(Temp hiatus) Observe (the walking dead)

Birthday

   Ava woke up a week later, instantly smiling as her eyes cracked open. It was her birthday. She had been counting down the days to it. Her family always made a big deal over her birthday, it was like a month-long event for them. They did the same with all the other birthdays, too. Ava was very lucky to have such an amazing family.

The now seventeen-year-old stood from her bed, stretching her limbs with a big smile on her face. She stepped out of her cell and happily bounced down the stairs and into the commons room. All heads turned towards the smiling girl, but no one made a move to greet her. She didn't care, though, as she had assumed no one else knew the cause of her happy demeanor.

Carol smiled sweetly at her as she approached. The woman handed a bowl of some kind of food to the teen and patted her cheek softly before turning back to the oven they moved from the cafeteria into the commons.

"Oh, Carol, could I have another bowl? I wanna bring one to Roman." She smiles.

"Of course, just one second." The older woman smiled at her, finding it hard to contain her excitement. Carol didn't find much to be happy about anymore, but what the population of the prison had planned for the girl's birthday definitely was exciting.

Carol hands her another bowl of food, and Ava turns around and bounces happily back into the cell block. Roman's cell was on the bottom floor, the closest cell to the bathrooms, so Ava made her way over there.

She stepped in with a wide smile. Roman looked up and smiled equally as big at his best friend. Ava sat the bowls down on his desk before Roman enveloped her in a hug, "How's the birthday girl?" he questions, his chin resting on the top of her head. Ava could hear the smile in his voice, and she was glad he was feeling good.

"I'm great. I know only you and Michonne know, but I'm still so excited." She chuckled as the two separated, both sitting down on Roman's bed.

"Well, we're pretty much the coolest people here anyways, sooo..." he smiles, joking with the girl as he pokes at his food.

-

Ava smiled all morning long, even though she kept getting dragged back to the courtyard by various people right as she would try to get back into the prison.

"Aye, Ava." She hears the raspy voice of Daryl, someone she hadn't spent much time with, as she goes to enter the prison.

She stops and turns around with a smile, "Yeah?"

"Could you, uh— help me with somethin'?" He looks around, almost as if he isn't sure what his plan here is.

"Sure, what is it?" She questions, stepping away from the prison door and towards Daryl. The girl was getting overheated being outside for so long, but she would feel guilty if she didn't help everyone that asked her to. Which was a shocking amount, today of all days. She silently wished she could just hang out in her cell with Michonne and Roman.

"I'm tryna set up some snares in the forest, think you could help with that?" He questions, squinting at the girl. Daryl was, in all honesty, making this shit up as he went. But he knew how important it was to everyone that Ava stay outside until they let out the signal.

"Uh... sure. But I don't really know how to." She shrugs.

"Thas' fine. Michonnes gonna come with us, too." He says, the woman in question was just passing by the pair when Daryl grabbed her by the arm. "Right, Michonne? You gonna help us with the snares?" He looks at her. Michonne glances between the two and nods slowly.

The trio set off into the woods, Ava lingered by Michonne most of the time. She didn't quite know what she was doing, so she just watched Daryl and Michonne. Neither adult made a move to ask her for help, which made her wonder why she was asked to tag along at all, but she shrugged it off.

As they wrapped up the seventh snare, a whistle was heard from the courtyard. All three heads snapped towards the sound, and Daryl and Michonne shared a look before racing off to the prison.

Ava furrowed her brows at their panic, but anything could be wrong at the prison. She had no idea what the whistle meant, and she was scared to find out. But she knew she would do whatever she had to do when it came to it.

They got to the prison gates and Ava's eyes darted around to see what the stress was about, but she saw no signs of imminent danger. She raised her axe from its sheath and followed Michonne and Daryl wearily up the gravel path.

Ava walked forward towards the door to the commons but was stopped by a hand on her elbow. Her head whipped around to see Michonne, shaking her head at the girl. The woman nodded to the bridge that led to the top of the commons instead. Ava nodded, understanding her point.

She walked towards the metal stairs and up them to the bridge. She watched from the bridge as Daryl and Michonne slipped into the commons, quickly shutting the door behind them. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion but decided that it was probably for her own safety.

She opened the door slowly, the hinges creaking. She raised her handgun up and scanned the banister before stepping onto it, and she almost fell backward when a loud chorus of "surprise!" was shouted from below her.

When she realized what was happening, she smiled brightly and peered down at everyone's happy and cheerful demeanor, seeing all the faces of the prison. Her eyes landed on Roman, his arms crossed and eyes already on her, a happy and playful smirk on his lips. It made her smile even more.

She bounded down the stairs, two at a time, into the crowd of all her friends and family. She walked through and thanked everyone as they wished her a happy birthday, some even hugging her.

She eventually got to her main circle, her people. Rick, Michonne, Roman, Glenn, Maggie, Beth, Carol, Sasha, Tyrese, and Carl. They wrapped her in a group hug, then steered her in the direction of a table. "How the hell did you guys get cake?" She laughs happily, looking around at her family.

"I threw some stuff together, did what I could with what I had." Carol smiled brightly. The girl hugs her, quietly thanking her before pulling away.

"You have gifts, too. They're all in your cell, we couldn't fit them all on this table." Rick smiles, hands on his hips.

She looks to Roman, "Did you do this?" She tilts her head, smiling.

He shrugs, "I may have had something to do with it," he smiles.

She shakes her head and rolls her eyes with a smile. This is the most the teen had smiled in ages. She was so grateful for all that she had, and she never wanted it to end.

-

Eventually, the sun began to set and the crowd of people dispersed into their respective cells. All but Michonne and Ava.

"Thank you." Ava smiles, looking at the woman with glossy eyes.

Michonne smiles and hugs the girl, "Oh, please. You know this was all him."

"But you stayed. You didn't have to, and you did." Ava says quietly as the two pull apart.

A tear slips down Ava's face, and Michonne is quick to cup the teen's face with her hands, wiping away her tears with her thumb. "I care about you, Aves. Of course, I'd stay for your birthday." She smiles sadly at the girl, tilting her head.

'For your birthday,' Ava takes note of that bit. She looks to the ground to hide her pained expression, knowing it wouldn't be long before Michonne was off to hunt the governor.

"You can't stay, can you?" Ava asks, still looking at the ground. She knows the answer.

Michonne pulls her into a hug again, "No, sweetie. I can't." She rubs her hand down Ava's hair soothingly as the girl grips her leather vest like her life depended on it.