Dakota hated everything. Every time she tried to be good and feel good, she would go to bed and dream of her father. And when she would wake up the next morning, he would be gone all over again and the wound would open up, and Dakota would hurt and hurt and hurt a thousand times over. So she hated everything.

Hating everything came with a few side effects. One of those side effects was most definitely not listening when told to do something she didn't want to do. With all that hatred brewing in her belly, Dakota only glared when Lou came to say goodbye to her in the morning.

"Je suis désolé de ne pas pouvoir te laisser venir, Koty. Je sais que tu le veux, mais je ne peux pas te le permettre," Lou said as she knelt down in front of Dakota's bed. I'm sorry I can't let you come with, Koty. I know you want to, but I can't let you. Dakota sat at the edge of her mattress, her eyebrows furrowed and her glare sharp. She scraped her nails along the blanket below her fingertips. "Be good for our guests. I will be back quickly," Lou said, giving a soft smile, which Dakota did not return.

After that, Lou let out a sigh and disappeared from the bedroom. With how the goodbye went, she didn't expect Dakota to try and follow them. She figured that if Dakota wanted to go with her, she would continue trying to convince her, or maybe even stop her from going until she said yes. But all Dakota did was sit there and glare, which wasn't very different from any other day. So Lou didn't expect a thing.

But that was only because Dakota had already hatched out a plan in her head.

If she wanted to kill La Tarasque, she was going to kill La Tarasque. And, God, did she want to kill La Tarasque.

So, after Lou left the room and went to go with Daryl and Ian, Dakota slid off the side of her bed and grabbed her bow and quiver, which were hanging from the bedframe. Slinging the quiver over her shoulder and keeping her bow by her side, Dakota peeked around the corner of the doorway. Through the window, she could see that the other children were outside with Isabell, Sylvie, and Laurent.

As quietly as she could manage, Dakota slipped out the door, leaving the preschool behind. And as much as she hated to admit it, she could feel her heart pumping hard and fast in her chest. She knew this wasn't something she was supposed to be doing, and whether or not she cared about whatever punishment she would get if caught, she still felt incredibly nervous. Maybe it was just the thought of facing La Tarasque again.

Up ahead of her, Dakota could see Ian, Lou, and Father Daryl walking along, side by side. She could see their mouths moving, each time they turned their heads, but she couldn't quite hear what they were saying. Well, at least Lou and Daryl were talking. Ian kept facing forward, so all Dakota could see of him was the back of his head.

Creeping behind the three, Dakota made sure to keep her distance. It had to be just right. She couldn't be close enough that they would catch her following behind, but she was nosy enough to want to be able to hear what they were talking about.

For now, all she could hear were the murmurs of their voices and the chirping of the birds. So, carefully and silently, she picked up the pace, trudging along in the woods, hiding herself behind trees every few seconds or so.

"You're not a priest," Dakota could hear Lou say.

Daryl let out a chuckle. "Is it that obvious?" he asked.

"Yes," Lou replied, an amused smile on her face.

Well, it wasn't obvious enough for Dakota to catch on to it. Or maybe she just wasn't paying enough attention, before. Maybe she just couldn't bring herself to care, considering that whether or not Daryl was a real priest had no effect on her chances of killing La Tarasque.

"Hey, um, how did you two come to France?" Lou asked both Daryl and Ian with pinched brows.

Biting his cheek, Daryl hesitated to answer. And what he said wasn't much of an answer, anyway. "It's a long story."

Dakota almost wanted to scoff at that, but that would, of course, give away her position, and that was the last thing she needed. Luckily, though, Ian scoffed for her, shaking his head. It wasn't an amused sort of scoff, either. It was an irritated one. Ian, in Dakota's opinion, seemed to be less than friendly. Part of her, deep down, wondered why. But the part of her that lingered on the surface didn't care, because all she needed was to kill La Tarasque. She didn't need to know what the hell was up with this Ian kid.

