The Ones On The Ground (sequel to The One Who's Fallen)

Chapter 105

Clarke's POV

"Your eyes drew me in the moment I met you. I saw the intelligence, the sadness, but I could also see the love you have for your people. And I can't begin to express how it makes me feel when I look into your eyes now and see the love you hold for me. It's something that I've been hoping I would be fortunate enough to have since I was a child. My parents had a strong connection as well, one that was visible with every interaction they had. With us, it seems almost stronger. Like we're... Well, like we're soulmates. Which I didn't really believe in before I fell in love with you. I've known that I'll find you in this life and all my others for a long time. You're it for me, Lexa. No matter where we are."

I duck my head slightly, and take a breath, trying to reign in my emotions. I meet Lexa's watering eyes and we both fail at the same time, the first tears leaking from our eyes as we take a short moment to just look at each other.

"I love you Lexa. Falling for you is the best thing I've ever done. We've made our own little family, and it's brought us our daughters. Those are a couple things I never thought were possible on the Ark. But you do love to prove me wrong." The people around us, especially our family, chuckle a bit at that. "I can't wait to see what this next step of the journey brings us, where our lives take us. I have no doubt it will be absolutely wonderful. And I do have some promises, some vows, for you. I promise that every morning we can, we'll wake up next to each other. I promise I'll continue teasing you about your raccoon warpaint, because it's really very cute." Lexa tries to scowl at me, but the warmth and love in her eyes makes it even more ineffective against me than usual. "I promise that I'll back you up when you need to be stern with the kids. And Raven."

"I assumed Raven was included in the kids," Lexa jokes.

"Hey," Raven complains, but with the tears streaming down her face it's not very effective.

"You know we love you, Rae." I turn back to Lexa. "I promise I'll be your partner in everything, and that I won't shy away when things inevitably get tough. We're in this together."

"We're all in this together," Raven sings under her breath.

I ignore her, deciding to laugh about it later. "I promise I'll respect you, your decisions, and your opinions. But most of all, I promise that I'll love you. Ai hodnes, ai houmon, ai alf-keryon (my love, my partner/wife, my soulmate)."

I stop, done with my vows, and Lexa gently tugs me closer using how our hands are entwined. She kisses me sweetly, and then pulls back quickly before it deepens.

"Gods, how am I supposed to follow that up?" Lexa breathes out. There's a brief pause as she gathers her thoughts. "Clarke, you are the girl who fell from the sky. I knew from the minute I heard about you that you were special. It did not take me long after meeting you to understand how amazing you are. You are kind in a way that not many can be, and smart enough to keep up with the politics here. You are strong, and brave, and everything I did not think I deserved until recently. I knew it was inevitable that I would fall in love with you. And I cannot describe how happy it makes me that you love me too." She gives me a warm smile and now I'm the one that's crying harder. "You are wonderful, and I am honored to have you as my partner, my Hedatu, and now, my wife."

Lexa takes a shaky breath, her eyes still occasionally leaking tears. "Today, I bind myself to you. And I vow that every time I wake up next to you, I will fall a little bit more in love with you. I promise that I will spend every day trying you to make as happy as you make me. I promise that I will back you up when you need to be stern with our daughters, because we both know I have a soft spot for them."

I chuckle and nod, squeezing Lexa's hands gently and breathing out my response. "Yeah."

"I promise that I will love you and our family with everything I have, and I promise to find you in every rebirth of our souls. I love you, Clarke."

"Ai hod yu in sentaim (I love you too)," I respond.

"It is time now for the rings." The officiant says and looks down to Destiny and Madi. "Ladies, if you would please?"

Destiny and Madi pull rings out of pockets and hand them to Lexa and me. Madi has Lexa's and Des has mine, so they hand it to the opposite person to be put on by the partner. This is and aspect of Old Earth culture that Lexa really enjoyed.

"Heda." The officiant nods to her first.

Lexa extends her hand and slowly slides the ring onto my finger. "With this ring, I readily marry you and entwine our souls."

The words we have chosen to say hit me hard and Lexa and I both have tears falling from our eyes as I slide Lexa's on her finger.

"With this ring, I readily marry you and entwine our souls."

After a short pause, he speaks again. "The Hedas have already done a sacred blood ceremony to make Clarke Hedatu. But they have agreed to do it another time in the circumstance. Heda has brought a favorite dagger of hers to use, the one that she was using when the two first met. They will cut their hands and press their palms together, allowing their blood to mix again. This is a physical way of showing their souls and bodies intertwining, ensuring that they will meet again in every life they are reincarnated into."

If some of this officiant's dialogue sounds familiar, it might be because I used it in my other Clexa series! I liked it, and it fits in this world as well... And the "with this ring" thing, I used the other series as a basis but I changed around the second half :) Thank you all for reading and for your lovely comments! Stay awesome!