White: Warning, throughout most of the story I was listening to "[Undertale] Gaster's Theme Remix - W. D. Gaster's Megalovania (by amella)" on youtube… you have been warned.


Warnings: implications of dark themes and triggers for dark memories.


Last time…

{Don't worry, everything will be okay.} Gaster hushed as he let her hide beneath his arms.

His sleeves were rather large, big enough to act as a blanket for Snowstorm, and she took advantage of that; hiding behind them and the blanket.

Throughout this little ordeal, Gaster never let Alphys out of his sight; not even the slightest.

He may be weak, but that didn't mean he couldn't summon a pair of hands or two, as they were something he did on a regular basis.

A pair of hands floated in front of Gaster…

'You will not frighten Snowstorm more than you already have!' Gaster growled mentally.

The hands went after Alphys…

Currently…

The hands went after Alphys quicker than her eyes could track; she screamed in fright as they grabbed her and flung her across the room.

The sound of pounding footsteps was heard and the door was flung open.

"What's going on in here?!" a… quite frankly freaked out sans yelled as he entered the room, just feet from running into the wall as he stopped.

Sans didn't know what in the world was going on, all he knew was that he felt a spike of magic and a loud crash, though… seeing the scene now worried him, Alphys was slumped against the wall,; grumbling about some anime and strengths. Gaster was sitting there, Glaring at Alphys….

And Snowstorm was nowhere in sight.

His eyes widened.

"Gaster, where is Yuki?" Sans asked quickly, not even noticing he was speaking in Cybertronian, or the confused and mystified look on Alphys face-she filed it away in her mind to check out later.

Gaster blinked and looked towards Sans, slowly, he moved one of his arms to reveal Snowstorm, who was curled up in his lap.

Snowstorm was holding onto Gaster's shirt weakly, but still refused to give up her grip on one of the few that seemingly truly felt familiar to her; even with the IV in her right hand, causing pain when she bent her hand in any direction.

Gaster got the feeling of defenselessness, fear, and an odd emotion he couldn't pin down, from Snowstorm.

Feeling this, he hid her with his sleeves again, and the two negative emotions he could detect seemingly vanished, while the third grew stronger.

Gaster barely tilted his head in thought, a habit he gained while locked away for so long.

He shoved the thoughts out of his mind for now, he needed to pay attention to Sans… and whoever that person was that scared Snowstorm.

"Gaster, why are you hiding Yuki?" Sans asked, his arms crossed as if scolding a young child, when in fact he was scolding his father.

Gaster chuckled silently at the irony of the situation.

But then froze, wondering how to explain why, as Snowstorm didn't seem to trust his sons or the others with her name yet, so there were other things she kept from them.

Taking a deep breath, he sighed.

[Sans, that is something she has to tell you herself, but now is not the time…] Gaster paused.

[For now, she is frightened by the new presence.. sans, do you by any chance know who they are?] Asking the last part reluctantly, he didn't want to worry Sans with the holes in his memory.

Sans blinked, they looked worriedly at Gaster. "You don't remember Alphys? Are you sure you're okay, dad?" Sans questioned, reluctantly calling Gaster his dad, as Alphys didn't know about it…

Alphys silently sat in the corner, gaping like a fish as the imaginary gears in her mind turned.

Gaster shook his head, only half paying attention to Sans, Gaster was a tad bit busy trying to figure out what that feeling was…

"Dad, are you even paying attention?" Sans demanded, lazily glaring at his father indicating he was playing around.

Gaster grinned, sure, it was creepy and possible outright disturbing to most that didn't know him, but to Sans it was a welcoming sight to see.

Gaster's grin grew in size as soon as Sans realized that the 'magic' hands were no longer near Gaster.

Suddenly Sans was assaulted by skeletal hands tickling him.

Sans fell into a fit of laughter; attempting to get away from the floating hands that were tickling him.

'It's good to be back!' Gaster thought merrily as he watched sans attempt to get away from his floating hands.

Snowstorm peeked above Gaster's sleeve. Her chest began to rumble with silent laughter as she saw sans, though the fear emanating from her side of the bond was still present.

"D-D-Dad S-Stop IT!" Sans managed to say between laughing and gasping for air.

Which was odd, but the skeletal family never questioned it; as they all had that, so they just figured it was something that skeletons do, even if they had no lungs.

{Silly Sans!} Snowstorm cheered through the bond childishly, Gaster was rather happy to see her act closer to her age than as an adult.

