A/N: Sorry sorry sorry for being gone so long. Stuff got busy and my inspiration kind of disappeared for a while. Thanks Hamburgers For Orphans for reviewing and giving me some motivation, as well as Ravenclaw Slytherin! And thank you for all the faves and follows everyone, you people are awesome!

Note: Italicized bold writing is Keira communicating in a way that people can understand. (i.e. Jessica translating, writing on paper, etc.)

Laid to Rest

Keira liked watching the sunrise. It was warm and bright and calm. It was proof that the world hadn't quite ended yet, that it continued to spin on. It was something beautiful and familiar, and you could see it from anywhere. She liked that.

"Hey," a voice called out from behind her. Jessica approached her with a plate of food that she took gratefully.

"Those are new," she gestured to the four new crosses in the little graveyard. "There aren't more bodies are there?" Keira shook her head. "Oh… okay then..." Jessica slowly moved away to return inside the motel, not bothering to inquire any further. The only person here who speaks my language can barely look me in the eye.

Keira finished her meal in solitude, gazing at her unfortunate masterpieces sticking out of the earth. A small circle of rocks decorated the grass in front of each of the four new graves, another in front of Ethan's cross. Inside each circle, small twigs and dry leaves awaited the spark of a flame. She had left the other graves bare, for Roy had assured her that his wife had passed on long ago. She envied how he spoke of her so easily, how he acted as though her death was something he'd expected. She could not take death as he could, as something that naturally happened, especially not now. She had never thought of death as some natural occurrence, and now the dead did not even stay dead. Death was an accident, an eternal illness, an abrupt end.

And it could find anyone.

Rising from her spot, Keira strode into the motel, placing her plate in the sink. A few curious pairs of eyes followed her as she crossed through the living room and towards the front desk. She shuffled through its contents for a moment before retrieving her prize: a lighter. She returned to the living room and slowly approached Rick. Focused on his conversation with Shane and Roy, he didn't notice her until she tapped him on the shoulder.

"Can I help you?" he asked, looking up at her in confusion.

Keira pointed at him, waved her hand in a 'come' motion, and pointed to herself.

"Think she wants ya to follow 'er," Roy assisted.

"What for?" Rick asked, his brow furrowed.

Keira just repeated the gesture. Rick looked to Roy for some sort of explanation, but only received a shrug of his shoulders. He contemplated for a moment before rising from his seat and grabbing his hat and gun.

"Lead the way."

She moved to make her way out the back door, but stopped halfway. Shane, Lori, Carl and Dale were all watching them with keen eyes. She gestured to the entire group, made the 'come' motion again, and pointed towards the back door, turning to walk out of it. She heard some of them shift to get up.

Keira led Rick out to the graveyard, squinting at the sun that slowly rose above the horizon. It would have been a beautiful scene, really, if it hadn't also been so sad. She stopped and turned to Rick.

"This is where your group buries your dead, then," he said, as other members of their groups trickled out of the motel to join them. "Why're you showing me this?"

She pointed to her eye, then to the new row of crosses. Slowly, hesitantly, he approached them, kneeling down to get a better look. He removed his hat and drew a hand across his face as he finished reading the inscriptions.

"Rick?" Lori asked from behind Keira. "What is it?"

He rose and spoke, pointing to each cross as he did so. "Jacqui, Ed, Amy, Jim."

The group remained still, unsure of how to react. Andrea turned away from the scene and let out a shaky breath. Keira beckoned Jessica over, asking her to translate.

"They deserve a proper goodbye."

There was a moment of silence. "We already buried our people," Shane jabbed. "You tellin' me you want us to do it again?"

It got impossibly quieter.

"We didn't bury Jacqui."

All eyes were on T-Dog as he broke the silence. "We never got to bury Jacqui," he repeated. "We couldn't bury her."

Guilt flashed across Shane's face. Keira looked around the group and continued.

"You may have buried them, but you did not lay them to rest. They are haunting you. You need to let them go. You need to help them move on, so that you can."

She moved towards Ethan's grave and got down on her knees, sparking the lighter and bringing it to the circle of dry grass. The flame caught, the fire spread, and for a moment she just watched it. Taking a deep breath, she rose and walked back to the group, stood directly in front of T-Dog, and handed him the lighter. He nodded in understanding and took it from her, lighting Jacqui's circle. He handed it off to Carol, who lit Ed's grave with shaky hands, and she handed it to Dale, who honoured Jim. But when the time came for Amy's grave, Andrea refused.

