Hello there, readers!

I am so very sorry for the long, long, wait. with School and adjusting to a new job and writers' block. It's been difficult for me to write something that I could proudly post.

Thank you all for your continued patience and your readership. Also, a BIG thank you to all who have read, favorited, followed and reviewed this story and/or me as an author thus far. I greatly appreciate it.

This chapter involves quite a few characters and I hope you enjoy it!

I don't own TWD.

Please enjoy!

...

Mending Bridges

The bleak, grey early morning stated to creep over the trees. The air, for once smelled sweet, as it would after a fresh rain. Alissandre stood outside and inhaled deeply and exhaled quietly while looking over the courtyard, seeing the walkers meander about beyond the fence. She knew that the pleasant smell wouldn't last and it would soon give way to a mildew odor on top of the decayed stench the dead brought with them; it happened a few times back in Woodbury. Still, her mood seemed a little lighter.

Before Andrea left for Woodbury, Alissandre asked what became of Cameron. Andrea found him fading and on his last breaths. He asked her to end it for him, since he told his beloved wife to escape with Merle and Emiko. Andrea complied with his wish and waited until he stopped breathing and made sure he died as he was… a human. He wasn't at anyone's mercy anymore. Though Alissandre missed her husband greatly, she was relieved and thankful to Andrea that he wasn't among… them.

"How're you holding up?" a voice said.

Alissandre turned and saw Glenn walking over from the entry way to the near tower. They acknowledged each other with a nod before Alissandre went back to watching the sunrise, at least what she could with how cloudy it was at the moment.

"I'm better… I don't know when… if I can ever fully be 'okay'… but I'm better." She replied.

"Yeah… I can understand that." Glenn said as he shouldered his rifle and stood about five feet away from Alissandre. "I'm… I'm sorry about what happened."

Glenn noticed her expression as she gave a gentle nod. He was used to seeing her rather dull-eyed, almost lifeless and devoid of any emotion but sadness. Alissandre appeared more tranquil, like she was starting to make peace with everything that happened. Glenn couldn't imagine himself being alone again, losing Maggie. He didn't want to picture it. He felt horrible about what happened to the woman. He didn't know how she could bring herself to such a state.

"How is it that you aren't mad at us?" Glenn inquired as he turned his attention from the walkers in the field to her. "At least from what I've seen, just… how?"

"It's too painful to think about what happened and I know myself. …I would… I would never recover if I stayed there…. in that sad place... he wouldn't want me to stay there." Alissandre said as she absently turned her wedding bands around repeatedly on her finger.

Alissandre remembered how she was when she lost their babies due to the stress of everything. How depressed and unresponsive she became. Cameron was always so good to her. He mourned with her, but helped her to see the strength that she had in her to carry on. It took her a long time to come back from the brink and that shared pain brought them closer together, as much as all their best memories did.

"I know that you, Rick and the others couldn't have known that Cameron died in the process of the rescue." Alissandre added. "I'm not angry at any of you for what happened and Rick already apologized. From that point on, you've all been quite kind to me. Thank you for that."

Glenn gave a slight nod and went back to looking at the field as Alissandre did. He was still angry about Woodbury and him and Maggie's relationship was a little strained at the moment. However, he had some time to calm down a bit and mull over some things. He kept thinking about when they were all on the road and seeing Merle and Emiko, how sad she was when the bruiser told her that he couldn't go with them to the prison. They were close to one another, that much was clear to him. There were some other things that bothered him at the moment, but he kept them to himself.

….

Thaliana's eyes crept open slowly as she woke up in her cell for the first time in a while. She smiled a little at the mumblings of a little girl in the bunk above her, content in her dreamland while talking to pretty horses and admiring her fairy wings. The woman quietly groaned as she shifted in bed, still uncomfortable laying on her wounded ribs and shoulder. She stopped moving when she heard the familiar sounds of Daryl rousing from his sleep. Thaliana shook her head and chuckled when she saw that he slept on the floor with a mattress, sheet, and pillow. As he opened his eyes, he caught sight of Thaliana looking at him.

