Feel My Love

Michonne came downstairs dressed to go out on a run. Rick had her breakfast ready and Judith was in her highchair playing with what was left of her sliced apples.

"Are you sure about going out today?" Rick said with a smile.

"What are you trying to say?"

"Well, it's been a while since you've been out there."

"So you're either saying I'm getting too old or rusty."

Rick laughed.

"You, too old; not even when you do get old."

She grabbed her pack from the coat rack and checked the contents. Rick walked over to her with a gift in his hand.

"I found this in King County. I wanted to save it for a special occasion."

He held his hand open and in it was a pearl handled Buck knife. It was a nice medium size just right for her hand.

"Rick, this is beautiful."

"A beauty for a beauty." He said quietly.

She smiled and gave him a quick kiss. "Thank you." Whenever he spoke quietly like that, she knew he wasn't sure if his sweet nothings would mean something, and they always did.

They heard the car pull up and she grabbed her gear and katana and went to give Judith a kiss and kissed Rick again.

"You be good out there." Rick said.

"I will." She said stealing another kiss which he held onto longer than she expected. A tiny moan escaped from her and he smiled again.

"Are you trying to start something?" She said raising an eyebrow.

He blushed and looked away.

"Get out of here before I tell them you're not going." He said giving her a little nudge toward the door.

Rick watched her leave and missed her already. She was going out on a run with new people. People who hadn't been out much before. He quickly went out to stop them before they left. He walked down the steps to the car. There were three of them and Michonne made four. Two men and a female that were fairly new to the community.

"When will you be back?" Rick said to Michonne. She understood his concern.

"By tomorrow afternoon."

Rick looked at the three people with her and sized them up pretty quickly.

"Follow Michonne's lead. At any sign of trouble look to her." The three nodded. "If you're late we'll come." He said directly to Michonne.

She was sitting in the front passenger seat and he touched her arm briefly before they pulled off.

Daryl walked up just as they were leaving.

"She'll be alright." Daryl said.

"I know she will, but those three with her I'm not so sure about."

"Do you know where they're going and when they'll be back?"

"Yeah,"

"I'll be ready." Daryl said.

"Okay."

Michonne wasn't looking forward to this run, but she needed to get out for a while, and this seemed simple enough, but then again, she's seen the simplest of runs turn quickly into tragedy.

"So Michonne, how do you like living with our fearless leader?" Tom said with a tone full of sarcasm, and the way he said her name reminded her of Merle Dixon.

She looked at him with a look that was clear as fresh water. He smirked as he turned his eyes back to the road.

"How long were you and your group outside Michonne?" Jenny said from the backseat.

"Since the beginning." Michonne said trying hard to lighten her tone.

"We've been in several settlements that always got overrun by walkers."

"That happens." Michonne said ignoring the memory of the camp she was in with her boyfriend and son. She just wanted to get the run over with and get back home to her family.

The next morning, Rick tried to put his mind on something else other than Michonne. Judith sat quietly on his lap playing with the watch on his wrist. He knew full well she could take care of herself, but on a run with a weak group could easily make things go south. He put Judith down on the floor, removed his gun belt from the coat rack and put it on.

"Daryl says he's waiting for you on the porch. Is Michonne back yet?" Carl said coming in from outside.

"I was about to look for you. She's not due back for four more hours." Rick said looking at his watch.

Carl sensed his father's anxiety, and went over and picked up Judith from the floor.

"I'll watch Judith." Carl said looking knowingly at his father.

"Thank you. We'll be back soon.

Rick took a quick glance out the window and saw Daryl on the porch repacking his pack. Rick turned to Carl and kissed him and Judith.

"Be careful Dad."

"We will. Take care of your sister."

Rick stepped out on to the porch and glanced over at Daryl who stood.

"Do we need anyone else?"

"No." Rick said seriously looking over at the gate. "Let's go."

Just as they got to the car, Michonne's group drove through the gate. With a quick glance Rick did not see Michonne in the car. His heart sank and he and Daryl ran over to the car.

