Disclaimer: I own nothing and no profit has been made from this story. The 100 belongs to Bonanza Productions in association with Alloy Entertainment, Warner Bros. Television and CBS Television Studios.

SPOILERS IN THIS CHAPTER: Up to episode 08 of Season 2 – "Spacewalker".

ALLIANCE – CHAPTER ONE

The Proposal

The blood hadn't even dried from pale hands when the Commander entered the tent, reminding Clarke once again that she was just a guest at that place. It was the Grounder's camp, just outside Camp Jaha, where they gathered for over a day and waited throughout the night to attack the Sky People – Clarke's people. But it was over now. They were finally going home.

At least Lexa was, because Clarke had never been farther from home in her entire life, not even when the Dropship first left the Ark to land on Earth. Right now, Finn was her only home, and he wasn't here anymore. He would never be here again. All there was were trees, weapons, dirt, blood and a dim hope that somehow they were going to work out the differences between people from the sky and from the ground and stay together to finally defeat Mt. Weather, so Finn's sacrifice – or was it Clarke's? – would not be in vain.

As she looked up from her bloodied hands for the first time, Clarke saw the Commander waiting in silence for her, watching the blonde a few feet away. Lexa knew the girl was in pain. She felt the same pain once, not long ago, but it already felt like ages.

Clarke just got up, putting on her mask of confidence and serenity that was required for being a leader and got ready to leave.

"I know it's time to go. I won't keep us up."

As she was crossing the tent and getting past Lexa, the Commander raised her voice for the first time since she protected Clarke from the Grounder's wrath after Finn's early execution.

"Wait."

The blonde stopped, but didn't look back. She was facing the door, and only then she noticed how eager she was to leave that place. As if by leaving she would suppress some of the pain, but little did she know about it – the pain would be her only constant travel companion for a long time now.

"Our alliance is not completely forged yet, Clarke of the Sky People."

The words took a little while to completely sink into the girl. After all she had done, after all she had been through to save her people… They still wanted more? What else could she give up?

"Wasn't Finn's death enough for you, Commander?"

The bitterness on her voice didn't take Lexa by surprise, even though Clarke was trying her best to stay respectful and calm. Lexa knew the girl hated her and probably would try to kill her if the alliance wasn't so important to her people. The brunette just raised her head a little higher, giving herself that regal air that she cared around so well. Her mind was made up, so she had to keep talking even if she knew Clarke would probably be completely opposed to what she was about to suggest.

"The death debt was paid tonight. No more blood shall be shed."

Clarke didn't move, sensing the Commander wasn't done with her speech. Lexa took a few steps forward and faced the girl, trying to reach her eyes as she spoke.

"I can't lead my people into an alliance only by trusting your word, Clarke. That would be reckless. Me and my people are still very suspicious about the Sky People's intentions."

"So are we", replied Clarke, finally looking up to the Commander. "But I can convince them that we must stay together."

"What if you die in combat? What if I die?" Lexa took a step closer to the blonde, never breaking eye contact. "Do you really think our generals will follow our steps and keep the alliance going?"

Clarke looked into Lexa's green eyes, which were still surrounded by the heavy black war painting, even though there wasn't going to be a battle today. Silly mistake – they were still fighting. This was also part of their war, which didn't look like was going to end soon.

"So what, Lexa? Are you giving up our alliance before it even started?"

"No", she answered firmly, "I'm trying to make it so strong that it never has to end, even after our last breath."

Clarke looked at her with a mixture of suspicious and curiosity. She clearly had a plan going on.

"What are you suggesting?"

"We must get married."

They both fell into silence once again after the proposition was thrown on the table. Lexa just stood there, looking serene and in control as always, clear eyes not giving up any kind of emotion, while Clarke took a couple of steps back, as if she was trying to get some air. Did the Commander, the same person who was threatening to kill all of her people less then an hour ago, just fucking proposed to her?

"You can't be serious", she whispered, almost unable to contain her anger, "you saw what happened between me and Finn out there. I loved him and I had to kill him because of you!"

"You killed him, Clarke. That was your choice. Don't ever try to get away from it." The Commander's eyes never left the blonde, never gave her a second to mourn in private. "Don't be weak now. We are both leaders, we have responsibilities towards our people and the future of this alliance will always be one of them."

"But marriage, Commander? How can you possibly suggest that after I lost the person I loved?"

"This has nothing to do with love, Clarke. It's a political alliance. Listen to me."

Clarke took a few breaths and tried her best to concentrate, to put her leader façade back on so she could make decisions with her head, not her heart.

Lexa walked towards the girl again, closing the space between them so she could be heard even when her voice was low, almost a whisper. Clarke wondered if she was talking like that to not be heard by her guards outside or if it was because she was just as unwilling to take this vowel of marriage, even though it was her idea.

"Our votes of wedding are very sacred. When you choose to bond with someone, you are giving yourself to this person, and they are giving themselves to you in return. The souls become intertwined."

Clarke remembered when she was younger, just a couple of years from now, and heard her friends talking about finding the right guy and getting married. She always thought that was bullshit and that those girls should spend their times concentrating on more important things, like jobs and education. However, her parent's marriage gave her a little bit of hope about the union that could sprout from love. That ended when her Abby decided to sentence her husband to death. Lucky Clarke - she never spent time thinking about becoming a beautiful bride in a long white dress (like they saw on those old movies from Earth, before the Ark existed), and now she was going to have the less romantic wedding that she could possibly conceive.

"In our case, because we are leaders, that means our people will also belong together from the day we marry", continued Lexa. "That's how we forge alliances between clans, even though it's not very common for their commanders to marry. But it has happened before."

"But what about my people?", asked Clarke. "Marriage for us isn't something so spiritual and sacred. I don't know if they will respect a marriage celebrated by Grounders."

"So let's get married by your laws as well", she replied, her voice getting a little stronger. "Clarke, this is the only way. It might fail, but it's worth trying. This is the only bond that will keep our alliance together if we die or get captured."

Clarke nodded in agreement, even though she was still processing the information. But things were starting to get a little clearer on her head. She had lost so much… what was there to loose on marrying this girl, anyway? She had taken some very bold choices, and by far this was the least dangerous one.

"We have to do it in secret, though". Lexa turned around for the first time, heading for the door, suddenly in a hurry. "If our people knew about this now, there could be an uprising. They still don't trust each other enough, we must give them time to gain mutual respect."

"Alright. What do I have to do for the ceremony?"

"Find two witnesses of your most deep trust and I'll find two of mine. Then we'll need a priest from both our cultures to marry us both ways."

Lexa looked out of the tent briefly, as if she was checking if it was safe to leave.

"You must go now. Meet me in the woods in half an hour, southwest of your camp, and follow the trail I'll leave behind so we can do this somewhere secure."

She held open the cloth that was used as the tent's door, waiting for Clarke to leave. The blonde took no time in doing so, and soon Lexa was left alone for the first time since she got engaged to the leader of the people who came from the sky.