You've held back from acknowledging it until this second, lest it penetrate your conscience and ruin the day. But you no longer have the energy to suppress the ugly reality: you don't recognize her, either.
Her basic appearance is the same as you remember, yes, but the way she slouches, the way her voice falters when she speaks, the filth on her clothes... you don't know what's happened in the time since you last saw each other, but this isn't the same Joannus that you remember from when you were young.
And that reality hits you with dread the longer you think about its implications. What might it mean?
For one, it might mean both of you are stuck in Barovia. Both of you are victims of the mist, unable and unwilling to grapple with larger problems than immediate survival.
When you look at her in this moment, she doesn't seem like the same beacon of hope, the same walking bag of ideas, ingenuity, and adventuring spirit that you remember. She's just Joannus Caniella, some girl traveling with a Vistana in tattered armor in a place scarier than the Hells.
In short, this isn't the Joannus you had just been dreaming about. This valley has broken her.
Within minutes, you are crying, too. You thought that the moment you found her, you could finally stop pretending to be the strong, hardened adventurer you've been for all this time, and she'd bring both of you home. You hadn't even spent a moment considering the possibility that she would fall apart like this - you thought that as soon as you found her, it'd be like no time had passed, and that at the very end of your mission, she'd take care of you like she did when you were young. So what is she doing now?
You are nervous you don't know what you've gotten yourself into. How are you going to get home?
>Stay silent. Allow yourself to give into the feelings.>Say, "I was so happy to see you, Aranuel.">Ask her why she left. You are mad at her for abandoning you, and after you spent most of your life looking for her, this isn't what you wanted.>Leave her be. She needs to have her moment. You can speak to her after you're both clear-headed. Find Ezmerelda and fill her in.>"Please gather your courage. You're better than this." (Persuasion, DC 20)>"It's not over yet." (Stop crying.) "We're going to get you out of Barovia and back home no matter what. Now let's make a plan." (Persuasion, DC 20)>Ask questions to Joannus. (e.g. "Why didn't you remember me?" "Do you know Strahd von Zarovich?")>Cast a spell or use an item (list: https://pastebin.com/chuTtwgW)>Other (specify) 