A gentle breeze crept its way around Clarke. Windows were opened to the heat of the summer day. Rays of light captured motes of dust within their grasp as if their motions were frozen in place. Through her open window Clarke could see that the sun sat so very high above, barely a cloud could be seen and the blue of the sky would have brought a smile to her lips at any other time.

The sounds of horses outside fought their way to the forefront of her attention and she knew River must be making a nuisance of herself, she knew River would probably be nipping at the horses that must have approached too closely.

"I can have my warriors move further away," the words shouldn't make Clarke want to cry, the timber of her voice shouldn't make Clarke want to break and shatter. Not after all these years.

But for some reason they did. They always did.

And so Clarke looked back to the emerald speckled eyes that stared at her with such intensity that it made her skin crawl. The Commander looked at her with the same intensity as she had always done, and though they had grown, they had drifted apart and they had come together at different times, her eyes had never seemed to change, those emotions, however well hidden they had been, were always there for Clarke to see if she let herself look hard enough.

"It's ok," Clarke said. "River just isn't used to more than just me and her," and Clarke couldn't help but to smile at a memory long since faded to the wind.

"I remember when I first gifted her to you," the Commander said, and Clarke saw the hints of a smile upon the Commander's lips.

"Yeah," Clarke said quietly and she tried not to think back to that time, if only because the pain she had still felt had been unbearable at times.

"Sorry," the Commander whispered, and Clarke watched as the Commander's hand subconsciously reached out for her own before she seemed to come to her senses and pull it back to her side of the table.

"It's ok," Clarke said, and it was true. She knew she shouldn't dwell on the past as much as she did. But it was hard when she was reminded of things that could have been.

"Your people ask of you," the Commander said gently, her voice enough to break Clarke's momentary distraction.

"They always do," and Clarke found herself smiling a somewhat bittersweet thing as she thought of the people she had said goodbye to so very long ago. "Thank you," she said eventually.

"You asked to be left alone," the Commander replied, and if those words had come from anyone else Clarke was sure she would have heard resentment or blame, but she heard neither of those things. She never had and she thought she never would. And so the Commander finished, "so I ensure you are left alone."

Clarke smiled, the expression a little less forced as she took in the way the Commander's eyes never wavered from hers still. It was odd, too, Clarke thought, as she continued to look at the younger woman before her. It had felt like she had grown closer to the Commander in the years since gone, but it felt different, it felt pained, frayed, somewhere between broken loss and hopeless desires.

"You haven't come for a while," Clarke said, and she found herself staring at the ornate piece of metal that sat between the Commander's eyebrows, that glinted so very vibrantly in the sun.

"The border skirmishes have kept me away," the Commander said as she looked outwards as if to recall something or someone.

That didn't surprised Clarke though, she had known the Commander had led her forces in one last routing of those that had been unwelcoming of the new order of things.

"Do you think the peace will last?" Clarke asked, but for some reason she thought she knew the answer already.

"Yes," and this time the Commander smiled as she looked back at her, the vibrancy of her eyes just as sure as it had once been in memories past. "Of course there are bandits, those who were banished," and she shrugged as she gestured outwards, the studded leather gloves she wore creaking just barely with the motion. "They will always be a thorn in the Coalition's side," she continued. "But after ALIE," there was a pause, something subtle, but enough for Clarke to see the self admonishment flash across the Commander's face before she masked it in such a familiar way. "After Azgeda's rebellion I do not think we will have conflict again."

"I hope so," Clarke said, and her voice came out softer than she had meant, but she couldn't be blamed, and she didn't think the Commander would hold it against her, either.

"I know you do not see it as such," the Commander said, and this time she reached out more purposefully and let the warmth of their fingers intertwine. "But you are as much to thank for the peace as the warriors that fought for it."

Clarke shook her head, perhaps to rid herself of the memories, perhaps to rid herself of the pain and the regrets and she pulled her hand back to the safety of her side with a little more force than she had intended.

"Don't," and Clarke's lips trembled as she took in a deep breath and fought to settle the breaking of her heart. "Don't, please."

"Sorry," it was simple, it was honest, it was as truthful as it had once been so very high up in Polis tower. And though Clarke dared not see the emotions in the emerald eyes that looked at her, though she dared not look longer than a moment's passing, she knew what she would see. "I have stayed too long," the Commander's voice broke the silence.

Clarke watched as the Commander rose from the chair opposite her, the motion regal, elegant, careful and poised.

"A messenger will continue to arrive once a week should you have need for anything," she said as she turned for the door that separated Clarke from the quiet of the summer's day.

Clarke wasn't sure what it was, she wasn't sure what it could have been, perhaps years of regret, perhaps years of wondering of the things that could have been. But whatever it was made Clarke rise from her chair and steel her breath.

"Hey, wait," Clarke called out and she watched as the Commander paused by the front door, one hand already beginning to pull it open as she stopped and looked over her shoulder.

"Clarke?" she didn't know if the Commander meant to say her name in that same way, she didn't know if the Commander even realise the way she pronounced it.

"Next week, if you're not busy," she flinched, if only because she knew she sounded so very childlike in her words. "I wouldn't be angry if you came instead of the messenger."

Clarke couldn't quite reconcile the emotions she felt building within her as she watched the Commander's lips curl into a smile that seemed so very full of an emotion she recognised. The corners of the woman's eyes crinkled enough for Clarke to know the emotion genuine, and she watched as the Commander tucked a crimson lock of curly hair behind her ear and nodded to her just once.

"I will be here in a week, Clarke."

And so Clarke answered;

"I'll see you in a week, Athena."