To preface this, please read the author's note at the end of the chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own the planet of the apes franchise.

It was a long night. Ellie and Alex managed to fall asleep after much persuasion from Malcolm. He stayed awake all night, keeping watch-making sure that none of the apes came back and found them. Ava stayed up as well. There was no way she could find any sleep. Not after what happened. Her entire body was sore, her mind rattled with inconsistent thoughts, and her heart ached. It took every ounce of strength she had to not breakdown in front of them. She thought about Will, how disappointed he would be with her.

I'm sorry, Will. She thought to herself. I'm sorry that I couldn't protect Caesar.

How could she have failed Caesar? She made a promise to herself that she wouldn't let anything happen to him or the other apes. She failed. Carver was able to obtain a gun and he killed Caesar. Caesar was dead. She still couldn't fathom it, how could Caesar be gone? Ava kept berating herself. She should have known that Carver would pull something like this. Actually, Ava had a small amount of hope that he would lay low and keep himself in the car. But even that was too much to hope for. Carver just royally screwed the apes, Ava and the others...and he killed Caesar. Her blood began to boil. The hatred for Carver grew deep within her gut. He fucking killed Caesar.

You're screwed, Carver. All she could think about was harming Carver. To make him suffer just as much as she was suffering right now. It was rather barbaric for her to think about it. But he shouldn't have done it.

They stayed hidden the entire night, not daring to move until sunlight streamed through the trees. It brought them some form of relief. They'd managed to survive throughout the night without any of the apes finding them. Malcolm was the first to come out of hiding. He checked the surroundings, making sure that there were no apes around. When the coast was clear, he motioned for the other three to come out. They did so with great trepidation.

"We need to find our way back to the car," Malcolm said. "Come on, let's go."

With him leading the way, the group set off down the hill. After rummaging through her bag, Ava found a full canteen of water and a few granola bars that she shared with the others. It wasn't much but it was enough to get them through the hike. The entire duration, Ava kept quiet and lingered at the back of the group. It was enough privacy that allowed her to let some of her emotions through. Her eyes welled up with tears and a painful knot formed in her throat. It was agonizing. She didn't know how to even react after something like that. What should she say, how should she feel, what the hell was she supposed to do now? She didn't just lose Caesar, his wife and sons lost him as well. Caesar deserves justice and his family deserves justice. All she could think of was how to achieve that justice. Did it involve wiping out Carver, or stopping the apes from taking over the city, or allowing them to?

It was a lot to take in. She looked ahead at Malcolm, Ellie, and Alex, thinking about the possibility of telling them the truth. Why hold back still? Caesar was dead and the apes were going to take over the city. There's no reason for her to hide it any longer. She held that secret close to her in order to protect Caesar. Now, her reasoning was obsolete. Ava shook her head and took a drink from her canteen. Wait it out, you'll know when the time is right.

After about twenty minutes of walking, the group finally made it down the incline. Ava broke away from the group, deciding to walk around a huge tree stump. A part of her just wanted to keep as much distance as possible.

"I think I see the cars just right over there," Malcolm called out.

A small rush was relief hit her. At least, she would be done with all of this walking. As she began to round the tree stump, a large mass caught her eye, forcing Ava to stop. When she looked up, her breath became caught in her throat and her knees began to buckle. Lying in front of her was Caesar, his eyes were open-fixed, and he wasn't moving. In her moment of despair, Ava fell to her knees and crawled over to Caesar's body. She noticed the bullet wound in his upper left shoulder, and a cold chill ran down her spine. Her eyes focused on his unchanging face and all of her emotions hit her at once. The tears cascaded down her cheek, she covered her mouth to silence the hoarse sobs that escaped her lips. Seeing him here in this condition was too much for her to bear. With her free hand, Ava slowly reached out for Caesar's open palm. Her fingers just barely brushed his palm when another round of sobs wracked her body. She had to keep quiet. She didn't want the others to see her display this kind of scene. It would only raise questions for them.

