Tomorrow's Problem
Michonne and Judith sat on the steps in front of their home eating apples. It tickled her as she watched the toddler thinking how free from worry children are. She picked her up and carried her upstairs for her nap. She stood over her crib, smiling down on her. Whatever she's going to be, Rick Grimes is her father, and that's a good thing, Michonne thought as she ran her hand over the baby's hair.
"She okay?"
She turned as Rick entered the room.
"Hey. Yeah, I was just thinking what a fortunate girl she is."
"Why is that?"
"Because she has you for her father."
Rick bent down and kissed his daughter's head.
"We'll need to find her a sword. She'll need to learn how to defend herself earlier than Carl did I'm afraid."
Rick looked at Michonne and walked out of the room. She followed him down the stairs and into the kitchen.
"What's wrong?" She asked looking at him curiously.
"I woke up this morning with the sudden realization that things won't be getting better, not for a long, long time."
"How so?"
He poured himself a glass of water and went into the living room.
"All we're doing is fighting people who don't and will never play well with others. It's always been that way, even before the outbreak. Look how long it took this country to get settled once those pilgrims landed."
"They basically took the land."
"Remind you of anyone?"
Michonne nodded.
"And then you have those enterprising few, no doubt ancestors of mine, who thought how clever to enslave a race of people for free labor. Remind you of anyone?"
"Negan."
"Have any of the people we've encountered been interested in law and order, government, or organization for the benefit of everyone?"
It started to sink in to Michonne what he was driving at.
"Do you think what we're trying to build futile?"
"No." He said shaking his head. "I won't live in a world a few psychopaths want to create. I just don't think what we're building will come to fruition in our lifetime, but we won't stop trying because of them."
Rick motioned for Michonne to sit beside him on the couch.
"It was arrogant and unrealistic of me to say to you that we owned this world. All we own is the good inside of us and the desire to be that light in this darkness. This world isn't a mess, it's some of the people in it, as it's always been. Since the amount of people still alive is greater than what we thought, we need to find them before they take desperate measures like Terminus or be forced to align themselves with people like Negan."
"We need to start by telling our group of this objective, then Hilltop and whoever else is out there."
"Exactly. We're going to have to fight for this Michonne. We may be fighting for this for the rest of our lives. The world is a big place."
"I think it's worth fighting for, if not for us, than for Carl and Judith." Michonne said with a gleam in her eyes.
"And they'll take from there." Rick said nodding.
He looked down at the scars on his hands and smiled sadly.
"I used to put certain things off saying they were tomorrow's problem, but the problem we have needs to be dealt with now." Rick said.
Michonne smiled at Rick and covered his scarred hands with hers.
"I must have said something right to earn that smile."
"Most of the time you do. What was it Abraham wrote on that map he gave you? 'The new world's gonna need Rick Grimes.'
He scoffed and shook his head.
"Who knew?"
"Everyone but you." Michonne smiled again and kissed his cheek.