She walked away, but the past never did.
In the ashes of ruined cities and ruined hearts, she's searching for something more than survival - she's chasing redemption.
Scars fade. But guilt? That stays.
She walked away from everything - blood, guilt, love. Now, with nothing but silence and scars, she takes the long road to redemption.
This is not a story about revenge.
This is a story about redemption... and maybe, healing.
This is a work of fanfiction based on the world and characters of The Last of Us, which belong to Naughty Dog. I do not own any of the original content, and this story is written purely for fun and non-commercial purposes.
Joel finds a young woman, Adeline, being held hostage by a group of men while he's out on patrol one day. He brings her back to Jackson, where she's given the opportunity to have something resembling a real life, for the first time. Joel and Adeline orbit around each other, destined to crash, if both of their reservations don't get in the way.
OR
Joel finds the love of his life lost in the woods.
(obviously deviates from canon as he's not going to see any g*lf clubs and Ellie doesn't hate him because I've already got enough angst to write without that)
fic playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4Q4Ye6oEr8Eaafv0dYvrEC?si=077733b0860b482f