A/N: Hi all! Thanks so much for the fantastic feedback. I really appreciate it.

"March on, and fear not the thorns, or the sharp stones on life's path."

-Khalil Gibran

Michonne's countenance conveyed that she was somewhat surprised by Rick's forwardness. She had not realized that she was staring at him without giving a response to his question. His eyes bore into hers as he remained serious, awaiting her reply. She blinked rapidly a few times and nodded her head.

"Yes," she said, in an almost whisper. "I'll stay with you tonight."

Rick's stoic face changed as he let a small but sincere grin play on his features. He said nothing as he took hold of her hand, giving it the gentlest of squeezes.

"Thank you," he said softly.

xXxXx

The day wore on and time felt as if it were passing relatively slowly for Michonne; she tried to busy herself with her duties for the community and watch after Judith while Rick was busy. He had called a meeting to discuss the dwindling rations and what needed to be done to ensure that the people in the Safe-Zone did not go hungry, especially with the winter fast approaching.

"Are you sure you should be here, Rick?" asked Maggie looking concerned.

"Yeah. There's only so much sittin' around at home I can handle. If I can't be outside the walls makin' myself useful, I may as well be here makin' a contribution," he offered sincerely.

Maggie smiled and nodded.

"Okay," said Rick as he called the meeting to order. "It's come to my attention that our food supplies are low and we haven't gone on a run in a while. Does anyone have any further information for me or like to explain what happened there?"

Carol spoke up.

"When we were attacked, they had the smarts to destroy most of our supplies in case they had to resort to starving us out. No runs have been planned because we were all busy with refortifications and on high alert," she offered, many around the table agreeing.

"How much do we have left?" asked Rick, taking mental notes and working ideas around in his fractured mind.

"At this rate with the rationing, I'd say about a week or two, tops; and that's if we're stricter with doling out supplies. The people aren't going to like it as we've tightened up a lot already," Carol explained.

"Yeah," Rick agreed. "I had to stop a disagreement earlier. We've gotta keep order inside these walls. That's how we survive. We won't make it through these next few weeks, let alone the winter if we don't set our differences and disagreements aside."

A few of the residents gave Rick odd looks; in their eyes he had been the main adversary of order inside the Safe-Zone.

"That's right," said Maggie, noticing the dubious stares that Rick was receiving.

Rick too, noticed their glares; he cleared his throat and then tilted his head.

"I sense a little doubtfulness goin' on here; does anybody have somethin' they'd like to say. You know, somethin' they wanna address out in the open," he said as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.

"Well," said a young man by the name of Albury. "Since you asked; some people felt like you were actin' a little off today."

"You're gonna have to explain that to me because my memory's been mighty fuzzy lately; how exactly did I seem off?" Rick asked, wishing people would cease being so vague with him.

"You know, like how you were before," said Albury with caution.

Rick shot him a stern look with his steely gaze and the younger man felt shaken by it.

"It's not that we don't appreciate what you and your people have done here for us," he amended. "It's just when you first arrived here, you were, ya know, a little standoffish."

Rick sighed.

"Don't sugar-coat it; tell it to me straight," he said adamantly.

"You were an asshole and a bit of a menace; you did things your way and used violence to push us around. But we are grateful for your help, Rick. We were just concerned that…"

"That I was gonna start threatening y'all with violence to get my way?" Rick interjected.

A few people nodded. Rick sighed.

"Look, I have no excuses for how I acted. My mind may be hazy, but I'm thinkin' clearly. I want this community to survive. Sometimes that means doin' some things that will test what we believe in; test what we're willing to do, but I want us to be in it together. I get it. I'm not the law around here, but we do need somethin' in place, especially with a community this size. I'm sorry for the stress I've caused and the people I've done wrong by. I'm thankful to you both, Aaron and Deanna, for allowing me and my family to stay. Together, we can make this work."

Everyone sat in silence, surprised at the level of civility, calm and humility Rick was displaying.

"Thank you, Rick," said Deanna. "I agree; the only way we make it is by strengthening our bonds."

"Agreed," said Aaron to Deanna before he spoke to the group. "And I just have to say there needs to be a level of forgiveness and trust for Rick too. He put his life on the line for this community and he almost paid the ultimate cost. I for one am glad you're okay and back with us."

Rick smiled and dipped his head. He recalled only scattered memories of his first few days in the Safe-Zone; from what he remembered and had heard, he was not everyone's favourite person. Yet the people still felt indebted to him, and he was not entirely certain why that was. He would have a lot of questions for Michonne when he returned home.

xXxXx

Once Judith was sleeping soundly in her crib, Michonne closed the book of nursery rhymes and crept slowly out of the room so as not to wake her. The sun had set some time ago and dinner was long finished, yet Rick had not returned home. She was aware that he was still discussing food needs for the community and though she knew better, Michonne still felt worried at his absence. She made her way down stairs to find Rick sitting at the table eating from the plate she had put away for him.

"Sorry I'm late," he said as he shoved food into his mouth without using the cutlery. "Thanks for this."

"I could warm it up for you," she offered, feeling the strong need to take care of him.

"No, thank you. It's fine," Rick said with a smile.

Michonne smiled back at him and he felt a lightness wash over him.

"How's your head?" she asked, stepping close to him and examining where he had been injured.

He inhaled her scent.

"Good, I think," he said with a slight chuckle. "Doc said it's lookin' good."

"Did you remember anything else?" she prodded while gently stroking his hair absently.

"I did, but I wanted to talk about it with you later," he said. "You're still spendin' the night with me?"

