Chapter 1.

Once again he had the exact same dream. Carl was kind of there too, but most of all the dream was about Lori. Not the woman she was at the end of her life - pale, skinny, nervous, very pregnant.

No, the woman in his dream was the one he remembered from their youth. The woman he had fallen in love so deeply that he had no eyes for anyone else in years.

This Lori was happy and smiling. In the dream she was dancing on the grass with bare feet, wearing silly flowered dress. That kind of dress was a big hit back in the 90's when they first met, he could remember that.

Woman in the dream was his wife back in the days when they were still happy. Before Carl was born, before disputes started. Before she became somewhat bitter and angry. In those days they used to hang out with some friends, including Shane. They drank beer, laughed a lot, had barbecues, listened to bands like Nirvana and Guns'n Roses.

Every time Rick startled awake remembering, missing. He didn't just miss his late wife, he missed the different kind of life, the days when the sun kept shining, the world long gone.

And when he woke up, he was back in the prison again.

He knew instantly that the world had gone to shit, the dead had woken up to eat the living, and that he had lost his wife a long time ago. Even before the outbreak, he knew that now. They had not been happy in years.

And here he was, on his own, in this rude new world.

Every morning he started a new day full of duties. He took care of his pigs, his plants, his son, his daughter. But he felt dead inside.

There was one person in the group who kept track of him week after week.

Michonne had not forgotten anything. Not the fact that it was Rick who took her inside the prison. Who decided not to give her to the Governor. Who gave her an opportunity to be part of something bigger than herself again.

She also had lost a lot. Her loved ones long ago, her best friend Andrea recently. But she took the losses differently. She felt that death on their heels made every day special, unique. So many people had died that those who survived had an obligation to live fully every day. She enjoyed the fresh air she inhaled, the wind on her cheeks, the way her katana felt in her hands. She did not think of the past nor the future. She lived in the present. Always.

And recently she had decided something. Rick was the one who took her in. She would be the one who would take Rick out of that empty shell he was living in.

Because Michonne could see that it was not life worth living.

She was not much of a talker, but she had talked about Rick with many people in the group. From the small pieces she had built a picture of his loveless marriage and the betrayal of his best friend. She knew now everything that had happened to Rick before she herself joined the group.

And the rest she could guess.

Rick and Lori. No decent sex in years. No shared laughs. Very few things in common. Arguing. Nagging. All that shit, endlessly. And now, after her death, feelings of guilt and grief combined.

She had decided that she would bring Rick back to life. She would do it in any means necessary.

And she would start tonight.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

I decided it's time to know more about our friend Michonne. And good old Rick. Please follow and review.

Love,

SandyBell