chapter 9 - golden

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The next morning, Dakota made her way through the trees as she headed back to the Sky People's camp. She didn't have a plan yet, all she knew was that she needed to see Octavia.

Her priority was finding a way to see the girl without getting caught by the others. By now, they should all know that she had escaped, and if she were to show her face there again, there's no telling what they would do.

As she approached their camp, her worries soon vanished when she saw Octavia standing at the entrance, looking out into the distance almost as if she was already waiting for her.

Dakota smiled and instantly thought of a way to gain the girl's attention. She took out her sword and aimed it so that the sun's rays would bounce off and reflect into her line of vision.

She knew it had worked once Octavia's eyes squinted and she suddenly furrowed her eyebrows in curiosity as she moved in her direction.

When Octavia came over, she looked around in confusion, trying to find out where the light came from.

"Dakota? Is that you?" She asked, hopefully.

After a moment of making sure no one followed the girl, Dakota finally emerged from the bushes.

Octavia jumped a little but slowly grinned as she turned around and faced the girl.

"I wasn't sure if I would ever see you again," Octavia stated, pulling the girl into a hug.

Dakota hesitated at the sudden contact but soon returned the quick embrace.

"I wasn't sure I'd see you again either. I had returned to my village last night, but I just couldn't bring myself to go in."

"Why? What made you hesitate?" Octavia asked.

Dakota bit her lip. She wanted to explain everything to her right then and there, but this wasn't the place. She didn't want anybody else overhearing the fact that she was a spy.

She shrugged.

"I had a lot of reasons not to. You being one of them..." She murmured.

Octavia immediately smiled as she looked deeply into the girl's eyes.

This was the first time that Octavia really got to see her face since they met. Ever since they first met she was always covered in blood, dirt, and black paint. Now, Dakota's face was clean and she could finally see her features more clearly. She found herself in a trance as she gazed at the way her wavy brown hair fell nicely passed the smooth edges of her cheekbones. She admired every detail of her face and couldn't help but notice the fading bruises that her brother caused. When she finally looked up, she was mesmerized by how the sunlight made her bright hazel eyes even more hypnotizing as if they were golden pools of honey.

Her gaze then shifted from her eyes down to her plump lips, remembering how they were once connected to hers only a few hours ago. Octavia bit her lip just thinking about it. She had only kissed one person in her life and that was a boy she met while on the ground. And even though he sadly wasn't alive anymore, she knew that what she felt when she kissed him was completely different from how she felt from the quick one with Dakota.

Somehow, the butterfly sensation in her stomach had yet to go away ever since their departure last night.

She wanted nothing more than to pull her in for another kiss right now, but she refrained.

In all honesty, she didn't know if Dakota had really meant anything by kissing her in the first place.  Maybe it was just the heat of the moment, or maybe it was custom in her village when departing with someone.

Her time of overthinking was cut short when Dakota grabbed her hand.

"Do you think your people will notice if you're gone for a few hours?" She asked, softly.

Octavia shook her head.

"I don't think so. They've been busy ever since Raven got in contact with the rest of our people." She replied making Dakota nod.

"Why? Do you want to take me somewhere?" The sky girl questioned while raising an eyebrow.

"Well, sort of. I have some things I need to discuss with you, but I was just going to bring you to my cave—"

"Isn't there another place we could go?" Octavia cut her off. "We should go exploring! I still haven't seen much of Earth since I've been here."

Dakota sighed.
"Neither have I..." She mumbled.

"I doubt that. Now, let's go!" Octavia stated, after managing to hear what she had said.

She then turned and ran further into the woods making Dakota involuntarily chase after her.

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They both ran through the forest. Octavia in front, and Dakota trailing behind her. As much as Dakota tried to get the girl to slow down, she wouldn't listen.

Finally, Octavia paused and waited for the girl to catch up with her.

"You know, I'm confused how a grounder like you, who has been running around Earth for quite some time, is currently being outrun by a girl who's been in space all her life." She laughs.

"I mean seriously, with that toned body of yours, I thought you'd be super athletic. It's actually kind of disappointing..." she teased.

Dakota looked down as her cheeks turned red. Then she looked up and began shaking her head.

"Maybe, my lack of speed is because I'm still healing from the pain that you're brother recently inflicted on me." She teased back, but her smile fell when she saw the way Octavia was looking at her worriedly.

"I'm so sorry, I forgot. I'm so stupid, I was probably making the pain worse. I just wanted to have some fun—" She rambled but Dakota cut her off.

"Octavia, it's okay. I was just kidding. I'm not hurting as much so I'm still able to run."  She assured her as she placed her hands on the girl's shoulders.

Octavia nodded but didn't say anything. Most likely still thinking about how her brother had tortured her.

After an awkward silence fell upon them, Dakota decided that she didn't want the fun mood they were previously in to be ruined.

She slowly smiled as she leaned in closer to the girl's ear.

"You really want to know why you were running ahead of me?" She whispered.

Octavia's breath hitched at how close they were, but she managed to nod her head yes.

Dakota smirked and moved her head slightly so that her lips were now hovering over Octavia's.

"It's because..." she continued, seeing how Octavia bit her lip and looked into her eyes mischievously, leaning in closer.

Just as their lips were nearly about to touch, Dakota pulled away.

