Work Text:
“Thanks for letting her stay with you,” Clarke says to Octavia and Lincoln, as Jupiter moves from her mother’s arms to her aunt’s. Lincoln watches Bellamy fidget uncharacteristically as he hands over some of Jupiter’s things to Lincoln.
"If you need anything at all, you can ask Abby," Clarke continues to give her instructions to Octavia, even though this is far from the first time that Jupiter has spent the night with her aunt and uncle.
"Really, though,” Bellamy finally says, mostly to Clarke, “do we both need to go on this trip? It's going to be at least a week."
Clarke sighs, like this is a debate she and Bellamy have had already and she’s tired of arguing against him instead of alongside him. "They asked for both of us specifically. Usually the best outcome of diplomacy comes from following through on certain agreements, and we really can't afford an enemy now when we've finally managed to have some peace for the past couple of years."
Bellamy closes his eyes in resignation, his jaw visibly clenching with his attempt to control his frustration.
Clarke lays her hand on his forearm, knowing that Bellamy hasn’t been away from Jupiter for more than a day or two at most. They’ll both struggle with this diplomatic trip for that reason alone, but Clarke’s argument is undeniable, and while they may have gotten through meetings with other clans with only one of them present, this was a specific request made by the Northern clan.
As much as Clarke and Bellamy have tried to move on from their pasts, the stories of the Mountain and the following clan conflicts have only continued to spread throughout the region with the semblance of myths and legends. Most times, having one of them present at a conclave is enough to have whatever deal the Sky clan is negotiating on go through. It’s not something either of them are at ease with, since most clans tend to praise the decisions they made in the time of war in very public and grand ways, but it’s allowed for the Sky people to have more diplomatic clout than they would have otherwise, so they continue to make the trips.
Bellamy nods, and reaches for Jupiter so he can say goodbye, his forehead to hers as he whispers his love and promise to return. Clarke watches from his side, quickly moving to her tip toes to drop a kiss on Jupiter’s head before Bellamy hands Jupiter back to Octavia.
“Come on, kid,” Octavia says to Jupiter, as she turns to walk them back into her and Lincoln’s cabin. “Let’s go inside and braid your hair so your mommy and daddy will actually leave for their very important diplomatic adventure!”
---
Octavia is pulling Jupiter’s thin braids back to tie in a half pony tail when a messenger comes to tell her that Indra is requesting her at the camp. Lincoln doesn’t even glance up from where he’s chopping up some vegetables and fruit for their dinner and snacks for Jupiter.
“I’m sure it’ll be quick enough. Keep an eye on her, though,“ Octavia says to him, as she walks past and brushes her hand across the wide expanse of his back.
Lincoln hums in acknowledgement. He’s looked after Jupiter on his own before, but she’s always seemed to have a special connection with Octavia. Whenever she’s with them, she tends to be Octavia’s shadow, so he and Jupiter have only been one on one for brief periods of time.
Octavia’s been gone for what seems like just a moment when Lincoln glances over to where she left Jupiter sitting on the ground. Given her heritage, it’s really not much of a surprise to find her currently gripping the handle of a haphazardly misplaced knife.
Lincoln sighs slowly, watching her inspect her new weapon, and declares, "You definitely have the blood of a Blake."
Seeing that she now has her uncle's attention, Jupiter jabs the knife a centimeter in his direction, scrunching her face up in an attempt at intimidation. Her imitation of a roar is impressive until she dissolves into giggles towards the end of it, her chubby cheeks dimpling.
"Terrifying," Lincoln nods approvingly. "Though perhaps not the best toy."
Jupiter can sense where this is going and is quick to tell him what's what. "Mine."
"It's not," Lincoln points out.
"Mineeee," Jupiter insists as she pulls the knife closer to her.
Lincoln eyes the apple he just finished cutting up and then looks back to Jupiter, who's watching him warily as though waiting for him to try and trick her.
"You bring up an interesting point," Lincoln concedes, "but have you considered ... apples?"
Lincoln holds out his hand to her, the small pieces of apple that have become one of Jupiter's favorite things in the last couple months in his large palm.
Jupiter’s eyes immediately fix onto the treat in his hand, knife falling forgotten to her side so that she can push herself to her feet and scamper over to him. Lincoln picks her up and places her on a chair within reaching distance of the table where he’s placed the apple pieces, and then moves to swipe the knife from the floor before she has a chance to reclaim her weapon.
When he turns back, Jupiter is happily munching on her fruit, a chunk waiting in each fist.
Lincoln stoops down to her level, and she grins at him. "Good negotiation. We'll make a heda of you yet."
