Perfect Paradise

[Clarke Griffin]

Madi

"Madi, go to your safe place tonight." Clarke said calmly to her now adoptive daughter. She had prepared Madi for it in a way. She had told her that it would be relatively soon that the little baby would join them here in Shallow Valley. As she saw her daughter off to her little hiding spot, Clarke rubbed her belly, even though she knew fully well that it would do nothing to numb the pain she was experiencing. She knew the baby was coming. Clarke was afraid. In many ways very afraid. One: She hoped it would be quick and it would be okay. And she hoped the baby would be able to survive. There was a chance it would not be. But Clarke did not want to think about the worst case scenario. Besides her brain did not exactly allow for much thought.

Her night was long until finally her little boy screamed in her arms, happy healthy and as it seemed with black blood, nightblood, the essence of what would make him able to survive. After feeding him, she just lay holding him close until she saw the sun rise. With the baby sleeping, Clarke got up to clean up a little and wrap her son into something nice, to make sure all looked nice and well for a childs eyes when Madi came home. Putting the baby in a basket she went outside and started to make breakfast for Madi and herself. She was starving and tired, but happy in a way. She had a baby now. She had two children now. She was humming happily.

[Madi]

Night bled into day but Madi hadn't slept at all. She was hiding in the safe space, panic eating at her, suffocating her from the inside out as she worried about her adoptive mother. Her very pregnant adoptive mother... her about to give birth adoptive mother...

Madi had wanted to stay, wanted to help but Clarke--naturally--sent her away. Truth be told the young girl was glad she did. Surviving on a post-apocalyptic earth was one thing, helping deliver a baby was a completely different thing.

Her staying would have made the delivery that much more difficult for Clarke and thus more traumatising for herself. So she had done what she was told and gone to the safe space she and her mother had agreed upon.

She could here in the distance the sounds of distress and and closer her eyes tightly shut, as though that could block out the world. Madi didn't like that her mother was delivering this baby alone. She worried that she wouldn't survive the birth... that the baby wouldn't survive.

She wondered if it would be able to survive, if it would be a natblida like her and Clarke... she wondered if it would be a boy or a girl... wondered what Clarke would call it.

Finally, when sunlight bled over the horizon Madi emerged. She was tense as she made her way back to her mother, frightened of what she might find but the mood lightened when she found her mother humming. Madi couldn't remember a time she saw Clarke this happy.

Almost immediately her attention were drawn to the basket where the baby was. "Is it..." She couldn't bring herself to finish the question. Her heart was in her throat as she looked at her mother with pleading eyes.

Tag: Clarke Griffin

I'M WAKING UP
TO ASH AND DUST

THIS IS IT, THE APOCALYPSE

                                                                                            MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[Clarke Griffin]

Clarke turned to her beloved daughter when she approached. She saw fear in and insecurity in her eyes and she could not for a moment blame her. This had been a scary night. She had to stay away while she knew Clarke was in pain, her only companion. They relied on each other in ways they had not really verbalized, but probably both knew all too well. Clarke got up gingerly from where she was crouched next to the fire to stir the breakfast she was preparing. Naturally she was still in a great deal of pain, but that was to be expected. It was perfectly normal, too, after giving birth. Her movements would remain a bit slower at the moment.

"He is perfectly healthy." She said softly to her adoptive daughter as she approached her and wrapped her arms gently around the child she had come to call her own more and more. Now they were three. Now they had a little baby to take care of, too. She thought they could do it. She thought they would be able to do it. They had to be. The little boy relied on them, now. He was helpless. He needed them both. "He is a little natblida, healthy and sleepy at the moment." Clarke went to the basket with her and carefully picked the now cleaned up newborn baby up to show her adoptive daughter. He scrunched his little face up a little as the sun hit it, but settled moments later. "Isn't he adorable?" She asked her. Adorable but she had the feeling, that he would take after his father quite a lot. That would be difficult in a few years, when the bunker opened. What if people suspected to know who his father was? How long would she be able to keep that secret? For now everything was okay. All of them were okay. "It all went well, Madi."

[Madi]

He--it was a little boy. Madi breathed out a sigh of relief as her mothers arms wrapped around her and the tension seeped out of her shoulders as she exhaled. Blue-green eyes stared down at the baby, who was so small and innocent, so utterly helpless and dependent on them.

She hated that he had been born into a world that was so unforgiving, so dangerous, so corrupting but she wasn't mad that he had been born. Their family had expanded and she was so happy.

She was happy that the baby was alive and safe, that she had a little brother, that her mother was safe. Carefully she reached out and moved a part of the blanket that was covering his face while still keeping him wrapped up nice and warm. Her heart was so swollen with proud and love, her eyes full of adoration as she stared down at the baby.

"I'm going to take care of you, little brother," she said softly, with a small smile on her lips. The baby took one of her fingers in his hand and squeezed tightly; Madi thought she might cry.