"Caesar," her voice was sloppy and hoarse. "I'm so sorry." The only family she had left, and she failed him. She allowed her head to hang down, her entire body shaking from her sobs. Then, she felt it. A soft brush against her hand. At first, she thought it was nothing, but when it happened again Ava looked up. Caesar remained still and his face unchanged-until his eyes moved and looked at her. The only thing she could feel was elation. "Caesar," she inched closer to him, taking a firm grip of his hand. He let out a heavy breath, signaling to her that he was indeed alive. "Oh my god, Malcolm!" Ava screamed and glanced up. "Malcolm, come here!"

Malcolm, Ellie, and Alex were at Ava's side within a matter of seconds. They were all stunned to see that Caesar was still alive. But that surprise lasted for only a moment. "We have to get him to the truck." Malcolm, Ellie, and Ava picked up Caesar and carried him over to the truck. Alex made sure that the trunk door was open for them. They placed him inside and Ava was quick to jump in there with him. She made room for Ellie, who was checking Caesar's wound and helping to stop the bleeding.

"Ava," Caesar's voice was gruff, hinting to the exhaustion that was consuming him. Ava inched closer to him, taking a hold of his hand. "My son...my family. Where?"

"I don't know, Caesar." She felt like someone had punched her in the gut when she saw the look on Caesar's face. He was worried about his family. He didn't know if they were safe...if they were alive. And the fact that Ava didn't know only solidified his fear.

"Don't speak," Ellie said. She pulled a piece of cloth from her pocket and pressed it against Caesar's wound. "Ava, can you hold it." The latter did just that.

Ellie stepped out of the truck to talk with Malcolm. "He's not good, he's lost a lot of blood."

"But, he's going to be okay, right?" Alex asked.

"I don't understand," Malcolm shook his head. "Where did Carver get the gun, why would he do this?"

Ava was thinking the exact same thing, but where was he? Carver wasn't in the car. Though, she imagined that once he saw the apes running down the hill, he would have run. "I wanna find him," Ava said. "He's gonna pay for what he did."

"No," Caesar whispered, prompting Ava to turn to him. "Human didn't do this. Ape did this."

Everyone went silent. Holy shit.

"Okay, everyone in the truck, now," Malcolm ordered.

"I'll be in the back with him," Ava told Ellie, who nodded and closed the trunk door.

When they got back across the bridge, smoke could be seen in the distance. It took them a moment, but soon they figured where it was coming from. "The colony is on fire," Ellie said.

"Where do we go now?" Alex asked.

Ava, who had been keeping a close eye on Caesar, could notice the shift in his eyes after Alex's question. They both stared at each other, Caesar being too tired to say anything. That's when Ava looked out the car windows and saw where they were. It was a neighborhood, but she recognized it. The houses, the streets, it was all familiar. Quickly, she turned to the others. "I know where to go, just keep going straight and I'll tell you when to stop." Malcolm wasn't entirely sure, but he nodded in acknowledgment. Ava turned back to Caesar, making sure to keep even pressure on his wound. She gave him a faint smile, "Are you ready to go home, Caesar?" The ape huffed out a breath but she could see how the corners of his lips twitched upward. He knew where they were going.

It wasn't long until they were getting closer to their destination. Both Ava and Caesar stared out the window, waiting for that familiar building to come into view. When they saw the window, they both reacted. Caesar weakly banged his palm against the window, while Ava said, "Malcolm this is it, stop." The car came to a stop and Ava made sure that Caesar was ready for his next transport. But, she asked, "Do you think you can walk?" The ape could only give a shake of the head. "It's okay, we'll take care of you."

Ava pushed open the trunk door and hopped out. Down the street, she could barely spot her old house, which was covered in weeds. She turned to the right and saw Will's old station wagon overgrown with grass and weeds. She blinked, and when Malcolm and the others came to her, she snapped out of it. Again, Malcolm, Ellie, and Ava carried Caesar up to the front porch and Alex kicked open the front door. As they carried Caesar inside, Malcolm asked for Alex to move a table away from the couch he spotted. They settled Caesar down onto the couch and Ava took her spot next to Caesar, sitting on the ground and holding his hand.

