A/N: Final part. Hope you enjoyed this story. It is at least twice longer than it was supposed to be... Pease read and review! Let me know your thoughts, and what you would want to read next if you want, either here or at tiramisu-misu on tumblr!

They had taken another day before coming back, as she needed to get ready to do something she had never thought she would have to do. She had been getting ready for an eternity on a boat, or maybe just a lifetime when time went by slowly. It was not about collecting her stuff, it was more about collecting herself and giving them one more day when it was just the two of them, and they could collectively or independently deal with what they had learnt, and what would come next.

They had done an inventory of all the things she had collected and set in motion, and they had decided to bring her ship back to the pier which was two miles away from the zone, so that they could show to the others how she had lived, and that there were resources accessible in Alexandria. It would always be risky, but they were living in a world of danger. There were things to be learnt from her experience in the harbor.

She had repacked her things and driven the boat to the pier. He jumped off when they were anchored, but she needed another minute. There were plenty of good memories now associated to that boat, thanks to the last day and a half. They had talked, they had been intimate, made love, and they had fucked. For example, she hadn't known that her small bathroom could be used by two persons but when doing the beast with two backs, it could.

She blushed before jumping off the boat. She locked all the locks and added some tree branches Daryl was handing her. She wanted to take the car to drive them back to the zone, but he insisted on walking, and she was glad he had. She needed that time to process it all. Time was a luxury and since they could indulge for once, as there was still some daylight, she enjoyed it. They walked side by side, their hands brushing, sometimes reaching for the other to pat their arms, or just to walk for a few steps together. They didn't really speak, and she didn't need it.

Then, way too early to her taste, they found themselves in front of the zone. He banged on the door, yelling his name, and she was hit with fear, and doubt.

"I can't... I just can't... Take me back to the boat, take me back to my boat!" She asked without breathing, feeling like she needed to be back there.

"You'll do fine. I'm here. The clan is here. You earned your place here. But if you really want to, we'll turn around," he added, true to his word.

How tempting it was, to turn back and leave like Adam and Eve…

"Please... Just take that decision for me," she begged, putting her head on his shoulder.

"Your wish is my command," he said, and before she knew what was happening, he had lifted her up on his shoulder, her legs hanging in front of him as her front was meeting his back.

This made her laugh, and she dropped the backpack she had been carrying.

"I sure am enjoying the view," she joked though she tried to regain a posture that was not so unladylike.

"Knew you only liked me for my ass..." Daryl said, keeping her in place.

"Well it is one of your best features... Why do you have dog food in your pocket?" She suddenly asked.

She managed to gain some equilibrium and got her head back up, watching the road they had taken.

"Why is there a trail of dog food up till here?"

She looked at him, her arms reaching for the side of his neck, to keep herself in place, and to force him to look at her.

"You've been Little Thumbing Jolene!" She exclaimed, actually surprised.

He blushed, and said:

"You exchanged the secret paw shake. We owed her that much."

And she was back to melting. Carefully he loosened his grip on her and she slid down his body, kissing him as soon as she was back on the ground.

Focused on him and his hands on her, she barely heard the door opening, and they broke apart blushing when they heard:

"Nice one!"

Daryl flipped the bird to Eric who was on duty, then he emptied his pocket from whatever dog food was left in there.

"Seems like Jolene did steal my man..." She said with a happy smile.

"Feels more like she stole my woman, and I'm discussing custody arrangements with the mutt," he said, trying to sound like he hadn't done the most adorable thing ever.

She kissed him again.

And she finally turned around to face her people, who had started gathering as Eric had clamored that she was back.

With Daryl close to her, she entered the zone once again.

TWDTWDTWD

They had gotten rid of their weapons, and everybody had deserted the job they were supposed to be doing in order to meet Carol. Even Abraham left the field where he was working when he heard through the talkie network that the matriarch was back.

When entering, Carol had been all but assaulted by Maggie and Sasha, who had run into her arms crying. Daryl had grabbed her backpack, and they had made their way to the house, with her arms filled with the two weeping women.

"I know I shouldn't have left without a word," she told them, trying to appease them, kissing their forehead and rubbing their faces liked they were 8 and needed their mama to kiss a booboo better. "Please don't cry. I'm back. I'm sorry. But I'm back."

From what Carl and Daryl had told her, Carol had understood that Maggie was especially missing her, but she hadn't expected Sasha to be part of the weeping welcoming comity. Then again, Carol was probably her only link left to her brother... Carol thought to herself that when her reintegration was dealt with, she would sit with Sasha, and talk about the Tyreese she had known, share some of her memories of the loving man they had lost. Sasha deserved that much.

"You can't leave again", Maggie said. "You just can't. We've lost too many people and you can't leave. You really just can't"

"I know and I won't."

"You don't know. I'm pregnant, Carol, and I'm scared. How am I supposed to do it if you're not there?"

Glenn obviously knew about the pregnancy and decided not to take as an insult what Maggie had said, though she made it sound like he was no help.

"I'm sorry I did what I did in such an untimely fashion. But I'm here. And you're pregnant!" Carol said, hoping to cheer the girl up. "Judith will get a friend to play with her!"

Maggie giggled through her tears, and Carol knew her outburst had nothing to do with hormones, as some of the Alexandrians who had gathered around them seemed to be thinking. Maggie had witnessed Lori's pregnancy from the very beginning to the very end, and she had to be scared shitless. Carol was probably the closest thing to a mother figure she had, and as any woman who first discovered they were with child, Maggie had needed her to tell her it would be okay.

