A/N: Just something that's been on my mind lately. :) Not exactly expecting this to be long, but that's okay. It's the story that counts. I hope you enjoy! :)

DISCLAIMER: I do not own The Last of Us.

"Dammit, Ellie. Where the hell are you?" Joel shouted, walking past the horse ranch his brother and his wife owns. He stepped in front of the stall that Ellie's horse lives in and sighed when he saw that her horse was standing there, chewing on some hay. "If her horse is here, where could she be?"

He turned around and started heading in the direction where Tommy was. He hoped that he would have some answers. He's been teaching Ellie more on guns and the mechanics of one. How to use it, clean it, and how not to blow your own hand and face off. Joel had thought that she probably didn't need the lesson since she was pretty clever with a pistol already, but she eagerly accepted it.

As he past a few people that resided and worked there, he noticed some children playing with older men, presumably, their fathers. He stopped and examined this little girl shyly standing behind a desk, holding something behind her back. She seemed scared, but hopeful.

Joel followed her gaze and he soon found that she was staring at a man around Tommy's age looking at some blueprints. He never turned around from the paper, leaving the girl to become more anxious.

Finally she gulped and stepped out from behind the desk and slowly marched over to the man. He hadn't noticed her, so she hesitantly raised her hand. She grasped at his pant leg and tugged at the clothing.

He shifted his head to the side and questioned what was bothering him. When he saw that it was this little girl, he smiled softly and knelt down to scoop her into his arms. He stood back up and moved his mouth. Joel couldn't make out what he was saying, but he didn't need to be a rocket scientist to understand what the hell was going on.

The little girl brought her hand to the front and the man gasped in surprised, as if saying "Is this for me?" and grab at the piece of paper that she was handing to him. He managed to open up the letter with one hand.

Joel's heart dropped when he read the cover. "Happy Father's Day, daddy!" in very sloppy handwriting and a crayon-colored drawing of flowers and stick figures of her and her dad. He smiled sadly. He turned away as the girl hugged her father tightly, bringing happy tears to his eyes.

He clenched his hands into fists and continued on his mission to find Tommy. He passed a few other men spending time with their children and he could feel his emotions tugging at his heartstrings, bringing forth sadness and terrible memories.

He started entering the farm where other animals ate or slept. The area contained little to no people and he felt contempt with the sounds of life. He saw Buckley laying on his side, snoring away against a wall. Joel crouched next to him and pat the top of his head. He woke up, but appreciated the attention and his tail wagged gratefully.

Joel chuckled at the dog's excitement. But knowing he couldn't do this all day, he stood up and continued on his path.

He entered into the power plant and trudged up the stairway to Tommy's office. When he got there, Tommy was just walking into his room.

"Tommy," Joel said. "Have you seen Ellie?"

Tommy stopped and shook his head. "No, I haven't." He entered the room and sat down into a chair, leaning back. "When was the last time you saw her?"

"This morning," Joel closed the door behind him and leaned against it. "She was leaving her room and rushing off somewhere. I didn't think anything of it, so I didn't stop her or question it."

Tommy shrugged. "Whatcha want her for?"

"I was going to ask her if she wanted to go hunting with me." He stated, scratching at his scruffy beard. "She's been constantly bugging me about it. Now that I'm willing to go, she's nowhere to be found."

His younger brother laughed. "It seems she's grown a likin' to you, big brother. How do you feel about that?"

He just shrugged it off. "No different from before."

He turned away, pretending to stare intently at a knick knack on one of the shelves. Tommy frowned. "I doubt that. You must feel something. Especially since this is the first time since Sar-"

"Don't mention her name." Joel spat.

"SInce, well, you know." He sighed. He stood up and strode over to where Joel was standing. He placed a hand on his shoulder. "Listen, I don't know what you're feeling, but I can see that this is the first time in a long while that you felt such happiness."

Joel ignored his sympathy. "I know. But still, I can feel that there's nothing." He pushed away from Tommy. "Anyway, thanks for the help."

He went to the door and left. He decided to go by the water and hope that it would cool him down.

He sat on the cold Autumn ground and stared up at the sky. His mind was filled with Sarah. Over the twenty years, he had constant nightmares. It has lessened once he met Ellie. With him worrying over her and making sure she was safe, his dreams would wander over to her and make him wake up in sweat, instantly searching for Ellie, hoping she was next to him.

And when he would lay his eyes on her sleeping form, his muscles would relax, his mind would be at ease and he would feel that he could finally go back to sleep without such worry.

