I wrote this last year as a bonus treat on tumblr for Richonne Just Desserts' 25 Days of Christmas - Since it's November 1st and the doors are starting to fill up with Christmas items thought I post it. Enjoy!

It had seemed like the altruistic thing to do when Rick volunteered to take his aunt's shift as a Salvation Army bell ringer after she came down with the flu. Most didn't want the Christmas Eve shift, but the magic of the holiday season was lost on Rick that year. His kids would be two states away from him when they opened presents on Christmas morning. He figured it was better to do some good instead of moping around his empty house. But after two hours of ringing that annoying bell in icy temperatures, he was over it. The multiple looks of annoyance and aggravation he received as last-minute shoppers rushed past him and his frozen fingers made him want to pack it in early. The three dollars he collected after being on duty for two hours didn't seem worth the hassle.

He tossed the bell and red apron into the bucket before reaching up to pull the Santa hat off his head. A split second before his hand touched his head he heard a small gasp and scream. His reflexes kicked in as he saw a body fall towards him from his peripheral vision. The new weight in his arms wasn't as much of a shock to his system as the most beautiful yet haunting pair of brown eyes he'd ever seen, staring up at him.

It took it her being in waves: her dark skin, the long locs cascading down her shoulders from under a white knit cap, the matching white peacoat, the way her mouth slightly opened as she took in quick breaths that floated up into the air like smoke. The seconds ticked away as their eyes bored into each other's and people continued to rush around them.

The small pellets of precipitation that began hitting his face jerked Rick out of their intense trance. His voice was soft yet rough as he opened his mouth. "You OK?"

The woman still stared up at him. A look of he couldn't decipher crossed over her features before she shook herself and cleared her throat. "Umm..yes...I think so. I tripped over something on the sidewalk. Th...thanks…" The soft yet warm timbre of her voice trembled. She closed her eyes to regain her composure. When she opened them again she smiled up at Rick. Her whole face lit up. He took in a sharp breath as she looked even more beautiful than he first thought.

"Thank you," she began again, "for catching me. Falling onto an icy sidewalk wouldn't have been fun."

Rick smiled back at her. "No. I don't imagine it would have."

The conversation trailed off as they caught each other's eyes again. His gaze traveled to her perfectly shaped lips and back up again. Only a man roughly pushing into him while trying to get into the store they stood in front of broke the spell. Rick grabbed onto the woman tighter so she wouldn't slip from his grasp.

"It would probably be a good time to let me up," the woman said as her hands clutched onto his forearms.

"Oh, right. Sorry." Rick mentally chided himself for being so enamored with a stranger as he helped the woman to her feet. When she tried take a step she started to fall again before Rick caught her. "Steady now," he said.

"Ouch...shit...my ankle." Her voice was tinged with shock and pain.

Rick could see her right ankle had already started to swell in her suede heeled boots. "Looks like the fall was nastier than we thought." He gestured across the street. "There's an Urgent Care in the hospital over there. Let me take you to get checked out."

The woman pulled away from him while almost falling again. She steadier herself by grabbing onto the red bucket. Tears frame her lashes as she shook her head vehemently. "No. I'm fine. I mean I don't know you. I just need to get home and wrap and soak my ankle." She tried to take another step, but couldn't put any weight down on the ankle. She cried out in pain as the tears broke away from her lashes and ran down her face.

Rick grabbed onto one of her shoulders. "Oh, hey, hey. Shh, shh. Don't cry. It'll be OK. It's probably only a simple sprain."

The woman shook her head again. "I know but…," she sighed, "I'm supposed to be on stage tomorrow dancing the lead in The Nutcracker. But now," she gestured towards her ankle," it's probably not going to happen. Would have been the only highlight of my Christmas."

Rick took in her graceful body. It made sense she was a dancer. Even her fall was elegant. "You never know until you have it checked out. You may be good to go for tomorrow's performance. We're go over to the Urgent Care and it'll be fine." He reached into his back pocket to pull out his wallet. "Here's my ID and badge. I'm a Sheriff's Deputy. Rick Grimes. You can trust me."

The woman stared at his ID then looked closely back at him. "You work for Sheriff's department?" Rick nodded. "So does my sister. She's a deputy too. Do you know Sasha Williams?"

He crossed his arms and tilted his head as he put the pieces together. "Sasha's your sister? She's one of my good friends in the department." He smiled. "It all makes sense now. That means you're Michonne Williams. Her ballet dancin' sister she's always braggin' about and praisin'."

Michonne smiled showed her slight embarrassment. She knew how sister could go on and on with the praise. "That would be me."

"Now you really have to let me help you. If I have to tell Sasha I left her injured sister in the cold on Christmas Eve she might punch me in the jaw."

Michonne laughed. "Yeah she just might." She sighed and wiped at her eyes. "OK. Take me over to the Urgent Care."

Rick nodded. "OK." He wrapped his arms around her waist and helped her limp slowly across the street.