"Please, Andrea, this'll be good for you," Dale pleaded, trying to hand her the lighter.

That seemed to strike a nerve as Andrea shot him a glare. "And who said you get to decide what's good for me, Dale?"

She stormed back into the motel, leaving Dale to stare sadly after her. Lori stepped forward.

"May I?" she asked, taking the lighter from Dale and doing the honours for Amy's grave. Keira closed her eyes and took a deep breath in, letting it out slowly. She felt satisfied to have helped these people chase away their ghosts, as though she had been meant to do it all along. Opening her eyes, she watched the fire burn on Ethan's grave. Goodbye, little brother. But she knew she didn't mean it; she could never really say goodbye to him.

"You're right," Rick said, "we never really got to grieve properly. Digging graves isn't the same as letting them pass on. Thank you."

She nodded.

He followed her line of sight to Ethan's grave. "I'm sure your brother would be proud of you for pulling through like this."

She tried to smile at that, but she couldn't bring herself to.

"What are they?" Glenn asked quietly. "The symbols on his cross."

Of course. To them, it must have looked like nothing but four strange symbols under Ethan's name, but it meant more than they could ever know.

"It's Cherokee," Daryl said. Keira was not the only one to look at him in surprise. He shifted uncomfortably under everyone's gaze.

Rick turned to her. "What does it mean?"

Keira crossed her arms over her chest and then uncrossed them, pushing them out to the sides and turning her wrists outwards as she did so.

"Free."

It was a good few minutes before the group dispersed and went about their own business. Keira stayed behind a while longer, watching the flames burn quietly. Her makeshift meditation was interrupted by someone tapping her on the arm.

"Hey." The little boy, Carl. Her breath caught as she stared at him beside her.

"Y-You forgot Dr. Jenner," he mumbled, looking around bashfully. "I mean… he wasn't part of our group, but he deserves a goodbye too."

She felt her heart swell. As young as he was, and even in the midst of everything that was happening, Carl still understood the need for compassion. A child who still believes in humanity; maybe there is some hope.

"Can you make another one for him?" he asked.

She nodded and retrieved some scrap wood and twine, noticing Lori by the motel keeping a close eye on her son. Keira returned and sat down, motioning for Carl to join her on the grass. He did so and watched closely as she chose the right sized pieces and wove the twine around their intersection. She pulled a short hunting knife from where it was holstered near her boot and began carefully carving the name. As she got to the 'J', Carl stopped her.

"Can I try?"

Keira looked towards his mother who continued to watch them from afar. Probably doesn't want him dealing with knives. A little unsure, she instead took his hand and placed it on top of her own that rested on the knife, hoping he would understand. Evidently, he did, as he began guiding her hand to finish Jenner's name. She took the cross and went through the same procedure as the others, creating a small grave with a burning circle for Dr. Jenner. She looked over to find Carl watching her again.

"Do you think he'll make it to Heaven now?" he asked innocently.

Keira nodded. How could she not? The idea of an afterlife, of a paradise after this hell, was one of the only things that kept her going.

He nodded in return. "It's good that this is here," he said, referring to the grave. "Now people will remember him."

"Thanks," Carl said. He smiled at her.

And Keira smiled back.

A/N: So yes, there it is. A moment of mourning for Team Atlanta. And some Carl/Keira bonding. (Aw look, she remembers how to smile!) Sign language is interesting to write. I hope you get the gist of the movements. I'll only describe them when I feel it's necessary or important. By the way, don't know how well I described it, but that is the actual ASL for "free".

Um... what else? I mentioned in a previous chapter, the word on Ethan's grave is "Asequui" which you now know is Cherokee for "free" or "freedom". If anyone who is Cherokee is reading this and I translated that wrong, I apologize, I tried. :P

And HOLY JEEZ is Walking Dead Season 3 ever getting intense! So excited and nervous for when I eventually get that far in the story. :D

Again, sorry I've been gone so long. But next chapter has lots of DARYL DIXON so make sure you come on back. :)

PLEASE REVIEW! :D