Sans sighed as he thought back to that fateful day. Never would he had even given Frisk a second thought had it not been for Toriel's request. That promise, for better or worse, was probably the most memorable thing to ever happen to him. It had been a couple days since he talked to her but he had his reasons. He was waiting... Waiting for the day when it would all reset. Any normal person would call that morbid but truthfully nobody understood. There were so many gaps in his memory because of that reset. The most annoying part about it though? Well... He was the only one. The only one that knew it happened but couldn't retain any memories from before the reset.
He looked down at the little black scrapbook in his hands and sighed, his eyes closing as tears welled up. He shook his head and placed his fingers on the edge of the cover, slowly opening the little book. The first picture was of him with his arm around a boy with a dark green beanie and a black hoodie with a yellow shirt. The boy had his arm swung around San's shoulder as well and the two of them had a huge grin on their faces, like they'd just told the most hilarious joke in history. Sans splayed the palm of his hand across the photo and sucked in a breath. "Who were you... I... I can't remember..."
Flipping to the next page, Sans looked upon a red eyed girl with short brown hair just like frisk's and a striped shirt. The only difference was the color. He remembered her... How could he forget her? Even after a reset, she lingered somewhere in the very back of his mind. Could that be where his other memories were to? Sans always thought about it. If memories of her stuck with him, even just a little bit, why would the others be any different? Why did it have to be the one he wanted so desperately to forget that stuck with him so long? Sans wasn't sure so he sighed and pulled the photograph out of the scrapbook and crumbled it up, tossing it in with the other photographs in his self sustaining trash tornado.
A knock came on his bedroom door and he heard his brother's voice. "Sans! I, the great Papyrus, am here to tell you that Frisk is here for our lunch date! Get out of bed, you lazy bones. Haha! Lazy bones! you see what I did there Sans?"
He sighed and shut the scrapbook, chuckling as he swung his feet over the edge of the bed and stood up. "I'm comin' Papyrus." He shook his head with a playful grin and grabbed his blue jacket, putting it on and going over to the door. He slipped on his fluffy, pink slippers and opened the door. Not even a second after stepping out, a boney hand grabbed his wrist and pulled him along into their new living room. They somehow managed to find furniture similar to their older stuff and a new glass coffee table. Standing there at the door, was Frisk. Her usual short brown hair, usual boots and the only difference was her clothes. Her shirt wasn't much different, just more stripes than the older one, but she was wearing a skirt. A brown skirt that went down to her knees. "You look good kid," he said with a smile.
The girl smiled brightly and giggled, "you look same as ever, Sans." Her voice was light and airy, a bit high pitched but that didn't change the sheer amount of joy in her tone at seeing her friends. This would be their first time getting the whole group together at once since coming up to the surface world. Frisk had been busy being the ambassador for the monsters, and was still trying to get them fully settled in the human world. Undyne and Alphys had been busy moving in together in a new house and Sans and Papyrus had been slowly but surely, adjusting to their new home. Toriel and Asgor had adopted Frisk and were really the only ones that got to spend any regular time with her. They were living together again after Frisk managed to convince them to work it out and were just about settled in. The air was still full of tension when they were alone, but at least they were talking again.
Sans chuckled and ruffled the young girl's hair. "How's it goin' kid? Toriel and Asgor still givin' ya problems?"
"It's better than it used to be. This will be fun, just the five of us. You, me, Papyrus, Undyne and Alphys. We're gonna have a great time, and you'll love the food. I went there lots of times with my old friends in third grade." Frisk spoke happily, in her usual bubbly, friendly personality. Sans had to admire it. Even after all that happened, she still managed to be so happy about everything. "I haven't gone in a long time though, I hope everything is still the same."
Papyrus looked at the young girl in confusion. "If this place is so special to you and your friends, why haven't you gone lately?"
Frisk smiled, "we don't really talk anymore, they all moved away or transfered to a new school. We all met up there a few times afterwards but eventually, we just lost touch and stopped going all together. Less and less of us kept regularly showing up and eventually it was just me and one other person. On our last meet up, she told me she was moving so none of us ever met up again after and I just stopped going." She shrugged as if this was a completely normal thing, despite Papyrus now gaping with a sympathetic look on his face.