---
The following day finds Indra trekking her way out to the Alliance camp, stopping first at Octavia and Lincoln’s cabin for some discourse away from the many ears that live within the limits of the expanded camp. Despite the overall good rapport between the different clans united under the alliance, most have still been hesitant to voice anything to the alliance council and general populace without first discussing privately with those they trust.
The alliance council is set to meet that night, and Octavia, Lincoln, and Indra have finalized a proposal they’ve been discussing for the past few weeks. When Indra starts to pack up, Octavia does as well.
“You’re joining me in front of the council?” Indra asks Octavia.
“No, but Jupiter is going to stay with Abby for the next two nights, so we’re going to walk back with you,” Octavia says as she organizes Jupiter’s things into a pack.
“It seems foolish for you to walk all the way to camp, when I am already going there. The child can come with me.”
Which is how Indra finds herself being trailed by a toddler on an extended trip back to camp that usually takes her half the time.
During the clan conflicts, Indra realigned her allegiance to join Lincoln and Octavia, along with a portion of other surviving warriors from tonDC and other surrounding clans. Through time, Indra had come to respect Bellamy and Clarke as leaders of the new alliance during the aftermath of the conflicts, but it wasn’t until Jupiter was born that she took any interest in their personal matters. The fact that Jupiter has been a miniature Octavia from day one has endeared her to Indra, and, while other children from the camp give her wide berth, Jupiter always seeks her out, even in the middle of combat practice.
Today, however, is one of the first times Jupiter has been in the forest with Indra, which is glaringly obvious with how loud and uncoordinated the young girl is as she moves through the trees. Not that it can be helped, since she is the daughter of two Skaikru; even as adept as her father is to the forest as his second home, there is still much a son of Skai does not understand of how to move with the forest instead of just within it.
Though, Indra thinks, the yongon could adapt quickly to lessons like Okteivia and prove to be just as capable.
Indra swiftly turns and kneels down directly in front of Jupiter, who is startled backwards with a gasp, landing on her butt in a small patch of grass. Her initial reaction to this surprise movement is to start crying, her face crumpling in anticipation, but she’s quelled by Indra bringing a single finger to her lips, soothing her into silence.
“De tri,” Indra says softly, looking around them at the trees surrounding them. “The trees. They’re listening.”
Jupiter gazes up at Indra, mouth slightly open, then tilts her head back to look at the canopy of trees above her. When Indra speaks again, Jupiter snaps her attention back to her.
“They sleep in peace but are always listening for those that travel through. If you wake them when you’re alone, they snatch you up,” Indra makes a quick arm movement and Jupiter jumps, but is silent still, “and you’re never seen again.”
She pauses for effect, then continues, “But if you are quiet and gentle as you move, the trigeda will protect you from the dangers outside her embrace.”
Jupiter’s eyes shift back to the trees around them in wonder.
“Gyon op,” Indra tells Jupiter, motioning for her to get back to her feet. She waits a moment, before turning and continuing on to the alliance camp, more deliberate with her steps this time so as to guide Jupiter in her own path.
A few moments pass and there’s a soft crunch behind Indra. She turns to see Jupiter frozen with one leg bent slightly, as though she immediately pulled her foot back after hearing the sound. She furtively looks up to Indra, and when she sees her watching, quickly refocuses her attention to moving her foot to a spot that is less likely to make a noise. Indra nods her head approvingly, then turns and continues on.
They make it back to camp without making any other loud noise, and Jupiter stops next to Indra at the crest of a hill at the edge of camp. They both take in the sights of the bustling village, which Indra can sense is both familiar and foreign to the Skai yongon, who is of these people but lives with her parents on the other side of the valley.
Indra looks down at the toddler next to her, Jupiter’s back straight and fist clenched as she looks on above her kinfolk, and raises her eyebrows slightly, murmuring, “Hope for the Skaikru after all.”
--
Jupiter has stayed with her nana in the heart of the Alliance village many times, but it’s only been recently that she’s demanded to have her own bed instead of sharing Abby’s at night. The night before, Jupiter had been content to curl up on the small mattress against the opposite wall from Abby’s own bed and sleep through until breakfast, exhausted from the march into camp with Indra. And with the busy day that Jupiter has had running around the medical station and visiting with Harper and the rest of the camp’s youngsters in daycare, Abby expects her to sleep through the whole night once again.
Abby is just starting to drift off to sleep herself when she feels a soft but insistent tugging at the edge of her blanket. She turns over and pushes herself up on one arm, seeing Jupiter standing at the side of her bed, hair slightly mussed with sleep, cheeks wet and her sleeping blanket from her Aunt Octavia that protects her from the sleep monsters clutched in a fist near her chin.