Michonne felt a flutter in her stomach at his reminder.

"Of course," she said. "Judy's already asleep so tonight I'm all yours."

Rick felt his face grow warm at what was being implied; they were to spend the evening together, just the two of them. He asked her with the plan of talking; he had many questions for her because she was straightforward with him. But deep in the pit of his stomach, at the back of his mind and in his heart he knew he wanted to be with Michonne in every sense of the word. His love for her was this constant that defied the turmoil in his life. Rick knew he wanted to show her how much he loved her, but he would take it slowly. If she did not want to be intimate with him, if she was not ready, he would respect her wishes and wait. Either way, every moment spent with Michonne was a moment he treasured.

xXxXx

The light from the candles flickered in Rick's bedroom; the gleaming reflection dancing in Michonne's dark eyes. Rick felt almost mesmerised by how dark her eyes appeared as they sat side-by-side; it felt as if she were staring into the depths of his soul. They sat in silence for a while, just drinking each other in with their gaze, before Rick spoke.

"How bad was I before?" he asked while tilting his head to the side slightly.

"What do you mean?" asked Michonne.

"It's just at the meeting today, a few community members seemed hesitant with me; I asked 'em to explain and they brought it back to my behaviour when we first arrived here. I know you said I was dangerous…"

"But you've had to be," she said reassuringly.

"I know," he said lightly. "I believe you. It's just a few of 'em were worried I'd go back to my 'old ways'; whatever that means. So, how bad was I?"

Michonne sighed.

"You know that's just their opinion on it, right?" she asked.

Rick nodded.

"I know. I only care about your opinion, though," he offered with a small grin to which she responded in kind.

"We were out there for a long time, Rick. On the outside. We've seen shit the people here in Alexandria couldn't even imagine. We've done things that could be considered bad; we've done things that I know are bad. We've been through so much. But it was so that we could survive. The people here, they don't understand that; they don't understand how the world can just weigh you down," Michonne sighed.

She had intended to let Rick know that he had nothing to worry about; that he had worked with what he was given. Instead, she had talked herself into despair as her own mind was flooded with the memories of all of the terror she had endured; all of the horrible things she had done. Michonne averted her gaze and stared at the wall.

Rick noticed right away that her mood had shifted. Slowly, he reached his hand forward and took hold of hers, giving it a soft squeeze; this brought Michonne out of her reverie.

"You alright?" he asked, gently rubbing his thumb over her fingers.

"Yeah," she replied with glassy eyes. "Just remembering things."

He looked at her tenderly and then shifted closer.

"I was actually waitin' to tell you that I remembered some things too," Rick offered.

Michonne smiled weakly.

"Really? That's great," she said, squeezing his hand. "What did you remember?"

"You," he said with a smile. "I remember you and how you came into my life. I can picture you standing at that fence back at the prison. I thought I was seein' things back then. Thought you weren't real. But you were, and I'm thankful for that."

"I'm pleased for you, Rick," she offered gently.

"I remember what you've done for me and the kids. How you saved my life; protected them. How Carl needs you and how I need you. How you were out there on the road with me every step of the way. How you made me realize that we were out there too long. All of this came back to me and I know now. I know," said Rick, before he went silent.

"What do you know?" Michonne prodded, feeling her stomach do small flips when she saw the look of adoration in Rick's eyes.

"I know why I felt so drawn to you when I woke up. How I felt this connection to you, even though I couldn't remember you. How there was this sameness between the two of us; this bond that I couldn't explain, but now I can. And I don't know if the old me would have said it to you; if the old me would've had this clarity or the guts to speak up to you," said Rick as Michonne waited, almost holding her breath.

"It makes sense now," said Rick. "I felt drawn to you because I'm in love with you, Michonne. I just haven't been able to say it to you until now. I love you."

Michonne felt the tears well in her eyes as she was overcome with joy and sadness at once. She was happy because she felt the same about Rick, but sad because this made it real; he was admitting that he loved her, and it was something else that the world could take away from her.

"I love you too," she whispered as her voice cracked.

Rick draped his arm around Michonne and drew her close; he laughed out of relief.

"You scared me," he offered. "I thought you weren't gonna say it back to me."

She chortled slightly.

"How could I not say it? It's true. You brought me back from a dark, bad place. You made me want to continue living. You've been my constant, Rick. And I'm in love with you. But it's terrifying," she said quietly as she rested her head on his shoulder.

Rick placed his hand to her thigh.

"Why's that?" he asked without shifting their position.

"Because this world has already taken so much from me; others I've loved and cared for. I almost lost you twice now. I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to you," she said in earnest before lifting her head and looking at him.

They stared at one another as Rick brought his hand to her face, gently stroking it with such tenderness that Michonne felt like she might cry.

"I know what you mean," he offered. "I told myself that I wasn't gonna talk about it, about how much it hurt to lose the people I loved; Lori, Shane. I thought for a long time that I wouldn't be able to suffer through that again, that if lettin' myself have feelings for someone who I might lose was worth it, but the truth is you're worth it."

"Rick…"

"You are worth it. You've given me so much happiness in this small amount of time; in this shitty world. I don't want to give that away because I'm scared of losing it. I want you, Michonne. Will you have me?"

She searched his eyes once more before smiling.

"Yes, Rick," Michonne said gently. "I'll have you."

Rick let go of the breath he was not aware he was holding and then kissed Michonne softly and slowly; all of their hesitation and worry fell away as they lay down on the bed wrapped in each other's embrace.