AN: I do not own anything related to or from The Walking Dead or AMC. Thanks again for the reviews! I'm glad to see some people felt the same way I did when I watched the show. While writing this, I try to figure out how crazy I might be for seeing the Richonne possibility, or does it actually exist (then again…it's all just fiction anyway, lol). This chapter is a bit short. Michonne's POV for this may go a bit deeper. Hope you enjoy…

Chapter 3: Soldiers

I don't even recall my footsteps there. My whole being was weak. I was not in charge anymore, but my people looked at me differently. Carl's eyes darted at me, and I knew he thought of me as weak. It wasn't too long ago that he told me to let someone else be in control. Hershel and Daryl already told me of their objections, but I objected to them. What about us? What about her? We didn't know her, but she did so much in so short of a time. My son declared she was one of us. No, Lori was one of us. But there I was, standing in her cell, hoping she wouldn't slice me and/or leave me.

I couldn't tell if her eyes were cutting me, or pitied me. Nothing moved. I could feel my fingers' weakness. Sweat dripped down my forehead and it wasn't hot. I wiped the perspiration, but that didn't force out any words.

The woman just stood in front of me, her eyes cutting through. "Merle said to be ready for what's next," she stated coldly.

I nodded my head in agreement. My eyes shifted from her, to the wall, to the floor, and back to her again. "Right, right. I'll go get some thangs together. I'm gonna have a meeting in the courtyard."

Her eyes never left me. "I'll be out there."

I left her cell with my nerves shaking out of my body. She didn't kill me. I probably wouldn't have reacted the same way if I were her. I was a lucky man, but there were more serious issues. We were about to go to war.

She had told us that we didn't have to fight the enemy, but make the Governor's efforts harder than it needed to be. Carl didn't like the idea of hiding out, but there was only us versus a town. Lori stood by to say hi while on a crosswalk with baby Judith before I talked to Michonne without my tail between my legs. After all of the preparations were made, the warrior waited. I could feel her eyes before I started my way down the stairs.

This time, I was a bit more together when I spoke to her. "I'm sorry for –"

"You did what you had to do," she simply interrupted. "I never got to thank you."

This woman was surprising. "For what?"

"For saving me."

I nearly gave her away, and she thanks me for saving her. I couldn't let her or myself think that was really true. "Well, if you didn't have that baby formula, I wouldn't have."

"You could have taken the formula." Why did she care why I did it? I felt the pressure from her face, that smooth skin, her…

"Well, it must have been something else then." Dammit, I hope she didn't catch me looking at her breast! "It was Carl who made the call. He said you belong here; you're one of us."

She strutted off, and I realized a little more of why I feared her. There wasn't much BS about how much Carl's happiness affected my decisions. I still knew deep down why I wanted her around. She probably knew too.

As usual, I had to catch my breath when she walked away.

This was a battle, not a war. They scampered off way too easily. It was as if they had come to the county fair's funhouse and couldn't take it. Some of us wanted to stay, thinking they'd never come back. That was a foolish concept. Of course Michonne stood with Daryl and me to go finish this. On the way there, we saw what happened to most of our enemies: gunned down by the one they thought protected them.

How evil the Governor could get was shown even more when we found Andrea. She was imprisoned. Beaten. Bitten. She told Michonne and me that she just wanted to make sure no one died. She took a risk in trying to be reasonable with someone who lost reason a long time ago. Was Michonne any different from her just because she didn't see the prison lined with gardens and barbecues? Was I any better, when I was ready to trade her off?

We stood on the outside, Tyrese, Daryl, and myself. Besides a sly smirk and deep glares, this was the most emotion I ever saw from that mysterious Michonne. They both cried together. I thought of my last moment with Shane - the way these two said goodbye was bad but more peaceful.

Then the gun went off.

We returned with who remained from Woodbury. They were a group of people who might have wanted the past so badly that they called the first person they could find a "Governor". Carl shot another kid…I can't lie, I felt lost. Everyone welcomed the newcomers, but my son was pissed. There was no Lori here to help me guide him. I looked up to the pass where she last touched me, where she continued to stare and remind me of how I didn't fix us. She wasn't there. I felt guilty in having some relief from that. Then I saw Michonne.