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The sun had just begun to peak over the tall trees in the distance. Its orange glare shone down on Ivy's skin as she gripped onto her sword tightly. The girl planted her feet into the ground and held them there as she focused on every twist her arm made. The wind hit her skin so lightly that she felt as if it was only the breath of a child. Her hair blew over and she felt the strands hit her face. She allowed the morning breeze to take every terrible thought she had ever had away and lock it in a safe for these moments. She could see so much and she had learned a multitude within these past six months. Everything still felt the same, just not her mind. Her anger was manageable now and she was able to hide the emotions she felt more, she was no longer a ticking time bomb, that didn't mean she knew what she was though. Ivy had kept to herself other than the morning lessons with Michonne on the days she was at the prison.

Michonne had never told Ivy where she was going, but the girl knew. Ivy wanted to get her own revenge but the thought of even facing the governor made her nauseous. They were in a different cell block but it still didn't change the way he felt about them. There had been three people that had come up to her to ask for her forgiveness but she turned each of them down in the rudest way she could think of at that moment. No one had known everything that had happened to her yet, she hadn't been able to tell anyone. Ivy had learned to control herself and her actions, especially with the presence of Chaos who seemed to help a bit. She talked to Rick and Carl but that was it. She still avoided Liam and Oliver as much as she could, Caleb as well. She knew it wasn't their fault but she couldn't look at them the same. Even after Caleb tried to help her. She heard the occasional mumble from the population of people inside the gates as they gathered around for food. Kids played in the field and Ivy spotted Carl which brought a slight smile to her face before she began walking towards them. On her way, she spotted Oliver with the ball in his hands and as it rolled away from him, Ivy ran up and scooped it up in her hands.

Oliver stopped dead in his tracks and looked up at Ivy with large eyes and a worried look before Ivy smiled gently and placed it back in his. At that moment, the deep bark of a dog came to her side and Ivy smiled down at the dog who had grown tremendously. His shoulders reached her lower thigh and Ivy felt a sense of security with him around.

"Carl!" Rick shouted as he ran towards the gate and Ivy snapped her head in that direction before taking off next to her brother.

"I can race you?" Ivy asked quietly.

"You'll lose." Carl stated.

"Okay." Ivy mumbled before taking off down the hill and sliding to a stop before reaching the fence and gripping the rope tightly, pulling it down at the same time as the fence was drawing up. It took a minute but as Michonne stepped down from her horse, Carl ran forward and Ivy walked shortly behind him.

"Hi." Ivy smiled.

"Hello, Ivy Grimes." Michonne greeted with a large smile that made Ivy feel a spark of encouragement.

"Somebody hit the jackpot." Michonne smirked as she pulled a comic book from the bag strapped to the side of her horse. Carl's face lit up and Ivy laughed gently as he reached for it

"Awesome! Thank you!" Carl cried out.

"I get to read 'em when you're done." Michonee said as she reached into her bag once more.

"I also found these...your face is losing the war." Michonne sighed. Rick reached down for the clippers and his jaw dropped as he turned to Ivy.

"Hear her?" He asked the girl with a slight smile.

"I kinda like the beard." Ivy argued.

"I found this too." Michonne reached into her pocket and Ivy looked at her with gratitude as she pulled out a silver, cross charm to add to the chain around her neck.

"Thank you." Ivy spoke quietly as she removed her mother's locket from around her neck and placed the cross next to her heart shaped charm before clasping it back onto her body. Ivy looked down to the silver bracelet on her wrist that she had somehow managed to keep since the beginning of everything. Just as she had begun to reminisce, the engine of a car stopped her. Ivy looked out to the car to see it coming to a stop as it moved closer, and in the back of the car was Liam.

She had forgotten about the run that some of the group was taking but she didn't know Liam was going to be a part of it. "Glenn switched out with Maggie because he didn't want her to die." Liam told Rick. "He has no faith in us."

"He loves Maggie, we can't blame him for that." Rick spoke.

"If I had to choose between Glenn and Maggie, I'd pick Maggie anyways. She's nice." Liam smirked.

"I will backhand you so hard." Glenn threatened.

"Lord." Liam complained.

