Chapter Text
"Mama, who's Asriel?"
Toriel jolted, almost dropping the dishes she was washing.
The family had a wonderful dinner once again, courtesy of Toriel and she took it upon herself to happily wash the dishes afterwards while Sans and Papyrus sat on the couch to watch T.V and Frisk, Y/n and Flowey—who finally fell to Frisk's charms and begrudgingly came to live with them on the surface—went to play. During which Frisk accidentally called Flowey "Asriel" and when Y/n questioned it, Flowey mischievously responded with "Ask Toriel. She knows.". The eight year old hurried away with an excited, "OK!" before Frisk could say "goat".
"Asriel?" Toriel repeated. "Where did you hear that name?"
"Frisky said it." Y/n innocently confessed.
Frisk rounded the corner and stood at the entrance of the kitchen with an apologetic expression.
"Sorry, Mom."
"That is all right, my child."
Toriel smiled softly, dried her furry paws on her apron and took Y/n by the hand, motioning for Frisk to also follow her. She led them to her room and began rummaging through a drawer until she pulled out an old framed photo. The old photo featured a small goat boy and a human who seemed around his age who were both happily smiling. Toriel and Asgore stood behind the children with their paws on their shoulders. The human child held a bouquet of golden flowers which almost obstructed their whole face from the photo, but not quite. Toriel pointed to the goat boy.
"This one here is my Asriel. He was just about your age in this picture."
"Your Asriel..." Y/n gently took the frame from her mother for a closer look. "So, he's my big brother?"
"That is right."
"What about them?" Y/n pointed to the human child.
"That is also your big brother, Chara. He fell into the Underground a long, long time ago, much like you and Frisk did."
"Oh." Y/n smiled at the picture. "Where are they?"
Toriel smiled sadly and gently took back the frame. "They are not with us anymore."
Y/n was not naive enough to not know what that meant and started to tear up and cry at the thought.
"Oh dear!" Toriel scooped her and held her against her.
"I wanted to meet them..."
Toriel let out a sad sigh, almost tearing up herself, but tried to keep a smile on her face.
"I would have loved for you to meet them."
Frisk glanced at Flowey, who scoffed and looked away. Frisk steeled himself, he will find a way to get Flowey back to normal and bring Chara back.
Watching the pained expressions of his loved ones filled Frisk with Determination.
After Y/n calmed down, Frisk let Toriel know that he's going to visit Alphys with Flowey.
"where ya goin', kiddo?" Sans called out when he reached the door.
"Visiting Alphys."
"OH, LET ME ACCOMPANY YOU!"
"It's OK, Pap, I'll be fine."
"you sure, kid?" Sans piped up once again.
"Yup! I'll be just fine. See you later!"
"see ya." "SEE YOU LATER!"
"Th-There you are, Frisk. I was starting to get worried." Alphys said when Frisk walked through her lab's door.
Living on the first floor, Alphys had access to the basement, which she turned into her new lab. Besides it being much smaller, it was already starting to look like her old lab back in Hotland, clutter and all. There were some things missing for their obvious size, like the enormous monitor that displayed Frisk and his adventure through the Underground.
"Sorry for being late."
"That's fine. I've finished analyzing the data for your SOUL." Alphys began explaining. "I couldn't believe it at first! You were right! However, Chara's presence is deeply rooted into your SOUL."
"What does that mean?"
"It means that even if we had a body for him right now, we wouldn't be able to bring him back without first splitting your SOUL in two."
"Oh..."
"I can only imagine how incredibly painful that can be. The SOUL is the very culmination of our being after all."
"I'm in."
"H-Huh?"
"If there's a way, I'll do it."
"Fr-Frisk—"
"Are you out of your mind?!" Flowey spoke up, astonishment clear on his face. "Do you know how freaking dangerous that is?! This is your SOUL you're talking about!"
"I know, Flowey, but this might give Chara a chance to have a life again." Frisk put a hand over his SOUL. "He's been stuck for long enough."
Flowey's eyes lit up a little, a glimmer of Asriel bubbling up to the surface at the prospect of his sibling coming back. His real sibling, not that demon that sometimes haunts his and Sans' dreams.
"Now, for you, Flowey, I came up with this:" Alphys pulled out a container from under her desk, much like the ones Asgore was using to hold the other SOULs he had taken. She had draped a towel over it, Frisk and Flowey had no idea why, until she pulled the towel off.
There was a pure white SOUL floating in it. It slowly bobbed up and down, but it was a bit translucent and small trickles of powdery white seemed to fly about whenever the SOUL pulsed. It seemed like it was fragile.
"With the data I collected from Frisk's SOUL, I was able to make an artificial SOUL."
Frisk and Flowey stared at it in awe.
"Alphys, that's amazing..." Frisk said, excitement starting to bubble up into his chest.
Alphys can make a SOUL? Artificial, sure, but that was still impressive.
"It-It's still unstable, but it should be enough for you to hold your old body." Alphys explained, a bit embarrassed from the compliment. "H-However, it's not ready yet, so you'll have to wait before I can start testing it on you. We need to wait until it fully solidifies."
Flowey scowled at her in displeasure. Just how much longer is it going to take?!
"Then there was no reason you should have showed us!" Flowey growled, but Alphys was unaffected.
She carefully draped the towel back over the container.
"Don't get grumpy at Alphys, Azzy. She's showing us her progress, that's reason enough."
"Don't call me that!" Flowey hissed at him.
Frisk sighed. Flowey's too irritated to talk to right now. The flower must be excited if he was this impatient.
"Are you going to have to build a machine?" Frisk asked, motioning to his SOUL.
"I am." Alphys answered as she searched and pulled out an old blueprint she had stashed away in a filing cabinet, grinning at it as she opened it to make sure it was the right one. "Fortunately, I have this. The machine depicted in this has a similar function to do what I will have to do to your SOUL. I'll just have to change a couple things as well as the design."
Her mind raced with the modifications she had to place.
"Do you know how long that will take?"
"Give me a week. I should be done building it...Actually, I'll text you."
"Ok." Frisk smiled. "Do you want to take a break for now? You wanted to show me a new anime, right?"
Alphys instantly stopped gathering this and thats for her next project, the word "anime" sticking out in her busy mind.
"Oh, yes! I think you'll like this one! I hear it was a real hit, back when it was new. It's a bit old now. I watched the first couple of episodes and I like it! Sorry, I didn't wait for you!" she spoke quickly.
Flowey rolled his eyes. He really has to sit through another one of these stupid cartoons? Frisk's smile widened, picking up Flowey by his flower pot. Alphys' excitement is infectious.
"It's fine." Frisk replied as he followed Alphys, who headed toward the staircase which led to a door that went into her and Undyne's shared apartment.