"Dad, look," Alex brought over a framed photo and held out for Malcolm to see. "Look." Alex insisted again.

Ava could only spare a side glance as Malcolm eyed the photo in astonishment. Alex, immediately, showed the photo to Ava who almost broke down into tears. It was a photo of Will and Caesar, who looked to be about three years old in the photo. It must have been taken by her mother. She took the frame from Alex and placed it on the table, unable to look at it for a second longer. Now wasn't the time for a trip down memory lane. She hadn't yet taken in the current state of her uncle's former home, she was too focused on Caesar.

"We need to operate but I don't have anything, everything is back at camp." Ava's grip on Caesar's hand tightened upon hearing Ellie's words.

"I'll go." Malcolm offered.

"It's too dangerous."

"He's the only one who can stop this." Malcolm's decision was final. Ellie could only reluctantly agree. Malcolm gave Caesar one more look over and then left the house.

The four that remained could only wait in silence. Ava never left her spot next to the couch, her hand never leaving Caesar's. At one point, Ava rested her cheek against Caesar's hand. For almost twelve hours, Ava grieved for Caesar believing him to be dead. Now, she was sitting next to him. While his wound was serious, he was still alive. That's all that mattered to her.

She took a moment to glance over at the framed photo she had abandoned a few minutes earlier. The scene was familiar. Ava tried sifting through her memories, trying to remember when this photo was taken. It had to have been on a weekend. Her mother must have walked in on the moment between Will and Caesar, and decided to take a picture of it.

Ellie and Alex tried to make the place as comfortable as possible. They laid out their sleeping bags. Ellie lined up the few medical supplies she had left. She ultimately found some leftover painkillers and gave Caesar two pills. It would be some time before Malcolm got back, it will be enough time for the painkillers to give Caesar some relief. As Ellie and Alex went back to rummaging through their bags, Ava noticed that Caesar was beginning to slip into his sleep. But she didn't want him to. She was afraid that if he fell asleep, he wouldn't wake up.

"Hey," Ava situated herself to where her back was facing Ellie and Alex, her full attention was now on Caesar. But she had to talk quietly, that way she wouldn't be heard. "Remember when we first took you to Muir Woods?"

Caesar's face softened as he remembered that day all too well.

"It was when Grandpa was feeling so much better. We went there and you got to climb your first big tree. And you just hopped from branch to the other. We were so scared that you might fall and hurt yourself." She laughed a the memory. Will constantly called out to Caesar, reminding the young chimp to be careful. And her Grandfather was insistent that Caesar would be fine and he was. "And the time when I was baking cupcakes for a school party, you wanted to help and you ended up dumping the entire bowl of flour all over you." Her smile grew, even Caesar couldn't stop himself from doing the same. It was the beginning of Ava's sophomore year and the teacher decided to throw a little welcome back party for the class. She wanted to bring in some baked goods for the occasion. And Caesar was more than eager to help. He was doing a good job until some flour got in his nose causing him to sneeze. As a result, he knocked over the bowl of flour and it went everywhere. Caesar was confused and upset with himself. But Ava merely laughed it off, assuring him that it was okay. "There's plenty of flour."

Of course, when her uncle walked in he wasn't too thrilled that his entire kitchen was covered in flour. But seeing Ava showing Caesar how to bake was definitely a highlight. It was actually one of the last good memories she had before Caesar was taken away.

