NO LIGHT. ✹ E.W.

epilouge.

"Mrs.Williams, I'm home!"

The sound of the door closing brings forth the sound of claws hitting the floor, Sully emerging from the kitchen seconds later to greet Ellie. Following behind him is you, a smile on your lips and a smudge of red paint on your cheeks. Ellie grins at the mess upon your arms and shirt, carefully maneuvering around to engulf you in her arms.

"What happened here?" She questions, fingers grazing your cheek to inspect the fresh paint. She can't help but chuckle at the way you look at her with a tired smile.

"Dina left J.J. here for a bit while she was on a "not-date" with Dean," you explain, bringing your hand up to smear blue paint on the side of Ellie's face, earning a loud groan in return. "I taught him how to finger paint and apparently I became the canvas."

Ellie grins. "Well, you are a work of art, babe."

You roll your eyes at her comment, giving her a gentle push before making your way back to the kitchen. A mess of sheets of paint covered paper lay sprawled on the floor, paint brushes with every color tossed in the sink for cleaning and paper towels soaked with cleaning chemicals rested on the countertop where you'd left them. You resume your task of wiping down the countertop while Ellie takes to fishing the papers from the floor and stacking them neatly in a pile.

It's taken some time to get yourselves back to this point–happy with each other and your relationship. It came with hardships and a lot of work to get back to where you were before. Ellie needed to work through her grief for Joel, to put Seattle and everything involved with it behind her. From time to time, it still haunts her, but the panic attacks have lessened over time, the pain has dulled into something more manageable for the both of you.

And then Ellie surprised you with a little object she'd found in Seattle. A ring with some fancy Latin words carved into the inside of it with some even fancier words being asked to you. It wasn't perfect by any means but it was Ellie's way of asking you to stay with her for however long time may grant you. So, with the help of Maria and a small ceremony you'd become Mrs.Williams. It was sad that Joel couldn't be there to see it, but you were certain that he knew. He knew of Ellie's happiness and he would've been happy for her.

Ellie, Sully and you have formed a happy life in Jackson–happy as it may be in a zombie apocalypse, mind you. It's what the both of you deserved.

The two of you stand at the sink, washing and watching the mess of colors drain down the sink as you work. You're scheduled for a scouting mission the next morning that Ellie so generously talked her way into being worked into so it's almost time for bed. The sun paints the sky an orange color, swirls of strawberry clouds dotting it every now and then.

"Hey, babe?" Ellie nudges you, pulling you out of your head and back to reality. You gaze at her through curious eyes, a playful little smile on your lips.

"Yeah?"

She gestures to the record player on the countertop, a sweet melody filling the air that you instantly recognize.

Ellie's lips curve into a smile at you, one that you can't help but return as you reach out to grab her hands. She places them on either side of your waist while you wrap yours around her shoulders, fiddling with the soft strands of her hair falling loose from her bun. She twirls you around the kitchen, Sully playfully moving around your feet as she does.

Your laughter fills the space of the room as the music lulls you into a state of bliss. The melody of Ecstasy takes you back to being nineteen, tucked away in a little church around Jackson with Ellie's lips against yours. The last night of normalcy before chaos ensued.

And now, here you are, back in the moment of peace. There will always be loss, the threat of infected will always loom over your promised safety and maybe there will come a day when you have to hunt someone else to the ends of the Earth. But for now, you soak up the gentle touch of Ellie Williams, the softness engulfing those eyes that had seen so much pain and loss, her.

And maybe all of that was worth it to get to this moment, give or take a few incidents, but it led to this point. You'd survived, you were alive and living.

There may be no light in the world, but at least you had Ellie.

And Ellie has you.

❛ shit, i can't believe it's over and now that it is i miss it. thank you guys so much for seeing it through with me and reading the mess that is no light. i started this book shortly after beginning my play through of tlou part ii, throughout the whole game i had these ideas buzzing through my head and i'm surprised that i managed to put them on paper like this. no light is my favorite thing i've ever made and i'm so happy you guys liked this story. i appreciate every single comment you've left me throughout the course of this book, i read them a lot whenever i'm feeling down or in need of a smile. i hope to find the energy to write something else for ellie at some point, she (and joel) means so much to me that i can't put into words without crying. but until then thank you for reading no light, the last of us has certainly brought light to me at times. i'll see you around.

♡ ⃕ ℛ𝒉𝒂𝒆.