Esperança 》B. Blake

1.13

[C H A P T E R  T H I R T E E N]
The Protector's Mistake

☆☆☆

SEEING RAVEN REYES FOR THE FIRST TIME was like meeting an actual knight in shining armor. It wasn't so much the long dark hair and determined brown eyes that did it (though, she was very charming in her own mischievous way), it was more of the fact that she came down from the Ark alive and well. Roseline almost wanted to kiss the girl out of pure joy, but she settled with wide grins and squeals of excitement.

Clarke had been the first to find her when the three had split up, and after hearing Clarke's calls, Roseline and Finn tracked her down. Together, they found her holding some piece of clothing as Raven twirled in the misty rain, a wide smile on her lips. Her blood-red jacket was already becoming wet due to the rain, but Roseline guessed that Raven didn't care. The moment brought Roseline back to when she first stepped on Earth, and the thought of it still made her smile.

She noticed that Finn was frozen in his tracks, his skin pale. For a second, Roseline had thought that he had seen a Grounder, but after doing a quick scan, she realized that he was staring at Raven. Upon seeing Roseline giving him an odd look, Finn's mood changed from confused to delighted in an instant, and he ran toward the girl with the red jacket.

"Raven!" he called out, his voice hoarse. Raven whipped her head around with disbelief, but the smile never faded.

"Finn!" she cried, running into his arms. It took both Roseline and Clarke off guard when the two shared a passionate kiss. The girls glanced at each other with shock, neither of them expecting Finn to have a girlfriend. Roseline had always assumed that he and Clarke had something and judging from her expression, the blonde must've thought so too.

"How did you get here?" Finn asked, breaking himself away from Raven. His eyes met Clarke's and Roseline could see him trying to silently apologize.

Roseline--uncomfortable with the love triangle--walked over to the pod and began to examine the inside for anything useful. As she scanned, she slowly got distracted by the buttons and small parts that scattered the thing. Everything in there reminded her of home, and she almost wanted to curl up in all the wiring and cry. Spotting a necklace wrapped around a lever, Roseline gasped and carefully untangled it. She wanted to pocket it and keep searching, but when she looked closer, she saw that the metal charm was some sort of bird. Raven, her brain concluded as her eyes flickered to the girl who was being sat on a rock.

"--and that's Rose, over there," she heard Finn say, which broke her out of her trance. Balling up the necklace, she popped up from behind the door and grinned.

"Hi! I think this is yours," Roseline greeted, thumping over to them and holding out the necklace. Raven nodded with appreciation and hung it back around her neck. She then stared at Clarke with realization.

"Clarke... this was all because of your mom," she said, standing up and lowering the towel from her head wound which Roseline guessed she got from the ride down.

"My mom?" Clarke repeated, crossing her arms.

"This was all her plan. We tried to come down here together. If we waited--" she stopped herself as the information was processing in her mind. "Oh my God. We couldn't wait because the council was voting whether to kill three-hundred people to save air."

Roseline squeaked. "What? When?"

"Today. We have to tell them you're alive!" she said, running back to the pod. When she looked into the pod her shoulders dropped.