"Jeremiah will be here soon," Muh said. She wrapped the moth eaten horse blanket around the quiet girl beside her and waited by the fence.
Michonne had offered to accompany Daryl to see the old woman and the girl off when Jeremiah arrived. The morning had already been eventful, even though the sun was barely beginning to crest over the horizon. They'd all gathered early, at Daryl's request, to meet about whether or not the community would accept Muh's offer to return and stay with them until the next winter when she repeatedly stated she would die.
The community had unanimously voted that the woman and the silent girl be granted to stay if she wished. Muh had made rounds during the three days she had been there and spent time with each and every member, tending to just about any kind of ailment or concern that could be addressed. She'd made no miraculous changes in anything, yet something about her had changed nearly everything.
"We could give ya more clothes," Daryl said. Michonne nodded. They had more than enough to offer everyone at the other camp more garments than the rags they seemed to have at the moment.
Muh looked at him and studied her clothing for a moment. She shook her head.
"There will be time for gifts," she said. "For now we shall wait for Jeremiah. I have much to do."
"You ain't asked us what we decided about your offer," Daryl said.
Muh shook her head.
"I know what you have decided, but if you wish to tell me then you may," she said.
Daryl looked at Michonne and Michonne smiled a little at him. She knew that Daryl was unsure about Muh. He didn't have anything against the woman, but Daryl was a man of evidence. He wanted to see some miracle that proved the woman to be more than just a tiny old woman who liked making drinks and poultices all day long.
Michonne wasn't entirely sure that she believed Muh to be magic, but she did believe that the old woman was wise. Whether she had any secret teachings that way, or whether she'd simply paid attention as the years clicked by for her, Muh had collected a lot of information about the world and the ways of the people in it. She was happy to have whatever wisdom the woman could bring to the community. They were all pretty smart, especially as a whole, but that didn't mean that there wasn't a lot to learn.
"We decided you could stay," Daryl said. "In fact, if you don't wanta go with Jeremiah now you can just keep on stayin' here. You an' Haralee."
Muh nodded.
"I will come back," she said. "I must go. Agaliha's baby will come and Uwa will need me. While I am gone, Uwa's death day shall come and I will celebrate her life with the others. When the celebration is done, I shall return."
Michonne decided, then, that she would try to collect some clothes at least to send back with Jeremiah when he came to bring Muh and Haralee back. Even though she imagined that Muh travelled to their community by her own free will, she thought they should offer them something useful if they were taking the woman away from them.
"Why's this Uwa gonna die?" Daryl asked.
Muh smiled at him.
"It is time for Uwa to start another journey," Muh said. "She is very happy. Her journey here has been long and it has been a happy one, but she is excited about the one to come. She will like for me to celebrate with them after we have welcomed the little one that is her spirit child."
"What's a spirit child?" Daryl asked.
Michonne had to admit that she was curious. Muh, if for nothing else, was good for entertainment. She had a number of beliefs that Michonne couldn't quite put her finger on. They seemed to come from a variety of backgrounds. It was as if the woman had passed through her life collecting up pieces of belief systems. Some she kept and others she seemed to toss away until she'd made a collection that was uniquely hers.
"The child is the last that she will deliver," Muh said. "She will offer the child a piece of her spirit, and the child will carry her spirit with it throughout its journey. Then Uwa will pass to start another. There are many who have spirit children. Isaac will be my spirit child and he will teach me when it is time for me to start my new journey as well."
Daryl looked at Michonne and she almost laughed. He looked confused and like he wanted her to clarify things, but she really didn't have any answers for him. What Muh said was what Muh meant, whether or not it made much sense. If she believed in spirit children, then who was Michonne to question her belief?
When they saw Jeremiah in the distance, he was walking with another young black man. Muh smiled at the sight of them.
"Leland has come to see his Muh back," Muh said.
Michonne recognized the name of Leland. She'd heard Daryl mention it and she'd heard Muh mention it once when she was addressing Beau about something. She'd made some kind of confusing comparison between the boys, but not knowing Leland meant that Michonne didn't know if the comparison had been accurate in the slightest.
