A/N: Well gaara, you might not be happy with what I do in this chapter… hahaha. Oh well. I'll explain my actions in the author note at the end. I just feel like this might be the best course of action.
As for the rest of you, keep in mind that gaara and I are aiming for a realistic setting to a certain extent. There is going to be some talk/discussion in this chapter that is about growing up or maturing… if you catch my meaning. Don't be going… "Oh you're a pervert and a pedophile!" and whatever else you want to throw out there because I will delete you review… The point that these conversations are making is that Clementine is growing up.
Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead. All rights reserved to their respective owners.
Clementine dropped the newly acquired tomahawk and she went toward the two adults, but she stumbled as she did so. She finally fell onto her knees and huffed out of exhaustion. She had no idea how worn out her own body was. She was so close to her long lost friends; she had to push herself just a little more. However, nothing happened.
She heard footsteps approaching her and she looked up in time for Christa to hug her. The woman even picked her up. Clementine was light for her age even if she had become a bit stronger than normal girls her age, but she was still eleven. Picking her up and holding her wouldn't be something that a weaker individual could do. Clementine knew that Christa was strong, but she never thought that she was this strong. The woman cried as she held the eleven year old; however, she wasn't the only one. Clementine cried a bit as well.
"Are you okay?" Christa asked in a whimpering voice.
"…I… I think so." Clementine replied. She couldn't help but sniffle a little bit.
Christa continued to hold onto Clementine as the girl started to relax. It was the first time she had ever relaxed in such a long time.
Finally, after a few minutes of crying in each other's grip, Christa adjusted her hold on the child and had one arm under the girl's back while the other was under her knees. "You're alive…" Christa said with a smile forming on her lips.
Omid approached the two and crouched down as well. He had tears in his eyes, but he also had a smile on his lips. "All this time… we thought…" Omid said with a sob in his voice.
"I did too." Clementine said. The man and child hugged one another while Christa kept the girl on her lap. Clementine noticed that Omid was very strong. He certainly was stronger than what his height would lead people to believe. The two separated when crying was heard from the infant. "It's really good to see you again." Omid said. He looked up to his crying daughter and said, "It's okay, Gen. I'm coming." Omid said to the infant. He stood up and went toward the girl.
Clementine looked to Christa and asked, "Your baby's name is Gen?"
Christa smiled and she nodded her head. "Her full name is Genevieve. You two will have time to get better acquainted. Right now, I need to get you back to full health. I can tell that you're suffering from exhaustion." Christa said.
Clementine smiled and nodded her head before Christa picked her up. Clementine felt almost as if she was at peace in the woman's arms. She wanted to be in Christa's embrace after Lee died since Christa and Omid were all she had left, but instead, she was found by evil people… with one wanting to rape her. She shuttered a bit from the memory, but she was brought out of her thoughts by Christa. "I'm so sorry… you went through this world without my or Omid's help. We looked everywhere for you. We even went back into that damned f****** city, but we couldn't find you." Christa explained as she walked up the stairs.
"It's okay." Clementine said. "It's my fault anyway… I nearly got you, Omid, and Gen killed. Ben, Kenny and Lee did die because of what I did."
"Hush now. I don't want to hear you talking like that." Christa said in a stern and motherly voice. She placed Clementine on a rather comfortable bed and she continued, "We all made the decision to come and save you… just like if one of us was taken, you would have done everything in your power to find and save us."
Clementine never thought of it that way, and it was true. She was about to force her exhausted body up an entire mountain to see Christa and Omid. She looked up to see Christa removing the girl's worn out shoes and socks before she walked back up to Clementine. "We'll get some food in you later. Right now, rest. I'll come and check on you every so often."
Clementine smiled to Christa as the woman pulled the winter blanket over the girl. Clementine allowed her eyes to close as she felt a smile form on her lips. Her life was improving. Two people that she thought she killed were alive, and in turn, they had their baby.
Clementine shot up and huffed upon finally waking up from the nightmare she was in. She would have nightmares of the people she lost every now and then, and she still wasn't used to it. She felt a hand on her shoulder and she gasped. She turned her head to the person next to her. "Easy… it's okay." The woman said in a friendly tone of voice. "I noticed that you were mumbling and squirming in your sleep, so I came to check on you. Is everything alright?"
"I… where's Christa and Omid? Are they still okay?" Clementine asked.
"Yes, of course." The woman replied. "Do you want me to go get them? I know Christa told me to make sure you get something to eat."
