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The sun was high in the sky by the time Jesus arrived at Alexandria.
Beams of warm light filtered through the canopy of trees that surrounded the town. Jesus had always loved Alexandria. While the Hilltop was his home, whenever Jesus came to visit, he felt like he was stepping back in time.
While the town had lost a lot of its original charm after the Saviors blanketed it with fire, Rick and Michonne had made sure to rebuild it. Even now, with Rick Grimes gone, Alexandria still stood proud and while her gates were currently closed, Jesus always had a way in.
He approached from the South, sneaking through the brush. When he got close enough to the wall, he whistled twice. It didn’t take long for a less than melodic whistle to return. Jesus fought down a laugh as Judith Grimes came out of the shadows with a grin on her face.
The little Grimes had grown up in front of all of them and Jesus couldn’t help but smile every time he saw her. Especially because she looked so much like her big brother now. Carl’s hat, now hers, sat proudly on her head, shielding her young face from the afternoon sun. Her wakizashi was strapped on her back and the colt python was on her hip. Both weapons reminding everyone who her parents were. A Grimes through and through and one of Jesus’ favourite people.
“We need to work on your whistles,” Jesus said walking towards her and giving her a big hug. Judith laughed as he picked her up and held her tight.
“I’m trying!” she said with a giggle as he put her down. “Scott says I’m getting better though,” Judith said proudly. Jesus tapped the brim of her hat with a smile.
“Okay, okay,” he conceded, “How are you, Judith?”
“I’m okay,” she said, “How’s Hilltop?” The two of them began walking through the woods, towards the other gate.
“Good,” Jesus said, “Tara says hello and Enid wanted me to tell you that she loved the bracelet you made for her. I haven’t seen her take it off since.” That information made Judith beam.
“Well, I’m glad!” Judith said and Jesus was always surprised at how well-spoken the kid was. Then again, according to Maggie, Carl was the same way at her age. She was quiet for a bit as they walked and then eventually Judith slowed down and looked up at him with those big eyes of hers. “Have you seen my Uncle Daryl?” she asked softly. Jesus knew that she missed her uncle a lot ever since he left to live in the woods and search for her dad. He also knew that Daryl missed her too, as well as R.J. who also frequently asked about him.
Daryl visited Hilltop occasionally to trade and essentially just let them know that he was still alive, but Jesus had a feeling Daryl wasn’t visiting Alexandria as much as he used to. At least not since the Jocelyn incident. Though, he had seen the archer not that long ago when he came into Hilltop to grab some materials to make more bolts for his bow.
“I saw him a couple of weeks ago,” Jesus told Judith. “He’s doing good and he even has a dog now.”
“A dog?” Judith asked, excited. “I wanna meet the dog.”
“Next time I see him, I’ll tell him. I promise,” Jesus said with a smile that Judith mirrored. “Okay, Miss Grimes, we have a mission to complete. Are you with me?” Judith nodded seriously and they picked up their speed towards the gate.
While Jesus knew he wasn’t prohibited from entering Alexandria, Michonne was still wary about people coming and going. And of course, if he just walked in, people would want to talk to him, especially Gabriel, Siddiq, and Rosita and while he loved his friends, there were only two people he wanted to see.
Jesus followed Judith through the woods. Running into a single Walker, Jesus let the little Grimes take it out. With two strikes of her sword, it was down and she finished it off easily. Just looking at her now, he knew that Rick would be so proud of his little girl.
Judith took him along the steel wall and to the gate. Scott was waiting there as always. He nodded to Judith as she slipped through the gates and purposefully turned his head away from Jesus who followed her. Scott was smiling as he joined in on the game. Judith saluted the Alexandrian guard and then took Jesus’ hand and pulled him along the back of the houses.
The two of them crept around like spies, hushing each other whenever their footsteps became too audible. Judith kept low to the ground, stopping dramatically and peering around corners. Jesus watched on with a permanent smile on his face. Eventually, they reached their destination and Judith turned to face him. “Mission accomplished,” Judith said proudly.
