the old man and the anomaly;
❛ HOMECOMING ❜
❝ Ella and Wells are alive ❞

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(EMORI'S POV)

Emori knew that she was not doing the right thing. A good person, a good friend and even a good girlfriend would get John Murphy back on the good side.

She almost scoffed to herself. Since when were they referred to as the good side?

Ella has been her friend since the beginning. Well, not since the complete beginning but the second she volunteered to become a nightblood instead of her, Emori considered her a friend.

It was hard to be her friend in the beginning. She was confident and smart and everything Emori wasn't. Hell, she was Murphy's first love. All of the firsts that Emori was having with him, he already had with her.

It was hard to hate her too. She was so open-minded and kind. Emori did not expect that from someone from Skaikru. She expected her to throw her aside and ignore her completely. She even expected her to watch her die while becoming a nightblood with a smirk on her face. Emori thought that she would try her hardest to get Murphy back.

Until she saw how she was with Bellamy. She loved him so passionately and so truly that Emori sometimes forgot about the fact that Gabriella loved Murphy far longer than her. The only reminder she needed was the look in Murphy's eyes when he would look at Gabriella.

It made Emori sick. They had many opportunities to get back together while he and Emori, and she and Bellamy were broken up, but they never did. The biggest thing that happened was a short kiss that they shared. That was it. Emori had no reason to worry.

Yet, she still did.

What did she have to worry about now? Murphy chose her. He betrayed Gabriella's memory and everything that she stood for but he chose Emori.

She felt selfish. She felt like a terrible friend. That feeling only got worse when she found out that Gabriella was still alive somewhere in the back of Josephine's mind.

And, Wells. God, Wells was still alive. Derek was more furious about it than anyone.

There was a chance that they could bring them back but she was hesitating.

"I think we're gonna be great friends." Josephine had told her and Emori almost threw up all over her.

Gabriella's voice became twisted and taunting. It was how Emori imagined her being before she got arrested. Monty and Jasper thought that she was way too full of herself back in the day. But that wasn't what sent shivers through her body. It was the fact that Gabriella told her the same thing all those years ago when they just started warming up to each other.

"One Eligius shock collar." Bellamy handed the collar to her with a confused look in his eyes. "What do you need it for?"

Bellamy. The man who became like a brother to her. Emori almost forgot that she was betraying him too.

"This circuitry will be useful in building our radiation shield." Emori vaguely replied. Bellamy did not look like he understood what that meant but he nodded anyway. Gabriella was always the smart one in their relationship.

Emori looked at their friends over his shoulder. Well, at Echo. Miller, Jordan, Clarke, and Jackson were not her friends no matter how hard Clarke tried to act like they were. She knew that Echo would never forgive her. That woman valued loyalty above anything else and she knew that she would judge her.

It was almost as if Echo felt her gaze on her because she turned her head and their eyes met. Echo's eyes hardened and Emori gaped at her. She knew.

"You okay?" Bellamy asked her, genuine worry in his eyes.

Emori hummed and looked down in shame. "Thanks for this. See you."

She hurried to leave before he had the opportunity to say anything. She raced to the door but stopped immediately. She couldn't do this, especially not to the two people who accepted her with open arms the quickest.

Wells and Gabriella were loyal to a fault and she knew what they would do if they were in her shoes.

"Bellamy." Emori called out. He stopped mid-way toward the table and turned around with the same worried look he had often worn the past couple of months. Bellamy walked towards her and the second he was close enough to hear her whisper, she revealed, "Ella and Wells are alive."

Surprised flickered across his face. "Wells too?"

"You already knew about Ella?" Her shocked words made him look down in shame that time. She tilted her head and asked, "Why didn't you tell me?" She knew why. Because she loved Murphy. That was her fatal flaw. She nodded to herself. "Oh, because I'm with Murphy."

"Emori, I──"

"Never mind." Emori shook her head and cut him off. There was too much going on for her to be mad about the fact that he didn't tell her. Especially since he had a good reason. "What are you doing about it? Do you think you have time? Bellamy, they're wiping them today." She nodded at the collar which he gave her. "That's what this is for."

Bellamy instantly turned around to race toward the table, Emori hot on his trail.

Clarke stood up and raised an eyebrow. "I take it, it's time to go?"

"Yeah." Bellamy nodded. "We need a plan to get Gabi now." He gave her a knowing look. "Wells, too."

Clarke's eyes lit up and she sighed in relief. "He's──"

"He is." Bellamy looked at the rest of the people on the table. "We need a plan that doesn't include killing them. Where the hell is Madi?"

Clarke's eyes widened and she looked around in shock. "I thought she'd be back by now."

"Jackson, Jordan, and Miller." The three looked at Bellamy, waiting for orders. "You three look for Madi while we come up with a plan to get Wells and Gabi as far away from here as soon as possible."