"I'll go." Michonne spoke. Ivy and Carl turned their heads in unison.

"You just got here?" Carl spoke.

"And I'll be back." Michonne promised as she slid in the car through the window, forcing Liam to scoot over. "Ivy, be ready." Michonne smirked and Ivy nodded her head before watching the vehicle drive away.

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Ivy silently pressed her weight against the door and smiled gently as Chaos ran past her feet into the building. As she walked past the cells, she could tell the cells apart and who they belonged to by the items inside. She didn't come down from her cell much so it wasn't as if she had each cell memorized but she knew Carl's by the flannels inside of them, she knew Glenn and Maggie's by the clothes and Judith's by the bassinet in her father's cell. It was dirty, but from stains. She could only guess Beth was the one to get the dirt out of the cloth. Judith had grown in the past few months and from what Ivy could tell, she was doing pretty well and she seemed healthy enough. Ivy still had no intentions on touching the baby who was supposed to be her sister, everytime she thought about it her mind would immediately turn towards Lori and everything would start to hurt again.

"Ivy?" She heard a voice echo from beside her. Immediately, the girl turned her head only to be met with the long, blonde hair and bright green eyes of Beth Greene.

"Hi Beth." Ivy grinned as she walked into the cell, Chaos by her side. Beth sat on the bed and Ivy sat with her back against the wall.

"How's your sword stuff goin'?" Beth asked, her accent thick and prominent. Ivy shrugged and brought her hand to meet the large dog's fur.

"Pretty good, I don't get knocked down as much anymore by Michonne so that's good." A grin creeped along Ivy's lips.

"You know there's been thirty days without an accident?" Beth asked. Ivy looked up to see the homemade countdown that was created by the blonde and a piece of her felt sorry. She didn't understand how Beth could have so much hope for them when Ivy herself had so little.

"That's surprising, actually." Ivy mumbled.

"The Woodbury people seem to be helping a lot with keeping the people safe." Beth spoke and immediately, Ivy felt betrayed. She managed to put that feeling away when she remembered that no one had known what had actually happened to her in Woodbury. She hadn't told anyone except Michonne. Sure, everyone knew the basis of what happened but no one knew the entire truth. No one knew that everytime she looked into the crowd of newcomers at the prison, all she could see was the faces laughing at her as fire illuminated and highlighted the sweat on their skin. No one knew that she could hear the governor's voice and Andrea screaming for everyone to stop.

"They have to be good for something." Ivy nodded, trying to hide the sheer disappointment on her face.

"What about Liam?" Beth asked quietly.

"What about him?" Ivy returned. Not rudely, Ivy liked Beth and she as one of the few people Ivy couldn't bring herself to be mean too.

"You know he sits outside of your cell every night? Like, he sleeps there and wakes up earlier than all of us to move before you come out." Beth grinned.

"I...didn't know that at all, actually." She couldn't say she was surprised but it certainly wasn't something she expected. She wished she could feel something for him but she just couldn't and she couldn't force herself to understand why.

Ivy didn't know how long had gone by after jerking herself awake to see Beth writing something.

"Hey." Beth spoke and Ivy looked out into the doorway to see Daryl and Liam. "Hi."

"What is it?" Beth asked as she sat up. Ivy adjusted her position and paid close attention to the looks on the two men's faces and after seeing their faces, she knew exactly what had happened.

"Zack." Ivy let out a sigh as her suspicions revealed to be true and she forced herself up.

"Is he dead?" Beth asked. Ivy remained quiet but so did everyone else.

The silence was the answer.

Ivy looked over to Liam who couldn't bring himself to make eye contact with her before turning to Beth. "Okay." She whispered as she stood up. Beth seemed fine but Ivy could tell by the way she froze up, the way she hesitated, that she was hurt.

"What?" Daryl asked with confusion written all over his face.

"I don't cry anymore, Daryl." Ivy understood what Beth felt so she couldn't say anything. "I'm just glad I got to know him, you know?"

"Me too."

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1682 words

Authors note
Hey guys, sorry i've been so inactive recently but in this chapter you get to see a lot of Michonne and Ivy's relationship bloom.