He lied when he said nothing changed. He knew something was there. Ellie has become something. A part of his life. So much that he's scared to lose her. Like when he lost Sarah. He doesn't want to go through that again. He can't lose her; he will fight for her, if needed be.

He buried his head in his hands and exhaled. He could feel a sob coming. He didn't want to let it out, but since he was all alone, why did it matter? He hasn't sobbed since that night twenty years ago, so why stop?

He inhaled harshly and the tears started flowing.

"Joel?"

He jumped and turned around. To his astonishment, Ellie was standing there, her hands behind her back. He stood up and hid his face, trying to wipe away the tears.

She laughed and walked up to him. "Did you miss me that much that you started crying?" When he didn't say, she frowned. "I'm sorry, Joel. I'm right here, okay?"

He shook his head. "It's... It's nothing like that. Don't worry about it." He said, clearing his throat. She raised an eyebrow, but didn't question it. Ellie was about to say something when Joel interrupted her. "Where the hell were you? I was looking for you."

"Oh, sorry about that. I was busy with Maria." She sat down, staring into the water. "I asked her help on something."

It was Joel's turn to raise an eyebrow in confusion. "What did you ask her about?"

Ellie's cheeks pinkened. "Um, just... Something."

Joel sat down next to her. "It wasn't about... Boys, was it?"

She scowled. "What?! Fucking ew, Joel!"

He chuckled. "Okay, if it's not that, then what?"

She sighed and thought about her next words carefully. "Um, okay. You know what today is, right?"

Joel winced, but nodded.

"Well, before today, everyone was making a huge fuss about it and I wanted to know what the hell was going on. So, apparently there's this thing called Father's Day, you know, in celebration for hard working fathers or something like that." She leaned back onto the palms of her hands and Joel noticed something was in her left hand, but he didn't ask about it.

"I knew about Mother's Day because of Marlene," Hearing her mentioned that woman's name made Joel grind his teeth in anger. "So, we celebrated that every year, but she never said anything about a Father's Day. I decided to ask Maria about it and she told me what things were typically given on today."

She brought forth the item that was in her hand and held it before her. Joel took a good look at it. He could see Ellie physically inhale and exhale before standing up and stepping in front of him. "It's practically the same thing as Mother's Day, so I got the gist of it." She presented a piece of paper and a flower that was picked from one of the gardens. "And this is my... My gift to you."

He hesitantly reached up and gently took hold of the piece of paper. He grabbed the flower and examined it.

Ellie couldn't see his face, but she waited patiently for his reaction. When he opened the letter, she decided that her shoes were the most interesting thing in the world. "I know that shit went down all those years ago, but I think that that doesn't mean you're not a father. I mean, you might think you're not a father anymore, but..."

Joel was reading the inside while she talked and his tears were coming back. In neat, clean hand writing, it read:

"Dear Joel,

I may not be Sarah and I know that I will never be able to replace her, but I just want to let you know that you've been more of a father to me than anyone else I know. Hell, you're more of a father to me than my real father. And I don't even know who my real father is! I know we've had our differences and we weren't exactly the best of 'friends' from the beginning, but things have been getting fucking better.

But thanks for being there for me. And thanks for being my dad.

I love you.

- Ellie

P.S. You're still a butthead, though."

He closed the letter and stood up. Ellie stopped talking when she saw that he moved. "So, um, did you lik-" She stopped when he hugged her. Buried in a bear hug, she smiled and hugged him back.

They stayed like that for a while, just relishing the moment.

He broke the hug and he put his hands on her shoulders and said, "I love you, too, baby girl. And," and lightly flicked her forehead, making her gasp. "You're a 'butthead', too."

She smiled and grabbed the flower, putting it behind Joel's ear. From the ridiculousness that bestowed upon him, she started having a giggling fit. "Oh, my god! You should look at yourself right now. You look fucking hilarious!"

Joel smirked and grabbed the flower, placing it in her hair.

After she calmed down from laughing, she suddenly remembered that Joel was looking for her earlier. "By the way, what did you need me for? You said you were looking for me?"

As he folded up the paper to put in his pocket, he said, "Oh, I wanted to know if you wanted to go hunting with me."

Ellie grinned greatly with excitement. "Hell yeah! Oh, man, today is the best day ever!" She cheered. She ran past Joel to run towards the plant. She turned towards Joel. "C'mon, Joel! Let's go kill some deer!"

He chuckled again. "You're right," he whispered, "Today is the best day ever." He started following her, ready to go hunting.

A/N: I'm literally tired because it's 4:15 in the morning, so I apologize if the ending wasn't that great. But I hope you enjoy nonetheless. :) Until next time!