"Osiyo, Muh!" Leland called.
"Osiyo!" Muh called back. She grinned. Michonne and Daryl swung open the gates and to Michonne's surprise it was Muh who reached out before the two of them and put the one lone Walker down that had been pawing at them through the bars.
Without seeming to pay attention to anything else, Muh wandered out of the gates and kneeled down next to the Walker that she had just put down, touching its forehead where the knife she apparently kept somewhat concealed at her side had penetrated the Walker's rotting skull. She mumbled something, but Michonne couldn't understand it. The confusion on her face, or either that on Daryl's face, wasn't missed by neither Jeremiah nor the boy, Leland.
Jeremiah chuckled a little, but it was Leland who addressed them, glancing in Muh's direction.
"She's wishing him peace and a good journey," Leland said, nonchalantly. "She always does that when she grants one of the Dead peace."
Daryl eyed her as Muh stood up, turning back to them.
Michonne glanced around, making sure there were no more Walkers threatening to try to come in, since they were there with the gates open, but there weren't any to be seen. The weather was likely the cause for their dwindling numbers.
"Must play hell in a herd," Daryl said, "if she feels like she gotta talk to all of 'em."
It was Leland's turn to chuckle then. He reached out and put his arm around the shoulders of the little old woman. Michonne examined him a moment. He was a handsome young man, probably around Beau's age, which was likely what had brought Muh to make a comparison between the two. His chest muscles were very tone, and all the more visible for his lack of a shirt. Michonne hoped to be able to find something for him. She was chilled a little and more than covered, so she knew the boy had to be at least a little cold.
"The Dead don't bother Muh," Leland said. "They don't bunch up on her like they tend to do sometimes. She says it's because they waiting for her to give them peace and so they're patient."
"Whatever the reason," Jeremiah said, "it's true that they don't bother her much."
They all stood there quietly for a moment and Michonne couldn't help but feel like it was a bit awkward. It had been a long time since any of them had exactly been social with anyone else. For the most part when they encountered people it was a frightening situation. They had to assess the danger and then they'd always simply moved either straight to killing the people if they were dangerous or welcoming them into the community if they weren't. It was odd to feel like you were visiting with someone that you didn't know well but you had no intention to kill or live with.
"I would like for us to have that meeting," Jeremiah said to Daryl. "Talk about how our groups could work together. We were bothered a little two nights ago by a passing group. They didn't hurt anyone, but they did harass my wife a little. You might be on the lookout for them if they haven't already moved on."
Daryl nodded.
"How 'bout when ya bring Muh back? We can sit down then. You can bring whoever you want with you an' we'll talk about it all," Daryl said.
"We've got a lot of extra clothes here," Michonne said. "You're more than welcome to them. I know it's getting cold and you don't want your group freezing to death."
Jeremiah smiled at her and she thought he had a very nice smile. He seemed to be a very sincere man, and those seemed to be a little difficult to come by since the world had come crashing down around them.
"We'd appreciate that," Jeremiah said. "We've tried to keep to ourselves as much as possible and we've tried to take nothing more than what we've had to have to survive. Several of our group members are very against thievery, even if it seems that what we might take doesn't belong to anyone anymore."
"Well, we've laid claim to what we got," Daryl said. "And there ain't been a soul to dispute it, so I reckon it's ours to give if we want."
Jeremiah thanked Daryl and then turned his attention to the rest of his travel companions.
"Are you ready to go?" He asked Muh.
Muh nodded and without a word started forward, Haralee following close behind her and Leland walking with his arm around her shoulder. Jeremiah waved and called a farewell and Michonne and Daryl pulled the gates back closed, locking them.
"Ya reckon she's comin' back?" Daryl asked.
Michonne shrugged.
"She'll be back," Michonne said. "Remember, her spirit child's going to be here. She's got to come and get it."
Daryl smiled.
"Ya put any stock into what she says?" He asked.
Michonne thought about it. She really didn't know. She didn't know how to answer that question entirely. She wasn't positive if she actually believed what Muh said, or if she wanted to believe what the woman said.
