7 Years is a Long Time

Nearly 7 years has passed since the mountain had fallen. In that time, a lot has changed around Arkadia. There were new homes built around the wreckage, a greenhouse so that they could grow plants all year round, but the biggest change had come from the people living there. Lincoln had taught them to hunt without guns so that they didn’t scare all the animals in the area away, they had learnt to plant and grow crops, they had learnt how to survive on the ground and it had been hard.

They have an unspoken truce with the grounders, which consists of you leave us alone and we leave you alone. However, Octavia, Lincoln and Kane are permitted to go to Tondc once a month to trade for things that they can’t get for themselves. 2 years after the mountain a messenger had delivered word from Polis that Lincoln’s kill order had been removed, nobody knew what had changed Lexa’s mind they were just glad that she had.

In 7 years, a lot has changed undoubtedly, but one thing that hadn’t changed was that Clarke was still nowhere to be found. For the first year after she had left they had looked everywhere they could for her and not found a trace anywhere. Kane even asked Indra if she had heard anything about Clarke, but she told him she hadn’t. By now most people believed that she was dead. An omega in the wild could never cope, well according to most of the alphas in Arkadia, but Bellamy and Abby knew that Clarke is no ordinary omega. They both still hold out hope that she is still out there and that she will return one day.

*********

Today is Octavia’s favourite day of the month. She, Lincoln and Kane have just arrived at Tondc for their monthly trading trip. Even though some of the grounders still distrust her and throw glairs at her every chance that they get, she still feels more at home here than she ever has on the Arc or in Arkadia.

The trip is always bittersweet for Lincoln though as a lot of the people he grew up with still see him as a traitor. Some simply ignore his presence, whilst others look at him like they wish they could enact the kill order that had been place on his head. The truth is that he misses his people, he misses that games they play, the songs, the dancing, but most of all he misses the feeling of home.

Kane just sees the trip as a way to continue getting better relations with the grounders and he is still fascinated by grounder society.

After leading their horses to the stables for the day, the three set about their tasks. They trade fruit, that wouldn’t be possible to grow at this time of year if it wasn’t for the greenhouse, for furs for the fast-approaching winter.

They quickly realise that Tondc is a flurry of activity, even more so than usual. They were preparing for a celebration of some sort. After Lincoln asked one of the traders what the celebration is for, he is told that the commander had arrived that morning and that she had brought her mate who is now the Kwin of the coalition, and their two pup, the prince and princess, with her for the first time. They were having a celebration to welcome Heda and her family.

“I thought that the commander wasn’t allowed to mate. You told me that she is supposed to live her life alone.” Octavia says looking at Lincoln. She doesn’t understand what has changed, but it must be something important to change years of tradition. Maybe Lexa is trying to change things, first with removing Lincolns kill order, which is something nobody thought would happen, and now with gaining a family.

“She is only aloud to mate someone who is who is of equal rank to her, or the heir to one of the clans. The problem is that there is no one of equal rank to her and if she mated an heir then she would be accused of showing favouritism to that clan. I heard a rumour years ago, about Heda finding a mate and that there was a little prince and princess, but I believed that it was just a rumour.” He shrugged his shoulders “I guess I was wrong.” He is just as confuse a Octavia about this.

“I think we should finish up and head back. We don’t want to intrude on their celebration.” Kane tells them obviously not wanting to cause offence with the presence of outsiders at such a celebration and not entirely comfortable with having Octavia so close to the commander.

Octavia’s mind is running wild. She wants to know who has mated to Heda. Who would want to mate with an alpha that is incapable of love. What poor omega has been forced to mate with someone who cares for nothing other than herself and dominance over others. She knows that grounders treat omegas better than they were treated on the arc where they were basically treated as property, but surly this omega hasn’t mated of their own free will.

A voice snaps Octavia out of her thoughts “Alex, come here, it's time to get ready for tonight's celebrations” Even though the voice is speaking Trigedasleng she recognises it straight away. Clarke.

She spins around trying to find the owner of that voice and spots the back of head of braided golden hair. She bolts after the head, but loses it in the crowd of the market place. She tries to pick up on Clarke’s scent, but can’t find it. There is something there that smells like her, but there is something different about it so it couldn’t be her.

Kane and Lincoln catch up to her asking what happened. They are looking around for threats or for any sign of what made Octavia run away from like she did.

“Clarke, I saw Clarke, I’m sure it was her. I heard her voice, but I can’t find her scent anywhere.” Octavia blurts out still looking around the market place to see if she can spot Clarke again.

