Chapter Text
Clarke stayed by Lexa’s side as she and Indra bid farewell to Abby and Marcus. They were heading back to Arkadia, along with everyone from Mecha and Factory stations who were considered fit to travel under their own steam. Anya and Raven were going too, with many of Anya’s soldiers. During the morning, the tents that had been erected in the middle of the square in Tondisi had been brought down and rolled up for transportation. The soldiers were going to put the tents up again properly in the fields around the fallen Alpha station. Farmers willing to lend the use of their plough horses were coming too with bags of seed ready to place into the freshly prepared earth. By the end of their visit, the newly fallen Arkers would be on the journey for preparing to be at least somewhat food sufficient in the months to come. Of all the places that the sections of Ark had been found to date, Alpha had really landed in an idyllic location. It was close to water and surrounded by natural clearings to minimise the need to fell trees and dig out stumps. The decision to consolidate all the Skaikru in this location was a good one.
After some discussion, the remaining members of the Ark Council had agreed to take on the Grounder term for the people from the Ark. It had been emphasised that while members of the hundred were already known as Skaikru, this didn’t give the Ark jurisdiction over the kids who had found work and training, as well as places to live in Tondisi and the network of Trikru villages that surrounded it. They already looked to the Trikru village chiefs and Indra, and ultimately Lexa as their leaders, not forgetting Clarke and Wells, who represented them to the wider Trikru polity.
Monty had agreed to go back to the Ark. He had found a low-lying area near the lake shore where it looked like it might be possible to set up the necessary sort of irrigate for rice. Harper had whispered to Raven that she thought Monty’s keenness to establish paddy fields was a distraction from the fact that Farm Station was no closer to being accounted for.
The decision to spread the most important assets from each station across a number of different stations was turning out to be a genius move. If all of the seeds had remained on Farm Station, they would have been solely reliant on Trikru’s generosity. Furthermore, some of the Factory Station equipment that came down with Alpha station would be a bonus, in particular the precision machines that enabled small items to be designed on a computer and then manufactured as three dimensional models, made out of simple to obtain feed stocks. The packages of pre-bomb era seeds, rice and soy beans in particular, were going to be invaluable, as the Trikru tended to cultivate wheat and barley instead.
Marcus, during his discussions with Indra, had taken on board the message being transmitted loud and clear that Skaikru was going to need to think about what goods and services they could produce to use to trade with the rest of the coalition. Technological services were an obvious opportunity. Every clan had piles of broken pre-Praimfaya equipment, and most villages had a thirst for even something as simple as a well-built water wheel for milling or pumping water from a river to the population centre. Advanced medical skills would also be somewhat attractive, but the grounders had been getting by without them for a long time. On the other hand, staple food items, particularly those bred with some disease resistance or that could be harvested at different times of the year to the local products was always going to generate a high level of built in demand.
Marcus was smiling broadly when he heard the messengers report that the Arkers landed in locations in Trishanakru and Floukru lands were happy and well. Their current hosts weren’t impatient to move them on, so the messengers had been sent back to report that a decision had been made that they should stay where they were, until they received further advice that there would be somewhere for them to sleep, before they started making the trek to Arkadia.
*****
Although Wells was going with them, temporarily at least, Clarke had refused to leave Tondisi. Abby was disgusted and they’d argued bitterly before departing.
Clarke was furious that her mother wasn’t taking her seriously when she’d said she wasn’t coming back and told her that at this rate she was happy never to visit.
Abby thought that Clarke had made her point and was just being childish now.
Anya, in the end, made it simple, by appointing Clarke to be in temporary command of the troops remaining in Tondisi. Not that there were very many, with everyone out helping Skaikru, but Anya told Abby that it was part of Clarke’s training and a perfect opportunity for her to co-ordinate rescues if Farm Station was found.
Then Nyko agreed that having Clarke staying with the remaining patients would give him a chance to accept Abby’s offer to see the Ark medical bay and help with the travelling patients, so it was settled.
Clarke stuck her tongue out at her mother’s back as she departed, though she knew that was kind of childish. Particularly when it was Clarke’s growing adult responsibilities that were the justification for her to stay behind.
The ever-perceptive Jetta had witnessed the argument and seen the hurt look on Abby’s face after being rejected by her child.
“Clarke,” she chided. “That was hardly fitting. You are angry that she is treating you like a child and then you go and act like one.”
Clarke flushed, and challenged Jetta “So? She didn’t see it.”
“Careful, Clarke; one day you may have youngons of your own. They will test your patience just like you test your mother’s. Then you will have to cope with them growing up too, and sooner than you would like.”
Clarke bit her tongue on her first response, that it was her mother’s poor decision making that had forced her to grow up so quickly. She was well aware that the grounders viewed her as an adult, albeit one who still needed to learn a few things.
“Look, I know you’re right, but she just pushes all my buttons.” She sighed. Jetta was just trying to help.
“Pushes buttons?” Jetta poked experimentally at her clothes fasteners, and Clarke grinned in spite of herself.
“It’s a Skaikru saying, it means that it is like she knows exactly what to say or do to make me over-react.”