"Oh it's such a sad tale! Do not fear Frisk, for I, the great Papyrus, will help you get your friends back!" The tall skeleton said in his usual confident tone.
The girl laughed, "it's ok, Papyrus. It's not that we aren't friends, it's just that we can't see each other anymore. That happens sometimes, it's how a lot of friendships fade off into the past."
"You don't even miss them?! You don't yearn for their companionship at all?!" He exclaimed, exasperated at how calm she was.
"Of course I miss them, and I'm sure they miss me to but I've changed a lot since then, and I bet they have to. We probably wouldn't even recognize each other if we met up now." Frisk chuckled. "Come on, you guys. Alphys and Undyne are waiting." The brothers nodded and followed her outside. Sure enough, the girls were there waiting on them, Undyne with an impatient, yet not very serious glare and Alphys with her usual shy expression, trying to keep the aquatic warrior calm.
Undyne looked over as Frisk came out with the brothers in tow and gasped. "Finally! I was beginning to think you two weren't coming! You were taking FOREVER!" She shouted, with her muscular arms crossed over her chest. She wore her usual black tank top and blue jeans along with a pair of combat boots and brown leather jacket.
"Uh... U-Undyne... Please, calm down ok?" Alphys said quietly, tugging on the woman's jacket. She was standing on the tip of her toes just to reach it and had a worried expression on her face. Instead of her lab coat or purple date dress, she wore a simple red sundress and a bow. Her yellow tail was swishing with nervousness.
The woman looked down and her expression softened as she kneeled down to be on eye level with the former scientist. "I'm sorry, Alphys. I didn't mean to scare ya." She smiled warmly and ruffled the shy woman's hair with a webbed hand.
Alphys let a small smile cross her lips as she hugged Undyne. "I-it's ok... You know how I am."
Sans chuckled at the scene that just unfolded, and the fact that his brother's eye sockets almost resembled hearts now. "Sorry we took so long."
The group, now all together, wasted no time in beginning the walk down to the cafe. Frisk was leading the way, a xheerful skip in her step as the group followed close behind. Sans drew up next to the girl, easily matching her quick pace. "I've never seen you look this happy kid. What's so special about this cafe anyway, besides it being part of your past."
"Hm?" She looked at him, the smile not leaving her face. "Nothing. This is just the first time we've been together like this since coming up. I haven't had any time to just enjoy a normal childhood for the past month, what with trying to get all the monsters assimilated into the human society peacefully." She chuckled, "it's a lot harder than I thought it would be."
He smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder, "you're doing great kid. I have faith that you'll pull through in the end, no matter how hard this gets."
Frisk smiled and placed her hand over his, gripping it the way a friend would. "Thanks, Sans. You always know what to say."
"Really?" He grinned. "Anyway, if it doesn't work out, you could always just return to your last save." He said quietly. Only he and Asriel knew she had that power.
Her smile faltered and her hand dropped as she shook her head. "No. I don't want to do that. Besides, my last save was in the underworld and I don't have anywhere to save here. I don't really want to rely on it. From now on, whatever happens, happens. I'm not going to try and reset time just because I messed up. If anything, that's a last resort solution."
He smiled, "I'm glad you see it that way. I really am." Sans saw the girl's smile return and chuckled. "Someday it'll reset though..." He muttered under his breath.
"Huh?" Frisk stopped and looked at him. "What was that, Sans?"
"Ah, it was nothin' kid. Now, you gonna show us to that cafe or not?" He asked, easily changing the subject.
Either she didn't care, or she accepted the answer, but either way her smile brightened and Frisk picked up her step, giddy from happiness as she nodded. "Yeah, it's this way come on. We're not far." Sans smiled and fell into step next to her again.
Papyrus smiled, "she's so innocent! And so happy!"
Alphys and Undyne chuckled and Alphys nodded. "I-it makes sense. She hasn't... Hasn't had any time to do things like this s-since coming back. It must be stressful, the kind of work she does on top of normal life."
"Still, she's probably doing a much better job than any of us would. Especially with Sans going with her to some of the meetings." Undyne said. "That was a pretty smart idea if he wasn't so lazy to bring him along as extra assurance that we won't hurt anyone."