"This has an air of déjà vu about it, doesn't it?" She said softly, to keep from waking Emiko, causing Daryl to let out a solitary chuckle of his own.

"Small bed… didn't wanna crowd you, being injured an' all… an'." Daryl answered. "…. I dunno if Emi'd be upset 'bout seein' us like that."

Thaliana smiled a little wider at his response and chuckled. "Come here…" she said to him as she motioned toward the stiff wicker basket at the head of the bunk bed that doubled as a place to sit.

Daryl was hesitant at first, but Thaliana's warm expression won him over. This whole thing definitely had déjà vu all over it and Daryl had to chuckle to himself. He let out a weary sounding sigh as the basket creaked a little under his weight. He looked over at the woman, observing her as she took deep breaths, like Hershel instructed.

"I think it's very sweet that you're taking Emiko's feelings into consideration." Thaliana whispered, the warm expression on Thaliana's face made Daryl blush lightly, he turned his gaze away for a moment and nodded. "You both seem to be getting on well… she's certainly taken a shine to you: follows you just about everywhere…I'm a lttle jealous." Thaliana joked.

"Well, she's a good kid… it's pretty easy to watch her an' she's pro'bly followin' me, 'cause you restin' up an' healin'." Daryl shrugged.

"She does make it pretty easy… but I think she's bonding well with you." The woman smirked as she placed a hand on Daryl's that was resting on his leg. "So… how are you feeling about it?"

Daryl looked at Thaliana for a moment. He enjoyed spending time with the little girl. She was very much a little kid, that couldn't be denied, but she had some sort of wisdom about her and at times, could express her thoughts rather well for her age. He still had that fear in the back of his mind. He liked kids – wanted some of his own, but he never expressed it or acted on it. He was terrified.

"I don't wanna turn into him." Daryl whispered. He grasped Thaliana's hand just a little tighter as he thought about his father. "Ever since we got together, I knew it'd mean bein' there for her, too… I still dunno if I'm really ready for it… what we lived with weren't normal."

"… I ask myself that a lot, too." Thaliana said after a while. "There were plenty of times where I wondered if I was being selfish… I questioned it more when I got closer to Carol and Sophia, Glenn, Carl… Theodore and the others. … I'd begun to realize that I was nowhere near being ready to take on raising a child… coming into a home where the person that adopted you can't even bring herself to hug you because of her own fears? That wouldn't have been fair to her." She added. "Crazy that the apocalypse prepared me for motherhood."

"Yeah, that's pretty damn crazy." Daryl smirked. Thaliana playfully pushed his arm as they both chuckled.

"It's going to be tough, but… I think we can do this." Thaliana whispered. "We'll work on it together."

"I ain't backin' out… We're stuck with each other, right?" Daryl said with a bit of a smirk, causing Thaliana to smile a little.

They heard the high pitch of Lucien's whistle faintly from the tower outside, calling Glenn and Alissandre to join Rick at the gate, as they were the only ones outside at the moment. It seemed that Michonne and Merle returned. Thaliana patted Daryl's knee before she carefully started to get up. Meanwhile, Daryl stood to look into the top bunk and wake Emiko.

"Hey, Emi…" he called quietly, gently rubbing the girl's arm to rouse her from her sleep. "Emiko…"

Emiko's eyes opened slowly and her tiny face scrunched a little when she yawned. Daryl told her that Uncle Merle and Michonne were back and asked if she wanted to go outside to greet them. That bit of information seemed to wake Emiko up fully as she practically leaped onto Daryl so he could help her down from the top bunk. Thaliana had finally sat upright and was carefully bending and reaching downward for her boots, glancing over at Daryl and Emiko as he gathered what she needed to put on.

"All right: Shoes… sweater..." Daryl said as he made sure she was fully dressed before going outside. "You got Mr. Whiskers?"

"He wants to sleep a little more today." Emiko answered, looking back toward her bed at the bunny.

"Well, he's been watching over you for a long time an' he's watched over your mom… guess he would be tired." Daryl reasoned, earning a smile from Emiko.