"Where's Michonne?" Rick asked loudly,

Jenny's eyes got wide as she stammered over her words trying to answer.

"W-we got separated in the burnt forest."

"Where's the other guy?" Rick said with a growl.

"We split into groups and Tom said he wanted to go with Michonne."

"Did you idiots look for 'em?" Daryl said opening the door to the back seat.

"We tried, but we had to run from walkers." Jenny said near tears.

"You get in the back." Rick said to the driver. Rick fought the urge to punch this man in the face, but he realized that at this moment, it would not help them find Michonne.

"We just got back." He said.

"And you're going back out with us." Rick said getting behind the wheel.

Michonne came to on the dirty wooden floor. Her hands were tied above her head on a support beam, and she was naked and gagged. It was Tom's suggestion that they split up the group, but she didn't see anything wrong with that at the time. As soon as Jenny and Bob were out of sight, Tom turned on her and forced her at gunpoint towards the shack. He had touched her with his filthy hands and struck her face repeatedly. He wanted to break her, but she would not. Her focus was the definite knowledge that Rick would come.

"Your boyfriend is going to pay for what he did to my brother. Actually you're paying right now, and once I've had you one last time, I'm going to throw you out of here just as you are."

Her refusal to talk since he abducted her caused him to hit her. He wanted to get off on her fear, but she was not afraid.

Jenny and Bob showed them where they had gotten separated from Michonne and Tom. Daryl quickly picked up a trail. Michonne's scarf was on the ground a few feet from where they stood.

"That's Michonne's." Rick said. "She must have felt something was wrong pretty early."

"Yeah, look at it. Nothing falls like that by accident." Daryl said.

The scarf was on the ground in a clear pattern. It gave them a direction.

"Michonne knows how to track and how to be tracked. We need to go that way."

Rick picked up the scarf and fell in line behind Daryl.

They picked up the pace and moved quickly through the forest. Soon they got to damp ground and Daryl picked up their boot tracks. Daryl stopped for a moment and turned to Rick.

"Michonne's in front." Daryl said. "She knows this area, she's not lost. If the group ran into trouble she wouldn't be going in this direction."

Daryl turned back to the trail and after a few feet, he found another clue. It was the pearl handled knife Rick had just given her.

"Is this hers?" Daryl asked.

Rick nodded. His mind was flooded with different scenarios. None of them made sense. Was she being forced to walk this way?

"She dropped it down here and placed it this way." Daryl said handing the knife to Rick.

He had to stop for a moment to force from his mind when the saviors attached some of her hair on a walker.

"We need to find her now Daryl." Rick said quietly.

After a few feet, Daryl halted the group by holding up a fist. Not far from where they stood was a small wooden shack at the edge of the burnt forest. Daryl looked at Rick and he nodded. Rick turned to Jenny and Bob.

"You two wait here. If you come across walkers, put 'em down."

Rick petrified Jenny, and she responded with a nod and a gaped open mouth.

Rick and Daryl approached the shack from opposite directions. Rick heard Tom tell Michonne what he was going to do to her. Rick couldn't bear it, and did not wait for Daryl. He kicked the door open with his gun drawn.

"Get down on the floor!"

Daryl ran in and covered Tom. At a quick glance Rick saw Michonne was naked and took off his jacket and put it around her. He cut her hands free and knelt down to her.

"Take him outside." Rick said. Michonne was focused on Tom. She was angry beyond what he had ever seen her. "Are you hurt?" He said trying to get her to look at him. She shook her head, and he looked around for her clothes. He found them tossed in a corner of the shack. He retrieved them and she took them from him and got dressed.

Once outside, Daryl smacked Tom across his face with his hand gun forcing him to his knees.

Rick was breathing hard and fast, but worked hard not to. He put his hand on Michonne's face forcing her to look at him.

"Are you okay?" He said talking slow to control his own anger.

She nodded and took her katana Rick handed to her. Seeing she was okay, Rick's anger went from a slow simmer to a rolling boil. He walked outside of the shack and turned to Tom.