"I think I do," she said finally. "Even if she's lying, she does it well."
"Ya reckon she's really gonna die when next winter gets here?" Daryl asked.
"I guess if she's of a mind to die, Daryl, then she'll die. She seems pretty excited about it," Michonne said.
Daryl nodded.
"There's that too," he said. "Seems awful strange to be so excited 'bout dyin'."
Michonne reached out and put her arm around Daryl. He looped his around her and they both started walking back toward headquarters to figure out what they were both doing for the day.
"I guess it's better to be excited about dying than to be afraid of it," Michonne said. "We're all going to do it. It's better for it to be something you look forward to instead of something that you dread."
"I reckon ya right, 'Chonne," Daryl said.
1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
Sadie wasn't surprised when Rick showed up while she was working in the barn. He had a tendency to try to work with her whenever she was down there. He said he preferred the demolition and clean up to some of the other tasks that people had picked up here and there, but she had the feeling that it was more that he was always dancing around her, trying to figure out how to start a conversation.
Rick was very handsome. There was no doubt about that. Had Sadie been younger and more prone to schoolgirl crushes, she might have given into Rick a long time ago.
The difference was that she wasn't that simple girl that she had once been that let her head be turned by just a pretty face. She'd let her head be turned too many times, honestly, when she was younger. Her husband had pulled her out of that lifestyle.
Her husband had been a handsome man too, but more ruggedly handsome perhaps than Rick. He'd swept her off her feet. She wasn't looking for that anymore either, though.
Rick was persistent, she had to give him credit on that. He seemed genuinely interested, at least now, in talking to her and trying to get to know her. She'd been difficult on purpose. Losing his wife had obviously taken a toll on him, and she didn't suspect it would ever be anything that he would "get over". She no more expected that than she expected to wake up one day and forget the wonderful marriage that she'd had to her husband, the beautiful children that they'd had together, or the pain she'd felt at losing all of that. Your past was something that was behind you, but it wasn't forgotten.
Rick seemed to be coping better, though, from what she could tell. He was happier now than he'd seemed when she'd joined the group. He seemed to spend far less time seeped in the anger that she'd seen on his face so often when she'd first arrived.
She had wanted to be sure, though, with his apparently short lived and one track relationship with Rachel, that Rick hadn't seen her as something to simply trade out for Rachel. She didn't want to be some shiny new play thing for him. She was too old for that and life, especially now, was too short and unpredictable for such things if that wasn't what you wanted.
Rick had children. He had Carl, who was really less of a child and more of young man. Carl was polite and Sadie enjoyed being around him. She thought that he'd grow into quite the gentleman, given the chance. Carl spent much of his time these days following around behind Beau, and Sadie assumed it was because Beau was closer in age to the boy than the older men, and he had the patience to tolerate the shadowing. She reasoned, of course, that Carl could do much worse than think of Beau as a good role model. Beau was quite the young man, and any lessons that he could teach Carl would suit him well.
Rick also had Judith, though that relationship was not and never would be a true parent and child relationship. Rick was trying to spend some time with Judith, and the girl seemed to like him, but Sadie could tell that to Judith Rick was nothing more than just another male in her life. She thought, though, that it wasn't that great of a tragedy. Clearly family dynamics had changed a good deal since they'd first become aware of the crisis that had swallowed up life as they had known it.
Sadie wanted to give Rick credit for all that he'd seemed to achieve in the time that she knew him. She didn't know what he was like before all of this, but she thought that he was maybe returning to who he used to be, at least to some degree.
She also knew that for however much he may seem to want to start some kind of relationship with her, he wasn't pushing it. He'd kissed her the morning that he realized she wasn't going to die, and she'd kissed him too.
Since then, however, he had made no move to kiss her again. She appreciated that he seemed to be respecting her wishes to take things slow, though he occasionally teased her about them. She wasn't looking for some kind of epic romance, but she was beginning to think that she could appreciate something with Rick. They were already developing a friendship, and she wasn't sure if she wouldn't appreciate a little more.