"I'm going to keep you safe." It was a promise. As long as she was alive and at his side, nothing would ever harm him. Madi looked up at her mother. "What are we calling him?"

Tag: Clarke Griffin

I'M WAKING UP
TO ASH AND DUST

THIS IS IT, THE APOCALYPSE

                                                                                            MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[Clarke Griffin]

Clarke smiled as she watched Madi make that promise. It sounded painfully familiar. It sounded like a promise a boy once made to a baby, a story she knew all too well. But that was also a dangerous part of their history. Protection was something she could not argue against. But, at no point would she let it stand if Madi called herself responsible for the actions of the little boy. They were and always would be their own people.

"Theo. Theo Jake Griffin" She said gently, looking at the child she had been carrying inside her for so long with warm fondness. There was so much she had wondered about that she knew now. She knew how much she loved the boy. She knew she would do anything to protect her children. And she knew she would do anything to keep Theo away from so many people os his clan. Until he was ready. "It was the name of his fathers grandfather. And my fathers name. I think his father would have liked for...something of his families history to live on in him. Even if he couldn't be there to see it."

[Madi]

With her finger still trapped in the baby's tiny hand, she looked up at her mother, smiling proudly. Though that smile faded when Clarke explained the meaning behind his name. It wasn't a story her mother had ever told, and there had been many over the past few months. She had never mentioned the baby's father in detail or by name and Madi had to wonder why.

Madi frowned slightly, her gaze drifting back to her new baby brother, who cooed adorably. "Who is his father?" She asked in a soft voice, fearing that the answer would be denied, but also fearing that it would be shared. The secret had been kept for a reason.

"You never talk about him." Madi went on to say, feeling that she needed to explain her curiosity. "Is he important... or someone you don't wish to remember?" Did he pose a threat to the baby, that was a better question. Madi wouldn't let his father take him away. She would protect him. No matter what.

Tag: Clarke Griffin

I'M WAKING UP
TO ASH AND DUST

THIS IS IT, THE APOCALYPSE

                                                                                            MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[Clarke Griffin]

Clarke stared at the child she gave birth to, a nightblood, carrying on genetics she had thought to be gone. Both kids had been born with a burden they might not even recognize yet. It all depended on what would happen in a little over four years, when the doors to the bunker opened and her sons clan would once more roam the earth, share this place with them. Depending on the development of it all, they would have to be careful. He was the last piece of him this earth had. He was...precious. Perhaps their fling was short, doomed to end anyway, but he meat something to her. He was one of the few not afraid to oppose her. He was someone who could love her, oppose her, be her friend, but most importantly: He held her trust and never truly betrayed it. It was rare. It was valuable.

"He's gone, Madi." She whispered. "He's gone. And his loss hurts. He was so important Madi" She had never once mentioned Roan. She had only drawn him once and had put the drawing away, safely hidden. She guessed, given how crafty Madi was, that she might have seen it once, might even guess that he was the father of the unborn child. Now Theo was with him and he was already showing his fathers dark hair. She guessed he might be very close in appearance to him. In a way, she hoped for it. His father was a very handsome man. "To me... but not just to me. He was just and fair and frank. He fought for his people, his clan and he never pretended otherwise. He never said he was fighting for everyone when he was just fighting for his clan. HIs clan always came first and he let everyone know that, but if his clans survival could happen without killing the other clans, he chose that way. We could have had peace with him. He...was so kind and brave and a great king. He was the king of Azgeda. And as far as I know Theo is his only child. Azgeda might...want to take him away from us because of that. So they can't know he is who he is until we are sure they won't take him."


Madi

[Madi]

He was gone but Madi had anticipated this. It was so unlikely that anyone had survived the second Primfaya - even the two of them had been so close to death. That did not stop the surprise upon learning that her brothers father was the King of Azgeda. Roan Kom Azgeda. It should not have been so surprising.

Clarke spoke so fondly of the man when telling her stories, detailing his presence as though he was still present in the room and not an echo of the past. Madi supposed for Clarke he was still there.. She likely still felt him in everything that she did, was reminded of him every day of her pregnancy.

Madi did not interrupt as Clarke spoke. Madi let her speak, to remember him, to honour him with her words. She had not known him well, had only heard of him before Primfaya had come, but the way Clarke spoke of him painted a visit picture of what he was like. But what Madi did know was the reputation of Azgeda, and she understood her adoptive mothers fears.

"Clarke," Madi said, her voice soft and serious as she looked up at her, hovering close to both Theo and Clarke. "No one will take him." There was nothing left on this earth that would take this child from them. It was not a promise that would be broken. "I promise you. No one will ever take him from you."

Tag: Clarke Griffin

I'M WAKING UP
TO ASH AND DUST

THIS IS IT, THE APOCALYPSE

                                                                                                 MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0