Well, I got impatient and wanted the story up already :) welcome to In the Dying Light! I'm thinking this story will probably consist of Seasons 4, 5, and 6 depending on how long it gets :) We'll see. Hope you enjoy! x

S4E1P1

Ava woke to find the other side of the bed empty. Ricks' warmth lingered and she rolled into it, relishing the smell of him on his pillow. She sighed.

It had been six months since the Governor had attacked, since his people had become their people. Six months since Rick and Ava had made their cell their own and finally found a double bed. Six months of what Ava could only describe as domestic bliss.

So why wasn't she happy?

Ava questioned this often, asking herself what was lacking. She was happy – happier than she'd ever been – but something felt wrong about the way they lived. Was it the lack of her siblings, her missing family? Or was it simply a result of trying to marry an ordinary life into the apocalypse?

She didn't know and she tried not to think about it, but she couldn't settle into domesticity as well as Rick had – a fact that never ceased to surprise her.

When he'd decided to step down as leader, Ava was shocked. When he chose not to be a part of their council, she was confused and more than a little irritated. He was made to be a leader and everyone there knew him as theirs. For him to step down? Well. It threw another wrench in the works.

Ava climbed out of bed, turning to the twins who now had their own travel cots. They'd gotten so big in the last few months Ava could hardly remember what it was like when they were newborn. It pained her that they had no photos, but at least she had them.

Amy and Aidan both had heads of thick, dark curls and Ava loved to bury her nose into it when she held them. Aidan still slept, but Amy was beginning to stir, so Ava picked her up and balanced her on her hip. Outside the cell, people were beginning to wake and Ava wandered through and out of the block, knowing someone would tell her when Aidan woke.

She knew where Rick would be and went straight to the inner fence, looking down the grass verge to see him hacking at the earth. Farmer Rick, she liked to call him, especially since she'd found him a cassette tape of folk-music reminiscent of their first meeting.

Amy gargled happily and Ava turned, seeing Carl coming towards them. He'd grown a surprising amount in a few months, just like the twins, and he smiled when he saw them.

"He started without you again?" Ava said. Carl nodded. They both headed down to the make-shift farm.

"You didn't wake me up," Carl said indignantly. Rick cracked a smile.

"Cause I knew you were up all night reading comics with a flashlight," he said, cocking a brow at his son. Carl restrained a grin, turning instead to the pen. Rick smiled at Ava and she smiled back, feeling a pang of guilt at his questioning gaze. She had made things difficult and she knew it. Struggling to understand what she was missing and deathly afraid that it was the constant danger she yearned for, Ava had found herself growing distant from Rick.

She still loved him more than anything, and he loved her, but he couldn't understand what she was feeling just as she couldn't understand why he continued to stay out of the loop. At first, sure, because Carl needed to learn not to take the easy path. But Carl had grown and learned. He knew right from wrong now.

Regardless, Ava found herself more and more often sitting alone at night with one or both of the babies, trying to work out what the hell was wrong with her.

"What's up with Violet?" Carl said, drawing Ava from her thoughts. Rick sighed.

"Carl, I told you not to name them. They're not piglets anymore. They're food."

"I just thought, you know, until..." Carl shrugged, looking away. "Okay."

Rick leaned on the fence and looked over at the pig. Amy squealed again, doing what could be interpreted as an impression of a pig. Ava knew it was more likely the fact that she'd spotted her father.

"She doesn't seem very active," Ava said, bringing Amy to Ricks' side so he could take her. "Is she sick?"

Rick dropped a kiss on Amys' head and frowned.

"I don't know what's going on with her. Could be sick, could be nothing." He smiled. "Feel better, Violet."

Carl beamed at his father, tickling Amys' foot until she squealed again. Ava laughed. Rick kissed her on the forehead again before handing her back to Ava. His grip lingered on her arm and Ava smiled, brushing some hair from his face before leaning up to kiss him. Carl grunted, pulling a face at them. Ava poked him in the side.

"Come on," Rick said, fighting a smile. "Let's get to it."

He gave Ava a lingering look as the two walked off and Ava sighed. Maybe she should tell Rick about how she felt. She knew he wouldn't think any less of her for feeling incomplete, but she also didn't want to burden him with her worries.