“Octavia if you can’t find her scent it probably wasn’t her. It was probably just someone who just looked like her.” Kane tries to calm Octavia down. “Did you see her face?” He asks sceptically. Nobody has seen Clarke in years and he had spoken to Indra on several occasions about her, but she had always told him that she hadn’t seen her.

“No, just the back of her head, but I heard her voice. I’m sure it was her.” Octavia is getting annoyed by Kane not believing her, but she is so sure that it was Clarke it had to be. She couldn’t just be imagining her, she heard her voice and she would know her anywhere.

“OK, it’s getting late and we need to get back to Arkadia. We can talk about this when we get back there.” Kane tells her and starts walking back to the stables. Leaving Octavia, no chance to argue with him even though she really wants to.

Octavia takes one last look around, trying to spot the familiar locks of blond hair, but she can’t see her anywhere. She reluctantly follows Kane back to the horses, mounts up and rides out of Tondc. She decides that she will go and see Abby as soon as she gets back. Abby will let her come back to find Clarke she is sure of it.

********

On the way, back to Arkadia Octavia tells Kane and Lincoln what she saw and heard. As soon as Octavia’s horse is through the gates, she is jumping off it and running to the med bay to find Abby.

“Abby, I’ve just seen Clarke, I’m sure it was her” Octavia shouts as soon as she sees Abby. She is slightly out of breath from the sprint through the remnants of the Arc, bending over slightly as she comes to a stop.

“What? Where? Was she ok? Did you bring her back with you?” Abby asks in a panic. Her biggest wish from the past 7 years finally coming true.

“She was in Tondc. It was her I’m sure it was. I didn’t see her face but I heard her voice and saw the back of her head. I ran after her, but she disappeared into the crowd before I could catch up to her.” Octavia blurts out in one breath still trying to get her breath back.

Kane strides into the med bay followed closely by Lincoln and tells Abby “Abby calm down, we don’t know that it is her.” He doesn’t want Abby getting her hopes up when they have no idea if it was just somebody that looked like Clarke or actually her.

Bellamy and Raven than burst into the med bay, Bellamy shouting “We heard you found Clarke, where is she?” They both look like they had run there as fast as they could with their faces being red and they are out of breath.

Kane reply’s “In Tondc, but we don’t even know if it was her. Octavia didn’t see her face and none of us could catch her scent anywhere. We can’t go rushing in and causing a war when we don’t even know if it was her.” Kane knows that he needs to get control of this situation before someone does something that they will regret. He knows that Clarke is important to them all, but it is hard enough living on the ground without starting a war.

“So, you just want me to leave her in the hands of those savages?” Abby yells having had enough of Kane trying to stop her from going after he daughter. Her daughter who is an omega and been gone for 7 years without a strong alpha to protect her. The grounders could have done anything to her and if she is in Tondc that means that Indra has been lying to them.

“All I am saying is that we should confirm it’s her first. There is a big feast tonight and all of Tondc will be at it. The voice that Octavia heard mentioned getting ready for it. We will send a scout to observe the celebrations from a distance and see if they can confirm its Clarke” Kane tries to calm the room “I’ll send Miller, he’s one of our best hunters and knows the area well.” Kane knows that they must send someone who won’t rush in head first and will do as he is told.

“No, I’m going” Bellamy states. There is no way that he is letting someone else go and bring Clarke back. He has a responsibility to her and in his mind, they need to send and alpha not a beta to deal with this.

“No, you’re not. I can’t trust you not to go rushing in all guns blazing if you see her. I don’t trust you around the commander either and she is there at the moment.” Kane tells him. He knows that if Bellamy goes then he will at best get himself captured and will then have to face grounder justice or at worse start a war. He knows that the commander will not take being challenged lightly and if Bellamy interrupts the celebration of her family she will see it as a challenge.

“What’s the commander doing there?” Raven speaks up for the first time. Nobody has seen the commander since the mountain and she wants it to stay that way.

“Heda is there with her mate and pups for the first time. The celebration tonight is in their honour.” Lincoln tells her calmly. He has stayed quiet up until now hoping that Kane can try to calm everyone’s tempers.

“Someone mated that bitch?” Raven exclaims. She can’t believe that anyone would go near Lexa after what she has seen and heard about her. Lexa is cold, ruthless and unlovable in Ravens eyes.

“To mate Heda is a great honour to my people” Lincoln reply’s. He knows what the people of Arkadia think of Heda, but he knows how loyal Lexa is to her people and how the people love her back.

“Mated?” Octavia butts in questioningly. “Oh my god, Clarke’s mated” It all makes sense to her now, everything has just clicked into place in her head.

Everybody just looks at Octavia like she has grown a second head. Who would Clarke be mated too? It’s impossible.