Ava finally took a moment to look around at her uncle's living room, at least, what was left of it. The walls were dirty with the paint chipping off and cracks that were overtaken by nature. It definitely didn't look the way she remembered. It's always amazed her how fast nature took over when buildings weren't maintained. It was quite beautiful but horribly sad. "Remember when we would watch television in here?" she turned to look at Caesar, seeing that he was becoming more tired. "Will always insisted on something educational, but we always managed to watch something fun." Ava raised Caesar's hand up and rested it under her chin, her thumb brushing gentle strokes against his fur. "Every weekend we would go on a picnic to Muir Woods. Grandpa would play the piano for you. We both would play chess in your room and you would always beat me." Her voice wavered at the end and her bottom lip trembled. She hated doing this. She hated talking about the past. It didn't change anything and she could never go back. But being in this house again with Caesar, it was hard to fight off the temptation. And the idea that Caesar could actually die, right here, it made all of this more important.

"You're gonna be okay," she whispered. "You're gonna get through this. We're the only ones left in our family, and I'm not gonna let you die. So you need to fight as hard as you can." Tears streamed down her cheeks, a few droplets fell on Caesar's hand. "Don't leave me, please. You can't leave me, it's not your time to go, there's a lot that needs to be done."

"Won't… give up."

And she was damn glad to hear it.

Ten minutes later, Malcolm returned with the proper medical supplies. Now, Ellie could perform a successful operation on Caesar and he could start healing. Ava gave Caesar's hand a gentle squeeze before standing up. But she froze when she saw another ape enter the house. It was the same ape who showed the gun that allegedly killed Caesar. This had to be his son. Out of respect, Ava stepped back to where Ellie and the others were, wanting to give Caesar a moment with his kid.

"Your mother, brother," Caesar was breathless, he was having a hard time speaking. He's growing weaker by the minute. "Safe."

The young ape nodded and then signed to his father, "For now."

Ava felt herself sigh with relief. Good, Caesar's wife and youngest son were alive and well. She couldn't imagine what it would have done to Caesar if he lost them.

The young chimp examined his father's wound, all of his anger came back. He turned to the humans, bared his teeth and snarled at them. But Caesar was quick to react. "No." He took hold of his son's arm, prompting the young ape to look back at his father. "No human. Koba."

Ava couldn't imagine how confusing this must be for Caesar's son. To think that a fellow ape would purposefully try and kill his father, and for what? To somehow feed the anger he had towards humans.

"Ellie,"

It was time.

Ellie nodded. She took the bag of medical supplies from Malcolm and set it down on the table. "Caesar, we need to do this now."

They went to work. Alex left to sit on the porch outside, Malcolm didn't want him to watch this. Ellie asked for Malcolm and Ava to help her with the operation. Caesar's son had to make room for them but he remained close to his father. Ellie administered the local anesthetic and watching Caesar go under was the most terrifying moment for Ava. She thought about him not waking up after it. Ellie somewhat confirmed Ava's fear. Caesar had already lost a lot of blood, he's weak, and his wound remained untreated for almost twelve hours. No doubt a serious infection was inbound. Ava shook away the negative thoughts and focused on helping Ellie with the operation.

It was rather gruesome. Although, Ava was somewhat used to it. In the last ten years, she's seen horrible injuries, luckily she was never the recipient of one. Malcolm and Ava had to stretch open the bullet wound to allow Ellie access. She needed to find the bullet, to help prevent infection. Ava nearly gagged at the scent of Caesar's blood. Blood always had a rather heavy, potent smell. After what felt like an eternity, Ellie pulled out the bullet and dropped it on the table. She stitched up Caesar's wound and administered antibiotics. Then, it was done. The operation was a success. Now it was all up to Caesar.

"He's strong," Ellie assured Ava as they began to clean up the supplies. "We just have to wait and see."

The waiting game. Ava hated it. Caesar wouldn't be up for another few hours, that is if he actually wakes up. No, Ellie said that Caesar was strong and Ava knew how Caesar was, he was a fighter. If he could lead an entire group of apes to freedom, he can definitely survive a bullet wound. He's not going to give up that easily, he's going to be fine.

Ellie and Malcolm went outside to check on Alex and to give themselves some fresh air. Ava would have gone out there with them, but she stopped in the main hallway. It finally hit her that she was standing in her uncle's home. This place was pretty much her real home, having spent most of her time here while her mother worked late nights. Ava walked over to the staircase, her hands ran over the worn down wood. It was no longer smooth but rough, and a thick layer of dirt and dust covered the surface.

