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Clarke POVClarke was lost. A piece of her was missing, making it impossible to find her way back. When she was in the valley she had things to keep her going, to keep her sane; Madi and the radio. When Bellamy and the others came down, she lost the person she had talked to on the radio. All she had left was Madi and she was taken too, by someone she thought would never hurt her. She lost the family she had been clinging onto the memory of for six year, then she lost the family she had made over those six years.
After Spacekru discovered Clarke had left Bellamy to die with Octavia, they started ignoring her. She understood why people would be upset, but she had been upset too. She was hurt, angry, offended… unsure. Unsure of how someone she had once trusted with her life could take the one thing she was still living for.
Clarke had hoped that once they got to the new planet that things would be different. They got worse. Madi, with the flame in her head and the title Heda on her shoulders, had made Clarke take a backseat. Madi no longer needed Clarke, for anything. So, as far as Clarke was concerned, what was the point.
They had been on the new planet for almost a month, the peace treaty talks started two weeks after the landing and things were going well. Which just made it easier for Clarke to leave. She shared tent with Madi, though she rarely saw her. Clarke spent the night writing a letter, originally it had been long and filled with apologies, but after a dozen drafts it simply said 'Bye'.
Carrying a rucksack on her shoulders, after placing the note on her bed for somebody to find, Clarke left just before dawn.
She wasn't sure whether to be thankful or not when she got to the forest at the edge of camp without seeing a single soul. With one last glance at the soon to be bustling camp, she left, wondering how long it would take for someone to realise she was missing.
From the few meetings she had attended, Clarke knew where not to go. She walked deeper and deeper into the forest, away from the city and the camp where her old family resides. She was surprised by how little life she saw as trekked through the thick trees. She couldn't help but be brought back to her first day on the ground with Monty, Jasper, Octavia and Finn. Everything seemed simpler then.
She didn't realise tears were falling down her cheeks until one dropped on her hand. Her tears were for Monty. For Jasper. Finn. Wells. Lexa. Roan. Everyone that she lost in her small time on earth. Then there were more tears for the people she had lost, but alive at camp. Somehow, both seemed just as impossible to get back.
Clarke continued to walk even as memories flooded her brain and blurred her vision. Memories of everything that she had done. Everyone she had killed or involuntarily killed. There were so many deaths that she blamed herself for. Atom was the first. Then Charlotte. Wells. The grounders outside the dropship. Anya. Finn. Everyone in Mount Weather. The people in the City of Light. Lexa. Everyone who didn't get a place in the bunker. Jasper. She even blamed herself for Monty and Harper. If she had stopped McCreary they would have lived at the same time as all of them, growing old together. Then Bellamy's face popped into her head just before she turned and left him in Polis.
All she ever wanted to do was protect her people. How was it that, even when she succeeded, it always felt like a loss.
Clarke was sprinting now. Trying to get away from her ghosts, running deeper and deeper into the unknown forest. ___
When she rolled over, still clinging to sleep, her face hit something soft. Her body froze, realising that she was lying on something just as soft as what her head was leaning on. Her eyes flew open, taking in her surroundings.
She had fallen asleep the night before in the forest. Clarke had been walking for two days and decided that it was finally time to sleep. She didn't bother to check the area, she didn't care. The small clearing that she had found reminded her of the valley, which was all that mattered.
Now, Clarke found herself lying on a double bed, covered in furs. She was in a cabin that, from the clothes in the open wardrobe, she figured was owned by a man and a woman. The next thing she noticed was that she was not wearing the same clothes she had fallen to sleep with, now wearing leggings and a mans shirt, and her rucksack was missing.
Clarke didn't understand. From what she knew, she shouldn't have been anywhere near another settlement. The city didn't have cabins like this and camp was filled with tents, they had barely started on the first cabin, never mind a finished and furnished one.
There was a small table next to her, on it was an assortment of items but only one mattered; a knife. She picked it up, got out of the bed and made her way to the door.
She was surprised to see that the door led to a small wooden cubical, with a door on each of its four walls. She noticed that each door, and wall, was made out of a different wood and had been made in a different way, as if they had been made at different time. The only explanation she could think of was that the house had been extended at different points in time.
Slowly, she opened the door to her right, curious to see who lived there. To her surprised, the room was colourful. Dyed cloth was everywhere, on the walls, on the bed, thrown on the floor. The parts of the walls that could be seen were covered in overflowing bookshelves. In the centre of it all sat a girl, eyes fixed on a book and left hand scribbling into the notebook beside her.
"Hey mum," the girl said, still not looking up. "Don't worry, I took my meds and I'm ready for later, just tell me when we have to leave."
Clarke didn't respond, she just held the knife a little bit higher. Because of the lack of response, the girl finally looked up. She simply raised an eyebrow at the knife, seemingly seeing very little wrong with the situation.
"Mum," she said skeptically. "Everything okay?"
"What are you talking about? I'm not your mum. Where am I?"
This, at least, got a reaction from her. She scowled, eyes locked on Clarke's. "That's not funny."
"I'm not trying to be."
Without warning, the girl threw her pen at Clarke's stomach, watching as it bounced off her and onto the floor. Clarke looked down at the pen, then back to the girl. Had she really expected that to do something.
"Well you aren't a hallucination. Which is a relief. I'm not going crazy again." The girl closed her books and put them on her bed. "You can put the knife down, I'm not going to hurt you."
"I've heard that before, Excuse me if I don't believe you." If anything, Clarke's grip increased.
"Does that mean you know who you are?" She asked.
"Of course. I'm Clarke."
"Good. What's the last thing that you remember?"
Though she was still going to be wary, Clarke didn't think that the girl was going to hurt her. "I fell asleep in the forest."
"Why were you there?"
"I left my people."
"With a note saying 'bye'?"
Clarke's mouth gaped open at the girl's words, confused as to how she knew what had happened. Before Clarke could get her words together, there was the sound of a door opening and closing. The girl froze at the sound.
"Rory?" A male voice said as the owner knocked on the door. "You alright?"
"Yeah Jake," the girl said back. "I'm good."
"I'm gonna go help dad and the others with the preparations for tonight. Do you know where mum is?"
"Yeah, she's in here with me."
"Are you gonna come later or do you want me to wait so we can go together?"
"No," the girl rushed. "We're going later. Got some stuff to do here first."
"Ok. Say hi to everyone for me."
"'Course."
"See you later."
"Bye." The girl's eyes widened, trying to silently tell Clarke something. A rushed 'bye' slipped out of her mouth, then they waited to hear another door open and close. The girl let out a sigh of relief at the sound.
"So," Clarke started, "You're name's Rory?"
"Yeah, and that was my brother Jake."
"And both of you seem to think that I'm your mother?"
"That would be because you are."
"Prove it."
Rory rolled her eyes in exasperation. "If my brother being called Jake isn't enough for you, my middle name is Lexa."
The information did not help Clarke like Rory thought it would. If anything, it made Clarke's head spin more. She could understand why her future self would give her child 'Lexa' as a middle name. She could not understand how her husband would let her. Why would he want their child to be named after a woman Clarke had loved? Unless he didn't know. Maybe she had found another settlement after she left. Did she find a family by lying? How could someone possibly love her knowing everything that she had done? It was the only thing that made sense. No one loves a monster.
Clarke was so deep in thought that she didn't even notice, never mind stop, Rory as she plucked the knife out of her hand.
"And if that isn't enough," Rory said, putting the blade to her wrist. "I can prove it this way."
"Wait-" Clarke shouted.
But it was too late. Rory applied enough pressure on the knife so that the skin split under it. From the wound black blood spilled.
Looking back into her mother's eyes, Rory dropped the knife and extended her arm. "Jake has it too."
As much as Clarke's mind tried to find another explanation, she couldn't. No one on the planet should have nightblood and, as far as she is aware, no one even knew about it yet.
"You're telling me that, somehow, I travelled through time and ended up in the future where I have two children?" Clarke felt the need to check she had understood correctly.
"I was thinking amnesia actually, but you aren't showing any other symptoms, so your theory is probably more accurate. Also, you have four children." Rory laughed at the sight of Clarke's eyes blowing open and the news. "Only Jake and I are blood relations, not that that makes them any less a part of the family."
"How far into the future am I then?"
"The thing with the note happened sixteen years, ten months and approximately 13 days ago," Rory explained, using her fingers to help her figure out the dates.
"How old does that make you? And you only need to give me the year."
Rory smiles as she responded. "Fifteen and a third years old." Clarke rolled her eyes at the answer, of course her daughter finds a loophole. "Jake's almost fourteen."
"Enough about that though," Rory continued, rooting around her room as she spoke. "We need to get you back before you learn too much. It could change things. We should go to Becca, she'll be able to help us." Rory pulled on a navy blue jacket that reminded Clarke of the one she had when they landed on earth all those years ago. It couldn't possibly been the same one, she lost hers.
"Wait, did you say Becca?" Clarke's asked once her brain caught up with what Rory had said.
"Yeah, but don't worry, she isn't like the Becca you knew and is 100% human." Rory threw one of her dyed cloths in Clarke's face. "If she isn't 100% human then her parents have a lot of explaining to do," she said as an afterthought.
Clarke just stared down at the cloth.
"Put it over your head," Rory urged. "We don't want to attract unwanted attention."
Clarke put it on then followed Rory out of her room, who apparently thought that doors were unnecessary and climbed through the window instead.
Rory and Clarke had just gotten to the edge of camp when someone called from behind them. "Hey Kepa, where you off to?"
They both froze at the sound; Clarke, because she was surprised that she actually recognised the voice, and Rory, because she had hoped to avoid encounters.
Nevertheless, she turned around with a smile on her face. "Uncle Murphy, shouldn't you be somewhere?"
"Probably," he said, stepping closer, "but I'm pretty certain you should be going I that direction." He pointed towards the city, though it wasn't in view.
"We have been sent on a mission to go to Becca's lab."
"I'm surprised you're going too, Clarke. I expected you to be coddling Madi all morning."
Murphy was surprise enough, especially with Rory calling him Uncle, but the mention of Madi made Clarke dizzy from the speed of her thoughts. If Madi and Murphy were still in her life then did that mean that her theory about lying to her husband wasn't true? Did someone really not care about what she had done? Did they accept her for who she was? The thought was truly mind boggling.
"Clarke? You ok?" Murphy asked, trying to catch her eye.
"She's fine," Rory spoke up. "You know what she's like, just nervous about later."
Murphy still looked concerned but didn't push. "I'm going to help set up. See you later."
"Bye," Rory pushed Clarke further away from camp, passing the thing forest bordering that side of camp and into a clearing. "Would you at least try to act like you know what the hell is going on?" Rory said in exasperation. "Your lucky Murphy respects your decisions, next time we might not be as fortunate."
"This is a pretty big thing for me to comprehend. Sorry if I need a little time," Clarke retaliated.
"Trust me, I know what it's like to wake up in a place that you don't know, where nothing makes sense. To see people you have known for years, but not understand them. You just have to act."
"What are you talking about?" Clarke asked, confused at her daughters sudden animosity.
"Nothing, let's just get to Becca."
Rory rooted around in the pocket of her jacket, producing whistle. It was small, the same size as the distance between your pinkie finger and the base of your hand, thin and silver, turning into a point at the bottom. She held the whistle to her mouth, a piercing shriek came from it.
Clarke clapped her hands over the ear, she had not expected something that looked to pretty to sound so awful. Rory merely laughed at her reaction.
"You did that the first time you heard it too."
Clarke removed her hands. "What exactly did that accomplish?"
"We need a ride to Becca's lab. I'm just trying to get some blackbirds attention."
"Blackbirds?" Clarke echoed in confusion.
The explanation came in the shape of two black blobs in the sky, another shriek accompanying them. As the creatures got closer, Clarke saw that they were certainly not like the blackbirds on earth. They were huge, their wingspan was probably longer that Clarke, and there bodies were far from birdlike. If anything, they looked like the panther Wells had shot when they went to rescue Jasper after they first landed.
As soon as they landed, Rory was running towards them, enveloping one of them in a hug.
"Climb on," she told Clarke.
"You have got to be joking," he said sceptically.
"Just climb on." Rory pointed to the one next to her. "That ones yours. You called her Ark, I think you were feeling nostalgic that day."
Rory swing her leg over the animal and, reluctantly, so did Clarke. Rory blew into the whistle so that, without warning Clarke, the blackbirds took off into the sky.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Rory POV
Rory loved her mum, with all her heart, which is why the situation scared her so much. If Clarke discovered Rory's secret she might think that she's broken and decide never to have kids. Rory would be lying if she said she wouldn't understand why Clarke would do it. Except it would mean Jake was never born either, and she couldn't do that to her brother.
