When We Meet Again (The 100 Season 6 Clexa fanfic)

Chapter 6: Reunited

Sierra had returned surprisingly quickly, having brought back a pile of clothing and a note from Madi explaining that they were all safe and well. Clarke's heart had swelled in relief at that.

Together, Sierra and Clarke had--somewhat awkwardly--dressed Lexa, and when she hadn't stirred after an hour, Clarke was beginning to grow concerned.

"Shouldn't she be awake by now?" Clarke asked.

Sierra said nothing, but approached the small cot that they had laid Lexa's resting body upon. Her face gave nothing away, schooled into neutrality as she performed some sort of examination, moving Lexa's limbs around and inspecting her features.

Only when a shadow had crept its way over Sierra's face did Clarke speak again. "What? What is it? Is she okay?"

But she knew. She had known it was too good to be true, right from the start.

As if in confirmation, Sierra said, "I'm sorry. I believe the experiment was unsuccessful."

The world started spinning, gravity pulling at every inch of Clarke's body until standing was an effort. She swallowed, placing a hand on her abdomen as if that could somehow prevent the pain surging from the pit in her stomach.

"I'm truly sorry, Clarke. I must have missed something when I was replicating the chip."

Sierra looked genuinely apologetic. Clarke didn't care.

A fire began blazing inside her veins, a force so powerful she thought she might spontaneously combust right then and there. Hot tears were smothering her eyes, blocking her vision, and half-choked sobs were erupting from her mouth.

She couldn't bear it. The pain, the loss, the grief. She couldn't do it again. Not again.

Please, not again.

"Clarke, I'm sorry."

 "GET OUT OF HERE."

Her words were raw, guttural. It wasn't her speaking. Some monster had invaded her body, a creature that drained what little energy she had and sucked the light from her very soul. In its place, it left nothing but shadows and darkness.

She was on the ground now, leaning against the pristine white walls of the lab, her arms wrapped around her knees as they crushed against her chest.

Distantly, she could hear the sound of a door clicking, saw the blurred, distorted picture of a woman in white striding out of the room, her head hanging low.

None of that mattered. Nothing mattered. She was nothing and Lexa was gone again and--

"Clarke?"

Everything stopped.

Time seemed to still at the sound of that voice. That voice. The one that had plagued so many dreams, the one that had lived in her memory for years, keeping some part of Clarke's heart alive. Dormant, but alive.

Slowly, Clarke rose from the ground, turning her body to face the source of that sweet sound.

Mercifully, it wasn't just a voice in her head. This time, it was actually Lexa. Sitting on the cot, staring at Clarke as if she held the answers to the universe.

"Clarke," she said again, her own eyes lined with tears.

For a second, Clarke wasn't in the lab. She wasn't on some new planet surrounded by unfamiliar technology. She was back in Polis, with the love of her life safely in her arms.

Unable to stop herself, Clarke strode right for Lexa, and with one swift movement, had the girl locked against her chest in a tight embrace.

They breathed each other in, their tears sinking into their shirts as their hands ran rampant over each other's backs, memorising the feel in case they should wake up from what could only be a dream.

Pulling apart at last, their eyes met, forest green and sky blue.

Clarke removed her hands from their position only to reach up and cup Lexa's face. Oh, god, how she'd missed that face.

Meeting Clarke's gaze with one equally as hopeful, Lexa asked, "Is this real?"

Had she not been short of breath, Clarke might have laughed at the question. Instead, she replied, "Does this feel real?" and traced her thumbs delicately over the outline of Lexa's lips.

A faint crimson tinge blossomed on the ex-commander's cheeks, even as a small smile tugged at her mouth.

"Or this?" Clarke tucked a lock of hair behind the girl's ear, leaning in so that their faces were millimetres apart. "What about thi--"

Lexa's arms wrapped around Clarke's waist, drawing her in as she claimed her mouth, her tongue tracing the seam of her lips.

How Clarke had longed for this, to be held like this--but not just by anyone, by Lexa.

For so long their love was impossible. But now they had a real chance to be together, without anyone or anything standing in their way.

Lexa moaned against Clarke's mouth, her hips pushing in to grind against Clarke's. The desire was intoxicating, she was drunk on love, on the taste of Lexa.

They had places to be, people to see. But all of that could wait.

~

It had taken what felt like forever to untangle themselves. But Clarke knew that Lexa would have questions. She knew that she would have to explain what happened, where they were and just how Lexa was even alive.

That thought alone was what sobered Clarke, what had given her the strength to break apart from their embrace before they couldn't stop themselves from giving into their desires completely. Even now, sitting on a dust-encased couch in the back of the lab, they refused to unclasp their hands, refused to sit side by side without their legs pressed against each other.

With her eyes never leaving Lexa's face, Clarke asked, "What do you remember?"

There was a brief pause before Lexa spoke, her gaze drifting away to land on the far wall, though Clarke sensed she was lost in her own thoughts and not focusing on what was in front of her.

"I remember...everything." 

Clarke blinked. Once, twice. "What do you mean?"

"I remember dying," she said, the words coming out in a breath. "And I remember seeing you in the City of Light. After that, everything went dark. I don't know for how long, but then one day, it was like I just...woke up again." She turned to face Clarke then, her eyes softening as she continued explaining. "I woke up but I knew I wasn't me, I knew I wasn't in my body. It was like I was looking at everything through a window. No one could see me or hear me--apart from Madi."

Clarke sucked in a breath. "Madi. You remember Madi?"

Lexa's mouth twitched up that the corner, her signature half-smile that seemed to be reserved only for Clarke. "Yes, I remember her. I was her, in a way. I was there in her mind, guiding her, teaching her as best I could from where I was."

"That day when Madi was speaking to me about you..."

Lexa nodded at the unspoken question. "It was her voice Clarke, but it was my words. I needed you to know that even thought you couldn't see me, I was there. And I couldn't let you make the same mistakes I did."

She reached out, placing a warm hand against Clarke's tear-stained cheek.

"You said you'd always be with me...but it wasn't enough. I needed you to really be here, not just in my memory," Clarke murmured.

Lexa brushed Clarke's lips with her own, a whisper of a kiss. "I know. But I'm here now."

Leaning her forehead on Lexa's, Clarke swallowed the lump in her throat and sniffled as she reigned in her tears. "Do you want to know how you're here?"

"Yes--just not right now."

"Why not?"

"Because right now, I just want to be with you. And," Lexa said, a smile creeping onto her face, "I want you to take me to see Madi."