A/N: I came up with story listening to Dinah Washington's "This Bitter Earth", here's a link to the song. watch?v=judyCgN2daA

This story picks up in the earlier morning hours the day after Rick executes Pete in front of everyone, including Morgan.

This - bitter earth
Well, What a fruit it bears

What good is love
Mmmmmmmm
That no one shares...

"Thank God for the full moon", Rick heavily whispers before sucking Michonne's earlobe.

The moment he suckles the fleshy part of her ear, she become weak and submissive, "Yes, thank God" she answers anxiously.

Michonne quickly begins to unbutton Rick's shirt so he can continue his mission of foreplay.

The two go back to their sensual lip battle as she removes his shirt; Rick pulls her hip to the edge of bedroom dresser, ensuring that she feels his tungsten like erection pressing against her quivering pleasure switch inside her panties.

He pauses from the kiss to lightly glide his tongue along her luscious bottom lip while reaching his hand down to massage her protruding button covered by pointlessly thin fabric.

She sharply draws in her breath and promptly leans her head against the dresser mirror, unable to handle the wave of intense yearning that hits her entire body.

Her wetness changes the consistency of her underwear crotch dramatically; Rick watches as Michonne grows more powerless, "I never thought I'd ever feel satin panties again", he teases.

Michonne becomes lucid long enough to pull her night shirt over her head as he continues to arouse her clit, he looks down at her supple breasts and her inflexible nipples in the moonlight beaming in her bedroom window.

Wanting to hear her beg; Rick slides the crotch of her panties to the side allowing his fingers to enjoy her slippery lips, he leans down and slowly flicks each nipple with his tongue, "Tell me what you want Chonne, tell me", he whispers.

She vehemently shakes her head no, desperate to hold on to some sense of control.

He plunges two digits deep inside her sloppy canyon making her gasp in defeat. His finger thrusts move faster and faster while he sucks on her mountain peaks.

Wrapping both hands around his face, she pulls his head up to hers, "O.k. yes, you win" she pants, "I want you, I want all of you in me right now, please", she begs then kisses him again.

In between their passionate kiss she tells him, "I always wanted you, I always wanted this."

Rick stops the fingering and looks at her oddly, "Really? Aren't you scared? Aren't you scared that I might die? Aren't you scared of getting pregnant again and losing another child because the father will be too weak to protect him? You're willing to plunge down that rabbit hole again, knowing the pain and heartbreak that's bound to happen?"

Michonne instantly becomes alert by his words, "What?"

She looks at him, "But, I never told you about Andre'."

The next second she hears the cries of a baby in the corner of the room, she turns her head toward the cries then turns back towards Rick who's now standing in the middle of the moonlit bedroom.

"What the hell, how did Judith get in here", she asks hoping off the dresser to turn on the light.

Once she turns it on, she sees Andre' sitting in the corner of the room crying, and reaching his tiny arms for her.

She turns to look at Rick; instead she sees Mike standing in the middle of her bedroom; she looks at Mike in terror.

Mike shakes his head pitifully, "Why would you willingly go through this again."

Before she has a chance to speak, in the blink of an eye Mike races over to bite Andre'.

Michonne wakes wildly from her nightmare knocking the nightstand lamp on the floor.

She hops out of bed to turn on the bedroom light to make sure that it was just a nightmare.

Looking around the room she holds her head in her hands trying to understand the meaning of the nightmare when she hears a knock at her bedroom door.

"Michonne, are you o.k.?" Rick asks.

She rushes toward the bedroom door before Rick turns the door knob to come in.

Opening the door only enough for Rick to see her face; she watches as Rick pulls a t-shirt over his head, "Yea, everything's fine I just knocked over the lamp by mistake."

He looks at Michonne oddly, "Why are you covered in sweat…" she remains silent not unable to come up with a suitable answer, "…Michonne let me in."

He pushes open door and walks in to survey the room. He looks at the lamp on the floor, then, looks back over at Michonne.