"You had a head start!" She finished, before quickly running ahead, leaving the the brunette behind.

"Hey!" Octavia shouted back.

She laughed as she ran to catch up, this time following her instead.

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After a while, they soon came across an opening in the trees, seeing a small lake surrounded by different multicolored colored flowers.

They walked closer to the edge of the rocks and admired the view.

"Have you ever been swimming since you've landed here?" Dakota asked.

Octavia groaned, remembering her first day on earth.

"I did once, but never again. I was being immature and I ended up getting attacked by this huge sea monster." She stated, cringing at the memory.

"That sucks, but I'm glad you survived. Those things are vicious." Dakota responded.

She then walked closer to the edge and set her sword on the ground. She moved to take off her armor but Octavia stopped her.

"What are you doing? Did you not just hear what I said about being attacked?!"

Dakota chuckled.

"Don't worry. This water is too shallow, so there won't be any sea monsters here." She assured her, mockingly.

Octavia hesitated at first but then grinned and walked closer to Dakota.

"Well in that case..." she said, pulling her shirt up and over her head confidently.

She noticed Dakota instantly look away, trying not to stare.

"What are you waiting for?" She asked, before sliding her pants off and walking into the water.

Octavia smiled to herself thinking about how she made Dakota blush but as she turned around to look back at the girl, her mouth fell open at the new sight of Dakota without a shirt.

And unlike Dakota, Octavia wasn't afraid to be caught staring at her body as she got into the water with her.

There was something about the way that the grounder girl could be so shy at times and suddenly confident the next that Octavia found enticing.

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Only a couple of hours had passed since the girls got out of the water and dried off. Octavia was sitting on the grass when she plucked a white flower from beside her and started playing with it. She brought it up to her nose to smell it and she smiled at its sweet scent.

After a moment, she decided to scoot closer to where Dakota was, moving to sit directly in front of her.

Dakota was currently in the middle of sketching in her book when she suddenly felt Octavia place the white flower in her hair above her ear.

She looked up and was met with the brunette's green eyes, staring back at her.

"What?" Dakota asked, blushing as Octavia admired her.

"Nothing. I was just thinking about how much I like spending time with you."

Dakota smiled and reached up to tuck a strand of hair behind Octavia's ear.

"I enjoy being with you too." She replied, making the other girl's smile widen and embrace her in a hug.

As they held each other, Dakota remembered that she still wanted to talk with Octavia eventually about how to have peace between their clans. However, she decided that she would wait until another time.

"I should probably head back. I don't want my brother forming another search party for me." Octavia sighed as they pulled apart.

"I'll walk you back," Dakota stated, standing and helping the other girl up.

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Once they arrived back at camp, they stopped behind a tree so that Octavia could sneak back in when the moment was right.

"Thanks for today. I'm sorry we didn't get the chance to talk like you wanted." Octavia said.

"It's fine. Maybe we can meet again tomorrow." Dakota replied making Octavia grin.

"Okay, but maybe we should find another way to meet up. With my brother and his goons on patrol, it's not safe for you to wait for me around the camp." She stated.

She then noticed the flower that Dakota still had in her hair.

"Hey, maybe we could use these flowers as a way to get in touch with one another." She suggested.

"What do you mean?" Dakota asked.

"Well, when I was younger there was a book that my mother used to read to me about two kids that had ventured through the forest and left a trail of breadcrumbs so that they could find their way back."

Dakota thought for a moment.

"So you want me to leave you breadcrumbs?" She asked confusingly and Octavia nodded her head.

"But that seems like a waste of food. Besides, I don't have any bread on me."

Octavia chuckled as she shook her head.

"I didn't mean literal breadcrumbs. I thought that maybe we could use these..." she trailed off as she pointed to the white flower in the girl's hair.

"Oh, so you want me to leave you a trail of flowers anytime I want to see you?" She asked

"Exactly." Octavia smiled. "I'll follow them and then I'll meet you wherever the trail ends."

Dakota smiled back. 

"Okay. See you tomorrow." She replied.

After giving her one last hug, she turned to leave.

"Wait!" Octavia stopped her, grabbing ahold of her arm.

Dakota looked at her confused as to why she stopped her, but then the brunette stepped closer.

"It's my turn to leave a goodbye kiss..." Octavia stated.

She smirked and quickly cupped the girl's cheeks, pulling her in. When their lips met, butterflies emerged within both of their stomachs.

Octavia moved her hands to rest on either side of Dakota's waist, pulling her closer.

This kiss was different than their last because the first time they kissed, it felt more like a goodbye.

But this time, it was more passionate because they both knew they would see each other again.

As their lips moved in sync, Dakota placed her hands on the back of Octavia's neck, deepening the kiss. Octavia used her teeth to nibble at her bottom lip as they pulled away, which made Dakota smile.

"See you tomorrow," Octavia said, before walking away and entering her camp, leaving Dakota speechless.

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(A/N)

Let me know how you feel about this chapter. In the show, there's a jump from when Lincoln and Octavia start hanging out and I wanted to show how I thought Dakota and Octavia's friendship would begin.

Please keep in mind that even though I use a lot of Lincoln's real plot for Dakota instead, not everything is going to be how his storyline was. So please don't expect everything that happened between him and Octavia to happen for her and Dakota too.

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