After giving Ian a meaningful look, Daryl turned back to Lou. "The only part that matters is that I get home to my people," he said.

"Madame say family are the people that you're with," Lou replied, thinking of Dakota, who was back at the preschool, probably pouting and glaring at the other children. Or, that's what she thought, at least.

"She sounds like she was a good teacher," Daryl replied, thinking of Her and all of the rest of the family he created with Her.

"Is," Lou corrected, but without hostility. "She'll get better, thanks to you."

Guilt churned in Daryl's gut. But, inside, he knew he was doing what he had to do to get back to his family, or at least what was left of it.

Dakota, watching from behind a tree, felt her heart squeeze. It hurt to think about how the other children would get their teacher back, but she could never get her dad back. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that he was gone and it wasn't fair that she was stuck here in France all because Lou wouldn't allow her to leave on her own.

To catch up with the trio, Dakota darted toward the next tree in her path, and just as she stepped behind it, a twig snapped beneath her foot. She froze, her eyes going wide, and pressed her back against the tree trunk. She could practically feel their heads all whipping around to search for the source of the noise.

Suddenly, like a miracle, a squirrel skittered down from the tree and ran across the road, right in Lou's, Daryl's, and Ian's lines of sight. Right for them to see. Right for them to excuse as the source of the sound.

Without another thought, Daryl, Lou, and Ian all turned back to where they were walking, dismissing the noise as a squirrel. Dakota let out a very quiet breath of relief and continued on her path, now making sure to avoid any and all sticks, twigs, and branches on the ground.

"We're almost there," Lou said, continuing on walking. She glanced over at Ian, who was still walking quietly with his hands in his pockets. "He's not a priest. Are you really his son?" she asked, being careful not to offend the boy. He reminded her of Dakota.

"No," Ian answered, shaking his head.

"No? How do you know each other, then?" Lou asked.

"Family's the people you're with. Ain't that what your teacher said?" Daryl answered instead of Ian. He didn't want to give Ian the chance to answer because he was afraid Ian would answer with the truth, and he didn't want to hear it. He already knew it. He didn't want to have to hear it over and over again. God, it was hard enough having to explain what happened to everyone when he returned to Alexandria. He didn't need to hear about it anymore.

"Yes," Lou replied, bowing her head awkwardly. She really didn't intend to bring up a sensitive subject, but from the tones of their voices, the subject seemed sensitive. She cleared her throat, nodding ahead of them. "We're almost there."

Dakota wondered what the two men were hiding. She didn't think she trusted them yet. Not really at all, actually, but she only had one chance to do this, and she was going to take it. Still, being around them made her nervous. To trust that they weren't just going to kill her and Lou made her nervous.

Despite how harshly Dakota may have acted toward Lou on a daily basis, Lou was probably- very secretly- her favorite person left, followed closely by Moof. But she was trying to get rid of all of her attachments. She needed to find her family, just like her dad asked her to, and that would require leaving both Lou and Moof, and all of the other children at the preschool.

"That raid you talked about," Daryl spoke, breaking the silence, "were you on it?"

"Yes," Lou replied with a nod. Dakota furrowed her eyebrows, dangerously creeping closer in order to hear better. "Three of us go. One was the brother of Moof. Only I came home."

When Daryl, Ian, and Lou stepped out into the clearing that surrounded the castle that belonged to La Tarasque, Dakota was forced to stop and hide behind a tree trunk. She couldn't hear what they were saying anymore, and she hated that. She wanted to hear where the conversation was going. She wanted to hear more about La Tarasque. The more she heard about it, the more reason there would be to kill him.

Peeking out from behind her tree, Dakota watched the three of them make their way up to the castle. When she was pretty confident that they wouldn't look back and see her, she began to follow them very, very quietly. There were a few moments when she felt like they were going to turn back and look at her, and it made her stomach churn, but luckily, they never did. Dakota made it up to the bushes that surrounded the castle without being caught.

