1Author's Notes : I do not own Tomb Raider
After the Source was destroyed , Ana and Lara left the temple . Ana was honestly surprised when Lara offered to give her a hand and helped her stand up .
Ana wordlessly followed Lara out of the temple and into the snowy outside , it was not like she had many other options at this point , her men and brother were dead , so it was either follow Lara or let the natives take her prisoner , which she no doubts would end in her execution .
Though it wasn't like she wasn't dead already ...
She had failed her mission , the Source ... her only hope of living was gone . And she highly doubts she could go back to Trinity without being executed for her failure , this was a very important operation , one that had costed millions of dollars and quite a hefty amount of Trinity's resources . So she could not even think of expecting a warm welcome , and that's assuming she did somehow manage to escape and get back to the base , with out any sort of assistance or mode of transportation in an unfamiliar environment .
Ana shivered a bit as another as another gust of wind blowed past her , she had no idea how Lord Croft ever managed to handle going to such places . While she certainly did enjoy listening to his many adventurer's across the globe in search of archaeological artifacts and tombs , she could understand how he adjusted to such environments so quickly .
Ana looks at Lara , who is walking a little ways ahead of her , who doesn't look the slightest bit bothered by the cold weather .
Must be something that runs in the family .
After a little bit more walking , Ana coughed harshly into her hand and she can see a few drops of blood on her gloved hand .
She sits down and leans against a nearby rock , needing to catch her breath .
Lara stopped walking at hearing Ana's coughs and turns to her " Ana ... back in the temple you said 'another Croft doesn't have to die for this '. What did you mean by that ?"
Ana fell silent at that , she almost didn't want to answer because of how painful the memory is .
Lara got angry at her silence " Answer me , damnit ! "
Ana lifted her head to look at Lara and saw that she had the same anger in her like Richard did when he got exceptionally angry . Luckily he rarely ever got angry , but when he did ... you better be prepared for the fallout .
Though Ana noticed there was something different about Lara's tone , there was a certain sadness to it , a certain amount of hurt . Ana safely assumes that it must due to the her betraying Lara , days ago . Ana genuinely didn't want to hurt Lara by revealing her true allegiances with Trinity .
Contrary to their current situation , it was not as if Ana didn't care about Lara at all , in fact she grew quite fond of the little lady croft , especially after Richard died ... she became a sort of mother-figure for Lara and she would be lying if she said that their relationship was all fake .
Lara drew her gun and pointed it at Ana " You killed my father , didn't you !? "
Lara sounded like she was about to cry at any moment , Ana instantly recognized this , from her years of knowing Lara .
" Trinity ordered his execution ... but I couldn't do it . I loved him . " Ana spoke the truth , she still remembers that day , refusing to put the poison in Richard's coffee mug for him to die . And she still remembers holding Lara , close to her that day , as she sobbed over her Father's death . Oh , how she wished Lara didn't have to be the person to find him like that .
"You're lying ! " Lara shouted at her , cocking her her pistol .
Ana couldn't deny that she felt afraid that Lara would kill her at this moment , she wondered briefly if this is how she's going to die ...
In the middle of nowhere , leaned up against a rock , with no one by her side , killed by the one person she wished she could call daughter ...
It was a rather fitting death , in her opinion ...
" Lara ... please believe me , I'm telling you the truth " Ana didn't want to die without Lara knowing the absolute truth .
Lara only laughs sarcastically in response " Oh , yeah ? You mean like all those times you told the truth about always caring or loving me ? Or how about all those times you comforted me after my father died , were you telling the truth then !? Or was it all just for your little act to control me !?"
Lara looked like she was on the verge of tears now " Goddamnit Ana ! I loved you ! You were like a mother to me ! " Ana flinched at Lara's words , but she knew it was true " You were there for me after my father died ! You were at my high school graduation and told me you were proud of me ! You were the one thing I needed most in my life ! And you betrayed me ! "
Ana couldn't deny or even come up with a valid counter to any of Lara's words , she was right . Ana had thrown away the relationship they had built for so long just to save her own sorry ass because she couldn't get over the idea of dying . Even if their relationship was first built because Trinity chose her to infiltrate the Croft family ... Ana cared about it more than anyone could ever possible know .
" Did you ever truly love me ? Or was it all just for the mission ?" Lara held back her tears , enough to ask Ana that question .
Ana thinks carefully , she did love Lara like she was own daughter but the question is , will Lara believe it ?
Only one way to find out ...
" Yes , I did ... in fact I still do , if you can believe it " Ana decided to be perfectly honest and clear with Lara " Though it took me a while before I fully realized it , when Trinity first sent me to infiltrate your family , I thought you and your father were just going be another stuck-up rich family , I wouldn't even flinch when the time came to take care of you ... but you weren't "
Ana smiled sadly at her memories of playing with Lara in the garden or having tea with Richard " You both treated me so kindly , I still remember all those times you would ask me to play with you or giving me hugs and kisses. And before I even knew it ... it felt like I had become part of your family , it was the one mission I didn't want to end "
" I loved you and your father ... you were and are a daughter to me Lara ... I just wanted you to know that " Ana smiled at Lara , one last time, before she felt tears fall down her eyes .
This was it .
Lara raised her gun at Ana ... and pulled the trigger .