She had to get Clarke to her own time with as little interference with other people as possible. Especially from her family. She had no doubt that her dad would know something was wrong in a heartbeat, and she didn't think that Clarke was ready to see who she was married to.
Why did her family have to be so dramatic? For once, couldn't it be someone else? When's the last time something happened to Hope's family? As far as Rory was concerned, it wasn't fair. But that's life.
Even with those thoughts jumping around in her head, Rory couldn't help but laugh at the look on her mum's face. She was gripping poor Ark for dear life, while also forcing back a scream. It was quite an amusing sight to behold, especially from her usually composed mother.
She could see the relief on Clarke's face when thy finally landed, but at the same time it looked like she really didn't want to get off. Rory knew the feeling, she never wanted to stop flying, it truly was the best feeling in the world.
"Come on, Becca's lab is this way."
Lab was a polite word for it, in reality, it was where Eligius 3 had crash landed. The majority of the ship was still intact with plants grown around it so it blended with the forest floor. Most of it's contents was stripped when they landed, but the carcass was still there for Becca to use.
Rory led Clarke on top of the ship and then they climbed down a hole in its centre. They room they ended up in was huge, with computers, desks and papers everywhere, but they were all strapped down to the ship with rope.
"The ship didn't exactly land flat so this was the brilliant idea Sinclair came up with to fix it," Rory explained.
"Sinclair? Becca and Sinclair?" Clarke asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, they're twins."
"Someone named their children Becca and Sinclair?"
"Yes." Rory knew it was slightly cruel, but her mums reaction amused her too much to explain.
Before another word could be said, a head wearing goggles and a mask popped up from behind one of the tables in the far corner. "Rory," Becca called with glee. "Shouldn't you be with Madi? Not that I'm not happy to see you, of course."
Rory took a deep breath, if there was anyone who would believe her, it would be Becca. "I need your help."
Becca removed her protective wear and quickly made her way towards them. Rory heard Clarke's intake of breath at the sight in front of her. "Raven," she whispered.
Rory knew that Becca was basically identical to her mother when she was her age. She had the same olive skin and dark brown hair with an oval face and bright smile. She even sported a red jacket.
"What do you need?" Becca asked when she reached them.
"To believe me." Rory explained what had happened so far that day.
Once she was finished, Becca took a cautious step forward. "Please know I ask this because I love you, but did you-"
"Yes, I took my medicine this morning," she yelled in exasperation. "I swear. Clarke is real, you can see her, and she agrees so this isn't in my head." Then in a smaller voice she said, "It can't be."
Becca, being her parent's daughter, thought about it logically. Rory could see the cogs turning in her friends head, trying as hard as she could to find the truth.
"Even if it is true," Becca said, "I don't know how to fix this. Time travel is far beyond me. Would this not be more your forte?"
"This planet doesn't have a 'Time Travel for Dummies manual'."
"That would be something," another voice called as a boy walked though the door. They all turned to see Sinclair stood there with a smirk on his face. "Always a pleasure to see you Rory."
"Hi Sinclair. Shouldn't you be with my brother?" Rory replied, holding her head a little higher.
"Yes, your very forgetful brother who left this very important box last time he was here," he held up a small black case that Rory knew contained a silver ring. "Also, Madi is going crazy without Clarke. I really think you guys should get to the tower."
"What's wrong with Madi?" Clarke asked, her fear clear in her voice.
"Nothing," Rory replied without looking at her. "She's just a bit stressed."
"Sinclair is right," Becca said. "Clarke not being with Madi today is going to raise a lot of questions."
"You're not wrong," Rory said.
"We should take the blackbirds so we get there faster, we'll also pass less people that way."
"Ok, you coming Sinclair?"
The girls turned to face him once again. "Never am I getting on one of those death traps ever again, they're demons. No, I'll be going on my trusted motorbike."
Raven had made it not long after the peace treaty was made. She had been so interested in the stories Shaw had shared about them that she just wanted to make one herself. It's pretty much made out of scrap parts but it's one of the coolest things Rory had ever seen.
"See you later then," Rory said, though it came out more as a question.
"As long as you promise to save me dance," Sinclair said with smirk, earning a shy smile off Rory, then he left. ___
Clarke POV
They landed on top of the tower, Rory thanked the birds, and then they went inside. Clarke had only been inside the tower a few times. The place made her skin itch. It was magnificent, there was no denying that, but the old, regalness of it reminded Clarke too much of Polis, of Lexa.
Luckily, they didn't have to travel very far as Madi was in one of the highest rooms. When they walked through the doors, all the questions and worries Clarke had been feeling since landing blew away. In front of her stood her adopted daughter. Her black hair was extravagantly braided with white flowers stuck inside. Then there was the dress, white silk flowing from her shoulders, that looked a lot like a wedding dress. She looked so much older, she must have been 28 or 29. Clarke had never seen someone look so beautiful.
Emori came from the side and put an arm around Clarke's shoulder, who was too busy looking at Madi to take much notice.
"She looks good, doesn't she?" Emori said with a smirk. "I think we did a good job on the hair."
At that moment, Echo popped her head out from behind Madi, her fingers still holding the dress. "Yes, Emori, the braids are very nice, I am very proud of us. Now please help me."
The sight of Echo brought Clarke back to the present. It wasn't that Clarke didn't like Echo, though she definitely was not her biggest fan, the shock of seeing her confused Clarke enough to pay attention to more than just Madi.
"What's wrong?" Rory asked, who had, for some reason, started rearranging the fruit on the table.
"There's a hole in the back," Madi moaned.
The girls moved behind her to get a better look.
"I could sew it," Clarke said.
"I want it sewn not stitched," Madi laughed. "No offence."
"None taken," Clarke smiled back.
"I can sew it," Rory said, making her way over.
"Thanks Rory, your the best little sister ever."
"Oh, I know."
"Good job they made you Kepa," Echo said, "Because I doubt you would know any other way."
"Actually, my dad taught me so I could fix my clothes after my fights with Becca."
"They were fun," Becca said, smiling nostalgically.
"My dad had different ideas on the matter."
"You don't have to tell us," Emori laughed. "Right Clarke?"
"Uh yeah, right," Clarke agreed, hoping her voice sounded normal.
"All done," Rory said soon after, stepping away to admire her handy work.
"Thanks Rory, I don't know hat I would have done if no one could sew it up."
"You would have had to deal with your mum's stitches." At some point, without the others noticing, Raven had entered the room, her usually tied up hair spilled over her shoulders in soft curls. "Madi you look amazing."
"Thanks Raven."
Out of the corner of her eye, Clarke noticed Rory had started rearranging the flowers sat in a vase on one of the tables. She didn't move with grace like she did when she sewed the dress, she moved with urgency. Petals were falling off the flowers as she moved them, gathering on the table. As she continued, her movement got less aggressive and became calmer.
"I have been sent by Hope to find you," Raven explained. "I think Madi will be ok for a bit, some of the boys want to say hi, while you guys get ready."
"You aren't ready either mum," Becca pointed out.
"Because I've been busy trying to get purple dye out of your sisters hair all morning, thanks for that by the way Rory."
"I didn't expect her to dunk her head in the bucket," Rory argued.
"Well she did, now come on, we need to get you into your bridesmaids dresses."
The girls, minus Madi, made their way towards the door.
"Rory," Madi called out. "Could you wait a minute?"
Clarke saw Rory move back towards Madi as she turned the corner of the door. "I'm gonna wait for Rory," she told the others, who just nodded and carried on walking.
"Don't worry, I took my medicine," Rory said before Madi could get a word in. "I don't plan on messing up your big day."
"No," Madi chuckled, "I just wanted to check on you, to make sure you know you can talk to me. I don't care if it's my wedding day or a war, you can talk to me."
"I know."
"Don't think I didn't see you rearranging things. I know your tells, I know that you do that when your stressed or anxious."
"I promise it's nothing to worry about. Just a puzzle I can't wrap my head around."
"You'll figure it out eventually, you always do. You are Kepa of Knowledge after all. Only a griffin could turn something as horrible as your incident into something helpful."
"I was just the easy option."
"No, you were the best option." Clarke heard them move and suspected that they had started hugging. "I'll see you later, okay?"
"Okay."
"You'll figure everything out."
"I hope so."
Then Rory was stood in front of Clarke, an eyebrow raised. "Nosy much?"
"I just didn't think it was a good idea to leave you."
"You mean with my sister? In a building I know the layout to better that the King? Really?"
"Yeah," Clarke said slowly, not really sure of an excuse. Rory just smiled back, shaking her head slightly.
Up ahead male voices could be heard walking towards them. Rory quickly pushed Clarke into the room closest to them and locked the door behind. The room was filled to the brim with strange looking flowers.
"What are you doing?" Clarke asked as Rory raced to hold her ear against the door.
"We just have to wait until they're gone. You can't see dad, not now."
Then she heard it, the deep rumbling of a voice muffled by the door. She could have sworn she knew it, if she could just get closer, but her feet were stiff. Her whole body was stiff and burning. Her vision blurred and her eyes felt heavy. She tried to call out to her daughter, but no noise came from her mouth. Her legs gave way from under her, causing her to fall into a table and break whatever was on it.
She heard another crash, this time from Rory. She seemed to be trying to get to Clarke, but her movement look strained, unnatural.
Then there was nothing.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Bellamy POV
Clarke had been missing for days and no one was okay. Madi was the worst, she couldn't understand why Clarke would leave her like that. She had spent most of her life by Clarke's side, then she was gone. And with only a flimsy note.
Madi was the one who had found the note and had immediately run out to find Bellamy and the others. It had been late that day, but they still went into the forest to look. When word had got to Russel, the planets leader, about Clarke's disappearance, he travelled to camp with a group of trackers in tow. He explained that the forest wasn't like those on earth, there are a thousand hidden dangers just in the first few metres. That information had done nothing to help ease Madi's concern about Clarke.
To make matters worse, no one knew how long Clarke had been gone for. They couldn't come to a decision on who was the last person to see her and they suspected that the note had been there a while before Madi noticed it.
"How could she do this?" Raven asked for what felt like the hundredth time as we stood in the largest tent at camp.
"Who cares?" Echo piped up. "She's gone, that's all that matters. I'm sorry Heda, but I'm thankful that Wanheda is no longer here."
Madi raised her chin up, trying to hide the fact that she had been crying, but Bellamy could still see the quiver in her lip. "I don't care what you think, Echo. I am your Heda and you will not defy me, and if you do I will make sure that, this time, your banishment is permanent." Madi's voice was calm as she took a few steps closer to Echo. "You will be a part of the search for Clarke and you will do so with as minimal complaint as you can muster. Do you understand?"
No one in that tent could deny that they were impressed by Madi. She was smaller than Echo, yet it seemed like she was towering over her.
"I understand, Heda," Echo said.
"You will do well to remember it." With that Madi left the tent, presumably to ask Russel if she could help, again.
"Why does anyone care?" Echo mumbles a few minutes later. "Heda doesn't need her anymore and neither do we, or did you forget how she left Bellamy to die. We are wasting time."
Murphy started chuckling in the corner.
"What's so funny," Echo asked.
"How can you stand there, looking at us, and act like you have the moral ground?" He asked, jabbing a finger in her direction.
"Excuse me?"
"Clarke has done a lot of things, all of which were choices she made so that we could still be here right now. What have you done? Besides kill and betray us."
"That's enough Murphy," Bellamy said.
"No I don't think it is," Murphy kept his eyes focused on Echo. "You think that because Clarke is gone that you can replace her. You will never be her. In fact, none of you can stand there being righteous. It's our fault she left."
"We didn't tell her to leave," Raven said.
"We might as well have. She used to be our leader, our family, but how many of you have actually talked to her since we woke up from cryo? We didn't even realise she left. If it hadn't been for her we would have died in the first days on earth, but all any of you seem to remember are the bad things. Things that some of us were either a part of or have done worse than."
No one spoke.
"I think all that time in space has made you a bit to high and mighty. The only people who actually had decent consciences are dead. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to look for Clarke, because I still give a damn whether or not she is alive." Then he was gone.
Emori looked after him, concerned. "Someone's going to have to make sure he stays out of trouble," she said, then followed him out.
