A/N: Written in response to seeing Michonne wearing Rick's shirt in the S8 promo.
A few flecks of light found their way into the otherwise dim bedroom as Rick placed his watch to his wrist. The time was almost five-thirty and he was due to leave on a run that morning. Michonne stirred beside him, and then sat up slowly. She wrapped his denim shirt closed around her nakedness and then shifted closer to him. She then rested her head on his shoulder as he placed his rough hand to the smooth skin of her bare leg.
"I got somethin' for you," he said, his voice husky from disuse; a smile crept over her face as she straightened up in anticipation.
"What is it?" she asked eagerly. Rick reached into the rucksack that sat on the bedroom floor and retrieved an object. He handed it to his beloved, who was now beaming brightly at him.
"Toothpaste?" she asked happily, flipping in over in her hand.
"Yeah," he replied. "It's so you'll have one less thing to worry about while I'm gone."
The two lovers shared a slow, unhurried kiss before pressing their foreheads together. Hesitantly, Rick stood, collected his bag and weapon, and made his way to the bedroom door. He stopped and glanced back at Michonne. He offered her a reassuring smile. Then he left, not knowing when he would return, as the love of his life sat in their quiet, still room with nothing but a tube of toothpaste and the memory of his lips on her skin.
When Rick reached the vehicle that his comrades were readying, he placed his supplies inside and then turned to look back at the home he shared with Michonne and their children. A deep longing filled his heart as everything within him pleaded with him to stay; yet his sense of duty to his people urged him to go. Mournfully, Rick exhaled and then reached his hand into the pocket of his jeans. He grasped the small chain with the m on it that Michonne had removed from her neck and given to him. He held it in his hand and ran his thumb over the shiny pendant. He reminded himself once more that he would achieve the task he set out to do and get back quickly to his family. He promised himself that after this battle was won, and he and Michonne had re-ordered their world, he would settle into the life that they had built for themselves.