Disclaimer:

Carol Peletier, Sophia Peletier, King Ezekiel, Henry, Jerry, Shiva, and any other recognizable character or plot of The Walking Dead belong to AMC Network and Skybound Entertainment, Image Comics and Robert Kirkman.

In no way is the author claiming ownage of any of the characters nor is there any economic/monetary gain at any time. The author is extremely respectful of the original creators and is willing to take down this work of fiction if requested.

No copyright infringement intended.

Original characters are the property of the author.


Keeper of My Heart: Her Darkest Secret


Sophia has been plastered to her side ever since it happened, perched on her hip when she's standing, head resting against her shoulder, a hand holding tightly to her plush tiger and another to the neck of her mother's blouse, or resting against her chest when she sits down.

Just like she had predicted, the moment Ed saw the tiger her daughter was playing with, he had flown into a rage, accusing her of spending all his hard-earned money on something as stupid as a plush toy. His fist had followed his accusations and though he had made sure to get most of the hits in places she could cover, he had left a hand imprint on her arm and a shinner on her left eye.

As soon as he had left the apartment, Carol had broken down crying, holding tightly to a terrified Sophia. He hadn't hurt their daughter, that was really all that mattered to her.

Seeing the state her daughter was in, Carol decided to brave the world. She'd gotten her daughter ready with the promise of a visit to the zoo, had tried to cover the black eye she sported only to give up and dig out the ratty pair of sunglasses she owned, then proceeded to walk from their apartment all the way to the zoo. It had cleared her mind and calmed Sophia down enough to brave the racket of the place.

Its a weekend day and the zoo is as full as they've ever seen it. Parents walk around holding hands, children laugh as they rush to press themselves against the glass that separates them from the animals they've come to visit. Happy families surround them, a direct contrast to the state both her daughter and she are in. Not for the first time in her life she wishes she could be one of the women who pass in front of her; loved by their husbands, with children who laugh and play around, unafraid of the fathers who chase them to tickle them or hoist them over their heads.

She can't help but fix her eyes on a couple that passes in front of her. They are holding hands, the man gently smoothing his finger over his wife's skin, the woman wearing a beautiful smile as she smooths a hand over her swollen belly. The man's other hand holding on to a little girl with pigtails in an attempt to hold her back from rushing to the nearest exhibit. They look perfect, they seem happy. How she wishes that Sophia and she were that woman and daughter.

In the blink of an eye, the man is replaced by a taller man, his skin darker, hair longer and pulled back by a couple of his dreads. The woman is replaced by a slightly shorter woman with a head full of curly hair that twists and turns with her movement. She too is pregnant with her second child and flaunts her belly without a care in the world, without the fear of the father growing angry at the knowledge of its existence. The daughter is replaced by a younger girl, hair still in pigtails, a sprinkling of freckles on her cheeks and nose as she excitedly exclaims she wants to see the tigers. "Tiggies Papa!" She declares and the man happily guides them to the correct window. "Mama, Tiggies!"

She's pulled back from her daydreaming by her daughter's gentle tap on her hand. "Tiggy, Mama?" Sophia holds on tighter to both her and to the tiny tiger she holds against her chest. Her eyes looking up into her mother's with the hope that it will get her a trip to see Shiva.

"Not today, my love."

Sophia has always been well-behaved, rarely throwing a fit. Today is no different as she gives her mom a little nod before snuggling against her once more. "Hungry, Mama." She admits. Carol has to stifle a groan for she's not sure she has enough money to get her daughter any food.

With a prayer to find something on the cheap side, she stands from the bench, hoists Sophia against her hip and starts walking towards the food court. By the time she makes it there and looks at what the food court has to offer, Sophia is playing with the curls of her hair, rubbing her Tiggy against them, completely oblivious to her mother's worry. She only has $5 dollars to her name, which according to the menu will get her a small kids drink and a kids meal which consist of an apple or banana and half a sandwich. It will have to do, she will not allow her daughter to go hungry.

"Soph? Do you want ham or turkey?" She asks her daughter who instantly perks up, making chomping movements with her lips like she had seen little Shiva do.

"Ham!" Sophia answers quickly before going back to her playing, hiding her tiger's face amidst the mass that was her mother's hair.

"Banana or apple?"

Sophia turns to look at her mother once more, humming to herself as she ponders her answer. "Nana!" She finally answers before quickly declaring. "Apple juice!"

"Banana and apple juice it is."

As she makes the line to pay, a tray in one hand and Sophia in the other arm, Carol can't help but pray that she'll have enough. It is only when she has one person left before her and her tray is on the 'line' to be paid, that she realizes that they are charging tax and that makes her short. Her anxiety spikes and Sophia reacts to it right away, burying her face in her mother's hair. She takes a step back just as the young man charging starts scanning her things.