It took two weeks for Alphys to finally text Frisk and tell him to come to the lab. With excitement bubbling in his chest, he took Flowey and headed right over. As soon as Frisk got there, Alphys led him to her lab in the basement, and presented the machine with a second artificial SOUL prototype.
The device resembled an MRI, but instead of a bed was a table. The scanner part was much smaller and positioned near the middle of the table to be parallel to one's SOUL when someone lays down.
Alphys set the artificial prototype SOUL under the scanner, still in its container.
"Now, I want you to know that this SOUL is very fragile, so whether the machine works perfectly or not, this SOUL will most likely Fall Down."
"Ok." Frisk nodded, understanding.
Alphys pressed a button on the machine and it hummed to life. She then went to her computer and with a couple keystrokes, the machine hummed louder, the artificial SOUL vibrating in its container. Slowly, it started to split in half, stretching like it was made of rubber, then with a soundless snap, it completely split, both halves pulsing separately.
"It-It worked...!" Alphys sighed, excitedly.
Frisk and Flowey stared in awe. Their goal, bringing Chara back and giving Asriel his body back is just within their grasp.
Suddenly, the both halves of the SOUL vibrated once again, a fissure cracked into the SOUL halves with a muffled crack, then it disintegrated into the air. It was expected to expire, but the three watching were still visibly troubled. Alphys' sigh broke the silence that fell between them.
"Now, I'm still working on completing your SOUL," she spoke to Flowey. "It's more solid than it was before, but it still needs work."
"I want to try doing this on the same day." Frisk spoke.
"That's not a problem. Before I separate your SOUL, I'll have to infuse it with magic. Since this is a secret project, I'll have to be the one to supply my magic."
"How in the world are you going to do that?" Flowey spoke up. He's never heard of someone doing that before.
"I'll have to extract it directly. Then, I'll have to directly infuse it into Frisk's SOUL." Alphys reached over to her desk and held up a strange looking syringe. "This entire process will be painful, especially the splitting-your-SOUL part. A-Are you absolutely sure you want to go through with this?"
Frisk's expression lit up with determination and he solidly nodded.
"Ok." Alphys sighed once more. "That's the plan. Everything should be ready by next week, I'll text you a day before so you're ready."
Frisk nodded again and excused himself when they went upstairs and into Alphys' apartment as he was wanted home when he was finished there.
It took nine days for Alphys to finally text him. The day of, Y/n caught her older sibling heading out in the morning with Flowey once again.
"Where are you going, Frisky?"
"Visiting Alphys."
"Oh. Can I come with you?"
He and Flowey shared a look, having a silent conversation.
I'm doing this for everyone...
Don't you dare bring her with us, she's just a kid!
After a moment, Frisk turned to her once again, smiling.
"Sure. Go tell Mom and Sans."
"Okay!" she ran off, excitement radiating off of her.
"You are out of your mind!" Flowey half whispered, half shouted. "You know full well what's going to be going on, do you really want to expose her to that?!"
"She's not going to see that." Frisk whispered back. "I'm sure Undyne won't mind watching her for a bit."
"I'm ready, Frisky!" Y/n took a little while, but she came back into view, now dressed for the slightly chilly weather and a small backpack on her back.
Toriel most likely packed snacks in there for her. Sans followed her close behind, winking at Frisk.
"thought you would like a lift."
After that kidnapping incident two years back, Sans was glued to his daughter's side, not that Y/n minded, but she would get uncomfortable every once in a while. It took a good long while until he felt the house was a safe zone once again; outside, however, was a totally different story. He never relaxed when it came to Y/n going outside. He or Toriel (and rarely both) will accompany her, no questions asked, whether it was walking or shortcutting; he wasn't biased.
And he can never be too careful.
Frisk knew he wouldn't get out of the skeleton coming with them since Y/n's involved, he'll only be dropping them off after all. He nodded a thanks and Sans closed in, picking Y/n up and placing a gentle hand on Frisk's shoulder.
"hang on tight." was the only warning he gave before the world shifted, they were falling, but not and then their view shifted to the front of Alphys' place. Y/n giggled at her disorientation, as she always does, while Frisk thanked Sans for the shortcut. Y/n hugged her father, before joining hands with Frisk to enter Undyne and Alphys' home together. Frisk knocked and waited for Undyne to open the door. The fish woman was wearing a navy blue tank top and black sweatpants. She waved at Sans as the kids entered her home and when she closed the door, Sans shortcutted back home.
"I didn't know you were coming to visit, too, squirt!" Undyne happily ruffled Y/n's hair, the eight year old giggling while trying to wave the woman's hands away.
"Auntie Undyne!" she whined as she giggled. Her hair was going to get messed up. "I saw Frisky leaving and I wanted to come, too."
"Ready to watch some badass anime?!"
"Auntie, no cussing!"
"Sorry, kiddo!" Undyne laughed turning to face Frisk. "You can go ahead and join Alphys. She's in the basement. You don't have to worry about Y/n here. I've got her."
"Thanks, Undyne."
"Alright! Let's get this party started!"
"Let's do this!" Frisk heard his younger sibling try to mimic Undyne, but her voice trying to sound rough was like a cub trying to roar. All that comes out is an adorable squeak. It made Frisk chuckle even as he was descending the stairs.
Alphys looked away from the SOUL splitting machine to see Frisk walking toward her when she heard footsteps and a chuckling voice behind her.
"Hi, Alphys." Frisk greeted, setting Flowey down on a nearby table to the machine.
"Frisk..." Alphys started, looking nervous. "I just wanted to triple confirm: a-are you sure you want to d-do this?" she asked the question slowly.
"Absolutely positive."
"Okay..." Alphys breathed out.
She went to her lab table, pulling out the necessary items she organized and placed them on top.
"Sit here, please." she instructed Frisk to sit in a wooden chair she had next to her lab table. When he sat, she carefully picked up the strange looking syringe from before now filled with sparkling yellow magic from a small rectangular container. "Now, I'm going to need you to grab that chair hard and grit your teeth. This is going to-to hurt. Tell me when y-you're ready."
Frisk gripped the arms of the chair and gave her a solid nod. Alphys focused on his SOUL and drew it out. Without wasting too much more time, she put a hand behind it to keep it steady, then she poked the needle right in the center and Frisk reacted immediately. He let out a restrained grunt, which sounded more like a muffled cry as his SOUL pulsed violently. Frisk clawed at the arms of the chair as Alphys emptied the syringe. Alphys' magic engulfed his SOUL, it seemingly absorbed the magic until all that remained was a yellow outline. The sensation was bizarre, it felt hot, like a flame was lit and then it spread, traveling from his core to his head and toes. Once Alphys was done, she released his SOUL and let it disappear back into his chest. Frisk let his head hang, and was motionless for a moment.