So when Rick came up behind her, tapping her politely on the shoulder to alert her of his presence, and started helping to gather up the scraps that needed to be taken out of the barn area and put them into the wheelbarrow she'd rolled up the ramp that had been built, Sadie wondered how Rick would react to another kiss.
She didn't kiss him immediately. She tried to figure out what would be the best way to go about things. He had settled, for the moment, into the steady act of loading scraps and wasn't actually paying her any attention.
"Rick," Sadie called.
Rick looked up, still bent over to pick up some wood off the ground.
"What?" He asked.
Sadie sighed and realized that if anything were going to happen at this point, she was going to be the one to give the OK as well as the one to initiate the act.
"Come here," she said.
Rick finished collecting up what he was cleaning up and dropped it into the wheelbarrow. He dusted his hands off and walked over to where she was standing. Sadie slipped the safety goggles she always wore off her face and held them in her hands for the moment.
"Something wrong?" Rick asked.
Sadie sighed and reached up, hooking her hand on the back of his neck and pulling him to her. He hesitated at first, clearly not expecting the action, and then sank down, bringing his lips to hers.
She enjoyed the kiss and she held him there with her hand firmly on his head until she'd had her fill of his mouth, allowing his tongue to pass into hers. When she was done, she broke the kiss and removed her hand from his head, pulling away from him. He was staring at her, the corner of his mouth turned up slightly. She could tell that he was surprised, and probably wasn't sure quite how to react.
"That was nice," Rick said.
Sadie nodded at him. She wondered if he would try anything else or if he'd kiss her himself. Rick stood there, awkwardly, obviously not knowing how to proceed. Finally, he shifted forward and brought his lips back to hers, sinking into another kiss. This time she felt his hands go to her waist, just at her ribcage and hold her steady as though she might have thought of running away from him after she'd been the one to start this game.
Sadie felt Rick pushing her, and she broke the kiss long enough to look around to see where he was guiding her. She didn't particularly want to trip and break something in the barn and have to explain that they were supposed to be working but had decided to make out like teenagers instead. He continued to push her until her back came to rest against one of the walls. She looked back at him and smiled. His lip still curled much like it had earlier.
"So now you're letting me kiss you?" Rick asked.
"Yeah," she said, smiling. He broadened his smile in response.
"Why?" He asked.
Sadie did her best to give him the poutiest expression that she could muster.
"You don't want to kiss me?" She asked. He smiled again and shook his head.
"No, no…I want to kiss you, but you've been…" he trailed off and looked away. Sadie thought he might have said something and she reached her hand up, catching his cheek and turning his face back to meet her gaze. "You've been a little difficult, you know."
Sadie smiled at him again.
"Nothing worth having is easy," she said.
Rick shook his head and narrowed his eyes at her.
"So what are you trying to say?" Rick asked. "What exactly is going on here? I mean am I only allowed to kiss you? I feel like I've got to ask permission for everything."
Sadie felt her mind swimming. Rick was very much on the verge of overthinking everything for the moment.
Rick smiled and kissed her again. She leaned her head back against the wall that was behind her and enjoyed the feel of him of kissing her, his body close to hers.
They stayed that way for a little while. The kisses passing back and forth between them. Eventually Rick moved to kissing her neck and nipping at her earlobes, but he hadn't gone any farther than that, and she hadn't asked him to or led him in any given direction.
Finally, her lips sore from the kissing and her body yearning for more than she would allow it to have at the moment, Sadie had stopped the make out session. She'd left Rick with a soft kiss to contrast many of the others, and reminded him that there was work to be done and they'd have to answer for their time spent hiding in the barn away from others.
Rick simply nodded at her. He brought his hand up, gently brushing her cheek, and then he visibly sighed. She made a face at him to try to keep him from pouting over the end of it all, and winked at him hoping that he could at least gather that she hoped it wasn't the last kiss that they would share. He'd smiled a little at the wink and turned back to work.
Sadie pulled her goggles on and went back to work herself. She wasn't exactly looking for romance with Rick…but she was beginning to be curious about what he might have to offer.