Our story begins the night after the battle of Dreemurr Castle, and the death of the Cursed Monster Prince, Aberon Dreemurr. However, with the death of their king, the subjects of Paradise, Aberon's kingdom, had nowhere to stay. Naturally, with Dreemurr Castle having so many extra bedrooms, combined with the hospitality of the Dreemurrs themselves, Toriel and Asgore Dreemurr offered to give the inhabitants of Paradise places to stay until they could find a place of their own, even offering them help finding work. Toriel, being the kind soul that she was, did everything she could to cater to their guests needs; needless to say, the pantries were never barren of food or drink. Asgore and Frisk handled registry of the new monsters, and without the need for explanation, by the end of the week, everyone in the family was exhausted. It was almost impossible keeping everyone fed and it was even more exhausting trying to process all the paperwork.
After the third night of straight work, Asgore's head sank onto his desk with a loud thud. The impact of his head shook the corridor, and reverberated down the hallway, rattling everyone residing in the rooms down the corridor. Grag, an Ironhead Goblin, Former General of the Paradise Elite and Aberon's advisor, now Asriel's closest Monster friend, shot forward in his bed.
"MAN THE CANNONS!" He screamed, pulling the eye mask off his face, and startling Chillby awake. Chillby was an Ice Monster, and surprisingly, she was the heavier sleeper.
"Oi! Grag, what the hell? I was dreaming, and you just had to wake me up like the ass you are!" complained Chillby. Grag growled, and flopped back onto his pillow.
"I heard a sound, and I reacted. I can't help remembering the war, Chillb." Sighed Grag.
"Hey, I was there, too! At least I can sleep through the night with it…!" said Chillby, as frantic footsteps made their way down the hall. Suddenly, the door swung open, and Toriel stuck her head in.
"I heard screaming, is everything alright?" she asked.
"Yeah, Grag apparently has PTSD from the war. Go figure." Groaned Chillby.
"Do not! I heard something go boom, and I reacted. What do you want?" shouted Grag.
"Inside voices, Grag. People are trying to sleep, too. Though, I doubt it makes much difference; I heard it, too. It probably came from Asgore's office… again." Sighed Toriel in annoyance. "That's the second time tonight. He clearly needs sleep, but he's whipping his body to death, and I've had my fill of it. I'm going to march right into his office, and drag him to bed by the ear if he refuses again."
"Good luck lugging his ass out of there. He's built like a tank." Grunted Grag, replacing his eye mask on his face.
"A woman has her ways, Grag. After all, I've known him since he was but a little boy. I know his weaknesses." Toriel says, giggling as she shuts the door and walks to Asgore's office, to find him rubbing his head, semi-alert, but still groggy.
"Dreemurr? Bed. Now." Said Toriel flatly.
"Tori, I'm not done. I have many more monsters to regist-" started Asgore.
"You can handle it in the morning. You woke up everyone in the corridor with that head of yours." Grunted Toriel, folding her arms.
"I'll be there in a minute." Grumbled Asgore. Toriel strode over, and grabbed Asgore by the ear.
"No, Dreemurr. Now." Snapped Toriel.
"Ow! OW! OW! Okay, okay, geez! What is it with you and pulling ears! You do it to everyone!" growled Asgore.
"It kept him in line when we were dating, it'll do the same for you." Replied Toriel, without even thinking about what she was saying, or even who she was saying it to. She heard Asgore sigh, and brush her grip away.
"Alright. At least let me finish this one, it's just one more signature." Said Asgore, picking up a pen and signing the document on his desk. He stood up from his desk, and left the room without a word. Toriel, sensing something was wrong, followed him to the bedroom, where he was removing his shirt. The scar from the battle just a few days prior still hadn't healed, and he winced in pain.
"Damn it. Why did this have to happen? If I'd only seen the signs sooner, I could've stopped him, then. I could've stopped him from hurting you, Frisk, Sans, everyone…" he sighed.
"Asgore, no! You stop that right now. No one could have seen this coming." Started Toriel, moving to the bed.
"I'm not referring to now. I'm referring to back then… when we were just children… before he even turned to Dark Magic. He was always so kind, but simple-minded when we were young. I did everything I could to make him happy, but… It was never enough. He always wanted more." Said Asgore. "And the moment things went right for him, everything went wrong for the others involved."
"Which explains why the trident chose you over him. And not just that; you know… heh… one of the biggest mistakes I made, next to leaving you, was not choosing you first. I never even knew until we were adults."
