She saw me, her green and blue eyes frozen to my face. A million emotions seemed to rush through us both as we realized that one another was still alive and fighting.
Suddenly memories flooded my mind, the first time I had met her, taking on waves of Slashers by herself, to her helping me escape the Sprawl, Ishimura and Titan Station. Her loosing her right eye to Stross, me sending her off in the gun ship to get to safety. The bad memories came too… our argument, her yelling at me, then the door closing and me being alone in the apartment, the strongest feeling I had ever felt that night was guilt. I should have never let her leave that night… but then she found Norton, and he seemed like the kind of guy that could give her anything her heart desired… except a Marker filled brain… which is when they needed me again. First time I saw her in weeks and the first thing she did was kiss Norton. Jealousy and hatred swelled in my chest until I thought I'd explode.
But everything changed when I shot him. I felt like I had just ripped a chunk of Ellie's heart out when I told her. It took a while, but eventually she forgave me. Still, I regretted the action.
The next memory was one of the strongest, her trapped in the smoke, forcing me to close the door, leaving her to die. She was smart though, one of the smartest people I have ever met, so she found a way to escape.
The last memory that floods my mind fully was our kiss. The kiss I thought would be my last. But here I stand, again face to face with a woman I thought I'd never see again.
Her face was smothered in confusion, curiosity, disbelief, and love. My heart thumped painfully and before I knew it, Ellie bolted across the room only to fling herself into my arms.
I hold her as tight as I could, afraid she'd vanish. Her muscular arms wrapped around my neck and a small hitched sound echoed in her throat. I stroked her back and she pulled back to place both her hands on my cheeks. Fresh tears were in her eyes.
"It's really you." She whispered.
I smiled. "It's really me."
She released a breath of air at the sound of my voice. "Oh you bastard." she leaned forward to catch my mouth with hers. Her fingers went into my hair to hold me closer, and my arms tightened around her waist.
"Ahem..." A male cleared his voice from beside us.
Ellie jumped and pulled back, looking over to the noise.
Carver waved. "Should I leave you two alone for a bit? You know, to make up for lost time?"
A wide smile crossed her face and she jogged over to him, hugging him tight. "Carver!"
He chuckled and patted her back. "Hey there."
She looked back and forth at both of us. "I can't believe it. I saw the moon fall. How did you both survive? And how did you get here?"
"It's a long story," Carver said. "We'll explain once we get somewhere safe."
"Well there's an underground mine everyone has been heading down. Maybe we can figure out a plan from there." Ellie said.
"Sounds good." Carver nodded, reloaded his gun and headed for the street.
Ellie picked up ammo, reloaded and just before she headed for the door too, I grabbed her arm and spun her back to me, kissing her once again. She chuckled and kissed back.
"I missed you so much." I said gently, staring into her eyes.
Her fragile fingers stroked my cheek. "I thought I'd never see you again."
Before anything could interrupt us, I pulled her closer and ever so slightly, I brushed my lips against hers, whispering. "I love you. I thought I'd never get to tell you."
"I thought I'd never get to hear it," her eyes shine with happiness. "I love you too." she pressed her lips to mine once, twice, three more times then smiled and headed towards Carver, who waited patiently in the street.
I picked up some extra ammo, rolled my neck and smiled. "Let's do this."