Who's Gonna Win?

The war horns sound, the battle is over, and the sun rises over the bloody battlefield after hours upon hours of bloodshed. In the field, we see bloodied warriors, men holding swords dripping blood, women with war paint and blood alike smeared down their faces, skaikru holding rifles and pistols with now empty cartridges. Everyone is at a standstill as if not sure what to do after fighting and fighting for so long that they've almost forgotten who they are.

Then, all at once a roar of victory cheers sound throughout the field. Friends hug and cry, clap each other on the back, they cheer in the face of victory. In the middle of it all we see a girl with blond hair and blue eyes streak through the battlefield and launch herself into the arms of another girl with green eyes and brown braids. This girl in particular is soaked in the blood of those who she had dispatched. She might as well have taken a shower in her enemies' blood.

Which is why Lexa is completely stunned as Clarke leaps into her arms with no hesitation or repulse for how many people Lexa has slayed on that battlefield. The tension slowly dissipates from her shoulders and her arms come up to embrace Clarke.

Across the field, Octavia and Lincoln watch as they hold hands. Octavia nudges Raven. "Hey, look at that. The commander heart eyes and Griffin finally got together."

Raven looks up from the radio that she has salvaged from a dead soldier and is trying to repair. She smirks at the sight, "Finally! With all the eye-fucking they've been doing it's no wonder they haven't tied the knot."

"They probably will within the year",Octavia answers with a snort and a shake of her head. Seriously, the two of them were insufferably in love and everyone could tell other than the couple in question.

Lincoln however, frowns in disagreement, "Heda might be a little more... reserved when it comes to a bonding union. I would say maybe in two to three years."

Indra creeps up from behind them and quips in, "Maybe four if Heda is particularly busy or shy."

Octavia and Raven jump, still not quite skilled enough to hear Indra's well masked footsteps. Octavia shrugs, "Wanna bet?"

Indra raises a brow and stares at her until Octavia looks away, intimidated. "...I will bet 200 that it will take Heda 4 years to wed the sky girl."

Thus the legendary betting pool is established. From warriors like Indra and Lincoln, to sky people like Monty and Jasper, or even healers like Nyko, choose a time and date. It is a wonder that Clarke and Lexa are too head over heels and busy in their tower to notice this betting pool exists.

Even Marcus Kane bids on this several months later. However, he is almost immediately caught in the act by Abby Griffin who has walked into the area looking for him. "What are you doing?" she questions with an arched eyebrow not completely different from the signature one that Clarke gives when she disapproves.

"Uhm..." Marcus smartly replies, glancing down at the stack of money he is handing over to Raven.

Raven is not nearly as fazed and deadpans, "Betting on when Clarke and Lexa will tie the knot."

Abby frowns further, "That exists??" The idea of people betting on when her daughter will get married to the ruler of their known world is something she never considered before.

"Yeah! We've got over 50,000 in the betting pool right now,"Raven answers with a shrug as if it is absolutely nothing.

The gears in Abby's brain turn. The things she could do for the Ark with 50,000...

"Alright, whatever Marcus bet, I'll bet double of that for seven years", Abby Griffin concedes.

Raven's jaw drops to the ground. "You sure, Abby...? That's a whole thousand." Now, Raven is all for betting, but she really doesn't want to see Abby of all people losing that much money. It's not that she doesn't have faith in Abby, it's just that she also doesn't think it'll take Clarke and Lexa long to get married now that they're literally living together.

Abby doesn't even pause. "Yup. I will give you the money tonight in the cafeteria at dinnertime."

7 Years Later

Madi is most definitely not paying attention to her grandmother's nagging over how she should be more careful during training. It's just a little cut on her hand, nothing that won't heal. She looks out the window to the courtyard where Clarke and Lexa continued to spar.

"Ahh yes, the two of them are always together aren't they?" Abby's voice sounds out from next to Madi.

Madi whips around to look at Abby. "What?"

Abby nods her head towards the window as she finishes securing the bandages. "Your parents. Lexa and Clarke. They're inseparable. Might as well be married with how they adopted you."

Madi nods. She may be thirteen and not know a whole lot about the world, but she knew that Lexa and Clarke were the prime example of two people in love. Maybe except for the fact that they still hadn't gotten married.

"You're good to go", Abby declares with a kind smile and shoos the child off.

As Madi gets up and walks out of the room, she frowns. Why weren't Lexa and Clarke married? They were together, slept in the same room together, they practically adopted her, and ruled the entire land together. Everyone knew they were in love.

Behind her, Abby Griffin smirks. She knows she's got this bet in the bag.

-0-

It is that night at dinner that Madi asks them, "Why aren't you two married?"

Lexa chokes on the slice of bread she was eating and starts coughing into her fist and Clarke's eyes go wide and hides her shock by rushing over to pat Lexa's back and make sure she is okay.

When Lexa finally catches her breath again, she uncharacteristically blushes. That's right, call the gossiping housewives and loose-mouthed warriors, because Lexa, ruthless commander of the thirteen clans, is being shy.

Clarke looks at Madi as if she has just turned her life upside down and is trying to comprehend it. "Well I-... It just never came to mind?" Clarke shrugs a bit. It was true, they had been busy with wars, delegations, negotiations, criminals, and all sorts of things.

Madi gapes at Clarke and Lexa as if they just sprouted horns. "So... in the seven years that you two have gotten together, you have never, not once, thought about officially being united for life???"

"Well actually... I have... I just-. I just thought Clarke might not want it", Lexa mutters, looking at Clarke cautiously.

Clarke turns to Lexa, her heart thrumming in her chest. "You've been waiting for me...?" The fact that Lexa would not ask her as a show of respect, so as not to push her struck Clarke like a lightning bolt. Lexa was truly the kindest, most caring partner Clarke could ask for, even if life made it hard for them to be together.

Madi, being now completely ignored in this room simply gets up and starts sneaking out. Clarke and Lexa being themselves, were too engrossed in staring at each other in lieu of this revelation to even notice.

-0-

Needless to say, within the month, Heda and Wanheda had a grand public ceremony to celebrate their official union. It was a beautiful ceremony, and the next day, suddenly, Skaikru had 50,000 to spend on upgrades.