Sasha's outburst was more complicated to explain, and Carol knew there was a mix of anxiety and PTSD and more things she couldn't name. She had unwillingly made the woman feel completely vulnerable again when she had been pretending to be made of steel.

She had known, that even if not everyone saw it or knew it, she mattered, and she played a part in their little family, but seeing her friends in so much pain and fear made her feel even worse about her escaping. So they sat in the house, away from people who were not family, and Carol had done her best to make her beloved friends/daughters forgive her.

She saw Judith too, and it almost took her breath away. The baby had been waiting for her, and was babbling in baby talk when she saw her. She didn't cry, she looked at peace, and Carol thought that she took from her uncle and his supposedly Zen power.

Rick hugged her tight and didn't say a word, and they both knew that she would be the one doing the talking when she was ready. Glenn hugged her too, told her he had missed her, and that he didn't know how to make Maggie less afraid.

"We'll work on it, don't worry."

They all came, all the wolves, the whole pack, and the pervy platypus who was shedding a new skin and turning into a lupine form too. Carol was feeling so many things, she was overwhelmed. However, she wanted people to stop crying, or pouting. Michonne had hugged her so tight, then she had gone away, like she was mad. Carol had found her in front of the house she lived in, taking care of her horse.

"What's her name?" Carol had asked.

Michonne looked at her for the longest time, and Carol could see the wheels turning in her head. Carol was making the first step, and though she was not apologizing, she was making gestures to let the other woman know that she knew she should have come to her and discussed her trouble with her instead of going away. All those jokes about packs...

"Mare," Michonne finally said, and Carol laughed:

"Straight to the point."

"If you'd been there, you could have given some input," Michonne said.

"She is yours. I could have told this was nice, or this was nice, at the end of the day, she is your horse. And I'm sure she has no issue with being called "Mare."

Michonne offered the woman the brush to groom her horse, and Carol had known they were on the right path to repairing their relationship.

The afternoon was spent greeting her people, trying to mend fences when needed. Carl had come out from school and had run to Carol, saying something about knowing Daryl would bring her back. Carol just ruffled his hair and smiled.

Daryl had been staying a step back, letting her reconnect with everybody, though she had the distinct feeling he had been doing some crowd control too. He had allowed Aaron and Eric to come and greet her, but Jessie and Olivia had been told to give her time. She was thankful for his discrete but powerful part. She kept on smiling, but her heart was breaking with every new person who told her she shouldn't have left and they had missed her. She had been so sure she was doing the right thing... Next time she would talk to Daryl, and Michonne too, and probably Rick, before doing something like this again. People were welcoming her again, but they could have turned their back on her, and she wouldn't have blamed them. Rosita and Tara had been discrete in their greetings, but everybody had turned up for her.

They saw her as the matriarch, and she could be to them if they needed her too. Daryl had whispered in her ear at some point "the pain of being the alpha of your pack... You're doing fine."

She had laughed softly and had apologized to her friends. She was not stupid, she knew some of the forgiveness that was being given to her would be withdrawn or second guessed in the following days, but she had no doubt she could win them all back. They were her people, and if they had missed her, she had missed them, and she was ready to do whatever was needed to make them feel like they could rely on her again. She would clean up her mess.

At some point as the sun was setting, Deanna showed up, with Rick in tow, and Carol came to meet her, saying:

"We need to talk. You should prepare the camera."

They had agreed that Carol would come to meet her in ten minutes.

Taking comfort in all the people who were around her, in their love, in their trust, and remembering the things Daryl and her had discussed, she went in, for her new interview.

Almost an hour later, she exited the house, feeling drained. There would be things she would need to discuss with Rick and Daryl, because she had been honest this time, and had blamed her previous behavior on PTSD and fear of not fitting in. It was not a lie, it was a creative way of describing what had prompted her to lie on tape, and she would be given a new assignment. She hoped it would be with teaching the kids to survive. She had told Deanna about the way she had rescued Carl, and how the other kids had left him behind to die, to make appoint about how everybody needed to learn to defend themselves just in case.

Deanna has said she would think about it.

As she made her way back to the street where their houses were located, she heard Daryl scream:

"Open the fucking door Eric. And if you shoot it, I'll shoot you."

The entrance gate had slowly opened. Carol had walked faster to them, and she had smiled when she had seen Jolene, standing on the other side of the gate, eyeing everybody and assessing their threat levels.

"Come on Jolene," Daryl had said, and Carol had seen the way he wanted to offer her his hand to sniff.

The wolf took a few seconds to decide, and spotted her. Jolene entered the compound, and walked close to Daryl, as the gate was immediately closed after the wolf. Carol came to stand next to him, and held back a joke about him trying to greet the wolf with a fist bump.

Instead, she said:

"Thank you."

He didn't say anything, but she could read what he wanted to say in his eyes.

She walked to face the wolf, dragging Daryl by the hand with her.

"Hello old friend," she told the wolf. "Welcome home."

Whatever came next, she was ready, and she would have sworn Jolene had nodded. They walked back to the house, Daryl explaining that he had moved his belongings in Carol's room, and saying that he would find something for Jolene to sleep on if she wanted to. Their hips were bumping on the way, and their hands brushing. Jolene walked next to them, and she looked like she was rolling her eyes, which made Carol want to laugh like a hyena. A wolf was judging them for being lovesick teenagers.

Carol was exhausted, but back where she belonged. There was no place like home, even if home was a pack and not a place. Jolene didn't even blink when it came next to Mare, and Carol felt invincible.

They got in, the scent of food welcoming them.

"Welcome home too", Daryl told her, before entering, and she followed, with her four legged friend.