They get dressed in silence, throwing almost awkward glances at each other. Michonne bends to grab his shirt and throws it at him, smirking. He catches it against his bare chest and smiles back, relieved at the welcome humour. He had been worried that her silence had meant regret.

Michonne finishes dressing first and leans against the window as she watches Rick weave his belt through the loops. He feels her eyes burning into his, so he looks up. They share a look that is unlike any they have had before, so intense, and it brings up mixed feelings in Rick. It was both frenzied and satisfied. The way her mouth curved down, however, made his heart fall.

"I have to go." This is all she says.

They are on either side of the small inner room of the guard tower, and Rick knows that it would be useless to close the space between them. It would be useless to do anything in this moment; he knows that she has made up her mind. He thinks he knew even before they had had sex, knew that she would still leave. She was too stubborn not to. Rick's mind spins, his heart fluttering in a fit of raw emotions. He had just, just, gotten her, and now she was slipping through his fingers as he watched. Outwardly he remained relatively composed, but inside he was screaming.

"Tomorrow?" He asks gruffly.

She nods once and swallows. Rick knows that this is hard for her too; he can see the pain on her face even though she is trying so hard to mask it. She can't hide her shiny eyes, however.

He nods too. He feels as if an immense weight has been dropped on his shoulders and chest, and he has to consciously take a few steadying breaths before speaking again, "Will you meet me here again, tonight?"

Michonne doesn't hesitate before nodding vigorously, as though relieved that he had said it. "I'll bring the room service." She offers, smiling weakly.

Ricks brings both his hands up and rubs his face, hard. He lets them drop back down by his sides before saying, "You have to make me a promise."

Her face hardens, but she nods for him to continue.

"Promise me that when this is all over, when the Governor is taken care of, that you will come back," He pauses and shifts his weight awkwardly from foot to foot, "You know this is where you belong."

Michonne smiles as she suddenly takes the few steps separating them. Rick feels the tension in his chest ease slightly just at the sight of her coming towards him. She raises her hands and cups his face, and he leans into her touch.

"I promise you, I'll come back. I always do."

Rick leans forward so that their foreheads touch, and they stand this way for a long time in silence. He focuses on the sound and rhythm of her breaths.

Xxx

Michonne leaves to teach Carl his last katana lesson, and Rick goes to find Hershel and Daryl. He finds them in their cell block. They are of course unhappy to see Michonne go, but both agree that it is for the best. With Rick's mind still reeling from the experience he had just shared with Michonne and anxiety running through him that they would only have one more night together, he, Daryl and Hershel laid out a map and began planning the run up north.

Xxx

Rick felt sick. It has been hours since he and Michonne had parted, and for the entirety of their time apart Rick had brewed on the prospect of her leaving. He tried to work out every other possible option in his mind, but none came that would be persuasive enough to sway Michonne. He feels annoyed with her for her stubbornness, her selflessness. Rick tells himself that he is selfish, wanting to keep her here for his own motives, even if it put others in jeopardy. But that is not just it. His personal feelings for her aside, Michonne was a huge defensive asset to their group, and her absence would be marked if something were to happen within the walls of the prison. What if the walkers swarmed the fence again? What if the illness breaks out and there are more walkers from within the prison? What if the Governor doesn't want her more than he wants Rick?

Rick had gone to see Judith after his meeting with Daryl and Hershel. Beth, who has been looking after her, left the cell to go have a shower and Rick just sat with his daughter. He stared down at her tiny face, and she stared up at him with her big blue eyes. She looked so much like Carl had as a baby, and Rick's stomach churned at the memories that bubbled up inside. Lori, holding Carl for the first time. Lori, holding Carl's hand as he made his first attempts to stand on his own. Lori, sitting next to a wounded Carl where he lay unconscious on a bed.

Rick thought about Michonne. He didn't feel guilty for what he and Michonne had just done, and this confused him. He had expected that he would feel immense guilt if anything sexual were to happen between himself and Michonne, but all he felt now was empty. This beautiful, strong woman at last came within his reach and now she was being ripped from it. Rick felt such a strong loathing for the Governor in this moment that the hair at the back of his neck actually bristled.

Now he sits, once again, in the guard tower he so often frequents with Michonne. He waits for her to arrive, having gotten there much earlier than their agreed upon time. This was his attempt to prolong their last moments together, by drawing out his waiting for them. The thought that this time tomorrow she would be gone, away from him, hurt him so much. He blinks hurriedly as he hears footsteps ascending the staircase.

Rick looks over as she opens the door, two plates balanced on her arm. He thinks that she must have been a waitress at some time in her life, maybe while she put herself through college. He wasn't going to ask her, though.

"Hi." She says. This reminds him of their moment together when he had waited outside her cell after she had returned injured with the saline. Rick remembers the sight of her lying on the bed, looking at him. It feels like years ago now.