"F-Frisk...? A-Are you...?"
"...Th-That was intense..." he whispered.
Both Alphys and Flowey breathed out a sigh of relief they didn't know they were holding.
"Don't scare us like that, you idiot!" Flowey hissed.
"I'm going to let you rest for a moment, then we can continue." Alphys explained, then moved away to go to her SOUL splitter machine.
Frisk silently nodded, feeling lethargic. He can't give up this far in.
Frisk." Flowey called him after a moment of silence.
"I'm fine, Azzy."
"You call this fine?!"
"I just need to rest for a bit. I feel fine otherwise. I'm not even in pain anymore."
Flowey grumbled softly. Frisk is going through so much just to get him and his sibling back. He just couldn't understand why he's so nice. If Frisk was following the plan, there's just one more step.
Knowing that he was one step away from bringing both Chara and Asriel back filled him with determination.
"Alphys?" Frisk called her attention, the yellow dino monster turning her head to look at him. "Is Asriel's SOUL ready?"
"Oh, y-yes! Just a minute." Alphys strolled away to fetch it.
Flowey perked up, standing up straight from his slouched position, he seemed almost excited. Frisk smiled at him, also excited.
"Ready to be Asriel again?" he asked the flower.
If Flowey had lips, he would bite his bottom one. Honestly speaking, he was nervous. He remembered how he felt last time he turned to his normal self. All of those emotions spread all at once, but he felt every single one. Happiness, excitement, anxiousness, shame, sadness.
Shame was the worst of all. He did and said such horrible things back in the Underground. That's one of the reasons why after everything with Frisk, he ran back to the Ruins and hid, to stew in his own shame and sadness, until he turned back and was unable to feel any longer.
Alphys returned with the container holding the soft, white artificial SOUL. Flowey's gaze was fixed onto the SOUL, even as she held the container under him and opened the top.
"Here you go. Just go ahead and absorb it." Alphys said.
It took a moment for her words to sink in, but he tentatively used a clean root to gently wrap around the SOUL and brought it up to his face. It was solid, not transparent like before and powdery white. It even pulsed like an active SOUL does, but stopped when he held it. Flowey looked back at Alphys and saw that she was watching him. Her eyes stared expectantly and he also glanced over at Frisk who had the same expression. Here goes...
Flowey closed his eyes as he absorbed it and his transformation started immediately, his whole body glowing white. Frisk and Alphys stared, hope filling their SOULs, until finally the real Asriel sat in place of Flowey. The sound of the flower pot breaking underneath Asriel made him quickly jump off and move away from the table.
"C-Careful!" Alphys cried out, quickly checking to see if he hurt himself. "A-Are you ok, Your Highness?"
"I-I'm fine." Asriel tried to quickly reassure her so she doesn't continue panicking. He patted his bottom, trying to remove any dirt that may have stuck to him, but paused for a moment.
Was it him or did his voice sound deeper?
"How do you feel?" Frisk asked, finally standing up now that some of his strength returned.
"I feel...great!"
Frisk smiled and pulled him into a hug. Surprised, Asriel didn't return it right away but eventually did, smiling as well. The hug brought back some bitter sweet memories, but he knew that this time he wasn't on a timer.
"Y-Your Highness?" Alphys piped up when he parted from Frisk. "You're pretty tall..."
Everyone remembers the day the Underground lost hope, when the King and Queen lost both of their children. It was a tragic, heartbreaking day and the children were so young. Young Asriel was only ten years old and their adopted sibling was just about the same age. Now, Asriel is older, about the same age as Frisk, who is sixteen. This confused Alphys. Shouldn't he be the same age that he was when he fell down? Frisk was thinking that because he transformed back into Asriel last time, his clock could have kick started again?
Asriel looked down at his paws, then proceeded to reach up to feel his horns, which seem to be longer then he remembers.
"Do you have a mirror?" Asriel asked.
"Yes, Your Highness! Let me get it for you!"
Alphys scurried away once more and came back momentarily, holding a hand mirror. She held it up for him, but upon gazing into it, Asriel gasped, grabbing the mirror for himself.
"Whoa! I am older!"
"That's weird. It's been so long since you and Chara Fell Down. If you had been aging this whole time, you should be a full grown adult by now." Alphys explained.
"Maybe that's because of last time." Frisk spoke up.
"Last time?" Alphys looked at him in confusion. What last time is he talking about?
Now that Asriel's back, Chara stirred and was now getting impatient and was yelling at Frisk in the back of his mind. He's already rested up and his SOUL was fine now, why was he taking so long?! Frisk sighed.
"Can I answer that later? I want to move on now."
"You're right, but first I have to stress that, that SOUL isn't perfect. That means that if you go through a significant amount of stress, there's a possibility you may turn back into a flower temporarily."
Asriel frowned. There's a possibility he could turn back?
"Now, we should probably move on before my magic wears off."
Alphys led Frisk over to the machine and checked it over one last time before motioning for him to lay down.
"What was the magic for, by the way?" Frisk asked as he laid down.
"We don't have a body for Chara. Once we split your SOUL, my magic is going to instinctually want to create a body for the new SOUL, that's when Chara should take action and take the separated part. Once he does, my magic will shape into a body that bests suits him."
"Okay." Alphys always makes things easy for him to understand, that made total sense.
"And, now that Prince Asriel brought it to my attention, don't be surprised if Chara is the same age as you. He's so integrated into your SOUL, it's a good possibility that he had started aging along with you."
"Right." That also makes sense.
"Now, I made some modifications, as you can probably tell. I made the table bigger, so there will be space when Chara materializes his body and I put in restraints to keep you relatively still...I also installed this semi-sphere soundproof glass for the whole table. I'm sorry to say this, but..."
Alphys hesitated, but Frisk had an idea as to why she did that. If it's as painful as she had been implying or more, he might scream.
"It's...It-It's to lock in the s-sounds..."
"It's OK, Alphys. I understand and I trust you." Frisk smiled. "Thank you again for helping me do this. I'm sure Asgore and Toriel will be happy."
Alphys' face flushed, but instead of hiding her face like she usually does, she returned his smile.
"Yes. I-I believe they will be."
Asriel sat down in the wooden chair Frisk was sitting on before, emotionally preparing himself. It's not going to be easy to watch Frisk in pain. This is the culmination of his being that was about to be split in half, he can't imagine how painful that was going to be. He didn't even remember how he felt when he Fell Down the first time.
"Are you ready?" Alphys asked.
Frisk steeled himself and gave her a solid nod. No backing out now. Alphys strapped him into the restraints and closed the glass over him, then walked around to get to the controls. She gave him a thumbs up and when he returned it, she powered up the machine.