“Always a pleasure, Miss Grimes,” Jesus said with a deep bow. Judith curtsied back. “Now get going before we are discovered,” Jesus said in a hushed tone.
“Good idea,” Judith whispered back before hugging him again. Jesus squeezed her back and then she skipped off towards her house, most likely going to find her baby brother. Jesus watched after her for a moment before focusing on the task at hand.
Sneaking around the back of the house, Jesus silently ascended the back stairs and peeked into the window. He spotted her immediately. Gracie was sat at the kitchen table coloring on a piece of paper. Her dad, Aaron, was nowhere to be seen.
Very gently, Jesus tapped on the window. Gracie looked up from her art and instantly spotted him. She grinned wide at him, waving. Jesus pressed his finger to his lip with a wink and Gracie mirrored his movement. Looking over her shoulder, Gracie got up from the table and moved towards the back door. Jesus met her there and she opened it slowly. “Hi, Jesus!” she said in a loud whisper. Gracie stood aside as Jesus slipped into the house. He pulled off his leather duster and draped it over a chair before turning to the young girl.
Kneeling down to her level, he offered his hand to her. Gracie gripped it immediately and shook it twice before sliding it back and then joining their hands again to make a wing shape with both of their palms. The secret handshake finished with a snap and then Gracie was wrapping her arms around his neck. “Good to see you, kiddo,” Jesus said, hugging her.
“Daddy’s in the other room,” she whispered as she stepped out of his arms.
“You wanna help me surprise him?” Jesus asked and Gracie nodded excitedly. Gracie took Jesus’ hand and led him down the hallway of her house.
Aaron had blanketed the walls of their home with Gracie’s artwork as soon as she first picked up a marker. There were also little knickknacks dotted around the home from all the runs Aaron would go on. He always made sure to bring something interesting back for his daughter. Then, of course, there was the wall of license plates that Jesus had always found very endearing. It was just one of those things that made Aaron, Aaron.
Jesus and Gracie were silent as they peeked around the corner, but the living room was empty. Gracie looked up at Jesus, confused. She then let go of his hand and looked towards the small dining area, but Aaron wasn’t there either. Jesus entered the living room, suspicious, and then out of nowhere, he was tackled.
Gracie yelped in surprise as her dad flew at Jesus, taking him to the floor in a single move. She began laughing as soon as Aaron lifted his prosthetic arm in victory while his other held the other man down. “Finally!” Aaron called out with a laugh.
“I heard you coming,” Jesus argued, his voice muffled by the rug he was pressed into.
“Yeah, I’m sure you did,” Aaron said with a roll of his eyes. Jesus pushed him back, swinging his leg around, and catching it behind Aaron’s knees. Aaron went down hard and Jesus grinned down at him from his kneeling position. “Letting your guard down once again,” Jesus said, shaking his head in mock-disapproval. Aaron sighed, letting his head fall to the ground.
“My turn!” Gracie yelled as she jumped onto both men, flattening them instantly.
“Oh no!” Aaron cried out. “She got us!” Gracie wrapped her arms around both of them as she laughed and Aaron and Jesus feigned exhaustion as they were taken down by the eight-year-old.
“We surrender!” Jesus called, waving an imaginary white flag. Gracie pushed up onto her knees and looked down at both of them, her hands going in the air just as her dad had done moments before.
“I win!” she exclaimed with a toothy grin.
“That you did, Gracie girl!” Aaron said, sitting up. “And you know what winners get?”
“Lunch?” she asked hopefully.
“Heck yeah!” Aaron said as he grabbed her around the waist and hauled her to her feet. Gracie reached for Jesus and he let her pull him up off the ground.
“Okay, when did you get so strong?” he asked her, ruffling her hair.
“I’ve been practicing all the stuff you showed me last time you came to see us,” Gracie said proudly. She dropped into a defensive stance and Jesus mirrored her. She giggled as she jabbed at him and he took the hit clutching his arm dramatically. Gracie giggled at his fake pain.
