Title: Flowers for the Living

Author: OpheliacAngel

Characters and Pairings: Michonne/Rick, Carl

Genres: Friendship/Romance

Rating: Teen

Summary: Michonne stops to smell the flowers and realizes that she has a family.

A/N: Written for h/c_bingo for the prompt 'hugs.' Spoilers for Season 4.

It takes Michonne a long time until she realizes that she has a family again.

Andrea had brought her back from the abyss, that dark place where thought was nonexistent and humanity had been washed out with the old in favor of the new world order, as chaotic as it was. She had walked in a daze for weeks, maybe even months, and when she had found the young woman on the ground, blonde hair tangled and bright face marred with dirt, something inside Michonne had come to life again, something that defined who she was.

With Andrea there was something precious to protect and someone to fight for, there was someone who had her back, who teased her and treated her like a friend and not just a means of survival, and then there was the belief that if Andrea were ever taken away from her then Michonne would lose herself all over again. And it wasn't a belief, it was a certainty that Michonne couldn't endure.

But just as Andrea had stumbled into her dilapidated life, others had as well, and when Andrea left her and stole all the light from Michonne's world, she found others to put her faith in and defend. A family to fight for just as she had fought side-by-side with Andrea.

For all that Andrea had given her, Michonne was never able to repay the favor. Yet she knew Andrea would smile at her if she were still with her and tell her to shut up and keep on moving, and that's exactly what Michonne did.

It's a funny thing really, the body's ability to survive through it all. Even when she hadn't been in control of her body, Michonne had still lived walking amongst those walkers as if she had been one of them, she had still breathed and followed the command to stay alive, and whether it came from her body or her soul she did not know. And it didn't much matter anyway.

Even though the proof is right in front of Michonne's face, she doesn't realize that she has a family until they're gone.

There's Rick, who's a good man except he doesn't even know it. And there's Carl, who reminds her so much of her son. Carl who's loyal and tough and fun and worth fighting for. Carl who's just a kid, who she wants to make a happy childhood for even in this world.

The way Carl looks at her and trusts her is what brings Michonne back. The hugs bring her back too.

When she comes back from a supply run, Carl rushes up to her as if only to ask her if she's brought back anything for him - not that she minds - but before a word comes out of his mouth he always startles her with a hug. Whether it's quick or not depending on his anticipation of listening to Michonne's tales from the road doesn't matter; the hugs say a dozen different things at once. Sometimes Carl will say something like 'missed you,' but the hugs are the things that tell her the most, that remind her of how much she means to Carl and how much Carl means to her.

And then when she finds them after their separation at the prison, Carl shoots forward and wraps his small arms around her in a hug when he and his father open the door to reveal her standing there.

Those hugs bring her back to herself every time, they prove to her that she's finally found someplace where she belongs, and it isn't a physical place either.

Rick looks at her with respect, trust and love too. There's a fire in his eyes that makes her feel like she's coming back to the light. The best moments of her life are the three of them on the road together, watching each other's backs, Michonne thinking up fun ways to spend the time for Carl until she gets Rick to laugh.

The night that Rick rips a chunk out of their attacker's throat Michonne spends with Carl, trying to calm him down, trying to show him that she's with him and that she'll never leave. Why would she want to leave any of this anyway? She's a mother to Carl and a best friend, but she's not quite ready to broach the former role yet.

She lingers a long time after Carl falls asleep, physically not able to move, not able to leave Carl alone, but she needs to check on Rick to make sure he's okay. Needs to see him with her own eyes so that she knows she's okay too. The two of them are all Michonne has left, and they are the best thing in her world and sometimes that fact just about brings Michonne to tears, the fact that she doesn't know where she'd be without them. Andrea is still a sharp pang in Michonne's heart, a once best friend and sister, but with Rick and Carl she can already feel herself start to heal.

There's a small bundle of blue flowers growing near the tree that Rick had collapsed against earlier. She hadn't noticed them before, though she doubts she would have registered their existence even if she had looked straight at them, given how worried she had been about Carl.

"Michonne."

She whirls around, hand reaching for her katana but not quite making it there. That's because she knows who the voice belongs to. She looks him up and down, noticing how he looks torn between multiple paths, the dark smudges under his eyes betraying his exhaustion, the way his hands tremble betraying...?

And then the trembling, calloused hands are on her face, surprisingly gentle, and there are cracked lips on her own, teeth biting her lip, tongue dancing around her own. She moans, taken off guard, not sure whether to focus on his mouth crammed up against her own or his hands rubbing up and down her arms briefly, as if searching for warmth, and then circling around her hips. Michonne's hands are on his waist somehow, and the need for her weapon is a memory of the distant past. She can taste the fire in him, the need to have her pressed up against him, her heartbeat thundering against his own. She knows his love as she tastes the salty tears streaming down his cheeks and is scared by it.

She's scared by how much she loves him too. Loves this man, this warrior who has such a big heart, a heart that he somehow managed to squeeze her into. Her gaze falls on the flowers again, cornflower blue, life, as sweet as life can be.

And then she sees Carl, standing there, watching them.

Michonne jerks away and Rick comes back to himself, following her line of sight. She isn't quite sure what she expects Carl to do, run away and hide, scream at her for ruining everything, anything but what he actually does. Before she realizes what's happening, she has an armful of Carl and Rick wraps his arms around her again, including Carl in the embrace. Michonne accepts it for what it is and smiles, her arms wrapping around the two people she loves most in the world.

One happy family. It's enough.

FIN