"Encouraging as that is, it doesn't change the fact that I didn't speak up, sooner. But let's not dwell on the past, alright?" asked Asgore, turning to Toriel, who sat down on the bed next to him, and crossed her legs. She cocked her head to one side, and smiled gently.
"I think that was the first time in my life I actually felt like I was in love. Aberon… oh, he was charming, and he had his own charming little quirks, like you, Mr. Fluffybuns." Laughed Toriel, scratching Asgore under his chin.
"Tori…" chuckled Asgore, as his right leg twitched instinctively with the rhythm of Toriel's scratching. Toriel grinned.
"Let's get to bed, Gorey, huh?" asked Toriel, climbing under the covers. Asgore looked out the window, scoffed, and then joined his wife under the covers.
While Toriel fell asleep easily, chirbling lightly as she did, Asgore laid staring up at the ceiling, his eyelids drooping lower with every second that passed, memories echoing in his head.
"Aberon, you know what Dark Magic can do to a person!" whimpered Asgore. "It will kill you! You have to stop!"
"I won't stop until I get what's mine! What you took from me!" shouted Aberon.
Asgore rolled over on his side, and held the wound on his chest gingerly. He squeezed his eyes shut, and inhaled sharply.
"Stop… no…" he whispered... before a white furry arm draped over him, and shook him gently.
"Asgore… I know what's bothering you… it's what happened, isn't it? What you had to do to him?" whispered Toriel. She reached for his hand, and Asgore gripped it tightly in his own.
"I never wanted this." Whimpered Asgore. "I had no choice. What else was I supposed to do?"
"Oh, Asgore…" sighed Toriel, sitting him up in bed, and placing her hands on the wound. A soft green glow emanated from her hands.
"Tori, you know that will never heal-" started Asgore, before her lips locked with his.
"I know. Now be quiet while I try to numb the pain." She said after.
"It's not… ugh… never mind. Keep going." Grunted Asgore.
"I know it's not. I know so little about your relationship with your brother. Maybe… talking it out will help?" suggested Toriel.
"Toriel, just leave the subject be. He's dead, and I'm happy."
"No. No, you're not, Goddamn it! Holding in these emotions and lying to yourself about them will only worsen your state of mind! I know this as well as you do!" hissed Toriel, tearing up. "It tears me apart seeing you like this, Asgore Renbrandt Dreemurr." This caught Asgore's attention; Toriel never used his full name unless she was under extreme duress, and that was a very rare occurrence in its own right.
"I know it will help you move on." She continued. "It helped me, didn't it? It helped me come back to you."
"It did… but why did you really leave? It had to have been more than just killing that child." Said Asgore, his voice hoarse from exhaustion.
"Promise me you won't be mad, alright?" said Toriel.
"I'm too tired to be mad." Sighed Asgore.
"When I saw you kill that first child, I felt unnerved. Something dark was forming in your mind, and it scared me. It reminded me of him, and for a fraction of a second, when you turned with that soul in the jar… I saw him. Those piercing orange eyes, the black hair. I panicked."
"So that's why you attacked me. You thought I was him." Mumbled Asgore.
"And when you fought back… be it out of self defense or anger, it didn't matter. I remembered that night, when he almost killed me… because of the miscarriage… and I thought it was going to happen again. So I ran. I didn't care where, I just ran. I didn't want to go through that again." Cried Toriel.
"Toriel, you know I would never hurt you intentionally. When I realized what I'd done, I went looking for you, but I couldn't find you. Where did you even go for all those years? You never told me." Asked Asgore.
"You never asked." Sniffled Toriel, wiping the tears. "I went to our old home in the Ruins. I placed a barrier on the door leading in, and only special people could see it. People like Sans and Papyrus… and I think Alphys, but she never said. I only remember the occasional whir of a camera focusing. But you would never have found me if I hadn't gone to you."
"You always were creative… even in fear and anger, you were still as crafty as you were as a child." Sighed Asgore gently.
"Do you remember the day we first met?" asked Toriel.
"Oh, how could I forget that day? We were such immature kids, back then. Fighting in front of your mother and my father during the caretaker interview. It was so embarrassing for our father…"
"Did you two always fight like that?" asked Toriel.
"Usually it was just a friendly spar, or pretend… but when it came to you? Oh… yes… fists did fly." Smiled Asgore. "I remember what happened the night before we met you."
"Maybe that's a good place to start…?" asked Toriel.
"Indeed it is…" chuckled Asgore. "Well, let's see…"