Clementine Limps Back To Where They Came Out Of The Cave, Relying On The Axe To Support Half Of Her Weight.

Clementine limps back to where they came out of the cave, relying on the axe to support half of her weight. She feels a wave of exhaustion wash over her body as she sluggishly pushes herself forward. Her breathing is short and heavy with every ounce of strength she uses to drag her leg another couple of inches at a time.

The urge to collapse is stronger than she’s ever felt before, but the thought of AJ waiting for her at the school forces her to go on and on, even when it feels like an eternity.

“Fuck…” She groans, stopping momentarily to breathe deeply. It only makes it even more of a struggle to start walking again.

“Clementine…?” A familiar voice resonates from the somewhere behind her. James lingers in the opening of the cave. He wasn’t sure if she heard him or was ignoring him, or why she was limping. Putting his own internal conflict aside, he rushes to help her. “Clem, what happened?!”

He kneels to look closely at her bleeding leg.

“Who did this to you?”

“Have… to get… to AJ…” She heaves.

“AJ. Where is he? The school?” His voice is breathless yet steady and slow, quite the contrast to his usual uncertainty and whispering.

“We got… separated. I told him… and Tenn… to go to the school…” She forces the words from her constricted throat and her voice trails off into dry, painful coughing and gasping.

“Here…” Without a further word, James returns to his feet, fastening the axe to his hip before hoisted Clementine up into his arms. She’s hesitant, but doesn’t have much of a choice if she wants to see AJ again. Plus, finally being able to rest would be great.

And before she knows it, she falls unconscious. James glances down at her sleeping face against his chest, swaying slightly with every careful footstep. He knows that she can’t him, but…

“Clementine… I’m sorry.” He tears his eyes away from her helpless form. “I was wrong.”

Her eyes crack open a few minutes into the walk, and widen in surprise when she sees that he is still carrying her with no complaint. Though, new trails of sweat creep down his face. She watches quietly for a moment.

“Thank you.” Her voice is weak and little, yet startles James. She tries not to chuckle for her poor throat’s sake. “Who knew you had all this hidden strength under the walker skins?” She teases in an attempt to keep things from getting uncomfortably serious again.

“We should be there soon.” He speaks in a low voice, just loud enough for her to hear from his arms. “I hope they made it there safely.”

Clementine smiles up at his consideration. It’s baffling that this is the same guy who threw her to the ground, elbowed her in the face, and tried to take AJ not even two hours ago.

“I can.. try to walk again. If you’re tired.” She notes, but then both of their gazes fall on her sliced leg. It had gone numb a while ago, which she knew was a bad sign, but it seemed like a blessing considering how long it’s taking to get back to the school.

“No, I’ve got you.”

“Oh my god- Clem!” Ruby cries from the gate, throwing it open and making way for James to come inside. She starts keeping up pace with them, leading him to Clementine and AJ’s room. “AJ told me what happened on the bridge, oh god, Louis…”

“So they’re okay? AJ and Tenn?” James asks.

“AJ is… But…” She opens the door to their dorm room. “He says Tenn ran off after you guys were separated. I hope he’s okay…”

He groans as he lowers himself to his knees and places Clementine onto the lower bunk, and once she’s out of his grip both his arms and legs feel weightless. He steps back as Ruby starts examining her leg.

The sound of small footsteps patter closer to the door and finally AJ bursts into the room, practically flying past James and Ruby, and straight to Clementine.

James suddenly feels a familiar discomfort poking at the back of his mind. That he doesn’t belong here. He isn’t wanted.

“I’ll look for Tenn.” He sweeps the unreasonable worries under a metaphorical rug.

“By yourself?” Ruby glances over her shoulder. “Let me send someone out with you. It’s safer.”

“I’ll be okay.” He slides his mask on.

“Oh, right. Walker mask… Gotcha.”

He turns to leave the room, placing a hand on the heavy wooden door, but stops in his tracks when Clementine asks him to wait. He slowly turns around, peering through the holes in his mask. She stares past AJ and Ruby, silently requesting that he comes to her side. He does, and kneels down to AJ’s height, intently watching her slowed movements. He hadn’t realized how pale she’s gotten from the blood loss, and now that he does he’s worried all over again. She wraps one arm around AJ, pulling him in, and then does the same with James, squeezing the boys in a double hug.

“Eh, heh…” James tries to think of something to say, but his mind is drawn to a blank.

“I’m glad you’re back, Clem.” AJ smiles, refusing to let her go again.

She pulls away, giving AJ a kiss on his cheek, and before James can react, he gets a quick kiss on the cheek of his mask too. The same mask hides his flustered expression as he stands to his feet and turns around.

