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Pint Sized Leader Of The World

"You ever thought about it?" Daryl asked curiously from the passenger seat. I flitted my eyes to him from the road briefly, my fingers tightening around the steering wheel.

"Thought about what? Leading this place?" I sighed at his affirmative nod, my attention going back to driving. I was getting better at it every day, and the long drives to the Kingdom and Hilltop were definitely helping. "Deanna told me I've got the qualities, or whatever. Rick trusts me enough to bring the communities together. And they're both great leaders."

"You're not answering the question." Daryl pointed out, picking at the leather seat with dirty fingernails.

"I have. I think about it all the time. I think about how I understand this world and sure, maybe I have an idea every once in a while that doesn't completely go to shit, and I'm stubborn and I know what I believe in and I'm willing to fight for it." I rambled, my eyes trailing the path in front as my lips moved quickly. I could sense the expectation radiating from Daryl's figure, like he knew I was about to argue my own points.

"But I'm a kid. I'm trying to grow up, I wanna be involved and make the big decisions, but how am I supposed to lead a community of forty people who would never listen to me?" I shrugged. It didn't bother me much, at least I was listened to by the people who mattered. Rick, Daryl, Maggie, Michonne. The people at the head of the communities who believed in me and had the power to oversee hundreds of others.

Daryl shuffled into the back of the seat, a subtle frown on his lips. "You could do it. I saw you at the Kingdom, talking to Ezekiel. You said it yourself, Deanna and Rick know you've got what it takes." He ran a contemplative hand over his face. "You just need to believe in yourself."

I pursed my lips, my eyebrows sinking in thought. Maybe he was right. I knew I had what it took to do it, but there was something stopping me.

When Hershel got bit and I had to help, I completely froze. He was bleeding out from his leg and I couldn't handle it. The same thing happened when Carl got shot. I was too emotional, I wasn't able to think straight. If my family's safety was threatened I would do anything to save them, no matter the consequences. I would risk my own life, the lives of others and anyone else, just to get them back. I didn't have the ability to think about the greater good, I couldn't make sacrifices like a leader was supposed to. That's what held me back.

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I raced straight into Maggie's open arms once I parked inside the gates of Hilltop, her warm embrace still comforting after all these years.

"You're here?" She asked when I finally pulled away, her eyebrows raised in a question. I told her all about the plan, about Oceanside and the guns they could provide us.

"Rick wanted you there. Sasha and Jesus, too." I finished, taking note of her frown. She glanced around the community, watching people work and children play.

"I should stay. We've been training the people here, they're following me. I gotta be here." She told me, a definite look in her eyes. I nodded in understanding, peering over her shoulder when I heard a second voice.

"I'll go, if you need an extra hand." Enid smiled and I couldn't stop myself from returning it, my arms finding their way around her shoulders tightly. I hadn't been away for long, but I was already starting to miss it here.

"Come on, it's gonna be dark soon. You can stay the night." Maggie offered, leading Daryl and I to Jesus' trailer. Sasha and the man himself greeted us when we walked in before going back to the table in a quiet discussion. I narrowed my eyes when I focused on a folded map tucked in her hand, diagrams and notes scrawled over the page.