Raven wouldn't meet anyone's eyes, where as Echo was looking as stoic as always. All Bellamy could think was how right Murphy was. Clarke and Bellamy had been there for each other the day they woke up, but after that he had barely seen her. As time had gone on she became more and more withdrawn from everyone around her.
Now she was gone. She had left him again, but this time he could only blame himself.
He left the tent to join the search. He was going to get his Clarke back.
Clarke POV
When Clarke opened her eyes she was in a clearing surrounded by trees. For a second, she thought she was back at Shallow Valley, then she remembered the truth. She had run away from the others and must have dreamt of a life she wanted, with a family that loved her.
"Like that's going to happen Clarke," she muttered to herself.
She must have collapsed from lack of sleep and dreamt her future. It couldn't possibly have been real. She didn't have a husband, Madi didn't need her, Rory and Jake will never exist and she's going to remain alone, but this time she will go crazy. There was nothing to stop her, no tether to keep her connected to who she was.
As if to prove her weak hold on sanity, the trees above started to shake, seemingly splitting apart as a creature flew through them. It looked similar to drawings she had seen of angels when she was on the Ark. Clarke couldn't help but stare as it came closer and landed in front of her. There stood a black panther-looking creature with large wings. A blackbird. It took a few tentative steps towards her as Clarke did the same.
"Ark?" Clarke asked in confusion. The blackbird nudged her arm as words echoed in her head. While Clarke and Rory flew to Becca's lab, Rory had explained to Clarke that she had been the first to fly a blackbird. They had never been domestic creatures until Clarke had met the very tame Ark and decided to ride her.
Ark nudged her again and, though there were years difference, Clarke knew this was the animal she had flown in the future with her daughter. She placed her hand carefully on Ark’s nose and stroked down her neck.
"I'm Clarke," she said, softly. "You don't know me yet, but I have a feeling we're going to be close soon." Ark let out a soft whistle, so different from the deafening shriek she had heard before. She wasn't really sure how to take that, so, before she could talk herself out of it, Clarke threw her leg over Ark.
They both stayed still for a moment, getting used to each other. Then Clarke patted her side and she leapt into the air. It was quite different from the running start she had experienced the last time, this one made Clarke's stomach flip. They took off into the sky, flying above the trees, wind whipping her hair behind her. Somehow, Clarke knew she could trust Ark, even with them just meeting, so she leaned forward to rest her head on Ark’s. She didn't care where they were going, it didn't matter as far as Clarke was concerned. She was more that happy to watch the world speed past underneath them while her mind tried to make sense of what had happened. If Ark was real, did that mean Rory and the others were too?
Maybe if she found a settlement away from the city, then she might meet her future husband. It was possible that she didn't go back to the others until after she had Rory, maybe even after Jake. Then they might be able to mend broken bonds.
"Take me home," she mumbled sleepily to Ark. She let out another soft whistle and flew higher, above the line of clouds so the ground below was shielded from her eyes. It was like the sea below her, while the stars shone above. It was so peaceful, she couldn't help as her eyes fell and sleep took her.
Rory POV
Rory had never been so relieved to see Becca before in her life, and that was saying something. She had found the brunette at the side of a river a few feet from where she had woken up. She ran over to her and placed a cautious hand on her shoulder. She let out a sigh of relief when her hand touched her solid body, Becca was real, she wasn't a hallucination, not today.
"Becca, get up," she said as she started to shake her. "We have a problem."
Slowly, Becca opened her eyes, speeding up as she took in their surroundings. "What the hell? Where are we?"
"I think we're west of the camp, but I can't be completely sure."
"How did we end up here?" Becca asked. "I swear I didn't touch any moonshine, my memory should still be intact."
"I don't think this has anything to do with your alcohol tolerance. But I don't understand how we got here either."
"Maybe we should start a fire, make a signal for people to find us."
"No, the trees are too close together here, we would just set the forest on fire. We'll have to find out own way back."
"Great, I missed our road trips," Becca said sarcastically.
"Better than going with Hope," Rory said back with a smile as they started walking towards what they thought was camp.
"True, that girl is scary when she's in charge."
"The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, in that respect."
"No it doesn't."
They had trekked through the west forest a hundred times before, always looking for more adventure, but this one felt weird. Something was not right, but Rory couldn't put her finger on it.
"How did we get this far away from the tower without realising?" Becca asked after twenty minutes of walking and still not seeing any sign of life. "I don't even remember the wedding."
"Something really isn't right."
"Is this how you feel?"
People rarely talked about Rory's illness, but when they did they were always careful. Rory hated that people treated her like she was fragile, like she would break from one misstep. She was the daughter of Wanheda, people shouldn't be fearful for her, they should be fearful of her. Though, spending her days with old men surrounded by shelves of books didn't really help with that.
"It's much worse. At least you know this is real."
"Sorry. I shouldn't have mentioned it."
"Don't apologies Becca, it doesn't suit you." She sent her friend a smile over her shoulder.
Just like that, the comment was forgotten and they moved on.
"On a serious note, can't we just use a blackbird to get home?" Becca complained a few steps later.
"Blackbirds are large and loud, we'll alert anyone around to our location," Rory countered.
"If we were kidnapped and brought here, then they probably already know where we are," Becca pointed out.
With a sigh, Rory conceded and took out her whistle, giving it a hard blow. They waited a minute, but nothing happened.
"Where are they?" Becca asked, her head tilted back.
"I don't know."
"You don't think this has something to do with past Clarke, do you?"
It had been the first time the idea had been voiced, but not the first time it had crossed Rory's mind.
"I don't know."
"Not knowing doesn't suit you," Becca said, mocking Rory's words.
"Let's just keep going."
Bellamy POV
Bellamy found Murphy, Emori, Madi, Russell's son Julian and Jordan getting ready to go and search. Madi gave him a nod when her eyes met his, then she turned away and started a conversation with Julian. Bellamy had noticed that Madi had been getting closer to Julian as he was always around during meetings and a similar age to her. He was happy that she had someone to talk to similar to her.
They made their way through the forest with little talk, not wanting to alert anyone of their presence. The forest surrounding the camp had been search everyday by lots of different groups, but it was impossible to search everywhere.
Bellamy knew Clarke would be hard to find. After Mount Weather, every time they went out to hunt he hoped he would catch a glimpse of her, but it had taken months just for him to see her for a second over a grounded ridden field. His hope dwindled with every breathe he took, fearful that without Clarke the next one may be his last. He had lost her so many times and regretted every single one.
He kept at the back of the group with Murphy, both of them kept a tight grip on rifles. Russel has explained to them that the forest could be dangerous. The animals had been their longer and weren't always glad to have people in their land.
A good thirty minutes had passed by the time they finally heard something. It was a laugh.
Murphy and Bellamy shared a confused look, then started towards the noise. They were the first to spot the two figures through the trees, walking in the direction the had just come. Neither of them were Clarke.
Bellamy was about to leave and continue the search? But Murphy had other ideas. He crept towards the figures. Bellamy heard him mumble a word, which sounded a lot like 'Raven'. Once they got closer, Bellamy could see why. They were both girls, but one of them was the spitting image of Raven, just younger.
Bellamy was still hidden in the trees when Murphy stumbled. The girls looked over. The Raven look alike gasped, while the other one merely said, "Uncle Murphy?"
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Rory POV
Rory was seriously beginning to considered that she had finally snapped and lost her sanity. In front of her stood Murphy, Bellamy, Emori, Madi, Jordan and Julian, which in itself was not that strange, but when you add in the fact that they were almost seventeen years too young that started to change.
"How do they keep coming here?" Becca whispered to Rory, while her eyes stayed fixed on the people in front of them.
"I don't think they are," Rory whispered back. "This time we've gone to them. We're in the past."
"Who are you?" Bellamy asked. His face had always calmed her, no matter what was going on, but that was not the case anymore. Seeing him caused her skin to itch, hearing him ask who she was made her want to hide.
"I'm Becca and this is Rory, we are just trying to find our way home."
"But you called me uncle," Murphy pointed out. "You knew my name, how?"
Before they could answer, Julian spoke up. "You aren't from around here, so if you aren't one of their's who are you?"
"In 11 years I will be made your Keeper of Knowledge," Rory explained. The Keeper was a position originating from the original Eligius crew, which her family had lovingly dubbed as Kepa. The Keeper's role was to memorise all the information that was stored inside Alexander library in the city. When the original dwellers arrived, they only had a few dozen books to read so they wrote down there own life stories and documented every single piece of information they discovered about the planet. The library was where it was all stored. It was a big job to remember it all, but it was one Rory wouldn't give up for the world.
"How is that possible?" Julian asked. "Even if the 'in eleven years' comment made sense, we already have a Keeper for this generation, we shouldn't need one for another fifty years."
"Until he falls ill and only has a short time to teach a successor," Becca explains. "And the only person suitable for the job is a nine year old girl with the most amazing memory in existence."
It was true, their was only one Keeper per generation, though they did have an assortment of elders to help them. Once they got past a certain age they chose a successor to train and teach their ways. Not only did they have to know the contents of all the scriptures, they also had to know the land, it's creatures and it's language. Something Rory took very seriously, she made a point of being able to communicate with the animals, hence her collection of whistles.
"Still doesn't explain how you know me," Murphy said.
"We're from the future," Becca said. "From seventeen years into the future."
"Almost seventeen years," Rory corrected, unable to help herself.
The others looked like they wanted to argue, but Murphy spoke first. "That's why you look like Raven. You're her daughter?"
"That's right."
"And you?" He asked, turning his attention to Rory.
Before she could think better of it, Rory said, "I'm nobody."
"Nobody?" Madi echoed.
Rory stared at the girl she called her sister. She was so young, a shadow of the girl she would become, who will stand in a beautiful white dress beside a man she loved. A man who was now a boy questioning Rory's claim to Keeper, the same boy who had suggested her for the role in the first place.
Every face in front of her was covered in confusion, zero recognition and the look of someone ready to fight any second. Rory had never been in the other side of that look before, not with them.
"I'm just Becca's friend," she explained. If they ended up in past Clarke's time, then Rory admitting who she was seemed like it would cause a few dozen problems in the future.
"We should take them back to camp," Emori said. "Figure out what to do with them there."
"What about Clarke?" Bellamy asked.
"The likelihood of us finding her is low, and you know it, but this is something we can actually do."
"You think we can do time travel?" Murphy asked, amusement laced into his voice.
"Fine, let's go," Madi decided.
Rory could tell that Bellamy wanted to argue, but he seemed too curious about her and Becca to do anything. ___
She had expected camp to be relatively calm. Some people would be out looking for Clarke, while others would be building. There wasn't much else to do, and wouldn't be until the cabins and tents were up with people living in them.
However, when they got through the tree line, shouts could be heard coming from Octavia and…
"Is that who I think it is?" Becca asked. All Rory could do was nod as they watched the scene before them.
Octavia was flanked my Miller, Niylah and Indra, all of whom had their guns aimed on the teenager in front of them. The girl was shouting back at Octavia with just a much vigour, her forever-braided dark brown hair showed off the black tattoo on her neck, though it disappeared into her shirt.
"Firefly!" Becca yelled, causing the arguing to cease.
Firefly turned her amber eyes on them, but the fierceness behind them didn't stop until the smile broke across her face. Ignoring the guns, she ran towards the Rory ad Becca and threw her arms around them.
"What the hell is going on?" She hissed in their ears. "Why does everyone hate me, and when did the youth fairies come and cast a spell on everyone?"
"Somehow, we have travelled back in time," Rory explained.
"I feel like I should be more surprised, but I'm really not," Firefly said as she pulled back.
"Who's this one?" Murphy grumbled from behind them. The girls turned and couldn't help but laugh.
"This is Firefly, she's also from the future."
"What kind of name is Firefly?" Emori wondered aloud.
"My dad chose it, but don't worry, you'll come to like it," she promised.
"Are you 'just a friend' too?" Bellamy asked.
"Yes she is," Becca said quickly.
"Does this mean we aren't killing them?" Octavia asked from where she still stood with the others.
"Yes," Madi responded. "We are going to find out more information from them. Where is Raven?"
"I think she's with Shaw and Diyoza," Miller said.
They made their way Raven in silence, Octavia and co tagging along at the back.
Raven was sat with Diyoza, holding her new baby, and Shaw, like Miller had said, but Russel was also with them. They looked up as the others arrived. Shaw was the first to notice Rory, Becca and Firefly. Rory could figure out the exact second he realised who Becca was, about a second before is jaw dropped to the floor. Raven had yet to notice.
"What's up?" She asked.
