Chapter Text
Ellie wakes up earlier than she usually does.
She knows this right away because she wakes up on her own, and not by Joel. These three and a half weeks they've been here, Joel has had to wake Ellie up so she's not late for her late morning work. Ellie rolls out of the bed (a double bed, so much nicer than her bunk at military school) and draws back the curtain to see it was dawn.
Eager to actually eat breakfast with Joel for once, she goes downstairs. By the early morning light coming in through the window, she can see Joel isn't there. Frowning, Ellie hurries back upstairs and stops in front of his bedroom door. Was he still asleep? As quietly as she can, she turns the knob and steps into the room. The light is dim from the small window across from his bed, but she can see that Joel is there, still asleep. She can also see what is on the bedside table.
Something in Ellie's chest twists as she subconsciously walks towards the picture, having to stop herself from touching it. Joel and his daughter's bright eyes and smiles hit her as hard as they did she first saw them, back when she had first met Tommy and Maria.
-
After lunch, Maria offers to show Ellie the stuff they had gotten from Joel's house when they had visited Texas. Ellie agrees, because why not? She hadn't really considered Joel's previous life before the apocalypse, but it would be interesting to see some of his old stuff.
The first thing Maria shows her is a postcard from Tommy to Joel, from when Tommy was on vacation in Boca Raton, Florida. Ellie struggles to read the sloppy handwriting, but eventually makes out: Hope all is going well. I'll tell you all about my trip when I get back. See you soon! -Tommy. She flips the postcard over, fascinated by the picture of a strange looking tree and the ocean.
The second thing she shows her is a photograph of two people, a little beaten up and a fleck of something on it that is probably blood. What first catches her eye is the short-haired blonde girl in the photo. She's wearing a blue striped jersey, beaming at the camera as she holds up a small golden trophy high in the air. At first Ellie thinks that the kid may be related to Maria, given the her hair color, but immediately rules that out because Tommy had indicated he had met Maria only a few years ago. "Who's-" Ellie starts, but trails off when she really looks at the person beside the girl.
It was Joel.
Something seizes harshly in Ellie's chest as she stares down at the photo. Joel. There he was, actually smiling, his arm slung around the girl's shoulders like he hadn't a care in the world. No gray hair. No wrinkles. No steel in his eyes, no viciousness in the lines of his face, no blood on his hands. The watch he's wearing is different and unbroken.
For a moment, she can't breathe.
"Ellie?" Maria ventures. Ellie doesn't look up. "Ellie, are you okay?"
Ellie hadn't hurt like this for a long time, whatever kind of hurt this was. The closest thing Ellie could think of was the feeling she got the first time she had read her mother's letter, trying to memorize every little detail of her lettering.
And just like she longed for her mother, Ellie felt a strong sense of missing Joel, even through he was only a few rooms away.
"Yeah," Ellie says, clearing his throat when her voice comes out too hoarse. "Just caught off guard, that's all. Man, he just looks so young! Who's the girl in the picture?"
Maria stares at her for a few moments. "Oh," she says, slowly and carefully, like she may have just made a mistake. "I thought you knew; don't know why I assumed. That's Joel's daughter, Sarah."