The moonlight shone through the pale cotton drapes in soft thin rays, and the glow landed across the deep oak dresser you stood in front of. The mirror balanced in the middle, reflected the beams of light, letting the moon dance against the walls like a kaleidoscope. But the twinkle coming from your left hand grasped your attention better than any light show against the plain painted walls ever could. For it not only drew your eyes but your heart as well.

Feeling your knees begin to bend slowly, you take a seat in the chair beside the small table. And looking down at your left hand, the glittering band around your ring finger felt heavy. The small but real diamond in the center of the gold band, looked like something out of a fairytale as the moonlight made it shimmer. But despite its beauty, it made your heart ache for the person who had slipped it onto your finger so many years ago.

There was a moment this morning, and every morning it had seemed like lately, that a part of you began pondering the idea of taking it off. For the band that once graced your finger with a light and magical sensation, now burned like an brand wrapped around your flesh.

Maybe it was the memories wrapped into that small golden band that made it sting so harshly or perhaps it was the realization of your reality. The reality that you were most likely never going to see the person who gifted it to you again.

Whatever the real reason behind the burn, you felt weighed down by the tiny piece of jewelry. And no matter how much you wished you could wear it for the rest of time, you questioned if the pain was worth it.

"Momma?" A soft knock at your open bedroom door makes your head snap up, your eyes ripped away from the glittering stone on your finger.

"What's wrong baby? Why aren't you in bed?" You ask softly, as you watch your young daughter shuffle into your room.

Her tanned skin was covered by that of loose light pink pajamas, and her small hands clutched tightly to the stuffed animal she carried protectively in her arms. It was the first stuffed animal she revived as a baby, one her father had picked all by himself just for her. And as if she could feel the sentiment of that day, she carried that stuffed dog everywhere.

"The new people," She murmured softly as she walked closer towards you. Sleep trailed in her voice but it mixed with the familiar accent she had begun to grow into.

"What about them honey?" You ask, as she met you by your dresser.

"I think one of 'em's lost momma." She tells you and her small voice still made your heart melt, even as her words struck you with uncertainty.

"Why do you say that?"

"Cause one of 'em is outside, and he don't look like he knows where he's goin." Sometimes her voice and the way she spoke reminded you a little too much of her father, as the sting of his memory flashed in your head at her accent. But recovering quickly, you send your daughter a warm smile.

"I'll go see, if you go on back to your room. Alright?"

She nodded her head and you watched her toddle off towards her own bedroom as you walked hesitantly down the staircase.

The house was quiet at night, unlike the places you had called home for in the past. It didn't echo with the calls of nature or shake with the rustling of trees. You didn't have to sleep with one eye open, on guard for the dead. And although it was unnerving in the very beginning, Alexandria was your home now.

And today, as news swept the community of Aaron's find, you heard the slight hesitance. You could feel it as many gathered to meet the new comers, those who had been out in the wild for far too long. But to you, all you saw was an offering of sanctuary to those who needed it most.

You hadn't met the new people, you hadn't even caught a glimpse. All you knew was that it was a group and they had young children that needed this place. Your heart went out to them, recalling the nightmare before finding Alexandria. Being on your own, lost in the wildness with your young daughter, after getting separated from your husband after the mess of the outbreak. You couldn't imagine the horrors these people saw, and you could only hope that Alexandria could offer them a sliver of peace and healing.

Your feet carried you down to the very end of the staircase and to the front door. Opening it up slowly, you stepped out onto the wide and white painted porch. The night shadowed around you, but the moon was bright enough to light the street to see that your daughter had been right.

There was a man. One you had never seen before, standing right in front of your house in the middle of the empty street. And he looked without a doubt lost. Whether it was the way he stood unsure of which way to turn, or the expression you caught a glimpse of across his far away face. You knew this man was lost and troubled.

"Excuse me," You called out gently, as not to startle the man. "do you need help finding your house sir?"

You knew Deanna had given the newcomers houses to stay in, but you had heard they all stayed together in one. Keeping together like a pack. Perhaps he got separated from them.

The light breeze floating through the dark night, blew itself gently through Daryl Dixon's overgrown dark locks. And he felt it settle over his tanned skin that still burned slightly from the sun that day, feeling like a cool stream against his stinging flesh. But it wasn't just a relief from the heat that the breeze blew in. It instead captured something much greater and sent a voice straight towards Daryl's ears.

