Hiya! PvW here.

I am *DEEPLY* sorry for the wait. My dearest computer died, along with all the saved endings I was working on for My Name Is as well as the second chapter of this fanfic. It was super long, and I just don't wanna retype it at all. Therefore, I will try to keep it short and to the point… and I'm sorry if that's disappointing. Also, I may or may not keep future chapters shorter than the previous fanfic since I no longer have as much time on my hands. I'm a married wife with… eww, responsibilities.

And now… the first chapter of a very long journey.

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Chapter One: The Stars at Night Reflect You

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The great remains of Aster walked out of the cave alongside the party of five, his eyes adjusting to the great light that came beyond the caverns. "WOWIE! IT'S JUST LIKE I REMEMBER IT!" Papyrus beamed, pointing towards the falling sun. Beside him, his mentor tried to hold in her excitement, but her grin was far too wide. "It's… beautiful." Undyne breathed out.

A chuckle emerged from beside Aster, her pale hand hiding her smile. "Aren't they adorable. It's just the sun, jeeze," Chara mused, her eyes also looking into the sunset with a fondness to it. "To think, I almost destroyed that… Well, that's enough of the sun for one day. Come on, Florencia, you'll go blind if you stare at it too long—I think? Do ghosts go blind?"

Sans lingered behind at the mouth of the cave, his right hand gripping unto his phone. "...I better not regret this." He breathed out in a serious tone, his eye flashing blue for an instant. Feeling ghostly eyes on his back, the short skeleton finally began to walk out towards the rest of the group, his easy going smile returning when he saw Frisk look back at him. "For her."

Aster watched as his eldest son caught up to the small party, his smile faltering. "Do you really think it wise to communicate with him, Florencia? I know he hates me. There's nothing to prevent him from despising me with his every fiber, not after everything that I've done. I'd rather you save your fading energy than to expose yourself to phasing out against your will."

The angel that had long pushed him around with her weird faith and antics was no longer radiating that same passionate beam of light that she had before. That almost heroic aura that she had about her, the divine light that would make any mortal think she was a goddess or truly an angel was fading — Slowly but surely, Aster could see that Florencia would eventually fade out of existence. The veil of existence where both he and Chara existed… it was never her domain to reign. She was mortal with with an iron will to defend her daughter at any cost, a mortal who somehow transcended the plane of existence that bounded mortal souls. She found the empty void, all in efforts to keep a silly child safe. And now, now that the said child has left her prison and was freed into a dangerous playground, that mother was desperately trying her best to stay intact in the cold, empty void. Adult mortals… their SOULs… There was a reason only children could reach the underground.

"Gaster…" whispered Florencia in her thick accent, her hand gently moving her lock of hair out of the way of her eyes. "My very existence was impossible. Flor, was an impossible. In your other timelines across dimensions, what you say… other versions… my Flor was never your Frisk, you know this. Right now, what I do know is that my baby is in danger if that hombre (man) gets his hands on her while drunk! I also know that your two sons are in danger in our violent world. I must do what I can to make sure this… this 'timeline' of ours stays positive. My red SOUL that Frink inherited… now that she knows the path she must take, I know that I fade as she ages. I feel it. Your idea of SOULs and capturing them… instead, I know my SOUL will cease. So please, Gaster… I beg you. Find pity in the bottom of your heart, and do me one last favor."

As interested as Chara was, her eyes drifted to the small dots in the distance. "I forget all of this is new…" She mumbled, turning back to Aster who looked perplexed by how fragmented Florencia's speech was. Still, he knew the gist of what she was trying to say.

