One more chapter after this...one or one and a half? :0! Not sure! But here it is, hope y'all like it!

Everything died down around him. Silence blurred with the panic as Rick stood there, watching the blood pour from The Governor's wound. It was over, just like that. The war that seemed to have gone on for an eternity was finally at an end. It ended with the pull of the trigger, the firing of a bullet. Just like that it was done and somehow he was able to breathe more easier. The world around him didn't seem as bleak, not now, not anymore. He could feel the release that one death brought and despite the sickness that rose in his stomach over the sight all he felt inside was relief.

He heard a flush of commotion around him and immediately he lifted his eyes. He saw Daryl covering up Daenerys, asking if she was alright. Jon was being laid on some sort of gurney and being taken away for help. Merle was standing there, watching The Governor fade into the abyss he had so darkly formed for everyone and yet there he was, fading into it just as easily. He died in the midst of the trap he had worked out. He hadn't seen the end, his death had been the end.

"Rick?" Y'alright?" Daryl asked, coming over, Daenerys behind him as he clasped his hand on Rick's shoulder. His eyes were full of uncertain worry, every line on his face softened, shot through with concern. He'd seen Rick slip away before he didn't want to see it happen again. Not when they were so close to overcoming another burden, not when life was handing them the keys to the gates of their torture. They had surpassed this and right now it felt like they could overcome anything. They were that strong, not so easily governed at all. They wouldn't go down so quickly.

Rick blinked away the thoughts clouding his eyes and he lowered his arm, the weight of his Python heavy in his hand. He looked up at Daryl, giving him a nod. His eyes searched his friends face, looked over his body. There were burns, just like there was on him but nothing at all that was too serious. Almost frantically he looked towards the gurney that was being rolled away. He'd been shot, burned by the lick of the flames. "Jon!" He called out, his brows tensing together as he watched them wheel him into a nearby building.

"They're helping him. He'll be just fine." Daryl assured, his own eyes looking after Jon. He could only hope that the bullet wound hadn't caused too much damage, that he hadn't lost too much blood. Scars were inevitable. They always would be in a time like this and perhaps even in the world Jon had come from. Direwolves, dragons and thrones. It sounded like one of those books he would only look at the pictures in. Fairy tale through and through and yet Jon was here and so was Daenerys. Could he deny their existence simply because it seemed outlandish?

Rick nodded, letting his eyes drag on over to Daenerys. He looked at Daryl's poncho wrapped about her shoulders. The ashy gray from the fire dusted on her skin but her skin was still as smooth and pale as before. Her eyes seemed more alive than they had since knowing her. She was looking at Rick, returning the gaze of wonder right back into his eyes. She was overwrought with what had just happened. She had expected it, hadn't she? Had she been through it before? Had she stepped through the fire untouched and come out with more air and life inside of her?

"You're alright." She whispered, her small hand lifting as her other hand clutched the poncho to her. She touched her fingers to the skin of her face as a light smile formed on her lips. There were burns on his face, he didn't feel them now but the ache of them would present themselves soon enough. The coarse stubble seemed to burn beneath her fingertips and the way he closed his eyes on her touch made it apparent that he felt her, that he was as alive as she was. She hadn't failed. For the first time in so long she had come out of something unscathed and without a loss.

"So are you." He replied, his voice hushed, lowered and shaken. The gentleness of her touch combined oddly and darkly with the sudden feeling of sickness he felt over the body lying on the ground, the blood pooling on the ground beneath him. They had made it out, not much death had scarred their attempt except this one man. This Governor who seemed to have wanted the world and who had sacrificed life to get it. He was as dead as the Walkers, perhaps more so, lost to the darkness Rick's bullet had sent him to.

"I am." She laughed a little before bringing herself forward and despite the feeling of rigidity coursing through his body she still rested against his chest. A small breath of a cry escaped her lips as her fingers clutched to the front of his chest. She had been so afraid she had lost him, lost them all. She had to admit that she had even been afraid to walk through those flames again. How could she have anticipated it happening again? The last time there had been dragon eggs, the last time she had walked through with a sacrifice tied to the pyre. This time had been to save the lives of three men, she had been nervous, timid with fear and yet here they all stood, alive and breathing.

"And it's time to get y'both home...right?" Daryl asked with a touch of reluctance that shone in his eyes and was reflected in Daenerys' expression.

Rick nodded, gently setting her away from him and turning towards the building they had taken Jon into. "We'll figure it out." He stated, gesturing Dany and Daryl with him, his determination deterred by his hesitance to let either of them go, especially after all this.

Two weeks passed and Jon was already better. The gun shot had formed a glossy scar and the burns had their effect but he was determined to push past it and regain his former vigor. He stood now, watching the prison yard from the murky perch window in the cell block. They were working on fortifying the prison, working on patching the fences up. He could see Rick standing next to Carl, kneeling in front of the broken locks and trying to patch them up. Daenerys was nearby, holding Judith closely to her chest, her smile soft as she looked down at the small girl in her embrace.

He was the only one who seemed to not belong. He was the only one standing up on the perch, watching as the others fixed up the prison. He didn't feel apart of this, even with Ghost standing at his feet, none of it felt right. He wanted it to. A part of him didn't want to go back to Westeros, didn't want to see again the despair that had fallen over the Seven Kingdoms. This place here, with this struggling group of survivors, was thriving. They had just overcome the biggest obstacle thrown their way, the dawn was finally rising in their bleak darkness and they were alive. Daenerys belonged here, her need to live extending to this group, extending to Rick. Jon just couldn't find a place no matter how hard he tried.

"Up on your feet I see." Daryl called out, bringing Jon's attention away from the window.

Jon laughed a little and gave a nod. "Got tired of that cell. Was never one for being locked up."

Daryl nodded and made his way to the stairs, leaning against the railing. Hunter was trailing behind him, its dark coat shiny in the ashen light. "Understandably."

Jon smiled, lowered his ways a moment. The glint of Longclaw's hilt catching his eye, another reminder that he belonged somewhere else.

"Your leaving...aren't you?" Daryl hadn't moved his eyes, he just kept his gaze solely on Jon, on this man who was a part of him. Merle they had left behind in Woodbury, that town that was now left to pick up the ashes of The Governor's domain. Perhaps he would see him again but the bond was broken, he hadn't wanted to save him, he had left Daryl for the flames. Rick was like his brother, of course but Jon here made it so that he had reason, he had a past, he had an actual family, there were other people who would care about him.

"I have to." Jon stated, lifting his gaze and meeting Daryl's eyes with that present touch of hesitance.

"I know." Daryl replied with a low sigh and a nod of his head. "Rick's taking y'out where y'said those flames were, told me to fetch you. C'mon." He gestured Jon with him, Ghost and Hunter following in their footsteps as they stepped out into the sun beaten yard.