A.N. So…here we go.

This is my first Horizon fanfic. After I beat FW, I replayed ZD twice (and got lost in photo mode lol ), then spent the next three weeks writing. There's a lot to get through but I am excited to see this story through to the end. I'm still getting a feel for the characters voices, so bear with me.

This story is canon divergent. In it, Tilda has worked with Elisabet on Zero Dawn, and they were still in a relationship until close to the launch of the Odyssey. This story is also just plain ridiculous in some areas, and I'm expecting some cringe moments—like where Aloy tries to teach Tilda how to use a bow. (*author averts gaze but keeps scene anyway*)

Anyway, thank you for taking a chance with this and happy reading.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to the Horizon franchise. Thanks to the Horizon team for giving us this incredible game! This story is just my badly written version of a side quest. :)

Horizon: Memories

Chapter 1

December 2064

In the distance a plethora of city lights brightened the night sky. That artificial light, it was hard to escape as cities only grew and grew, developing the undeveloped until there was nothing natural left.

They'd left the mansion behind and settled on the balcony after the usual meet and greet turned tousle of clothes and inhibitions.

Elisabet came to her seeking escape. She wasn't naïve to a stressed person's intentions. Off and on, their relationship waned but their bond always stayed somewhere in the midst; the way Elisabet held her in the moment worth more than the cost. The relationship, she never treated it as anything less, no matter how bad Elisabet was at maintaining it.

If something required unfettered trust in another person, Elisabet avoided it.She rarely confided, took everything upon herself, and pushed away, choosing focus over love. This new project, Zero Dawn, was the first time she'd ever witnessed Elisabet force herself to trust so many.

From a patio chair, Tilda watched Elisabet's stoic profile with a ginger smile. Elisabet stood at the balcony edge with her hand resting casually on the banister. How such a fascinating person carried so much hardship in her eyes…it wasn't fair. Breaking that rigidity was a challenge, but a beautiful challenge she readily accepted.

"The world is collapsing around us, and you want me to go dancing?"

With a small grin emerging, Tilda left her wine behind on the small patio table beside her and meandered to the woman, her hands stuffed in the pockets of her slacks. "This world is always a mess. Let it be."

"Tilda, I can't. I'm headed back to Zero Dawn in the morning."

Tilda's arms wrapped around Elisabet's waist and Elisabet quieted as Tilda kissed her neck. "Always work."

"...for a reason."

Elisabet felt stiffer than usual, but that didn't keep Tilda from hugging her close.

"Biophysicist turned Doomsayer. What's gotten into you?" Tilda kissed her a second time and let go, mindful to give the scientist her space. "When we met, your lecture that day was all about hope for a brighter future."

Their gazes met and Tilda smiled even if Elisabet didn't return it.

"You convinced me."

Tilda approached taking Elisabet's face into her hands, and Elisabet looked right through her with a troubled gaze. There was something she knew but hesitated to say; a deep conflict brimming in her eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Ted Faro just destroyed that dream." Elisabet looked down. "I have less than two years to fix it, and I don't know if I can."

"What are you talking about? What happens in two years?"

Elisabet sighed but said nothing.

"Lis." Tilda pushed.

"If the Odyssey project is promising...you should go." Elisabet stepped out of Tilda's grasp and started into the house.

"...and you'll be with me, right?"

That sprawling living room, Elisabet stopped in the middle, a person so down-to-Earth amid countless luxuries, her gaze to the marble floor. Elisabet spent her money in better ways, not on priceless art or furniture worth more than a private flight…and that was okay. Between them, someone had to be sensible. Her ability to blend in was one of Elisabet's greatest qualities. At conferences and seminars, a person with an untrained eye would never know that one of the world's greatest scientists watched their lecture from the very back row of the room. It wasn't until they heard her name that their skin paled and sweat started on their brow.

"What's going on Lis?" Tilda stopped in the balcony doorway as a shroud of darkness clouded Elisabet's aura. "What aren't you telling me? What did Ted Faro do?" His name on her lips made her brow scrunch in a furrow.

"...I won't be on that ship." Wasting no time, Elisabet crossed the room and escaped down the steps, their evening forgotten that fast.

