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chapter thirty-four, It's Just Cuts

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IT WAS STILL DARK OUTSIDE AND Arkadia was still burning but once it started to rain, the fire was starting to die down quickly. People who barely made it out alive were outside huddled together each taking a breath of oxygen.

Fio was still carrying Nova then finally set her down underneath a tent that helped her not get rained on.

Clarke and Iris followed behind Fio and once he stopped, they both kneeled next to her. "Are you okay?" Clarke asks immediately as Nova holds onto her stomach while nodding her head.

"Nova, I thought you were dead" Iris states worriedly and Nova looks over at her, "So did I".

"I need to check on other people, but I promise I'll be back" Clarke promises as she holds both sides of Nova's face, making her look at her. Nova sent her a nod and Clarke was on her way to tend to other people who needed help.

Fio slowly kneeled next to Nova and stares at her in disbelief.

"Nova..." Fio breathed out and Nova looked over at him. Her brother. "I'm okay, I promise" Nova mumbles and Fio wastes no time and pulls Nova into a tight bear hug. "Still hurting" Nova informs as she pats Fio's back. Fio quickly pulls away from the hug rubs Nova's arm looking into her eyes as Iris sat there and watched with Nova barley looking in her direction.

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IT WAS THE NEXT MORNING AND NOVA found out llian had been locked up. The fire finally died down and most of Arkadia was salvaged and able to be lived in. Some people had to room with others or spread out around the ship as their rooms were destroyed.

Nova and Octavia were placed in a small, dimly lit room and told to rest, but Nova was restless. As soon as Niylah left, she pushed herself up from the bed, her movements slow and deliberate. Her leg throbbed painfully, and she let out a low groan, leaning her head back and taking a deep, steadying breath.

Determined, Nova placed one tentative foot forward, her hand gripping the bed frame for support. She managed a few steps before releasing her grip and continuing around the room, her movements growing slightly more confident. She was focused, determined to regain her strength.

The door creaked open, and Fio entered, carrying a cup of water. His eyes widened in concern as he saw Nova walking. "You should be resting; that's what Clarke said," Fio admonished, quickly moving to support her with a hand on her waist.

"I don't want rest. I want to walk, and I was doing just fine," Nova replied, her voice a mixture of frustration and determination. She sighed deeply, leaning slightly against Fio.

The door opened again, and Clarke stepped in, looking exhausted and frazzled. Dark circles under her eyes indicated she hadn't slept in hours. She paused, taking in the scene with a mixture of concern and relief. "Nova, you need to rest. You're not going to heal properly if you push yourself too hard," Clarke said, her voice gentle but firm.

"You look... tired" Nova notices as Fio leads her back into bed. "I'm fine. Are you okay?" Clarke asks as she stands in front of Nova while Nova hangs off the side of the bed holding onto her stomach.

"Better than ever" Nova sighs as she looks up at Clarke with her head tilted and a slight smile on her face. Clarke chuckles softly and pushes a strand of Nova's hair out of her face and rest her thumb onto her cheek then began rubbing it softly all while looking into each other's eyes.

Fio cleared his throat and let out a sigh. "I'll leave you two to it" Fio mumbles, sending a playful wink to Nova before he exits the room. Nova turned her head back towards Clarke and Clarke wasted no time placing her lips onto Nova's.

Nova puts her hand on the side of Clarke's face and deepens the kiss even more until Clarke slowly pulls away.

"I have to go" Clarke states with her eyes closed. Nova pulls away slowly and looks at Clarke who slowly opens her eyes.

"Where are you going?" Nova wonders.

"Raven left to go to ALIE's base, and while she was there, she found a rocket. A rocket needs fuel, so Roan, Bellamy, some of Roan's security, and I are going to give it to her. I want you to stay here. If you ever get tired of these same four walls, you can take my room," Clarke explained. Nova stood to her feet slowly.

"Let me come with you, I can still fight," Nova suggested, but Clarke shook her head.

"You'd be dead weight. You're hurt, Nova. People who are hurt need rest. You don't need to push yourself this hard," Clarke stated firmly. Nova looked at Clarke, a mix of frustration and understanding in her eyes.

"Neither do you," Nova reassured, leaving the room in silence. Clarke sighed, taking a step away from Nova, but Nova grabbed her arm, turning her around and placing a passionate kiss on her lips.

Clarke sent Nova a soft smile and slowly let go of her hand as she walked out of the room. "Love is going to get you killed," Octavia remarked, catching Nova off guard.

A couple minutes later, Bellamy walked in the room and looked to Nova first then turned around and spotted his sister. "You gave us a scare. You saved so many people, O. Without you getting here to warn us Azgeda was coming, we'd be at war" Bellamy begins and Nova looks over at the two siblings, listening in on the conversation.

"Get out" Octavia demands and Bellamy seems a little taken back.

"Octavia, I thought you were dead" Bellamy pleads and Octavia doesn't even give him a glance.

"Octavia is dead. She died when you killed Lincoln" Octavia states and Nova bites down on her bottom lip with such empathy for Octavia and proceeds to look away from the siblings but continues to listen.

"Please don't say that O. Hey, I'm your brother." Bellamy states and the room falls silent for a little bit.

"Why do you think you're still alive?" Octavia questions but she knows the answer. Bellamy walks off in anger and slams the door behind him.

"Do you think you'll ever forgive him?" Nova asks out loud.

"Not right now. He's dead to me and I don't see that mind set changing any time soon" Octavia replies and Nova nods her head slowly taking everything in.

Guards burst through the door and drag in llian, who looks bruised up. Niylah walks in after them and lets them know to lay him on one of the beds. The guards bend down and handcuff llian to the bed before they walk out of the room, one of them looking to Nova and looking her up and down in disgust.

Niylah clears her throat and walks over to Octavia and starts stretching out her legs trying to get her back to her normal self. "Good. Stronger already. You'll be running around in no time" Niylah says as she continues to stretch out her legs but gets distracted by llian groaning in pain and looks around.

"Shouldn't he have guards watching him?" Niylah asks and Octavia takes a deep breath and shrugs her shoulders. "That's enough for now. I'll come back soon" Niylah says patting Octavia's shoulder and sending Nova a nod before she exits the room.

Octavia lifts her leg up herself and lets out a groan, "Oh..." Octavia mumbles.

"Don't push yourself" Nova mumbles and Octavia sighs in annoyance, "I'm not" Octavia replies sternly as she keeps making eye contact with llian.

"I'm glad you're still alive. Surprised, but glad" llian says and Nova scoffs.

"Looks like soon you won't be" Nova says and llian furrows his eyebrows making Octavia roll her eyes. "Blood must have blood" Octavia recalls so llian can understand.

"I killed no one" llian swears and Nova chuckles humorlessly.

"You killed them all llian and now they're going to kill you" Nova states. "And I'm not helping you" Octavia adds and llian looks to the two girls in slight shock but tries his best to hide it.

"I didn't know about Praimfaya. You can tell them that. I never meant to hurt anyone" llian says as he turns his wrist around in his handcuffs and Nova notices they're starting to get uncomfortable on him.

"The sword doesn't care what you meant. It just cuts" Octavia states with no expression and Nova looks over at her. This isn't the girl that first arrived on the ground, but neither is Nova.