"We found your daughter," Murphy replied nonchalantly, not bothering to ease her into the information.
"What?"
"Yep, she's a mini you, and her names Becca."
Finally, Raven's skeptical eyes met Becca's calm ones.
"I don't see it," was all Raven had to say.
"What do you mean you don't see it? How can you not?" Murphy asked, pointing to Becca just to make sure Raven was looking at the right girl.
"She doesn't look that much like me."
"I have to disagree, Reyes," Diyoza said. "The resemblance is uncanny."
"You're my mum, whether to like it or not." Raven stood and began staring Becca out, but she held her ground. Both of them just looked into each other's eyes, possibly searching for something.
Raven seemed to find it. "How is my daughter here?"
"We don't know yet," Becca replied. "We're still trying to figure it out."
"I do love a good puzzle, what do you have so far?"
Becca's next words were cut off by a high shriek. They looked up to find a blackbird diving towards them, but all Rory could see was the blonde on it's back.
Clarke POV
Clarke had lost track of time above the clouds. She didn't know how long she slept, she didn't even know where she was. Ark kept her pace as Clarke began to sit up. She rubbed her hand down Ark's neck, feeling her heartbeat under her fingers.
"How about we find somewhere for you to rest?" Clarke asked. She leaned forward and Ark flew back through the clouds. Bellow her, Clarke could see exactly where Ark had taken her. "Thanks for erasing all my hard work," she mumbled. She was about to get Ark to turn away, to take her far away from camp, but then she spotted something. Bellamy's thick curls could be seen surrounded by people Clarke would have given her life for. To the left of him was a short girl with dirty blonde hair, in front a brown haired girl stood face to face with Raven.
Clarke circled closer, trying to get a better look. Ark let out a shriek and began to dive, without Clarke's consent, but once she saw the face short blonde she wasn't complaining. The people below split apart in order to avoid Ark, some even screamed at the sight. Clarke locked eyes on Rory, memorising the smile on her face, she never wanted to see it disappear.
When she landed and slid off Ark's back, Clarke had little time to revel in everyone's amazement because Rory was running towards her.
"Mum," she yelled with glee as she wrapped her arms around Clarke's neck.
"You're real," Clarke whispered, as if sharing a secret. She squeezed her tighter.
"I'm right here," Rory whispered back.
"Clarke?" Madi's voice sounded so small that Clarke flinched in Rory's arms.
"She's your daughter?" Murphy asked. "So not a nobody, then? What about your friend?" Firefly shot him a toothy grin.
"You didn't need to know," Rory explained.
"Clarke?" Madi's voice came again.
She fully released hold on her daughter and took a step closer to Madi. "Yes."
Madi's eyes flicked between Clarke and Rory, while Clarke's whole body filled with guilt. She had left her alone because she thought Madi didn't need to her anymore, seeing the future had changed that. Clarke had been there for Madi as she prepared for her wedding, something Clarke had never even allowed herself to dream of. She could have lost that.
"You left us," she said. Clarke's eyes drifted to Bellamy without thinking, he was watching her. "With just some stupid note? Why did you leave?"
"I left because there was no reason to stay," Clarke said calmly, trying to push down some of the guilt. She had her reasons at the time. It had felt like the right thing to do.
"No reason to stay? What about Madi? What about us?" Bellamy argued.
How could he say that? They were the ones that had been ignoring her for months. She had to go to the future just to prove that people will come to care about her, she doesn't know how long that would take though.
"What about you? Do you honestly care? I didn't think anyone would even notice I was gone, never mind find that damn note on my bed. You have a new family now, Bellamy, one that I am clearly not a part of. You put that stupid flame in the only person I had left, something I didn't want you to do. I'm unnecessary. All I have done since the dropship landed was try to keep people alive, try to lead, even when I didn't want to. None of that matters anymore because none of you want me or need me. There is no war, no use for Wanheda, and you have people to enjoy it with. I don't."
"Or so you thought," Rory said slowly. "You still have us."
Clarke smiles and hugged her. "You're right, and I can't wait for you to be born."
"It won't exactly me smooth sailing," Firefly chuckled, to which Rory shot her a glare.
"She raised the child from hell," Madi said, a ghost of a grin on her face. "She can deal with anything."
"Well we aren't exactly angels," Becca laughed.
Rory turned her glare on her instead. "You are not helping, at all."
"In this future," Madi started slowly, almost unsure, very different from the girl Clarke was used to. "Am I still…"
"You're our family," Rory filled in. "You and Jordan are our older sibling."
"I have siblings," Jordan's voice perked up. "I've always wanted siblings."
"Clarke," Madi spoke again, "I never said that I didn't need you. I'll always need you. I'll always want you. I have no idea what I'm doing and hearing voices in my head isn't always helpful." Clarke didn't miss the way Rory stiffened beside her at the words.
"I'm sorry I took the Flame, though I don't regret it," Madi continued.
"It wasn't your fault."
From the corner of her eye, Clarke saw Bellamy's face go from impassive to looking like he had been punched in the face.
"I agreed to let them do it, even though I knew you wouldn't agree. I had to help you, though."
"There were probably better ways of doing that."
"Next time, you'll be there to help me find them, right?"
"I'm not going anywhere." Clarke walked forward and pulled Madi into a hug. "I'll be here for you."
"What about us?" Firefly asked one the hug was over. "How do we get home? I love you guys but seeing you like this is messing with my head."
"I just went through the day. After a couple of hours I came back."
"Bringing us with you," Becca pointed out.
"You are welcome here until you find your way home," Russel said.
"Yay, leader Russell's back," Firefly cheered.
"What happens to him?" Julian asked, worriedly.
"He becomes an elder and you take over his position with-"
"Firefly," Rory interrupted. "I think we should leave some parts of the future a surprise, don't you?"
She got a groan of 'fine' in response.
"Well," Raven said, gaining everyone's attention. "If that's everything, I would like to get to know my child."
As people began having their own conversations, Clarke walked over to Ark and started petting her.
"Clarke can we talk?" Bellamy asked. His voice startled her, but at the same time she it made her relax, as if she could lean back and he would be there to catch her.
"There's nothing to talk about," she replied.
"I'm not sure that's true."
Russell clears his throat as he approached the pair. "I hope I'm not interrupting."
"You aren't," Clarke assured before Bellamy could utter a word.
"I was just wondering how you managed to fly such a creature. Many people have tried before, but never succeeded."
"I didn't do anything."
"In the future it's discovered that blackbirds only take to certain people. Usually they will only ever approach their person and attack any others. Every time it's been tried before the blackbird obviously hadn't taken to them," Rory explained.
"Your knowledge is impressive."
"I had a good teacher, may he rest in peace."
"How would you like to see him, our keeper?"
Rory's eyes widened at the thought. What Clarke would have given to have the chance to see a lost friend again. "Yes, yes, that would be amazing."
"Shall we?" Russell pointed the way to the city with a smile.
As they started walking, Rory's head slacked and stumbled over nothing, as if her legs just gave out under her. Russell caught her before she could land. Becca and Firefly were by her side in seconds, pulling her to her feet and whispering to her. As Clarke got closer she could hear Rory telling them that she was fine, she just fell.
"Wooziness is the first symptom," Firefly hissed.
"I know, and I'm fine."
"If you throw up on us-"
"I won't. I'm fine."
"You better be."
Rory turned to Russell, about to speak, when shouts came from the other side of camp. Everyone turned their heads to see the owners. Clarke frowned at the sight before her. A small boy was running towards them, flailing his arms at his sides. Behind him, two teenage boys were chasing him and shouting.
"You have got to be kidding me, Firefly grumbled.
"When you think you're finally rid of them," Becca sighed, shaking her head.
"Why is life so cruel?" Rory commented.
All three girls stood with their arms crossed, just watching the boys in front of them. Firefly was looking at them like she couldn't believe they had the audacity to run, Becca just looked annoyed and Rory looked like she was trying to hide her amusement.
The little boy had put on one last boost of speed when Clarke realised that he was running towards them. More specifically, Emori. Once he was close enough he launched himself into her, wrapping his small arms around her legs.
"Mummy," he cheered.
Emori stood petrified. "Mummy? Did he say mummy?"
"Guess Clarke and I aren't the only ones to get some in the future," Raven laughed.
"Shut up, Reyes."
Firefly walked over to Emori and the boy and tried to pry him off his mother. "When did you get so strong?" She groaned.
By that point, the boys who had been chasing the little one finally reached them, out of breath. "Why can he run so fast?" One of them asked. Clarke recognised him from Becca's lab, it was her twin brother Sinclair.
She turned to the other one. He was about the same hight as Sinclair, but younger by a few years. He had a round face and a mop of unruly brown hair on his head. He had a slight tan to his skin and their was a smirk on his face. Clarke could have sworn she had seen him before, but she couldn't place it.
"You're just pathetically slow," Becca told them.
"Excuse me," Emori said, putting the attention back on her. "I just discovered I have a kid and I'm trying not to freak out. Could you either explain who the heck you are or shut up?"
"What do you mean 'discovered you have a kid'," Sinclair asked. "You've got two."
"What?"
Clarke took her eyes off Emori and found Murphy edging away from the scene, staring at the girl he loved. With a start, Clarke realised that he didn't think they would be his too. She hadn't been on the ring, but she had gathered enough information to know that Murphy hadn't spent much time with the rest of Spacekru.
Clarke turned around again in time to see Becca punch Sinclair in the arm. "You are so unhelpful."
"Why is everyone so young?" The other boy asked, staring at the faces around him.
"We travelled back in time," Rory explained. "Introduce yourself, but only name one parent, and try not to mess anything up with the timeline."
Sinclair was the first to introduce himself, explaining that he was Becca's twin.
"There are two of you?" Raven asked.
"There are three of us," Sinclair corrected. "We have a younger sister, too."
Raven looked like she was about to faint. Clarke could understand why, on the Ark you could only have one child. No one, but the Blakes, had siblings. It was strange to think that they had more than one child when they had spent most of there life thinking only one was possible, if any at all.
"This is Charlie and he's six," Firefly said, having given up on pulling him away from Emori.
Last to speak was the boy Clarke recognised, and once he do she understood why. "I'm Jake." Her son. She didn't let him say anything else, just pulled him into a hug. "And Clarke's my mum," he continued. She held him at arms length, eyes eagerly taking him in. Her son.
Bellamy POV
He watched Clarke as she spoke to her kids and introduced them to Madi and Jordan. The smile on her face never faltered, not once. He wanted to go over, but feared that the smile would disappear.
"Do you believe what they say?" Octavia asked as she stood next to him. "I do," Octavia said when she got no response. The Blake's relationship was still on the rocks, to say the least.
"You trust them?" Bellamy said, trying to keep emotionless, but he couldn't hide his surprise from his sister.
"I trust my eyes," she replied. "Becca is the spitting image of Raven. There's only one thing that has me asking questions."
"And what's that?"
"That boy, Jake, he looks just like you did when you were younger."
"He doeasn't look like me," Bellamy grumbled.
"Trust me, I remember your face better than you."
"Octavia, what you're implying-"
"I'm not implying anything. I'm telling you what I see."
It was that moment that Jake decided to shout, "aunt O." Everyone's heads turned. On the Ark, aunts and uncles were unheard of and it certainly implied something.
Clarke's face paled as her eyes flicked between Jake and Octavia. "They call everyone aunt and uncle," she explained. "Murphy's their uncle, I'm Becca's aunt."
"What about me?" Sinclair asked, seeming to be genuinely offended at not getting mentioned.
"Yeah, you too."
"I'm an aunt?" Octavia asked. Even though she was technically the only one who could have a biological niece or nephew, she was surprised to find she might have one at all.
"You're an aunt, a biological mother, a wife," Jake listed off, only stopping after being punched by his sister. Bellamy couldn't help the pride that swelled inside him. He had feared for so long that Octavia would never get those things. If she did, then did it mean he would leave Blodriena permanently in the past? He hoped so.
"A wife?" Octavia repeated.
"You know, I'm not actually sure you are," Jake said, thinking hard. "I don't remember a wedding, but it's always been you and Niylah."
"Octavia and Niylah?" Clarke asked in astonishment, trying to bite back her smile.
With Clarke and everyone else's attention on Octavia and Niylah, Bellamy was the only one to notice as Rory crept away from the group. Bellamy followed her around the back of the closest tent to find the girl hunched over a puddle of sick. Bellamy held her hair up and rubbed her back until she stopped throwing up.
"Are you ok?" He asked once she stood straight.
