Chapter One

Michonne smiled contently as she soaked in every drop of beauty that surrounded her. In her former life, she'd probably have been too busy to appreciate a moment like this for what it really was. It was one of those beautiful, early summer days where the weather was just perfect; not too hot, not too cold, and just the right mixture of blue sky and fluffy white clouds which provided for brief moments of relief from direct rays of sunlight. Just a few years ago, on a day like this one, she wouldn't have been happy unless she was heading out to Jekyl or St. Simon's Island with Mike for a weekend of fine dining, shopping, and soaking in some rays with her toes in the sand while her mother watched their son back home in Atlanta. If she had known then what she knew now, she would have chosen to spend the weekend at home with Andre, pushing him in a swing in the park while he laughed giddily, much like the way Judith was at the very moment, right here in her own back yard, each time the gentle push of her hands on the toddler girl's shoulders sent her soaring into the air, heels over head. Every other pass or so, Judith would throw her head back to get a glimpse of her and smile, and each time she did the one on her own face somehow managed to find the landscape to grow a little bit wider.

Just beyond the view of little sandaled feet suspended in mid-air were a pair of more work-minded individuals...at least for the most part. Carl and Enid were on their knees digging up potatoes in their household's own little mini-garden, although at times it appeared there was more dirt-slinging at each other than actual work going on. At that very moment, more dirt-slinging ensued, followed by some incoherent shouting, then the next thing she knew, Enid tackled Carl to the ground which resulted in the boy crying out in what she initially mistook to be pain until the two began rolling around in the soil giggling like, well...a bunch of teeneagers. When Carl turned his head and realized they were being watched, he tipped his hat to shield their faces, and the giggling ceased, likely because their lips had found something better to do.

Only a few months ago, it was a much different story here in Alexandria, or wherever they happened to be at the time, in the midst of the war against Negan and the Saviors. There was no time for distractions of any kind. Everyone had a responsibility to protect the community and every single one of them had learned the hard way already ,at some point, that when you didn't do your part, somebody died. Worst part yet, sometimes people died regardless of the fact that you did everything right-but those instances were drastically reduced when you actually had your shit together and you were on the ball.

There was a sort of unspoken rule as far as relationships go in the midst of war. Everything was downplayed and everyone knew this rule without having to have a formal discussion about it. Loved ones of a specific targeted person were in more danger than the target itself, and the two people in their community with the biggest targets on their back were undoubtedly Rick and Daryl. Negan had easily sniffed out Rick's clan, herself included, from the get-go, during the early stages before any of them had realized exactly what they were dealing with. With Daryl, it didn't become apparent to Negan that there was somebody special in his life until Carol vanished. Of course it didn't help that Daryl hand-fed Negan his feelings for Carol when he stormed into the Savior's compound on a rogue, solo-mission, balls blazing, demanding to learn her whereabouts with the preconceived notion that Negan was responsible. They lost Daryl again for a while when Negan promised Carol's safety in exchange for Daryl's full cooperation, only to find out in the end that Negan never had possession of her to begin with. To this day, Carol's whereabouts remains a mystery, the very reason why so does Daryl's.

I'm not coming home without her, so don't bother to come looking for me.

That was the admonition he had given herself and Rick just before revving up his bike and heading out into the darkness of the wee hours of the morning, roughly four months ago when the war had finally been declared over and victory was theirs. For a moment, she attributed the sound of Daryl's motorcycle disturbing the peace of the lazy summer day to the vividness of the memory of that day until she noticed that Carl's head also jerked away from his embrace with Enid abruptly, and she could actually see his ears twitch as they strained to hone in on whatever it was that he heard. She felt her own ears working hard to determine if what she thought she heard was actually what she was hearing, and as the noise grew stronger and closer, so did her instinct that she knew what and who was responsible for it. As Judith swung back toward her, she grabbed her around the waist and plucked her from the swing. The little girl looked slightly puzzled by her sudden displacement, but a quick peck on her forehead had eased any alarm the gesture might have caused. The sound of the bike continued to grow stronger to those outside, but went unheard to Rick, who was still hard at work inside and upstairs, painting Judith's remodeled bedroom with the cd player blaring.