“Just hear me out ok. I know that this sounds crazy, but it actually makes sense. I could smell a scent that was likes Clarke’s, but there was something different about it. That’s why I thought that it couldn’t be her, but if she has mated then their scents would have mixed together. That’s what the difference was and she was shouting someone called Alex that must have been her mate. It would also explain why she is so close to here, but hasn’t been back. If she mated a Trikru then she would now be one of them. She would belong to the Trikru clan.”

The room is silent as everybody absorbs what Octavia has just said. It makes sense and that is what shocks everybody, but no this can’t be true can it?

“There’s no way that she would have willingly mated to one of them. They must have forced her into it.” Bellamy’s angry pheromones start stinking up the room. Lincoln and Raven start pumping out soothing beta pheromones to try and calm him.

“No, omegas are sacred to all of the 12 clans. To force one into mating is punishable by the traitor’s death and the healers break the bond immediately. You are just assuming what happens with you people is what happens with mine and it’s not.” Lincoln tells them as he stares at Bellamy. He has seen how most alphas treat omegas in Arkadia and that is something that his people would never allow.

“OK” Kane steps in to calm things down whilst pumping out soothing pheromones. “We still don’t know for sure that’s it’s her. Let’s make sure first and then we can go about approaching her” he says looking at Abby. He knows that if it is Clarke then there must be a reason that she has been so close, but not returned.

“Fine send Miller tonight, but the minuet he returns and tells me that it’s her I’m going to Tondc to get her back.” Abby says before stomping out of the med bay with Kane leaving as well to go and talk to Miller. Part of Kane hopes that it is Clarke, but part of hopes that it isn’t. If it is Abby is going to be on the war path and they might not survive her hard headedness.

“Bellamy don’t do anything stupid. Just give them tonight and tomorrow we can go and get her.” Octavia pleads with him. She doesn’t want her brother going and doing something stupid and getting himself killed. Here Bellamy is a strong alpha, but in the grounder world he is untrained and would be dead in seconds in a real fight against an omega let alone an alpha.

“OK, but as soon as Miller is back tomorrow, I’m bringing her home.” He says and then stomps out. He will wait as he knows that he can’t get her back on his own, but tomorrow he will take all the guards of Arkadia to Tondc to get her back if he hast to.

The three left just stand there and look at each there hoping that this doesn’t go to hell.

*******

It’s an hour before dawn when Miller returns and Abby, Kane, Bellamy, Octavia and Lincoln are at the gates waiting for him.

The first words out of Millers mouth are “It’s her, it’s definitely Clarke.”

Before anything else can be said Abby and Bellamy are running to the horse’s, mount up and are gone. They both have weapons and a one track mind that is solely focused on getting Clarke back.

Octavia is about to mount up on the last horse when miller speaks up again. “Kane there is something you should know. Clarke is mated to Lexa and is some sort of grounder Queen. They have pups as well I saw them at the celebration last night.” Octavia can’t believe what she has just heard. She knew that there was something going on between them before the mountain, but after what happened she never thought that Clarke would forgive Lexa.

Kane looks at Octavia and tells her to go as fast as she can, hopefully she will catch them before they start a war though he is not hopeful. He knows that he needs to stay and make sure that they are ready for whatever comes next. He just hopes Abby can calm herself and approach Clarke properly, but he isn’t hopeful.

*********

As Octavia is approaching the gates to Tondc she can hear Abby and Bellamy raising their voices. When the gates come into view she can see Abby pointing her hand gun at one of the guards and Bellamy pointing his rifle at one of the other guards. The guards have their swords drawn and Octavia can see archers in the trees with their bows drawn and their arrows pointed at the two intruders.

“I know you are keeping her in there, go and get my daughter now and let her go.” Abby is screaming at the guards. There is a threatening scent rolling off Abby and Bellamy that is almost enough to choke Octavia. The beta guards however are not reacting to it at all.

Lexa suddenly appears at the back of the guards “Abby kom Skaikru what can I do for you?” she says in an almost bored tone whilst walking forward towards Abby. Octavia has always been impressed with how Lexa can stay cool under pressure even when she is being threatened. Most alphas would have snapped by now and killed them. She still doesn’t like her though.

“Where’s my daughter and who did you force her to mate? You had to have forced her she wouldn’t do it willingly.” Abby accuses and this time Octavia sees Lexa bristle a bit obviously not happy at being accused of such a thing. In the blink of an eye though she is back to her stoic self and even her scent doesn’t betray her emotions.