"Wait." Michonne croaked out.

She stood on shaky legs, grasping Rick's arm.

"He said his brother was one of those saviors we killed."

"That was done on my order. Why not come after me?" Rick growled to Tom. "By taking her did you want me to come after you?"

"They told me how your group killed my brother and his friends, but Negan paid you back for that."

"Are you a savior too?" Rick said. "No, you can't be. From what I understand they have a rule against raping women, that's what you did isn't it?"

"I am a savior and you can't touch me."

"Oh but I can because I don't care if you're a savior or not because this woman is my wife, and I will kill anyone who hurts her."

Tom swallowed hard. His false bravado deflated by Rick's gaze.

"So I think I'm going to let you go so you can run to Negan, and I'll let you tell him what you've done here or not. Maybe he'll come talk to me about it, but I have a feeling he'll believe me over you."

Tom now looked scared and lowered his eyes.

"I guess he's seen what Negan does to rule breakers." Daryl said.

"But your fate's not up to me. It's up to Michonne."

Daryl and Rick looked at Michonne as did Tom. She stood up straight next to Rick, and her eyes pierced right into Tom's.

"Give him a knife and turn him loose. He said he was going to toss me out of the shack naked and with no weapon."

Rick shook his head and handed Tom a knife.

"This seems to be your lucky day Tom." Rick said leaning close to Tom's ear. "Because I was going to castrate you." Rick handed him a knife.

Michonne stood staring at Tom's back as he walked away. Rick closed the door to the shack and came and stood by Michonne.

"Tom." Michonne called out.

Tom turned around and looked at Michonne with the same look of distain he gave her when he had her alone. Michonne pulled Rick's gun out of the holster, cocked it and shot Tom in the head.

Rick looked at Michonne void of surprise.

"He would have come back." She said.

"Yeah he would 'a." Daryl said heading down the way they came.

"You okay to walk back to the car?" Rick asked Michonne.

"Yeah, I'm okay."

"No you're not, but we'll talk about it later."

When they got home, Michonne went right upstairs.

"She gonna be alright?" Daryl asked.

"Eventually. She's more angry than hurt."

"You okay?"

"I have to be, for her."

"I'll check on y'all later."

"Thanks Daryl."

Rick went upstairs and checked on Carl and Judith. They were both asleep in the rocking chair in Judith's room. Rick picked up Judith to put her in her crib.

"Hey Dad." Carl said stretching and yawning. "Did you find Michonne?"

"Yes. Go ahead and go to bed. You can talk to her in the morning."

Rick took the monitor from Judith's room and put it in his own room on his nightstand. He heard the running water in the bathtub and went in to check on Michonne. She was in the tub pouring liquid soap into it.

"Can I get you anything?"

She looked up at Rick and shook her head. He went into the bedroom and removed his boots. He sat there for a while and waited for Michonne to do anything; yell or cry, but she was silent. He went back into the bathroom and pulled the vanity chair from in front of the sink to the bathtub and sat down. Michonne was scrubbing at her skin as if to scrap it off. Rick frowned and couldn't find the gentle words to say right then.

"Michonne?"

"What?"

"There isn't enough soap to clean away what you're feeling."

She stopped scrubbing and the tears started to flow.

"He…" She was angry and couldn't finish the sentence.

"Unless you really want to tell me, that's not my concern. You're my concern."

"You don't care that another man touched me?"

"Of course I care." He said looking down at the floor. "He hurt you in a most private way and that hurts me, but I wasn't the one physically attacked, you were. When I found you I wanted to castrate him. I could have, but what good would that do you? I learned something about this when you and I first met and you helped us get Glenn and Maggie from the governor. We stopped on the road to move a car out of the road. You stayed in the car, so I don't know if you heard the conversation. Glenn was upset because the governor assaulted Maggie. He was more concerned about that, than he was about her feelings about it. I don't want to make what happened to you about me. You're the priority, not how I feel about it. If I do, how can I see how to comfort you?"