Or so she thought.

Just as she crouched behind one of the bushes, she suddenly felt a heavy presence behind her, making her jump, twisting herself around with a gasp. Crouched down behind her was none other than Ian.

"What is wrong with you?" Ian hissed quietly, gripping onto the girl's shoulder. "You're not allowed to be here.

All Dakota could do was glare at him.

"You could have gotten yourself killed, following us like that. We could've thought you were a walker and shot you right between the eyes," Ian told her. Dakota rolled said eyes. Ian shook his head and looked at his shoes, thinking for a moment, before looking back up. "You came here to kill him?" he asked.

Dakota gave a firm, angry nod.

If it were anyone else, they would have gotten furious with Dakota for leaving the preschool without permission before taking her by the arm and practically dragging her back to where it was safe. But Ian didn't do that.

Ian, out of all people, understood. He understood that empty feeling in his stomach that would never go away, no matter how hard he tried to fill it. He understood that anger that burned inside of him; a fire that could only be put out in one way.

So, he released Dakota's shoulder and let out a sigh. "I'll let you kill him," he said.

He knew that if Daryl were there, he would kill Ian for letting this girl do this against Lou's wishes. But he couldn't not let her do it. It would be hypocritical. He had felt that exact same anger. He felt it every single day, and it never went away because Daryl never allowed him to make it go away. But Ian could help Dakota make that anger go away. He was so sure of it.

Ian was so sure that letting that anger out would make the pain go away.

"Wait here for a minute. I'll wait until they're distracted and come get you," Ian told the girl.

Dakota shook her head. She wanted to go now. If he left her, then how could she know he wouldn't go snitch on her and come back with Lou to send her back to the preschool? She couldn't trust this guy. She didn't trust anyone, but especially not some stranger.

"Do you want my help or what, Koty?" Ian grumbled impatiently.

All Dakota did was narrow her eyes at him. She didn't know him enough to let him call her Koty, but it wasn't like she was going to correct him. All the kids called her Koty, so he probably just assumed that was her real name.

Biting down on her tongue, Dakota let out a sigh, rolled her eyes, and gave a reluctant nod. An agreement. A reluctant one, but an agreement at the least.

So, Ian got up and caught up with Daryl and Lou. Around the castle was a type of moat, like it movies. Only, in this moat, there wasn't water with hungry alligators or sharks, like Ian had imagined when he was a kid. This moat was just full of hungry walkers.

"What's the plan?" Ian asked, coming up to stand beside Daryl.

"Need to find a rope and somethin' that'll hook onto the other side," Daryl said, furrowing his eyebrows in thought.

"There's supplies this way. Come," Lou said, leading the two men toward a large, wooden door. She swung it open, revealing a dark storage room full of all sorts of supplies. There were a lot of gardening tools and all sorts of other outdoorsy crap that didn't really matter anymore. They all started digging around in search of the supplies they needed. "Rope," Lou said quietly, passing a wound-up rope to Daryl, who hooked it over his shoulder. After digging through a few boxes, Lou pulled out the end of a gardening hoe. "Will this work?" she asked.

Daryl took the old, rusted metal from her, examining it in his hands for a moment. "We should see if we can find a bigger one," he said.

Ian, who was leaning up against the wall by the doorway, furrowed his eyebrows with confusion, glancing at the gardening hoe in Daryl's hand. It looked big enough to him. He was pretty sure it would work. "What's wrong with that one?" he asked.

Turning his head, Daryl gave Ian a look that involved a whole lot of eye-words before saying out loud, "Too small. Like I said."

The next thing Ian knew, Daryl was grabbing him by the arm and pulling him through the door, slamming it shut behind them, and leaving Lou locked inside.

As the door slammed shut, Lou jumped around, rushing toward the door. "Qu'estce queue tu fias?!" she shouted, slamming her fist against the door. What the hell are you doing?!