"What's wrong, sweetie?" Abby asks softly.
Jupiter's only response is a quick involuntary gasp, her little body shaking slightly with the movement. Abby’s been expecting something like this; she’s a little surprised Jupiter has made it this long before it caught up with her.
"Do you miss your mommy and daddy?" Abby gently probes.
Jupiter nods, the back of her other hand that is not holding her blanket coming up to rub at the tears in her eyes.
Abby's heart clenches in her chest. Though she had pulled many sleepless nights on the Ark, she had never been too far from Clarke, able to be by her side almost instantaneously if need be. As much as the Ark had been rigid and confining, it kept their people together in ways they cannot match on Earth.
"Do you want to lay with me? Would that make you feel better?"
Jupiter nods again, her small hands already moving towards the bed and attempting to lift herself onto it. Abby picks her up and gathers her under the covers, arranging her sleep blanket in between them and wrapping her in her arms.
"You know," Abby starts talking quietly, stroking Jupiter's hair, "whenever your mommy couldn't sleep, her daddy would hug her close and sing her to sleep. Worked every time."
There are a few moments where the only noises are the very faint hum of one generator in the distance and Jupiter's soft sniffles, and then Abby starts to sing.
"Hush-a-by, don't you cry. Go to sleep, my little baby. When you wake you shall have all the pretty little horses."
Abby has barely gotten through the first verse when she can feel Jupiter's breaths even out and see her face slacken. It's when Jupiter's asleep that she most reminds Abby of Clarke, a younger Clarke, the one free from responsibility and pain. She pulls Jupiter closer to her, and hopes she can do better to protect this child from any suffering or heartache than she was able to do with Clarke.
--
“Hand me the wrench, Monkey!”
Raven sticks her hand up towards the work table where Jupiter is currently sitting with a sparse selection of non-lethal tools surrounding her. Immediately, a tool drops into Raven’s hand and she's halfway to trying to affix it to the bolt before she realizes it's a Phillips head screwdriver instead of what she asked for.
Raven adjusts her brace and maneuvers herself so she can sit on the stool next to the table with her leg stretched out. She fixes Jupiter with a stare, watching as Jupiter jostles her legs around on the table top and hums happily to herself.
"Come on, Monkey, we've been working on this," Raven says to her, drawing her attention. "Which one is the wrench?"
Jupiter looks at Raven, wide-eyed and straight faced, tiny fingers stretching next to her sides, before her face transforms with mirth and she starts to giggle. She reaches underneath the leg that’s further away from Raven, and pulls out the wrench she’s been hiding, before waving it around in demonstration of her victory.
"Cute," Raven comments fondly, but exasperated. “Hand it over.”
Raven holds her hand out, but Jupiter pulls the wrench back behind her back and shakes her head. Raven’s about to start lecturing her, when Jupiter shifts and moves her face more towards Raven, offering up one of her cheeks to her and puckering her lips as instructions.
“Oh, I see,” Raven says, “you require payment, huh? I guess I can respect that.”
She plants a kiss on Jupiter’s cheek while she plucks the wrench from her hand. Her kiss quickly turns into blowing raspberries, and Jupiter’s peals of laughter echo off the metal walls of the mechanic work place.
“Do my ears deceive me, or are there sounds of actual happiness coming from this room?”
Raven rolls her eyes at Wick’s comment as she starts to lower herself down to the piece of machinery she’s been working on for the past week, wrench finally in hand. She tracks his movement by watching his feet move from the door to the other side of the work table while she responds to him.
“Shut up, Wick. Not everyone always has to be as vocal about everything as you.”
Wick makes a noise of offense, and Raven can picture the affronted look on his face as his feet move closer to where both she and Jupiter are located.
“Angel!” Wick says to Jupiter, his special nickname for her. “What are you doing here in this rust bucket?”
Jupiter giggles, and Raven pulls herself up from the ground for the second time, to watch Wick tickle Jupiter on her tummy.
“We’re hanging out, waiting for the check in from her mom and dad. The group should be within the radio radius at some point today, and I figured she’d like hearing her parents when they call in,” Raven tells him.
“And you haven’t died of boredom yet?” Wick asks Jupiter, his face showing exaggerated shock and disbelief. “Good thing I came around!”
“Hey!” Raven protests. “This isn’t the first time Jupiter has hung out with her Aunt Raven, okay? She’s totally interested.”
“Uh huh,” Wick says, shooting Raven a look, before turning back to Jupiter and bending forward in a bow, his hand offered to her. “Would the lady honor me with this dance?”