"DAD! RICK!" The shouts came simultaneously from Carl, Enid, and Michonne as the trio raced toward the house. By the time they made it inside, Rick was heading down the stairs with guns in hand, not sure what in the hell to expect from the way they were screaming. By the time he reached the landing, the sound of the bike purring fizzled out right beyond their front door.

"Is that-"

"Daryl," Carl confirmed with a huge grin as his fingers made a discreet part through the curtains to investigate. Carl's grin, although still there, then appeared to take on a hint of disappointment. Michonne was pretty sure of the reason why before she opened the door to find Daryl there, climbing off his bike, alone.

"Oh man," Rick muttered quietly before racing out to welcome his "brother" back home.

Michonne felt her heart sink to her knees as she watched the two embrace. They were brothers from other mothers, but closer than any pair of blood-related ones she ever knew. The two, grown-ass tough guys were reduced to tears within seconds, with Carl and Michonne following closely behind. They too joined the huddle, along with Judith AKA Little Ass-Kicker, still perched in Michonne's arms, resulting in Daryl finding himself smack dab in the middle of a Grimes family lovefest.

"Yeah, I missed you guys too," Daryl replied in his perpetual cool-ass dude voice.

"It's good to have you back, brother. Now I'm just hoping to hear you're here to stay."

Rick always had a talent for subtly addressing whatever elephants or other creatures of awkwardness might be in the room, unlike herself who would have probably just ended up blurting out, "Well, did you find Carol or not," within the next minute or so.

"I told you I wouldn't be back home without her, man."

If Michonne hadn't been looking directly at Daryl when his response came, she would have thought for sure that meant "no." The glimmer in his eyes told her otherwise. Rick wasn't as swift to catch on.

"Come on, brother, you've been away from home a long time. Look, we all want find Carol and bring her back, but-"

Daryl interrupted him by repeating himself once again. "I told you I wouldn't be back home without her."

Rick took a step back as if to study him from a new angle. "What are you saying, man? Did-did you find her?"

Daryl nodded slowly to confirm. "Yeah. Yeah, I found her."

Michonne suddenly felt her chest growing tight as her heart began to race at an alarming speed. If Daryl found Carol, then why wasn't she here? She didn't doubt Daryl's ability to reason with Carol and bring her home one bit. Instinctively, she could only come up with one logical, and ultimately heartbreaking answer to the problem.

"Well, where is she," Rick asked as he began to crane his neck for a look around the perimeter, expecting to see Carol appearing from around one of the street corners.

"Not here," Daryl replied quickly, in effort to relieve Rick from his search efforts. "I came back alone because I need your help bringing her home."

"Why? Is she hurt," Michonne chimed in immediately, showing her eagerness for more information.

Before Michonne could even finish, or Daryl could respond for that matter, Rick had questions of his own. "Is she in trouble? Are we gonna have to fight? Does she not want to come home? What-?"

"Nah," Daryl shook his head dismissively. "None of that. It's a bit more complicated than that."

Michonne was growing more and more intrigued by the moment. There was something very peculiar about Daryl's responses, like he was deliberately trying to downplay whatever it was that was going on. If it were anyone other than Daryl, this behavior might have triggered an alarm. Vague explanations like the ones he was giving would have led her to believe they were being lured into some kind of trap, and with Negan still out there somewhere, that was a very possible scenario-if it had been anyone other than Daryl.

Well alright. Michonne and I will go with you. Carl," Rick began, nodding in son's direction as a cue,"you stay home with Judith. How far is it?"

"It's a few hours away. She settled into a community a lot like this one. Good people. They've taken good care of her."

"How long ago did you find her," Rick continued with his interrogation.

"Less than a month ago. I guess you could say she found me though."

"What do you mean?"

"It's a long story bro, and we got one long-ass ride so I'm gonna save this one for the road. C'mon, let's go."

Daryl turned toward the car to lead the way, and took advantage of that brief moment when his back was turned to Rick and Michonne to allow a smile to spread across his face. It was definitely going to be a challenge keeping his secret secure until they arrived at Riverview, but seeing the look of surprise on their faces was going to be well worth the wait, although he was pretty sure that no one could have been or looked more suprised than he was seeing Carol again himself for the first time in nearly eight months.