"Hey, I wasn't that hard to keep an eye on, was I?" Thaliana played offended as she slowly stood from the bed. Daryl quickly prepared himself to catch her if she fell or if she needed him to help her up.

"Naw… takin' eyes off, though…" Daryl mused quietly, earning another playful nudge from Thaliana.

"Don't start something you can't finish, country." Thaliana smirked.

"Says the woman with fractured ribs." Daryl teased back.

….

Maggie, Carol, Carl and Sophia made their way out to the courtyard, with Lucien opening the final gate to let Michonne drive in with the Maybach and Merle with the pickup full of farming tools and fuel. Michonne parked and waited by the Maybach for Thaliana or Daryl to give the keys to. Merle hopped out of the truck and walked toward Rick and Alissandre.

"That's quite a haul you guys came back with…" Rick said "Thank you."

"Not much luck in the way of fire power: a few handguns, a couple o' shotguns and some ammo, but that's about it. Otherwise, with the food, clothes, fuel, and first aid, we made out like bandits." Merle sighed.

He looked over to Alissandre and smiled a bit, seeing as she wasn't as down as she was before. He asked her how she was feeling and she said she was better, no different from what she told Glenn. Merle nodded and looked back at Glenn and some of the others taking the supplies that were found inside. His eyes found Michonne as she walked over after giving Daryl the keys to the car and greeting Emiko, who hugged her leg. She gave him a look that Merle took as encouraging. He nodded and looked at the ground for a moment before meeting Rick's eyes.

"Me and Carl are gonna head out today, see if we can find some more weapons." Rick mentioned as he watched Emiko run up to Merle, who wasted no time scooping her up in his arms.

"I'll go with ya." Merle said.

Everything went silent when Merle said it. It was almost funny that of all the things that had ever come out of his mouth, this was the strangest of them all and it was said without even some sort of shit-eating grin. He just had an earnest look on his face. Glenn , Maggie, Thaliana, Daryl and some of the others moved a little closer as Rick and Merle continued talking.

"You guys just got back." Rick commented with a studying sort of expression. "You brought in quite a haul, you should rest."

"A lil' fatigue ain't gonna affect me none." Merle replied. "Can't rest with the likes of The Governor at the doorstep, anyway."

"What are you tryin' to prove?" Maggie spoke up.

Merle turned to the young woman and he couldn't help the horrible feeling that came over him, knowing what his impulsiveness had a hand in bringing about. He remembered backing out of that dingy little room after Blake brought a topless Maggie into the room and taunted Glenn while tormenting the farmer's eldest daughter. It reminded him of Thaliana, and that woman was his kin, as far as he felt. As he backed out of the room, Merle stayed silent, though his mind kept repeating what he felt. For some reason, he couldn't bring himself to say it then. He wasn't used to saying it. It felt about as weird to him as wearing a dress and makeup, hitting on some random dude. Emiko noticed the somewhat solemn expression on his face and she became concerned as well.

"Uncle Merle…." Emiko mumbled drowsily, still waking up from her sleep. She hugged her arms around him as best she could in an attempt to comfort him.

"You were gone overnight out there tryin' to get this stuff and you're gonna go back out?" Maggie added. "You were all 'I'm takin' mine an' leavin'' yesterday… what changed?"

"Ain't trying to prove nuthin', girl; ev'ry breath the bastard takes, he's plottin' t' hit us as hard as he can. " Merle sighed. "I had part in makin' a mess… " he added. Thinking about Emiko being afraid, getting hurt, or dying because of Blake made him hold her a bit tighter. He also thought about his brother, Michonne, Ali… he also thought of Thaliana. What if she died or if she lost Carol and Sophia? "…. this the first time I couldn't jus' walk away from it like it didn't matter."

Maggie folded her arms around herself and looked at the ground briefly when the memory of her ordeal came back. Glenn put an arm around her and rubbed her shoulder comfortingly, which made her turn into him a little more.

"I ain't lookin for none o' you t' forgive me, jus' t' know that I'm sorry for my hand in things." Merle added before adjusting Emiko in his hold. He looked toward her to see that she had fallen asleep again.

