Bygones

~{Chapter 19}~

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I woke up to the sound of Bellamy arguing with someone outside of the tent. I rushed out to see what it was about.
"... I say we go. You don't have to tag along if you don't want to," Bellamy yelled at Octavia.
"Fine! I don't need your 'protection', big brother. I'll be fine on my own!"
She spat on the ground and walked away. He started to go after her, but I stepped in front of him.
"Give her some space. Trust me, I'm a girl. I know," I placed a hand on his shoulder.
Clarke shouted from the main tent and notion us to come, "Bellamy! Sloan!"

"Finn found something while scouting," Clarke handed us something as we walked in. It was a necklace with a sharp animal tooth on the end. A carving of a tiger paw print on the back. As soon as I saw it I gave it to Bellamy. The image was very familiar to me. I could feel everyone observing me now.
"Where did you find it?" I asked Finn to break the tension.
"Out West. Our team decided to look a little further to see what's useful. It's mostly just sand and then it hits a beach. One of the guys saw it lying there."
"Does the tiger paw mean something?" Bellamy asked Lincoln who was sitting there so quietly I hadn't even noticed.
"It means it's a territorial tribe. Daunters."
"Daunters...," Clarke repeated under her breath.
"How bad are they?," Bellamy asked.
"We've only came across a few times. My people feel the need to ravish them."
"So we don't go near them," I spoke up, "Our number against theirs would be foolish. Confronting them is a risk."
"She's right," Lincoln stood up, "We wait until they come to us."
"But if we wait around for-" Bellamy started.
"Don't mind the snake, the snake won't mind you."
As Lincoln and Bellamy where having their usual disagreement Finn pulled me aside.
"Do you know something about the necklace?"
I didn't answer.
He continued, "I saw the look on your face when you first saw it. Raven could probably agree the same."
"Honestly, it does ring a bell, but a lot of things look like we've seen before. It's just a thought."
The pain in my stomach prevented Finn to ask anymore questions. I put one hand on my knee and the other on Finn's arm.
"Woah, take it easy," he set me down gently.
"It's happening again..." I groaned. Everyone rushed to me.
"It's getting worse. Is there anything you can do?" Bellamy ask Clarke.
"It'll pass. Don't worry. It's most likely food poisoning or something," I said.
I looked at Lincoln as he slightly nodded to me.

"Hey," I said to Raven as I slowly made my way into her tent.
"In pain or tired? Which one?" She set down her tools and turned around to look at me.
"Tired."
"In pain it is," she detected my lie.
"I'm not sure but... Based on what I've learned when I was pregnant with Leyla... I think i'm pregnant... again."
Her eyes widened and her smile was filled with excitement.
"I knew it! There is going to be another Leyla!"
"It's not... Bellamy's,"
Her smile suddenly went away.
"Then who's is it?"
"...Remember the time when I was taken by Murphy?"
"Oh..." she was a lot more serious now.
I was quiet.
"How long has it been going on for?"
"A couple months. I talked to Lincoln and he gave me some medicine, but it's not working anymore."
"...Does he know?"
I hesitated, "No."
"He can help. He can probably find a-"
"He has enough problems he needs to worry about."
She gave me a disapproving look.
Right when I was going to explain more, Leyla walks in.
"Hi, mommy. There you are."
She sat down next to me.
"What have you been doing all day?"
"Thinking... What on Earth are you going to wear for your wedding?"
Raven and I looked at each other and laughed.
I put my arm around Leyla, "Don't you worry about it, okay? Who even told you about weddings?"
"Daddy."
"Well maybe for your wedding one day, we'll have a beautiful dress."
She still seemed worried. I was quite touched that she worried about it more than any of us did.
"Listen, Leyla," I continued, "Thank you for thinking about me and my dress, but I don't really need one."
"... Are you sure?"
I chuckled, "Yes I'm sure."
"Okay!" Her tone brightened up again.

When I walked out of Raven's tent, a few people were already standing there waiting for me. One of the girls came by my side, looped her arm around mine, and started walking.
"So, preparations for your wedding. There isn't much we can do, but I we started on a simple pedestal-"
"Woah wait. Wedding preparations?"
"Yeah! So anyways-"
I stopped, "Have you guys been working on this all day?"
They all nodded. I was astonished.
"Who told you to do so?"
"Bellamy did," one boy spoke up, "We haven't had a proper wedding on the Ark for a long time... Stupid laws talking about how it uses too much air because people cry and cheer..."
"Thank you all of you. For everything. But don't worry about. Really."
"Ar-are you sure? I mean it's a pretty big day," The girl who looped her arm around mine asked.
I smiled, "Yes, I'm sure. Please get some rest. I'm sure all of you have worked hard enough."
They all put their stuff down and congratulated me.
I went to find Bellamy. It was really sweet of him to make this a big deal.
"Hey," I found him in the weapon tent discussing with Shane, "Shane."
"Sloan."
"Need some help?" I looked at the rifle that was taken apart.
"We're taking a closer look at it," Bellamy said and looked at me.
"I'll give you two some time," Shane set his knife down.
"Thank you," I said as he walked out.
"It's maybe possible for us to make something else in substitution for bullets, but so far, nothing," Bellamy sighed and sat down.
I could tell he was frustrated.
"Being cooped up in here any longer isn't going to do much. Come on."
"Go where?"
I held out my hand and smiled, "It's a surprise."
He took my hand and we slipped around the main ground. On the way to my favorite spot, I snuck a blanket and a lantern.

I stopped in front of a tree and admired it. I could see him starring at me in my peripheral vision.
"So a tree is supposed to help..."
"This is where I go to get away from everything."
I threw the blanket onto the lowest branch and tied the lantern to my belt. I started to climb and he caught on. As we reached the top, there was a perfect U shaped branch, big enough for two. He laid the blanket out as I turned on and set the lantern. We got cozy and didn't say anything for awhile. He had his arm around me as I rested my head on his chest. He reached over and turned off the lantern. The moon and stars shone so bright we didn't even need it.
"Do you think Octavia's fine?"
"Lincoln probably talked some sense into her."
He sighed.
"So, I heard that you had people working on our wedding," I said quietly.
He chuckled, "You weren't supposed to know, but yes. Have you seen anything?"
"I did actually. The flower decorations are nothing like I've ever seen before. But Bel,"
"Hm."
"You don't need to go through all this trouble for us."
"But I want to," he intwined his finger with mine. It was rough, but he had a gentle and warm grip, "Is it too much? I mean I'm not the one to go to for wedding decorations."
We laughed.
"I think that they're beautiful."
"It's ridiculous, huh?"
"I don't think they are. But people need all that energy to better themselves in order to better each other. Sometimes simple is better. Thank you, though. I love the idea."
I could see his smile through the moon light.
"Hey you know you can save those creative ideas for Leyla one day."
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," he said it in a way that reminded me of my father.
"I guess I'm just trying to recreate the past. My parents, they, uh, never really seemed close. Close enough for us to believe, but I figured it out soon enough."
"Hey, they loved you no matter what."
"I'm sure they would've loved you if they met you."
I blushed a little. We spent the rest of the night talking about our best childhood memories. That night, I saw a different side of Bellamy. A side where he's humble and charismatic. A side that I knew I fell in love with the first time I met him on the Ark many years ago.

~{That episode of The 100 😭. I love the relationship between Bellamy and Octavia. Hope you guys are enjoying it!}~

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