“Did you just kiss the walker skin?!” Ruby exclaims, causing Clementine to giggle a little before having another coughing fit.

“I’ll get you some water.” AJ stands up and rushes out the door. James steps out behind after him, letting out a long, emotionally conflicted sigh.

Two. More. Episodes.

And then we out this bitch.

Dany literally begged Jon. Begged him to choose her. To choose their family. The family that they made for themselves. She gave every last inch of her vulnerability to him. To protect their future. And he sold their love for his honor. That was the moment I knew that they’d never find happiness within the walls of Winterfell. Within the kingdom of Westeros. These two people, these rulers are too good for this world. It is swallowing them alive.

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lifegreeny

6 years ago

my friend and i are huge fans of your work ans she wants me to ask you this, how would james react to seeing his crush in an abusive realationship with her bf? like hitting and cheating. l Thank you!

Awe hi to you and your friend!! Thank you so much for reading my stuff :) ❤️

You know how James reacted to Clementine in the cave in episode 4? How aggressive he got with Clem? That’s how he would act. First, privately, he would ask them if they’re okay. “Are you happy?” He’d ask, knowing something felt off. When they tensely said yes, he would ease off, but not a lot. The moment he saw their partner lay hands on them, he’d take action. He slam in their knees and force them to the ground, pushing his boot onto their chest, keeping them down. “You’re sick.” He would spit. “Don’t you ever lay your hands on them again.” He’d force his boot down harder. “If you do, I won’t go this ease on you.” He’d force his boot down as far as possible as he turned away, gathering his crush protectively in their arms and whisking them away. At all times, he stayed beside them. He’d keep a hand on their back, or in their own palm guiding them everywhere they went, helping ensure they felt safe.

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lifegreeny

5 years ago

Do you think the rift in EMA will drive Armin and Mikasa apart too? Going by this last chapter where they were shown together and she jumped to save him I like to think not. I don’t want Isayama to make it seem that the only thing holding them together was Eren when I think Mikasa and Armin care deeply for each other too.

No I really don’t think the budding conflict with Eren will drive Mikasa and Armin apart. Mainly because:

1) Mikasa isn’t a stonewall to reason. She was disturbed by what Eren had done in Marley; she seems to be absorbing the concerns of everyone around her and acknowledging that yes, her beloved Eren could in fact be a bit of a problem. Eren was her beauty in the cruel world but I think it’s clear she’s starting to see his less-beautiful edges.

2) Mikasa trusts Armins judgement. Alot. That was spelt out for us in Trost; we saw it in RtS. Not only that, but she trusts his judgement even when it comes to non-life threatening situations. I mean, just look at these two panels:

These are from the courtroom scene post Trost and from chapter 105. In neither scenario is Mikasa resisting Armin. Even in the courtroom scene, back when Mikasa was venomous over keeping Eren safe, she still held back when Armin advised her too. The moment in 105 was much more muted but again, Mikasa isn’t resisting him. She knows Eren dragged them into a shit scenario. She’s aware of the fact that hey, maybe now isn’t the time to stop Levi from kicking him. He broke military order, he broke their trust. From the perspective of the SC, of which Mikasa is a part of, Eren fucked up.

What I’m trying to say is I can’t see Mikasa distancing herself from/fighting/turning against Armin if he were to determine Eren couldn’t be trusted. She’d obviously feel conflicted and heart broken as all hell. She might even continue to try to stand by Eren anyway. But I couldn’t see her harboring hostile feelings toward Armin because she’d know whatever he decided was probably right. Like I said, she isn’t blind to what’s happened in Marley and what’s happening in Paradis as a result of Eren. On top of that she’s spent almost her entire life trusting Armins judgement.

I’m going to insert two disclaimers here. One is that I don’t actually think Armin will determine Eren can’t be trusted. I think the whole talk between the three of them is going to be far more complicated than that. I don’t even think it’ll end in them “breaking up.” But that’s for another meta (lol).

Two is that none of this is meant to be me making a call on Eren. He’s obviously got a plan and the Paradis situation is desperate as hell. We don’t know exactly what he’s thinking at the moment but I can understand the logic he presented in 106-108. They’re running out of time, Marley/the world probably won’t understand or want to cooperate so long as the Eldians can still transform into monsters, etc. etc.

But bottom line is that for the SC, Eren is problematic at the moment. Mikasa has seen it with her own eyes. She trusts that Big Ol’ Brain of Armins. All of that tells me that she won’t turn on Armin if he makes what’s likely to be a rational call on Eren.

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