LOYAL [TWD] (third book to TROUBLE)

divide and conquer

"Giant fucking meow-meow!" Sakiko cheers.

Nanami snorts, following behind Sakiko down the stairs leading to Ezekiel's throne.

"I take it you are Miss Sakiko?" Ezekiel holds down his laughter, "How nice to see you, m'lady."

"Dude.. The dreads, the feathers, the tiger, the throne.. Don't act like a neckbeard when you're too hot for that."

"Sakiko," Nanami complains.

To the side, the larger man, Jerry, couldn't contain his smile. He was the only person up there with Ezekiel.  Two men and a tiger- Sakiko wanted to make a joke.

"Kiko?"

Sakiko smiles when Daryl and Morgan emerge from another room.

"Dad," she points at Shiva, "Giant meow-meow."

Daryl ignores her antics, pulling her into a hug.

"I trust that you will assist one another in finding your rooms. If not, please return and Jerry shall escort you to your quarters," Ezekiel offers.

"Hey, do you-" Sakiko begins.

Daryl covers her mouth with his hand, dragging her behind him back up the stairs. Sakiko bites his hand, but Daryl doesn't even react.

"We just got here, what's wrong?" Nanami asks once they're outside.

"We need to see each other first to get a plan in place," Daryl says.

He lets go of Sakiko, turning his hand to wipe her spit off his skin and on her shirt.

"I have a plan," Sakiko glares, "It's my usual plan."

"Annoy someone into submission?"

"Yep!" she claps.

Sakiko turns to walk back into the theater until Daryl grabs the back of her shirt, stopping her in place.

"These people ain't like others," Daryl tells her.

"What do you mean by that?" Sakiko gives up, setting her weight on one leg.

"They live in some fantasy land. We gotta break down the fiction before getting to the reality."

"Nana was useless out there-"

"Hey!" Nanami interjects.

"What intel do you have for me?"

"Saviors don't come in here and the common people have no idea about the deal."

"Didn't they do them like us? Like Hilltop?"

"Nah. They ran into 'em on the road after they were attacked by a big herd. Saved 'em from the walkers and threatened to take them out if they didn't surrender. They couldn't even take on walkers so Ezekiel made the deal to save their asses."

"How do the supplies hand over thingy work, then?"

"Not sure. I was gonna keep an eye out and see if anyone leaves or something."

"And his 'court' thing.. What do you have on them?"

"Richard wants to fight. He is hell bent on it. Jerry.. I don't think that guy has much going on upstairs. Benjamin is about your age- he's being trained by Ezekiel to take over after he's gone."

"Okay.." Sakiko tries to figure it out.

"Got something?" Nanami wonders.

"If we divide and conquer, we have a better shot. Turn his closest people against the Saviors, they'll be right in his ear telling him they need to fight. He'll listen to them. There's a reason he trusts them up on stage putting a show on with him, after all."

"All right. So, we start with the three of 'em," Daryl agrees.

"You take Richard. He's angry as it is. Instead of getting to Ezekiel, you two could figure out how to tell everyone else and prepare for the fight," Sakiko points to Daryl.

"You.." she points to Nanami, "You take Benjamin. He's the next in line for the throne. You've been around Rick long enough to know what a leader is like. Benjamin is being treated here like Carl is to Alexandria and you know how Carl's brain works. Get through to him, you get through to Ezekiel's heart."

"But.. he's not Carl.."

"Exactly, so you shouldn't worry about getting a hard-on ten minutes into a conversation."

"Sakiko!"

"Plus, and I hate to bring it up," she apologizes, "You were under Governor for awhile. Merle trained you to help lead through Woodbury. You know Benjamin more than you think already."

"And you'll take Jerry?" Daryl asks.

"If he's just Ezekiel's cheerleader, no amount of just talking is gonna get through to him. He'll follow his King through till the end."

"Then.. what?"

"I talk to Jerry, I earn his trust, I get to Ezekiel himself. Jerry is gonna do whatever Ezekiel says- there's no need trying to get in his head since he's already loyal to Zeke."

"You can't take the leader on by yourself."

"You said we have to get through the fiction first. I have the most personal ties to Negan right now. I saw the people of the Sanctuary up close. I can break down those walls and get to the root of all this."

Daryl tilts his head back and forth, "All right.. Just play it safe, all right?"

"Talk with words not violence," she holds her hand up, "I promise."

"You go find Benjamin, I'll find Richard," Daryl tells Nanami.

"Okay," Nanami nods, starting to walk away before stopping, "Wait.. Who put Kiko in charge."

Daryl pauses. Who did put her in charge? Why were they following her when they're usually trying to get her to calm her ass down?

"I put myself in charge, now chop-chop!" Sakiko claps, kicking Daryl on the butt.

"Fine, fine!" Nanami holds his hands in surrender when she starts toward him, "I'm going. You do your thing, I'll do mine."

Sakiko points her fingers to her eyes, then to Nanami. Nanami stands down, walking away like she'd attack him.

She turns to Daryl. He gives her a look and she cocks an eyebrow up. Silently, his shoulders slump and he turns on his heel, walking away.

𝒶𝓊𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓇 𝓇𝒶𝓂𝒷𝓁𝑒𝓈--

as fun as it has been writing with the trio being with other people and in different places on their own it already feels so nice to have them together again

like the found family aspect has been the core of this series since the very very very beginning

yes kiko is still grieving and will be back around maggie and glenn

yes nana is still with carl and will be back with him and sasha, rick, and michonne, etc

BUT dixon reunion to the highest degree ive missed them

all the chaos, all the giggles, all the feels, all the love are you ready bc i am