The Last of Us one-shots

Letters

I sat on my bed, tears pricking my eyes and my arms cuddling the plush bear that Joel had found for me years ago whilst scavenging as I waited for the man to come and say goodbye to me. Come and say goodbye to me before leaving with Ellie to deliver her to the fireflies. It was practically a suicide mission and I didn't understand why my adoptive dad had to do it. Needless to say that I was dreading the moment when he said goodbye to me, terrifyingly potentially for the last time. But I was trying not to think about that. I looked up as I heard a soft knock on my closed door.

"Come in." I called out. The door opened and my heart immediately dropped as Joel appeared with an envelope in one of his hands. Joel was my safe place and so of course normally I loved seeing him. But not today.

"How are you doing, kid? You okay?" He checked, though we both already knew the answer as he shut the door behind him.

"No, I'm not, but never mind. Don't ask." I shook my head, making the hard-featured man sigh as I shuffled to the end of my bed before standing up.

"Okay. Well, Ellie and I are about to leave, so I wanted to see you before I left. I, um, brought you this, too." He nodded before gently putting the envelope into the palm of my hand. My eyebrows furrowed, my mind confused as to what he was giving me as I looked at him.

"What is it?" I asked. Joel sighed and scratched the back of his head. I knew Joel as if he was my own dad, and I could tell that he was desperately trying to keep his harsh front up for me, and not cry. But I wasn't going to do the same, I knew that the second that he'd go to hug me, I'd just break down. But that was okay.

"It's a letter. It's nothing special, it's just a letter, but, um...fuck, okay." He chuckled and looked at me, making me gulp and bite my lip as I could see the tears in his crinkled eyes.

"This isn't going to be easy for either of us, I know that, and I knew it when I agreed to deliver Ellie to the fireflies and when I realised that I have to find Tommy. So, I'm going to try and get letters to you. I don't care how I do it, I'll figure it out. And this is the first one. So, I want you to open this the first time that you need me, and I'm not there. Because I promised you when I took you in that I was always going to be there when you needed me, and I'm not about to break that promise. And so, this is the best that I can do until I can come back to you." He nodded as his eyes flicked over my face. I choked and gave him a small smile, my heart swelling in both sadness and love for how sweet this gesture was as I gripped the letter that little bit tighter.

"Oh, Joel." I choked before tightly wrapping my arms around his torso and pressing my head to his chest. He immediately returned the hug and pressed his lips to the top of my head, both of us not wanting to let go again as we took in the last moment like this that we would have for a while.

"I want to come with you." I mumbled into his flannel shirt.

"I know that you do, baby girl, but you know that I can't risk it. I can't lose you too." He returned. I sighed and nodded, tears unapologetically leaving my eyes as I pulled away from him and looked up at his face. Joel gave me a small smile, tears still pricking his eyes as he nodded.

"We're leaving after sundown. You know that I'd love for you to be there, but since we're sneaking out of the QZ, you can't. So, this was my chance to say goodbye." Joel nodded.

"Please don't say goodbye. Goodbye suggests that you're not coming back. I'll see you later." I gave him a small smile. Joel chuckled and nodded again, my heart completely numb as he leant in and kissed my head again before heading back to my door. He opened it and looked back at me.