She slightly turned away from him. As used as she was to him, he always brought something new and caring into their relationship. He really was a good man despite some of the things he's had to do to survive.

"My main concern right now is you and what I can do to help you through this."

She looked at him through tears and smiled sadly.

"What can you do?"

"Make you mine again."

She understood what he meant completely. That's exactly how she felt; as if Tom had taken that from her. He had ruined their intimacy.

Rick stood up and stepped into the bathtub, clothes and all.

"Rick?" Michonne said wide eyed.

He sat down next to her and put his arms around her.

"We can start here. You give the okay when it comes to our intimacy. You say when and how far."

She smiled up at him, and then laid her head on his chest. Rick keeping his clothes on spoke to the deepest part of her soul. He did that for her.

He was angrier than he had been in a long time. He wanted to take Tom away from everyone and do more than just castrate him, he wanted to kill him in a very vile way. Again, he thought, how would that help the woman he loved? Sure, he would have gotten even with Tom, but Michonne would still be hurting inside.

They sat in the water until it started to turn cold. Michonne had dozed off, but a gentle nudge woke her.

"Let's get you out of this water." Rick said standing. He helped Michonne get out, and then he took his clothes off before getting out. He went ahead and took a shower. He dried off and slipped on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. He wanted to give her a chance to go to sleep before he went to bed. When he walked into the bedroom, she was sleeping.

Michonne didn't wake up until the next evening. Rick and Carl checked on her often. Rick thought it was part exhaustion and part anxiety that had her sleeping so long. He was on his way to putting Judith to bed when he passed by their room and saw Michonne stirring. He walked in the room just as she was rolling over onto her back, her eyes were open and she gave him a sad smile.

"Good evening sleepy head." He said smiling.

"How long have I been sleeping?"

"Going on 12 hours."

She rubbed at her eyes and sat up.

"How do you feel?"

"Sore." She said not meeting his eyes.

"Let me get her in bed and I'll be back."

He came right back and sat on the bed.

"Can I fix some tea for you?" He asked.

"You think you can handle it?" She said smiling.

"Yeah, I think I can." He got up and went to the door. Before leaving the room, he turned back to her.

"Michonne, I'll sleep in the room with Carl if you want to be alone."

"I don't want to sleep alone. I hope I didn't give you the impression that I did."

"You didn't. I just wanted you to have your space if you need it."

"Thank you." She said visibly shivering.

"Are you cold?"

She nodded and he went to the closet and pulled out a blanket for her. He laid the blanket across her body and had her to lay back down.

"Are you hungry?"

She shook her head, and he watched her eyes get heavy and finally close.

"I'll be back." He went downstairs to turn off the lights. When he came back up, she had fallen back to sleep. She had a habit of kicking off the covers, so he covered her with the blanket again.

He walked around to the window and looked out, and then turned and watched Michonne sleeping. As capable as she was to being on her own outside, trusting someone they didn't know made her vulnerable to the attack. He finally got into bed and tried to sleep.

After an hour he was still awake. Michonne stirred next to him and a few moments later she got up out of bed and went to the window.

"You okay?" Rick asked.

He got out of bed and stood by her at the window.

"Yeah."

Rick reached out and touched her shoulder. She slowly pulled away from his gentle touch.

"What can I do?" He asked suddenly feeling awkward.

"Leave me alone for now." She sounded the way she did when he first brought her in to the prison; feral and full of anger. She tossed the blanket on the bed and went downstairs.

He thought to follow her downstairs, but decided to do as she asked. If she wanted him, she knew where he was. He lay back down on the bed to continue his vigil.

He was about to doze off when he heard footsteps on the stairs. He glanced at the clock to see it was nearly 4 a.m. Michonne came into the room and sat on the end of the bed.

"You okay?" She asked quietly.

"Do you want the truth or do you want me to lie like you just did?"

She sat there speechless. She wasn't okay and of course he knew it.