He gives her a weak smile, "Hi."

She enters the small room and closes the door behind her, the plates perfectly balanced the whole time. He watches as she comes closer and sits down directly in front of him, she hands him his plate and he takes it with a nod of thanks.

"You all ready to go?" He asks. His voice is hollow and dark and he sees her face harden.

She blinks and nods. "I'll take the jeep, it's already packed."

He laughs humourlessly. "Always prepared." She doesn't say anything. He moves the food on his plate around with his fork, but he doesn't take a bite. "So what's your plan, where are you going to go?"

Michonne watches her food too. "I was thinking I'd head east, to the city. It's swarming with walkers so with any luck he'd loose me. Then I'll loop around and track him from there." She sounded confident, and this eased his anxiety slightly.

"And if that doesn't work? If he doesn't follow you?"

Michonne looks up at him at last. He had been watching her intently, hoping to see uncertainty of indecision, anything that might indicate her staying here. There was none, however.

"Then I'll come back."

Rick inhales deeply and exhales, his shoulders slumping. There is silence between them for a long time. Neither of them really eats their meal, and finally Rick sets his plate aside. "I'm not going to say goodbye."

She puts her plate down too. "Good, neither will I."

He clasps his hands and brings them to his face, almost as though he were praying. "Because you're coming back. You'll come back."

She smirks, "Didn't I promise I would?"

He nods but his face remains straight. "Did you tell Carl you were leaving?"

Michonne nods too, "I promised him I'd bring back the next issue of his comic." She sighs, "He's a smart kid Rick, he understands."

Rick looks out the window behind her, his expression blank. "He's going to miss you."

"I'll miss him too," Michonne sits up on her knees and moves towards him. She moves into his lap and straddles him. "And I'll miss his dad."

Rick grabs her hips with both hands and squeezes. She lets her head droop and falls to the crook of his neck. She breaths in deeply and he feels her soft skin against his rough beard. She kisses the spot just below his ear, then kisses her way softly down his neck. He closes his eyes and tries to memorize the feel of her, absently rubbing her back. Michonne kisses his jaw line before pausing over his lips. Rick stares into her brown eyes, the white of them such a strong contrast against her beautiful dark skin. He sees that they are glossy. They stare at each other until she leans in and lets her forehead rest on his, her hands falling to his chest. This time between them, right here, felt so incredibly intimate.

Rick tries not to think about tomorrow or the day after that. He knows that in the days and weeks to come he will relive this moment again and again and be jealous of himself for living it now. Rick squeezes her hips harder.

She opens her eyes and looks at him again, "I didn't think I would ever feel this again, not in a world like this." Michonne pets his chest. "You surprised me, with how easy you made it." She looks guilty. "I'm sorry I have to leave. But… but Rick, I wouldn't recover if the Governor killed you or Carl because of me. I know he will come after me, and if he is with me he is away from you."

Rick shakes his head, "You know I don't want you to go, I won't change my mind on that. But if you are confident about this, than I trust you. I don't like it, but I trust that you can get this done."

"Thank you." She says softly. Then she chuckles to herself, "You know, I don't even remember when my feelings for you changed, when I realized I wanted you." Rick squeezes her hips again and she grinds seductively into his lap. "I just woke up one morning thinking about you. And that was it."

He nods, her words making him incredibly happy, "I've been waking up thinking of you for a long time now."

They smile at each other, two small smiles that were both happy and sad. Michonne raises her hands and holds his face again. She slowly brings her lips to hover above his and he hears her inhale.

The kiss starts out tender at first, intimate and soft. But as he snakes his hands under her shirt and grabs at the skin there the kiss becomes more heated. She moves her hips against his from where she sits straddling him. Rick raises her shirt over her head; she raises her arms to help. She then begins unbuttoning his shirt.

They slowly undress each other. Every action is followed by several long minutes of soft touches and kisses, so this takes a while. They are both drawing this out for as long as possible. At last they are both naked, their clothes thrown haphazardly around, and Rick is up on his knees, Michonne still on his lap straddling him. They grip each other hard as he moves inside her. Rick can feel her muscles clench around him as she moves herself up and down. She throws her head back as she rides him and he catches one of her breasts in his mouth and kisses and tongues at it. Michonne controls the rhythm now, being on top, and Rick was only too happy about this. The sex was slow and sensual, far different from their rough, hurried act earlier today.

Her arms are wrapped around his neck in a close embrace as she moves over him again and again, and Rick's arms are wrapped around her too. They couldn't be closer if they tried. His hips thrust upward to plunge deeper into her, her legs wrapped so tightly around his waist that it almost hurt. They kiss sloppily as they made love, their lips smashing together every time she lowered herself on to him.