"That will be $5.30, ma'am."

She blushes bright red. It's only thirty cents but to her, it feels like she made line with absolutely zero dollars in her pockets. She feels her face heating up as she rearranges Sophia on her hip. "I uh..."

She's about to tell him that she's changed her mind, instead of admitting that she doesn't have the 30 extra cents when a strong presence suddenly appears beside her. She sees him hand his staff card to the man before he produces a couple of bills. "I got it."

"No, its all right," Carol says just as Sophia realizes who their knight in shining armor is.

"Zekey!" Her daughter declares loudly, producing the first smile she has seen her wear since her father punched her mother.

"No, really," Carol says as she takes another step back. She shakes her free hand at the young man who pauses, confused no doubt, and stares at the couple in front of him.

"It would be my honor, milady," Ezekiel tells her as he bends his head just slightly, a small vow which makes her daughter let out a tiny giggle that she tries to stifle behind a cupped hand against her mouth.

Carol stares at Ezekiel from behind her shades for a couple of seconds before Sophia takes matters in her own hands and places a hand on either side of her mother's face. "Mama." She says as she gently guides Caro's face to turn so that she can look at her. Carol can't help but inwardly smile at her daughter's gentle touch. Sophia knows that her cheek and eye hurt and she's doing her best to be gentle. "I'm hungry." She repeats.

With a sigh, Carol presses her forehead against her daughters. She has to suppress the sudden desire to cry and instead nods. Money is quickly exchanged as she cradles her daughter close and gives her a kiss on the forehead.

Ezekiel moves to take her tray, placing his own cup of steaming coffee on it. "Lead the way." He motions with a dip of his head to the side.

Carol, still a little withdrawn and attempting to hide the evidence of her husband's violence, quickly moves ahead of him and guides him towards the nearest empty bench and table. She lets Sophia down gently on the seat and her daughter quickly sits down, her little feet dangling high above the ground as she waits patiently to be served her food. As soon as Ezekiel places the tray on the table, Carol reaches for Sophia's juice and separates the plastic straw. In seconds she has it ready for her daughter who eagerly accepts it. She then unwraps the half of sandwich and puts it close to Sophia.

"What do we say, sweet pea?" She asks her daughter. With a gentle hand, she pushes away her daughter's bangs back to allow her a clear face while eating.

"Thank you," Sophia says before munching on her ham sandwich.

Carol turns to look at him from behind the protection of her shades. She gives him a small smile, small enough that it won't cause a wince by moving the sore and swollen muscles of her face. "Thank you."

Ezekiel looks at her for a long second before turning towards Sophia. Carol follows his gaze only to find Sophia stuffing her face with the ham sandwich. "Slow down Soph," Carol begs her, pulling the hand that holds the munched food slightly away from her. "I don't want you to choke."

"Hungry," Sophia says between mouthfuls.

"I know, my love, but I don't want your tummy hurting later."

"Nana?" Sophia asks as she looks at the fruit curiously.

"Want me to show you how monkeys open them?" Ezekiel asks Sophia who eagerly nods, pigtails flying as she does.

Ezekiel proceeds to show her. "Monkeys are extremely complex creatures, little princess. We take a banana and vainly attempt to open it from the wrong end. We struggle when they are past their prime and go mushy."

Sophia makes a face that tells the adults just what she thinks of mushy bananas.

"A monkey is smart, must not spend too much time opening fruits when there are vast jungles to explore. He turns the fruit and pinches the end then pulls the vine aside." Ezekiel demonstrates as he talks, opening the banana from the bottom, easily peeling it in two. Carol isn't sure if that will work with a mushy banana and makes a note to herself to check it out later, but her daughter is amazed at how easy her fruit has been peeled and for that, she is extremely grateful.

Ezekiel seems to have a magic way to erase her daughter's fear and sadness and replace it with amazement and smiles. Carol can't help but let the side of her lip curl slightly, battling the stronger beating of her heart and the butterflies that seem to take flight at the knowledge that her daughter feels safe with Ezekiel, not only when Shiva is near, but even when she's just faced the scariest thing she's ever been around, her own father. She's not sure exactly what she's feeling, but she knows that having Ezekiel near thrills her far more that it should.

"Nana!" Sophia declares as he hands it to her. She bites into it happily before offering her mother a bite.

Carol leans forward, opening her mouth to take a bite. Her sunglasses slide down her nose slightly and she quickly pushes them back. She hopes Ezekiel hasn't caught a glimpse of anything.

"Thank you." She tells Sophia who gives her a nod then offers Ezekiel a bite.

"Has the princess of our zoo come to visit the youngest tiger today?" Ezekiel asks, his voice a little more formal than before.

Sophia nods eagerly but then shakes her head. She turns to look at her mom as if to ask silently if anything has changed. When Carol shakes her head Sophia's smile falls. Her pigtails fly as she shakes her head once more.