As it started humming, Frisk's SOUL popped out of his chest and Alphys was happy to see that her magic was still going strong. Frisk closed his eyes, mentally preparing himself for the pain that was about to come. Alphys went over to her computer, pressing another button to begin the SOUL splitting process and it took a minute before discomfort showed on Frisk's face. After another couple of minutes, Frisk suddenly arched his back, his eyes wide and mouth opened in a cry silenced by the glass.
Asriel hurriedly stood in a panic, quickly going over to Frisk's side.
"Frisk...!" Asriel cried, his paws on the glass. "Alphys...!"
"We can't stop." she replied, although she desperately wanted to. At this point, she felt horrible.
Frisk had tears streaming from his eyes, his SOUL stretching apart. His two onlookers could slightly hear his muffled screaming through the glass. Suddenly, he collapsed, completely limp and unresponsive.
"Frisk...?!" Asriel cried out once again.
"Don't worry, Your Highness! He only fainted. It's probably best that he did." Alphys reassured him.
Finally, Frisk's SOUL split it half and even through the glass, they thought they heard a soundless snap when it split.
"W-What happens now?" Asriel nervously asked.
"Now, we wait."
"We can't get him out of there?"
"No, Frisk's SOUL is delicate. We have to wait until it returns to his body.
Asriel looked pained. He so badly wanted to get him out so he can put Frisk to rest properly.
After thirty minutes, Alphys was relieved to know that her machine didn't kill Frisk, but another problem arose: why wasn't Chara materializing? At this point, Alphys started thinking that perhaps Chara didn't make it and was thinking that she might have to think of a way to tell the Prince, until she saw her magic start pooling to one of the halves, leaving the other half magic-less. Slowly, her magic worked, stretching and pulling to create a body. The two looked at it work, almost in awe. Alphys smiled, satisfied that everything was going according to plan, albeit slower than she thought. She immediately started documenting the progress in a new journal she just so happened to have at her computer. Alphys' magic seemed to form a body identical to Frisk's, but the more detailed the body became the more differences came to light. After another thirty minutes, Alphys turned to check on Frisk's and Chara's progress and saw that Chara's body was fully formed, naked, now in the fetal position against Frisk's side and the other SOUL half was nowhere to be found, most probably back in Frisk's body. Chara must be cold. His body was still yellow and translucent—his red SOUL half fully visible in his chest and slowly pulsing—so Alphys knew he still needed more time to fully develop.
"Is that Prince Chara?" Alphys asked the furry prince, but was surprised to see Asriel crying, a soft smile playing on his face and a paw resting on the machine's glass above Chara. She didn't need a verbal response and turned back to jot down some more details in her journal, silently joyful.
Frisk stirred after a good long while, groaning in dull pain. His whole body was sore and dully ached, his throat felt sore, and it took a couple of minutes for his brain to finally remember what had happened. He recognized Asriel smiling at him and saw his mouth moving, but he couldn't hear what he said. Alphys then came into view, pressing a small button on the front of the machine.
"How are you feeling?" it sounded as if her voice was coming from a small speaker, just over his head.
"Exhausted." Frisk's voice sounded scratchy and used up, most probably from all the screaming he did.
"I'm going to undo your restraints, OK?" Alphys continued.
Frisk hummed, his eyes too heavy to keep open. Alphys pulled the glass up, quickly undid his restraints, then quickly pulled the glass back down. If Chara's body is as fragile as Asriel's artificial SOUL used to be, she didn't want him exposed to the open more than it had to until he was ready.
"They'll probably have to rest for a couple more hours. Did you have to be home at any time?" Alphys asked as it seemed like Frisk fell back to sleep almost instantly.
"Mom wants us home by dinner, but it's not that late yet, is it?"
"Not yet. It's still hours until then. You three have just enough time to rest. Which reminds me, Prince Chara is going to need clothes, excuse me, Your Highness."
Alphys quickly shuffled passed him to the stairs and disappeared to her apartment. Asriel decided to stay put and watch over Frisk and Chara.
Chara... It's been an eternity since he's seen Chara. He couldn't express the joy, the sibling love he's been feeling since he saw Alphys' magic stopped turning and shifting, landing on the final product. "It's finished." Asriel had thought. "Chara's back." It's simply a matter of time, now. All he has to do is wait for Chara's body to solidify and then, they can go home and surprise everyone. Asriel already knows what will happen when he comes back to Asgore and Toriel. They'll cry and hug him: "My son." "My Asriel." They won't be able to keep their paws off of him and they'll do the same to Chara. If they cry, it'll make him cry, it'll make Chara cry. Hell, Frisk and Y/n will most probably cry, too, and maybe even Papyrus, since we're at it! Next, they'll ask how this miracle happened. Frisk will probably tell them everything. And they'll be grateful. Eternally so.
They were last time.
Last time...
Last time wasn't so great. He woke up as a flower last time. He cried out for help, but when nobody came, all he could do was cry. That was until Asgore finally came and Flowey told him everything he remembered, but, even if he wanted to feel something for his father, he didn't, couldn't, and nothing Asgore did changed anything. So, he went to Toriel after, but not even she could make him feel anything.
So, Flowey became desperate.
He wanted to feel so badly, it hurt. He tried something, anything and everything and he asked himself: what's the point if he couldn't have the satisfaction of feeling anything? The answer was that there wasn't a point. So he made himself Fall Down, but he realized at the last second that he didn't want that and his determination made it so that he can try again.
Next, he was curious.
Curious of what others would say and do if he did one thing or another. He switched things up regularly, saving and RESETting over and over to see different outcomes, different reactions, different deaths.
Then, he became bored.
When Sans caught on to what he was doing, the skeleton put a stop to it. He overpowered Flowey and that's also when the flower found out that Sans also keeps his memories after RESETs. So, Flowey retreated back to the ruins and tried a different tactic, one that doesn't require RESETting, but just in case he somehow died again and he RESETs, he SAVEd at the end of the ruins. Sans won't think to look for him there.
Then, Frisk fell and he could no longer use his power of Determination.
Asriel shook his head, shaking himself out of his thoughts. He doesn't know how Frisk could put himself through all this. The human looked absolutely exhausted to death.
After a while, Alphys came back with a change of clothes and a cup of ramen, juice and chips in case Asriel was hungry. He didn't touch the ramen, but he at least had some chips and juice.
~*~
"Chara..."
A voice, so soft and familiar called out his name. He felt tired and didn't want to open his eyes, but the voice tempted him by calling to him again. Slowly, he opened his eyes, it was a bit bright, but not as bright as he thought it would be. His vision was blurry and fuzzy, it started to clear slowly. His eyes focused on something white, but the more he stared, the more the figure looked like it had something on top of his head.
