(Temp hiatus) Observe (the walking dead)

Family

After a cute moment between Carl and Ava apologizing to each other and hugging it out, the two teens left the Grimes boys and went to their own house, exhaustion over taking Roman as he instantly heads to one of the bedrooms and passes out.

Ava steps out of a window and onto the roof, hugging her knees to her chest as she overlooks the neighborhood while the sun sets. She looks back to make sure the boy was actually asleep before sighing.

"I don't know if you're watching over me, I don't know if that's something that you can actually do, but I'm sorry. I didn't want to kill those people, it just happened. I had to, I guess. They would have killed me instead. It was me, or them. It had to be them." She pauses, thinking of what to say next, "I miss you. Everyday, I miss you. Both of you. All of you. You're still my parents, I love you so much."

"If you are watching over me, you'll know I have adoptive parents now. Maggie and Glenn. You'd love them. I know that I do. I wish you could have met them, they're lovely. They're both so unbelievably strong and caring, something there isn't a lot of these days. They'd do anything for me, like you two would. Like you did."

Ava doesn't even realize that there were tears pouring down her cheeks until after she bowed her head, she watched the tears drop onto the shingles. Images of her parents making her promise to wait right where she was flash in her mind, followed by watching from the window as they tried their hardest to fight their way through the mob of people and walkers.

She squeezes her eyes shut, hoping to rid of the sight of her parents being ripped away from her. But if anything, it made it worse. "Wait here, Octavia. We'll be back, okay? I promise. We love you Ava, don't ever forget that." The last words her mother said to her play on repeat in Ava's head, like some kind of sick melody.

She opens her bloodshot eyes and turns to see Roman at the window, about to step out. She mentally thanks him for ripping her from her thoughts.

He comes up behind her and sits down with his legs spread out around her, making her lean back into his chest as she weeps. He shushes her quietly, telling her that it's okay, that she's okay, as he brushes his hand through her hair.

Ava felt awful for not thinking much about her parents since their passing, but in her defense, when did she ever have time to? She was busy fighting for her life. She didn't care, though. All she felt was guilt and shame.

She felt even worse for replacing them with Glenn and Maggie. Deep down she knew that's not what she did, but she still couldn't help but feel like it was wrong on the surface.

She sat there and cried while thinking about all the life lessons she had learned from her parents. How her mother taught her that it's better to be forgiving than holding grudges because the weight of anger is what holds you down.

How her father taught her that bottling up her emotions would only cause more casualties in the long run.

How to treat people with kindness and love everyone equally because some people might not get it anywhere else. How to accept people despite their flaws and indifferences.

She felt like she was betraying them when she yelled at Carl earlier, like everything they taught her had gone out the window. She felt so much relief when he came to her and accepted her apology, while also apologizing for his wrongdoings.

Her mother would be proud of her, having seen how strong she'd become. Ava's mom was always so independent, but she also knew when it was okay to lean on someone. Something Ava has grown good at as well.

She imagines her father would be proud too, but he always was. Ava and her mother had a wonderful relationship, but she was also always an honest woman and would let Ava know when she had disappointed her. Ava never got offended or upset at that, she just took what her mother said and fixed it.

But her dad, her dad was always her biggest fan. Even when she was in the wrong, which wasn't always good as Ava would grow cocky sometimes, but her mom made sure to healthily knock her down a peg or two.

Ava's brother, he was her best friend. She hadn't seen him since he went to college in Virginia, she didn't even know if he was alive. She remember weeping and begging for him not to leave, and he was tempted not to, but they both knew it would be good for him to go.

Ava's mind lingered on her brother for a minute, wondering if she should look for him. Wondering if he's still alive. If he was, Ava would want to know. She would want to see him. But there's always the possibility that he isn't alive, and then Ava would be chasing a ghost.

"Roman," she starts, looking up at the boy. He hums in acknowledgment. "What if my brother is alive?"

He thinks about it for a minute. Ava had told him about Cyrus, her brother, many times before. Sharing stories, telling him about what he was like. He also knew that Ava wasn't near him when it went down, so there was a possibility Cyrus is still alive.

"Well, we could look for him." He suggests, looking down at her.

She thinks for a second, "but what if he isn't? How would I know?"

He thinks about it. "I don't know, Aves. I'm sorry."

-

Ava fell asleep against Roman, he didn't mind. He knew she hadn't been sleeping, but he didn't know why. Maybe she was just scared, maybe she simply wasn't tired. Who knows.

But what he did know, was that she needed this. And he wasn't going to deprive her of sleep anymore than she was depriving herself.

As the sun began to rise, Roman felt the girl stir softly. He knew she would be waking up soon, but he refused to move until she did.

That was, until, he saw a familiar face walking down the street in front of him. "Ava, Ava wake up!" He shakes her, she wakes up startled and grasping for her handgun quickly but he stops her, and points to the street.

Her eyes grow wide and she stands up, hopping off the roof and rolling before standing up quickly and booking it over to the woman, "Michonnw!" She shouts, colliding into her with a hug.

"Oh, my god! Ava!" She hugs the teen back tightly, tears pricking her eyes.

"I thought- I thought the governor killed you, holy shit," Ava rambles, not letting go of Michonne.

"Same for you! What are you doing here?"

"Roman, Rick, Carl, and I have been sticking together. Come on!" She says, pulling away and dragging the woman by the arm to where the Grimes boys were staying. She rapidly pounds on the door as she hears Roman finally jogging up to the girls.

Roman and Michonne hug quickly, thankful the other is okay. The door to the house swings open and Carl is stood there with a wide smile on his face. He pushes Roman out of the way and hugs Michonne, causing the older boy to life lightly.

Ava then noticed Rick, who was smiling a few feet from the door. He made eye contact with her and she walked up to him, wrapping her arms around the man gently, careful not to hurt the injured man. "Glad you're alive, I thought we lost you there," she jokes, making him chuckle softly.

"Yeahh, I'm glad I am too." He jokes back, raising his eyebrows.