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Lexa was already awake as the first rays of sunshine started drawing shadows on the ceiling of her tent. She looked at them for a few seconds, before she got out of bed. Ever since she was spending time with Clarke, she started noticing things, seeing beauty in small stuff she’s never noticed before. She smiled shaking her head in disbelief as she flapped the leather curtain covering the entrance as she left. She wasn’t really able to sleep anyway. She didn’t even want to admit it to herself, but she was excited about seeing Clarke again.
They agreed to meet after sunrise at a small clearing of the forest between Camp Jaha and TonDC where Clarke usually went to draw.
Even though it took the blonde forever to convince her, Lexa agreed to let Clarke teach her how to shoot a gun. She couldn’t ignore the fact that things were changing anymore. Maybe they did need to upgrade their defensive abilities after all, even if Indra disagreed.
Clarke was already there, sitting on the grass with her sketchbook on her lap, looking at the pink and orange painted sky. But Lexa wasn’t looking at the beauty of dawn. Clarke was more mesmerizing as the colorful sunlight broke on her hair, making her skin shine in a unique way, almost sparkling. The color of her blue eyes was even more intense because of the surroundings as she turned her head to look at Lexa.
“Morning.” She said with an almost flat tone. Lexa didn’t even realize she stopped when she got there, so she started walking in hopes Clarke didn’t notice.
“You know, the grass is wet at this time of the day.” She said trying to keep the same tone the blonde used before. “You’re going to catch a cold.”
“Like you care.” Clarke responded quickly. She didn’t even really know what was up with her attitude, but she was kind of surprised Lexa talked to her in an almost affectionate way. She wasn’t used to it. Between all the war preparations and struggle to survive, all they’ve talked about were responsibilities, leadership and plans.
Lexa walked up to her, holding out a hand to help her up. She was hesitant for a second, but then took the brunette’s hand and sent a slight smile her way as a form of thank you, but didn’t say anything.
“So how do you want to do this?” Lexa asked, curiosity lingering in the back of her mind.
“Follow me.” Clarke motioned with her head. So Lexa did.
They walked to the other end of the clearing and Clarke stopped in front of a wide tree.
“May I see you knife?” she held out her hand. Lexa gave it to her without hesitation. Clarke carved a pretty big circle on the trunk of the tree and an X crossing it. She gave Lexa her knife back, then put approximately 30 yards of distance between herself and the target. The brunette followed.
“We will increase the distance once you’re comfortable with this one.” Clarke started. “Try and hit the center of the X.” and she gave her gun to Lexa.
She took it, but the blonde could see she was uncomfortable even though she nodded at the instructions. So Clarke carefully explained ever step from how to hold it, how to load it and the safety measures. Lexa nodded again so Clarke took a step back as the Commander positioned herself to fire.
The shot was louder than Lexa expected and the power of it made her shift her position slightly. She didn’t even hit the trunk of the tree.
“Maybe just the circle will do for now.” Clarke chuckled as she couldn’t really hide her amusement.
“I would easily hit the X with an arrow from a hundred yards.” Lexa said in her defense.
“I have no doubt about that.” Clarke said with a reassuring voice.
The compliment gave Lexa some of her confidence back, so she shot again. The result was the same the second time and the third and the ninth.
Clarke didn’t chuckle this time. She carefully approached Lexa, positioned herself behind the Commander. She slowly closed the distance between them, leaning her body against Lexa’s, making her take the form of her position correcting it, as she gently put her hands over the brunette’s adjusting the gun in her hands so it stood and pointed in the precise direction, non-verbally instructing her with every firm touch. She was practically holding the Commander like that in an embrace, hand in hand, for a few long seconds as she tried to make themselves concentrate, taking in, memorizing the details of the technique.
But Lexa did everything beside that. She was unable to concentrate, because the moment she felt Clarke’s body next to hers, her heart stopped. She just then realized she’s never been that close to the leader of the Sky people. And then her heart started racing, beating faster and faster against her rib cage. She could almost hear the sound. She felt redness slowly climbing up her neck, starting the second Clarke’s hand touched hers, almost lacing their fingers together on the gun. She was silently hoping it won’t show on her cheeks. And as she thought of that, emotions flooded every portion of her body. The feelings she’s tried so hard to conceal from herself erupted.
Realization hit her. She cared about this girl, more than she thought, more than she should…
Clarke suddenly pulled the trigger, the sound of the shot pulling Lexa back from her deep swim in her thoughts, letting go of a breath she didn’t realize she was holding. The aim was perfect, the bullet left a visible mark in the center of the X. Their position didn’t shift, not even an inch.
“That wasn’t so hard, was it?” Clarke whispered because of the ear splitting sound before from a second ago.
And a shiver went down on Lexa’s spine, as Clarke’s soft voice reached her ear with the warmth of her breath and slowly, goosebumps started covering every inch of Lexa’s body. And she found herself wishing this moment would never end, but she had to break the contact as she felt her whole body was about to start trembling.
“You’re really good at this.” She said with a low tone, trying desperately to put her stoic mask back on, as she took a step forward and turned to face the girl, who was holding her so close seconds ago.
“You will be as well after a little practice.” Clarke responded, now with a smile on her face, which somewhat confused Lexa.
“Maybe we can continue tomorrow.” She replied quickly, taking a step back.
Clarke looked a bit confused, so she added quickly, before the blonde could speak.
“I’ve got some things to take care of.” She took one last, deep glance at Clarke’s eyes and in the next second she already had her back turned on Clarke, walking away.
She tried not to rush, not to make it obvious, but she couldn’t wait to get away.
This… this thing that happened, whatever it was, scared her, made her weak. So she made her escape, begging for the deep forest to shelter her.
“See you tomorrow!” Clarke shouted after her.
She just waved, she didn’t turn around, she didn’t respond.
She looked back for a second, after she got behind the cover of the trees at a safe distance. Clarke was once again sitting on the grass with her sketchbook on her lap.
Maybe she’s still got time to draw the colorful skyline she thought as she took in a deep breath, continuing her journey back to TonDC.
What she didn’t know was the fact that Clarke started sketching herself holding Lexa in position for the gunshot…