"What do you want me to say?"

"I want you to say how you feel. Don't lie to me about it."

"I feel worse than I ever have in my life." She said, her voice trembling.

"So do I. I'm going to tell you why, and we'll discuss it sometime in the future. I feel worse than I have ever felt because of what happened to Glenn, Daryl, Eugene, Maggie, Abraham and you, my fault. I was the one who thought attacking the saviors was in our best interest, and I have no idea how to make that right."

"Rick, you can't blame yourself, you can't."

"But I do, and I probably will for the rest of my life."

"Rick." She said pleading.

"For right now I need to help you."

"Rick…"

"Michonne please stop. I need you whole again. I'm not going to have you helping me live with what I've done and you still bleeding inside."

He walked up to her and placed his hands on her folded arms.

"You know you have the power to talk me into or out of anything, but not this time, not this."

She looked in his eyes and saw in them that he was exercising his right as her husband to care for her.

"Please Michonne." He said with tears in his eyes.

She stood there looking past him, and he suddenly got angry. There was rage in her that needed to come out.

"Why won't you cry?" He asked in a tone of controlled anger. "Fight for what you've lost.

She turned to leave the room, and he grabbed her by the arm.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

She could not see how angry he really was. She was shocked that he grabbed her and pulled her arm from his grasp. He had never pulled on her in that way. Now she was angry and hit at his chest with her fists and screaming. He stood there with tears on his face and let her. She beat at him until she was tired and sobbing. He put his arms around her to hold her still.

"I'm sorry I didn't let you tell me what happened before, it would have been hard for me to hear, but if you'd like to tell me now, I'll listen."

She leaned her head against his chest, inhaled and told him everything that Tom had done to her. Tom's perversion humiliated her, and was painful. She relayed to Rick that she felt anger more than anything else.

"But when I close my eyes, my anger turns to fear." She said finally looking into his eyes.

"I'm going to go the Hilltop for a while." She said moving out of his embrace.

"Why? Is this part of you wanting to be alone? I don't see that as helping."

"What do you think will help me Rick? Holding me until I feel better?"

"And you think me leaving you alone will?"

She turned away from him and would not make eye contact.

"It won't. You'll go back to being a little more than an animal. You don't get to be that again. No more than you would let me disappear after what Negan did."

She looked up into his eyes and saw he was clearly angry.

"Get dressed for a run. You and I are going out for a while."

"But Rick."

"Do as I ask, please." He said not giving her a chance for rebuttal. He looked at his watch, it was nearly 7 a.m. He went to Carl's room to wake him so he could watch Judith for a few hours, and to tell him that he and Michonne were going out.

He waited downstairs for her. She was not happy about it, but was dressed as he asked. The sun was just coming up on a beautiful day, and they walked out through the gate.

"Where are we going?" She asked.

"On a date."

"A date." She said simply.

"Yeah, a date."

"We are probably the first couple since the outbreak to go on a date." She said seriously.

He laughed and agreed. They walked out about 2 miles and talked to each other about everything except what had happened to her. They had covered that subject, and he was done having her talk about it again.

"I'm sorry." She said sadly.

"About what?"

"Hitting you."

He laughed and gently touched her arm as they walked.

"You've hit me before, and not like a girl either."

"Ah, the good old days." She said.

"Not so good for me."

"But it was good for you." She said smiling.

He smiled back nodding.

A group of walkers spotted them, and they prepared for a fight. They both knew it was never good to go looking for this kind of fight, but Rick knew Michonne needed this. There were 6 walkers and Rick let Michonne kill all of them. He let her do what she needed to do to wear down her rage, he would deal with the hurt later.

Carl and Judith were out on the porch when Daryl walked up. Judith waved at Daryl.

"Hey ass-kicker, Carl. Is your dad home?"

"No. He and Michonne went out."

"Out? Out where?"

"I don't know, but they walked."

Daryl nodded.

"You think they'll be alright out there?" Carl said concerned.

"The two of them together? Oh yeah. Even if only one of them went out alone, they would be alright."

