He thought his daughter, Clementine, was gone, he thought you were gone. When the IPC bombed the planet and he went to find the two of you, he saw nothing, he was convinced the two of you had died.

Yet, when he was travelling another planet and he saw someone who looked identical to you and a girl, around age 9, the age his daughter would've been by now, his heart nearly shattered, he didn't want to believe it, it really was you, it was you and Clementine.

He started to approach, the metal of his body making his footsteps loud against the concrete, prompting you and your daughter to turn around, he wasn't sure you or his daughter would recognise him, yet the second you saw him your eyes widened, it was clear you did, and so did his daughter, less likely from past memories but most likely from what you had shown and told her.