Secrets And Hope {The Last Of Us Fanfiction}

IV

As night fell the sky was clear and the stars shone brightly along with the peaceful silence. For once Joel had found escape from his nightmares enabling him to an undisturbed rest. That is until the sound of pained whimpers woke him with a start.

Sitting up Joel stretched as he felt his tired frame ache with every movement he made. He slowly made his way upstairs towards Ellie's room. It wasn't uncommon for Ellie to have nightmares, in fact it was become quite frequent. He opened the door slightly to find her sleeping peacefully with a copy of Savage Starlight resting on her stomach. There never was a night she didn't read her comics before going to bed and she'd almost always fall asleep before getting to the end.

Joel chuckled to himself as he gently closed her door. He was both relieved and confused that the noises he had heard hadn't come from Ellie. Concluding it to be his imagination, Joel rubbed his tired eyes as he headed back towards the stairs.

But once again the sound of pained groans and whimpers stopped him. Following the sound, it led him to his room where Nora was sleeping. Joel opened the door to find her tossing and turning with tear stained cheeks. She shivered and shook as she let out trembled breaths and whimpers.

Taking a step forward, Joel wondered if waking her up was the right thing to do. But sit by her bedside he gently shook her shoulder in a futile attempt to wake her.

"Nora? Nora come on now, wake up."

Nora flinched as her eyes flickered open. Her breathing was fast paced and shaken as she sat up.

"No! Wha- where am I?"

"It's okay, just a nightmare."

Nora glanced at Joel as more tears escaped from her eyes. Words of comfort were waiting in Joel's mind but Nora didn't give him the chance to say them as she stood to her feet and rushed out the room.

Joel didn't hesitate to follow her downstairs. Looking around to find her stood by the back door taking in the cold night breeze. Joel didn't understand why but he wanted to help her, comfort her; he just didn't know how.

"Nora..."

"I just...I can't keep reliving the pain of losing her..."

"Who?"

Nora took another trembled breath as she turned to Joel.

"Lucy...my daughter. There was uh...a group of us back in Arizona. This horde of infected came outta nowhere, scattered us. I thought I'd found somewhere safe for us but by the time I saw the clicker...I...I was too late."

Joel didn't think it was his place to hug Nora, but he did anyway. Nora dried her eyes and looked back at Joel slight anger and bitterness in her eyes.

"How are you supposed to do it? How do you forget?"

Joel recognized himself in Nora's tone as the pain of losing Sarah crept up, causing his heart to ache.

"You don't, you just... learn to live with it."

The following morning Joel narrowed his eyes against the high summer sun as he picked up the bow before turning to Ellie. She sat on a nearby fence swinging her legs back and forth as she huffed in irritation.

"I don't get it Joel, why do I have to practice something I'm already good at?"

Joel looked to the makeshift targets set up twenty metres away before glancing back to Ellie.

"Because the more you practice, the better you get."

Ellie scoffed as she jumped down from the fence.

"Fuck that! I'm already better than you anyway!"

Joel chuckled looking down at Ellie as he held out the bow.

"That a fact? Care to prove it?"

"Psst...gimme that!"

Ellie took the bow and stood to shoot. Closing one eye and raising her arm, Ellie pulled the string back and let the arrow go. Without falling from its course the arrow hit the target in the middle of the bull's eye. Ellie stood back and passed the bow to Joel.

"There. Can I go now?"

"Fine. But we're picking this up again later."

"Sure. Whatever Joel."

Ellie walked up the path towards the barn as she passed Nora. Nora waved a quick hello as she passed and approached Joel with a warm smile.

"Hey."

"Hey Nora."

"What's going on?"

"Target practice with Ellie..."

Nora placed her hands in her pockets as she looked back at Ellie.

"Going well I see."

"Heh. Yeah she's a good kid but stubborn as all hell though."

Nora smiled again as she chuckled. Taking a step forward she looked at Joel about to say something before Maria's voice caught her attention.

"Hey Nora, you got a minute? We could really use your help in the barn."

"Sure."

Nora glanced at Joel before following the path Ellie had taken towards the barn. Maria greeted her with a half-smile as she approached from the stables.

"Hey Nora. You know how to shoe a horse?"

"Yeah. Worked on a ranch in Austin back before the Outbreak."

"Great. When you're done with that, a few of the stables need mucking out. Then could you check on the mare in the paddock, she had a foal last night and we need to keep an eye on em."

"Sure."

Maria nodded as she grabbed her radio and threw her rifle over her shoulder. Nora didn't say anything as she left, Maria looked stressed and tired. Everyone was, but it even seemed to show in Maria's voice. Nora wasn't surprised though, running the settlement with Tommy couldn't have been an easy job. Sighing deeply Nora got to work, finishing with the horse that needing shoeing and placing it back in its stable.

Moving on the stables Nora had forgotten how much hard work it could be. Memories of her teenage years on her Grandfather's ranch came flooding back, bringing a small smile to her face as she worked. Nora wiped the sweat from her forehead once she had finished as she placed her brush down and inspected the work she had done, giving a satisfying nod to the clean stables before she headed to the paddock.

The summer sun beamed down giving a comfortable heat. The kind Nora remembered from her childhood. The summer vacations from school, staying out late riding through the pastures. Nora couldn't help but sigh at the life she knew she'd never get back. When she reached the paddock, Nora smiled at the sight of Ellie sitting on the gate feeding the mare some hay.

"Hey Kiddo."

Ellie looked at Nora and smiled as she jumped down from the gate.

"Hey Nora."

"What you up too?"

Ellie answered with a shrug of her shoulders as she went back to feeding the mare. Nora stood by the gate while gently stroking the mare's neck.

"She's beautiful huh? You ever seen a foal before?"

"Nope this is a first. She's so damn small too."

"Well she won't stay like that for long. Bout' a year she'll be as big as mama here. Hey maybe Maria might let you help break her in."

"You think she'd let me?"

"I'm sure if you ask."

Ellie smiled and a short silence fell between the two. Nora smiled again as she nudged Ellie with her elbow to grab her attention.

"Come on Kiddo, how bout' we head back to the house and I'll fix ya some food. You hungry?"

"Starving."