"Lis." Tilda hurried to the front door and stopped Elisabet in the foyer with a grab of her arm. She stepped in front of her, her thoughts rushed. She hated to watch Elisabet leave. "Whatever it is, I don't need to know right now." Her other hand took Elisabet's waist with a tender grasp. "But please stay. We don't need to talk about work. We have time to figure that out." Tilda closed the space between them, resting her forehead against Elisabet's, closing her eyes as Elisabet stiffened. "No work. Just us."

It'd gotten worse in recent months, how Elisabet loved her then pulled away every time things got too involved, but still Tilda hoped for more of those enraptured, bittersweet moments, where Elisabet let her guard down and trusted her just long enough for another night to pass.

With a soundless sigh, Elisabet relaxed and slipped her arm from Tilda's grasp, a disheartening move until she pulled Tilda close, albeit hesitantly.

Tilda smiled and leaned in for a kiss. She got one. Somber as it was, it still made her heart soar.

Far Zenith Base—Approx. 3041

Charred and broken, bruised and bleeding. Aloy hesitated to think of what she'd find under Spectre Prime's thrown pilot hatch, but she had to know, her curiosity wouldn't let up until she did. Tilda did…what she did…but she didn't deserve death. Aloy jammed the tip of her spear into the crack between the hatch door and seal.

"Maybe we shouldn't—"

Aloy grunted, teeth gritted, over Erend's voice as her muscles tensed against the mechanized weight. 'This better not break my spear.'

*Pop*

The hatch door flew off and she stumbled back at the force's sudden release. Inside, the Zenith woman lay unconscious but intact. Aloy crouched and took Tilda's wrist, feeling for a pulse beneath her fingers. 'Come on.'

On the platform, the team watched from afar in apprehensive silence and Aloy held her breath, waiting for something, anything. This woman had too much knowledge of the old world left to share, and if she died it all went with her. At a throb beneath her fingers her eyes brightened. "Erend! Over here. She's alive."

He jogged to a stop beside her. "Why are you telling me?"

"Because I can't carry her back to base."

"You assume these muscles are free." He smiled and she smiled back. Erend was always there with his quips to lighten the mood. "You sure you want to bring her back with us. Aloy she—"

"Please, Erend. We might need her help if we're going to stop Nemesis."

"I doubt she'd be interested in helping us."

"I'm hoping I can convince her." Aloy stood and moved towards the rest of the group on the platform, her eyes trained on that holographic red ball of chaos. "She obviously knows more about it than any of us."

Behind her Erend sighed and metal shifted with a scrape against the ground as he took Tilda into his arms.

"Let's all regroup at the base." Aloy looked to every face, taking their obedient nods with humility and gratitude.

The Base

When his arms tired, Erend carried the lithe woman over his broad shoulder, but took her into his arms once more as they neared their destination. They'd hung back from the rest of the team, finding their own way to the base, walking slow along the cold, mountainous route; the base's entrance finally coming into view after an hours-long journey.

"You sure it's a good idea to bring her here? She tried to kill you."

Aloy sighed. Again, he voiced the concern for the tenth time. "I don't think she wanted to, wouldn't have made sense."

"What are you talking about?"

"She wanted me to go with her."

"What? You mean into…space?"

"Yeah. She wanted to take Gaia, find a new world, and start a new life together."

"Why just you?"

"Uh…" Aloy averted her gaze and rubbed the back of her neck. At least the ground didn't stare back. "Her and Elisabet were lovers…in the old world."

Erend's eyes widened, his whole brow raising. "And because you look like her…"

Aloy answered his unfinished question with a nod. "She was hoping…I would…have the same feelings."

"And?"

A gaze as wide as his darted over, Aloy looking him square in the eyes as she nearly stopped. "And? What do you mean "And"—"

"Just…wondering—"

"No. I don't know her like that—"

"Whoa, okay, I believe you." Erend smiled at her flustered reaction as she climbed the rocky incline to the door just ahead of him.

"Honestly, I'm not sure what Elisabet saw."

"But you're bringing her back here…why?"

"I told you. To get answers. She's the closest thing to Elisabet I have. She knew her on a personal level. That's greater than any data files from the past."

"Thought it was to help us with Nemesis—"

"Right, that too." She stopped outside the door, avoiding any glance to Tilda's limp form as Erend eyed her profile closely, his gaze burning into her skin.

"Be careful going down that path Aloy."

"…I know."