"May I question the reason behind not visiting Shiva?"

Sophia bites her lip and gives him a shrug. Carol can't blame her daughter for answering that way. She hadn't taken the time to explain to Sophia why they couldn't visit Shiva; she couldn't tell her daughter that she was ashamed of the marks Ed had left on her skin, that she didn't want the kind zookeeper to see them and think she deserved them. It had been much easier to simply tell her that today they wouldn't visit the tigers and to leave it at that. Sophia hadn't questioned it and she hadn't elaborated.

"Have I or Shiva done something to warrant staying away?"

At his question, Carol quickly raises her head.

Ezekiel thought that they weren't visiting because he had done something? Because Shiva had done something? He had been nothing but a perfect gentleman, a friend, to both her and her daughter. How could he think that?

"It's not that." Carol quickly assures him. "We just don't want to bother you. You've been kind to us, you are a friend, but we don't want to overstay our welcome."

She can see that Ezekiel visibly sighs in relief at not being the reason they didn't want to visit Shiva. She can still see a bit of sadness in his eyes, and she wishes she could erase it but remains quiet. The silence stretches between them while Sophia finishes the rest of her lunch, then as Ezekiel finishes his coffee. He doesn't stand until Carol starts gathering their things.

"Up!" Sophia demands. Carol turns to pick up her daughter only to find that Sophia isn't asking her to carry her. Instead, her daughter has her arms extended towards Ezekiel, her tiger clutched in one of her hands. Sophia has never done this before with anyone else, never requested to be picked up by a man, and Carol isn't quite sure how to react to the fact that she willingly does it with Ezekiel.

After checking with her that it is okay for him to pick her up, Ezekiel cradles Sophia close to him and Sophia wraps her legs like a vine around his waist.

"There really is no inconvenience to your visits-"

"It's really not your fault-"

Carol can't help but blush as they both talk over each other, each attempting to assure the other that they are not to blame. With a chuckle, Ezekiel waits for her to repeat her words.

"It soothes my soul to know I haven't done something for you to hate me." He admits. "But it saddens me that Princess Sophia will not get to see Shiva's progression."

"Shiva!" Sophia choruses as she recognizes the name. She turns her head to look at her mother, lip instantly morphing into a pout she knew her mother couldn't say no to. "Mama, please?" She asks hopefully.

There is something about the image of Ezekiel carrying Sophia that warms her heart. For a second her mind goes back to the daydream she'd had earlier on. Her heart skips a beat as she finally puts a face to the family she had envisioned; it was Ezekiel, Sophia and her.

"Please, Mama, please?" Sophia insists as she clutches her tiger to her chest. "Shiva? Yes?"

It takes her but a second to make up her mind, a second for her heart to open itself to the feeling of love that envelops her whenever she's with the kind stranger. She still doesn't understand it, still finds it curiously scary to feel this for a man she's only seen twice before, especially when she knows she will never act on those feelings, not as long as she's married to Ed. For the first time, she allows herself to feel it, to not question it.

"Lead the way, Princess... and King." She finally answers, her mirth and love concealed behind her shades, for only her to know, just like the bruises on her skin.

Sophia and Shiva seem like they've been together all their lives.

After the initial introduction, and making sure that Shiva was perfectly all right with Sophia invading her space, Ezekiel has let them both wander around. Wherever Sophia goes, Shiva follows. The limp that the tiger cub had last time they visited seems to be healing properly and to not hurt as much. It certainly is not a deterrent for the cub to not chase Sophia around. It seems quite comical, and extremely cute, to see a tiny toddler jumping around, climbing and swinging and a tiny cub trailing behind her, trying to catch up and attempting to climb wherever Sophia went.

"She seems better," Carol admits as she follows the playful pair with her eyes.

"She is." Ezekiel agrees. "The vets have agreed on the fact that her bone has healed fully. She only needs rehabilitation, which she's not particularly keen on."

"Does it hurt her?" Carol asks as she turns to look at Ezekiel.

"If I were to guess based on what I see right now, I would deny it, but she's not as chipper when I tried to get her to exercise."

Carol let's out a little smirk and sends him a raise of her eyebrow which barely clears the edge of her glasses. "Maybe all she needed was for Sophia to be here."

"Perhaps."

They fall silent again but Carol feels that Ezekiel wants to ask her something. It's written all over his face and the way he keeps turning to look at her, opening his mouth then closing it only to turn away. He's debating whether to ask her or not, probably wondering if the glimpse he got, if he had gotten any glimpse of the bruises at all, were real or a figment of lighting.

