Hope

Chapter 2

Bellamy's POV

As the sun rises on a brand new day, I disentagle myself from the sheets. Clarke is still fast asleep from our long night last night, so once I'm full clothed, I kiss her forehead. The metal doors creaks as I pull it shut, and then I take off in a sprint into the forest. My breath crystalizes in front of me in the crisp cool morning as the forest wakes up in the fresh sunlight. My pace slows to a jog and my lungs cry out for air by the time I reach the dropship. I pause to take a break by the graveyard and double over, breathing deeply.
"Morning guys", I huff, before jogging away once again. I maintain the steady pace all the way back into Arcadia, straight into the hangar.
I see Raven's feet, strutting out one side of the rover, whereas Roan sleeps in his hands on the bonnett. Stealthily, I creep as close to Roan as I can, before slamming my hands onto the metal. The Ice king wakes with a start and almost jumps out of his skin. Raven crawls out from under the chassis to punch my arm, but no amount of pain could level with the pleasure I gained from Roan's fear. His face was a picture. Once I have composed myself, I turn to Raven.
"Is the Rover ready for today?" I ask happily.
"Absolutely. So how was first night in the Love shack?" She teases.
"The what?" I retort.
"Love shack. It's what everyone is calling your house", she explains. I stifle a laugh.
"No ones calling it that", then to Roan. "Are they?"
The bulky man just shrugs and scowls, clearly still not fully awake.
"Well whoever does call it that is a weirdo, because my kids live their too", I say.
"Well at least for last night it was. And seeing as Clarke isn't here, you should probably go wake her up 'cos we leave in an hour", Raven instructs. I give her a mocking salute and jog back to the cottage on the ridge. When I open the door, Clarke is in the kitchen fiddling with a pan over the fire.
"Morning Princess, what you cooking?" I chime.
"I'm trying to make pancakes but...". Instead of finishing her sentence, Clarke tries to lift her pancake with a spatula. The gooey yellow liquid runs through the holes.
"Sorry I couldn't make us breakfast", she sighs.
"It's ok. Raven said we're leaving in an hour, so if we hurry and get ready, we'll get some food in the canteen", I tell her. She nods, still disappointed that her attempt didn't work. However, when we leave for Arcadia, she is back to her chipper self.
"I can't wait to show the kids. They're going to love it. Especially now that Lottie is growing up. And theres even space for Artemis to stay on the foot of their beds or on ours or-".
"Take it easy Clarke", I interrupt. "Your like a kid on fizzy drinks. There'll be plenty of time to discuss all of that on the ride to Polis. For now, I'm starving. Let's eat".

Clarke's POV

"So what's on the agenda for today?" Raven pipes up in the seat next to me. Roan and Bellamy chat quietly in the back about something boring like sports.
"Nothing major. I've got a council meeting first to discuss trade between the clans. Then we place our candidates forward for the next commander. I'm putting Daenarys as my candidate, so are Roan and Indra. With enough votes, she'll be commander with in the coming weeks", I tell her. Her face remains unchanged as if she hasn't even registered what I've said. I turn back to my paperwork and try to focus. But then my mind wanders back to our little house. I can imagine Jake and Lottie playing in the garden with Artemis. Just normal children. Then they grow up. Lottie starts to lock herself in her room and fantasise about boys. Jake starts to play a little more rough, running around bragging about his dad the head guard, and idolising the guard. And then they'll find boyfriends and girlfriends, leaving it just me and Bellamy.

It's weird to think about a time where no one will be fighting for their lives. We can live our lives as a normal family with normal problems. Kids not cleaning up after themselves. Bellamy not lifting the toilet seat when he goes for a piss. No more deadly
foes or damning warnings. We can be free.

My daydream is cut short, when the rover pulls to a rather abrupt stop. Bellamy rushes around the passenger side of the rover and pulls my door open for me. I smile at him as I climb down, and grab my bag from the footwell. Raven locks the rover up and follows behind us as we file into the main building. The lift judders and jolts, and makes sudden loud creaks, which Bellamy apologises for each time. Then we reach the correct level and head to the throne room. Most of the ambassadors are already there, chatting amongst themselves. We give one another friendly smiles and exchange the rare hug, before taking our seats.
"Morning everyone, how are we all?" I greet. This triggers a wave a mumbling throughout the room. I scan the room to see a great number of nods, but then I notice the empty seat, and continue anyway.
"As you all know today we will be nominating and voting for the next commander. But first, we have the usual matters to-". The oak doors swing wide open and a flustered red head huffs in the doorway. She hurries to her seat and looks around the room.
"I'm sorry I'm late. But something weird happened on the way here. I hope I didn't miss anything", Luna pants.
"It's okay. You didn't miss much", Daenarys replies warmly.
"So trade..." I start.