She wiped the sick off he mouth before she spoke. "I'm fine, must just be from the time travel. You can't tell anyone."
"Why not?"
"I don't need people worrying about me, Bellamy." She said his name almost awkwardly, like it left a bitter taste in her mouth, or maybe it was just the sick. "Please promise me."
He paused for a moment. "I promise."
"Thank you."
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Murphy POVMurphy watched from the side. He could see the resemblance between Clarke and her kids, but he could also see the resemblance between Jake and Bellamy. From the look Octavia was giving him, he wasn't the only one. Becca looked like she had been ripped out of a picture of a younger Raven. Sinclair kept making sure Shaw was included, which led Murphy to believe he was probably the father. He was glad Raven had let someone in. He hadn't really known Wick, and he had been hopeful about Luna, but neither worked out. Then there was Emori, who sat smiling at the little boy called Charlie and listening to Firefly talk. He couldn't help the waves of jealousy rolling off him. Whoever their dad was, he was one lucky bastard. "It would probably be easier to talk to us, than burn a hole in our heads," Firefly called over to him. She started smirking as she walked over. "What's your problem? If it's me and my brother I don't see why you would be annoyed.""You're right, why would I be annoyed about meeting my girlfriends kids?" he snapped. "Exactly, why would you be?""Let's just say, it's not the mum I have a problem with.""But you're the best dad ever."Murphy's eyebrow quirked up as Firefly facepalmed her hand, realising her mistake. "I thought you weren't allowed to tell us the other parent," Murphy said, trying to play it cool, but wasn't able to fully hide the smile forming. "I thought you would have figured it out," she replied, looking sheepish. Murphy had hoped to Gods he didn't believe in that they were his, but a voice in his head told him that was impossible. Emori and Murphy were still on the rocks and, though Murphy loved her, they weren't at a place to have kids and Firefly was one of the oldest. "So I'm the guy that named his kids Firefly and Charlie?" Was all he said. "Yep. A Firefly is prettier than a Cockroach, and I believe you named Charlie after someone.""I don't know anyone called Charlie.""No, it was a girl, so she wasn't actually called that. It's a shortened version of her name.""Charlotte," Murphy realised with a start. He named his son after the girl that he blamed for getting him hung and banished. The girl that he caused to jump off a cliff. Murphy may have talked a big game back then, but he never really wanted to hurt her and after she jumped off that cliff he realised what a mistake he had made. "So are you going to come and meet us or just sit here moping?"Murphy smiled as he let his daughter drag him towards his family. "Daddy! Pick me up!" Charlie raised his hand in expectation. Murphy glanced at Emori before picking the six year old up. "Surprised?" He asked with a smirk, though inside his heart was thumping against his chest. "No," Emori replied with a smile. "I knew it would be you." Then she lent over and kissed him. God, he wished he could do more, but there were kids around and he didn't want to scar them. He would have to be content until they were alone. They asked their kids questions in the hopes of getting to know them. Charlie was going through the amusing phase of not answering questions seriously, whereas Firefly was being as vague as possible with her answers, both more proof that they belonged to Murphy. Suddenly, Charlie started shouting next to Murphy's ear, almost deafening him. It took him a minute to realise he was yelling a name, 'Delphi'.They turned to see a small girl waddling towards them, her hair bright purple. "Delphi," he shouted again. "Whose is this one?" Murphy asked. "Did you say Delphi?" Shaw asked, taking a step closer. "You think she's yours?" He didn't reply. "It was my sister's name," he explained. Once the girl got closer she stood in front of Shaw and stared up at him, an audience gathered behind. "Hi," she said with a toothy grin. "You have to introduce yourself," Charlie said in exasperation, twisting around in Murphy's arms. Without question the girl said, "I'm Delphi," as if Charlie's shouting hadn't already informed them of that. "I'm five.""You're six," Becca corrected. "I'm six," Delphi continued, sticking her tongue out at Becca. Then she stuck her arm out and pointed to Shaw, happily saying 'Daddy' as she did so. Murphy laughed. "This how you raised kids in your time?" He asked, gesturing to Delphi's hair. The girl looked down sheepishly. "Rory gave me dye to help decorate and I tripped into it.""Excuse me," Rory exclaimed as her head snapped towards the girl. "I distinctly remember telling you to stay away from that bucket.""But it was purple," Delphi argued, earning a few more laughs from the others. Shaw knelt down and held one of the purple strands. "I think it suits you.""Come here," Sinclair said, holding his arms out to pick her up as she giggled. "We need to keep an eye on what you decide to say.""Delphi, did you see anyone else?" Becca asked. "Tyrion, Eve and Lolly.""Lolly?" Shaw queried, shocked at the name, though it wasn't that much stranger than Firefly. "She means Lola," Becca explained. "That means all of us have come through," Firefly said. "All but a tall blonde," Sinclair added. "Maybe she can't come through," Rory suggested. "For obvious reasons." She nodded behind them. After closer inspection, Murphy realised she was motioning to Diyoza with baby Hope in her arms. "Wait," Becca said, "what about the others? Where are they?""And why would they leave Delphi?" Firefly asked. "Are these more of our kids?" Clarke asked. Rory nodded in response, though the motion was slow and sleepy. "They started walking," Delphi explained, "so I walked the other way.""Probably not the best idea," Sinclair said. "We need to find them before they get into trouble."They split into groups with a mix of future and present people. Most stayed within their direct family, but Murphy didn't miss Rory's last minute decision to go with Bellamy and Octavia since they didn't have anyone from the future with them. That was going to be interesting.
Octavia POVOctavia would have preferred walking with Jake, he was more loose-lipped than his sister. It was also annoying that her mouth was doing very little talking and a lot of slowing them down. After the fourth time she ducked behind a tree to throw up, Octavia spoke. "Why is it that none of the others are being sick? Is there something you aren't telling us?""I'm fine," the girl muttered. "I don't believe you.""Lay off, O," Bellamy said. "You don't think it strange that she's the only one acting like that?" "No."He was lying, Octavia could tell. Bellamy just didn't want to give Clarke more reason to be angry with him. It was pathetic. How did he not realise he cared more for a girl that slapped him in the face and left him to die, then the girl he was sleeping with in space?"What's wrong with you?" Octavia asked, turning to Rory. "You're nicer in the future," Rory said, still slightly hunched over. "And don't bother going all Blodriena on me, I'm not scared of you, aunt O."The words came with a force Octavia hadn't expected, even though they were spoken so matter-of-factly. Maybe that was why. Rory knew that it would get better, she could promise that without it being led by empty hope. She had never had that before. There was always a new problem to face, she couldn't comprehend the fact that that might change. They continued in silence.
___When they reached the city, the first person they saw was Echo, much to Octavia's dismay. She seemed to be arguing with the twelve year old boy in front of her. "That's Tyrion," Rory explained. "This isn't going to go well." With a sigh, Rory led them towards the duo. "You're insane," Echo was hissing as they approached. "Insanity is much scarier than Tyrion," Rory interrupted. "'Bout time," the boy groaned. "You need to fix her.""Nothing's wrong with her. We travelled back in time."The boys mouth dropped open as he blubbered a response. "Did you not notice the age difference?" "I thought the youth fairies had come.""You and Firefly need to stop taking everything Murphy says so seriously.""Bellamy, what's going on?" Echo asked, her arms crossed in front of her. "She's telling the truth," Bellamy promised. "Tyrion's your son," Rory explained. Octavia saw Echo's eyes flick to Bellamy. She thought that Tyrion's dad was her brother's, not if Octavia had anything to say about it. Tyrion was young, which meant Octavia had time to plant weeds in their relationship to make sure no child would belong to them. He didn't look much like Bellamy, apart from the colour of his skin. For a twelve year old he was muscular, too, though it didn't really suit his face. He'd probably grow into it eventually. "Where's Lola and Eve?" "Lola left to go to the market and Eve went after Delphi," Tyrion explained. "You found Delphi, right?""Yeah. She's fine, but we didn't find Eve.""Let's get Lola and start looking for Eve," Bellamy suggested as he started walking away. "Bellamy, the market's in the other direction," Tyrion called. Octavia had to hold back a laugh. Bellamy had always been sure of where he was going on earth but, even after landing there months ago, he couldn't figure out his way around the city. Awkwardly, he walked in the direction Tyrion had pointed to. The others followed closely behind. Lola was easy to spot. She was the small girl with a big mouth sat on top of one of the market stalls. Her thick black braids were so long the touched the counter top and she was laughing boisterously with the man behind it. "That's Lola?" Octavia asked as they approached. "Don't be judgey, O, you aren't her aunt," Rory said back. She didn't have time to think the comment, though, because they had reached the girl, her eyes boring into Octavia's. "Did Sinclair make a time machine?" She asked, jumping off the counter. "We don't know how it happened," Rory explained as she leant against the place Lola had just moved from. "You already figured it out?" Tyrion asked in awe. "Considering I just had a conversation with Bill explaining how amazing his wife will be once he finally meets her, yes I figured it out." Lola motioned to the man behind the stall who was built like a soldier with his thick muscles. "You're name's Bill?" Echo asked, not doing well to hide her disgust. "You got a problem with that," the mans deep voice responded. "It's just a strange name."Bill chuckled. "Oh yeah, what's yours then?""Echo," she said, pushing her chin up. "And you say mine name's strange," he smirked. "Seriously," Tyrion asked, quietly. "This is how you meet?" It seemed that only Octavia heard the comment, she just hoped it meant what she thought it did. Though, she knew hope had never been on her side. Octavia turned to Lola, inspecting her. She couldn't see any resemblance between her and anyone back at camp. "Who do you belong to?"Rory overheard, apparently she wasn't interested in Echo's conversations either. "Only name one. We need to keep the future intact."Lola nodded in understanding, then smiled at Octavia. "Miller," she said. "Really?" Maybe he had adopted one of the dwellers kids. "And Jackson," she continued. "And Niylah. And you."Octavia almost choked on the air. "I tell you to name one parent, so you go ahead and name four," Rory said, incredulously. "What, it's true?" Lola shrugged. "And very unhelpful.""I'd like an explanation," Octavia said, surprised that she managed to say the words normally. "Biologically, I'm Octavia's, but Jackson and Miller adopted me.""Why, what happened to me?" Octavia asked. "Nothing, you got pregnant specifically for that reason. In all fairness, there were probably easier ways to cheer them up, but that's the one you chose.""She did it to make someone happy?" Bellamy asked. Octavia tried to ignore his surprise. "Lola," Rory said in warning. "Fine, i won't say-" When Lola stopped talking, Octavia followed her line of sight to where Rory sat, still leaning on the counter, her whole body shaking. "No, no, no, no, no," Lola mumbled as she tried to force her friend still. "Her eyes," Tyrion said, causing the others to look at how bloodshot they had become. "What's wrong with her?" Bellamy asked. "No way am I telling the story," Lola said. "She'd maim me.""We have to get her to Jake," Tyrion explained. "He has the medicine." Then to Lola he asked, "Which stage is this?""Three," she replied, still trying to stop her friend from shaking. "That means there's only two left until-""I know. That's why we have to find Jake.""I'll carry her back to camp," Bellamy said, already moving to pick her up in his arms. "We need to go quick," Lola explained as they left the market. "I don't know how long it's been since her last dose." She turned on Tyrion, "Why didn't you tell me she was showing signs?""I didn't know.""She was throwing up," Octavia said, still trying to wrap her head around the information Lola had told her. "And you didn't think to tell one of the others?""She said she was fine.""Never, ever believe her when she says she's fine. It's always a lie," Lola scolded, as if they were supposed to know that. Rory went limp in Bellamy's arms, no longer shaking. "Does that mean stage four-?""We need to get to Jake, now," Lola commanded, interrupting Tyrion.