And it was then that Daryl Dixon stopped. His entire body coming to a heart thumping stop, for he knew the voice that called out to him in the night. It was a voice that he had believed was lost long ago from his memories in his head, and yet here it was before him now. As clear as day and beautiful as the very first time he had ever heard it.

Your hands clutched to the smooth wooden railing, that your torso leaned against. And your eyes watched as the mysterious man began to slowly turn towards the soft sound of your voice. He was dressed in clothing that caused him to blend into the shadows of the night, yet you could still spot the shimmer of the moonlight against the leather of the vest he wore. And the sweat that streaked his biceps glistened lowly in the pale light, but there was something vaguely familiar about the way he stood.

His heavy boots were heard in the near dead silence that echoed all around you, and he walked swiftly towards your house with purpose marking each step he took. And it wasn't until his feet skidded to a stop at the very bottom step of your porch stairs, that the moonlight lit up his face like a spotlight.  Shining against the sunburned and beautifully aged skin of his face, and as you studied the man for the shortest of moments, a sensation unlike any other swept throughout your entire body.

It was as though someone snatched the air from your lungs and left you floating without the breath to breathe. Your eyes welled with tears that burned and your heart palpatated with beats that made you dizzy.

"Daryl?" You cried out in a voice not sounding anything like your own. But it was enough for him to hear for he stomped up those stairs, climbing two at a time, till he reached you as your legs began to give out.

His arms, much more muscular and hardened now, wrapped around your weaker body and held you up with a strength that you could feel radiating from him. But it wasn't just his physical strength that kept you from falling. It was though your presence recharged all the strength he had lost inside his heart and inside his mind after all this time.

His body had changed, he was rougher and more defined than the last time you saw him. But he didn't feel any different. He was still the Daryl you had always remembered him to be, and that would always be the case.

"You..." Pulling back from his crushingly warm embrace, you looked up into his blue eyes that seemed to glimmer with soft tears all his own. "you were with the group that came today?"

Your voice trembled as your tears threaten to choke you from the inside, but you blink your way through them enough to see him nod his head.

Choking on a sob, you clutch his shirt in your hands and lean your forehead against his chest. "I thought you were dead."

The words came out as a heartbreaking whisper against his sweat stained and now tear streaked shirt, but he didn't seem to care as his arms tightened around you again. And you felt as he rested his chin down gently against the top of your head, engulfing you in his warmth and safety.

"Couldn't die out there till I knew you two were safe."

His words nearly made your heart quit beating altogether, but as if she had been called by his words, a small voice in the doorway breaks the two of you from your unbelievable moment.

"Daddy?"

You were shocked she recognized or remembered Daryl; as she was so young when you were all separated. Yet as you looked to the little girl looking wide eyed at the man, you saw love and longing in her bold little blues.

Daryl's arms left you, as he crouched to the ground. His knees nearly crashing to the flooarboards as he opened his arms wide, inviting his little girl to come sprinting towards him. And that's exactly what she did. She ran into his open arms and wrapped her arms around his neck so hard that it was the first time she dropped the stuffed dog and didn't care. Your daughter clung to her father and you could see the way Daryl clung to her even harder. His broken heart visibly being put back together by the feel of his little girl finally back in his arms.

"You been out there lookin for us daddy?" She asked against the skin of his neck, and you watched a tear roll from his eye and soak into the cotton of her pajamas.

"Everyday." He croaked softly through his light tears as he didn't loosen his grip on the daughter he thought he'd never see again.

It wasn't until he felt her wiggling beneath his grasp that he let her pull back slightly. And with that, she smiled a wide grin that showed off the tooth she had recently lost.

"You don't gotta go out there no more, cause you found us."

He laughed softly, his hand cupping her face as his fingers danced over her dark hair. "That I did."

"I found you, " Daryl said. "and im'ma stay right here with you. Ain't losing you again."

His eyes flickered up to meet your loving gaze before your little girl fell into his arms again.

And in that moment, as you felt the sudden weight of the wedding ring on your finger return, you knew you were right to keep it on. Because taking it off would have meant giving up hope of this moment. This reunion. And looking to your husband as he clutches his little girl in his arms and stares up at you with soft loving eyes, you know you could never give up on this.

A/N: Wow!😍 This may be one of my new favorites! I'm so freaking proud of this one shot, I almost want to cry!❤Big big thank you to nhcsrosess who sent this in as a request.  I really hope you enjoyed it and that you all loved it!!