Ava inhaled a deep breath, then took the steps one at a time. The wood creaked beneath her feet, making her think she could fall through at any moment. But when she made it to the top, her body flushed with relief. She still remembered which room was hers. Of course, she would. Ava went for her bedroom door, which was opened ajar. She pushed against the wood and was greeted with the sight of her old room. It looked somewhat the same. Her bed was still in the same position, the blankets were strewn across the mattress. She couldn't remember how it looked the last time she was here. They were in such a hurry to evacuate, she barely had time to take one last walk through the house. Her bookshelf was almost stripped barren, all of her favorite books were in terrible states of desolate, the framed photos of her family were smashed, destroyed in the aftermath. She could only imagine how many people looted this house for supplies.

There was a sting in her waterline, causing Ava to wipe at her eyes. This didn't feel like her room, this place didn't feel like home. Yet, it was her home. That was the strangest thing about being here. So many memories are burned into these walls, but she felt like an outsider. Ten years, in the grand scheme of things, isn't a long time. But it was long enough for her to distance herself from this place, from the warmth and safety it always granted her.

From her bedroom, Ava went across the hall when her foot stepped on something. She stopped and glanced down, seeing that it was a frame. Bending down, she picked up the damaged frame and turned it over. The glass was covered in dirt and upon wiping it away, she saw that it was her grandfather's piano certificate. She huffed out a laugh, her mind flooding with memories of sitting with him at his piano. She could almost hear his music playing. Ava continued on until she reached Will's room. It was in the same disarray as her bedroom, except his room appeared to be worse off. The mattress had keep tears, his dresser had been knocked over, and all the photo frames were on the ground.

It broke her heart to see this former home in such a condition.

In her moment of melancholy, Ava walked into the room and picked up one of the framed photos. She turned it over to inspect it and was greeted with a photo of Will and her mother. Her reaction was instantaneous. Ava's knees buckled, forcing her to sit on the ground with her back to the bed. She stared at the photo, noticing that both Will and her mother were fairly young in the photo. It must have been taken well before Ava was born. Her lips curled into a smile. She missed them so much. She missed being around them, hugging them, she missed their voices. Ava hesitated. In fact, she couldn't remember her mother's voice. And Will's voice was just starting to disappear from her mind.

"He's going to be okay," she said to the photo, hoping that wherever they were right now, they could hear her. "Caesar is strong, he's going to get through this."

Ava held the frame close to her chest. Sitting in complete silence, her tears welled with tears which poured onto her cheeks. She remained still, refusing to wipe them away. And in the privacy of her uncle's old room, Ava finally allowed herself this moment. To remember the family she lost and to grieve for them. For years, she's held all of this inside of her, refusing to showcase it to anyone. To have a moment of vulnerability, it felt as if a massive weight was lifted off of her shoulders.

She didn't hear him. But Malcolm eventually found her upstairs. He didn't say anything upon finding her, she was having a moment and he wasn't sure how to tackle it. "Ava." When he spoke, she slowly turned to him, still clutching the frame. "I think we all need to talk."

She only nodded her head. Now was the time to spill out the truth.

A/N: Hey, look! An update that didn't take me four months to complete! Not gonna lie, I'm literally almost done with this story, maybe four more chapters to go? But I think it's enough to jump start my muse all over again!

So, onto that question, I wanted to ask you all. I have a plan for an epilogue once the main story is complete. The epilogue will basically be a long, summarized chapter of War for the Planet of the Apes. It will basically cover how Caesar deals with the aftermath of this story and the effect Ava has on his life. That's all I'm going to say for now because if I go further I'll spoil this story for you all. So my question is, would you like for me to post the epilogue when the main story is done? Please give me your answers by checking out the poll on my profile. Thank you!

And if you could, please drop me a review! We are winding down the story and I would really like to know your thoughts!