A\N Hey! Wow, this is the last chapter :'( I'll say more at the bottom, but for now, this is going to be happy!

So, to Serethiel96, Thank you, I would have loved to see their relationship as well! It seemed they would have been close, not like father and daughter, but like a mentor and a student :) Thank you, and I'm so depressed that this is the last time I'll be writing to you like this! :(

And to jaded79, I love Daryl and Carol as well! I know, I'm glad Carol is finally standing her own on the show and I hope she will stick up for more in the third season ^.^ I am also sad that this will be long over when the new season arrives, but hopefully I shall have written more by then :)

Disclaimer: I don't own this and stuffly so stop having a cow! :P

Question: Which of these chapters was your favorite? I'm not being conceited, I just want to know that maybe I could write for one of these characters in the future.

Mine was Dale's because I love him and miss him! :'(

Okay, all the sentimental stuff is down below and stuff after the story, but let's read the story before the author's note, shall we? ^.^

Carol

Carol knew her life was lacking something before she had Sophia. At first, she thought it was adventure, then a purpose, but then she realized, she was missing the most important thing in life itself.

Love.

She never actually felt true love until she had Sophia, until she was so overcome by the love for this little creation she had made. Ed was nice enough to date and marry, but his true nature shown through, and she knew Sophia was the only source of she knew, and was ever to have.

And that's what broke her heart.

Carol was quietly doing laundry with Lori when Sophia bounded up to her mother with a thousand watt smile. Lori looked at Sophia with a surprised look as she had never seen so much enthusiasm spew out of the girl unless she was with Carl. Carol was happy to see her daughter smile so wholeheartedly and set down Daryl's shirt as gently as she could.

"Hi sweetie, why're you so happy?" She asked, looking for answer in her face. Sophia discreetly looked at Lori with a 'Can you leave like, now?' Look. Lori understood and awkwardly said something about Rick. As soon as she was out of sight, Sophia squealed happily.

"Mommy, Carl kissed me!" She cheered, jumping. Carol gaped at her before a wide smile reached her face as she pulled her daughter close.

"Oh Sophia, that's great!" Once the initial excitement died down, they sat together, basking in the warm sun together. Sophia looked suddenly older to Carol, seeing as she had her first kiss. Her blonde hair shimmered in the light that made Carol's heart swell with utter elatedness. Carol felt old at that moment, but she was too proud to care.

"Hey Mommy, when did you have your first kiss?" Sophia questioned aloud, staring upon her mother. Carol pondered this and felt her heart sink a bit.

"When I met Ed. I wasn't exactly popular with the guys in high school. So I was twenty-three when I had my first kiss, then," She declared, with the up-most dignity she could muster. Sophia looked terribly guilty for a slight moment before whipping her head back up.

"Mommy, were you in love with Daddy?" Sophia stared at her expectantly as Carol peered over to their tent. When she met him, he was lean and fit, he sweet and kind to her, but nothing special, so she often questioned herself this, it only seemed fitting that her daughter would. She sighed, letting her uncertainty rain out in front of her.

"I think...I was in love with the idea of being in love," She confessed, almost hanging her head in shame. "Ed was kind enough to me, and I had never experienced love before and...I convinced myself that if I stayed with Ed long enough, I'd feel love," Tears stung her eyes as she continued, "But when he proposed, I wasn't overjoyed like all my friends said I would be, I just said, 'Yes,' and that was it. I didn't understand why Ed wasn't the one for me, but I just kept saying, my feelings would change, and...they never did," Carol shook her head, wishing she would have left Ed such a long time ago. "So much of my time has been wasted just waiting to feel unconditional love,"

"So you've never felt love?" Sophia's eyes widened and she looked completely crushed for her mother.

Carol chuckled out a few tears and then felt sobs go through her, feeling her body convulse with sobs and weeps.

"I wasn't happy! I was content, I was okay, but that was just a year into the marriage..." Carol trailed off and Sophia immediately knew where it was heading. A sick twist of her stomach came as she watched her mother's happiness writhe before her. "Ed started to become rude, started to criticize me, and pretty soon it was just plain out cruel. He told me he hated me, that I was pathetic and little by little I began to believe him. Then he started pinching me, then tapping me harshly, then hitting and smacking me. Then the punching, the whippings, and...and the all out beatings," She managed to choke out the last part before a chortled cry escaped her mouth. "Finally I was just about to leave him, when I found out I was pregnant with you,"

"Was I a mistake?" Sophia interrupted, the hurt clear in her voice. Carol enveloped the little one in her rather thin arms.