No, she decided. She would tell him. It was only fair that he understood her and for all she knew, he may have the answer. Smiling to herself, fingers drifting through her daughters' soft curls, Ava turned back to the prison feeling much better.

Ava joined the community for the breakfast rush, Aidan now balanced on her hip. Beth had commandeered Amy as an excuse to hang out with Jeff, which was fooling no one except, perhaps, Hershel. They'd been hiding their relationship for months and Ava still couldn't tell if Hershel was being purposefully oblivious or not.

"Hey, have you seen Daryl?" Ava asked, stepping up to the breakfast station where Carol was serving up eggs. Just as she spoke, a number of voices called out throughout the courtyard and Daryl looked uncomfortably towards his fans, grunting before joining Ava and Carol. She suppressed a grin.

"Smells good," Daryl said, grabbing a crust of bread as Carol dished up a bowl.

"Just so you know, I liked you first," she said, fighting a smile.

"Stop," Daryl said, scowling at Ava as she laughed. He reached out tickled Aidan under the chin, the little boy squirming with the biggest grin on his face. Daryl looked at Ava. "You know, Rick brought in a lot of them, too."

"Not recently," Ava said, sadly. Sometimes it annoyed her that the people here didn't give him the credit he deserved, but it never got to Rick, so she tried not letting it get to her.

"Give the stranger sanctuary," Carol said, shrugging. "Keeping people fed, you're gonna have to learn to live with the love."

"Right." He groaned.

"I need you to see something," Carol said, looking between them. Ava nodded and grabbed a piece of crust for Aidan before following. Carol led them out towards the inner gates.

"About today," she said. "I don't know if we're gonna be able to spare a lot of people for the run."

"That place is good to go. We're gonna move on it."

"Yeah." Carol sounded unconvinced. "The thing is we had a pretty big build-up overnight."

They reached the gates and Ava blanched, looking down at the outer fences which were thick with the dead. She sighed. The Governor may be gone, but the dead weren't going away anytime soon.

"How many?" she said. Carol shrugged.

"Dozens more towards tower three. It's getting as bad as last month. They don't spread out anymore."

"The more people we have here, the more the walkers are going to come," Ava said, patting Aidans' back as he began to hiccup.

"You get enough of those damn fence-clingers," Daryl pointed. "They start to herd up."

"Pushing against the fences again." Carol sighed, shrugging as she turned to Daryl and Ava. "It's manageable, but unless we get ahead of it, not for long." She pulled a sad face at Daryl. "Sorry, Pookie."

He gave her a look and snorted before heading back towards the prison. Ava turned away from the dead, that strange itch inside her creeping up again, making her feel restless. She jogged to catch up with Daryl.

"What's up?" he said, holding out his bowl to her. She tried to refuse but he wasn't having it. "You're always taking as little as possible. You need to eat or you'll be bones,"

Ava fought a smile.

"Crazy bones?"

He snorted.

"Let's hope not,"

Ava relented and grabbed some, dropping it into her mouth and swallowing quickly so she could say what she'd wanted to.

"I'll go with you,"

He frowned.

"What?"

"I'll go with you on the run. It'll help make up for the numbers. And I heard Claudia and Molly got back yesterday. I could see if they'd be willing to pitch in?"

Daryl cocked a brow at her.

"You sure you want to come?"

"Definitely," Ava said, surprised by how excited she felt at the prospect. Since returning from Woodbury, the most she'd left the prison was to search the traps in the woods with Rick. When it came to runs, there had always been someone else who wasn't the only mother of infants and as such, she'd had no excuse to go. "I think I'm going crazy in here, Daryl. I mean, imagine if you had to stay here all the time! Wouldn't you go mad, too?"

He pulled a face at the prospect before glancing at Aidan. Ava sighed.

"I know I have responsibilities. It's been keeping me here all these months and of course I'm happy to stay and look after my children, but things have gotten… I don't know," she looked down gnawing on her lip. "Is it selfish of me to want to get out?"

Daryl gave one of his rare, soft smiles and put his hand on her shoulder.

"It's not selfish at all. I'd be glad to have you with me, if that's what you want?"

Ava felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders and tried not to let herself think this made her a horrible person.

"It really is. Thanks Daryl."

He patted her shoulder.

"No problem."