Raven scoffs, but Jupiter places her hand in Wick’s and is promptly swept off the table and into his arms. Wick hums some music from who knows what century while imitating some dance that Raven thinks she might have seen on a vid back when she and Finn were kids about royalty from the 19th century. Wick should look ridiculous doing this, in his stupid work boots that are worn down and doing extravagant movements that make Jupiter squeal and laugh, but it’s charming and irritating all at the same time, much like the man himself.
“You’re an idiot,” Raven tells him still, but can’t help watching him spin Jupiter around in circles for a few minutes, before she finally shakes herself and gets back to work.
Wick spends the next ten minutes waltzing around the room with Jupiter in his arms, occasionally dipping her or lifting her above his head, while Raven continues to tinker with her machine. Finally, the sound of static crackling from the radio draws their attention, and Raven manages to get next to the radio as the voices start to come in clearer.
“Raven, are you there? Do you copy?” Clarke’s voice is clear over the radio, which means they must be closer in range to the camp than they thought they would be at this point in the trip.
“Yeah, you’re coming in loud and clear. How’d the talk go?”
“Pretty well. The negotiations seemed to have gone through, and we even managed to work it in that we can renegotiate in a couple of months after we’ve seen what they can offer us and vice versa. There were definitely a few who were very eager to come and visit Bellamy at the Alliance camp.”
Clarke hasn’t even finished her sentence before Raven hears Bellamy interject, “Oh, like you didn’t have any of your own admirers following you around at every moment.”
Jupiter, still in Wick’s arms, has been making grabby hands towards the radio since the moment she heard her mother’s voice, so Raven says, “There’s someone here who would like to say something.”
Wick calls out a quick “Hello!” to which Raven snaps, “Shut it, Wick,” before Jupiter wraps her fingers around Raven’s hand holding the radio and calls out, “Mama! Daddy!”
Jupiter’s eyes are fixed on the radio as her parents respond back to her, smiling happily when she hears them say her name and tell her that they love and miss her.
“How has she been doing, Raven?” Clarke asks.
“Pretty well. She’s been hanging out with a lot of us, so that’s been helping keep her distracted and happy enough. But she misses you. Got any idea when you’ll be back?”
“We’re all anxious to get back, so we’ve been making good time. We’ll hopefully be back to the main camp area tomorrow afternoon,” Bellamy answers.
“We’ll be waiting for you here,” Raven says. “Keep your radio near in case of emergencies. We’ll have someone stationed here till you get back.”
Wick turns Jupiter around in his arms again, so she’s facing him and says, “Your mom and dad are going to be back tomorrow! No more pretending to have fun with Auntie Raven! Yay-ow!!”
Raven twirls the wrench in her hand, and smirks at him.
---
Jupiter has just finished planting seeds in an attempt at hybrid plants with her Uncle Monty (“Alright! You win at science!”) when her Uncle Nate strolls into the greenhouse. She watches as he comes up behind Uncle Monty, gathering him in his arms and dropping a quick kiss on his cheek.
“You’re back!” Monty says, quickly turning in Miller’s arms, his eyes roaming over his face for any injuries that may have come with the trip and finding none.
“We are,” Miller replies, a small smile on his face as he drinks in the sight of Monty, before letting his gaze shift over to Jupiter. “Hey squirt, I know some people who would be very interested in seeing you right now.”
Jupiter claps her hands, before reaching out towards Uncle Nate, who she knows will take her to her Mama and Daddy. He picks her up and kisses her on the cheek as well, before carrying her out towards the village gate.
As they get closer, Jupiter can see the familiar figures of her parents and starts to squirm in her uncle’s arms until he lets her down. She’s so excited she forgets to call out to them as she scampers over, jumping into her daddy’s arms since he’s closer and already kneeling down to catch her. She wraps her arms tight around his neck as he stands back up and peers steadfastly over his shoulder to where her mama is catching up to them. She’s quickly pressed between her parents in a tight hug as her daddy opens his arms to include her mama, and Jupiter has never felt as safe or loved as in this moment.
They stay for dinner with the rest of the group from the trip in the main village, and Jupiter only gets off of one of her parent’s laps in order to climb onto the other’s for the entire stretch of time, stealing food from each of their plates as she does so. When the summer sun starts to disappear, Jupiter tugs on both of their hands, insisting on “Home!” repeatedly, already dreaming of the soft blanket on her parents’ bed that she runs her fingers over again and again while her parents talk in soft voices in the other room.
The three of them say their goodbyes, grab Jupiter’s things, and head out into the forest to go home, with Jupiter leading the way and instructing her parents on the right way to walk in the trigeda like her Aunt Indra showed her.