Hey guys, this here is my first fanfic about The Last of Us. As seeing that there's not that much data in the 20-year gap between Sarah's death and Boston's QZ, I'm gonna have to make speculations every now and then, though I'll try to stick to the info I get along the way, in order not to mess that much with the trama and actual game facts. Due to the amount of research this might take (edition and publishing included), I decided to make this a pilot chapter (Despite that, this is how I choose for the story to begin). If I get at least 5 good reviews from you, I will continue. That said, let us begin.
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"Swear to me!" Ellie bursted, interrupting Joel "Swear to me that everything you said is true."
Joel gave her a suspicious yet confident look.
"I swear."
Both of them stood there, Ellie trying to catch a glimpse of deceit from Joel, Joel trying not to loose superficial confidence.
Then memories struck both of them, Marlene's request, the Capitol's tragedy, Sam, Henry, the cannibals' town, the Hospital. Everything they've been through, just in a couple of seconds.
They could see in each other's eyes the truth, that it was meant to be, they were meant to survive, no matter what.
After that short mental duel, Ellie seemed to believe in Joel's words because she viewed him as the father she never had, as much as Joel saw her as the daughter he was not going to loose. Not again.
"Okay."
The look Ellie gave him, along with her response were more than enough for him to feel relief.
"Hey uh... I think we should be gettin' back to Tommy's." Joel said, breaking what little tension remained in the moment.
Ellie seemed a little distracted.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, lets head back to Tommy and Maria." Ellie managed to answer despite the actual confusion.
"Let me see if I can get the car working again.", said Joel while he opened the car's front to check the engine. "Ah, I see, I'll get it fixed but it'll take some time." said Joel, a little relieved.
"Huh?" Ellie murmured, still confused. "Oh, yeah, take your time, I can wait here."
She sat in a nearby rock, wondering if Joel had really told her the truth. And if not, why would he lie to her?
"I mean, yeah he lost Sarah quite some time ago" ,she said to herself "and we've been through a lot, together, and I see him as the father I never had, or got to meet" thought Ellie, when a tear caught its way along Ellie's freckled cheek, ending in a smile. "Does he see me as his daughter?"
Ellie decided it was time to find out. She was determined to tell Joel how she felt about their relationship, and find out if Joel felt the same way.
"Dad?" An unconscious side of Ellie took control for a few seconds, letting that single word out from the bottom of her heart.
Joel turned to Ellie, shocked, surprised and confused, all at the same time.
"D-Dad...? Did you just... Call me... Your dad?" Joel said, really nervous and shocked at Ellie's sweet words.
"Yes, I did." Said Ellie in a determined, yet calm tone. "I need you to know something, Joel."
"This is getting a bit odd.", said Joel, still confused. "Just be done with it."
Ellie sighed. "Alright... I know you're not my real father, and that I'm not Sarah, but after all we've been through, after all you did for me this year, each and every time you saved my ass from hunters or clickers or whatever shit that crossed in our path... Fuck! I mean, you almost give your life for me when Henry...". She tried to shed the tears coming from the bottom of her little heart. "I just love you that much to call you my Dad!" Ellie bursted out crying.
Joel just left the car and ran to hug Ellie, and stop her from hitting the ground in her sadness.
He wiped away Ellie's tears with his shirt's sleeve.
"Ellie...", he said solftly. "Ellie, look at me..."
Ellie raised her head to look at her very first father.
"I know we were not the best buddies since we met," Joel said confidently, looking Ellie in the eye, picturing Sarah at the same time. "But... But..."
Ellie caught a tear in Joel's cheek and wiped it off his weary face.
"Oh Jesus Christ, baby girl!" said Joel, now crying deeply along with Ellie. "I lied to you! I'm sorry I lied to you about them, about the Fireflies!"
Joel was now crying even harder than when Sarah died, he cried because of joy, of love, of loss, loneliness and company, all of them condensed into each and everyone of his tears.
"Wh-Why did you...?" Ellie said, a little calmer, yet confused and still crying, at Joel's decision.
"I couldn't bear to loose you, baby girl."
As Joel said this, he hugged Ellie even more.
Ellie could understand the weight in Joel's decision, and just hugged him back in understanding, as a daughter hugs her father.
The two of them, now officially father and daughter, sat there, together, crying all day long, but finally together.
Then nightfall hit them.
"Wow... With all the confessing and crying, I completely forgot about fixin' the car." Said Joel as he stood up to close the car's hood. "Looks like we're camping tonight, baby girl."
"Sure!" said Ellie now full of happiness because she was finally able to call someone 'dad'. "Let me go gather wood, and you teach me how to make a fireplace!"
"Of course, just don't wander too far from here." Said Joel, wishing Ellie to return as soon as possible, despite he knew she could take care of herself.
Joel resumed the car fixing, it took him a couple of hours, yet Ellie had not returned with the wood for the fireplace-making lesson.
"Oh shit... I best go look for her" thought Joel, now really worried despite Ellie's self-care-taking skills.
He had walked about 200 yards, following Ellie's tracks when he heard a scream in the distance. He recognized her. Ellie was in big trouble.
"FUCK!"
Joel began running towards the direction of the panicking screaming, flashlight on, fully loaded rifle. Ready to do anything to save his baby girl.
He saw a group of 3 hunters beating the shit out of someone. Using his rifle scope he noticed quickly that Ellie was the one receiving the beating.
"Fuck you!" Joel heard Ellie said to one of the hunters, which seemed to be the leader.
Said leader took out a gun an pointed it at Ellie's head, decided to end her life.
Then a gunshot filled the forest's utterly silence.
