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“What if I slip?!” Clarke cried.
Lexa laughed. “Clarke, the water isn’t even that deep! You can literally see the ground! Just get in!”
“If I slip, I will drown!” Lexa was laughing again! How dare she? This is dangerous-- Okay, maybe Clarke was overreacting a bit, but learning how to swim is actually scarier than it sounds!
“I’ll pull you back up if you slip. Which you won’t! The ground isn’t even that slippery! Come here and sit on the edge! I’ll help you in.” Lexa gave her a warm smile, secretly finding it adorable who Clarke is usually such a badass but will be a baby about learning how to swim.
Clarke ever so slowly sat down on the stone wall at the edge of the water. They were in the middle of the forest. Its spring and the temperatures are rising again. It was beautiful outside that day. Sunny with completely clear skies. Warm enough to go out in short sleeved shirts and maybe even shorts.
“Last time I was in open water, we almost died. There aren’t any snake type creatures I here, right? Or like any creatures at all?”
Lexa chuckled. “No, Clarke. There aren’t any snake like creatures in here. Maybe some small fish but that’s about it.”
“Right.” Taking a deep breath, Clarke took Lexa’s outstretched hand and slowly letting herself get pulled into the hip high water. This lake was beautiful. Reminding Clarke more of a pool from pictures that she saw on the arc then other open waters that Clarke saw here on earth. It was surrounded by concrete walls. Getting deeper on the other side. The walls were covered on moss, little pebbles and bigger stones laying around everywhere. The beauty of the lake had nothing on Lexa though. When Lexa brought up going swimming, Clarke had no idea that Lexa would grab her swimming wear, which was some leather shorts and fabric covering her chest, leaving the bare skin of her stomach and thighs bare for Clarke to see. Clarke herself just took of her pants and kept her shirt on. It was nice being away from polis even if it was just for a few hours.
Lexa was right. The ground wasn’t really that slippery. Clarke was still terrified of slipping though. She didn’t realize with what strength she was holding onto Lexa’s hand till Lexa spoke. “Clarke, relax. I’m not going to let you slip, I promise. You know, we don’t have to do this. We could just go back to the city.”
Clarke shook her head. No, she wanted to learn how to swim, but she couldn’t help but be scared. This was new territory. Even with Lexa right beside her, it was really fucking scary! But she didn’t want to admit that to Lexa. Lexa, who was the commander of the grounders. Never being scared of anything. And here is Clarke, being afraid of swimming.
“No. No, I want to do this. I promise!” Clarke’s voice was sounding a little shaky, even to her own ears. Lexa’s eyes softened. She raised her hand, placing it against Clarke’s neck, leaning in to pressing a soft kiss on Clarke’s lips. “Sweetheart, it’s fine if you are scared. Do you know how scared I was as a little girl learning how to swim? It was terrifying! I’m not going to judge you! You should know me well enough by now.”
Clarke really didn’t want to cry, but that ship sailed the second after Lexa said ‘sweetheart’. When the first tear rolled down Clarke’s cheek, Lexa shushed her, pulling Clarke to her chest immediately.
Not being far from the edge, it was quite easy for Lexa to take a few steps towards it, so she could hoist Clarke up the edge to sit her down.
Clutching Lexa’s shoulders, burying her face in Lexa’s hair, the first sob tore from Clarke’s chest.
Clarke didn’t even really know why she was crying, she just felt this consuming need to let it out. Maybe her mom was right when she told Clarke a few weeks prior that she should take a break, get away from the busy city, spend some time in arcadia to relax, to process everything that happened the past few months. Living in the wood, finding madi, being reunited with Lexa, the festival, entering a relationship with Lexa, living with Lexa and Madi in polis, being the ambassador for the ‘sky people’. It all took a toll on Clarke and she never really acknowledged that. It was easier to not deal with it at all than to deal with those bad feelings and memories.
Lexa’s free fingers were gently coming through Clarke’s curls. Calming her down a bit. “What’s wrong, sweetheart? Tell me what got you so worked up. Did something happen?”
Clarke shook her head. “No, nothing happened. I don’t know what’s wrong!” New tears made their way down Clarke’s face.
Lexa shushed her again, cooing softly. “Do you want to go back to the tower?”
Shaking her head again, hiccupping. “Can we stay here a little longer?”
Pulling back, Lexa gave her another smile, a smile that only two people on this earth will ever see. Clarke and Madi.
“Do you want to get dry and lay in the grass for while?”
Clarke nodded.
“Alright, let me get out of the water.”
Grabbing towels from their bags, Lexa went back to where she left Clarke standing in the grass. Seeing Clarke cry was really something that she never wants to see again. It’s making her want to kill whoever is responsible for those tears. Seeing Clarke sad, showed Lexa feelings that she never knew existed.
After both of them were dried off, back in their clothes, Lexa laid down on the grass. It only took a few seconds before Clarke was cuddling into her side, swing an arm over Lexa’s stomach. Lexa wasted no time, wrapping her arms around Clarke, pulling her even closer. She placed a soft kiss to the top of Clarkes head. “It’s going to be fine. I don’t know what’s going on, but we’ll fix it. I promise! Please stop crying, sweetheart.”
“Nothing is wrong. Nothing happened. I just think I need a break. I haven’t had a proper break since I left Arcadia. Living in the wood, we always had to watch over our shoulders, at any tome someone could have come through the village and I had to keep madi safe. Even when I was still alone in the woods. There was always the danger of running into someone who doesn’t like us. The sky crew. And here, we’re constantly working. I love my job, but it’s exhausting sometimes. I feel like I’m not spending enough time with madi!”
Seeing Clarke this distressed, tears were coming to her own eyes rapidly. She sighed. “Why didn’t you tell me this earlier, sweetheart. We could have done something about that. We will do something about that! I just wish that you would have come to me about this. What di you need? If you need someone else to be the ambassador for the sky crew that’s totally fine, Clarke. You have done more than enough for your people. And I couldn’t be prouder, but if this is too much or it’s affecting you in a bad way, everybody will understand the need for a long overdue break.”
Lexa being so gentle and understanding only brought more tears to Clarke’s eyes. Clarke nodded instead of answering verbally.
They just laid there in the sun for a few minutes in comfortable silence, only the occasional sniff from Clarke and nature around them to be heard.
“I think I want to visit Arcadia for a bit but…”
More tears. Great!
“But..?” lexa prodded.
“I don’t want to leave you!”
Lexa smiled. “How said I was going to let you and madi go by yourselves?”