Maggie watched him as he held the little girl and the small smile that formed on his face. With an exhale, she walked up to Merle, leaving some distance between them. He looked in her direction the moment he saw movement in his peripheral vision. She looked at him silently and he looked right back. Merle could only wonder what she was thinking or was planning on doing. His eyes glanced over to Glenn, who was intently watching Maggie. Her unreadable gaze never wavered; her eyes went to Emiko for a moment before she looked at Merle once more. With a slow, slight nod, Maggie turned and walked away.

"Let's get this stuff inside." she said "We can store the farmin' supplies in the woodshop." She added with a grunt as she began to take down a half-bag of soil from the truck bed.

As the others got back to unloading the vehicles, Merle handed Emiko off to Alissandre as she offered to put her back in bed. The strange silence after Merle's apology continued as everyone that was able worked to unload what was found: all the farming supplies, food, clothing, formula, toys, and baby diapers, even some new books and a few board games that were found. Merle caught sight of Michonne carrying a few bags. He met up with her and carefully took a portion of her load to make it easier on her.

"You don't have to do that." Michonne said quietly, the slightest of smiles on her face.

"I know." Merle replied simply, still taking up some of the bags she was carrying.

"… Thanks." Michonne said quietly, getting a silent nod from him in response. She could tell that Merle was a little unsure of what he was feeling right now and was just pensively stewing in his thoughts. "Hey…" she said softly. "You did the right thing. That's what counts."

Merle looked to her and saw a soft, approving sort of smile sent his way from the warrior goddess. The man nodded once more. Inwardly, it still seemed a little odd, getting that from the normally stoic woman. It was comforting… reassuring. He wasn't used to that from anyone. He wasn't entirely sure, but he kind of liked it. As they got closer to the shed, Maggie reemerged from inside and took a bag from both Merle and Michonne. Glenn and Rick stopped behind them.

"I believe you…" The elder Greene girl said finally, which made Merle look at her in slight confusion. Others still in the courtyard turned at the sound of her voice.

"You knew he wasn't a good man, but you had Emiko to look out for….I get that." Maggie began to explain. Her eyes found the aforementioned girl in Alissandre's arms as the woman carried the sleeping child back inside. "She loves you…. an' the way you treat her, it's clear she's like a daughter to you… an' I can't think of any men with daughters, or at least some sense, that would be okay with what happened… you said weren't okay with it once you knew an' I'm believin' you on that. So, thank you for ownin' up… an' for tryin' to make it right. I can't ever forgive the bastard for what he did…. but I forgive you." Maggie sighed and gave him an assuring nod.

Merle nodded back to her and silently exhaled a breath of relief that he had no idea that he was holding onto. It was a start… a big one. It felt different facing his mistakes rather than walking away from them. Deep down, he'd always carried some sort of guilt for the things he'd done; he had become an expert in hiding things like that. Taking this different approach, it left him feeling a little lighter, like he shed a layer of what weighed him down. She took the other duffle from him and started to carry it to the woodshop. With nothing left on his person, Merle went back to the truck, seeing Glenn standing in the truck bed and moving items up to make them easier to grab and carry.

"So… there's a softer side to Merle Dixon." Glenn began, which earned him an audible scoff from the older Dixon.

"Ain't nuthin' soft that ain't s'posed to be right now, kid – let's get that straight." Merle corrected. He didn't see Beth roll her eyes as she took a small box of clothing inside the prison.

The former delivery man half-brushed off the bruiser's crude reply as Merle being Merle and continued on. "Yeah, so… that was someone else comforting a scared and crying child at the roadside the other day, then?" Glenn replied as he hopped out of the truck bed and grabbed a box. "Hellbent on finding Thaliana and Daryl? Far and away from what I remember you to be."

"People're full o' surprises like that, y'know?" Merle shrugged and he grabbed another bag from the truck bed and hoisted it over his shoulder. It wasn't long before their talk led to what happened between them back at Woodbury. It was silent for a moment as they placed the goods they were carrying in their proper storage place. Finally, Glenn spoke up while they were walking back to get more supplies to put away.