Jake POVJake didn't have the same way with that planet as Rory had, but he did know where Eve loved to hide. He led Madi, Clarke, Jordan and Julian towards the city a different way to Bellamy and the others. He had heard stories, but he never expected Clarke and Bellamy's relationship to be so bad. As far as he was concerned, they were always together, fighting side by side. Clarke was trying to get as much information as possible about the future. She had already let it slip that Madi was getting married the day she went there, which meant Madi was trying to find out as much information about her husband as possible. "Do I know him?" She asked. Jake quickly glanced over at Julian, who was trying hard not to show how intently he was listening to the conversation. "I don't think that's really fair," Jake said. "You don't exactly know many people your own age.""What about me?" Jordan asked. "What am I up to?""You live in the city with your wife and are expecting a child."His face practically lit up with the widest smile Jake has ever seen. More questions were asked, and Jake tried to answer them without giving too much away, but it was difficult. He just hoped nothing changed. "Jakey," came a gleeful shout. They all froze, then started looking around for the source of the voice. Only Jake looked up. They were on the outskirts of the city, where a small orchid field stood. Lying in the tree, Eve reminded him of a picture Rory had shown him of the Cheshire Cat. Her eyes sparkled with mischief, just like the cat's had. From that angle, her pigtails behind her even looked like ears. "Hiya Jakey." Eve was nine and had passed cute child years ago. She was more of a trouble maker than Lola had been, which is saying a lot. "Hey Eve, you gonna come down or am I going to have to go up?" Jake asked, everyone else was now looking up too. "Oh please, you couldn't climb this tree if it had stairs," she joked. "True," he conceded, surprising the younger girl. "But your mum can."Eve glared at the group below her. "I don't see my mum there. Maybe her mini-me, though.""Time travel is a funny thing, Eve, and it seems to think we wanted to go for a trip."She looked again. Jake could see her calculating gaze, so similar to the one she wore during city meetings, her co-leader by her side. "Prove it," Eve said. "Climb the tree."Jake turned to Madi, who then turned to look behind her as if she expected to find someone standing there. "Madi, she's talking about you.""That can't be right," she argued. "It's been decades since a Heda birthed a child. They all died.""But you aren't at war anymore," Julian said, reaching out to touch Madi's arm but pulling back at the last second. "You don't have to fight to survive.""I'm not getting any younger up here, even if you are," Eve shouted down.Jake knew from stories that Madi had become a good climber in the valley, having little else to do with her time. He had seen her chase Eve up trees hundreds of time, climbing like it was something she was born to do. Now was no different. It was like she had claws to pull her up. He had to restrain a chuckle when he saw Julian's impressed expression. As soon as Madi reaches her daughter, Eve flipped down to the ground like a gymnast, again, something only known to Jake because of Rory. Madi did not look amused, only mildly annoyed. "What was the point in that?" She asked. "Proof that you are my mum and it was fun," Eve listed off on her fingers. As Madi began her descent, Jake heard a commotion behind him. The sight he saw when he turned made his body freeze. He felt sick. Bellamy was running towards them, flanked by Lola, Tyrion and Echo, with Rory's limp form in his arms. The others only seemed to take notice when Jake was running away from them. Clarke was on his heels as soon as she saw her daughter. "What happened?" Clarke asked once they reached them. She started checking Rory's vitals, but Jake knew what was going on. It had happened before, and he still had the nightmares. "She's on stage three," Lola explained, as stoic as ever. "We aren't sure if stage four has started yet.""Where's the medicine?" Tyrion interrupted. Jake's hands rummaged through his pockets until he remembered why he wouldn't find his sisters medicine there. He wished he could kick his stupid face. "Jordan has them," he muttered in defeat. "Then get them, he's right there," Lola said. "No, our Jordan. I gave them to him to keep safe during the wedding. My suit doesn't have big enough pockets."That's when Lola allowed her fear to show. It crept across her face like a shadow. "What do we do?" She whispered. "We need to get her to the library, then send up the flair for the others.""Are we going to-""Not if we don't have to." Jake couldn't even think about what Tyrion was asking. He couldn't bear to see his sister like that again. "Let's go."Lola, being the fastest, ran ahead to clear a table in the library. Julian went with her to explain to the elders and keeper what was going on. Jake and Clarke ran beside Bellamy, who was hugging Rory close to his body to keep her safe in his arms. Everyone else was behind. "You need to tell me what's happening to her," Clarke demanded. "It's part of the reason she has such a good memory, that's why she became Kepa." Jake was panting, but he wasn't going to stop. "She went exploring with Becca and Firefly, she wondered off and got lost. We didn't see her again for eleven days. From what we could figure out, she was taken by one of the humanoid clans that lives here before Eligius three landed. They don't usually come this far north, but they did. Rory used to say that all they did was make her eat. Whatever it was they force fed her made her crazy. She started seeing things. When we finally found her all she wanted to do was-" he couldn't finish. How was he supposed to tell them? "What did she want to do?" Clarke urged. Orange light filled the sky above them, transferring Bellamy and Clarke's interest to the flare for just a second. Different coloured flares meant different things. The orange flare had never had a meaning before, only the kids from the future would know what it meant. And they would come running at the sight. With a heavy heart, Jake finished his sentence. "She wanted to kill us."
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Sinclair POVEverything had been fine. Him and Becca were joking around with their parents, and Delphi was hanging off Shaws back like a monkey. What could go wrong?Then the sky lit up. The orange flare exploded in the sky, sending chills all through Sinclair's body. He heard Delphi drop off Shaw's back, even she knew what that meant. Neither one of the twins said anything. They didn't turn to their parents to explain, they didn't check on their sister, they didn't even glance at each other. They just ran. The shouting from their parents, and the people they pushed past, didn't slow their pace. Their was only one thing on their minds. That flare symbolised all their fears come to life. Sinclair didn't think he was ready to face them. When they reached the library, they saw Firefly running towards them from the left. They didn't stop to wait, just pushed open the doors and flooded in. Sinclair didn't comprehend anything around him until his eyes landed on Rory's unconscious form. "Has she reached stage four yet?" He asked Jake, who seemed to be trying to explain something to Clarke off to the side. "We think she's on stage three," he replied. "Already?" Firefly asked as she joined them. "How is that possible? We would have noticed.""She hid it from us," Jake said. Sinclair could tell that he was angry, but not at his sister. He was angry with himself for not seeing the signs, they all were. Suddenly, Rory was awake, her arms grabbing at the closest thing to her, which just so happened to be Sinclair's shirt. "Rory-" he started. "I saw him," she murmured. "I saw Jake.""Rory," he tried again. Her eyes flicked to behind his shoulder for a second, she screamed. She was screaming and crying out her brothers name. It only lasted a few moments, then she buried her head into Sinclair shoulder, sobbing. "What did you see?" He whispered. He glanced around him. Clarke and Bellamy were being held back by Becca and Firefly, while Jake looked like he was about to throw up. Sinclair knew the feeling. "Jake's dead," came Rory's muffled answer. "No, I'm not," he brother said, reaching out to put a hand on her shoulder. Rory flinched away from the touch and turned to him. "I'm right here Rory.""It's started," she said. She turned back to Sinclair, grabbing his shirt tighter. "Chain me up.""No, we still have time.""Chain me up, or I will kill you." It wasn't a threat, it was a warning. Sinclair looked down at her, brushing a strand of blonde hair of her sweaty forehead. He motioned for Firefly to let Clarke through. She came over immediately and took her daughter's head in her hands. Sinclair heard Rory's attempts at apologies while Clarke turned them down as he walked to Julian. "We need to take her to the cellar," Sinclair said. "There isn't a cellar in the library.""There is and it is one of the only places on this planet that Rory can't figure out how to get out of.""But that's in the future," Becca said. "Mum and dad spent days Rory proofing the place. She can probably get out of it.""I don't understand," Julian said as Madi joined them. "She asked you to chain her up. Why would she try and get out?""When the hallucinations start she finds it difficult to comprehend what she sees. She says that the only clear thing are the dead people, usually one of us. Everything else is a blur and the only thing she knows is that, if she doesn't kill, she will be killed," Becca explained. Sinclair could see in her eyes that she was thinking about the first time Rory had attacked her, while he was doing everything in his power to push the memory away. He glimpsed back at Rory, who sat on the table with her head resting on Clarke's shoulder. Her eyes were puffy from tears, but she smiled as her mum spoke softly to her. They had been looking forward to today since Madi got engaged. All they were supposed to do was dress up and have fun. Then they got sent back in time and it got even better, it wasn't everyday you knew more than your parents. He couldn't believe it had gone so wrong, Jake never left the house without Rory's medicine. Neither did she, but the only thing she had brought with her in the excitement of a past Clarke were her whistles. "Alright," Julian said, "let's move her."Becca took Rory and Clarke, along with Julian and Madi, to the cellar. Sinclair went to where Jake was standing with Bellamy, who was explaining to Murphy, Emori, Raven and Shaw what was going on. Once he had finished, Jake pulled him away to talk, but not far enough for Sinclair not to hear. "Mum needs you," he said. "She won't get through this on her own.""Why don't you go and find your dad? I'm sure he would be a lot more helpful." Even Sinclair could hear the bitterness in Bellamy's voice. "Are you really that blind?" Jake sighed in exasperation. "Just go and talk to her. Even if all you do is argue, I can guarantee that she will feel better."Sinclair saw Bellamy nod reluctantly out of the corner of his eye. Once he had left, Sinclair joined his friend. "Your sister is going mad and your up here playing matchmaker with your parents."Jake gave him a sideways glance. "You know just as well as I do that she was planning to do a lot of matchmaking while we're here."