"...Yes, SOULs are needed to be captured in order to keep their form. You… supposedly gave your SOUL to Frisk, however that's impossible. If anything, SOUL essence rubbed off on the child, and children are naturally more in tune with magic. However… your guess about yourself… scientifically speaking, well…" Aster fumbled with his words, looking away as he finally composed himself. "What I mean to say, is that yes, your conclusion about Frisk aging is correct. Every time Frisk would reset our world, your timer reset, so to speak. Now that the time has… well, been kept ticking, so has your form. I do believe, however, that if Sans were to keep recharging your form, you'd last much longer than what your normal life expectancy would have been. But… yes, you're inevitably leaving us. It makes sense. No form should be able to reach both the void and their world. With that said… what is your last request, mortal angel?"

The sun had slowly been setting, and how, its round body was close to the horizon. The dark orange lit sky sparkled with a few stars that shone brightly, the darkness of night coming swiftly. "My last wish, Mr. Gaster… Well, no use leaving my daughter in your care. Toriel has that part settled. No, no my wish is more complicated than that, senor. I want both you and Chara to talk to River Person. They know everything, I know this. Talk to them when the time is right, and then return to the alternate timeline that you both ripped apart. That poor mother and wife deserves answers. Toriel and Arial. As a mother, to a mother… tell them I grieve their sorrow. That is my only string of regret, knowing I was a part of it, and that is my last wish, Senor Gaster. Tough one, isn't it?"

The twilight of it all all shined in her eyes.

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The night sky twinkled of real stars above the monsters. For Sans, it was… a dream come true. They truly did shine and twinkle, like her mother had often told him. For Asgore, his memories of a time when he and Toriel both roamed these lands as two teenage lovers flowed back. To Undyne, the vast sky showed her that there truly wasn't a limit to the world. Lastly… for Papyrus… These stars…

Flashback

"THESE ROCKS ARE PRETTY, BUT NOTHING LIKE STARS AT NIGHT." Ariel smiled weakly. "HERE, YOU KNOW THE CEILING IS THERE. OUT THERE… THE WORLD… YOU LOOK UP, AND FALL BACK, ARMS WIDE, AND REALIZE HOW SMALL, YOU TRULY ARE."

Papyrus laughed as his mother fell back, running to her side to but finding a frown. She turned her head to Sans who was many feet away with his skull to a telescope. "IF ONLY HE COULD SEE IT, AND REALIZE, THAT LIFE IS SOMETHING MORE PRECIOUS THAN HIS SCIENCE. YOU'RE PRECIOUS, MY PAPY. ALL LIFE IS PRECIOUS. NO MATTER HOW SMALL INSIDE A VAST WORLD… LIFE… THE STARS REMIND YOU OF WHAT TRULY MATTERS IF YOU LET YOURSELF SPEAK TO THEM."

End of Flashback

Frisky looked down as she knelt beside Papyrus. "Are you okay?" she asked with worry, staring at the skeleton who had just let himself fallback. "YEP. MORE THAN ALRIGHT. I AM SPEAKING WITH THE STARS, SEE, IT BLINKS BACK ANSWERS!"

Frisk looked up, looking at everyone else who had shrugged. "Well… It's getting pretty dark. Perhaps we should camp here tonight, and then map out our trail." Asgore suggested, taking out an ancient map of what used to be his homeland.

Undyne set down a large backpack, looking around. "Seems like good place as any. LETS CAMP!" She shouted with excitement, however, that excitement soon died down. "...So… Asgore… how do we camp?" she asked, looking at him stare at the old map.

Sans stared at Frisk who had cuddled herself next to Papyrus. It's been a while since she did the same with him. With an empty sigh, Sans shook his head and gave a defeated shrug. "...heh… i guess i'll go get sticks or whatever."

Asgore nodded enthusiastically. "Yes! We need sticks, some dried or dead leaves… good rocks that can make a spark… Meanwhile, Undyne, I require the lamp. I must map out our location. If we follow the ancient routes… I'm sure the routes haven't changed as much. We should reach a plot of empty land soon, and there… well I'm sure humans must have settled there. It used to be a command center for the monster army, and there… well, I'm sure there's nothing left. We never really built any buildings, just tents."

