Shadows

Chapter Twenty Five

            "No. We've gone over it enough times. Can we sleep now?"

She watched Clarke bite her lip and shuffle the papers into one pile.

"Fine."

Lexa followed Clarke back to her room, happy to finally take Clarke away from the stuffy room they had been confined to the last few days.

"You know," Clarke spoke quietly. "There's still something about this that is bothering me."

Lexa sighed, of course, she couldn't just leave it be for one night. "And what's that?"

"The mystery of the disease. I mean how did the Sea Clan people touch the man Anya told you stories about without contracting the disease? He was the only person to travel here from another land, so there's no way it could've been brought over other than on him."

"I thought Raven said it might have something to do with the lasting effects of the radiation?"

"I mean that's what she says, but back on the Ark, we studied radiation and how it affects the human body. This definitely does not seem like something radiation would do."

"So what? Are you saying somebody purposefully infected us?"

"I'm not jumping to conclusions. All I'm saying is that if you can't contract it by touching someone, how did the disease get here in the first place? And why are Scout's people so confident every single person has it?"

Lexa was tired, but Clarke's questions sent her mind reeling.

"Furthermore, why does this colony of survivors across the ocean know that one, we are all here, and, two, that we have the disease? Sure, they might not have the means to bring us the cure themselves, but how do they know we need it?"

"Clarke, please stop. My brain is hurting. These are all excellent questions, but neither of us has the ability to answer them right now. I'm sure we will find out more information as soon as we get there. There's no sense worrying about all that when we both just need a good night's rest."

Lexa could tell Clarke wasn't satisfied with that response, but it was late and they needed to be up with the sun tomorrow. She peeled off her clothes until she had only her underwear on and crawled into bed. Two seconds later and Clarke joined her, quickly blowing out the candle on her table before wrapping her arms tightly around Lexa. With the exhaustion from the preparation over the last few days taking over, Lexa couldn't even mutter 'goodnight' before shutting her eyes and falling asleep, nestled up against Clarke's chest.

Lexa awoke to the sun shining in her eyes and Clarke's arms still wrapped around her. She took a moment to savour the feeling of comfort her girlfriend's warm embrace held, the sound of her heartbeat, and the feeling of her breath tickling her neck. Today was the day they would be embarking on a mission to meet a new group of people, traveling farther than she had ever been in her entire life. Nervous butterflies swirled in her stomach, and she took a moment to close her eyes and focus on her breathing. Everything will be alright because Clarke is going to be with me the entire time. After all the events that had transpired since Clarke's return, Lexa was determined never to push her away again. Forcefully sending Clarke back to the camp after the incident with Nia had been a mistake, and she knew better now. Sure, being around her might be dangerous, but nothing compared to the feeling of absolute horror and terror of thinking Clarke was in danger with no way for Lexa to protect her. After much deliberation on her part, Lexa decided the benefits of Clarke being near her at all times outweighed the dangers, and so Lexa silently vowed to never allow themselves to be separated again.

"Good morning beautiful."

Clarke murmured and placed a gentle kiss on Lexa's forehead. A kiss that sent pleasant shivers down her spine. She smiled.

"You ready for today?"

Lexa watched Clarke's eyes glaze over as she pondered the answer to Lexa's question.

"Not really, but we don't have a choice. I'm ready to figure out what the hell is going on. I'm ready to save our people. And I'm ready to deal with this issue so we can live in peace together. Oh, and I'm excited that you finally get to see the earth from a vantage point other than on the ground."

Lexa shuttered at Clarke's last sentence. For so long, she watched the birds fly above her and had wondered what it would be like to be them. She never expected, not in a million years, that her silly daydreams would become real. Lexa had never been higher up off the ground than what height she could climb to in a tree, and the thought of being able to fly in the clouds both excited and terrified her. Before she let her mind wander any farther, she pushed the blankets off the two of them and sat up.

"Come on Clarke, let's go get this cure."

Hello faithful readers!!! It's been a while, but less than a year, so hey, I'm improving in time between my updates, right? I have to write a CRAZY amount for my university classes so it's hard to find time to continue this story, but as long as you are still reading and enjoying, I will continue to write! How have you all been with this pandemic going on? I hope everyone is holding up okay.

Please let me know what you thought of this chapter, or if you have any ideas you would like to see included in the future of this story. I'm hoping to have a few updates here more regularly while I have time to write, and I'm determined to keep the length of time between updates shorter haha. I always love hearing from you so don't be hesitant to comment!