Jetta raised an eyebrow. Clarke sighed.
“It’s not just that she treats me like I don’t have responsibilities and can’t make decisions. When she pretends that she never makes a mistake in her life and that she knows better, that really rubs in the fact that she won’t treat me like her equal. Until she explains what she was thinking when she got my dad floated and me imprisoned, I won’t believe that she’s taking me seriously.”
****
The days hanging out with Lexa between her duties were like a dream, and the nights were even better. Clarke couldn’t believe that this was the woman who had bitten her and one day they were going to mate.
She tried to use this as the reason that she missed Lexa so much when she set off a few days after the Ark contingent, but perhaps the truth of the matter was that she was lonely of an evening, and perhaps a bit bored.
Clarke had put on a brave face standing next to Indra, waving goodbye to Lexa and her personal guards. Lexa liked visiting her people and seemed to be excited to be travelling to meet the Trishanakru people hosting the Arkers. As she explained to Clarke, she had gathered enough from her observations of Abby that some of the Arkers might have been overly entitled in their dealings towards the locals. Having their leader who had issued the instruction to look after the newcomers visiting in person to pass on her personal thanks for their assistance would be appreciated.
Clarke had ached to go too, but she had readily agreed to take on responsibilities in Tondisi, and she wasn’t prepared to let either Nyko or Anya down. Besides, eventually the Arkers in Trishana would make it to join the rest of the group, and they would no doubt let her mother know if she had visited them, and not Alpha Station.
With Lexa away, Clarke spent more time looking over Lexa’s maps spread out on the banqueting table in Tondisi’s hall. They had done this a few times when sending out scouts after the missing stations. All but one was now located but there were a frighteningly large number of places where Farm Station could have crashed, and no one would have noticed.
There were huge lakes dating from before the bombs. Although their shorelines were well populated and the Lake People on the southern side were competent mariners, the lakes themselves were many miles across and very deep in places. Had the missing station crashed into one of those areas, it would have sunk leaving nothing but ripples to reach the distant shoreline. Any debris that floated could take weeks or month to drift to the lake’s edge and may not readily catch the attention of anyone coming across it. Clarke thought about the area around Tondisi. Old world wreckage seemed to pop up everywhere, deep in what appeared to be ancient forests which, in reality, were growing over the ruins of towns and cities, the former concrete jungles. If Farm Station had sunk without a trace, there was no way of ever being certain what had happened.
Raven had looked at the maps keenly before she travelled back to Alpha Station. Lexa was curious and asked why.
“I saw a documentary on the Ark. It said that in the rivers and channels between the lakes, the current was really strong and big waterfalls were harnessed to make electricity. With enough time, I might even be able to get the turbines back online.”
Clarke remembered asking if they could visit too. She’d explained to Lexa that one of the great natural wonders of the pre-Praimfaya world, Niagara Falls, was up that way.
“Show me, ai Niron.”
Clarke had smiled at the term of endearment, secretly delighted that Lexa was openly claiming her in front of other people. She pointed to Lexa where she thought the falls would be on one her maps.
Lexa shook her head sadly.
“Sorry, Clarke. That eastern section of the lakes is now the northern-most part of the dead zone. No vegetation grows there, so you hardly see animals either.”
Clarke turned her mind to nature documentaries. She recalled seeing one with huge birds of prey flying around the falls and the river downstream; gliding on the rising updrafts as they kept their gaze fixed on the vegetation, where a truly impressive quantity of squirrels had made their home. To imagine that all that life was gone, replaced by a handful of lizards if they were lucky. Maybe two tailed ones if they weren’t, and had to decide if they would be harmful to
Lexa explained that large expanses of land near what once was New York had been transformed into a sandy desert. Without vegetation holding the soils down, large dunes had engulfed most of the ruined buildings, and the storms that blew over moved the dunes around, making navigation very challenging.
It was obvious that if Farm Station had crashed in the dead zone, their chances of finding survivors were going to be remote. Raven was the one who figured that if they were there, then perhaps they would also have a working radio. Despite swearing that she never wanted to return to the Ark, that had been the trigger for Raven to agree to go back with Anya to rig a radio antenna up at the highest point possible.
****
A few days later, Anya and Raven returned along with Nyko and a lot of the grounders, and it couldn’t come quickly enough for Clarke. She’d been staying at their home with Charlotte. She’d made sure the younger girl had eaten and they would eat together if she hadn’t. Although Clarke had usually passed her at the hospital or the clinic, she always checked in on her that the rest of her day with the patients and other trainee healers had been okay.
Once she’d gone to bed, Clarke found herself at a loose end again. Most nights, she found herself wandering, eventually ending up at the guard house, ‘checking in’ with the guards on watch, and generally shooting the breeze. Eventually she would return to the house, attempting to catch a few hours’ sleep before the roosters living nearby woke everyone up shortly before dawn.
Charlotte offered to cook dinner for the returning couple and Clarke, so later that night they found themselves being presented with a series of courses prepared by Charlotte and Tris. From the giggles the adults could hear from the veranda, and smudges of flour fingerprints on the back of clothes it didn’t seem like preparations had been entirely focused, but the food was still delicious.