Birds began flying. Rabbits, raccoons, deer. All game ran away at that tremendous sound.
The leader fell on his knees right before Ellie. A big chunk of his head missing. The other two stood there, scared by what they just witnessed. Ellie saw an opportunity and grabbed the gun, quickly shooting one of both remaining hunters three times in the gut.
The remaining hunter smacked her right in the face, dropping the gun from her hand. The hunter then trapped Ellie by the neck with one hand, grabbing the gun with the other one, pointing at Ellie right between the eyes.
"Fuck you!" Said Ellie, closing her eyes, waiting for him to shoot.
Then another shot crossed the woods.
Ellie felt hot drops in her head, but the grip on her neck was gone. As she opened her eyes, the once mighty hunter who was about to kill her fell to the ground, a chunk of his head missing. A hopeless look did he gave Ellie. Typical of a deadman.
Ellie quickly stood up, drawing her gun in the process.
"Who's there?!" Ellie yelled, looking in all directions, turning around quickly. "Fucking show yourself!"
Joel then approached, cautiously not to scare Ellie into shooting him, making the 3 note whistle indicating it was him.
"Joel? Is that you?" Said Ellie, confused and relieved at the same time.
"It's me, baby girl."
Joel approached Ellie to see if she was hurt.
"Joel!" Ellie jumped and hugged Joel by the neck. "Fuck Joel!" Ellie began crying again. "I though myself dead for sure!"
"Don't worry." Said Joel, fatherly hugging Ellie. "Daddy is here, baby girl. I'm not going to let anyone hurt you."
The simple fact of having Joel looking over her, protecting her out of love rather than a prize or survival itself made Ellie feel like the happiest girl on Earth. Something she hadn't felt in her entire life.
"C'mon, I'll carry you back to the camp." Joel picked Ellie up and put her in his shoulders.
"I still managed to gather a little wood, though I don't know if it is enough. It sure weights as hell." Said Ellie, now with a satisfactory tone in her voice, still recovering from the event.
After half an hour of walking they had made it to their camp.
"Ahh..." Said Joel in a relieving expression as he lowered Ellie to the ground. "You're sure getting heavier, Ellie."
"Hey!" Ellie said, tossing a little branch at Joel.
Then they stared at each other for a few seconds before bursting into laughter.
"Ahhh... So, lets see. Are you hurt?" Said Joel, examining Ellie's face for bruises and cuts with his flashlight.
"Nah, just a few bruises here and there." Said Ellie, trying to sound brave. "Nothing I couldn't handle." Then Ellie remembered. "Oh! Here's the wood I managed to gather, along with some game."
"Oh, so you went hunting too?" Ellie then got a bunch of branches and two rabbits from her backpack.
"Yup, though it's not much game, just these two buddies." Ellie said, a little disappointed.
"No matter." Joel tried to comfort her. "We'll be on our way to Tommy's tomorrow's mornin' since I managed to fix the truck while you were out there."
"Phew..." Sighed Ellie in relief. "At least that'll save us a lot of time."
"Yup, now let's start with the campfire lessons, Ellie."
Joel grabbed the bunch of branches and a few stones.
"First you need to check that the wood is dry, not like these three over here." Joel discarded the 3 damp branches.
"Oh! Sorry hehe!" Said Ellie, making a funny face at Joel.
"No worries, kiddo. You're learnin' so there's no harm in mistakes." Joel then grabbed the stones. "Now you need to make a circle with stones." As he said this, he showed Ellie how to put the stones.
"What are the stones for?" Asked Ellie, really eager to know.
"Well, they are kind of like a safety measure for the campfire, for the branches to stay in place."
"So, there's any problem if I don't put the stones around the branches?" Again asked Ellie out of curiosity.
"Well, you could not place the stones, but I wouldn't recommend that unless you like fire THAT much.", said Joel sarcastically.
"Yeah yeah, stones around. Got it, whats next?"
"Hey, easy kiddo, do you wanna enjoy this?"
"Of course! Why wouldn't I wanna enjoy camping with my father?", said Ellie.
Her comment seemed to lighten up Joel's face a bit.
"Well, now we have to light it up.", said Joel while he grabbed two branches to start the fire.
"Here." Ellie offered Joel some matches.
"Nuh-uh".
Joel took the matches and put them back in Ellie's jacket's pocket.
"What would you do if you needed a fire desperately but didn't have any matches at all, huh?"
Ellie tried to think for a quick response, but none came.
"Well I guess I... Crap! I don't know! Teach me already!" Ellie was already more impatient, more eager to know.
"Here, let me show you."
Joel grabbed the two sticks, put them in the middle of the branches and started rubbing them againts one an other, first slowly, then faster, and faster and faster. After a few seconds of rubbing, a spark came out and lit the other branches.
"Wow!", said Ellie in amazement, "You're such a pro at this!"
"You're welcome, sweetheart. How about we cook the game you caught?"
"Fuck yes! I'm starving!"
Ellie quickly got out the two rabbits she had hunted and passed one to Joel.
"You know how this is done, or shall I teach you?", joked Joel.
"Of course I know. Skin it, poke it mouth to tail, tend it over, spin it a couple of times and... voila!"
They finished their rabbits quickly, and began talking, joking and laughing.
"Ahh... Well... We need to get some rest.", added Joel. "We must be early on our way to Tommy's, I'm sure he's missed us."
"Yeah... I'm really tired.", Ellie then approached Joel. "Y'know, I'm really glad you're my dad now."
Minutes later Ellie was sleeping soundly over Joel's protective arm, safely, happily.
"... And I'm glad you're with me, baby girl."