AN: I don't own anything related to The Walking Dead…yadda yadda yadda

Thanks as always for the reviews y'all! We're gonna hit some highs and lows with this chapter

Chapter 12: The Light and the Dark

Glenn noticed that a light was coming back to Maggie. She wasn't dealing with her own sorrows as much. She was attentive to others and smiled even when he wasn't around. He observed how she joked with Noah and Carl, how she hugged Sasha at just the right time so that she wouldn't object, and how she buffered Abe and Eugene similar to when they were on the road. His wife was back. Of course, any bit of joy was greatly contrasted by darkness in their world.

It was their second day at Chenowau Elementary. Everyone referred to it as "the Place". There were somber moods amongst those who hadn't revealed all of their pasts. Abe's boisterous personality mellowed. Michonne was more quiet than usual. The grey sky didn't stop Rick from taking a hoe to the ground in order to plant seeds that were found in several classrooms.

"Carl, Noah" Glenn asked. "Can you give me a minute with Rick?"

The young men looked towards Rick. He nodded for them to go.

Glenn watched as they left what was once a garden. "Rick, how is it with Carol?"

Rick looked up, recalling and thinking how he could put it all into words. "I'm surprised I haven't spoken to Daryl yet about it. She, if she continues lookin at Tyreese and Laura like that, it might start a problem."

Glenn squinted, "why?"

Rick's hands rested on the top of the hoe. "I don't know if Carol told Tyreese that she killed Karen. I can only guess that she might have, when they both took care of Judith. Something happened out there that they're both not telling us about. But I think it made Carol want to leave, maybe even more than when I sent her away."

"You can't blame yourself for that. There was no right answer on how to handle her killing Karen and David."

Rick frowned and nodded. "Well, something about Tyreese being with someone, who doesn't look too different from Karen, has her acting…"

"Strange," Glenn observed. "She keeps a distance from the both of them."

"Whether Tyreese know what happened or not, he might start to get pissed just thinking about it. We don't wanna see him have that type of rage again."

Or you have rage against his, thought Glenn. "Well, what are we gonna do about it?"

Rick pinched his nose. "You, me, Maggie, Daryl, we'll have to talk with her later today."

Glenn nodded in agreement. "There's something else I want to talk you about." Rick stared intently at his friend. "Maggie, she, uh, she told me what happened at the library. Is she okay?"

Rick rubbed his head. It was just a few days ago when they were finally in some type of bliss. They finally lived for one second, just one millisecond he and Michonne lost themselves in each other and forgot about the pain of their everyday reality. He could still taste her, could still feel her warmth wrapped around him and protecting all of his vulnerabilities. It was as if that one time was the last time. Since arriving at the Place, she receded into that darkened and mysterious person he around a year ago.

"I'll handle it," was his quiet response.

Glenn breathed deeply. "Maggie has tried speaking with her. She just waves her off and hides in a corner. She only talks to Carl..."

The sound of the hoe falling to the ground interrupted Glenn's synopsis of Michonne's despondence. Rick stalked off. "I said, I'll handle it." He didn't need Glenn or anyone else to give him a rundown of how the woman he loved was changing. Even worse, he was afraid she would embrace the darkness again.

-000000000000000000000000000-

The Chicana rested her head against the wall. Moans could be heard on the other side. The dead was aware of the bus when it arrived. More were drifting in to the sounds of axes hitting against wood. Rosita definitely didn't complain about working hard to reinforce the brick walls and in gathering fire wood. She'd rather do that than be perched up high for the sun to directly hit, but Sasha seemed to be at one with her lookout position. Rosita wiped her brow and looked over to Laura and Maggie.

"We're gonna have to work on getting more water once we run through all of those bottles," Maggie commented.

Rosita placed her right hand on her hip. "That toilet water won't last long either."

Laura paused from hacking to questioningly look at her new companions. "Toilet water? You can't mean?"

Rosita rolled her eyes. "Boiling it kills the germs. Everyone will be fine."

Laura scoffed, "boiling doesn't kill E. Coli or salmonella."

Rosita leaned in. "Woman, do you know what world you live in? You're lucky to be breathing!"

Hershel's words resonated in Maggie's head: You breathe, you die. She rested her hand on Rosita's shoulder, but her eyes stayed with Laura. "Laura, we have to do anything, and I mean anything just to make it. None of us would have to drink from toilets if we didn't have to. We've made it this far by bucking down and doing what we have to do. It's never easy, but it's worth it."

Laura threw down her ax. "This isn't living!" She marched off to where Tyreese was busy hammering away with Father Gabriel and Abraham.

"That puta is starting to get on my nerves," Rosita noted.

I know, Maggie thought. "She'll come around." She watched Laura hug Tyreese and assist him with his task. "We're gonna have to do some runs." She faced her friend. "I'll speak to Michonne about it."

"Michonne? Usually, I'd say yes, but since we got here…"

"I know. But I think keeping busy will help."

Rosita sighed and started to hack at the tree again. "I, I don't want to even think about what she had to go through. How that must have been. I had nieces and nephews, you know. But, um, I didn't have to see them go." Silence. "She had some time out here by herself?"

Maggie stopped chopping for a second. "Yes. As far as I know, it was for quite a while. Then she found our friend Andrea after my father's farm was overrun by a large herd." She swallowed at the thought, knowing that she was the only survivor from her home. What was home now? "Andrea was separated from us. We thought she was dead, but somehow Michonne saved her. Michonne saved me and Glenn too, before we ever knew who she was."

Rosita's ax paused. "Is she real?"

