THIRTY ONE.   I'm almost me again, he's almost you

Tatum's painful cries became exhausting with every stitch threaded into her skin. A grounder woman who was their medic stitched the open wounds on her body, the most painful being her back, which she knew would be scared for the rest of her life. It made her think of Murphy despite not ever wanting to think of him again, but she thought about the torture he had to endure while being a prisoner as well. All she could think of is how scared he must've been.

They were more alike than they thought.

Hearing someone come inside, Tatum lifted her head to see Dominic. In his hand was a small hand carved bowl that was made of deer horns. A smile grew on her lips. The young boy took small steps in her direction and he had a shy look on his face. When he stood in front of her, he outstretched the bowl. "For me?" She asked and pointed to herself.

He nodded silently.

She slowly took the bowl and peeked inside to see a clear liquid and she felt weak. She immediately brought it to her lips and her eyes closed blissfully as the feeling of the water sliding down her throat. "Chof." Thank you.

Dominic took the bowl back but he still stood there. She took the time to notice his eyes in the light. They were green like the leaves sewn on his clothes. Like the trees outside. "You saw the fight?" She spoke softly. He nodded his head, still not speaking. She grinned. "Was I any good?"

The corners of his mouth turned up.

"Are you scared of me?" She asked this time. One of her eyebrows raised. When he nodded his head once again, Tatum frowned. She didn't blame him for being afraid. Her first thought was about the missiles that landed in their village. They killed so many woman and children. The thought of it made her sick. "We hurt you."

His head titled to the side, his green eyes staring at her curiously.

"Where are your parents?"

He shifted on his feet, which were now covered by shoes, his hands fidgeting with the bowl in his grasp. "Dead." The single word slipped from his lips.

Tatum frowned again. The flaps of the tent opened and Lexa walked in with Gustus and Indra by her side. Dominic's eyes widened.

"Dominik, ban op yumi." Indra instructed in a firm voice. Dominic, leave us.

He didn't hesitate to run out of the tent. Tatum looked between the three of them with nervous eyes. She felt pain again in her stitched woulds. Indra stepped forward, her hand rested on her weapon. "Your friend has left. She proved herself worthy." She spoke emotionlessly.

The thought of Octavia leaving without her made the girl feel dreadful. She swallowed a lump in her throat. "What about me?" She said barely above a whisper.

"If it was up to me, you would already be dead." She sneered.

"Then why don't you?" Tatum asked, more harsh than what she meant to say, but it's how she was feeling.

"Because," Lexa spoke and her attention shifted to her. The Commander walked forward and Gustus stood by her side. "I thought you would be weak. Hopeless. But you proved me wrong."

"You fight just like your friend, with honor." Indra added to the conversation and she held her head high.

Tatum was confused and it showed on her face. "So. . . you're letting me go?" She hesitated to ask.

"Don't dula'm op, Heda." Said Gustus. Don't do it, Commander.

"Hosh up, Gustus." Lexa said back. She faced the sky girl again. "You know too much about us. You know where our village is. If I were to let you go, you would easy find your people and tell them where we are. You could have my people killed." She spoke strategically. "But. . . You fight with courage, the courage of a leader—" Tatum listened closely to what she was going to say. "Either leave now and go find your people or stay and continue fighting." Quiet.

Tatum blinked rapidly. She didn't know how to react. Almost instantly she wanted to break free and leave to find her friends. They were her priority. Her everything. But they were gone. Octavia was gone and she didn't know where they were. They could be dead for all she knew. She wouldn't know where to look for them.

"Oso cannot trust em, Heda." Gustus spoke again snappily. We cannot trust her, Commander.

How could they trust her? Her people already burnt an entire village down. They burnt more of them to a crisp in their camp. The sky people and the grounders were not meant to mix together. But she couldn't be more alone than she already was. "If I stay, how do I know you won't try and kill me?" She voiced.

The young Commander didn't answer right away. She stared at her for a minute as Gustus and Indra looked her way. She took her knife from the waistband of her pants and before they could blink, she sliced the middle of her palm.

"Commander!" Said Indra.

Lexa lifted her other hand and silenced her. She looked at the sky girl again and Tatum's eyes widened slightly when she reached for her hands. Hesitant, she allowed the Commander to take her hand. She hissed in pain when she cut her hand but Lexa quickly pressed their palms together. "Do you, Teitom kom the Skai Kru, vow to not betray my people and myself?" Tatum of the Sky People.