"Daryl, what happened to Michonne? She's been different for the last couple days."

"The run last week went wrong. She hasn't talked to you about it yet?"

Carl shook his head.

"She will, when she's ready."

Rick and Michonne continued to walk further out, constantly scanning the area while they talked.

"Remember how it was on our way here? The endless walking." Michonne said.

"How could I forget it? Boots were not made for walking."

"It was the worse time, but it was also the best time for the group. We got closer, but I was a bit demanding."

"You wanted us to stop wandering. You wanted the best for us, and you helped me see it."

"Did you ever think we would be together like this?"

They stopped walking and he looked into her eyes.

"To be honest, no I didn't, but I've never been big on recognizing the obvious when it comes to personal relationships. I did know I felt more at ease when you were around."

"Because I'm good with a sword?" She said smiling.

"Because you're good with me. I knew it even back then, but we still didn't know each other very well, and I didn't know how you felt about southern white men."

She laughed out loud.

"Really? If I had issues with southern white men, I would have killed Merle Dixon."

They both laughed.

"Race really isn't the issue anymore. It never was for me, and besides, did having a relationship with a black woman ever cross your mind before the outbreak?"

"Yes it did."

Michonne stood there with her mouth opened.

"Really?"

"The sister of one of my friends from school. She was the first girl I kissed."

"What happened with that?"

"Race I guess. My friend caught us, and he stopped being my friend. I guess being friends with me didn't include me getting close to his sister."

"Was she the one who taught you how to kiss?" Michonne asked curiously.

"She was."

"How old were you?"

"I was fifteen and she was seventeen."

"I see." Michonne said smiling.

"What does that mean?" Rick asked blushing.

"I'll just say she knew what she was doing." She said walking away.

Rick could feel his face flush even more, and he was glad she walked away.

"Thank you for telling me, I wasn't sure if you liked the way I kissed you."

"I always planned on telling you, but then we'd start something else you're very good at, and then the next thing I know I'm waking up in the morning."

He laughed again. He was happy to see this side of her.

"Are you flirting with me?" Rick said still blushing.

"Is it working?"

"What do you think?"

She laughed this time and he was about to kiss her.

"Rick!"

It was Daryl.

"Yeah." Rick called out.

Daryl came out of the bush.

"Is everything alright? The kids?"

"Everything's fine, but Carl's worried about Michonne."

Michonne looked at Rick and touched his hand.

"Let's go home. I haven't talked to him yet." Michonne said putting her katana away.

"Did you guys have a good time?"

"Yeah, I really needed it." Michonne said looking at Rick. "Thank you."

When they got home it was just getting dark. Rick gave Judith her bath and got her ready for bed, and then he took a shower.

"Carl, let's go out on the porch and talk." Michonne said going outside.

"Where did you and Dad go?"

"We just went out for a long walk."

"Are you okay?"

She shrugged her shoulders.

"I will be. Daryl said you were worried about me."

"Yes. Ever since you came back from that run you've been different."

"Different how?"

"You've been sad, moody, and we don't talk anymore."

"I told you if you feel you and I aren't talking enough, you tell me."

"You were so sad I didn't know what to do."

"You should still come to me. I won't get mad at you if that's what you're afraid of. I don't know what your dad told you, but the run went bad and I was being held in a shack by one of the guys I was on the run with."

"Did he hurt you?"

"Yes he did, but I'm doing better now."

"Dad's helping you?"

"Yes, and so are you. It helps me knowing that you worry about me. It lets me know that you love me."

"I do love you."

She hugged Carl tightly.

"Thank you son."

Carl went into the house followed by Michonne.

"Goodnight Dad."

"Goodnight Carl.

"Can I make you some tea?" Rick asked standing in the kitchen filling the kettle.

"Are you drinking tea now?" Michonne asked surprised.

"Do I look like a tea drinker to you?"

Michonne tilted her head to the side and squinted.

"Maybe if you shaved and had on a suit."