BANG !
Ana kept her eyes shut , because she wondered if the next time she opened them , she would be in hell roasting alive , even though she didn't really believe in that sorta crap .
But the feeling of the cold blow against her face , was enough to make her realize that she wasn't dead .
Opening her eyes , Ana sees that Lara had fired a bullet just a few meters from her head into the rock .
Ana looked at Lara , who was crying , to the point where she dropped her gun and fell to her knees , sobbing .
Ana picked herself up , to walk over and embrace Lara , she hated seeing the girl she's known for so long cry . Lara sobbed into Ana's shoulder , her cries echoing throughout the snowy environment .
" Its okay , Lara , its okay ..." Ana whispered to Lara , as she continued to cry . Ana let out a few tears herself , happy that Lara didn't kill her .
" I'm sorry Lara , I'm so sorry for everything ..." Ana apologized to Lara , still crying .
After a few minutes , Lara had managed to calm down . They both leaned back against the rock , Lara resting her head on Ana's shoulders .
" I forgive you mom ... I forgive you " Lara held Ana's hand as Ana looked shocked for a moment from Lara calling her 'mom ' , before smiling and putting her arm around Lara pulling her closer.
" Thank you Lara ..." Ana didn't know why but ... she felt like she could die happy at this exact moment .
After some nice comforting silence , Lara spoke up once more " Ana , you said that you were dying before ... was that true ? "
" Yes , I am . Cancer , I was diagnosed around a month ago ..." Ana tells Lara , though even if she wasn't dying from cancer , Trinity still would have gotten her to betray Lara for the Source . Herself dying acted as some sort of motivation for her , though maybe if she wasn't dying , she wouldn't have betrayed Lara .
" Why didn't you tell me ?" Lara questioned , in a low voice .
" I didn't want to worry you and you already had enough on your plate with your research " Ana answers honestly , she already knew Lara deep down viewed her as a sort of mother figure , so she didn't want to be the one to tell her that she was dying .
" How long do you have ?"
" The doctors gave me around 2 years , maybe 3 or more if I'm lucky and attend the treatments " Ana didn't want to die in some hospital room , alone with no one by her side . Which is why she was so determined to find the Source .
Plus ... she also wanted to see Lara get married and be the one to walk her down the aisle .
" I'm sorry Ana ... if I knew you had cancer I would have let you use the Source before destroying it " Lara sounded genuinely sad about it , its probably better , Lara destroyed it .
" No , don't be sorry , Lara , you did the right thing , even if you did let me use the Source long enough to cure my cancer , I would have eventually gotten old and wanted to use it and again and again" Ana reassured Lara , trying not to make her feel bad " Dying is a part of life ... I just didn't want to accept it "
Ana put her arm around Lara's head and pulled her closer to her " But I think I can now "
They both sat there resting for a little while , before Lara got up and offered Ana hand " Come on , lets go ... mom "
Ana smiled and took her hand " Yes , lets ..."
Lara put Ana's arm around her shoulder to help her walk and stand , they both continued to walk out of the snowy environment .
For some reason , Ana didn't feel as cold anymore .
3 MONTHS LATER ...
Lara steps into the hospital , checking her watch to confirm she is right on time .
" Perfect , right on time " Lara walked up to the receptions desk
" Excuse me , miss ?" Lara gets the attention of the receptionist at the desk " I'm looking for this woman ? Which room is hers ? I'm a close friend , I've come to pick her up " Lara shows the picture of said woman to the receptionist .
" Ah , she just got discharged just a few minutes ago , she's at room 102 " The receptionist checks with her computer before answering Lara .
" Thank you " Lara gives her thanks to the receptionist before walking away .
It took her longer than a few minutes to find the room , in this big hospital that Lara honestly thought , seemed bigger than some of the tombs she visited , she finally found it . Standing in front of to the room , Lara takes a deep breath before entering , she sees a woman getting dressed from behind the curtain .
Lara smiled at the shadow of her " You ready to go ?"
" Yes , lets get going , I don't want to be late to meet your new boyfriend " Ana teased getting out from behind the curtain .
" Ana ! I keep telling you , he's not my boyfriend " Lara's denial only seem to make Ana chuckle .
" Sure , whatever makes you happy Lara " Ana smiled at her , as they both left the room .
Lara had come to pick Ana up for brunch from the hospital where she was receiving treatment for her cancer , from what Lara had heard from Ana , she was responding well to the treatments and she might just live a few more years than expected . Lara was happy that she didn't shoot Ana back then , if not ... she might have felt regret for the rest of her life .
They were taking it slow though , the betrayal still hurt but they were both recovering , Lara especially . And soon , Lara thinks they might just have the same relationship , as they did before .
" So what's his name ? This boy you're seeing ?" Ana kept poking questions at Lara as they left the hospital .
" If you must know , his name is Connor and he is just a fellow work acquaintance " Lara calmly denies Ana's theories .
" That's what they all say ... you know me and your father were work acquaintances and we had quite the ... intimate relationship " Ana proceeded to start talking about one of her famous sex stories with her father , in attempt to scar Lara for life .
Lara merely rolled her eyes at Ana's teasing and smiled , even though she never met her biological mother ... she felt happy that she had found someone else to call mom .
