The Last of Us: Diamonds in the Sky

As usual, Joel couldn't sleep. He really couldn't help it. The only thing harder to kill than bloaters were old habits. After twenty years having to sleep with one eye open or not even sleeping at all, his body just got used to the rough conditions. One never knew what could be lurking around a tree or behind a bush just waiting to catch you off guard. Taking the chance of sleeping and possibly not saying daylight was one no one wanted to take.

Funny how life worked sometimes.

Joel gave up in his tossing and turning, took the covers off him and sat at the edge of the bed. It was hard to keep a gauge on time, seeing as it was at the bottom of the list of priorities, but sometimes one just knew.

Twenty one years ago today, his world changed forever.

Joel reached over to his nightstand and picked up the photo. Him and her; happy and celebrating. Those were the simpler times. What one wouldn't do to have those days back.

Life was more decent now that they were at the settlement. They had a roof over their heads, a warm bed to sleep in every night, a consistent food supply. Best part of it all? No bills. No mortgage. No taxes.

On second thought, maybe the past can stay in the past.

Joel shook his head and stood up and stretched, hearing a few satisfying cracks in the process. He decided to head downstairs and do the one surefire thing that would knock him out. Stuff his face. Never failed to render him unconscious on the couch.

Joel opened the door and made his way down the hallway. He looked over and noticed Ellie's bedroom door was closed. For understandable reasons, Ellie did prefer to sleep with her door slightly open. The idea of having her own room as glorious but being completely shut in it alone wasn't as appealing.

Joel grabbed the doorknob and twisted it, opening it softly in case Ellie was actually still inside and asleep.

"Ellie?" Joel called out softly while stepping into her room. Her bed was messy but empty.

"Ellie?" Joel called out again. She was infamous for her little pranks. He swore his soul nearly left his body when Ellie scared him by popping out of a closet.

But this time she didn't seem to be plotting to give him another heart attack, much less be anywhere. Joel looked around and saw two things missing. Her signature pocket knife and a firefly necklace she always kept on her dresser. He always wondered where she got that from. She said she wasn't a firefly and it didn't seem like she was attempting to collect them, not like they were collector's items to being with. That one was the only she had.

Joel's mind immediately jumped the conclusion that she left for good but the logical side his brain woke up and quickly shut that down. Despite things getting tense when he revealed to her what really happened at the hospital, , up to the point that Ellie ran away from the settlement, things were resolved afterwards. If anything, it brought them closer together.

"You love me, admit it."

"Ughh." Joel rolled his eyes in slight amusement.

"You love me." Ellie sang.

Joel sighed. "Fine. You're alright kiddo."

"Sorry, I didn't hear that right, must be feeling my age." Ellie put a hand to her ear to "help". "What was that?"

"I said you're alright, baby girl."

"Excuse you. I'm fucking fantastic, thank you very much."

Joel chuckled. "Come on, let's get on back. You really worried the settlement just now." Joel got up and helped Ellie up before placing an arm around her shoulders. Ellie in turn wrapped an arm around his waist.

"Hey Joel?"

"What's up kiddo?"

"You're alright too."

Ellie wouldn't leave him after that. She couldn't. Not so ill equipped anyway. She knew better than to just wander around in the open world with just a pocket knife and a firefly necklace. There are probably people who could manage with just that but that's something to think at another time.

She's around here somewhere. Joel made his way downstairs and didn't see her in the living room. He looked around and saw the door leading to their back porch was open. Bingo.

Joel went to the door and peeked outside. There she was laying comfortably on the grass.

"There you are." Joel said.

"Stars are out tonight. Been a while since I've seen them like this. They're really cool." Ellie said softly.

Joel looked up at the night sky. "Yeah, I suppose they are." Joel took a seat beside her. Her pocket knife laid next to her and the firefly necklace was around her neck.

"Something on your mind? You're not normally up at this time. Tend to be oblivious to the world at this time."

Ellie let out a little chuckle before falling silent. "I lost her four months ago today."

"Riley?" Joel asked softly.

"Yeah. Right before she started turning, she told me to run. I didn't want to. I wanted to stay with her because we were supposed to lose our minds together. When she tried to bite me, I knew I had to go." Ellie paused. "So I ran. As hard and fast as I could. Then I heard the faint sound of a gun going off."

Riley was one of the few that didn't want to succumb to the infection. "I'm sorry to hear that." Joel said softly.

"It's okay."

"I also lost Sarah today. 21 years ago today."

Despite them being on good terms, as well as being closer than ever, Ellie knew the topic of Sarah was still a sore one. Seeing him so open about her was surprising to say the least.

"You...you never told me how she died. Was she infected?" Ellie asked cautiously.

"No." Months ago, Joel would have snapped at the mere thought of Sarah. But she trusted Ellie enough to open up to her. He's her rock and in return, she's his.

"Sarah, Tommy and I were trying to haul it out of Austin. We got into an accident and we had to run on foot while the infected were hot on our tails. Eventually Sarah and I got separated from Tommy ; he wanted to hold off the infected to let me us go on. We were on the outskirts when we ran into the military." Joel paused. Even just after a decade later, it still wasn't easy to relive this.

"With the infection running so rampant, they didn't want to take any chances of it spreading outside of Austin. He was given strict instructions to shoot us dead. I tried to protect her and even Tommy came in and shot him. But it was too late. He got her in the stomach and she bled out. She died in my arms."

"I'm sorry Joel."

"It's okay."

Joel was startled by the feel of Ellie's hand wiping at his cheek. A couple of tears had managed to slip out. He wiped at the rest of them with his hands and laid down next to her, placing his hands behind his head.

The two of them fell silent again.

"Hey Joel?"

"Mmm?"

"Do you think there's a life, y'know, after this? Do you believe in heaven and hell and all that?"

Joel was silent. In a world like this, the idea of there being a better life than this...just waiting for you once you give up...it was pure temptation. There was no point in telling someone to go to hell, it was already here. The only life after this seemed to be Heaven. The only true sanctuary.

"I like to think so. I often think Sarah is up there, owning and impressing everyone with her soccer skills. She's my angel and always will be."

"I go back and forth...I mean, I'd like to believe."

"But you don't?"

Ellie shrugged. "Not really. I think there's a God and stuff, but I don't think there are other people up there with him, y'know?"

"Hm." Joel grunted.

"But I like to think Riley is a star in the night sky. The light in the darkness. A real firefly to be honest. Maybe Sarah can be too."

Joel chuckled softly.

"And they kind of look of diamonds, don't they? All sparkly and shit."

"Yeah... beautiful diamonds."

"Hey Joel?"

"Yeah, baby girl?"

"Do you think we'll be diamonds too?"

Joel smiled. "Yeah. Yeah we could be up there with the best of them."

"Well you'd probably be a little chipped and rough around the-ow! Kidding!" Ellie laughed loudly. "You'd be a bad ass looking diamond, Joel."

"Right back at you baby girl."

"Fucking right."

The two of them laid there watching the sky for who knows how long. As time passed, more and more stars began illuminating the sky. One had even flown across the sky.

"You know about shooting stars right? You can make a wish and maybe it'll come true." Joel said.

"Psh, hell no. That one was David. That's God saying 'Fuck you, get the fuck outta here'. "

Joel hoped his laugh didn't wake anyone up nearby.

I'm back and with more feely feels xD. Probably not as well written as my other ones but it's my best after running into a bit of writer's block. Getting back into the groove~

Leave a review if you'd like =D