“I did not force Clarke to mate anyone that was her decision. If you leave your weapons at the gate then we can go inside and discuss this.” Lexa calmly reply’s. Abby and Bellamy don’t even think about lowering their weapons as they are both too consumed by anger to realise that what danger they are in.

“No, go and get my daughter. I am taking her and we are leaving now. I’m taking her home.” Abby is shaking with rage. She has never liked this young pushy alpha. In the Arc the girl would never have been allowed to talk to her like that. The problem is that Abby is in her territory and not the other way around.

“Mom take that gun out of Heda’s face now.” Clarke walks into view and steps in front of Lexa in between her and the gun. “Bellamy put your gun down as well. If you want to talk then we will but not with you two waving guns around. Leave them here and we can go inside and talk.” She says evenly. Lexa’s scent changes when the gun is pointed at Clarke instead of herself. It is subtle, but still there.

Clarke looks more beautiful than any of the Skaikru had ever seen her. She was no longer a girl, but now a woman. Wearing grounder clothing and with her hair back in intricate braids she looks grown up. She is leaner and more muscled than she used to be clearly having trained her body. There is a hint of a tattoo that comes just above the collar of her shirt onto her neck and a clearly visible mating bite on the other side of her throat. Her face has lost its puppy fat, but she still has the same bright blue eyes that seen brighter than Octavia or Bellamy have ever seen them.

Abby bursts into tears, drops the gun and goes and wraps a Clarke in a hug. “Hi mom” Clarke whispers. She then pulls out of the hug and turns to Bellamy “Drop it Bell or turn around and leave your choice.” Clarke says it with such authority that if Octavia didn’t know better she would have thought that Clarke had been raised to lead people, not like the lowly omega she was treated as on the Arc.

Bellamy lowers his rifle and goes to pull Clarke into a hug, but she stops him. He still looks in shock that she is alive and a little hurt that she would not let him touch her. “I knew you were alive, I never gave up hope. Come on, you don’t have to be afraid anymore, we can take you home now. You can be happy and safe with me princess.” Octavia realises that Bellamy was still producing a dominant scent and that with Clarke being mated it would have made her uncomfortable to be too close to it. She can also see Lexa getting angry when Bellamy mention Clarke going back to Arkadia to be with him.

“He’s right honey, your safe now and we can get rid of that mating bite as well, you can be free again.” Abby almost pleads with Clarke. As always Abby thinks that she knows what’s best for her daughter and she still doesn’t realise that Lexa is Clarke’s mate. She still can’t just see that her daughter is safe and healthy.

Lexa lets out a low territorial growl and her pheromones spike, when Abby says that she can get rid of Clarke’s mating mark. Bellamy instantly raises his gun again and Clarke shouts at him “Bellamy if you don’t lower that fucking gun I’m going to take it off you and shoot you with it now drop it.”

He drops it to the ground straight away knowing better than to piss her off further. “Good now come on let’s go inside, we have a lot to talk about.” She turns around starts to walk next to Lexa to the commander’s tent. The group of Arkers following silently behind. As they walk to the tent Octavia tries to get Abby attention so that she can tell her what Miller said after she left. Abby just keeps her eyes locked onto Clarke’s back though.

Once in the tent Lexa walks to the raised platform and sits on her throne whilst Clarke sits on the throne next to Lexa’s showing her position as Kwin of the coalition.

Abby looks back and forth between the two seated on their thrones. Suddenly her face morphs into an outraged look “Please tell me that you’re just sitting on that thing because its comfy Clarke. Please don’t tell me that your…” Abby can’t even finish the sentence she is that disgusted with the idea.

“Me and Lexa are mated and have been for the last 6 years. Now before you start you need to know that I mated with her because I wanted to not because of anything else. I love her mom.” Clarke states. Clarke always knew this day would come and has dreaded it more than anything. She always knew that her mum hated Lexa before the betrayal and even more after. It didn’t help that Abby had always tried to control Clarke when they were on the Arc and since they have been on the ground she can’t accept that things have changed. Abby even had Clarke’s future mate chosen for her as soon as she had presented. It was only the fact that she got thrown into the sky box that the mating didn’t go through.

Bellamy let’s out a laugh “This is some sort of joke, right? You hate her, you would never mate her if you had a choice.” Bellamy had talked to Abby about mating Clarke if she ever came back and now that they had found her he was convinced that that is what would happen.

Lexa let’s out a low terrifying snarl and starts pumping out threatening pheromones that shakes everyone in the room. “I would never make any omega mate me against their will and especially not Clarke. I would have been, deservedly, killed if I had even tried too. Omegas are sacred to my people, unlike your people who treat them like nothing more than prizes. Don’t hold me and my people to you disgusting standards. You are in one of my villages and you will show my mate, my Kwin, respect or face the consequences.” Lexa is filled with rage. Clarke had told her what had happened up on the arc and how her mother had treated her. It is also obvious that this sky boy has feelings for Clarke and that is not something that Lexa will tolerate.