Clarke found herself alone with Raven washing and drying up the dishes as Anya sought out the younger couple who had managed to sneak off somewhere.
“So, how are the Arkers?”
“Arkadians.”
“Sorry?”
“They called the new settlement ‘Arkadia’ - its residents are Arkadians. They’d initially made a sign saying Camp Jaha, but when they saw Wells, they asked him what he thought. He said he was really uncomfortable with the whole name thing and maybe they could name something else after his dad.
“That makes sense. Are the people doing all right?”
“Mostly.”
“Hmmm?”
“Well, it’s a real mixed bag. The relief at surviving is giving way to other things. Some people still have the contents of their apartments basically intact. Others have nothing more than the clothes that they are wearing. People are worried about friends from the other stations that they haven’t seen yet, and mourning the ones they know are dead. People are angry about the culling too. Saying that the council acted too quickly.”
“But it did, didn’t it?”
“Only with the benefit of hindsight. Abby explained the maths to me - every week delay meant that even more people would need to be culled so that everyone else might survive.”
Clarke shrugged the horrifying image away.
“How about Monty, and Wells?”
“Wells is staying for the election. It would be good if one of the Hundred managed to get on council. Monty …”
“Yes?”
“Well, Monty and Harper are staying for now. He claims that he’s really excited to be turning his book knowledge on establishing a farm on the ground into reality. Believe it or not, the rice paddies are in fact taking shape and he’s got a bunch of helpers puddling around in the water making berms in the mud. To be honest though, he also seemed to be spending a lot of time tinkering with the radio.”
“That’s good, right?” Clarke queried, furrowing the middle of her forehead in confusion. Monty’s efforts had been instrumental to help Raven rebuild the Dropship radio, despite his initial errors with the electronic cuffs that they’d been given, that led to all of the remaining ones that were still being worn shorting out and zapping the wearers uncomfortably.
“He can’t just work though Clarke. Everybody needs to rest too, you know? Instead, he spends hours fiddling like when we were back at the Dropship. He’s trying everything he can think of to see if he can improve its range, I mean the distance it the radio can send and receive messages. It’s still nothing but white noise and static.”
The pair went quiet, sipping on some tea specially formulated to be taken before sleeping.
Anya reappeared but she wasn’t alone.
“Look who slipped back in not long after us?”
“Lexa!” Clarke slammed down her mug and vaulted over the verandah rail to hug her girlfriend? Lover? Betrothed? Clarke didn’t care about labels, she just wanted her in her arms as she picked Lexa up and twirled her around.
Lexa’s eyes shone with mirth at the enthusiastic welcome, even if the rest of her body looked tired and dirty from the trail.
“I’ve sent Tris packing to the seconds barracks and Charlotte is to be home shortly to go to bed herself. Would you like some leftovers Lexa, or some tea?”
“Maybe just some tea?”
“Then we could go to bed too?” Clarke waved her eyebrows suggestively and Raven groaned exaggeratedly.
Half an hour later, when they left, Anya reminded them that if they didn’t close the shutters of Lexa’s cottage tightly everyone would get to listen in on the joy of their reunion. Lexa blushed prettily and Clarke turned to flip Anya off when Lexa wasn’t watching. Nonetheless, she took Clarke’s offered hand as she led her away and didn’t complain when Clarke made a point of closing every shutter and pulling the heavy curtains closed behind them, before turning to Lexa with a dark and hungry grin.
*****
A day or two later, Lexa seemed lost in thought as she pulled items out of her cupboards and made piles of clothing.
“Hey, Lex, are you alright? Are you packing?”
“Clarke, I have to go back.”
“Back? Where?”
Lexa sighed and Clarke made a guess.
“To the capital - Polis, right?”
Lexa nodded and kept packing.
“But you only just got back. Take me with you. As your ambassador?”
“That's not possible, Clarke.Your people are not yet recognised as a clan. You’re not part of the coalition yet.”
“How about as Skaikru representative then, or an observer?”
Lexa looked up, amused. “You want to observe me?”
“Please Lexa, it’s not funny. How about be your baggage handler, or bed warmer, or bodyguard. I don't care what I have to do, but don't leave me behind again. I … missed you so much all winter, and then when you went to Trishanakru, even though I knew it was only for a few days and that it was kind of stupid… I missed you.”
“What about your people?”
“Wells has the day-to-day stuff covered. I can do more for them in Polis than here anyway. The search will go on without me, and more clan members will get to know a member of Skaikru. The offer of peace you made to my people, in spite of their initial mistakes, will be more secure this way.”
Lexa sighed and pushed her half full bag away.
“Come to bed, Clarke. I’ll think on it and let you know in the morning.”
Later that night, rain could be heard softly falling on the shingles and making loud drumming sounds on the metal sheet that covered the veranda.
“Clarke?”
“Yes Lexa?”
“Bring your best cloak.”
“Huh?”
“The blue one. It’s for when we travel to Polis. It’s the most waterproof.”