"I… umm… I just wanted to make sure that they were okay." Clementine said.
"If anything, they've been more worried about you." The woman said. "My name's Sarita. I found Omid and Christa about a day before Genevieve was born."
"I'm Clementine." Clementine said to Sarita.
"It is nice to finally meet you. Christa and Omid would talk about you sometimes, but I could tell that it hurt them to think about you." Sarita said.
Clementine looked down with a frown. "So how are you feeling?" Sarita asked as she checked the girl's temperature.
"I've been better… to be honest." Clementine said.
"Come on. You think you can head downstairs with me?" Sarita asked. "Christa said that you need to eat something."
"Yeah, I should be okay." Clementine said. She turned herself around on the bed and stood upright. She stumbled a bit at first while Sarita had her arms out to catch her. "I'm good." Clementine said as she steadied herself. Sarita nodded and she headed toward the stairs while she looked back every couple of seconds to see how Clementine was holding up. Clementine followed the woman down the stairs and she looked over to Omid holding Genevieve and giving her a bottle. It wasn't very late in the day, so it must have been afternoon which meant that Genevieve was being put down for her afternoon nap. She didn't see Gil, Christa, or the older man that she met a few hours ago. "Where is everyone?" Clementine asked.
"Christa's getting some clothes together for you; you slept for a while. You were out for almost a whole day." Sarita said which made Clementine's eyes widened in surprise. She never thought that she was out for such a long period of time. "With electricity here, we've actually managed to get running water back up so you can take a bath or a shower. Gil is with Walter at the moment. They're having an in-depth conversation about Steinbeck." Sarita explained.
"Okay." Clementine said. They approached a table and Sarita gave the girl a bowl. The food inside had a sweet aroma, but it didn't look too good. "What is this?" Clementine asked.
"Peaches and beans. Walter made it about thirty minutes ago." Sarita explained. Clementine nodded and she began to eat the food. It tasted as good as it smelled. She noticed that Sarita stayed close to Clementine. "Christa and Omid did talk about you a little bit, but I am curious and I'm sure they are as well. So, what happened?"
Clementine ate another spoonful of the food and thought over the events of what happened since Savannah. She swallowed before she said, "After Savannah… I thought I saw Christa and Omid on a hill… but it was actually bad people." Clementine noticed that Sarita's eyes had become wide and a frown was on her lips. "One killed the other and chased me, but I was able to use a walker to kill him."
"Oh… I'm sorry you went through that, honey… No one should have to go through that at such a young age." Sarita said with sympathetic eyes.
Clementine shrugged and said, "It doesn't matter anymore. You just do what you have to so you can live. I met more people after that… most wanted to kill me, steal from me, or… they wanted to do something else."
"My gosh… I… you never got…?" Sarita asked. Clementine shook her head which made Sarita sigh in relief. "Thank goodness…. I thought the worst…"
"There was this one group who had a lot of nice people in it. Some didn't like me, but this man named Boyd looked after me… and I befriended this really tough girl named Becca. I almost felt at peace when I was with that group." Clementine explained.
"What happened to them?" Sarita asked.
"I had to leave them. If I stayed they would have died just like how Kenny, Ben, and Lee died. It was all my fault… for what happened to them…" Clementine said.
"Oh honey… you shouldn't blame yourself for what happened." Sarita said as she placed a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder. "Christa and Omid told me what happened in Savannah after you were abducted. Lee didn't care what happened to him but he wanted to make sure to get you and bring you to safety… as his last act. He even tried to make Christa and Omid your new guardians…so you would be somewhat happy." She stopped when she saw that the girl had tears form in her eyes.
"I won't… I can't ever be happy again… not when someone like Lee died…" Clementine said with a huff. "Why was he willing to go so far for someone like me?"
"Because he loved you, sweetie. You were his world." Sarita said with a comforting tone in her voice. The two were silent for a couple minutes. Clementine looked to the bowl of food and remembered everything that her guardian did for her. Despite Gil's efforts, there was no way that she could forget about what happened to Lee. "You better finish eating. I need to check to make sure we don't have any walkers coming. Christa will probably be down in a few minutes.
Clementine nodded and she returned to eating the food in front of her. True to Sarita's word, Christa came down the stairs a few minutes later. She had some clothes in her hands along with a towel and washcloth. "Hey, I found some clothes for you… I don't know if Sarita told you this but we have running water, so you can take a bath or shower…" Christa said to Clementine. The girl nodded her head and Christa continued, "By the way, I need to talk to you about something. You might be a little embarrassed and it's not exactly going to be a cakewalk for me either."