“The two of you hang out way too much,” Aaron said as he watched them with a smile. Jesus winked at him and then Gracie began skipping towards the kitchen. Aaron nodded his head towards his daughter and Jesus followed.
Gracie sat back down at the kitchen table as Aaron went around the kitchen prepping her lunch. Jesus snatched an apple from the bowl on the table and perched on the kitchen counter to watch Aaron make the sandwich for his kid. Aaron looked at Jesus with amusement. “You know, normal people tend to use chairs, Jesus,” he said, pointing to Jesus’ crossed legs. Jesus, however, just happily munched on his snack.
“So, how’s it going around here?” Jesus asked, fiddling with the fruit in his hands.
“Good,” Aaron said, “got a nice amount of crops growing and everyone has been helping out with the harvest. The kids are doing well in school and I think Eugene is trying to increase the distance for our radios.”
“Sounds promising,” Jesus said, running a hand through his long hair. Tara had been trying to convince him for her to let her cut it, but any time she would come at him with scissors he’d go hide in the attic. Nobody was touching his hair.
“What about you? Is Hilltop still good?” Aaron asked and Jesus sighed.
“Yeah, I mean, we’re managing. Got a good harvest this year as well. And Enid, well she pretty much deserves an M.D. at this point. The girl can fix anything up as you well know,” Jesus said with another wink. Aaron rolled his eyes, but the smile remained on his face. Gracie then interrupted, bouncing on her heels.
“The other day,” she began, “R.J. found a frog and started chasing us with it.”
“Why?” Jesus asked, immediately enthralled by the girl’s story.
“Because Judith said that R.J. was bouncing all over the place and he said that no, he didn’t bounce because he wasn’t a frog. And then I said that frogs don’t bounce and that they hop,” Gracie said.
“Which, of course, they definitely do,” Jesus agreed, biting into the apple.
“Right!” Gracie exclaimed. “So, after I told him that, he still said they bounced and then he ran away and when he came back he had an actual frog in his hand! I don’t know where he found it but then he started to chase us with it. Judith and I had to hide in Rosita’s kitchen until he left.” Gracie shuddered at the memory of the frog and Jesus had to bite his cheek so he didn’t explode into laughter.
“R.J. is acting more and more like his dad every day,” Jesus said. “Did you know Rick did the same thing to me when we met?”
“No, he didn’t!” Gracie said.
“True story, ask anyone,” Jesus said, completely serious. Gracie looked to her dad and Aaron nodded as well.
“It’s true, I was there. But Rick had two frogs instead of one,” Aaron continued. Gracie looked at them in shock while both men nodded to one another.
“I don’t believe you,” she said, suspiciously.
“Believe it or not, kiddo,” Jesus said, “but it’s true.” Gracie looked gobsmacked at the information and it brought Jesus a lot of happiness to see it. It was the little things in life.
“Gracie,” Aaron said, “go wash up before lunch, okay? We’ll talk more about frogs later.” Gracie bounced from the room and up the stairs to do as she was asked. Once his daughter was out of earshot, Aaron put down the food in his hands and turned towards Jesus. “What’s really going on with you? And don’t say you’re fine. I know you, Paul.” Jesus leaned against the wall, looking at the man before him. The humor quickly evaporated from the room as Aaron switched into his “serious mode”.
“I’m just feeling a bit overwhelmed,” Jesus admitted. “Tara wants me to be taking charge of all this stuff and I can’t even keep my head on straight. I don’t know why they thought to elect me to lead them.”
“Because you’ve always fought for Hilltop,” Aaron explained. “It was you that convinced Rick to even see that there were other places out there. You were the one who warned us about Negan and the Saviors and you even introduced us to Ezekiel and the Kingdom. Whether you want to believe it or not, Jesus, you were the one to bring us all together. You lit that initial flame.” Jesus smiled softly, looking down at his hands.
