UnderStanding (Clexa)

Chapter Nine

I own nothing
TonDC - Dwell within the mind

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The moon was high overhead and other than the guards on watch, TonDC was quiet. Quiet, except for one hut where four people sat diligently watching over their blonde friend.

A nervous shudder ran through Clarke and they could see a few beads of sweat breaking out on her forehead and above her lip. Her breath hitched and was then held.

"If you so much as look at her the wrong way I will slit your throat." That was the first thing one of the commander's guards said to her as she approached. All she could do was keep eye contact and steel her nerves as she swallowed and entered the tent.

As she approached, the air froze in her lungs, her steps slowed, approaching the sitting commander in disbelief that she desperately tried to keep from showing on her features. "There's no way...it can't be her." She thought to herself as she took a few more steps and stopped, eyes taking in the woman as she sat, completely relaxed with her eyes fixed on Clarke. She looked feral, yet bored. War paint obscured Clarke's view of her eyes, but there was no mistaking her features, the strong jaw line, her long hair with loose waves and from what Clarke could tell, braids near the back. "She's real." Her thoughts keep racing, but she had to focus.

"You're the one who burned 300 of my warriors alive." The woman spoke, and Clarke nearly closed her eyes at the sound of her voice, but kept her gazed fixed and chin raised.

"You're the one that sent them there to kill us." She replied.

"Do you have an answer for me, Clarke of the sky people?" The commander asked, not bothering to deny or even respond to Clarke's reply.

Clarke hesitated briefly, hearing the woman speak her name for the first time, but powered on. "I've come to make you an offer."

"This is not a negotiation."

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Lexa stepped forward quickly, lowering herself down before Clarke, trying to see anything in her eyes as she listened to her own questions in her mind.

"What is it, Heda?" Lincoln asked, aware something had grabbed her interest suddenly.

Lexa glanced at him and back to Clarke, "She's reliving the first time we met, when she came to seek an alliance to join against the mountain men."

"Then why do you look so confused?" Octavia asked, seeing the confusion on her face.

"Because..." Lexa started, "the first things she said, they never took place." Knowing more questions were to follow she held up her hand and tried to clear her mind. "She said..." she broke off, shaking her head.

"Before, she said, 'It can't be her' and 'she is real'" Echo replied. "That is what you speak of?"

"I can help you beat the mountain men." They heard Clarke say.

Lexa gave a stiff nod, still crouched in front of Clarke. "She didn't speak those words to me, yet her eyes never left me, and the rest of our meeting played out all the same."

Lincoln licked his lips before replying, "Heda...her thoughts. Clarke is reliving that day, to be sure, but what we're hearing isn't just what was spoken, but also her own thoughts as they came to her. It must be."

"Then the question is," Echo began, "why was she so convinced you weren't real?" She turned to Octavia, waiting for her thought on the matter.

"I think there's a lot more going on inside Clarke than any of us are aware of." Was Octavia's response. She turned and grabbed a cloth, dipping it in a bowl of water and ran it over her friend's now sweat soaked forehead. "Come back to us, Clarke."