Tatum's eyes sifted to Indra and Gustus again. It was clear that he did not like the idea and hated her but Indra was hard to read. She listened to her Commander and she kept her opinions to herself. But she was also hesitant, for she did not first the sky people. She thought about the possibility of her friends still being alive. Would they come look for her? Would they try to save her? She knew of the things they would do to get her back, especially Bellamy. But they weren't here and she only had one place to go. She looked at Lexa again and nodded. "I swear."

Bellamy was trying his best to be strong. He needed to be for his sister and for his people. Yet it was taking everything inside of him to not bolt and go to look for Tatum himself. It was unbearable not being able to do anything. But he needed to be smart with his decisions. Finn and Murphy were gone, Jasper and Monty were gone, which meant they couldn't lose anymore people. They needed to stick together.

But the fire began to ignite again at the forbidden words of Abby Griffin and apparently, Clarke's fire had risen, too. "What? No. You can't just cut them loose." She objected as she stood in front of her mother.

"Sweetheart, we don't have the manpower to send out two rescue missions and protect our camp." Abby explained thoroughly.

"Mom, they're in trouble—"

Bellamy's arms were crossed over his chest as he listened to the mother and daughter. He had to swallow his tongue to keep from causing an outburst.

"Tatum is in the grounder camp. Murphy and Finn and are out looking for her. They're either gonna get killed or make things worse with the Grounders. . . Who we need to get our people out of Mount Weather." Clarke continued.

Abby stood her ground. "I know you feel this is unfair. . . But our priority has to be with Chancellor Kane. . ." It broke her heart to say the words. ". . . If there is any hope for peace."

Her daughter's eyes went wide. "If you wanted peace, you shouldn't have killed the only grounder who was gonna help us!"

"I'm sorry. The decision's been made."

Anger blossomed in Bellamy's heart. He couldn't contain it any longer. "You're sorry?" He repeated her words with outrage. He glared darkly at the woman. "Finn and Murphy are out looking for our friend and your daughter with the guns you gave us. And now she's home, you're just going to abandon them?" He questioned. He didn't blink as he stared at her with pure anger written on his face and he took a step forward. "Y'know, Tatum told me what you did for her on the Ark—"

Abby's face dropped subtly.

"She came to you over anybody else because you were the only person she trusted. You helped Clarke save her life because she's important to all of us." He could see that his words were staring to get to her. "And you want to just leave her there?" He asked through gritted teeth. He shook his head. "I can't accept that. I won't leave her there."

Clarke was confused by his words. She glanced at her mom and saw the guilty look on her face. She looked back and forth between her and Bellamy, the man knowing something that she didn't.

"If you can't spare the guards, we know the terrain," Bellamy insisted, motioning between him and Clarke. "We have a map. We can do it ourselves."

"No, absolutely not!" Abby protested.

"Mom—"

"I just got you back!" She shouted at her daughter.

The two of them stared at each other and Jackson suddenly caning running into the room. "Abby!" He exclaimed in a hurry. He noticed the tension between them. "I'm sorry. We need you in medical."

The woman sent him a small nod. She looked at Clarke again and then at Bellamy. She knew her daughter well enough to know the thought behind her eyes. "Byrne," she spoke to the woman in the back. "No one leaves this camp."

"Yes, ma'am." Byrne reluctantly obeyed.

She gave Bellamy a dark but understanding look when she passed by him. It was a look only they knew about. When she was gone, Clarke turned around and walked closer to him. "What did you mean by Tatum went to her?" She questioned.

Bellamy was no willing to ever share the information. He shook his head. "It's nothing. It was a long time ago."

The blonde girl narrowed her eyes at his dismissiveness. She quickly focused on the task at hand. "We're gonna need guns." She spoke quietly and bitterly.

Tatum's muscles tightened under the states of all the village people. When she walked by, they stopped what they were doing and stared. Most of them talked and whispered. They couldn't not believe their Commander would allow a sky person into their camp. She didn't look far off from them. Her hair was now pulled back into a high ponytail, two braids patterned on either side of her head. The braids were sacred to the grounders. They were also painful, due to how tight there were.

Her hand stayed placed on the handle of the sword she was given by Indra. She was reluctant to give it to her but Lexa insisted. She still had no idea why the Commander trusted her so much. She didn't seem like she trusted anybody.

But it didn't matter how much she looked like them. She would never be one of them. They all knew that.  Tatum walked through the camp and found Dominic sharpening his sword. It was half the size of the one she used. It was small, almost needle like. The boy lifted his head when he heard the crunching of boots and he saw her standing in front of him. "That's a cool sword." She spoke with a small voice.

Dominic looked down at his weapon. "It's nothing compared to the Heda's."