She leans against the wall clinching her eyes shut as she continues to collect her bearings.

Rick see Michonne's visibly shaken state; he walks over to her slowly and with a worried tone he asks, "Michonne are you alright, what happen?"

He comes face to face with Michonne and reaches for her shoulder to comfort her but she casually slides out of reach, "I'm fine, I told you I just knocked the lamp over in my sleep", she answers looking between the dresser and the corner.

Rick can clearly see that she's lying but knows that it best to leave the subject alone for now; he nods his head o.k.; looks at her with more concern, "Well, if you sure…" he reluctantly reaches for the door, "…if you need to…talk just knock on my door alright?"

Michonne tightens her lips and acknowledges the offer.

Once he closes the door behind him Michonne walks over to the corner where Andre' sat crying in her dream. She leans against the wall and silently begins to break down.

Sliding her way to the floor she sits with head on her knees; crying over the fact that her goal is complete.

On the road the plan was clear but, she didn't have a plan for what she might want if she ever made it to a place of relative safety. An opportunity to live instead of just surviving.

Later that morning, Rick walks downstairs dressed in civilian clothes; hears the sound of laughter coming from the kitchen.

Once in the kitchen; he sees Carl laughing at the table eating oatmeal, while Michonne laughs looking inside the refrigerator.

"Hey Dad", Carl laughs.

Michonne freezes hearing Carl's greeting to Rick; she holds still for a few more seconds then closes the refrigerator door to look at Rick.

She plants a less than genuine smile on her face takes a deep breath, "Hey."

Rick wrinkles his brow at her curiously odd greeting; with a half-smile he says, "Morning."

Looking down at his watch he turns to Carl, "You should get going if you want to finish your work in the garden before school this afternoon."

Carl gets up from the kitchen table to put his bowl in the sink, "Yea I'd better get going."

Michonne grabs her constable jacket off the chair, "Well let me walk you there."

Carl turns back to Michonne, "Michonne, you know I don't need an escort…I'm good. I'll catch you guys later."

Once Carl leaves, Michonne and Rick stand in an uncomfortable silence.

He walks over to the refrigerator to get an apple and closes the door, then rinses the apple in the sink, "So you wanna tell me what freaked you out last night?"

She get nervous; something that she's never displayed in front of Rick before, "I told you, I knocked the lamp over in my sleep."

He bites the apple watching as Michonne avoids eye contact with him.

Rick knows he won't get anything out of her like this so he changes the subject.

"Alright…for now", he finishes chewing the apple bite in his mouth, "I wanted to ask you about what I did at the meeting. When I…shot Pete, do you think I.."

Michonne didn't really care that Rick shot Pete the way he did at the meeting, having been a public defender early in her career she had absolutely no love or tolerance for men abusing woman and children.

She just wasn't concerned with the "Pete thing" anymore; a rush of feelings hit her in the wee hours that morning. Feelings that she couldn't decipher just yet, and she felt that she definitely couldn't figure them out being in Rick's presence.

"…I told you Rick I'm with you, no matter the situation or outcome." She puts on her jacket, "Look I'd better get over to Deanne's to see if can help with anything."

"Wait…" Rick says, "…Do you think I should go and check on Jesse and her kids?"

Michonne never let on that she saw Rick kiss Jesse at the party, she felt strange about the kiss he gave her. It wasn't jealousy that she felt at the time; it was just weird that he felt bold enough to kiss a married woman that he barely knew.

She didn't want to push him towards pursing Jesse but she just couldn't deal with his problems "again" at the moment either.

"Perhaps you should just stay home with Judith for the day. Give these people sometime to adjust to what happened. That way you can talk with Morgan to see where his head is…to make sure he's not…dangerous anymore."

Rick drops his arm with the apple in his hand; nearly forgetting that Morgan witnessed the execution of Pete.

"I'll see you later", then she walks out the front door.