"By the time we got back here, I'd already told myself that you beating me up… we were even for Atlanta." Glenn voiced calmly. "I'd also swore that I wouldn't forgive you for what happened to Maggie, but… if she can… then I will, too."

"Somewhere, pigs are getting' ready t' take flight." Merle half-smirked. "Since we all havin' a Kumbaya moment n' sharin' our feelin's n' shit, I'll be honest… wasn't expectin' t' hear that from ya."

"Yeah, I totally expected you to apologize." Glenn replied with mild sarcasm. "People are full of surprises like that."

Merle just gave a solitary chuckle as he watched Glenn take an armful of farming tools to store away. The bruiser honestly wasn't expecting much after expressing contrition. He knew he could do some screwed up things that most probably wouldn't forgive him for. These people forgave him.

"I'd have to agree, kid." Merle sighed. His eyes turned to Daryl and a smiling Thaliana. The way they looked at him now was so different from when he left. They were proud of him, taking this step. As much as he would say that he didn't really care what people thought of him… these people, the ones he loved most… it mattered. He had to admit that it felt good. With a filled bag in hand, he walked over to Thaliana and Daryl.

"Hell's officially frozen over." Daryl muttered to his brother, earning a 'shut up' sort of expression from Merle.

"This your fault, y'know." Merle said to Thaliana, with his usual simper. "You n' that little girl…. wormin' your way in n' making me give a damn n' shit."

"Me? What can I do?" Thaliana spoke quietly, before looking up at Merle with a tiny grin. "I'm just a weak-ass punk." She teased.

The three of them chuckled softly. Merle remembered calling her that in a moment of frustration. He was so worried about her then, even more so when he saw that she had been shot. Words couldn't even begin to describe the relief and happiness he felt when he saw her walk down those stairs and now she's standing in front of him cracking wise. He placed a hand on her good shoulder and gave her a smile and nod.

"You plenty strong, Big City." Merle said warmly.

….

Back in Woodbury, Blake sat alone in his office preparing himself to meet with Rick tomorrow, after being made aware by Andrea that Rick wanted to talk out a mutually beneficial arrangement. His eye scanned through the papers on his desk carefully – checking the overall census of Woodbury, looking through some notes he'd made with information he found out from Andrea and reports of the prison layout from his scouts surrounding the area – including the destroyed administrative area. He heard crackling on the radio before it was made known that four adults and a young boy left the prison: The presumed leader, Michonne, Merle, and the redheaded deaf chick– as one scout reported – listed as the adults.

"Ready to go, at your order, Governor." A male voice spoke over the radio.

Phillip was silent for a moment as he looked out of the window as he held the walkie in his hand. It wasn't long before his finger pressed the talk button down and he brought the device to his lips.

"Remain on standby and keep watchin' 'em… be ready to move tomorrow." Blake spoke softly, his words like ice in the veins. "We hit their weakness."

As Blake ended his radio conversation, he stood and walked over to the window of his office. He gave a smile and wave to the woman and child that greeted him from the street below. They didn't know that the cogs in his head have been spinning and spinning for days on end. While the two Woodburians went on their way to visit a neighbor, the Governor's plastered on smile faded to a faint but sinister little grin. He had worked out various scenarios in his head and he couldn't see an outcome that didn't work in his favor, certain of it.

"Eye for an eye…" Blake's voice darkened as he mumbled to himself and continued to stew in his bloodlust. His fingers brushed slowly against the sturdy handle of his knife before he turned from the window and leisurely headed toward his walker room, still in a state of disarray after his fight with Michonne. He jiggled the handle and leaned closer to the door, pressing his ear against it to hear the muffled walker heads groaning and snarling in anticipation.

"Soon… ….. soon….."

xxxxxxxxxx

Oooh, what sinister plot is brewing and how will it affect the group?

How did you enjoy the chapter?

I should be ending this story within the next 3-4 chapters and possibly begin planning out the next installment for this universe.

I'm about halfway finished with the next chapter and plan on posting that one before the month is out.

Thank you all so much for your time!

And as always... Thanks for sticking with me!