"That's because she's the leader." She replied. She watched him continue to sharpen the steel. "Do you know how to fight?"

"Sha." He nodded. Yes

She raised her brows. "You do?"

He stopped the sharpening. "Well. . . not as good as others." He spoke solemnly.

Tatum grinned and took out her own sword. "I can teach you, if you'd like." She offered and twirled the sword around with her hand.

His green eyes brightened. "Really?" He asked in shock that she was offering.

"Sha." She said in his language, which made him smile.

Dominic rose with the sword in his hand. "Your sword is bigger than mine." He stated, his Trigedasleng accent emphasizing lightly.

She shrugged. "I'll go easy on you." She motioned her head to the side. "Come on." They walked to an open space on the corner of the camp, big enough for them to spar. Tatum raised her sword. "Ready?"

Dominic got in the same position she was in but it was more awkward. He gave a single nod in response.

"Okay. . . Gon daun!" She said and instantly stepped forward on her left foot. She lunged her sword at him. Fight.

Dominic's eyes widened at how fast she was. He quickly moved his sword in front of him to protect himself but she was able to knock it put of his grip and it clashed against the ground. He grumbled. "I'm nou good gon disha!" I'm not good at this!

She understood enough words to know what he said. "Hey, it's okay." She said with a small laugh. Tatum bent down and picked his sword up. "Why don't we make it a game?" She suggested.

He took the sword from her. "Game?" He asked

"How about for every time I win, I get to ask you and question and every time you win, you can ask me a question." She explained in a light voice. She raised her brows.

Dominic stared at the sword in his hand for a minute. He nodded once. "Kei." Okay

Tatum smiled and they got back in the positions they stood in. "Ready. . . Gon daun!" Fight.

This time, Dominic stepped forward and swung his sword. Because the blade of his was smaller, Tatum did go easy. Their swift clashed left and right and she raised hers higher while he bent down on one knee and his stuck her lightly in the side, not deep enough to fit her. "There you go!" She praised.

He smiled proudly and showed the small gap he had in his front teeth. "Os!" He cheered for himself. He saw her eyes narrow. "Oh, that means awesome."

Tatum's mouth formed an O shape and she nodded.  "Well," she started again and motioned her hands to him. "Ask me anything you want."

"Why did you choose to stay?"

She was nearly shocked at his no hesitation. He was a curious boy. "I have no place to go." She answered with a drop in her voice.

"What about your sky people?" He asked again and his curiosity grew larger.

"I don't even know if they're alive," she responded and her voice was quiet. Her pursed her lips and her eyes trailed to her muddy boots. The more she thought about her friends then heavy the weights on her shoulders became. She lifted her head and sent him a smile. "Go again?" She asked. When he nodded in response, they stood back in their spots. "Ready. . . Fight!" She shouted.

Dominic grunted and moved forward on his right foot.  Tatum stepped back on her left and continued backing up as he came close to her with his sword swinging.  The steels clashed and she clutched the handle and used the blade of weapon to bring his down and she spun around so that they switched sides.

The boy quickly recovered and blocked her hit from his arm. When Tatum spun around again, she swung her sword and dropped on one knee and she poked him in the leg with the steel of her weapon.

His face dropped. "Nou fair!" He grumbled. No fair!

The older girl chuckled and she got up from the ground. She stood over him and smiled. "Let's see. . ." She tapping her finger on her chin. "Do you have any friends?" She reciprocated and sat her hands on her hips.

Dominic twirled his sword and nodded. "Not many, but, Artigas is my best friend." He told her and pointed behind her.

Tatum turned her head and looked over her shoulder to see him pointing at a boy that looked to be his age. He was helping with the meats and she could see Nyko entering and walking out of the meat house, carrying the large amounts in his beefy arms. She formed a smile and turned back to look at Dominic. He smiled back at her and it was a genuine smile. When he smiled, it showed how young he was. He had dimples, a gap in his teeth, and his nose scrunched up.

A thought came to her mind, a memory, and she was filled with dread. The way she spoke to him, the way she laughed and smiled, it was exactly how she acted with Charlotte. Before she did what she did, she was a sweet girl. Tatum knew from the first time she saw her that there was something special about her. Maybe it wad because she was young or because Tatum was still deprived of what she had lost. And when she died, she felt like she lost another part of herself and she continued to lose it every time she beat death.

But as she watched the young boy in front of her smile, all she could see was Charlotte, and the color she lost slowly started to come back.

As much as we hate Charlotte, she left such an impact on Tatum and Dominic is like another chance for her to find herself again :(