Clarke’s grabs Lexa’s hand and Lexa instantly starts to calm “Bell it was my choice. I loved her before the mountain and even after everything I loved her after it. If you can’t accept my choices then leave. I won’t be told who I can and cannot love by you or anyone.” Lexa is so proud of her strong omega mate. After everything that she had been through with her old people she was still standing up for herself and defending her choice of mate.

Bellamy looks like he has just been slapped across the face. Abby suddenly remembers something that Lincoln said yesterday about Lexa having pups. She looks around the tent and sees some wooden toys on the floor off to the side of the main area. “If you two are mated and Clarke is the Kwin and that means that you have pups.” She states.

A soft smile graces Clarke’s face “Yes, we have twins, a boy named Jake and a girl named Alexandria. They are 5 now and they’re trouble.” Clarke’s whole face lights up as she talks about her children. Even Lexa shares a small smile which looks like nothing more than a small twitch of her lips, but everyone can see her eyes soften slightly.

“Alexandria? Alex, that’s who you were shouting in the market yesterday. I knew it was you.” Octavia speaks up for the first time. Abby also notices that the boy is obviously named after her late mate and Clarke’s farther. The thought warms her heart slightly.

“Hey O, I thought you might have seen me, but I also knew if you did my mom would react like this so I slipped away in the crowd. Sorry.” Clarke apologises. She knew that she there was a chance that she could run into someone from Arkadia whilst she was here and maybe a part of her wanted to, she had missed her friends.

“How I would react?” Abby screeches “You mean I would want to see my daughter after thinking she might be dead for the last 7 years.” Abby starts pumping out her scent again and Octavia tries to calm her with a calming scent, but it doesn’t work the tent is quickly starting to fill up with Abby’s pheromones.

“No I mean that you would show up hear with guns threatening the peace, just like you did. I didn’t come back to Arkadia because I knew you wouldn’t let me leave. I thought that it was better to stay away.” Clarke states getting frustrated with her mother’s attitude. She thought that being on the ground might have changed Abby, but she was obviously wrong.

“Better for who Clarke. It must have been you because it defiantly wasn’t the rest of us.” Abby argues still trying pumping out threatening scent. Lexa reply’s with her own scent now reminding Abby that she is not the dominant alpha in these lands this causes Abby to stop as she knows that she is no match for Lexa and that this might be her only chance with her daughter.

Just as Clarke is about to respond Indra walks in with a look of disgust on her face when looking at the Skaikru “My apologies Heda, Kwin, but there is a problem that requires one of your attention.” She could smell Abby’s stench from outside the tent and this just proves to her how weak the Skaikru that even their leader can’t control her alpha.

Abby turns around to face Indra and states “You lied to us. We asked if you had seen or heard anything about Clarke and you said no” Abby knows that Kane respects Indra, however after this Abby has nothing but contempt for the woman.

“She was under orders from me not to tell you that she had seen me or where I was. I told you I knew what your reaction would be so I made sure you didn’t fine me.” Clarke says to her mother. She knows that she should have let her mum know that she was alive, but she didn’t want to be pressured into going back to Arkadia and this was the only way she could avoid that.

Lexa looks at Clarke and says to her, before Abby can start arguing again, “I don’t want to leave you with them, but I know that you will wish to speak to them alone. Will you be alright my love?” She doesn’t want to leave Clarke alone with her mother especially as Abby is the most likely to try and force Clarke back to Arkadia with them.

“Yes, I’ll be fine go and sort out whatever is going on and I will deal with this.” Clarke doesn’t really want Lexa to leave, but she knows that she will be more likely to talk them around without Lexa here.

“Ok, but if you need anything that guards are right outside and I will be back as soon as I can be” Lexa lifts Clarke’s hand and kisses the back of it, making Clarke smile a little, then leaves the tent without another word. Once she is gone the room is a lot calmer as Abby feels in control again.

Octavia had heard Lexa’s term of endearment and is the first to speak “OK, how did that happen? I mean you hated her” Octavia can see that there is love there it is obvious to anyone who can see, well maybe not Abby or Bellamy, but she can’t work out how they got there. Lexa must have done a lot of grovelling, however she doesn’t seem the type to grovel to anyone.

“Why don’t we all sit down at the table and I will tell you what has happened over the last 7 years” Clarke says. She knows that this is a long story and that they will all be more comfortable seated for it.