Clarke POVThe same feat crept through Clarke that had been there when she thought Eligius had caught Madi. Somehow, it was even worse. With Madi, Clarke had a way to help her, to make sure she was safe. She couldn't do that with Rory. She couldn't even imagine how her future self felt when she went missing and then returned different. When they had sat together after Rory woke up, she had been apologising to Clarke through her sobs. When Clarke had asked what she had to be sorry for, Rory said it was because she was broken, and no one wants a broken child. It took a lot of convincing for her to believe when Clarke said that she would love her no matter what. Then she had to watch as Becca wrapped chains around Rory's torso and arms. She wore a brave face, but Clarke recognises it all too well. It was fake. It was the face she wore when she was trying to be strong, but couldn't possibly feel weaker. They left the cellar and Rory behind, apparently there was a rule in the future that meant no one was allowed to stay with her. She wasn't in a good mood as she walked back to the others, why would she. Her mood only darkened when she saw Bellamy walking towards her. "I'm not in the mood right now, Bellamy," she muttered, trying to push past him. He tried to stop her, but she shoved him off. "Go away," she groaned. "What the hell happened to us?" He asked as he grabbed her arm to keep her in place. "We were leaders, we were friends.""We were only friends because of the circumstances we found ourselves in. It was convenient," she hissed. "Now you know who you truly care about, and we aren't fighting for our lives, it isn't a convenience anymore. I'm just there, a memory from your past you would like to forget." Clarke saw the hurt flash across her eyes. She knew that what she said wasn't true, not for her, but she was upset and angry. Deep down she knew she was trying to rile him up. Hopefully get him to deny it, to argue with her, to not leave her. "That's not true," he said. "You know it's not. You told me in Becca's lab what I meant to you."Not all of it, Clarke thought. "We are friends," he threw his hands up. "God, we are so much more than that. I went out of my mind after we left you."But Echo found lots of fun ways to keep you occupied, she wanted to say, but she didn't. "Oh poor you," she snapped instead. "You had oxygen that didn't hurt to breath. Food that might have tasted awful, but didn't make you sick for days. You had people to help you, to keep you going. I had Nothing for a long time."Bellamy was silent, which was good, because Clarke hadn't finished yet. "Before Madi, the only thing had was a radio," something flicked in his eyes, but Clarke couldn't tell what it meant, something else that had changed. "I used to talk to you every single day. I never got a response, I never knew if you could hear me, if you were even alive. The bunker was quiet too, but I didn't try them everyday, only you. The only person I wanted to talk to was you. Even on the hard days, you were the thing that kept me sane. You and Madi were all I had." Her expression changed from the desperation of trying to get him to understand into anger. "Then you finally came down, a year late, and things had changed. You saved me, and I thought everything was back to normal, but you had changed. You didn't need me anymore."Bellamy tried to argue, but Clarke stopped him. "I no longer had you to talk to on the radio. The only thing I had left to keep me sane was Madi, and you took her away too," Clarke's voice cracked. "Did you know that her own parents had hidden her from the Fleimkepas. They didn't want that life for her, and neither did I. That flame is a murderer. She will never be the same child I raised, and that's because of you.""I did it to keep you alive," Bellamy tried to explain. "There were other ways to do that, like not keep me chained to a wall.""You left me in the fighting pit to die," he countered. "And I'm sorry for that, but I don't think anyone actually expected Octavia to let you die. She may have changed, but she was still your sister," Clarke said, trying to defend herself now. The fight seemed to leave Bellamy's shoulders. "You said you left because we didn't need you, we will always need you.""Yeah, to make the hard choices, then to give you someone to blame when it doesn't quite go our way.""Clarke-""Where's your nickname, Bellamy?" She asked before he could speak. "We pulled the lever at Mount Weather, we made that choice together. Then I was given the title Wanheda, I was given the blame. I was always given the blame and I'm sick of it. Once the kids have left, so will I." Bellamy's face shifted from anger to confusion. "If it wasn't for all this madness, I would still be in the forest, leaving." And possibly going out of my mind, she thought. "I'm guessing I'll return one day, but, until then, have fun with Echo and Tyrion." This time, when she tried to leave, he let her. When she turned the corner it was clear that the others had heard their argument and were pretending they hadn't. Clarke didn't really care. She felt awful, but that was because of Rory, not her argument with Bellamy. Jake walked towards her, while Sinclair smirked from behind. "Are you really going to leave again?" He asked. "It's what I was doing anyway, right? I want the future to be the same, which means I have to go down the same path.""Actually, in the stories I've been told, you left until you came across a blackbird and had the brilliant idea to fly it.""I came back?""Not straight away.""Did I meet your father while I was flying around?""Why do you have to make this so difficult?" Jake sighed. "No you don't meet him that way. Mum, please just go and talk to Bellamy again.""I can't.""Actually, you can. It's really easy, you just have to open your mouth and let sound come out.""Forget it, Jake. I'm going to read some of these books, see if there is anything useful.""There won't be. Rory has read almost every book in here, but by all means, give it a go." Then he left. Clarke walked down one of the aisles, then the next, and the next, until she was completely lost. It took her a bit too long to realise that the library was set out like a literal maze, with dead ends and everything. There were hundreds of shelves, thousands of books. How could Rory possibly have read them all?Eventually she got tired of walking aimlessly in an attempt to find the exit and sat down. She wasn't sure how much time had passed when she was found with her head against her knees by Raven and Murphy. "Clarke," Raven said to get her attention, "can we talk to you?"Murphy didn't wait for a response, he planted himself next to her. "We owe you an apology," he said. "But that's not really my strong suit so let's make this quick. None of us wanted to leave you behind.""I know," she said. "You did the right thing. There's nothing for you to apologise for.""No, you misunderstand. I'm not apologising for that." Clarke tilted her head so she could see him. "You would have done exactly the same thing. Why would I apologise for leaving you on a burning planet to die when you would have done it to us?""What Murphy means," Raven interrupted, sitting down on the other side of Clarke. "Is that we left you and believed you dead for 6 years. We had that on our conscience as we grieved you. Up there, you were just a memory of something we could never get back. In the end none of us believed you had actually survived."Murphy continued. "When we came back, we still saw you as a memory and the Clarke in front of us as a stranger. We didn't treat you like family because, to us, you were still dead.""We didn't realise until you left, when we had to feel your absence again. We don't ever want you to go through that again Clarke. We want you." Raven put her arm over her shoulder. "I missed you guys everyday," Clarke whispered, worried that they would disappear if she spoke to loud. "As childish as it is, I just want to go back to when we first landed. Before the grounders threw that stupid spear at Jasper.""You mean when your only friend was Finn, you hated me and Bellamy, and Raven was still stuck on the ark?" Murphy said with a raised brow. Clarke elbowed him lightly. "You know what I mean. I just want to be back at the dropship camp.""Freezing our asses off?""Yes," Clarke said, earnestly. "Sat around the fire with Wells and Jasper and Monty and Harper and everybody else. I want to see Bellamy's jaw clench when he sees Octavia try to sneak off and find Lincoln, who met each other when the grounders came to nicely say hello. And you, Murphy, would be sat with Emori, smiling to each other after getting away with something stupid. Shaw would be there too, somehow, smiling like he always does when he looks at you.""And what way is that?" Raven asked. "Like you're the last flower on earth." "How poetic," Murphy muttered. "I seem to remember many times where Bellamy looked at you in a similar way."Clarke ignored his comment. It was hard to believe that he might have been right, but now he only looked at Echo like that. "I'm certain that Shaw is Becca and Sinclair's dad," Clarke told Raven. "I can see the resemblance." Even though she couldn't see it, Clarke knew that Raven was smiling at her words. "Is that the only resemblance that you can see?" Murphy asked. "What are you talking about?""You mean you don't see the similarities between Bellamy and Jake.""Please stop." Clarke leant her head against his shoulder. "I don't need your false hope.""I knew you loved him.""I always loved him, just like I loved Lexa. No matter what either of them did, I still loved them." She wasn't sure why the words came so easy to her now. Maybe it was because she had finally given up fighting herself and admitted the truth. She loved Bellamy. "I can't stop even if I try, and trust me, I have tried.""You don't have to," Raven said, unsurprised at the new revelation. "You love him so scream it to the world.""But he loves Echo.""Not the way he loves you. If you had gone to the ring with us, he never would have gotten with her. Echo's my friend, but they were brought together out of loneliness, grief and lack of choice. I mean, there was me but I don't hook up with the same guy twice."Clarke already knew about Raven and Bellamy, but she didn't appreciate the reminder. "Just tell him the truth, and if it doesn't work out I'm sure Rory has a way to erase memories," Murphy offered, unhelpfully. They stayed that way for a bit longer until a loud bang caused them to get up and find the others.
Bellamy POVAll Bellamy wanted to do was follow Clarke, but the glance Murphy gave him suggested that was a bad idea. Once she had disappeared behind the shelves, Murphy and Raven approached him and promised to talk some sense into her. Next to approach him was Lola. It was eery how much she resembled Octavia when she was young, all she was missing was the fringe. "Bellamy," she started, "I am your only biological niece and you are my only biological uncle, so please understand my sincerity when I say that you need to stop whatever you are doing with Echo.""Excuse me-""I know how much you care about her Bellamy, but it's not enough. You need to let Echo go""I'm surprised you aren't calling her traitor.""I actually like Echo. She's a lot nicer in the future.""Then did Octavia put you up to this?" Bellamy said. He had had enough of his sister getting involved in this. "No, Tyrion did.""What?""Because of us, his parents didn't meet the way they were supposed to. That means that she might not end up with uncle Bill and Tyrion may never been born. So do us a favour and tell her it's over and that she should take a trip down to the market." Then she was gone. Bellamy took a minute to realise what Lola had told him. Tyrion was not his, which meant he wasn't tied to Echo anymore. She was with someone else in the future. This just caused Bellamy to fear that he would never find anyone and be alone and childless for the rest of his life. All that surviving for nothing. He walked over to Echo, but she stopped him before he could talk. "Don't worry, Tyrion and Octavia's brat already talked to me. I knew that we were on borrowed time, Bellamy.""I'm so sorry, Echo.""We'll always be family," she promised. "Please know that I'm always going to be here for you. Having said that I'm going back to the market. I feel like I'm not wanted here and Tyrion says that a walk in the market usually makes me feel better."Bellamy let a small smile play on his lips. "Thanks for understanding.""Good luck, Bellamy." Then she was gone too. Just when he thought that the visits were over, Octavia and Madi were in front of him. Madi was wearing a wide grin, while Octavia was doing her best to be emotionless. There was a time when he would have watched and figured out what the expression meant, but things had changed. He groaned. "What now?""We heard the good news," Octavia said. "You're pleased that now I have no one to love me?" Bellamy meant it to be a dig, but he sounded pathetic. He shouldn't even be surprised. Love was never a big part of his life. Why should a new planet change that?"You don't have no one, Bellamy," Madi chided. "Don't you remember what I told you before we left earth?""That just makes it worse. Clarke has someone, she must do. Otherwise where did Jake and Rory come from.""I didn't think you were this clueless," Octavia said. Just then, there was a loud crash. "What was that?" Madi asked. The answer came in the form of Rory, dripping in sweat so her hair stuck to her face. Evidently the cellar was not Rory proofed enough. The chain she had been wrapped up in still partially hung on her torso, the rest was being swung around in her left hand. Even from where he was stood, Bellamy could see that her pupils were blown wide. Raven, Murphy and Clarke ran out from the aisle of books and froze to stare at Rory. Jake was the first to move, walking cautiously forward with his hands raised. "Rory," he said softly. Her head snapped towards him. She didn't let him say another word. She whipped the chain through the air, narrowly missing her brother. Becca and Sinclair tried next, while Firefly kept Charlie and Delphi away from the fight. This time, Rory let them get closer. They spoke her name again, as if trying to ease her back to normalcy. It didn't work. Sinclair stretched his arm out in an attempt to grab the chain, but Rory was quicker. She wrapped the chain around his wrist and pulled it behind his back, simultaneously kicking Becca down in the process. Octavia unsheathes her sword, causing Clarke to cry out. She didn't pay her any attention, and she was swinging her sword around so that Bellamy couldn't reach her either. She hit the chain near Rory's hands, forcing her to let go. Rory allowed the the rest of the chain to fall away as she pushed Sinclair to the floor as if her were nothing. Octavia swing her sword, meaning for it to be a warning. Instead Rory stopped the blade with her bare hands. Her blood spilt down the steel and pooled around the leather-bound hilt. Everyone else was still frozen, except Clarke who was trying desperately to get out of Murphy's grip as she yelled her daughters name. Octavia was staring deep into Rory's eyes, but the girl showed no signs of recognition. She didn't even show signs of pain. She gripped the steel harder. Octavia was going to loose this fight because she didn't want to hurt Rory. Then something strange happened. Bellamy saw her posture relax. The force she had put on the blade lessened. Then Octavia spoke, just loud enough for everyone else to hear. "Aurora Blake."Rory blinked, her determined look disappearing for a second. There was a low whistling sound through the new silence. Then Rory collapsed, a dart poking out the side of her neck. Bellamy looked up to see a blonde girl on the second floor of the library. "What the fuck is going on?" She shouted.