AUTHORS NOTE
This chapter contains very vague mention of domestic violence, and hints at attempted suicide.
The days stretched on into weeks. Chara had never asked about how to leave, or expressed even a want to return to the surface, so she continued to live with the Dreemurr family. Asriel was more than happy to accommodate Chara, even offering to help move her bed into his room. Chara had accepted his offer almost immediately. Asgore and Toriel had noticed over time how the two interacted, almost as if they were siblings. Being around Asriel seemed to cheer Chara up, even though she seldom spoke to either of them. Chara in fact didn't speak much at all.
One day as Chara and Asriel were just laying back in their room and reading, Asriel looked over and asked.
"Hey uh, Chara?"
"Yeah, Azzy?"
"Do you have like…a human family on the surface?" He noticed Chara immediately tense up at the question. She didn't move her gaze from the book.
"A while ago. Not anymore though." Asriel nodded thoughtful.
"Oh…well, what happened to them?" Chara rested the book on her chest, staring up at the ceiling.
"You're not going to stop asking until I tell you, aren't you?" Asriel shifted over to look across the room at her.
"Nope." Chara sighed, closing her eyes.
"They uh…they weren't good people. My parents, I mean. Life's been hard growing up for us. We've never had a lot of money…and my parents were always angry at either each other, or me. I couldn't really handle it anymore, so I ran away." Asriel listened intently.
"Well, how did you fall down then? Did you get lost or something?" Chara shook her head.
"No. On the surface, humans don't know about you monsters. We just have an old legend of the mountain. Those who climb it, never return. I thought it would be a good place to go. I could disappear. But, at least I wouldn't hurt anymore. Maybe I would even be able to feel joy." It clued in what Chara was talking about, and Asriel looked to the floor, responding quietly.
"Oh…I…I'm sorry Chara if I made you feel uncomfortable…" Chara took another deep breath, swallowing the lump in her throat.
"It's…It's fine Azzy. It was going to come out sooner or later." Asriel nodded, feeling slightly better.
"So…you don't have a family then?" Chara shook her head again.
"Nope." Asriel asked another question that caught Chara off guard.
"Would you want to have a family?" She looked over into Asriel's big, innocent eyes.
"What do you mean?"
Asriel tried to elaborate. "Well, would you want to live with us? We could be siblings! Besides, it can get kind of lonely being an only child here, and I don't really have any friends." Chara sat up and stared earnestly at the prince.
"Well…maybe it would be nice to not be an only child then huh? Besides, your parents seem like cool people, even for royalty and all." Asriel jumped up, looking overjoyed.
"Yay! I'm going to have a sister!" He ran to her and gave her a tight hug. Before she could return it though, Asriel ran off to tell his parents. Chara ran after Asriel to the living room where he was already in a flurry of words.
"Mom! Dad! Chara said she wants to be a part of the family!" Massive smiles broke out on the faces of Asgore and Toriel, Toriel exclaimed.
"Well this is wonderful news, Chara! We would be delighted to have you live with us!" Asriel was nearly bouncing with glee as Asgore then proclaimed.
"Why, we should tell everyone! I'll arrange for the announcement to be made in the hour!"
"Uhh…announcement?" Chara questioned.
"Well of course! The message to the rest of the kingdom! Such an event should be celebrated!" Chara only nodded in response. It was easy to forget there was an entire kingdom he was in charge of, as she had never left the house.
No more than an hour after she had made the decision, she found herself walking just behind Toriel and Asgore, almost hiding behind them with Asriel at her side as they approached the open balcony where Asgore addressed the citizens of the capital from. Messengers were already present, ready to write down his words to send to the other areas of the Underground, like those in Snowdin. Asgore waited for silence before speaking in a loud voice, though it was hard to ignore the happiness in it.
"I have a very important announcement! Today, is a day of celebration! For, we have brought a new child into the royal family! I would like to introduce you, to Chara Dreemurr!" Chara blushed at the new last name she had been given. She couldn't help but think it sounded nice. Asgore stepped aside to reveal her. She waved, somewhat shy as the cheering began. Toriel beamed with Asriel still standing beside Chara, as Asgore continued to speak.
She didn't focus on the rest of the speech, only tried to keep as low of a profile as one could when up atop a balcony with a city of monsters staring up at you. The cheering was still audible as she gratefully went back inside with Asgore and Toriel. She took another deep breath, feeling overwhelmed from the startling acceptance of the monsters.
"Oh! I almost forgot!" Asgore rushed off to a closet, returning moments later with what looked like an old camera.
"Tori and I had found it when we were looking through the dump. We thought we might have some use for it…but, I feel like you two would get much more use out of it than either of us." Chara took the camera, looking it over.
"I-I…thank you King Asgore!" Asgore chuckled heartily.
"Please, you don't need to call me King, I've already told you that. You can just call us, well, Mom and Dad I suppose!" Chara nearly choked at the response but nodded. Whether it was of joy she choked or something else, even she couldn't tell.
"Thanks Dad…Why were you looking through the dump?" Asriel answered for him.
"I may have accidentally thrown out one of his gardening tools. He went to see if he could find it. He did, eventually." Asgore gave another chuckle as he recalled the incident. Asriel nudged Chara's arm.
"Hey, let's go see if it still works!" The two children ran off to try out the old camera, Asgore left shaking his head happily, Toriel still chuckling at Asriel's response to Chara's question.