Is There Somewhere?

Technicolor Beat - Oh Wonder

A/N: Continuation of last chapter. This will be the last flashback so if there is any confusion, drop me a comment or a PM. Enjoy!

~TGF

It was a chilly morning as they prepared for their hike and Clarke hadn't been prepared for such an exciting day. Gustus talked about his childhood and his wife, telling Clarke his entire life story as they walked. Lexa stayed far ahead of them, too anxious and nervous to really enjoy her time outdoors with her father. Her brain kept whirling at a mile a minute as they went, wondering if somehow she or Clarke would slip up and Gustus would find out about their relationship.

But it never seemed to happen and when they got to the top of the hill, Clarke was still deep in conversation with Gustus. The trees opened up to a clear cliff's edge that looked over the expanding forest below. A bench had been put near the edge when Lexa was a kid and most of the time she liked to sit there whenever she came to the cabin. This time though, Clarke and Gustus took the bench and Lexa hung her legs over the cliff.

She listened to them talk, the hum of their voices in the background and the whistle of the birds in the trees effectively soothed her. Pulling her legs to her chest, Lexa rested her head on her knees and allowed herself a moment to relax.

"When did you decide to adopt?"

Those words drew Lexa from her thoughts and she listened carefully for an answer. She and her father had rarely spoken of her adoption, it was more of a discussion she had with her mother. Hearing what he had to say about it would be a dream come true, she just hoped he forgot she was here for the time being.

"Isabelle and I couldn't conceive, partially due to myself and partially due to her. It wasn't from lack of trying or therapy or anything, we just weren't meant to have kids. At the time, I was devastated and may have lashed out, but eventually, I came to accept the fact that biologically, we weren't meant to have children. So Isabelle and I started looking into adoption agencies. Back then, I was more concerned with having an heir to Woods Inc. and maintaining my cutthroat reputation."

"But when you finally found Lexa, did anything change?"

"We found Lexa after years of trying to find a baby. She was about six and well, she'd experienced a lot of life without even having really started living. Her mother was a teenager and had given her up when she was born. I must say things changed when we found her. Being a father is...indescribable. At first, I didn't want to be near her. I was very withdrawn when she first came to live with us, afraid to touch her because I thought I would break her...she was so tiny. Even as a kid, she was tiny with little arms and legs." He sighed wistfully, remembering those times, so long ago.

Gustus glanced towards his daughter, who sat tense at the cliffs edge. Her muscles were tight as she tried to keep completely still in her hopes that he would not notice her and keep talking. "As a father, it was constantly a hit or miss but Lexa always took it in stride. We're very like-minded in our stubbornness and confrontational skills. We argued so much when she grew up that her mother had to be mediator most of the time. But after I got sick, I tried to change and now I think Lexa and I have a stronger relationship than ever before."

Clarke nodded, trying to keep mental notes t

o contribute to her artwork later. The colors were really beginning to bleed together in her mind, reds and oranges for their stubbornness and others to mix in, as if there were two different auras fighting for dominance until finally a united color formed in the center. She wasn't sure if she would do something so contemporary or stick with a potential portrait.