Rick then went into the worst British accent she had ever heard.

"Stop, please stop." She said laughing. "And yes, I'd like a cup of tea. I'm going up and take a shower. Do you mind bringing it upstairs?"

"Me or the tea?" He asked smiling.

"Both." She said going up the stairs.

Rick shut off the lights, locked the doors and carried Michonne's tea upstairs. When he got upstairs she was still in the shower, so he got into bed and started reading a book. He enjoyed the day they had and hoped it helped. She was everything to him. When she hurts, he hurts.

"What are you reading?"

"The better question is what's reading me. I haven't been able to concentrate long enough to get through the first few pages."

"I've been on your mind then?"

"Always." He said looking at her seriously.

"Today was very nice Rick, thank you again."

"Anytime. We should do that every once and a while."

"Considering that's one of the few things on the 'what to do on a date' list these days, it's a date."

He laughed and leaned his head back on the headboard and closed his eyes.

"Rick."

"Hmm?"

"I want to try tonight."

He lifted his head, looked into her eyes and frowned.

"Are you sure?"

She nodded.

She leaned forward and kissed him. He kissed her back and pulled her into his arms. He wasn't convinced she was ready to make love, so he took his time. He put his hand into her robe and onto her bare waist, and he felt her body stiffen.

He removed his hand and just held her. She started crying silently gripping onto the t-shirt he was wearing.

"Please don't cry Michonne. We don't have the time for that luxury anymore or we'd be crying every day. We have to solve our issues and come to conclusions quickly, and keep each other close. We'll be alright. Making love is overrated anyway. I have to keep my skills sharpened so I don't bore you, shave every now and then so I don't scratch your skin too bad, and keep the acrobats down to a minimum."

She sniffed and wiped her tears on her robe and took a deep breath.

"It helps if you can stay on the bed." She said with a smile in her voice that he could hear.

"That wasn't my fault." He said laughing.

"I didn't fall off." She said in the defiant way he loved, and she finally relaxed.

He gently pulled her head to his and kissed her cheek. "I love you."

"I love you." She said kissing his cheek too.

He cleared his throat, and in almost a whisper he began to sing.

When the rain is blowing in your face
And the whole world is on your case
I could offer a warm embrace
To make you feel my love

When evening shadows and the stars appear
And there is no one there to dry your tears
I could hold you for a million years
To make you feel my love

I know you haven't made your mind up yet
But I would never do you wrong
I've known it from the moment that we met
No doubt in my mind where you belong

I'd go hungry, I'd go black and blue
I'd go crawling down the avenue
And oh, there's nothing that I wouldn't do
To make you feel my love

The storms are raging on the rolling sea
And on the highway of regret
The winds of change are blowing wild and free
You ain't seen nothing like me yet

I could make you happy, make your dreams come true
Nothing that I wouldn't do
Go to the ends of the earth for you
To make you feel my love

She looked up into his eyes and smiled brightly. Tears ran from her eyes, but she wasn't crying this time. "You're right, I ain't seen nothing like you yet." The smile was back in her heart. Every good memory she's had since the outbreak, includes him. This time, without her saying a word, he knew. Now he was convinced. He made love to her slowly and carefully; the way they did their first time together. She was his again.

The next morning Rick woke up and found Michonne already up. Last night there was no anxiety or fear from his touch in her at all. She responded as she always had. He dressed and went downstairs, and could hear her humming in the kitchen. It was the tune he sang to her last night. He walked the rest of the way downstairs and leaned on the wall and just looked at her. She was sitting on the bar stool cutting up vegetables, and every now and then she would sing the words to the song. It was quite some time before she saw him. When she did she put the knife down and looked at him. She saw that he was moved.

"How long have you been standing there?" She asked.

"Can't you tell?" He said wiping a tear away.

"Yeah." She said seriously.

He walked over to her, took her face in his hands and kissed her. A long kiss that begged her to stand and put her arms around him.

"See what you do to me?" She said.

"No less than what you do to me."