» Time To Pretend « | » Carl Grimes «

» THE CALM BEFORE PT.1 «

The World Is Your Stage

I could hear the chatter and joyful bustle of the Kingdom before I saw it, but eventually the gates opened to reveal the fair in all it's glory. There were rows upon rows of busy stalls, people crowding in excitement to see what they could barter their belongings for. Children playing with handmade toys and painting with scavenged brushes.

Kelly ran over first, practically leaping on her sister with pure relief. I watched Carol and Ezekiel scold Henry before bringing him into a hug, their stern expressions lifting as he introduced them to Lydia.

"Mommy!" A tiny voice giggled, the bouncing girl wrapping her arms around my legs as soon as she saw me. I scooped Heather up into my hold, squeezing her longingly. "I missed you."

"I missed you, too." I mumbled, my lips brushing her forehead fondly. She wriggled in my arms, her voice low in feigned mystery.

"Did you get all the bad guys?" She asked, her eyes wide with wonderment. I bit my lip with hesitation, a small crease between my eyebrows.

"Yep. They're all gone now." I reassured her, my eyes meeting Carl's as he stood not too far away. I walked over to him with a guilt ridden expression, an apology already on my lips, but I didn't have time to say it before he embraced me with relief.

"You're okay?" He checked, his words a quiet whisper in my ear as I buried my face into his shoulder.

I nodded, my lips meeting his in a soft kiss. "I am." I sighed, melting into his gentle touch. His eyes narrowed at my exhausted expression, silently asking me for the truth. "It's nothing I can't handle. Besides, it was worth it."

His hand on my back skimmed the bandage covering my wound, a flash of concern appearing on his face for a split second before he noticed my genuine grin. We were okay, all of us.

"I'm sorry I left like that." I insisted, peering over my shoulder to watch Ezekiel clap a welcoming hand on Lydia's shoulder before leading her away. I turned back to my daughter as she absentmindedly twirled a finger through my hair. "Are you having fun?"

Heather nodded eagerly, wiggling out of my grasp and onto her feet. She quickly bounded over to Henry, the boy lifting her up with a smile as he stopped next to me.

"My dad wants to see you." He explained as my daughter fiddled with the collar of his jacket. "My mom, too. I think it's important."

With my fingers linked with Carl's, we followed him to the throne room, seeing the circle of people on the stage already. Henry sat in the front seats with Lydia and Judith, Heather jumping on his knees as she took in the splendour of the building. With its string of lights and red velvet seats, this place was suddenly turned beautiful.

I noticed the assembling of people waiting were the specially chosen leaders of each community. Ezekiel and Carol for the Kingdom, Gabriel representing Alexandria by Michonne's side. Daryl sitting on the end of the stage reluctantly and Tara greeting me with a smile. A girl, slightly younger than me with heavy blue eyes, stood to the side and I recognised her as Rachel. She must've been there instead of Cyndie, making me wonder briefly why the older girl wasn't there.

"I know I haven't always seen eye-to-eye with everyone in this room." Michonne started, her tone full of acknowledgement and possibly regret. "But I never stopped caring about any of you. I was just trying to protect my family and do right by my people."

I couldn't blame her for that, because that's all any of us wanted. We each had responsibilities to others and ourselves, and felt a need to take care of those closest to us first. Sometimes I thought that if I was the leader of Hilltop, I would've shut the community down along with myself.