"Chara...Can you hear me?" the familiar voice spoke again and Chara realized that it was the figure in front of him that was speaking.
"...Asriel...?" Chara's voice came out as a whisper. Now, a bit more clearer, Asriel's face seemed to brighten.
"Perfect." Chara heard another voice say, feminine, but he couldn't seem to see her.
"Are you able to sit up?" Asriel spoke again, making Chara focus back on him. "Do you want me to help you?"
Chara slowly nodded his head, so Asriel reached over, slipping an arm under him and lifted him up with a hand on his back. Alphys excitedly and quickly wrote in the journal. Everything she had done with her magic and Frisk's SOUL were all things that would work in theory and the joy of actually testing this and it succeeding (as she thought it would, all her calculations pointed toward this being successful) filled her to the brim with scientific success.
If Chara has enough strength to sit up by himself, it's a good sign of strength.
"Asriel?" Chara's voice was a bit louder than a whisper this time and Alphys checked off another box off her mental checklist. "Where's Frisk?"
"He's eating right over there." Asriel pointed within Chara's sight which he followed to a table on the other side of the small room.
His vision still wasn't completely clear, but he can make out a figure sitting. If Asriel says that's Frisk, he believes him. Looking down, he didn't recognize the clothes he was wearing.
"What is this?" he wondered out loud.
"I borrowed some of Undyne's old clothes. They seem to fit you nicely. Although, they fit long on you..." he heard Alphys reply, and she moved so that he can finally see her. "Would you like something to drink?"
Now that Chara thought about it, he was a tad parched.
"Water?"
"Sure." Alphys shuffled away and came back in after a moment with a glass of water. Chara took a drink, but couldn't stop and drank the rest quickly.
"Oh! Don't drink it too quickly!" Alphys gasped, but was relieved when he didn't choke or give himself hiccups.
"Thanks." Chara said when Alphys took the glass from him.
"Why don't we try walking?" Alphys suggested, putting down the glass on the table Frisk was eating at, picking up her journal and a pen for more documentation.
Chara nodded and Asriel helped him stand off the machine table. His legs shook for a moment and Alphys thought his legs were going to give under him, but he managed to stay up. With Asriel's help, he took a few shaky steps to the table where Frisk was eating, then back to the machine. Alphys wrote everything down. He's strong enough to stand and walk, with some help sure, but the fact he can do it at all is an accomplishment. Asriel led him to sit back on the machine table to relax as Frisk brought out his phone.
"Hey, Azz?" Frisk called.
"Yeah?"
"I think we should invite Asgore over. I was thinking revealing you and Chara should happen with both Asgore and Mom at the same time."
"I agree." Chara spoke up, in control of his voice now, albeit low. "I would like to see both Mom and Dad."
"Then, let's do it." Asriel said, a small knot of nervousness growing in his stomach.
With the permission of both siblings, Frisk dialed Asgore on his phone, asking him to come by the house later because there will be a surprise for him. Asgore happily explained that he will indeed show up. Next, Frisk dialed Toriel to let her know that he invited the King, because he had a surprise for both him and her, in which Toriel was not amused, but allowed it, only because this surprise involved the both of them.
"Thank you, Frisk." Chara spoke up after a moment after Frisk hung up with Toriel. "For everything."
Frisk smiled. "I couldn't leave my siblings high and dry like that. Everyone else got their happy ending. It's only fair that you got yours, too."
Chara felt tears prick at his eyes, then he heard Asriel sniff beside him, but didn't get a chance to look at him as Asriel pulled Chara into a hug. He'd been restraining himself the entire time Chara had been awake and he was scared that he'd hurt him if he went for it while Chara was still waking up, but now Asriel couldn't help himself and Chara reveled in his warmth, feeling cold.
"Should we bring you two to meet Y/n upstairs?" Alphys suggested.
"I think that'd be great. I'm kind of tired of sitting on this hard table." Chara said, happily standing up, but needed Asriel's help for walking.
"Wait! I want to warn Undyne before you come up!" Alphys excitedly explained as she quickly started for the stairs.
"Alright." "Sure." Frisk and Asriel said.
"Knock yourself out." Chara scoffed. "It'll take me a while to get there anyway."
Alphys zoomed away, quickly disappearing up the stairs. Chara waited for a minute before starting towards the stairs once more. The stairs were exceptionally difficult and he simply gave up halfway through, asking Asriel to just carry him to rest of the way up. When they were just about to reach the door, they heard a loud, "WHAT??!!" by who can only be Undyne, but they were surprised when Undyne herself didn't come barreling towards them. Alphys most probably stopped her. The three siblings emerged into the kitchen and made their way to the living room where Y/n was waiting. Frisk led the way, appearing first.
He saw Undyne first. She seemed to be holding herself back with the doctor beside her, which confirmed Alphys' intervention. He searched for Y/n, finding her sitting on the couch.
"Hi, Frisky." she greeted, it seems she just woke up from a nap. "Is it time to go home?"
"Almost." he replied. "Come here. I want to introduce you to someone."
The eight year old gave him a slight confused look and came over. Frisk positioned her to stand in front of him while facing the kitchen door way.
"Ok, guys." Frisk said.
Asriel led Chara slowly through the door frame, two gasps from Undyne and Y/n resounded in the room. Undyne immediately ran up to them and kneeled, a hand on her chest and a hung head.
"Your Highnesses!" she exclaimed.
Both Asriel and Chara were stunned for a moment, not expecting the formal gesture.
"Please, Miss Undyne. You don't have to do that." Asriel bashfully urged her. "Please stand."
"I'm so sorry you have to see me in such a state." Undyne spoke formally, referring to her casual clothes. "I'm so ashamed."
"Miss Undyne, it's all right. Please, treat us like you would Frisk. We're not any different."
Undyne wasn't prepared to answer to that. She stood, but did so awkwardly, until Y/n saved her by shifting their attention to her.
"Excuse me, who are you?"
Asriel led Chara to sit down on the nearby couch before he turned his attention back to Y/n. He knelt down in front of her and offered a soft smile.
"Howdy. My name is Asriel Dreemer. It's nice to finally meet you, Y/n."
"You can't be Asriel."
"Why?" Asriel asked her, not expecting that answer.
"Mama said that Asriel..." Y/n trailed off, unable to finish her sentence.
"Frisk and Alphys brought me back." Asriel kindly explained. "You knew me before as Flowey."
"Flowey?" Asriel nodded. "Flowey was Asriel?" He nodded again.