"You'll be safer in there. Besides, I'm better off on my own," Daryl said through the door without an ounce of guilt.

"What, so you just expect me to wait here and do nothing?" Ian spat.

"I expect you to keep watch and make sure she don't get out," Daryl responded, his tone just as tense as Ian's.

Scoffing Ian, shook his head. "Yeah, bullshit. I'm coming with you," he said. As he rolled his eyes, he reached out to grab the rope, but before he could get close, Daryl's arm jutted out and grabbed tightly onto his arm, holding it there. Ian froze, his tough exterior breaking for just a moment and showing the hidden bits of sadness inside of him.

Daryl swallowed, stuck between the overwhelming feelings of both sympathy and frustration. He looked at Ian, whose eyes were now angry again. "Look, man, I know you're pissed at me, and I know you're hurtin', but you gotta quit this shit. It ain't gettin' you anywhere, and it never will. I've been patient, but I'm done. You need to listen to me."

Ian ripped his arm out of Dary's grasp, shoving him away. "Listen to you?" he laughed humorlessly. "The only reason we're here right now is because you wouldn't listen to me! None of this would have happened if you would just listen to me! We'd be back home and Liam would be dead!"

"Shut your mouth!" Daryl shouted in return, grabbing the collar of Ian's shirt. "Just fuckin' listen to me for once."

"No. The asshole in this place killed that kid's dad with all the other kids there trying to help him. What the hell makes you think he won't kill you, too?" Ian asked, subconsciously gesturing back toward the bushes where he knew Dakota was hiding. He quickly realized his mistake, his arm dropping back down to his side and his eyes going a bit wide.

Daryl's face hardened, his body going stiff. "Is that lil' girl here?" he asked, quietly but firmly.

Ian only swallowed.

"God damnit!" Daryl shouted, throwing the rope and gardening hoe onto the ground. He began storming off back toward the bushes Ian had gestured toward, and Ian followed close behind him.

"Daryl, stop! She's never gonna get any better unless we let her do this," Ian insisted, walking fast in order to keep up with Daryl's quick and angry steps.

"She ain't gonna get any better if she's dead, either," Daryl spat in response.

"That piece of shit killed her dad," Ian reminded him, as if Daryl had forgotten.

Daryl hadn't forgotten even a little bit. He knew why Dakota wanted to kill La Tarasque just as well as he knew why Ian wanted to kill Him. But he also knew why Lou didn't want to let Dakota kill La Tarasque just like how he didn't want to allow Ian to kill Him. It wouldn't do the two of them good in the long run.

Maybe they thought it would. Maybe it would bring them peace of mind. It really just depended on the kid and what that kid had been through. Daryl didn't know Dakota well at all. He didn't know what she was like before her father died. He didn't know exactly why Lou thought it would be bad for Dakota in the long run. But he knew that Lou was Dakota's primary caretaker, and he knew that Lou knew better than him.

In Ian's case, Daryl knew exactly how he was before She died. He was bubbly and fun, a bit geeky and childish. He had a good, sweet heart. He had grown up a big momma's boy. He was a very sweet and charming kid. Daryl could remember Ian wanting to be friends with Her back at the prison, when he had first joined the group from Woodbury. He was so talkative and outgoing that She relied on Daryl to scare him off when he got too obnoxious.

Ian was a kind little boy who only ever wanted to be good. And now all he ever was was angry. He had become so serious and sad, and Daryl knew that killing Him wouldn't take that sadness and anger away from Ian. It would probably just leave him feeling emptier. It would be bad for him in the long run. And that's why Daryl couldn't allow it.

"Lou knows better than we do, Ian. Simple as that," Daryl grumbled.

"It's not simple as that, Daryl," Ian argued.

They turned a corner and Daryl stopped in his tracks. There, crouched down on the ground and fiddling with a bow, was Dakota.