Papyrus took this as an opportunity to defend his brother, though he agreed with some of it. "Sans can be productive AND smart when he wants to be."
Alphys nodded in agreement. "I've seen him do it...when it doesn't deal with theoretical science, there's... There's been more than one occasion where he's run circles around me. Though I have to agree, he is really lazy..." She trailed off at the end, saying that last part quietly.
"I can hear you, ya know." He said from ahead of them, causing Alphys' face to turn bright red from embarrassment.
"I-I-I... Y-you know... I-" she stuttered and fumbled with her words, face heating up further by the second.
Sans shoved his hands in his pockets and look over his shoulder at the bright red face of the shy scientist and laughed. "Don't worry about it, I don't care."
She breathed out a relieved sigh and accidentally bumped into Frisk, unaware that she had stopped. The surprised girl jumped and turned to face her, to which Alphys' face flushed red again. "S-sorry, Frisk..." She chuckled and grinned nervously.
Frisk's surprised expression quickly turned into a smile. "It's ok. We're here." She held up a hand, dramatically presenting the small building. "Behold!" She said in mock sarcasm as she laughed. Sans smirked as the group turned to the building. It was a small shop on the corner with a large coffee cup logo behind the name 'Café Latté' in large letters. The overhang was white with light brown stripes and the glass door had the coffee logo on it in a sticker form with a paper taped to it stating the hours it was open. A chalk board sat out in front of the entrance, with brightly colored chalk listing the day's specials. The group headed inside, a bell sounding off as they entered. The inside had a very warm and welcoming environment, with booths lining the wall and swivel chairs linging the bar. There was a door that led to a deck out back with tables outside for those that wanted it. The tables had large umbrellas above them as shade, and the people and monsters there were all laughing and smiling.
"Come on guys, let's get an outside table." Frisk said happily as she led them to the door. A waitress that was coming back inside with an order smiled and held it open for them.
"Frisk? It's been a long time since you showed up here." She said as the group passed.
The girl stopped and looked at the waitress, allowing the others to pick a table. "Megan? You still work here?"
"Part time to help me pay my way through college. I see you on the news all the time, are those your new monster friends?" The waitress asked with a friendly smile.
Frisk smiled, "yeah. I can introduce you later." She said happily.
Megan grinned, "alright. I'll come to take your orders in a minute." She withdrew some booklets from her apron and handed them to the young girl. "Here are your menus, my lady." She said jokingly with a mock bow and a british accent as she presented the menus to Frisk.
The young girl laughed and took the menus, returning the bow with a curtsy. "Why thank you good lady." She replied in an equally sarcastic accent. The two stared at each other in silence for a moment before bursting into laughter. Frisk went to the table and Megan went inside. "Here are the menus guys." She said as she handed one to each of the monsters and took an empty spot between Undyne and Papyrus, opening her own menu and scanning it.
The others followed suit and Undyne looked at the girl. "Hey, Frisk. Who was that?"
She chuckled, "that's Megan. She was always our server back when we came here regularly. We sorta became friends but she's in college now, so she's busy a lot and when I stopped coming we lost touch. It's nice to see her again. I would've thought she had gotten a new job by now." She closed her menu and smiled, "I'm going to get the club sandwich, how about you guys?"
Papyrus' eyes lit up, "they have spaghetti! I doubt is as good as mine, but that's what I'm going to get."
"I'm going to get a garden salad." Undyne stated as she to, closed her menu.
Alphys nodded. "Th-that sounds pretty- pretty good. I think I'll get that to." Frisk smiled. Alphys still stuttered a lot but she was a lot more confident in talking to others. The anti-social researcher had really opened up since coming here and living with Undyne.
Sans closed his menu. "I'll go with a hotdog, extra ketchup."
Frisk laughed, "why do you like ketchup so much anyway?"
"It's the same color as my soul." He answered profusely with a look of indifference. All at once, he and everyone at the table burst into laughter at his joke.
Megan came and took their orders, introducing herself to the monsters before leaving to get them their meals. Soon, everyone was enjoying their lunch and talking. They laughed and joked the entire time, the air around them nothing but welcoming and friendly warmth. All of Sans' thoughts at the beginning of the day having long since been pushed to the back of his mind, today really had turned out to be a good one.