Y/n reached out to touch his face and when her hand didn't phase through like she had expected to happen, she suddenly fell into his chest, hugging his neck. Asriel let out a short laugh and returned her embrace, a big paw against her back. They held each other for a while until Asriel lifted her with him and brought her before Chara, who looked at her with a tired smile. He had almost fallen asleep.
"This is Chara."
"Nice to meet you, kiddo." Chara greeted.
Asriel let her down and Y/n climbed on the couch to give Chara a proper hug.
"I'm so happy to meet you both." Y/n said against Chara. "Thank you Frisky, thank you, Auntie Alphys!"
Chara smiled, placing a hand on her head. Frisk and Alphys also smiled at Y/n.
"You're welcome, Y/n." Alphys replied, then turned to Frisk to let Y/n continue to get acquainted with her new siblings. "Texting Sans?"
"Yeah." Frisk said as he typed away on his cell.
"If you wouldn't mind, I would like to see the King and Queen's reaction."
"Oh, yeah, I wanna see that, too! I can give you guys a ride, if you want." Undyne said.
"That'd be great, Undyne, thanks!" Frisk replied.
Just then, a knock was heard on the front door and Undyne opened it to find Sans standing before her. She stepped aside before he had a chance to say a joke she could tell he was about to tell, motioning to go inside. With an almost shit eating grin, he walked in and immediately noticed two strangers.
"Daddy!" Y/n momentarily distracted him, running up to him to give him a hug. He returned her embrace.
"heya, princess. ready ta...what happened?"
Looking at her face, her puffy, watery eyes told him a different story than her smiling expression.
"Let me show you." Y/n took his hand and led him to the couch to which she had him stand in front of Asriel.
This guy looks suspiciously like Toriel, which doesn't make sense. As far as Sans was concerned, there were only two monsters that resembled her and that would be Asgore and their lost son...
Seeing the expression on his younger sibling's face, Asriel smiled and proceeded to introduce himself once again, even if he knows Sans already has an idea on who he is.
"Howdy! I am Asriel. It's nice to formally meet you, Sans."
"...how...?" the skeleton's stunned expression almost made Asriel laugh.
"Auntie Alphys and Frisky brought them back! It's great!"
"them?"
"O~f course. The smiling trash bag is the center of this racket." Chara grumbled in a grumpy, sleepy fashion.
Sans' eyelights vanished. That voice. Although they never truly met, Sans recognizes that voice from his nightmares. That "Angel of Death" visited his dreams more times than he can count. Back in the Judgment Corridor, wearing Frisk's body, yet the rosy cheeks and the insanity burning in the stolen eyes told him that Frisk wasn't home. It was—
"What's worse, he's your dad?" Chara continued, turning and leaning over the arm of the couch to give Sans an exhausted look.
"Chara!" Asriel chided him. "Be nice!"
"I am being nice. There are so many more things I can say to this sack of bones, but I'll hold back. There's a kid present." Chara smirked.
hold on? This is not the same demon that terrorized him and his dreams. This kid is much more calm and he's visibly exhausted. Sans bets that he couldn't even lift a knife, even if he wanted to.
"so, you're—"
"The real Chara. Charmed."
There was an underlying emphasis on the word real of that sentence.
"yeah, you're a real charm to talk to..." Sans grumbled back, his eyelights dim, but present.
"Daddy!" Y/n chided her father for the pun as Chara rolled his eyes.
Asriel kept a chuckle hidden behind a paw over his snout and to Sans' surprise, he noticed Chara tried to stifle a snort of a chuckle before turning back to sit properly once again.
"i gotta talk to frisk and auntie alphys." Sans had to all but say, Y/n was already agreeing and happily bounced back to her older siblings, one of them already falling back to sleep, unable to keep his eyes open any longer.
Frisk gathered to Alphys' side as Sans led them both to the kitchen, Undyne following the small group.
"what the hell did you do, kid?" Sans sighed staring straight at his SOUL.
"I've had this planned with Alphys for weeks now."
"and ya couldn't care to let anyone else know about this?" Sans rubbed at his boney temples.
"It was meant to be a surprise. Y/n was here, so she got to see the surprise first."
"what a surprise..." Sans paused, his mind reeling. "but why does chara have half of your SOUL?"
"I can answer that." Alphys piped up. "Chara was too integrated into Frisk's SOUL to just separate him and come up with a body for him. If it were that simple, I would have made him a robotic body. Like Mettaton's. But, since it wasn't, the only solution was to split Frisk's in two." Sans stared at her with an unreadable expression, his eyelights tiny pinpricks and that expression alone frightened her. "I-I didn't recommend it, b-but Frisk insisted!"
"do you have any idea how dangerous that was, frisk?!" Sans scolded him, knowing full well how insistent Frisk can be. "what would have happened if it didn't go well?!"
"I trusted Alphys. I was confident she would be able to do it."
"that's besides the point. she could have done everything right, there was no guarantee that something wasn't going to go wrong. That was reckless."
"I know, Sans." Frisk admitted. "And you're right, but there was no other choice." he put a hand over his half SOUL. "That was the only way I was going to get Chara out and living again. Everyone else has their happy ending. I thought it was about time they had theirs."
Sans stared at him for a long while before sighing.
"you sure you're all right?"
"I'm still a little tired, but other than that, I'm completely fine."
Sans stared at Frisk's SOUL as the human tried to reassure him. FRISK LV 1, HP 10/10.
"...right." Sans sighed once again. "welp, we should get home. thanks for everything, girls."
Undyne grinned at him in her usual way and Alphys got slightly flustered, stuttering out a short, "no problem".
Sans knew that taking this many people was going to drain him more than he would like until Undyne again brought out the offer of driving them. Frisk agreed, taking Asriel and Chara with him, while Sans stuck to shortcutting with Y/n. Since Sans and Y/n were going to arrive first, Frisk reminded her that this is a surprise, so no telling Toriel or Asgore and to keep them in the kitchen. Y/n happily agreed, promising not to tell a SOUL until he got there. Chara had fallen asleep the instant there was a moment of silence, so instead of waking him up, Asriel let him rest for a little while longer, simply picking him up bridal style and carrying him to Undyne's car.
"Fluffybuns!" Y/n cheered, hugging the big, furry Boss monster.
"Hello, little one! How are you? Did you have fun?" Asgore replied, returning the small child's embrace.
"Yeah, I had lots of fun! Auntie Undyne showed me a cool action anime!"
"Did she?" Asgore beamed happily at Y/n. "That's great!" he was suddenly distracted as Sans entered the kitchen. "Oh, hello, Sans."
"hi, asgore. how you've been?"
"I have been well. I have been told there would be a surprise?"
"frisk's got a something for ya, that's for sure. i'm sure you and tori'll enjoy it. frisk should be arriving any second now."