They all move and sit at the table and Clarke starts from the beginning. “After I left I spent the first 3 months in the forest on my own. I’m not going to lie I think I went a little crazy. By the time, I was found I was nearly dead. I was ill, dehydrated, exhausted and one the brink of starvation. The last thing I remember is staggering around and then nothing. I had passed out and was found by some Trikru warriors that somehow recognised me from the mountain and they took me to Polis. It took me months to get better, but in that time, I refused to see Lexa. She never forced me to see her though, when I said no she would just leave. I didn’t want anything to do with her I just wanted to get heathy and then leave again. I knew I could leave whenever I wanted, but everything changed when the Queen of Azgeda arrived…”

**6 years, 6 months earlier**

The city was nervous, everybody could feel it in that air. Something was very wrong. Then came the news that everybody had been dreading since the Azgeda delegation had arrived. The Ice Queen Nia had challenged their beloved Heda Leksa to a fight to the death.

When Clarke herd about the fight, her heart dropped. She could pretend that she still hated her all she wanted, but she knows that she is just holding onto the anger so that she can feel something other than guilt. She knew that she needed to talk to Lexa before the fight. Clarke couldn’t let her go to her potential death without telling her that she knew why she did what she did and that she was forgiven.

So, that is how she ended up outside Lexa’s room, nervously waiting for her to answer her door.

“Clarke?” Lexa gasps as she opens the door “What can I do for you?” The last thing that Lexa had expected was for Clarke to be knocking on her door though she was immensely glad about it.

“Can I come in? We need to talk” Clarke asks. She knew what she wanted to say to Lexa, but now that she was here face to face with her with Lexa’s scent all around her like a warm blanket the thoughts fly from her mind. Telling Lexa to leave her alone was one thing, sitting down and having this conversation with Lexa was a completely different thing.

“Y-yes, of c-course, please come in and take a seat.” If this had been before the mountain then Clarke would have found Lexa’s nervousness adorable, who is she kidding she still does. It also eased Clarke’s nerves a lot that she wasn’t the only nervous about her being here.

“What’s happening with the Ice Queen?” Clarke asks after she has sat down on Lexa’s sofa. She wanted to know the reason for what was happening and not the rumours that she had been hearing from the hand maids that visited her room.

“She gave me an ultimatum. War against the Skaikru and had you over to her so that she could kill you, or she was to challenge me for the right to lead. This meant a one on one fight to the death. I chose the fight.” Lexa says without emotion. For Lexa the choice had been an easy one. She had abandoned Clarke before and she was never going to do that again.

“So why not just let me die? That’s what you did at the mountain.” Clarke snaps. She didn’t want to start a fight, but the words were out of her mouth before she could stop them.

“If she were to so much as touch you I would have ripped out her throat with my bare hands” Lexa explodes her pheromones saturating the room. Clarke has to breathe through her mouth so that she doesn’t feel the full effects of Lexa scent. After a few moments of silence Lexa continues slightly calmer and her scent not as dominant as it had been. “I did what I had to for my people, I couldn’t lose hundreds to save less than fifty. I will not apologies for my actions, but I will say that I wish they had never offered me the deal. Leaving you there is the hardest thing I have ever had to do.”

Clarke hadn’t expected such a strong reaction from Lexa. She had expected a diplomatic reason as her answer, but the fact that she was obviously doing this to protect her made butterfly’s erupt in her stomach. “Look Lexa I’m not here to argue, I actually came to tell you that I forgive you for leaving me at the mountain. That doesn’t mean that I’m not still angry, because I am, but I can’t say I wouldn’t have accepted the deal if I had been offered it.”

Lexa look’s a lot calmer now and she has stopped pumping out the dominant scent. She turns and asks Clarke “I want you to be there tomorrow, will you come?” Lexa knows that if Clarke is there tomorrow then she won’t fail. There is no way that she will lose in front of the woman that she has wanted to be her mate since the first moment she saw her.

Clarke takes a deep breath and looks at Lexa seriously “I’ll be there, but you better win Lexa. I can’t watch you die.” Clarke knows that even with everything that they have been through if Lexa were to die tomorrow then that would be the last straw for her. She would finally break as she is only holding onto her sanity by a thread.

Lexa smirks at Clarke completely confident in her abilities. “There is a reason I am the commander of the 12 clans Clarke and tomorrow you will see why.” Clarke can’t lie and say that Lexa’s confidence is probably the sexiest thing she has ever seen, but she won’t dwell on that now. For now she just has to concentrate on both of them getting through tomorrow alive.