Sans turned around, looking back at the group and how they started to settle down. With a flash of his eye, he disappeared, teleporting further ahead, there he saw a small clearing. Walking slowly, he looked around the empty forest, noticing that there was an old footprint. And another. And another. He made his way to the end of a small cliff, realizing that all these footprints were different. He could see lights further away, in the distance, along with smoke rising in the air, much too far to reach them. A fresh fire… burning something. It was clear then… Frisk's humans were still around the area. And those footprints… they were looking for her. Still, for her humans to have searched this part of the mountain meant that they had thoroughly looking all around the mountain. Frisk came from the other side of the Underground… on the other side of the mountain. That was where her village was at. If that was the case, than what were those lights in the distance? Who were they?

Lost in his mind, Sans contemplated the possibilities for a while. A little too long. Frisk's hand startled him when he felt her warmth on his hand. For an instant, his eye flashed blue, scared for his life, but thankfully he composed himself. He looked at Frisk who stared back at him with fear, frozen in place in having seen his blue eye once more. "I'm so sorry kid. Please, forgive me. I-I thought…" he quickly explained himself, his serious voice startling Frisk once more. Sans took his hand back and stepped away from the child, fear now taking a hold of him. "I, I didn't mean to hurt you, kid. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." He pleaded, falling down to his knees and lowering his head.

Gently, her hands cupped his skull and lifted it, her brown eyes looking at him with compassion. "I-It's okay, dunkle Sans. I'm sorry I scared you. I was worried about you, and came looking for you. I… I see lights there. And smoke. I see smoke." Frisk whispered, looking in to the dark horizon. "...It's near the old ruins left behind by the old settlers before us. My father took possession of a mansion near them… those must be the lights. And that smoke… I… I don't know. But I remember, when I left… there was so much smoke and fires. There was… a lot of blood spilled."

Sans eased up and decided to sit on the cliff, patting the space beside him. "I see. That can't be good… but don't worry. I'll keep you safe, I promise. This blue eye will never hurt you again, Frisk. I'll be your watch dog, got it?" Sans winked, but that serious voice of him stayed. It was so different.

"Sans… you're not the same Sans." Frisk managed to say, sitting down beside him and letting her head fall unto his side. The short skeleton snorted a laugh before replying, "And you're not the same Frisk, but let's forget about us for a minute. Well… what I mean to say is, you and me… we've seen things that they haven't. I know Papyrus doesn't remember what happened… no one does. But we do… and, yeah, that changed us both. You know the real me. The real Sans. The nerdy goof who loved science and his father so much that when it all exploded on him, he just…"

Frisk looked up and noticed his lazy grin was replaced by a soft frown. "I changed into someone I wasn't. A lazybones who would rather deflect things than to deal with them, head on. And you, missy… you had to endure Chara AND me. My lying, my deception… but you still trusted me. You had to endure the bad blood between you and me, our fights. I know it's not the same. You're not as close to me as before. I don't blame you, kid. What I'm trying to say is… let's forget the uneasiness. Set it aside. We're both uneasy with each other. Let's just… work to a better future now. I promise to protect you, no matter what, from your anyone and everyone, including your old pops."

Frisk looked away. In the distance, Undyne's voice drifted their way. "CAMP'S READY!"

Sans stood up, helping Frisk off of her feet and away from the dangerous cliff. " come on kid, everyone's waiting." Sans spoke, his easy going smile returning along with that familiar voice of his. His hands were tucked away inside his jacket, walking slowly towards the camp. To the side, Frisk put her arm around his, walking silently as the two enjoyed the silence that enveloped them.

All was quiet in the forest that night. Still, the stars reflecting on Frisk's eyes screamed to Sans. What did they scream? Fear? Love? Indifference? No matter. All he needed to do was look up and realize the stars reflected everything he loved. Papyrus and Frisk. They were now his everything.

To Frisk, the stars above shone brightly, so bright that there was only one thing she could think of: Mama. Radiant, and warm... hard to see and so far away.

Quiet, and patient like the night sky… she must be watching over her, huh?