“You know, Rick didn’t much care for me when we met,” Jesus said, laughing.
“He punched me when we first met,” Aaron recalled fondly. “He thought I was trying to lead them into a trap.”
“Yeah, that sounds about right,” Jesus agreed. “She’s a lot like him, don’t you think?”
“Judith is definitely special,” Aaron said, knowing where Jesus’ thoughts were. “I wish he could see who she’s become.” Jesus reached out and rested his hand on Aaron’s shoulder, rubbing a small circle with his thumb.
“I miss him too.” Aaron leaned into Jesus’ touch, sighing with content. Their sweet moment was then interrupted by Gracie running back into the room announcing she was ready to eat.
The three of them sat around the kitchen table eating the sandwiches Aaron had provided.
They shared stories of what was happening in both of their lives. Aaron mentioned Eugene was doing science experiments for the kids and Laura and Rosita were teaching the kids how to handle horses.
It was odd for Jesus to listen to what was happening in ASZ. He was trying to catch up with everything all at once. These were the days that he wished Michonne would be a bit more lenient with opening up the gates again.
He, of course, knew why she didn’t. Everyone knew something had gone down when Michonne’s old friend, Jocelyn, had shown up, but nobody ever discussed the details. Jesus had once wanted to ask Daryl about it but taking one look at his friend’s haunted face, he dropped it and never brought it up again.
Relationships and friendships of all sorts were being tested in the post-Grimes world, but Jesus was determined to keep the one he had with Aaron and Gracie. They were too important to him to give up.
Looking across the table at the father-daughter duo, warmth swelled in Jesus’ chest. It was clear to him then, that not only were Gracie and Aaron family, but they were what Jesus needed to fight for.
Aaron caught him looking and raised an eyebrow at him. Jesus smiled back at the man, kicking him lightly under the table. Aaron’s gaze lingered on him for just a moment longer before returning his full attention to his little girl.
“Jesus,” Gracie said, “are you scared of the Walkers?” Jesus wasn’t surprised by the question at all. These kids, no matter where they grew up, were used to all of the monsters and chaos the apocalyptic world threw at them. Asking about Walkers was just like asking what day it was or what someone’s favourite color was. All a part of the new normal.
“It depends, Gracie,” Jesus said honestly, “If there are only one or two and I can see them coming then no, but if there are a lot and my friends are in danger, then yes it can be a bit scary.” Gracie nodded thoughtfully at his words.
“They scare me,” Gracie admitted.
“That’s okay,” he assured her. “It’s never a bad thing to be afraid or tell people you are.” Gracie nodded, happy with his answer, and returned to her food. Aaron was looking at Jesus with admiration and gratitude in his eyes. Since losing so many people, the kids of the communities relied on being raised by the whole village. These moments were what the kids needed the most. All the advice from others and especially people that cared about them as much as Jesus cared about Gracie.
As they finished lunch, Jesus said he had a gift for Gracie.
“Look in the inside pocket of my coat, G,” Jesus said as he popped the last bite of sandwich into his mouth. Gracie grabbed Jesus’ duster from the back of the chair and hauled it into her lap. It took her a few seconds, but eventually, her small hand curled around a small object tucked away inside the coat.
“Daddy, look!” Gracie said, holding up a small key-chain. Aaron looked at it closely before he began howling with laughter. In her hand was a little souvenir Nevada license plate key-chain Jesus had found in an old house a few weeks back. Jesus had thought it was appropriate for Aaron’s little one to have her own collection of State merchandise.
Gracie had the biggest smile on her face as she twirled the little key-chain around her finger. “I’m going to go hang it up next to yours,” Gracie said to her dad as she got up from the table. She quickly ran to Jesus and gave him a hug. “Thank you, Jesus,” she said.
“You’re welcome, kiddo,” he said with a smile of his own and watched her skip away.
“Where did you even find that?” Aaron asked as he cleaned the table.