"I can hear you thinking all the way from over here." She finally mumbles in a soft broken voice, her heart beating a mile a minute. She already has an idea what he's going to ask, but it pains her that he's even noticed the evidence of her husband's fury. She's hidden the pain and the bruises from everyone around her for years, the countless hospital visits disguised with clumsiness, the bruises painted over with makeup, yet suddenly she finds the words demanding to bubble out of her mouth, to share with him her biggest secret.

What will he think of her? Will he think less of her? Will he agree with Ed?

No, of course not, Ezekiel is nothing like Ed.

"Why don't you just ask?"

He doesn't say a word, instead, he moves closer to her, coming to rest right beside her, both of their backs pressed against the wall. Their shoulders are touching and she can't help but feel the warmth radiating from him. She wants to wrap herself in his arms and the knowledge that he would never hurt her. She barely knows him but her instinct is telling her she can trust him. Instead of reaching to take off her sunglasses, which cover the bruise she thought he'd seen, Ezekiel surprises her by taking her hand in his, their fingers interlocking immediately. He brings her hand to his lips and presses a kiss on her fingers before gently hiking up the light sweater she's wearing in an attempt to cover the bruising on her arm.

Carol can not bear to look at him; to see the disgust at the purple hues that are already coloring her skin.

As soon as the bruises are exposed, Carol hears Ezekiel growl low in his throat, which seems to catch Shiva's attention as she stops momentarily to look at them, ears up in alert. When she sees nothing amiss she returns to chasing Sophia.

"Who did this?" She hears him ask in a very low voice as he tenderly traces the shadow of her husband's hand where it had gripped her lower arm so painfully tight.

Carol doesn't answer, remains quiet and almost frozen. She can see him out of the corner of her eye as he looks up at her, looking for an answer. She sees his face scrunching up in worry and his other hand approach. This time he removes the sunglasses, being extremely careful to not hurt her. He gasps as he sees the results of her husband's rage. She knows what he is seeing; the swollen skin that makes her eye appear smaller, half-closed and which no doubt will be fully closed by the end of the day, the dark purple and black from where the blood pools under her skin, the red from the tiny veins that broke in her eye, and the small cut right where her cheekbone starts which she tried to patch up with butterfly stitches. It had all been neatly concealed under her huge shades but was now on full display.

"I will kill him." Ezekiel decides.

"No! Don't!" She declares loudly, too loudly, the sudden thought of this kind man disrupting his life for her too much to bear. She hears Sophia gasp in surprise and by the time she turns to look at her she finds her startled and frightened daughter with tears in her eyes and a petrified look on her face. "Oh no, no sweet pea. Mama is all right, we are safe here."

She opens her arms to welcome Sophia who runs to her mother as fast as her toddler feet can carry her. Trailing behind her is Shiva, who looks very confused, hair standing on end. The moment Sophia slams into her, Carol gasps in pain, her ribs protesting. Ezekiel reacts to her distress and quickly places a hand on her shoulder, another on her knee, to stabilize her. Shiva, who has run behind Sophia as best as she can with her injured leg, molds herself to Carol, giving out a tiny version of a growl.

"We are safe." She whispers to Sophia who has buried herself in her mother's embrace. "Mama's got you."

"You have nothing to fear, Princess," Ezekiel says, letting his hand hover over Sophia's back though he refrains from touching her, worried he'll only make it worse. "You are safe." He echos Carol's words, this time looking into Carol's eyes. "Neither Shiva nor I will allow danger to befall on either of you while we are at your side. Believe me."

Sophia doesn't relax and it breaks Carol's heart to feel her daughter so stiff against her, but she does quiet down, her sobbing slowly turning into hiccups which would otherwise have been extremely cute. Carol places a kiss on her daughter's forehead before rearranging her so that she is not pressing against her tender ribs. She didn't even realize she's crying until Ezekiel gently cups her cheek, his thumb smoothing over her skin to brush away her tears. "Please forgive me. I didn't mean to scare her."

"You didn't, not really. She reacted to my shouting, I shouldn't have spoken so loudly. She's usually very fearful after... after it..." Carol tried to explain. "She's just... she saw it happen."

"Was it your husband?"

The words that had fought their way up her throat and that had been ready to jump and expose her darkest secret, seem to muddle into a tight ball within her throat. Her mouth grows dry and as much as she tries to swallow, her saliva seems to be stuck with nowhere to go, making her almost choke.

"Carol... was it your husband?" Ezekiel repeats.

She closes her eyes tightly, wincing as her muscles protest. Why is it so hard to simply tell him? Why is it so physically impossible for her to say the words? She leans against his hand, her nose nudging his palm as a fresh batch of tears leaves her eyes.

Before he can ask yet again, Carol finally lets go of the fear that has been systematically instilled in her, of the defeat that has built for years, of the abused and battered soul inside of her.

After years of horrid marriage and abuse, Carol finally reveals the truth.

She nods.