"I can't wait! I wonder what it is..."
"Yes, it is a bit exciting." Toriel finally spoke up, having been in the kitchen giving Asgore slight stink-eye glances. "Frisk has been going out quite a bit lately."
"yup. guess he's been arranging for this surprise the whole time." Sans replied.
Just then, the sound of Undyne's car was heard, parking into the driveway. Asgore, almost too giddy to contain, stood up, but Y/n stopped him.
"No, you can't!" she whined. "You have to stay here and wait, or you'll ruin the surprise!"
Asgore chuckled and sat back down. "Alright, as you wish, little one. I was a bit eccentric there."
From the kitchen, the front door can be heard opening, as well as Undyne's loud introduction as she entered, following a loud greeting with Papyrus and Alphys' shy voice.
"Hey there, ya big oaf!" Undyne greeted Asgore, the King standing up to give his former Captain of the Royal Guard a big hug.
"Hello, Undyne! I trust you have been well?"
"You know it! Hi, Toriel!"
"Hello, Undyne." Toriel smiled.
"H-Hello, Your Majesties!" Alphys entered the kitchen.
"Hello, Alphys. But you know, you do not need to address us as such any longer." Toriel gently explained.
"Sorry, f-force of habit..."
"Well, this is a surprise, indeed." Asgore said, as Papyrus also entered the kitchen. "It has been a while since I have seen you two."
"Hi, Asgore. I'm home, Mom." Frisk entered the kitchen.
"Welcome home, my child."
"Greetings, Frisk!"
"So, for this surprise, I have to ask you two to close your eyes. And no peeking!" Frisk lightly teased.
The two furry Boss monsters chuckled, giddy about their surprise. It was rare for Frisk to surprise them with anything, so this was very much a rare treat. They heard a little bit of shuffling, before the room went quiet.
"Okay, open your eyes." Frisk informed.
"Surprise..." Asriel timidly said, as soon as their eyes landed on him and Chara, who stood beside him with a soft smile.
Both Asgore and Toriel stared in surprise, not believing their eyes. Toriel was the first to hurry to Asriel and touch his face, reaching over and touching Chara's face as well, keeping a paw on each teen.
"Hi, Mom." Chara tiredly greeted.
That set her and Asgore off. Toriel pulled them both in for a hug, unable to choose who to embrace first. Asgore hurried beside them, to hug them from behind, pulling Toriel closer to him to have his children against his chest as well and Toriel didn't care. Both sobbed, heavy, happy tears falling from their eyes. Just as Asriel thought, both he and Chara also started crying and he spotted Frisk behind Toriel, teary-eyed.
"Oh, my children!" Toriel cried.
"My sons...!" Asgore cried.
"Mom, Dad." Asriel and Chara cried.
When the four separated, the parents took turns hugging each child. They were enormously grateful, but still very much in disbelief. Their children were back! And they seem to have grown! Had they missed an amount of their teen years? How was this even possible??
"Oh, Frisk!" Toriel happily switched her attention to Frisk, bringing him into an embrace. "Thank you!"
"Thank you, Frisk!" Asgore also embraced him after Toriel, who went back to her previously lost children.
After the tearful reunion, Chara got straight to the point, asking where or rather who they would be staying with, seeing as Toriel broke up with Asgore long ago and no longer lived with each other. It certainly killed the mood, but he was exhausted and just wanted to sleep until next week. Asgore suggested that they should live with their mother, to Toriel's surprise. He no longer felt he was fit to take care of them. He failed as a King and most importantly as a husband and as a father. Even though he has the means to take care of them as he participated in the G rush, where their currency was rare and valuable. Financially wise, he will be set for a very, very long time, even with two more mouths to feed, but he couldn't bring himself to invite them to live with him, even if he desperately wanted them to. Toriel still had the same amount of capacity to mother children. She had never lost her touch and as such, is a better candidate than he was. Chara and Asriel hugged their father once again, forgiving him for all that he has done. Asgore let fall a few more tears, not yet truly forgiving himself, but with his children back in his life, perhaps they can help him take the first step.
"I would like to come over and visit them as often as I could."
"You should." Toriel said, much to Asgore's surprise. "You need to be involved in their lives as much as I."
Toriel looked to Sans, who owns the house as much as she does. If he's not okay with this, they need to come up with a compromise.
Sans shrugged. "i don't have a problem with it. he can come by whenever he wants."
"Then, I will visit everyday, if I can."
"OK, Dad." Chara smiled.
"We'll look forward to your visit every day, Dad." Asriel enthusiastically said.
Asgore smiled at them, once again pulling them into an embrace. He just couldn't get enough of their touches. Chara was at the end of his rope and he couldn't keep his eyes open for much longer. All too soon, Toriel deemed it was time for bed. When Asgore said his last goodbye and left for the night, Toriel invited Asriel to sleep next to her in her bed and Y/n beat her by saying Chara can take her bed.
"that means you'll be sleeping next to me." Sans said, ruffling Y/n's hair.
"Oh. Okay!" Y/n had thought she would be sleeping next to Chara, but she didn't mind sleeping next to her father.
"I don't want to take anyone's bed. I'll just sleep on the couch." Chara said, already sitting on said couch.
"Are you sure, my child?" Toriel voiced her concern. She could squeeze him in on her bed.
"I'm positive, Mom. Besides, this couch is comfy." Chara gave her a tired smile, then proceeded to lay down.
"Alright." Toriel finally relented.
"Why don't you share my bed?" Frisk suggested, not wanting him to sleep on the couch.
"Frisk...You already did so much." Chara replied.
"I don't mind."
"Yeah, well, I don't want to move." Chara decided to just say what he means, knowing how pushy Frisk can be. He had his face already pushed into the couch cushions.
Frisk let out a small laugh and glanced at Asriel, who smiled back.
"I can carry you." Asriel said.
Chara groaned loudly, but gave up and just let his siblings have their way. He doesn't have the energy to go back and forth with them anyway. Asriel took that groan as what he knows it is and simply lifted Chara bridal style once more. The human simply welcomed his temporary warmth, just about falling asleep as soon as the warmth hit him. Toriel said that she would fetch another pillow and blanket for him, before hurrying away to do just that, wanting to fetch the items quickly so she can tuck in her son and not disturb his sleep.
This was most definitely not that crazed demon Sans was familiar with. Chara had already told him, but he wanted to see it to believe it. He can now say with certainty, that he's happy the two lost children are back. Asgore and Toriel were absolutely glowing.