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Clarke POVWith everyone else's attention on the new girl, Clarke managed to pull away from Murphy. She ran straight to her daughter, checking her pulse. She was still alive. Clarke let out a slow, relieved breath.Octavia knelt beside her. "I didn't expect her to hold the blade. I just didn't want her to hurt her friends," she explained. Clarke could hear the foreign sound of an apology in her voice, and that was enough for her."She looked like she responded to you," Clarke said, keeping her eyes fixed on Rory. "How?""Everyone was saying her name, but she wouldn't even glance at them. We know better than most how a name can change you. I'm not saying 'Rory' is the reason she's like this, I'm just saying that an element of your humanity is in your name.""That makes no sense," Clarke argued in a quiet voice. "You called her Aurora Blake."Octavia copied her whisper, making sure the others wouldn't hear. "Don't lie to me, Clarke. You aren't blind. You know exactly who the father of these kids are, and what Rory is short for. You're just afraid to admit it."Clarke ignored her, suddenly feeling a flare of anger towards the world around her. How could it be so cruel? It keeps dangling hope in front of her face and then pulling it away. She knew exactly what Octavia meant, she just couldn't admit it. Yes, she loved Bellamy, but she had come to the conclusion that it was unrequited. She didn't want to spend more years pining over him, just waiting for him to turn around and realise that he loved her too.She heard the blonde girl jump down from the balcony. Before Clarke even knew what she was doing, she ripped Octavia's sword out of her grip and marched to the girl. She swung the sword in an arch, but the other girl was quick. She brought out her own sword and blocked it."What the hell are you doing?" The girl asked."What the hell did you do to my daughter?" Clarke countered, pushing her blade down harder."Stop it!" Jake's voice caused Clarke to falter, but not stop."That's Hope," Lola said from behind. "Diyoza's daughter. She our friend."Reluctantly, Clarke backed away, but still held Octavia's sword at the ready. "And your saviour, apparently," Hope said. "You're lucky that I convinced Jordan to give me Rory's medicine. He has enough on his plate without worrying about his little sister.""Wait, so that dart's her medicine?" Clarke asked, finally lowering the sword."Yes," Hope replied, starting to sound a bit bored. "Just slap her in the face, she should wake right up.""Don't listen to her," Jake said.It was too late, though. Octavia had already bent down, raised her arm and slapped Rory across the face. Rory shot up into a fighting stance. She looked around and, when her eyes met Clarke's, her body slumped. "You're welcome," Hope said as she walked around Clarke, towards the others."Thanks Hope," Rory muttered. The unrecognisable expression on Rory's face had been replaced, now there was just disappointment. She looked over to where Jake, Becca and Sinclair stood. "I'm so sorry," she choked out."You don't have to apologise," Jake told her."It's not your fault," Becca agreed, Sinclair nodding beside her.To everyone's surprise, the first person to reach out and hug Rory was Octavia. The girl reciprocated immediately, squeezing her aunt's waist. When Clarke noticed the blood dripping off Rory's hands, she split them up."Let's go and wrap these up," she said, whipping a tear off her daughters cheek."I'm sorry, mum," Rory sobbed."Don't even start." Clarke took her hands and looked at them. She had deep gashes across both palms and every fingertip. She would definitely have scars, Clarke just hoped the emotional ones would be able to fade.Firefly came forward and offered Clarke a roll of bandages. "You can never be sure when one of these idiots are going to get themselves hurt."Clarke smiled at her, then started wrapping Rory's hands."Alright," Hope said with a clap of her hands. "Now I think I deserve an explanation. The last thing I remember is walking into the flower room.""Hold on," Rory said, turning to Hope. "The flower room?""Yeah, the one with all the flowers that were supposed to be at Madi's wedding, but Russel made us move them.""Who's wedding?" Murphy asked in surprise."One problem at a time, Cockroach," Hope said."That's the room mum and I went in when I was trying to hide her," Rory explained. "Did anyone else go in their?""I turned back around to find you and ended up in there," Becca explained."I did the same," Firefly said."We all did," Jake agreed. "When we found out that Rory and mum were missing we started searching around the tower. I guess all of us ended up in that room.""Is it possible that the flowers are what caused this?" Lola asked Rory."I guess, but that doesn't explain how mum ended up there in the first place.""Yes it does," Clarke said, thinking back. "I fell asleep in a clearing. There were flowers everywhere.""I guess it's possible that breathing in the pollen is what caused this," Rory reasoned. "Which means we just need to find them again.""Is there anyway you would be able to find the clearing again?" Jake asked his mum."Doubtful, I had no idea where I was going.""I think I might be able to help." They turned to the new voice. It belonged to a man in his thirties wearing a cotton jacket and holding a very thick book."Keeper," Rory gasped."Are you the girl who will be my successor?" He asked as she stared at him in awe.All she could do was nod. Clarke understood why. To Rory, she was looking at a ghost."Then you're first lesson starts now," he said with a smile. "Do you know what's on the roof?""You told me the roof was off limits," Rory muttered."So naturally, I assume you have been up there.""Only on Eden's back," she said, referring to her blackbird. "I never stepped foot on it. You told me it was dangerous.""It is," he agreed. "But it also contains exactly what you need. The roof is house to my personal garden. In it contains many flowers that produce antidotes, or ones I believe should be watched closely.""Including the flower that brought them here?" Clarke asked."Including that one. Say your goodbyes, then meet me upstairs." He left as soundlessly as he came.The room was shrouded in a sorrowful silence. They had to say goodbye. It was silly. They would all see each other again. So why was it so hard to say goodbye?Clarke saw Delphi crying in Raven's arms while her siblings tried to explain that she would see them again in a few minutes. Murphy and Emori were mid laugh with Firefly as Charlie told them a story, very animatedly. Lola has her hand clamped around Tyrion's wrist so they could say goodbye to Octavia, Niylah, Miller and Jackson together. Clarke could tell that Eve and Madi were both holding back their tears as they shared a hug. Diyoza wasn't there, so Hope walked over to Bellamy, who had been hanging awkwardly at the side."It's strange that we're going to miss you, even though we're going back to you," Jake said, hugging Clarke tightly.She smiled as she looked between him and Rory. "Well, I will definitely miss you. I'll be counting down the days until I see you again.""You only have to wait one year, two months and 28 days, approximately," Rory said with a proud smile.After another round of hugs, they both pulled away. "Is it alright if we say goodbye to Bellamy too?" Jake asked."Of course."Jake left, but Rory stayed. "This problem I have-""It's not a problem," Clarke interrupted."I know," Rory said, shocking Clarke. "It's only a problem when I don't have my medicine, which is actually quite rare. If you do decide to have me-""I will," Clarke interrupted again."Please don't try to change what happened. If you do, I won't be the same person I am now. I won't be Kepa, and I don't know what I'd be without that."It took a lot for Clarke to agree. She would be knowingly allowing her child to go through all that pain. But she still agreed, because it was what Rory wanted."I'm going to go say bye to Bellamy," Rory said, following after her brother.All Clarke had left to do now was wait for them to leave. A selfish part of Clarke wanted to go with them. She knew that she had to stay, and she would be with them eventually, but it didn't feel like enough. She wanted to stay with Rory and Jake, to go back and attend Madi's wedding. She wanted her family.She watched as they hugged Bellamy and noticed Rory whisper something in his ear. He looked slightly confused, but Hope and Jake were nodding along behind her. His eyes flickered to Clarke for a second before both of them were looking anywhere else."Alright, everyone ready?" Hope asked with a clap of her hands.Reluctantly, they walked towards the stairs. Just as she reached the step, Rory turned around and ran back into Clarke's arms, burying her head in her shoulder. "I'll see you soon," she whispered."May we meet again," Clarke said back.
Rory POVNo matter what Clarke said, there was still a part of Rory that feared things would be different when she got back home. She took her brother's hand and, together, they walked into the roof's greenhouse.At first nothing happened. They all looked at each other, fearing that they had made a mistake. Then Rory felt it. Delphi dropped first, then Charlie. One by one, so did the others. Finally, Rory closed her eyes and let her body fall.
___"Rory?" Clarke's voice snapped her out of her daze. "You okay?"Rory blinked, pushing her thoughts away. It was like she had just been pulled out of a dream. "Yeah, I'm fine," she breathed out. "What were we talking about?"Clarke just smiled at her as they carried on walking. "You were saying how excited you are for tonight.""Oh yeah," Rory said, though she had no recollection of it. Had she really just dreamt it? Or had it been a vision, she had read many books about people who had them.Rory just smiled back at her mum, shaking her head slightly like that would get her head right.Up ahead male voices could be heard walking towards them. The owners came around the corner, all three laughing. Murphy and Shaw said a quick hi, then walked past them.Bellamy looked down at Clarke and Rory, a smirk on his face. Whether it had been a dream or not, Rory had missed that smirk. She wrapped her arms around her dads neck. As she did so, she noticed the bandages covering her hands. The same bandages past Clarke had put there after Octavia fought her.It was real.Rory squeezed her dad tighter. Her dad, Bellamy. When she released him she was smiling brightly between him and Clarke. They hadn't changed. They had still gotten together in the end and had her.She could see on their faces that they knew something was going on, but, before either could ask, Becca poked her head around the corner."You may be Kepa, but that doesn't mean you can make your own timetable," she shouted down. "Come on."With a quick wave, Rory left her parents in the corridor. Becca threw her arm around Rory's shoulder as soon as they were close enough. "Can you believe it was real?" Rory asked."What are you talking about?" Becca asked with only slight curiosity."You don't remember?""I have no idea what you're talking about. Did you-""Yes, I took my medicine," Rory grumbled. "Just forget it."
___The wedding was beautiful. Madi looked perfect, and no one noticed the quick stitch job Rory had done. Julian looked ready to faint at the sight of her when she walked towards him. Eve was practically squealing with glee as she walked in front of Rory.All the bridesmaids wore simple green silk dresses with pink blossom decorations, to pay homage to the valley Madi grew up in. Their hair had the same flowers pinned in, clashing with Delphi's new dye job.After the wedding came the party, which meant food, dancing and a lot of moonshine.At one point, Rory found herself stood off to the side, a glass of Jordan's moonshine in hand. Sinclair walked over to her and lent against the wall behind them."Blake," he said in lieu of hello."Sinclair," she responded."I believe you owe me a dance."I believe I owe you an apology, she thought. "You and Delphi looked good, why don't you carry on with her?" She said instead."I like not having broken toes," he offered.Rory looked down, trying to hide her shame from him. She could have broken a lot more than his toes if Octavia hadn't intervened. She thought she had taken enough medicine, she thought she would be okay. How could she trust herself now?"Maybe you could ask Lola," she half joked. "I'm sure her response would give me something to laugh at.""She's busy keeping Tyrion occupied. Besides, I want to dance with you." He slipped his hand into hers and started pulling her away from the wall slowly.Just her luck, the music changed as soon as she stepped foot on the dance floor. "I can't slow dance," she told him."How can you not? You literally just stand and sway."Reluctantly, she let him lift her arms around his shoulders. A horrible thought suddenly crossed her mind; if she snapped again, her hands were already around his neck. She started to pull away, but he reached out to hold her arms. As he did, his sleeve rolled up his arm, revealing red marks. Red marks left by a chain."You remember?" She asked in shock.Sinclair's hands slid back into her's, his thumb brushing against the fabric of her bandages. "It's hazy, like it was a dream.""Like it was a nightmare," Rory corrected."You couldn't have stopped it, Rory," he said, placing his hand on her cheek to keep her eyes on his."I could have hurt you," she whispered."But you didn't.""I don't trust that I won't do it again.""Then trust us," he said, more urgently. "We'll always be there. You can't live in fear of yourself forever, Blake."Without another word, Rory put her arms back on his shoulders, while his went on her waist. They weren't exactly slow dancing, more hugging to the music, but neither cared.They spoke softly in each other's ears as they swayed until the music changed. Rory knew he was right. As much as it felt like it sometimes, she wasn't alone in this. She dragged her other friends, who had been stood at the side watching them, onto the dance floor. She danced with Becca and Firefly, laughed with Lola and Hope, and sang until her throat hurt with Eve, Madi and her mum. It was perfect.
Clarke POVAfter Rory and the others left, they walked back to camp in a rather sorrowful silence. Raven and Murphy made sure to include Clarke in as many conversations as possible, while Bellamy avoided her gaze. She just wanted to know what Rory had whispered in his ear.That night they built a massive bonfire that, in the dim light, reminded her of camp at the dropship. People say around it on logs, on the floor or on people's knees. All of them held a glass of something alcoholic that made Clarke gag. Luckily, Jordan knew Monty's moonshine recipe and said he'd be happy to make us some soon.Raven sat with her head against Shaw's shoulder, Murphy sat between Emori's legs and Clarke wasn't the only one who notice Octavia and Niylah's hands clasped together. Echo had returned with a man from the market called Bill, hey hadn't stopped talking since they sat down. Madi has invited Julian to come too, and had been disappointed when he hadn't gone with them. That disappointment vanished the second she saw him walk into camp. After that, the smile never left her face.When the flames started to dim and most people had left, Clarke heard a whistle come from behind her. No one else had seemed to notice, so she silently got up and followed the noise. Only a few metres away, in the shadow of the bonfire, Clarke saw Ark pawing the earth. She walked closer, reaching out to stroke her neck. Before she got the chance, Ark had stepped forward and was nuzzling Clarke's neck. She smiled as she ran her fingers through her fur."You got a drink?" A familiarly gruff voice asked behind her."Have one for me," Clarke replied without thinking. They were the same words she had spoken to Bellamy before the left him outside Arkadia. Now she stood with the animal that had brought her back after leaving again."I won't have one for you," Bellamy countered. "We drink together or not at all.""It tastes like shit so I'm going to go with not at all."Bellamy chuckled. "Good because I didn't actually bring any drinks, I just didn't know what to say."131 years ago, Clarke probably would have made a joke about him being tongue-tied. Things had changed since then, they had changed."What do you want Bellamy?" She sighed."You want to know what I want?" He took a step closer."Yeah, I do."He stepped closer agin, until they were a breath away from each other."What did Rory tell you?" Clarke Whispered."I thought you wanted to know what I wanted" he smirked."Bellamy-"He closed the distance to cut her off so that his lips were on hers. At first she was too surprised to react, and he started pulling away. All thoughts left her, there was only him and her need to be with him. She moved her hand to his neck to hold him there and started kissing him back. His arm looped around her waist and pulled her flush against him. They both fought for dominance until Clarke finally opened her mouth to him.They pulled away only when they really need air, resting their foreheads on each others and breathing heavily. "I love you," he whispered. "I have loved you since the first time you argued with me and I still do.""I love you too," she said back. "Now tell me what Rory said""She told me that I ha to suck it up and kiss you," he laughed."You like doing what my kids say don't you? First Madi tells you not to be mad, now this?""Well I believe Aurora Blake is ours, not yours.""I believe so."His smile faded slightly. "You're alright with that, right?" Clarke didn't bother to answer, she just kissed him, only slightly less desperate than the last time. "Careful," Bellamy said between kisses. "Or Rory may come a bit too early.""Shut up," Clarke laughed. She slowed down infinitesimally. He was right, Rory would come eventually, just not right this second."All in good time," he said against her lips.