the forests. Lexa kept the alliance that time, so I was afraid for my people. But, my mind was till broken. I needed time to deal with what I had done, again. I fled, but I didn't get the time I needed that life," Clarke started.

"Why not?" Anya asked as she watched her, curious about how this tale was going to play out.

"Because I found her before Roan could," Echo answered. "And, I delivered her straight to Nia."