Rick groans, he can feel his release coming. She feels so good, wrapped around him. He tries to stave off cuming by thinking about her leaving, but the feel of her around him was just too much. He breathlessly grabs her face with one hand, the other supporting her back as she moves on him. She knows he is about to finish so she grinds deeper and harder into his thrusts and quickens the rhythm. They both moan.

They finish together with one final thrust of Rick's hips. Still entwined around each other Rick kisses her neck and chest, her skin glazed in a sheen of sweat. She grabs him and kisses his face, everywhere but the lips. At last she pauses over them, licks her own, and then kisses him softly.

They sit like this, tangled together, for a very long time. They just stare at each other and kiss, both knowing that their time together was counting down.

This thought made Rick want to panic, to scream for her to stay in his arms. But he knows this will do no good. He feels helpless at his inability to convince her to stay. A thought came into his mind, and he acted on it.

"Michonne," He says, "I'm in love with you."

She looks at him and blinks.

He continues, "I think I have been for a long time."

He feels very vulnerable and exposed in this moment, both of them still naked. When she says nothing to this he shifts underneath her, suddenly feeling uneasy. He is about to speak again when she interrupts him.

"I had two daughters."

Rick looks at her face but she is looking down. He is stunned, he had never known, and he watches as a tear falls from her cheek onto his chest. His own eyes begin to well at the pain in her voice as she had said it, as though it were something to feel guilty about.

"They were just so young. I couldn't… I couldn't protect them. My youngest, Tyla, she died first. Got bitten when she was at school, it was so early in the outbreak that schools were still up and running. She was the first one I ever had to kill."

Rick's breath caught in his throat. The thought of having to kill Carl… he couldn't even imagine the pain. He could tell that she wanted to say this, to get this out, so he didn't interrupt. Instead he just held her tighter.

"Dania died just a few days later, I couldn't even get her out of the city." Michonne didn't wipe her tears away and showed no intention of doing so, so Rick raised one hand and wiped them gently for her with his thumb. She leans into his touch.

"I'm so sorry." He says.

She nods. "I know." Michonne sniffs, "When I lost them, everyone, and I saw what the world was becoming, I promised myself that I would never get attached to another person. It was just too painful to loose them. Then I found Andrea, and I remembered what it was like to talk to someone, to have friends. I fooled myself into thinking it could last. Just like I fooled myself into thinking that we could last."

This stung Rick, but he knew that she had not intended it this way.

"Hey," He says, grabbing her face, "We're not dead yet. I'll be waiting for you, for when you get back. We can last."

She gazes at him, imploringly. "Do you really think so?"

He nods yes. "We both just need to survive this thing."

Michonne nods too. She leans her forehead against his again and they both sigh. "I love you too, Rick Grimes." She whispers.

They fall asleep listening to each other breathe.

Xxx

He wakes up to the pale morning light streaming through the large windows of the guard tower. Rick notices that his jacket has been thrown over him like a blanket. He also notices that he is alone. True to her word, Michonne had not said goodbye. She must have left him in the very early hours of the morning, no doubt wanting to get an early start. That's what the Governor would have expected from her, so this is what she had done. Rick imagines her driving the jeep down a deserted road, the Governor behind her, following her tracks. He cringes at the thought.

Rick stands and gets dressed. When finished, he looks around longingly at the small concrete room. He tries to imagine the circumstance where they will meet again, hoping that that day is not too far off from this one. With a sad sigh he turns from the room and opens the door to leave. His chest heavy and his eyes stinging, he walks slowly down the stairs and heads back up to the prison.

Xxx

Phillip watches the tower in the early morning light. He had seen Michonne enter the night before, and watched for hours waiting for either one of them to exit, already knowing that Rick was inside. She had finally exited through the doors only an hour or two before sun rise and Phillip smiled to himself, knowing what they had been doing in there all night. So, Michonne had taken up with this Rick. He had not expected to see that, largely because he had always assumed that she was a dyke for Andrea.

Phillip watches from the trees as that greasy looking Daryl opens the gates and Michonne drives through them in a jeep, looking around her. He would have followed her, but the information that she was fucking Rick was just too great an opportunity to pass up. Instead of hurrying to his own car, parked just within the cover of the trees, Phillip chooses instead to plant himself at the foot of the nearest stump and watches the guard tower door, waiting for Rick to emerge. Phillip grins at the thought of Michonne's face when she returns to the prison and finds the scene he is going to leave for her. He'll hang Rick by the fence, and that little boy of his too. Maybe he'll skin them first. This would be his gift to Michonne until he can get his hands on her himself.

Phillip grins wide as he watches Rick exit the tower, his shoulders visibly hunched, and walk down the stairs and across the field.

Xxx

Don't hate me guys; this is all part of the plan! So there will only be one or two more chapters, but I can assure you that they will be jam-packed with Richonne goodness. Please feel free to share this story over tumblr or whatever, because the lack of Richonne fics is truly upsetting! Thanks so much for reading, and review review review!