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(GABRIELLA'S POV)

The radio in Bellamy's tent disappeared. Gabriella guessed it was Josephine's way of blocking all connections she could have with the real world. She was unaware of what was going on with her friends, with Bellamy, and it was driving her insane.

She started walking around her mind-space to do something with her free time after Monty disappeared into thin air. It felt a little lonely in there without anyone but she took some time to get her thoughts together without her impending doom.

Eventually, she traveled to her old home on The Ark. It was the place where she spent her childhood and where she grew to resent Marcus Kane. For years, she considered him to be her real father and only started caring about him after realizing he wasn't even her real father. She didn't know if it was because he became a better person or because she realized he had no duty toward her because she was not his biological daughter. Still, he had a duty to his brother and the woman he loved. The least he could do was pretend to care.

Gabriella's heart had grown too soft over the years. Now, she cared for the man who killed her mother. She hated it. She hated how attached she grew to him during all those months in Arkadia and she hated how much she missed him while she was in space and he was in the bunker. Gabriella guessed that she was not meant for a parent figure. Her mother died. Sinclair died. Isaac died. Her only living relative, Marcus, could be dead for all she knew. The universe always found a way to separate the two of them. Maybe she was just meant to be alone.

She didn't realize it but, when she sat down on the couch of her own home, she got shorter and her dirty-blonde hair transformed into a warm shade of orange. The palms of her hands covered her face and she groaned.

"Long day, Pumpkin?"

Gabriella's head shot up at the strange voice. Her eyes widened when they landed on her mother and tears gathered in her eyes once she realized that she forgot what her voice sounded like.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Isabella chuckled and smiled that gorgeous smile that reminded Gabriella of home. "Go and set up the table for lunch. Your father is going to be home soon."

Gabriella sobbed and shot up to her feet to wrap her arms around her waist. "Mom!"

Isabella stumbled back in surprise and placed her hands on top of her daughter's head. She caressed her hair and looked down at her, worried. "What's wrong?"

"I just missed you." Gabriella admitted with a shaky voice and looked up at her. She rested her chin on her mom's stomach and looked at her for a long time. She wanted to make sure that it was really her.

Isabella cooed at her with a small smile on her face and sat down on the couch. Gabriella did the same and rested her head in her lap. If she was going to die soon, she wanted her mom to be one of the last faces she saw.

"I don't want to die, mom." She muttered after a couple of minutes.

"Sweetie." Isabella laughed in surprise. "You are young. You will live a long time."

Gabriella realized that her mother thought she was a little girl and not a girl who lived through more trauma than she could imagine. So, she decided to give her young self one last moment with her mother. She decided to act as if this was a goodbye. The goodbye which she never got because her mother was floated before she had the chance to even hug her.

"But I'll grow up without you." She whispered. "How is that fair?"

Isabella sighed and wiped the tear that rolled down her cheek. "It's not fair. Nothing in life is fair but that is how the circle of life works. But, I promise you, I won't go away until you are ready to live life without me. We won't part for many more years."

"I'll always need you, mom."

"What's all this fuss about?" Marcus Kane asked from the doorway. "Was it that jackass from Farm Station again? I swear if I have to talk to his parents again──"

Isabella glared at him. "Stop cursing in front of our child."

Marcus winced. "Right. I'm sorry, Gabi." He cleared his throat and sat on the other side of her on the couch. He placed a hand on her shoulder, noting the tears on her cheeks. "What happened?"

"Nothing." She sat up and wrapped her arms around his waist. "I'm just in a bad mood. You know how I get." He didn't. She forgot that she only started acting out after he got her mother killed. Before then, she was little Miss Perfect.

He gazed at her in confusion but nodded. he wrapped his arms around her shoulders in a comforting hug. Gabriella found herself smiling.

That was all that she ever wanted. Two loving parents who loved each other and who loved her. She didn't want them to be perfect but she wanted a family. Sure, she had a family with the hundred and with Spacekru, with Bellamy, but that could never heal her inner child. The only thing that could heal it was her having children of her own whom she could take care of in the way that no one ever did with her.

Thanks to Russell and Josephine, that could never happen.

a/n: A really short chapter but I'm not feeling guilty because the last one was so fucking long.

Here is something from Emori's point of view which I wanted to write since season 4 and I thought this was the perfect time. I love my girl and her relationship with Gabi. "lacy" by Olivia Rodrigo is definitely their song.

Murphy is casually proposing to Emori and she agrees while Gabi is dying. So fun!

My biggest motivation for finishing this book is the next "The Hundred" book I'm currently planning. I'm not gonna get into too much detail but it's gonna be called "Greek Tragedy" and it's gonna take place in the first two seasons. After I'm done with that, I'm gonna write another separate book which is going to be longer (just like the "rules of survival" trilogy)

The next chapter is just gonna be Clarke and Bellamy dragging Derek and Josephine through the woods which is also incredibly fun