*********

Lexa won the fight, killed her biggest enemy and put in Nia’s place somebody that she could actually trust, Roan now King of Azgeda. She didn’t come out of the fight unharmed though. At one point Nia looked like she had won the fight when she stabbed Lexa through the shoulder. As Nia approached Lexa to kill her though Lexa picked up half of a broken spear and launched it into the Ice Queens chest. Clarke had never been so scared of losing someone before in her life.

Lexa was pulled away after the fight so Clarke hadn’t been able to see her to make sure that she was ok. It had angered her to no end. She went to Lexa room to wait for her there and when Lexa arrived a few hours later it was obviously that her wound had only been minimally tended to. Clarke had to force Lexa to letting her tend her wound as the commander’s alpha was out in full force and didn’t want to appear weak in front of the omega she wanted as hers. It took Clarke another hour to calm the alpha down enough to treat her.

That night Clarke stayed with Lexa to make sure that she could keep an eye on her. The next morning, she realised that she had had the best night’s sleep since the mountain. Lexa’s scent had lulled her into a deep sleep, made her feel safe and chased the nightmares away if only for a night. When she had woken, Lexa had still been asleep and Clarke didn’t think that she had ever seen such a beautiful sight. Clarke knew then and there that eventually she would give herself to Lexa completely.

Over the next six months the pair spent every spare moment with each other and they drew closer and closer. Lexa helped Clarke to deal with the nightmares and the guilt from the mountain and Clarke helped Lexa just be herself rather than Heda. They were slowly fixing each other and slowly healing enough to be able to get what they both wanted most in the world, each other. They shared their second ever kiss at the spring celebrations.

3 months after their second kiss they mated during Clarke’s heat and Lexa’s rut. They spent 5 days locked what had now become their room and although some had been against the mating non-dared to challenge Lexa after her killing Nia. Clarke and Lexa had never been so happy after mating and even Titus and the annoying ambassadors couldn’t stop that.

Clarke didn’t take the tea that they had for preventing pregnancy when they mated as she still had her birth control implant from the Arc. Six weeks later she realised that her implant had failed and she was pregnant. To say she was shocked was an understatement, but Lexa swore to her that they would do it together and that she would stand by her through it all. It took another 8 week for Lexa to hear not one, but two heart beats in Clarke’s swollen stomach this did nothing to ease Clarke’s fears. It wasn’t that she was scared of the pregnancy or even giving birth. She was scared that she was still too broken to be a good mother. It took Lexa months to finally help Clarke deal with these fears.

The birth was difficult and they nearly lost little Jake, but he managed to hold on. Lexa was convinced that an evil spirt had taken over Clarkes body during the labour, but she was reassured, by the healers, that many omegas shouted obscenities and tried to break their mates hand during the delivery. Lexa still vowed to watch Clarke for the next few days to make sure that she was still, indeed, herself. Both Clarke and Lexa cried the first time that they held the two pups realising that their family was now complete.

After Clarke, had given birth she was sworn in as the Kwin of the coalition and started all the duties that came with that role. She didn’t have as many as Lexa as she needed to be there for the pups, but it still left her exhausted most days. She now had a new appreciation for her mate as Lexa worked all day and still had the energy to play with the pups after she had finished.

After sleepless nights with the twins both Lexa and Clarke decided that two children were more than enough for them. Clarke always remembered to take the tea that preventative pregnancy after that, to make sure that they avoid any accidents.

Clarke had been the one to pardon Lincoln and she had also been the one to order Indra to let members of the Skaikru trade in Tondc. Indra was less than pleased about either of these thing, but she accepted her Kwin’s orders.

Clarke may have not been in Arkadia or even in touch with them, but she had still been protecting them form a far.

**Present Day**

The group from Arkadia were silent as they let Clarke finish “I’ve always kept an eye on you from a far. I just couldn’t come back. I still have the occasional nightmare and they have been more frequent since I have been in Tondc. If I went back to Arkadia then I don’t know how I would react and I can’t break down. I have pups to think about, they are my top priority. I have to stay strong for them.” She had thought about going back hundreds of times over the years, but the fear for her mental health as well as knowing that her mother would be less than happy with her choices had stopped her.

Octavia is the first to speak “Wow, you really love her, don’t you?” When Clarke had been speaking about Lexa her face had lit up the same way that it had when she was taking about her pups and Octavia could see that Lexa loved Clarke, even way back at the mountain. This made Octavia happy for her friend even if she was still pissed that Clarke hadn’t told them that she was still alive for 7 years.

