A/N: It took me forever to upload.. I know... First there was exams, than holidays, sickness, school, sickness, more school. It was a hell of a month :/ On the bright side, The next updates will come much faster! I'm also thinking of starting another TWD fanfic, but what the concept is will stay a secret a while ;)

I want to thank all the reviewers and favorite/followers. I would have never dream of getting that many people to read my story! I love you all.

The wrath and the grave:

Maybe if Lee hadn't been in such a weird predicament to begin with, he would be surprised.
There is something unreal in seeing a graveyard in heaven, where you're already dead.
And he really hoped he couldn't die again, the first time was miserable enough, thank you…

He gulped at the thought. The whole affair had kind of distracted him from the blaring truth that he was indeed dead. He had left Clementine behind in a world of despair. He had failed at keeping her safe, from seeing the sight of her turned parents.
Hopefully he had at least thought her enough to save herself out there.

The graveyard seemed peaceful enough. The trees had changed color already, displaying amber-maroon hues and losing their leaves.
Wind was swaying lightly, breaking the silence ever so softly.
If it wasn't for the large person standing up ahead, Lee would even maybe feel comfortable.
If it wasn't for the fact that barely the thought of him left Lee with an almost painful aching in his chest… Which was quite ironic.

All encounters so far had at least helped make Lee feel a bit better, as much as that seemed unlikely.
He just knew this wasn't going to go smooth in the least.
and briefly it flickered through his mind that he may discover what it's like to die a second time after all.
Or suffer for all eternity, whatever Larry saw fit.

Cause such a bulky figure was unmistakable. Ex-military, grumpy as hell and the last straw that a helpless daughter could hold onto in all the madness.
Lee was still convinced that his death was what had caused Lilly to ultimately snap.
To become a dictator, to be unreasonable and….. shoot Carly.
And somewhere in the back of his mind there was a little voice saying that was partially his fault.
He was right there, when the 'shit went down', so to say.
And in this case the 'shit' took the form of a giant salt lick ending the life of an already failing heart.
Lee hadn't done anything. Contrary: he had helped.
it had seemed the right choice.
Reasonably speaking it still was: it's medically proven that once somebody has a first heart attack, combined with the pre-existing condition, there was no way Larry would have made it.
He was simply too unstable.

Not reasonably speaking however, Lee could only imagine what he would have done had Clem died somewhere in all this… killed by teammates because she didn't get the benefit of the doubt.
As he had done to Larry.
And if Larry, just as Mark, knew what all went down after and surrounding his death… Lee was in for real hell, no matter where he was.
For a moment he mused it could be infinitely better for his health to just stay put, but things wouldn't be solved that way and more than anything did Lee want to set things right.
Whatever the cost.

Slowly he made his way across the abandoned graveyard. Dead leaves crunching as he went, sending small volts of nervousness up his spine.
Somewhere in the back of his mind it registered that none of the graves had names on them:
Bare messengers of death.

Lee was close now, Larry was just 3 feet away.
It was impossible that he hadn't heard Lee yet, or maybe he was ignoring him?

The grave in front of the ex-military was engraved, unlike the others.
It read a woman name, same last name as Lilly and him. Deceased at the young age of 32.
Lee knew this had to be Lilly's mother and thus Larry's wife, who's wedding ring he had kept in his pocket until the very end.

Lee had once heard of an expression; 'never allow the monster a heart.' He felt guilty even thinking about this now, but somehow, it rang true.
During times when collecting food was a near death sentence, human meat was as good as any other and trusting someone was like giving them a knife and turning your back. It was easy then to think of Larry as an anti-social, racist, selfish asshole.

But in reality, hadn't he been acting like any father would in such a situation?
Hell, how Lee would when Clementine was concerned.
He may not have shown it any normal way, but it was the fear of losing all that he had left that drove him to say and do stuff Lee felt offended by at the time.
The same fear that later became a reality for Lily… because of them.
By the time all of these thoughts had flashed through Lee's mind, which only took a second in reality, Larry had turned to him. And in his eyes was something that left Lee just a tad colder on the inside.

There was no anger, no hate, no accusatory look telling Lee he had 3 second to run away before certain death. There was a small amount of sadness, clouded by huge amounts of certainty.
Lee could see Larry had cried.
A while ago, yes. But the monster had his heart and Lee could not deny it any longer.

"You sure have guts to show up here." Larry said. It sounded weird, not murderous, not even angry. Just weird.
"I didn't have a choice." Lee answered. Was he talking about his presence, or what happened back at the St. John dairy, he wasn't sure.

Suddenly Larry took a small step forward, crossing the small distance between them.
Even though they were in an open space, Lee felt trapped by the man's gaze. The anger he had expected was there, but it was like it wasn't aimed at Lee specifically.

"Everybody has a choice. You had plenty! Still were did it get us?! Everyone's dead. Whatever your little mission exactly held, I don't care. But you failed! You couldn't even keep your girl save."
The ex-military seemed to falter at that. Maybe he sensed the burning inside Lee, that was now surfacing.

"I did all I could." The latter said, though it sounded more like a lame excuse then a certainty.
Larry smirked, and for some seconds, Lee could see all the hateful looks he got from him in the past all over again.
"If you had, then why did my daughter leave you? Why did that woman kill herself? Why did you allow your group to fall apart?"

Lee felt something there. A gripping feeling of impotence. It had all happened, but was there anything he could have done about it? Mark and Shaun both said there wasn't.
and that simple realization struck him fast and hard.
"Because I DID ALL I COULD!" he burst out suddenly, not impressing Larry at all though.
"I did all I could. I never asked to be the leader. I'm just a human. There was nothing more I could do!"

For a moment silence hung between them. Their faces were only inches apart after Lee's outburst.
Then Larry grimaced.
"Right…" he said, and somehow seemed pleased with himself. He took a step back and crossed his arms.
"Don't get me wrong, I don't like you. I've never even trusted you. But even for you, there is no reason to drag yourself down with the thought that everything is your responsibility."

Larry took a sideways step and faced the grave of his late wife again, and with softest voice Lee had ever heard him utter he said: "After all, I couldn't keep our girl save either."

It was then that the monster wasn't a monster anymore. Just a human.
Lee wanted to say more, he wasn't finished.
But that wasn't his decision, as he felt himself move yet again.

In that last second, he caught a glimpse of a picture on top of the grave.
A beautiful woman.
And Lee felt like crying.

Thanks for reading. Remember: all reviewers get imaginary pogo sticks! ^^