Night has already fallen: the moon was up high in the air, gracing the snowy streets with its gentle light. As every night since they had been freed from the Underground, Toriel sat by the window, a book in her paws and a sleepy Frisk curled up on her lap. She felt a gentle peace swallow her, coaxing her into falling asleep, but her soul refused. It had become a ritual to her: read a story to her sweet child , gazing at the sky she had not seen for so many years. She was content with the life she had, albeit it was not as easy as many had predicted. Humans have always been a little... anxious, when it came to things - or creatures - they did not know. It took plenty of hard work from both sides - humans and monsters - to create a calm atmospthere. It was still a little tense, but everything was coming together. Slowly.

Frisk stirred on their mother's lap a little, little fists going up to rub at their eyes sleepily. The child, when not facing direct danger, turned out to be rather dependent on others. They were still very adventorous and had a cheeky side, but as Asgore like to say, they liked to be pampered.

At the thought of her ex-husband, the past queen of all monsters let out a sigh. She would have never guessed that finally getting to the surface would cause her to reunite with the monster she had learnt to despise with every fibre of her body, but fate worked in mysterious ways. Before she knew it, she had herself swept off her feet once more. Of course, she had not forgiven fully yet: she was not sure if she ever could, really. However, her soul was holding less and less remorse and hatred: the darkness was being swept away by the gentle breeze of affection, compassion...Love.

Just as she was about to stand up, deeming her ritual done for the day, Toriel's phone rang. It was quite late: she wondered just who could be bothering her at such an hour. Within moments, guessing that it was an emergency, she was balancing her phone and Frisk on her lap, a tired sigh escaping her when she realized that it was just Asgore. At any other time of the day, she would have been glad to talk to him - albeit, she definitely would have refused to agree with that fact had someone else been teasing her - but it was way into the night, and Frisk needed to be put into bed. Many times, late-night calls turned into midnight meetins, which would usually end up in the little family falling asleep at the start of dawn, splayed out on the couch or Toriel's bed.

"Dreemurr, what do you want?" Toriel asked, trying to push as much annoyance into her voice as she could. It was hard when she was not bothered at the least deep down: her cheeks were already flushed a soft rosey color. She was waiting for the usual answer, the sweet I miss you, Tori, but it did not come.

"Tori, I found a broken human," Asgore's voice was softer than usual, shaken too. He had always been like this, but rarely so... panicked. He was a king, after all, or at least he had been one some years ago. Humans cared little about royal titles by then.

"A broken...human?" Toriel felt her breath catch in her throat. Despite how most seemed to leave monsters alone, she knew how cruel humans still were up to that day. She had seen too many reports on the TV: burglars, murderers and worse seemed to roam the streets, looking for their next preys. It was petrifying, in a way. It wasn't as safe as back down under the ground.

"Yeah, a broken human," Asgore chuckled nervously, but his voice cracked."It's a girl, too. Can I bring her to your place? You know more about healing humans. I'm not sure if I should take her to the hospital, can't even find her papers..."

"I'll be getting ready for her, but whether or not I can help will have to depend on how she is," knowing that her ex-husband was capable of exaggerating often, Toriel decided to check up on the girl first. Maybe she had just fallen a little and the poor guy did not know what to do with her. After all, he was quite... clueless sometimes.

"Thanks, Tori," she heard the other monster mumble gratefully."We'll be there in ten. I was... already on my way to your place."

"I'm not even surprised, Fluffybuns." the nickname slipped out, but Toriel did not mind it. If anything, she giggled softly when Frisk stared up at her with wide, quizzical eyes. The child had heard the nickname often, yes, but not recently. It was odd to see their mother figure so flushed, too. She rarely ever let her guard down like that.

"Guess we are getting visitors tonight," Toriel said with a small giggle."You can stay up, but not too much!" Frisk pumped their little fists in the air, lips forming an 'oh'.

It took them a few minutes to get into a bit less comfortable clothes - Toriel had shed her nightgown and pulled on a comfortable gown of hers in a deep, purple color, while Frisk was clad in a pair of sweat-pants and a cute, striped shirt. The preparation was void of any fear: by then, the past queen was sure that Asgore was merely being a silly fool again. Probably, the flustered king would end up escorting the human home the next day and all would be alright...

Nothing could have prepared her for the sight of the battered little body in the large monster's hands. She could see a faint rise and fall of the girl's chest. Blood seemed to cover every inch of her bare body.

"Frisk, go to your room! Now!"

