You and Me

Chapter 13

On the Ark, each window Clarke passed held a glimpse of the planet she should have been born on. Everyone had talked about Earth like it was a deity. Something to dream of while they stayed in their ship in the sky.

Now, Clarke looked at a grounded Ark, and felt she had seen few things more beautiful.

"Look at that," she whispered, loosely holding Anya's binds behind her.

"How many are there?" The Grounder leader asked in apprehension.

"I don't know. A lot, I hope."

Even covered in dirt, ash, and blood, Clarke felt better now than she had the entire time she had Mount Weather. Bellamy had been right, they were Grounders now, and she belonged on the ground. Not below it or above it.

The memory of him looking at her from across camp, knowing he wasn't going to make it pushed her to keep looking. The acceptance in his nod, the encouragement to save their people, that brought her back above ground. She had to save their people, for Bellamy.

"I'm letting you go," Clarke told Anya. "I'm not weak, but I'm not like you. Our only chance against Mount Weather is if we fight together. To beat them, we'll need our technology and your knowledge of this world. I know my people will help. The question is, will yours?"

Clarke respected the woman and begrudgingly liked her. Rescuing her had been about more than making an ally. Anya did everything for her people, just like Clarke, and they both had people left under that mountain.

"The commander was my second. I can get an audience."

Clarke held out her hand to confirm the deal. Anya let go of her injured arm and extend her own, clasping Clarke's forearm.

"Please hurry."

Anya nodded, and turned away, slowly but steadily stumbling away. Clarke wasn't worried about the woman's injuries. She was strong.

Bellamy had said leading the 100 felt like treading water, slowly drowning until she'd decided to offer a hand and lead with him. Now, she'd lost him; Octavia, Raven, and Finn as well. Clarke was on her own, but with a plan. Anya would go to the commander and together with the Grounders, they could take Mount Weather and save their people.

A gunshot pierced through that plan.

"Anya!" cried Clarke, running to the woman. Another shot hit Clarke in the arm, throwing her to the ground next to the dying Grounder. "Hey, hey, you're ok."

When had blood become a common liquid to feel between her fingers?

Anya looked at Clarke and whispered, "Ai gonplei ste odon."

"No, no, no," cried Clarke. Behind her, people from the Ark were approaching. Clarke kept trying to save Anya up until someone hit her in the head with the butt of a gun.

She came too as she was dragged through the makeshift gates of the Ark camp. After numerous injuries, days of running from the Mountain Men, and then getting knocked out by the Ark guard, Clarke didn't gather her senses quickly. A woman in a guard uniform was asking questions, but Clarke couldn't speak. Her eyes kept wandering to the people around her, running from the sight of her.

A scuffle drew her attention. "She's not a prisoner. She's my daughter."

A hazy form of another woman approached Clarke and cupped her face. "Clarke."