fragile | clexa

chapter sixty four

_____________________________

Anya entered the kitchen already talking. "Apologies for being late everyone, I had to work longer. See, the Heda again disappeared to see her oh so great-"

She was cut off abruptly.

She froze in her movements, her words stuck in her throat.

"Oh," was the next thing she got out. "Hehe. Heda. So good to see you. And oh my God, blondie? What are you doing here? You're haunting me!"

"Anya?" Clarke asked in confusion and then her eyes found Raven's. "She's your- she's your wife?"

"You know her?"

"Oh my God."

"Wait, where do you know her?" Anya asked Raven.

"She's my best friend and legal sister," Raven answered with furrowed brows. "Why? Where do you know Clarke?"

"Oh eh- she's like the Heda's slave. Or was. Or whatever."

Lexa closed her eyes and inhaled in frustration of Anya's absolute lacking ability to read the room. Rushing to explain away the expressions of Clarke's parents' face, she said, "Your daughter was gifted to me and thus was the reason of uncover this whole slavery industry by talking to me. I never put a finger on her."

And with a very meaningful glare, Lexa let her old mentor know that she would do well not to say anything further on the topic. Anya took the hint and kept her mouth shut about how they were practically all sisters in law now. She also didn't make another comment about the Heda and Clarke, or the fact that Clarke was her wife's goddamn sister.

Life definitely had its ways to backfire.

So she just gave a grunt, then pecked Raven's lips and plopped on the free chair. "Thanks for inviting me," she told Abby and Jake and then, a dinner began that was just bound to be... interesting.

There was Anya, who couldn't stand sitting right across a Clarke that seemed to be all wrapped up in Raven's attention. Raven tried her best to motivate Clarke to eat a bit, even though she knew that if the girl struggled to do so with only the family there, the Heda and Anya probably didn't improve matters by their presence. So she didn't push her, but she let a few small chunks of the warm Ouskadina their dad had made slide over to Clarke's empty plate.

Then there were Abby and Jake. Jake, who sat distrustfully across the Heda and watched- maybe a little nervously- how she took the first bite of his dinner that he hadn't planned such a very important person in for. Subtle pleasure spread over the Heda's features and to his surprise, she whispered to Clarke, "You were right. Your dad makes the best Ouskadina there is."

His brows furrowed slightly. Why would Clarke have told the Heda about him? And then about such a trivial thing as his cooking?

The moment passed within seconds. Jake wasn't sure whether it had really happened or not, actually, because Clarke responded with a faint but sincere smile and it made him decide he must've imagined it.

Abby, on the other hand, was too worried overall to notice the interaction at all. She was focused on Anya and her rolled eyes whenever anything concerned Clarke, her annoyed looks that hit the blonde frequently. She was focused on Raven, who didn't seem oblivious to her wife's common irritation either and tried to balance everything out a little, sitting right between Anya and Clarke. She was focused on the Heda, and she thought that the Heda too must have had something on her mind concerning Clarke. Her eyes kept sliding over to her neighbor's seat, sometimes meeting Clarke's eyes and sometimes just for a fleeting second to look.

And then, of course, she was focused on Clarke.

Her daughter had shown not to have the greatest time with too much stimula at once, too many and too loud voices, too much touch, too much going on, whatever it was. For sitting at a dinner table with five more people, all more or less talking, several pairs of eyes frequently on her and that not only in positive ways, Anya's obvious dislike of Clarke and her rather insensitive humor that was only kept at bay by the presence of the Heda- and yes, that of course too, the Heda right next to Clarke- for that, Clarke seemed surprisingly calm.

A discussion somewhen broke out between Raven, Anya and Jake about spices and Abby let her focus drift to the ones discussing. She wasn't surprised to hear no interaction of either the Heda or Clarke, but when she checked on them, the warm cheese of her last bite suddenly got stuck in her throat.

It hadn't been hard to admit that the Heda staying over at their small, humble place (not to mention with Clarke, in Clarke's bed) and sitting so peacefully at the dinner table was strange. But it could be excused with a great deal of kindness and care, looking after Clarke, even if that wasn't an easy thing to think of after all these years Abby had spent despising the Heda.

Now though, Abby was starting to question whether or not it was the real Heda at all. She just watched how the Heda's fork picked up a bit of Raven's broken down food on Clarke's plate and lifted it up to Clarke's lips.

In days Clarke hadn't eaten at the table with people around. Now though, she opened her mouth and willingly ate whatever the Heda fed her. It didn't even seem forced. There was such a tender expression on the Heda's face and such a calm one on Clarke's that Abby was pretty sure she was dreaming. That was only confirmed when Anya brought an argument concerning hot pepper and the Heda leaned into Clarke's personal space with an attempted to be surpressed grin (can you believe that? a grin!) and whispered something into Clarke's ear.

Alright. It might've been a dream. It was very likely to have been a dream. But Abby couldn't have cared less, really, and if she had died and was only seeing this on her way to wherever she would go, she would have gladly died a few times more. Because over this face that Abby had missed so much, been so delighted to see again, the face that had been marked by sorrow and pain and never seemed to let go of it, a smile spread. For the first time in years and for the first time after seeing Clarke again, Abby got to see her daughter smile sincerely and it made her heart beat a tad faster.

It wasn't even the brief glint of a smile. It was broad and followed up by a chuckle Abby wished she could have heard over the discussion now revolving around paprika.

Then, the moment passed and Abby was left with even more confusion because she was quite sure after a while that she was both awake and alive after all.

______________________________