A.N.: A short chapter with a small plot twist to tide you all over. At this point I am trying to tie up all of my loose-ended and unfinished stories before I revise and port them over to Ao3.
I hope this chapter lived up to expectations and hopes for the story! I will finish it in the next few weeks, hopefully.

Thank you for continuing to read!

~MarchingPatriot93

Aloy told Avad everything that she knew about the trip to Ban-Ur, and about the new corruption that was happening beyond the Embrace. Avad and Elisabet listened to Aloy speak with quiet interest, and both shared a look of concern as they listened to the tale of the plague that held the Banuk in its grip.

"So, this corruption that they have near Ban-Ur is nearly the same that we experienced down here? Machines going rogue and increasing in power from whatever virus is attaching itself to their cores?" Avad questioned as he stared intently at Aoy.

"To put it simply, yes. Although nothing about the last few months has been simple." Aloy remarked, unconsciously running her fingers over the burn scars on her left arm.

Elisabet noticed Aloy's hand, and stared, mouth agape, at the scars that lined the girl's skin; the marred flesh that had just barely healed from her fight against Hades and its corrupted machines. Instinctively, as any mother would, she reached out and took Aloy's arm in her hands; her heart broke when the young woman winced at the touch of her hands, but she turned her attention to the wounds, gently twisting her arm to see where the burns were, and how terrible they had been.

"Your arm has healed remarkably well." Elisabet observed, tracing her finger along one of the longer grooves. Aloy began to tug her arm back, so Elisabet released it.

"I've… Done a bit of my own research. Found some old medicine books that were still intact. Learned a few things about ointments made from the herbs that regrew around here." Aloy replied, tucking her arm behind her back.

"So, how long do you believe you will be in Ban-Ur?" Avad asked once more, his gaze soft as he looked at Aloy.

"I'm not sure… Probably close to six months, if the corruption there is as bad as the rumors are made out to be." Aloy replied, a soft sigh pushing past her lips as she thought of the trek to the Banuk territory. "I only hope it will be easier than the final battle down here was."

"I hope so as well." Avad replied, placing his hands on her shoulders. "You'll do great… We will be waiting for you when you return."

"Need some Osaram muscle at your side?" Erand asked, loosening his shoulders as he came to stand before Aloy, a smirk on his rugged face, bringing a smile to Aloy's.

"Not this time Erand, but I appreciate the offer." She laughed, playfully punching his shoulder, as he had done to her on several occasions.

The three of them shared a laugh before Marad returned, stating that Delvin's apartment was ready for Elisabet's use. Aloy offered to take the elder woman to the apartment she had once used, reminding Avad that she knew exactly where it was and didn't need help returning there. He dismissed them both, bidding Elisabet welcome to Meridian, and wishing Aloy a safe trip to the Banuk territories of Ban-Ur. Both women thanked him for his help and hospitality before leaving the throne with soft smiles on their faces.

"Erand." Avad spoke, his voice low and soft as he did.

"Yes Avad?" Erend questioned, coming to stand at his friend's side.

"Follow Aloy as close as you can. Keep her safe while she is in the Banuk territory… And if you are unable to do so, find someone who can travel there safely to do so." He replied, his tone one of concerned friend as he turned his gaze from the retreating backs of the women over to Erand's. "I do not wish for any harm to come to her."

"Understood, Your Grace." Erand replied, moving to take his leave from Avad's side in order to find Aloy the perfect protector.

Avad watched him leave, a slight frown on his lips, before Marad came back to his side, offering him a drink as the young king looked over his kingdom. He thought of Aloy and Elisabet and how much they resembled each other. He thought of how close they had gotten over the last few weeks that they had spent together, knowing how much Aloy had wished to know her mother. His heart clenched in his chest at the realization that, while they looked identical, Elisabet was not Aloy's mother, and the poor young woman was still without parents, having been recreated from a machine before the world as they knew it began to collapse around them. He couldn't help the sigh that passed his lips as he lowered himself back onto the throne, gazing over the Carja capital once more.

Aloy and Elisabet made their way into the apartment, each of them settling in against the soft fabric of the couch as the stress of the day fell from their shoulders. Elisabet turned her head and gazed over at Aloy, who had curled up on the other side of the couch and was gazing off towards the wall in front of them, who eyes hazy and unfocused as Elisabet watched her. She moved closer to Aloy and gently put her hand on the young woman's shoulder, pulling her out of her thoughts with a small jolt before Aloy's gaze fell to her.

"You're lost in thought… What are you thinking about?" Elisabet tried, though Aloy looked unwilling to answer the question presented to her. With a soft sigh, the girl relented.

"Everything… Everything from the last few months… Finding you, defeating HADES, losing Rost, being anointed as Seeker of the Nora tribe… Anything and everything…" She muttered out the last bit, earning a soft sigh from Elisabet. "What about you?"

Elisabet was taken aback for a moment before shaking her head with a smile, gazing over at Aloy as she gently took the girl's hand in her own.

