Hello, everyone! This is a story about Daryl and Carol. It takes place right after season three. I hope you all like it!

"Some people see scars and it is

wounding they remember… to me,

they are proof of the fact that there is

healing."

Linda Hogan

Carol watched the new people.

They wandered around the prison yards blindly. The young ones stayed close to their parents, they looked suspicious and sceptical of the new surroundings.

She had noticed one little girl did not explore the prison grounds. She just sat on the stairs of the school bus, her knees drawn up to her chin.

She didn't seem to be watching the other, either. She just stared blankly into the sky.

She didn't notice Carol when she approached her. So she knelt down beside the little girl.

"Don't you want to explore your new home?" Carol asked, smiling sweetly.

The little girl looked at Carol. Studied her. Then shook her head.

"No?" Carol asked.

The little girl took her eyes off Carol and look at the sky again.

"It's real nice here, you know," Carol continued. "There's lots of space to play."

The little girl looked back at Carol, still studying her.

"Don't you want to play with your friends?" Carol asked, gently placing her hand on the child's knee.

"I don't have any friends," the little girl said in a quiet, almost whispered tone.

"Well, I'll be your friend," Carol smiled.

There was an expression on her pale face. Almost happiness, yet she didn't smile.

"Really?" the little girl asked, her eyes blue eyes sparkling.

"Sure," Carol beamed.

Carol stood up. She smiled down at the child before reaching her hand out.

The little girl looked up at Carol, almost confused of what to do. But, then she slowly reached out a skinny arm and took Carol's hand.

Carol helped her up and they walked hand and hand around the prison.

The smiled up at Carol and seemed to listen closely to every word she said.

Daryl found himself smiling a little as he noticed this. He knew that little girl reminded Carol of Sophia. The way she looked at her, so happy giving her warm smiles.

Others around him were smiling, too. They watched in amazement as Carol led the child around the prison.

The chatting had stopped. It was almost silent except that the odd conversation going on.

"Sure does have a way with children," a voice said from beside Daryl.

He turned his head to see an elderly woman from Woodbury looking at him.

"Little Alessa hasn't said a word since her mother died," the woman said pitifully.

"Poor kid," Daryl said.

The woman nodded. "Does she have children?"

Daryl was caught off guard by the woman's question. He hesitated before he answered.

"She used to," he said, fighting to block the memories of Sophia from flooding back to him.

"She had a daughter," he muttered.

"She must have been a good mother," the woman said.

Daryl nodded. "Yeah, she was."