Sans groggily woke up in his bed and simply stared up at the ceiling for a long while, waiting to fall back asleep. He's up, unfortunately. No going back to sleep. Sighing, he slipped out of bed and made his way to the bathroom to brush his teeth. After, he made his way downstairs for a cup of coffee, which always gets him ready for the day. He doesn't know what he would do without that blessed cup of coffee. Entering the kitchen, he noticed Chara standing at the counter, his blanket still wrapped around his shoulders. Chara glanced behind him when he heard someone entering the kitchen, but quickly went back to what he was doing.
"Trashbag." Chara greeted in a flat tone.
"Freak." Sans greeted back, his tone also flat, as he started readying the coffee maker.
Chara smirked. This was weird...but oddly pleasant. The two didn't say anything more to each other. Sans sat down at the table to wait for the coffee to be made, while Chara yawned, pulling out a small plate from the cabinet. Sans' mind started to wander in his tired state, but was pulled out of it by Chara pulling out a chair to sit down. Sans suddenly gasped and flew out of his chair when he glanced at what Chara was holding.
a knife.
Is this kid serious?! He was going to start trusting him, just because he seemed different! Sans let his guard down because this human was vulnerable and he almost paid dearly!
Sans had startled the hell out of Chara, the boy jumping out of his skin. They were fine a literal second ago! Now, Sans was almost on the other side of the room with his eyelights out. What the hell has gotten into this skeleton?! Only when Sans' left eye socket flashed full of magic did Chara get legitimately scared and he gripped the small knife he was holding—
Immediately, the human figured out what had just happened, so he hurried out of his seat and dropped the knife, quickly backing away from it with his hands up. The skeleton very nearly used his magic on him when Chara jumped out of his seat, his arm out stretching toward the boy with an open palm, but even in his panicked state, he noticed what the human did. With labored breath, Sans' blazing eye light went out and his out-stretched arm lowered a bit.
"...Sorry!" Chara apologized, after the tense, uncomfortable staring felt like it was going to suffocate him. "You hate knifes."
Sans didn't respond, seemingly glaring at him. Yes, he hates knives! And it was all Chara's fault! It was way too early in the morning for this. Chara lowered his hands, then motioned to the center of the table with a hand where a basket of mixed fruits rested.
"I was going to cut up an apple..." Chara trailed off.
He watched as Sans slowly lowered his guard, placing a shaky skeletal hand on his face. Of course...Stars, what did he almost do to this kid?
"I'm going to pick up the knife now." Chara carefully moved. "I'm going to put it away. I'll eat something else. OK?"
"yeah..." Sans muttered.
he's not that demon. he's not the same. Sans made a mental note to always say that to himself.
he's not the same.
"Sans." Chara called his attention, speaking again only when Sans looked at him. "I want you to take FIGHT out of me."
Sans stared at him for a moment, thinking about whether he should or not. That would eliminate the problem and ease his worries. But, it would also leave the boy defenseless if he was confronted by anyone. He wouldn't be able to FIGHT back.
"I don't want to hurt anyone." Chara continued. "I don't want you to be afraid that I'll hurt someone either."
"no." Sans answered after another moment of thought.
Chara looked surprised by his answer. That would be too easy, he wouldn't have the option to hurt. But, to have the option and actively not do it...
That would make more of an impression.
"i want you to show me you won't do anything."
Chara finally breathed a sigh of relief. Thank the stars they quickly got over that misunderstanding. However, guilt and shame gripped Chara's SOUL. Just by holding a knife, Sans had such an extreme reaction...
"I know it doesn't fix anything, but I want you to know that what I did to you...to everyone...I deserve every bit of misfortune that comes my way. I'm sorry. For everything."
Suddenly, Chara didn't have much of an appetite. Even now, he felt his sins crawling on his back. Sans didn't speak for a moment, silently agreeing with him, if he was that demon. however—
he's not the same.
This kid deserves a second chance. He deserves to have a fresh start and the chance to live a normal life.
"G'morning, Daddy..."
Sans whipped his skull toward the small human standing by the doorway, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
"heya, princess."
Instantly Sans changed his demeanor, a lazy grin settling on his skull. Chara immediately followed suit and acted like their conversation didn't just happen, simply turning and pulling out a bowl out of the cabinet to get a bowl of cereal. Now remembering the pot of coffee he was making due to the smell of fresh coffee wafting out of the pot, Sans grabbed a mug from the cabinet as Chara sat down at the table with his bowl of cereal.
"Breakfast?" Y/n asked.
"did ya brush your teeth?"
"Yes, Daddy."
"got some nice, hot cereal for ya."
Chara shook his head. Nice, hot cereal... Y/n didn't verbally respond, she waited as Sans served her a bowl of cereal, then she sat down on Sans' previous seat across from Chara.
"G'morning, Chara." she finally greeted him, taking the first bite of her breakfast.
"Morning, squirt." he shot her a smile, which she returned.
Sans watched the exchange from next to the coffee maker, leaning on the counter and sipping his coffee. He still couldn't believe what he very nearly did. Not only that, but if they did start FIGHTing, Y/n would have walked in on it, maybe even gotten involved. As he thought, Y/n and Chara finished their breakfast. Y/n pulled Sans back to reality by placing her bowl in the sink, just barely able to switch the water on, knowing to wash her dishes as she uses them.
"I'll do that." Chara gently offered. "Go play or something."
"I can do it." Y/n replied.
"It's fine." Chara insisted, already washing the first bowl.
Y/n stood back and simply watched him wash both of the their bowls and utensils, waiting for him to finish. There are so many games she wants to play with him. As soon as he's finished, Y/n lightly tugged at the bottom of Chara's shirt to get him to look at her.
"Will you play with me?"
Chara looked at her for a moment, trying to decide whether that was a good idea or not.
"Uh..." Would Sans even be comfortable with him playing with his little girl? He supposed the skeleton would say something if he had a problem with it, but he didn't say anything. "Sure."
Y/n's face lit up with happiness after thinking that Chara was going to refuse with that long pause he took. As Y/n took his hand and tugged him away, he looked back at Sans almost as if asking if this was okay. Sans stared back at him, a neutral perma-grin on his skull, but just before Chara was lead out of sight, Sans winked at him and it seemed like Chara startled, if his surprised face was anything to go by. Sans finished his coffee, before putting the cup in the sink and shortcutting to the living room where Y/n had pulled out a jigsaw puzzle and set it out on the floor for her and Chara. Sans landed on the couch behind them, a now casual grin set on his skull. The most that Chara did to acknowledge him was send him a quick glance, then he went back to the puzzle in front of him. Sans turned on the T.V, but he barely paid attention to it, he was too busy watching how happy Y/n was, chatting about this and that with Chara responding in kind.
A genuine grin grew on Sans' skull as he slouched, letting himself sink into the couch and finally relax around this human.
he's not that demon. he's not the same.
And he deserves a second chance.