“I have my ways, Aaron,” Jesus said and Aaron tossed a dishtowel at him with a laugh.
Once Gracie had added her own little plate to Aaron’s larger collection, she wanted to go outside and practice her cartwheels so that is exactly what they did.
Aaron and Jesus sat on the back steps while Gracie practiced in front of them. Jesus would call out pointers with every cartwheel, somersault, and handstand she did. Anytime the martial arts master would visit her, he would make sure to teach her something new. Aaron was always grateful as he wasn’t ready to start teaching his kid how to handle weapons. This way, Gracie was learning how to defend herself safely.
Jesus had offered to do this when he noticed Gracie kept asking why Judith was training to kill Walkers and protect people and she wasn’t. While Judith was older, she also had Michonne as a mother who was training her with the sword and she had grown up around fighting and weapons.
In Gracie’s case, she was lucky to be born at the start of the war and hadn’t had to see much combat. Aaron was hoping to keep just a bit more of her childhood intact before handing her a weapon, but both men knew that sooner or later, she would have to learn just as Judith, Henry, and every other kid had to.
As they watched her tumble around, Aaron reached over and took Jesus’ hand in his own. Instantly, they both relaxed. “I know you worry about her,” Jesus said softly.
“It’s more than that,” Aaron admitted. “I know that if something happened to me, there are people around that would take her in without question.”
“But?”
“But she’s already lost two parents and if I were to die, physically she’d be okay, but emotionally? I can’t even start to imagine how she would cope with that.”
“Aaron,” Jesus said gently, “you can’t let yourself think like that. Yeah, we all know that every time we leave the gates, there is that chance, but we’ve lived through some pretty screwed up stuff and we’ve always come out alive.”
“Not all of us,” Aaron reminded him and Jesus squeezed Aaron’s hand tighter, well aware of all the losses that came from the war against the Saviors and before.
“Not all of us,” Jesus agreed. “You know I can’t promise anything, but I am going to do my damn hardest to make sure you come home to her every night.” Aaron looked at Jesus and he couldn’t believe he had found someone like him through all of this. After losing Eric, Aaron never thought he would find another person to share his life with and Gracie’s life as well. Paul Rovia had taken Aaron by surprise all those years ago and still, he was fascinated by him every day.
“How did I get so lucky?” Aaron whispered. Jesus shrugged, lifting their hands and pressing a kiss to the back of Aaron’s.
“You are way too good looking to be that corny,” Jesus joked. Aaron snatched his hand back with a laugh and Jesus only followed after him. He grabbed Aaron by the chin and pressed a firm kiss to the other man’s lips. Aaron sighed and smiled into the kiss. When Jesus pulled back, Aaron was still grinning.
“Says the man that goes by the name ‘Jesus’,” Aaron pointed out. Jesus rolled his eyes but smiled back nonetheless. He then dropped his head onto Aaron’s shoulder and watched as Gracie executed a perfect round off, landing with her hands up in a gymnast pose.
“Did you see that!” she exclaimed, beaming at them both. Aaron and Jesus both clapped and cheered at her accomplishment. Gracie ran towards them and jumped onto them, wrapping each arm around their necks and holding them close. Aaron and Jesus held the girl back, looking at each other with love as they hugged her.
It was the little moments such as these that made the trek to Alexandria worth it. It didn’t matter if communities weren’t speaking to each other or that monsters walked outside the gates. Right now, at that moment, all that mattered was Jesus hugging his found family. One he would have never found if he hadn’t of ran into Rick Grimes and Daryl Dixon that day all those years ago and stole their supplies. Without the Saviors, he would have never fought alongside Aaron and they would have never found Gracie.
In some ways, Jesus was grateful for everything they had gone through. Their losses made them stronger, their victories strengthened the camaraderie between their people, and everything else in between was just meant to be.
As the three of them sat on the back steps of Aaron’s home, they listened to the musical calls of birds that sang in the trees, reminding them that while the world tried to die, life was still shining through and that was something worth smiling about.