Maggie laughed. "We all saved each other at one point, right?" She smiled at her friend, reflecting on how she, Tara, Abe, and Eugene were involved with getting Glenn getting back to her.

Rosita returned the expression. "This is true. She does seem amazing though. I don't want to see a person like that breakdown. We're all human, but…we just don't need a person like her to breakdown."

Maggie continued to ax. "I know what you mean." She knew, however, that heartache was destined to continue. She was sure that Rosita knew this as well.

-00000000000000000000000000000-

Carl and Noah found Michonne and Judith in the cafeteria. She was busy feeding her peas from a can. Although she was taking care of someone she deeply loved, her face was stone cold. She repetitively hummed a lullaby.

"Michonne?" Carl asked.

She looked up but continued to hum. One of Noah's feet intuitively pointed backwards, as if he was readying to leave just in case.

"Hey, Michonne, we were wondering if you wanted to play a game of 'I Spy'."

She snickered. "There is no time for games, my friend. We play and play, and then what?"

Carl could feel salt sting his eyes. "That's not what you taught me Michonne." He walked closer. "You always go on and on about how we brought you back. How about how you brought us back? You came right after I had to shoot my mother in the head. I felt like there was no coming back. But you were the only one who knew me, who could help me see that I'm not some monster…"

Noah's eyes shifted between the both of them. He wished he could identify with their conversation.

Michonne moved in her seat. "You're no monster!"

Just then, Rick stepped inside the building. His heart fluttered a bit to see her holding Judith, despite her sorrow. He patted Carl and nodded towards Noah. "Go help Tara with counting bullets. Michonne and I need to talk."

"Okay Michonne," Noah bided.

"I love you, Michonne," Carl added.

She muttered back, "I love you too."

Rick saw them out and then slowly walked to sit on the bench across from her. He was relieved that she didn't snatch her hand from his. "I love you more than life itself," he began.

"Rick…"

His thumb rubbed against the back of her hand. She could feel the desperation and aggression. His voice was more exasperated and raspy than usual. His stare was intense. "I need you, I need you when I met you. Probably even before then. If you asked me to travel 100 miles, I would."

A tear escaped her eye as Judith tugged at one her locs.

He continued, "If I could take your pain and deal with it myself. I would. I can't say I know what you're going through. When I lost Lori, I thought my world was gone. But then you showed up. Even when I thought Judith was gone," the baby yelled her name, "it was nothing compared to what you've gone through. I'm sorry."

"No one can be sorry for that," she mumbled.

"I'm sorry I couldn't have protected him for you."

At that moment, everything in Michonne released, so much so that Rick had to take Judith from her. Through her sobs, she was able to voice her agony. "You would have, but he didn't. And I didn't stay. I, I was so busy doing for anyone, but not for my peanut, not for him. He didn't deserve that!"

Rick allowed Judith to crawl on the floor as he pulled Michonne in tightly. He cried along with her while he palmed her head and left lingering kisses to her forehead.

"And here I am. I'm fucking alive, with a new family, and my son is dead! It's not right Rick, it's not fucking right!"

He pulled her away just enough for his blue eyes to look into her brown ones. Rick wiped her tears and kissed her cheeks. "Don't punish yourself like that. You don't deserve that. I thought I was a piece of shit for how I treated Lori when she died, but there's nothing I can do about it. There's nothing you can do about Andre. We're here now, and we're not dead."

"But he-"

"I know, but he's not truly dead as long as you have him here," he placed his hand on her chest. His voice cracked, "I want to spend the rest of my life with you Michonne. Even in your darkest times, I'm gonna be there. But I'll do my damndest to make you happy."

She still felt unworthy of opening up, of accepting this blessing when her heart told her she didn't deserve this. Yet, her mind and soul told her that this was it. There was nothing she could do about the past, no way to rectify what can't be undone. This was her future, and admittedly they brought her to life. Why would she run away from it? Her reply was a soft and affectionate kiss. Rick couldn't help but to grab the sides of her face and engulf her. He moaned as his tongue slipped in and wrapped around hers. She let go and allowed herself to be enraptured. She wished she met him Before – this man had to be the love of her life.

-000000000000000000000000-

Everyone's (except Laura's) stomach had adapted enough to the world that it had shrunk in the anticipation of a miniscule amount of food. In other words, it didn't take much for everyone to be stuffed. Daryl slightly nudged Carol and signaled for him to follow him outside of the cafeteria.

"What's up snhuckums?" she joked in the night air.

"Carol, is everythin' okay?"

She eyed him suspiciously. "Besides walkers and the occasional psychopath, yes…why?"

He scratched his head. "Everyone except Tyreese is noticin' you actin' strange around Tyreese."

She grunted and crossed her arms. "Why does everyone care?"

Her comrade sighed, "You never, you know, exactly told me what happened."

She walked a little away and then turned around to look back at him. "I did, I did what had to be done."

It had to be 30 seconds as they looked at one another. "Rick told me about Karen."

She breathed as she recalled being casted away from the prison. "Making the hard decisions…That's what I do. I have no problem in doing them."

Daryl slightly bobbed, "I get that. But if he ain't sayin' anythin' about it, why are you stayin' away?"

She slightly rubbed her arm. "Maybe because I want to."

"He knows?"

Carol's former mousiness returned for a nanosecond. "Yes," she answered softly.

"So, you gonna punish yourself with somethin' he ain't even thinkin' about?"

She blinked twice in contemplation. Before she could answer, there was a series of thuds against that brick gate.

AN: Isn't it too late for a visit?