I cried at the final message in the game between GAIA and Elisabet about if she'd had children before the Faro Plague. It got me thinking about what if she DID have a child, or instead allowed the Lightkeeper Protocol to remain, and wanted to leave a message for her daughter. This is what I came up with for this AU, and I hope you like it!
(Sorry for the format; this site doesn't like me doing this like a bullet list.)
I own nothing except my AU. The characters of Horizon Zero Dawn and the sequel game Horizon Forbidden West belong to Guerilla Games, Sony Interactive Entertainment, and Mathijs de Jonge.
— "Lis, if you could have met your daughters, what would you have hoped they'd be like?"
"Well… I'd want them to be curious, always questioning things and learning about... whatever they want. And for them to be willful - unstoppable even… but with enough compassion to heal the wounds of the world."
"I see. Those would be traits you'd admire in your children. Would you like to say a few more words for them?"
"What? You were recording-?! Ugh, Gaia!"
*Exasperated sigh*
"Well, girls, since Gaia decided to pull this one on me, I guess you already heard what I said. But, beyond that, I want you to be your own people. I've decided not to name either of you as my successor to Miriam, but rather Gayle here, because I want you to chart your own path untethered to mine. Children shouldn't be copies of their parents, so, with me gone, this is the best way. You won't be the second coming of Elisabet Sobeck. You'll just be you, which is all you should be. I'm sorry that I couldn't be there for you, but there's this annoying stalker following me called death and I can't get away from it this time."
*Sigh, dry chuckle*
"Listen to me, talking about your futures when I already said how I won't be a part of it. Next, I'll be spouting business advice."
*Deeper sigh*
"Girls, I hope you know how much I love you. I never thought I'd be a mom; I just figured I didn't have the time, or that I wouldn't be very good at it. But, when I became pregnant with you, and then found out 'you' was actually 'you two'… I hadn't felt that happy in a long time. Even now, just thinking that in a few weeks you'll be here in my arms, I get so excited, even if I won't be here too long. I love you girls… so, so much… And I hope you live your lives with that same kind of passion, that same fire that I have. Because I have a feeling that, even if you never know me, you're gonna be handfuls of trouble. But it'll be amazing trouble — you'll be amazing, both of you. No matter what you do with your lives, where you go, who you love, I want you to know that I'll always be proud of you, and as unscientific as it sounds, there is no quantifiable metric to accurately describe how much I love you two."
*Shuddering breath*
"I hate goodbyes, so I'll end this message here. Maybe I'll make another later, or Gaia will trick me into it again. So, for now, I'll see you in a few weeks, girls."