"What are you talking about?" Clementine asked.
Christa smiled and she pulled out a cloth-like garment that Clementine had never seen, but it resembled another piece of clothing that she had seen before. "Do you know what this is?" Christa asked.
"Uh… no." Clementine said.
Christa chuckled a bit and she said, "This is a training bra. You need to start learning on how to put this on. You're a growing girl after all…"
Clementine could feel herself blush out of embarrassment. "Do I have to?" Clementine asked.
"Sorry, sweetie. It's just a part of growing up." Christa said as she placed the garment back into the set of clothes that she got for the child. "Try to get it on after you're done bathing along with your other clothes. If you can't, then just come to me and let me help you."
Clementine nodded before she receive the clothes from Christa. The woman gestured the child to follow her and they went further into the ski lodge. It didn't take long for Christa to direct Clementine to the shower room. There was a metal basin tub in the room, but it was mostly shower heads. "Sorry, that's all we really have. You can use the shower if you know how to use it." Christa said.
"Doesn't seem that difficult." Clementine said.
Christa smiled and she said, "Okay." She left the room and gave the girl some privacy. Clementine sighed before she placed the clothing far away from the shower. It would be the first time she has ever used a shower.
Clementine exited the shower room feeling quite refreshed. The shower wasn't too difficult; however, the training bra proved to be a bit more challenging to work with. She was still able to get it on right, but she wasn't used to it yet. However, she did feel confident that she would eventually learn to be able to put it on with ease with the passage of time.
She looked down to her clothing and she was somewhat pleased by the selection that Christa made. It brought back good memories, and she felt somewhat comfortable in the new clothes. She wore a light blue hooded sweatshirt with a white shirt underneath, a plaid purple skirt, black tights, and black boots.
"Hey you look a lot better." Christa said as she approached the girl.
"I… I feel better." Clementine said. "I haven't felt this comfortable in a long time."
"I know how you feel." Christa said. "When Walter and Matthew told us that they had running water here. The first thing I thought about was a shower, but of course, Omid beat me too it. He probably spent two hours in there."
"Man…" Clementine said with a giggle.
"He wasn't that day… he was the woman." Christa said with a chuckle. The woman and child laughed as they walked down the hallway. The laughing soon subsided and a serious look formed on Christa's face. "Anyway, there are a couple things we still need to discuss. First, we're you able to put the training bra on?"
"Yeah, it's on." Clementine said. "It was a little tricky, but it snapped in place."
"Good… good job." Christa said. "It's important you learn this now… so when you mature… you're able to use a real bra. Anyway, Sarita talked to me about what you said to her." She turned to the child with a sympathetic stare and she said, "Honey… I know it's hard to understand, but… Lee didn't die because of you."
Clementine shook her head and she said, "It's all that I can think about. Gil tried to help me before I came here, but I'm still plagued by what happened. What if things could have been different?"
"I know. Every damn night… I'm plagued with the question of what I could have done for him… what could I have done to find you sooner. You weren't supposed to be out there for so long… For the longest time, I thought I failed my friend… I failed to keep my promise to him." Christa said. "But you're here now… and that's what's important."
Clementine took her words into account as the woman took her hand. "Come on. We're going to need to have a private conversation."
"What for?" Clementine asked.
"Well, honey. Have you ever heard about the talk? Do you know anything about the birds and the bees?" Christa asked.
"Yeah, my mom and dad mentioned it, but they didn't say much. They just said that they would talk to me about it when I got older." Clementine said.
"Well… it's time you know what it is. You need to know the differences between a boy and a girl." Christa said as she led the girl into the main living area and continued toward the stairs. Clementine's eyes widened. She had been through cannibalistic undead creatures, bandits, scavenger, psychopaths, and murderers, but she had a feeling the so called 'talk' might be more traumatizing than anything she has ever faced.
…To be continued.
A/N: No worries… I ain't going to put you guys through the birds and the bees talk… besides you should all know what that is by now… right? …I hope…
Anyway… well, here's the explanation behind Clem wearing what she's wearing. It kind of symbolizes her transformation back to being a normal kid again. Deep down, she has changed quite a bit, besides I'd imagine that's what Christa would get her to wear since Clem was a bit of a girly-girl… for a little while. So it physically shows her changing into someone different from the survivor that she was and the eight year old who is long gone.