"I'm thinking about the children that I never had… And thankfully didn't have back in my time…" Aloy was shocked for a moment at the wistful sound in Elisabet's voice, prompting a question from the red-head.

"What happened?" She asked. "Were you every pregnant?"

"Once." Elisabet replied, leaning back against the couch and recalling the past like it was only yesterday, and to her it was. She turned her gaze back to Aloy and saw the young woman staring at her expectantly, earning a soft smile from the elder woman.

"What happened to your baby?"

"I lost them… I never was able to have them." Elisabet replied, gazing up at the ceiling. "It's called a miscarriage when your baby dies in the womb."

"A miscarriage… It sounds painful."

"It is, both physically and emotionally." Elisabet replied, glancing over to Aloy. "I bled for days following the loss of my baby… I cried myself to sleep as I thought of what they would have been like… What they could have done in their life." She paused for a moment to gather her thoughts. "I never knew if they were a boy or a girl… Just that I was so happy that they were with me."

Aloy couldn't help but hang her head at Elisabet's words, having a bit of understanding for how Elisabet felt at finding out that she was a mother. She thought it was almost like when she found out that she had a mother, even though her mother was just a cradle facility buried in the heart of All-Mother Mountain. Aloy was about to ask Lis to continue, but the elder had already pushed on.

"In a sick sense, I'm almost glad that they didn't make it…" Lis sighed, glancing over at Aloy as the younger woman sported a look of shock and disgust. She offered a sad smile in return. "The baby was Ted's… He never knew."

"W-what?" Aloy questioned, her eyes now trained on Elisabet's as they looked at each other. "It was Faro's and he never knew?"

"Yes…" Lis sighed, glancing down at her abdomen, remembering the feel of life that had nestled inside of her. "I never told him… The Swarm had already begun to destroy the planet, little by little, and I knew it was only a matter of time before they came for the rest of us. I buried myself in my work, and with my lack of sleep and nutrition, I lost my baby in the process of trying to save the world."

Tears had begun to slip down Elisabet's cheeks, bringing a frown to Aloy's face as she moved towards the elder woman. She didn't have the words to say, of course, but she knew the next best thing. She wrapped her arms around Elisabet in a tight hug, holding onto the elder woman as she allowed her tears to fall.

"He's long dead and is now with our baby…" Lis hiccuped, reaching up to brush her tears away. "I sacrificed so much for the Zero Dawn project… So much of myself and of others…"

"And it paid off…" Aloy reassured, pulling back just enough to gaze into Elisabet's eyes. "People exist again because of Zero Dawn… Because of you. If it wasn't for the efforts of you and the other Alphas, we wouldn't be here now."

Elisabet sighed in defeat, knowing that Aloy was right, of course. A soft smile came to her lips as she gazed down into those beautiful hazel eyes, so much like her own and yet so different. She hugged the young woman closer to her once more, relishing in the felling of holding a child in her arms, whether hers by blood or not. Aloy didn't seem inclined to move from the embrace either, and instead wrapped her arms tighter around Elisabet's waist, her ear pressed to Elisabet's chest as she listened to the soft thumping of her heart.

"I've waited so long for this…" Aloy breathed, tugging at the back of Elisabet's shirt. "To hug my mother…"

"But—"

"I know… I'm just a genetic copy of you…" Aloy began, her voice muffled by Elisabet's shirt, but still loud enough for Lis to hear. "But, one way or another, you are my mother… And you have a daughter."

Lis looked down at the top of Aloy's head, feeling the girl's hold on her tighten just slightly. She held Aloy in her arms, gently rocking her side-to-side as they sat curled up on the couch together. Lis brushed her fingers through Aloy's wild mane of red hair, easing some knots out of her hair as she rubbed her back with her free hand. She wasn't ready to part with this sweet girl in her arms, and yet, she knew that Aloy had a duty to fulfill. She gently pulled Aloy back to gaze into her eyes.

"You have made me the happiest I have ever been in our short time together." She began, brushing her knuckles against Aloy's cheek with a smile on her lips. "I will tell you all sorts of stories of my time when you return…" A smile came to Aloy's lips at Lis' words.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Aloy hugged Elisabet once more, a smile replacing the frown that had settled on her lips. The two of them only separated once they had gotten too tired to stay awake, both bidding the other goodnight as they moved to opposite sides of the room, taking a bed and falling into it. Aloy glanced over at Elisabet once she was sure she was asleep, a soft smile on her lips as she gazed at the woman opposite her.

"Mother or not, I'm so glad that I've met you." She whispered, turning her head to glance back up at the ceiling.

"And I'm glad I've met you." Came Elisabet's response, though softer than Aloy's initial comment.

"I thought you were asleep."

"Almost… But I heard you and felt the need to answer."

"I'm glad you did…" Aloy replied, her voice soft as sleep began to claim her.

"Goodnight, Aloy."

"Goodnight… Mother…" Aloy replied, a soft smile on her lips as she glanced over at Lis, seeing her smile mirrored on the elder woman's face.

Both of them soon drifted off to sleep in the silence of the apartment, both of them calming in the quiet of the city around them.