"Goodness no," She gasped. They stayed in the position for what seemed like an eternity. Sophia molded perfectly into Carol's scrawny body as they sat there in comfortable silence. "I was so overjoyed when I found out I was having you, but I knew Ed wanted a child, and I don't know why, but I thought if I had you, he'd be kind again and nice, he'd be a good father. But instead, he grew more wretched and vile. But I stayed for you, because I love you. Because I really love you," Sophia was horribly furious with her mother's confession as she pulled away harshly, not giving a warning.

"He hurts you! Me? That's not a reason to stay!" Sophia yelled, feeling her tears break free from her eyes. "Why did you stay with him after he started hurting you? You're not dumb..." Sophia tried to work this out through her head, or so it seemed, while Carol was still comprehending her words. She sat there for God knows how long, until she averted her head up and flickered her eyes to her daughter who at that moment seemed so conflicted.

"I really thought he loved me, and that if he said that, I would feel the same way and I just thought that he had a sick, twisted illness that caused him to hurt those he loved, but he never stopped, and I was foolin' myself. But I stayed..."

"Why?" Sophia shrieked.

"The day you went to Madeline's house," Carol breathed, her mind rewinding to the dark clouds rippling over the skies and Sophia out of sight, "The day that that terrible storm came, Ed came home and was lookin' for you, sayin' he wanted to spend some...alone time," Carol had to stop as the words tasted horrible and sour in her mouth, "w-with you. I knew what he meant and I finally realized, he was a monster, such a terrible, terrible monster. So, I told him to stay away from you and that I was gonna leave him. He grabbed a knife and he hurt me, but what he said," Carol shuddered, before continuing, "He said he would torture and kill you if I tried to leave you. So I stayed because I love you more than anything in the world," Sophia sniffled as she gawked at her mother with such an incredulous look upon her features.

"Didn't Grandma and Grandpa know?" Carol shook her head and smiled cruelly.

"Yes, they did, but they didn't care, no one did. I had no love in my life. Except you, Sophia. I hope you can forgive me," Carol gave her a weak smile as she composed herself.

"Yeah, Mommy, I can," With that, Sophia let her mother go back to folding everyone's laundry as she made her expedition over to a certain 'Redneck'.

Carol watched as Sophia stalked away, seeming older than Carol was herself. She smiled and was more than proud of her daughter.

And her love just kept growing.

~ . ~

Carol sat in comfortable silence just looking upon Sophia's grave. A small smile crept upon her face as she opened one eye to see Daryl's eyes closed and his mouth soundlessly moving with words. She closed her eyes again and folded her petite hands in her lap.

"Sophia, I miss you more than anything in this universe. I'm sorry I couldn't go to your formal funeral, but I'm here now. I hope Ed isn't there, he doesn't deserve to be, but I hope you are happy and safe. Right now things are okay, people are still tense, but we're making it through. You know, Carl is so lonely without you, and everyone here all miss you. I love you so much and I'm going to keep livin' for you...and as for Daryl Dixon, Sophia I know this was because of you. Don't think I didn't see you, when you asked him for a favor. You're sneaky, Sophia, but you were still young. I do...I do love him deeply, trust me, but he will never be you, he will never fill your very small shoes. Sophia, I love you so much and I will do you good,"

Carol felt herself smile as best she could and Daryl stuffed her into his shirt for some sort of comfort he could muster to give her. And that was okay for now.

She had Daryl, and she still had the love for Sophia, one that she would mourn about and never be able to sleep soundly again, but one she never regretted, and one she'll never forget.

Sophia was dead, but her love was still alive and strong.

A\N Wow, this story is over! :'( I know it was an easy story to write, but I'm really going to miss it! I loved writing for every character and every perspective. The hardest to write for me, was Glenn's. He's such a happy, enthusiastic character, and it was just hard to see him with deep-rooted problems. So thank you to all my reviewers! ^.^

jaded79

Serethiel96

ResidentGoth

vmg

CriminalMindsWhore

Morgan-eats-cannibals

Salvatore

Auds1978

Abovetherim

And to

Crimson Fingertips

The reviews meant a lot, and I loved reading them!

But, a very special thank you goes to jaded79 and Serethiel96 because they reviewed every chapter (minus one exception :D) and their reviews were always so sweet and helpful!

So thank you to everyone and I hope I will see you all soon with a new story and if you wanna talk, PM me ^.^

'Til next time!