So Daryl, using his tracking skills that had been really put through the paces lately, managed to follow the trail of tiny footprints, and where he found Carol, well, he wasn't much surprised.

There were just a few of them left. Those Cherokee roses, he'd been sure there'd been much more than just a few left last time he and Carol had been out there. But that was a different day. On that day, Carol had found her hope again. Look what good it had done.

He cleared his throat, announcing his presence. She didn't even bother to look up, but she knew it was him. "Go away, Daryl."

"I ain't leaving you," he responded softly, his voice choking up with emotion. He was not a crier- his daddy had beat those days tar out of him- but for some reason, Carol wasn't crying, and all he felt like doing at that moment was just breaking down.

"It's over, Daryl. We found her. Your work is done. I'm not your problem anymore," she sighed sullenly as she started tracing over the petals of a freshly torn rose.

"Did I say you were my problem?"

"She wasn't yours. You were right."

"Carol, damn it!" he started to raise his voice, still angry with the whole group, every last one of them. But this wasn't them. It was Carol. Somehow he knew she deserved more. She deserved better. "Can I sit with you?" he whispered.

She looked at him, surprised. She sniffed. "if you want."

So awkwardly he cleared some brush out of his way, and sat behind her. What he did next caught both of them by surprise.

With the weight of his body leaning against hers, he took his right hand and placed it over hers, keeping her from tearing up any more roses, at least for the moment.

She flinched. The only one in her life who'd ever laid a hand on her, not in anger but out of love, was her daughter. But Daryl didn't love her. He just felt sorry for her- even she could see that.

"Carol..."now his nose became stuffed, and he hated himself for being weak, for not being able to hold it together, for not knowing the right things to say to her. But right now...this was bigger than him, than his past, than what his daddy had ever said about him. "I want you to know...I'm real sorry. For everything."

"You tried. I'm not angry with you. I'm angry with myself."

He thought about it. "You shouldn't be."

Her hands shaking, she still didn't know how to respond to his gesture. "I let her down. I was her mother. I wasn't there in those woods. She was scared, she didn't know where I was. I …." Now she did start breaking down, and he just pulled her in even closer to him.

Now with both of his hands wrapped around her chest, Daryl just held her, said nothing, did nothing as she let out what she needed to let out. "It wasn't your fault. She was a good kid. I didn't know her well, but I know she loved you. She looked at you- I can tell you one thing. I ain't never looked at my parents the way that girl of yours did at you."

She said nothing, but nodded.

Daryl struggled to find the right words. Everything in him- the voices in his head he'd fought on a daily basis all of his life- told him he was weak, that he wasn't a man, that he was soft. God only knew what Merle would say to him if he saw him like that, crying over a little girl who wasn't even his. But as the first tear finally fell down his cheek, none of that mattered, not right then. "She loved you. She wouldn't blame you for that. She was innocent. I don't know much, the others around here, they just think of me as a stupid redneck..."

"You're not stupid. You're not. Don't you ever forget that," Carol responded without hesitation.

"I wish...I wish my mom had been more like you."

"Great. Guess that really throws my chances of any kind of love again in this world out the window, if all everyone sees me as is their mother."

He squeezed her hand. "I didn't mean nothin' by that. I meant...I see you. I see how you cried, heard you every night. I wanted to go to you, to say something...but I just...I just didn't know what to say. But I know the way you looked after her, the way you loved her more than you love yourself..."

"Isn't that what all mothers are supposed to do?" Carol asked, still looking away.

"Hell ya, it is. But not all of them are like you. Some mothers just would have been better off if they were never mothers to begin with," Daryl said without a trace of emotion.

"Why are you here, Daryl? Why does it matter to you...not one of the group has bothered to ask me how I've been doing. Not one. The way they look at me...Lori, she's just so glad it didn't happen to Carl that she can barely stand to look at me. Rick- he never once came up to me and told me he was sorry. I know he meant well by trying to find her, but just once, if he'd have told me he was sorry..."

No one spoke for a few minutes. "I'm sorry, Carol. You deserve...you deserve more."

"Just go back to the group, Daryl. They need you. You earned your place. Rick counts on you to watch out, for runs, to bring food. You have a purpose. What is my purpose? Sophia was my purpose. But now..."

"You stop that! You matter, damn it! I know those people...they ain't been treating you right. I see it. They all do, now. But does it matter? You are still someone. You will always be Sophia's mother. That has to count for somethin. You have to keep going, to not let anyone forget how...how she was. I don't know the answers, but I know you can do something for that little girl of yours now. You keep going. I ain't stupid- it won't be easy."

She turned around and faced him, and actually had a small smile on her face. "Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me! You once asked me why I did it, why I bust my ass every day looking for your little girl. Maybe this sounds dumb...but I been thinking about it. A lot. Everyone in my life knew how my parents treated me. Merle, he did, but he went and joined the army and he forgot about me. My teachers knew, but they just – I don't know. They all knew. Guess I kind of figured that I didn't matter to anyone. No one said any different to me."

"You matter, Daryl. You matter to me."

The tension between them rose, and he looked away, unsure of himself. Then she spoke up. "You mattered to my little girl. She was you. She was the child you were trying so hard to fight for when no one else would. You wanted to save her because you know...deep down- you know that every child is worth fighting for, no matter who their parents are."

He looked up and let go of his hand so he could stop his nose from running. He wasn't full out crying, but his eyes were definitely moist at this point. Carol- she could cry when she needed to, say things that no one else could, she wore her heart on her sleeve- and it was then that he realized one thing.

"There just ain't enough Carols in this world."

"And you're one of a kind. I'm glad you're you," she smiled.

Then she squeezed his other hand, signaling for him that it was okay to let go of her now, that she would be okay, somehow.

"you go on back to the farm, Daryl. I'll be there in a few minutes. There's just a few more things I have to take care of."

He stood up and looked at her carefully. "You sure?"

She wiped her eyes, still smiling. "I'm sure."

He nodded, then left her alone to do what she needed to be done.

He went back to the farm, washed his hands and sat down with the others. His dinner was cold, but he couldn't care less at the moment.

Just then, Carol walked in. And they all turned to look at her. Behind her ear, standing out, she'd planted a small Cherokee rose. None of them would know what that meant. But Daryl did, and it kind of made him feel good.

"Carol...I like your flower. You look real pretty," Andrea smiled as she reached for a chair to make room for Carol.

Carol said nothing. Instead she started helping herself to what was left of the food, and at that moment, not a single person looked at Carol with pity.

TBC- One final chapter