His hands were unfolding her shirt, carefully taking it over her head. She was still, so still. It wasn't fear or shyness, more like expectance. So long... so many history in between. Everything seemed like it was about to burst but was tamed while being released, cause it was framed by respect, curiosity, care. Rick was lowering her pants and caressing her left outer thigh.

"I remember this" He said. She gave him a small grin, to which he answered with a similar gesture. But then continued in a different tone. "I'm sorry"

She widened her smile and took his face in her hands.

"There's no place for 'sorry' nowadays. We cannot regret what had to be done." she didn't completely mean it, but she did with Rick.

He continued to trace a finger along the scar, so clear in the night light. She then finished unbuttoning his shirt and used her fingers to trace an imaginary scar near his neck. The place were another fingers once were close to end his life, haven't she gotten there on time. He noticed the way her fingers stopped there for a second longer.

"We can't help to be followed by our stories. It's so hard to leave them out of what's... Now"

"Yeah... But they can also remind us of how we got here" Michonne replied, moving her fingers from the front of his neck to the back to help her get to his lips.

They kissed slowly, discovering how this aspect fit in their relationship. Their first kiss was joy, a moment that needed to be grasped before it might be taken away from them, it didn't left much room for exploring. Now there was a window that gave them the illusion of having time. Time to understand the situation and the reach of it. Rick got apart of her lips to move his in different directions. First toward her cheek, then to her neck, making a slow path through her collarbone and breasts were he first placed a slow kiss and then noticed another scar just above her belly button.

"What's the story behind this one?" He asked. To what Michonne chuckled while Rick made a puzzled face.

"I once fell riding my bike. The whole weight if it fell over me and one piece of iron got caught in my belly. Not an epic tale" Rick laughed and so did her. He kissed that scar and continued his path down, jumping straight ahead to the scar in her thigh, kissing it gently and then going back to her lips.

She didn't need apologies from Rick cause she knew he was sorry, just as she was for the circumstances that had brought them together. She got away from the kiss for a second to stare at him.

"You okay?"

"Don't ever apologize to me again. We are in this together, we do what we have to"

"But aren't we still accountable?"

"We are, but this is among us. This" she said pointing to her thigh "wasn't you. You took me in... and had to figure out who I was. You're forgiven. You were a long time ago, when you let- invite me to stay. You don't have to say sorry anymore"

"What if I fuck up again?"

"You can press another kiss on my thigh, I prefer those to verbal apologies"

He kissed her again on the scar.

"As much as they take"

And their bodies found each other as instinctual love orders: inevitably.