Almost two hours later, Michonne maneuvered herself back into the waiting area on a pair of crutches. She was surprised to see Rick still sitting in the same spot she left him when the CNA wheeled her back to the exam rooms. He quickly stood when her saw her.

"You're still here," she said.

"Of course. I wasn't gonna leave without knowing you were all right."

She smiled. "Thanks, Rick. You're quite the gentlemen. I called Sasha when I was back there and she confirmed that I was in very good hands."

He smiled back. "Good. So what's the verdict?"

Michonne eased her body down in a waiting room chair and Rick sat beside her. "It's not broken, thank God. It's a sprain like you said, but a pretty bad one. I won't be doing any dancing tomorrow."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Me too. I guess that's why I started crying out there. I'm not quite feeling the magic this year. Only thing I had was dancing." She tossed her locs behind her shoulder and shook her head. "This is the first Holiday season since my marriage ended. I had our son, Andre, for Thanksgiving so my ex gets him for Christmas this year. First time I won't see my Peanut's face when he opens his gifts. I was looking forward to tomorrow's performance because I knew it would feel good to bring some joy to the people in the audience even if I wasn't feeling much myself. Now I won't even have that, you know."

Rick patted the knee on her non-injured leg. "I get it. My ex-wife has the kids this year. That's why I was out here in the cold ranging that damn bell. Tryin' to do some good while feeling low."

Michonne put her hand over his. "Looks like we understand each other Deputy Grimes."

"Looks like we do."

Their eyes met again in what was beginning to become a habit for them.

Michonne broke the trance first this time as she focused her eyes down to her ankle. "I was out there rushing to find him a gift before him and his Dad leave for Savannah tonight. UPS lost the gifts I ordered for him. I wanted him to have at least one present to open from me in the morning." She looked at her watch. "They leave in about an hour. I probably won't make it in time." She looked back into Rick's eyes. "He may not think about me at all tomorrow."

Rick stared back. "Well, we can't have that. I happen to know that this hospital has a pretty nice gift shop. I'm sure we can find somethang for him there."

She knitted her brow. "You think?"

"I know."

"Do you know what ten-year old boys like for gifts?"

"Being that my son was a ten-year old only two years ago, I think I can make an educated guess."

Michonne smiled at him. "Well, OK then."

He smiled back. "OK."

A half-hour later they sat in front of the large window in the hospital cafeteria, watching the snow that had been threatening to fall all day blanket the streets. Michonne's foot was propped on a chair as they sipped hot chocolate.

"I know I keep thanking you, but Andre really is going to love this virtual reality game you picked out. He's still so young, but already a technology wiz. This is right up his alley." Michonne patted the wrapped box in her lap. It was just their luck the gift shop was offering free gift wrapping with all toy purchases.

Rick nodded at her with his lips slightly upturned in a smile. He basked in her appreciation. "I was happy to do it. I'm also happy you ex agreed to stop by here on their way out of town so you can give your son the present."

"Yeah. Me too. Mike's a wonderful man. A great father. And wasn't a bad husband. We just weren't meant to go the long haul in marriage."

"Same with my ex-wife. I used to see divorce as a failure, but it doesn't negate all the good the relationship brought to you. And it doesn't mean you won't ever find that type of happiness again. Or even somethang better."

Michonne sipped her hot chocolate and nodded at him with a slight smile on her face. "Sometimes an ending is a beginning in disguise." She pointed across the street. "Looks like your Salvation Army bucket is filling up with snow. Should you go rescue it?"

Rick shook his head. "Nah. My shift was a bust. I'll just make a donation in my aunt's name, and never volunteer again."

"I have to admit though," she said as she turned her attention to the top of his head, "the Santa hat looks better on you than it does Kris Kringle."

He snatched it off with an embarrassed grin. "I didn't realize I still had that on."

Michonne laughed and looked back to the wintery scene outside the window. "You know they say if you witness the first snow of Christmas Eve all your wishes for the new year will true."

Rick raised an eyebrow at her. "Really?"

She smirked at him. "No. I just made that up."

Rick laughed. "Not a bad sentiment though. I have a few wishes I wouldn't mind comin' true." He held the Styrofoam of hot chocolate in both hands as he looked down as his worn cowboy boots then back up at Michonne's smiling face again. "You know there's this restaurant about ten miles from here that makes a great pot roast every Christmas. It's 'bout the only place that's open around here on the holiday."

"Really?"

"Yep."

"I won't be dancing so my Christmas plans are non-existent at the moment. Since Sasha is working tomorrow, and our family is in Texas, I was thinking about hibernating in my apartment, eating frozen pizza and binging on 90s romcoms. But now that pot roast is an option I may have to reconsider."

"It's the best in town. Great apple pie too. The place has a jukebox that plays old Christmas songs. It's the right medicine to get over the yuletide blues." He winked at her.

Michonne laughed. She held up her cup of hot chocolate to "clink" it with his in a toast. "Maybe this Christmas won't be so bad after all."

Rick's smiled big and bright enough to rival any holiday decoration. "I know it's looking up for me."