luna mortimer-smith had long learned not to trust anyone, staying in the middle of the woods as to avoid any contact with the dead or any other humans.
one evening, she'd gone out to check her hunting traps like usual. little did she realize, thoug...
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Luna sighed, tossing her book to the end of her bed and throwing her head back. She was endlessly bored, all she wanted to do was watch a movie. Even though she was convinced her dad would say no, she got up and walked down the hall anyways. The door to her dad and Lucille's room was cracked open, so she pushed it open the rest of the way. They were both sitting on the edge of the bed, both crying.
"What's going on?" Luna asked, drawing their attention. "Is everything okay?"
"Everything's fine, baby." Her dad said, quickly wiping his face. "The uh, the ice melted last night. Ruined the last of the chemo but I...I think I know where I can find some doctors who have what we'll need."
"You're leaving?" Luna couldn't help the frown on her face.
"Just for a little while." He said, standing up and walking over to her. He kneeled down in front of her and took both of her hands in his. "While I'm gone, you're gonna have to take care of Lucille, okay? Can you do that for me?" Luna nodded, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes now. He pulled her into a hug, holding the back of her head. Luna couldn't help it as she began to cry, wrapping her arms tightly around her dad.
"I don't want you to go." Her voice was muffled in his jacket. "Please don't go."
"I-I have to, baby, I have to find the treatments." His voice broke slightly as he rubbed her back. "I'll be home real soon." They pulled back, and he wiped the tears from her cheeks. "I promise, I'll be home before you know it."
"But what if you don't come back?" Luna hiccuped, tears still streaming down her face.
"I will." He asserted. "I'll come home straight to you, okay? And when I come home, we'll watch all the movies you want. Okay, baby? I promise." Luna hugged him tightly again, and he looked back at Lucille. She sighed, nodding and getting up. Luna pulled away again when Lucille touched her back, and she unwillingly went into her step-mothers arms. Luna watched as her dad gathered his things, and they followed him out to the front door. He cracked it open, turning back to look at Lucille and Luna. Lucille's arms were wrapped around Luna and she was holding onto them tightly, tears still streaming. "I'll be back soon, baby. I promise. Be good, help Lucille whenever she needs it, okay? I love you."
"I love you, too." Luna cried. He looked up at Lucille before turning around, opening the door wider.
"Negan?" Lucille spoke, making him turn around. "Come home soon."
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Luna sat up in bed, her breath heavy, her face wet with tears, and her head pounding. She sighed, running her hands over her face to wipe the tears away before rubbing her temples.
"Mornin' Lu." The bedroom door opened, and Carl stepped inside with two bowls. "Carol made some breakfast, I was just about to come wake you up." He lightly kicked the door shut, walking over sitting down on the edge of the bed. He finally looked at her face, sighing as he set down the bowls on the nightstand. "What's wrong?"
"Nightmare." She sighed, sitting back against the wall and rubbing her eyes. "About when my dad left, last time I saw him." Carl frowned, moving closer and putting a hand on her leg. "I just...I dunno. I guess seeing you reunite with your dad has me thinking about mine."
"We'll find him, okay? I promise." He said. "We will. Now that we're here, we're probably better off finding him. Resources, people, it's all here. And my group, our group, they'll help."
"I can't let them do that for me." She shook her head. "No way. It's too dangerous."
"Luna-"
"No, Carl." She asserted. "When it was just us out on the road, fine. We could've died any day anyways. I'm not gonna have a ton of people go out when they're safe here just to look for someone. I don't want anyone dying because of me." Carl sighed.
"Then we'll do it, just us." He said. "Not yet, I wanna stay a while but...we can do it."
"I'm not getting you killed either." She huffed. "No one is gonna go look for my dad, Carl. He's probably dead, and even if he isn't, we don't have anywhere to look! The house was gone, there was no trace of him. We have nothing to go on, nowhere to start. It's over." Luna looked away and dabbed her eyes with her sleeves.
"Lu..." Carl moved closer again, sighing. She looked up at him, tears clouding her vision before she couldn't hold it back any longer. Her head fell onto his shoulder as she started to cry, Carl wasting no time time wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close.