Frisk was quite good at understanding situations despite their young age: the poor child knew that something was very wrong. It was not often that they were sent to their room: most of the adult business Toriel had could be done with them there. After all, even at the tender age of eight Frisk had lived through many things already. Wandered through the Underworld, freed all monsters, became their friend and ambassador. It was quite obvious that there were not many things that they had yet to experience for the first time - besides the quite obvious things they truly were not old enough yet, like drinking alcohol.

It was almost as if Frisk was already an adult, just child-sized. And yet, when the human girl had been brought in, the clueless ambassador had been sent off. Was the situation really that serious? Frisk was no fool: they knew that despite their strong souls, humans were very, very fragile. Blood that colored skin and hair the deepest, wildest shade of crimson could not mean good.

And yet, Frisk refused to leave. They hid behind the door, crouching down so it was harder to spot them. It did not go unnoticed by Asgore, however. He already knew just sneaky the child he loved as his own could be.

"Tori, I'll take Frisk to their room, okay?" he asked, voice low enough for the little eavesdropper not to hear it. Toriel just nodded, concernt and fear flashing in her eyes as she tried to think of where to start. The poor human child looked battered. She had never seen such damage.. not even back in the Underground. It was a miracle that the girl was still alive.

And yet, Toriel wasn't sure if she would survive much longer. Sure, she seemed to possess a fighting spirit and a strong, albeit colorless soul, but she seemed so tiny like that. Just skin and bones, a bloody mess.

It took about an hour to clean away every little droplet of blood from the paperthin skin of the girl. By then, Toriel had long wiped away her tears of shock. The poor thing was clad in gashes, bruises. Her skin was pale as snow, but only a few inches were not darkened by black or blue. The worst was her back: a series of deep cuts ran from her back down to her bottom. They were all an angry red in color, blood seeping out of the most of them. They were fresh. Her front was less damaged, hips had the marks of hands imprinted as if they had been there for a long, long time, thighs had dark bruises. The monster knew too well what those marks meant, but she tried her hardest to not think of it. The poor girl was just so, so... little. Her clothes had been mere rags, and she had been barefoot. Toes frozen, feet clad in tiny cuts and bruises. It was petrifying to see just how much terror a human's body could live through.

Toriel promised herself that she would never allow anyone to hurt the poor girl. Her motherly instincts burnt in her very soul strongly as she took care of each gash and cut gently. The first time the girl let out a tiny whine of pain, almost like a hurt puppy - like Lesser Dog when Papyrus had accidentally stepped on his paw - Toriel flinched back, eyes widening. At first, she thought that the girl was waking up. Joy brewed in her gaze as she waited for the poor thing's eyes to flutter open, for her to move a little, to show that she could hold on a little older. By then, the monster was already sure that they would have to take the girl to the hospital. She just wanted to clean her up a little. For some reason, she had a feeling that the little one would not feel happy if many others saw her in such a state. And well, cleaning and bandaging, the past queen could easily handle. She also knew of many herbs that could have helped ease the pain, but many were not found in town.

The girl remained unconscios even as Toriel dressed her in loose clothing, however, and did not even stir when she was laid down on the couch. Asgore was there by that time, his expression so sad, so lost.

"Oh Fluffybuns," Toriel whispered."This child, she has been hurt so much. And not by claws or teeth. Poor creature. Haunted by her own kin, just how scary can it be?" Asgore just wrapped his arms around his queen, hiding his face in her fur that, after so many years, was still as soft as silk.

Right now, the monster who used to be the king of his kind, the very one who had killed six humans in hope of being free, was praying for a single girl's life. His heart clenched as he glanced down at the broken form of the young girl, probably just on her way to become a woman.

"Some of her scars had been old," Toriel whispered."Almost as if she had been hurt for months...years. Just how did you found her?"

"She was by the trash, not so far from here," Asgore replied, voice growing darker, deeper."She... she lay there like a doll. At first she was some kind of a doll, but then she woke up for a moment. She stared at me, Tori. Stared at me with her eyes wide in fear... pleaded for my help. I couldn't leave her there, not when I was the only one who seemed to notice. Tori, I... I wanted to save her but my mind was just... blank"

"I know, I know.." Toriel whispered."No one is supposed to look like this. Not even the worst of people. Even if dust stuck to her hands, I would not like to see her this way. But it's so obvious that she could not even hurt a fly. I can just... feel it."

Asgore hang his head low as his large paw gently took the human's small hand."A pure soul like her should never be bothered." he said, voice low.

Toriel could not say anything to him after that for a while. She just stared at the girl, throat tight, eyes teary. She was about to grab her phone and finally call an ambulance, accepting the fact that even her help was not enough in this case, when the door flung open.

Sans stood there, left eye alit in blue flames, frame shaking like a leaf.

He yelled a name, that of a girl. It was a desperate cry, and Toriel knew that it was directed to the human.

But no answer came.