Clarke smiles and replies “Yeah, we saved each other. We’ve been through so much together and everything that we face just makes us stronger. I nearly lost her in that fight and she nearly lost me to my own demons, but we helped heal each other. I will pick her over anyone except my children.” Clarke had to make sure that everyone in the room knew that if they made her chose she would chose Lexa and the pups in a heartbeat. There wasn’t even a question of that. She had missed her friends and even her mother, but she could live without them she had proven that. She could be happy without them. She knew that she couldn’t live without Lexa let alone be happy. Lexa was it for her, her happily ever after and she didn’t care who knew it.

“I still don’t like this Clarke” Abby states. She could see the sincerity of Clarke’s words, but Abby was still her mother and Lexa had mated her daughter without Abby’s permission. That didn’t sit well with her and never would. In her mind Lexa mating Clarke without getting Abby’s permission was hugely disrespectful. The fact that Abby knew that she would never have given that permission made it even worse. Lexa is not the alpha for Clarke and that was all there was too it in Abby mind.

“Mom you don’t have to like it, you just have to respect me, my decisions and my mate.” Clarke looks Abby straight in the eye. When Clarke was younger she had been scared, to a point, of her mother. Abby had never put a hand on her, but it was always Abby’s way or no way. If that meant making Clarke submit, then so be it. Coming to the ground however had changed this and Clarke was not the same person she used to be and would not be pushed around by her mother anymore. She was mated to the most powerful alpha on the planet and she was helping to run 12 clans. Her mother wasn’t the top wolf anymore. In this world, Clarke’s word meant more than Abby’s ever would and she knew that annoyed Abby more than anything.

“I will deal with all of it just to be in yours and my grandchildren’s lives. If Lexa lets me be in their lives of course.” Abby knew that Lexa wouldn’t be happy with her being around her grandchildren. She just hoped that Clarke would be able to talk her around. They were Abby’s family after all and if spending time with them meant that she had to keep her mouth shout then she would try to.

“They are out with Ryder at the moment, learning to track animals, but when they get back I would love for you to meet them. You can’t tell them what you told me about omegas growing up though. They will be raised as Trikru and as such they will have our beliefs not the old ones of the Arc. You start telling them the old ways then it will be me stopping you seeing them not Lexa OK?” Clarke will not have negativity around her children especially when she is almost sure that Jake will be an omega. They will be taught the right way and the Trikru way is the right way in Clarke’s mind.

“What do you mean ‘our ways’? You’re from the Arc not the ground. They should know both cultures they are from not just one.” Abby argues. She wants her grandchildren to know where they are from and not just half of it and Clarke saying ‘our ways’ is like saying that she is no longer from the Arc which she is and always will be.

“When I mated Lexa, I became Trikru out of choice. I know where I’m from, but I don’t want my children raised believing that if they are omegas then they are less somehow, that isn’t the truth and deep down you know it. So, they will know the history of the Arc, but I will never teach them the beliefs from there and neither will you if you want to be part of mine and theirs lives. This isn’t up for negotiation mum, this is the way it will be.” This is one thing that Clarke will not be moved on. Her children with be raised Trikru and that’s final. If her mother even thinks about putting her children down, like she had Clarke, then that’s it she will never see any of them again. Its harsh, but again, Clarke will put her pups first.

“OK, if that’s what it takes to be part of your lives the I will stay quiet” Abby knows that this is her only chance and that she has to take it with both hands or lose what’s left of her family forever.

Switching her attention to Octavia and Bellamy Clarke says “What about you two? Can you deal with all of this?” She knows that Octavia will be OK with it all, but Bellamy is a different story and she needs to know where he stands before they can move forward.

Bellamy says “It’s a lot to take in, but I will try my hardest to be there for you princess, sorry Kwin” a little smirk on face. He hates that she is mated to Lexa, but he would rather have Clarke in his life as a friend than nothing at all. He can also see that Clarke is happier than he has ever seen her so Lexa must be doing something right. He will keep an eye on Lexa though as he still doesn’t trust her.

Octavia leans back on her chair with a full blow smirk on her face. “I’m fine with all of it, you look happy, but you are telling Raven and I get to be there when you do.” Octavia knows that Raven is going to lose her shit when she hears all of this. Clarke is never going to hear the end of this from her.

Clarke just leans back and groans “Do I have too? The jokes will be endless” Maybe if Clarke just goes back to Polis then she will never have to tell her. She can live out her days without having to put up with Ravens embarrassing question and inappropriate jokes. She knows that she can’t but it is nice to dream.

What has happened is not much, but it’s a start. It’s them being back in each other’s lives. It’s a chance to start again. It’s them learning who each other are after 7 years. It’s going to take time though after all, 7 years is a long time.