Gaster was bordering full blown laughter, but he knew that he would probably fall down onto the bed, which would surprise and most likely scare Snowstorm…

He didn't want to take that chance.

Gaster paused, his extra pair of hands vanishing as he felt like an adrenaline rush was wearing off, he slumped against the back wall, his eyes half closed as he fought off the bought of tiredness.

"Ummm… S-Sans… shouldn't you get them b-both something t-to eat?" Alphys stammered as her mind attempted to process the information she was given.

Snowstorm also paused, and looked up and Gaster before settling back down, holding onto his shirt.

It seemed as if she was taking cues from Gaster, as a young child would.

Sans shook his head to clear it of the fog of confusion.

"Hey, Yuki, you hungry?" Sans asked in cybertronian, knowing that he would not get a response if he spoke in English.

Snowstorm looked at sans, and tilted her head in uncertainty…

Then her stomach growled.

She blushed as she nodded.

Gaster chuckled sleepily, he figured he should probably eat as well… as it would help him regain his strength and energy.

"C-Can I please check on her state? She might no longer need the IV…" Alphys stammered, afraid of being thrown across the room again by a quite obviously over protective Gaster.

Gaster looked towards Sans, wanting an explanation.

Sans sighed, "Alphys, why don't you introduce yourself?"

Alphys shifted from foot to foot, having stood up some time ago. "I-I'm Alphys, the current royal scientist…I'm here because you both were in emergency health states…" Alphys stuttered.

Gaster began to move his arms to sign a welcome to her, but Snowstorm grabbed his sleeve again…

Gaster blinked, and looked down. {Snowstorm, it is alright… she did not mean to scare you… Alphys.. Just wanted to make sure you were okay.} Gaster murmured through the bond as he ran his skeletal hand through Snowstorm's hair.

{Not her, something else here; followed her.} Snowstorm whimpered, trying to hide under his sleeve again.

Gaster looked around, he saw nothing. {Snowstorm, there is nothing there, you are safe.} Gaster said, attempting to not sound confused.

Snowstorm stopped attempting to hide behind Gaster's sleeves, but did not let go of him, and looked at the corner to the right of Alphys, not taking her eyes off it even with her visor on.

Gaster smiled softly. {If there is anything or anyone there, I won't let them hurt you, okay?} He assured her.

{Promise?} Snowstorm meekly asked.

{I Promise.} Gaster replied with a soft smile as he ruffled Snowstorm's hair.

{Hey!} Snowstorm protested.

Throughout Snowstorm and Gaster's conversion through the bond, Sans and Alphys watched in confusion, awe, shock, and a myriad of other emotion.

To them, Snowstorm and Gaster were talking without even opening their mouths, as if they were telepathic.

Well, one of them anyways.

Gaster moved his arms, this time Snowstorm didn't protest; though she still kept an eye on the corner, text flying across her visor.

[Hello Alphys, it's nice to meet you... sorry for the attack earlier…] Gaster apologized.

"It's alright, but if you don't mind me asking, why did you attack in the first place? And can I please check her condition…" Alphys requested, understanding the sign language now that she was no longer in shock.

{Snowstorm, is it alright if Alphys checks your condition?... you don't have to let her if you don't want to.} Gaster asked, giving Snowstorm a choice, so as to not back her into a corner or something that would frighten her more than whatever was already spooking her.

Snowstorm nodded, but did not make any motions to move away from Gaster, who was currently her source of comfort.

Gaster nodded, and was about to lift Snowstorm off his lap when she shook her head no and held onto him tighter.

Gaster sighed, and looked pleadingly at Sans. He had no clue what to do; he never dealt with such an issue before... not that he could remember anyways.

Sans grinned, inwardly smiling at the predicament that Gaster found himself in.

Even if he was still questioning why Snowstorm would refuse to give up her hold on Gaster… after all, she didn't like touch, or at least that is what Toriel said.

Speaking of Toriel…

Toriel paced in front of the large door, unsure as to what to do, she wanted to help her son and the human child… but.. what if another fell down? Or something happened while she was gone?

"Oh who am I kidding?" Toriel muttered, "I will help Yuki and my son! I cannot let them to face such a horrible fate!" Toriel said with a strong resolve.

She pushed open the gate that led to Snowdin forest…

Only to get buried in snow as a blizzard hit her hard.

Back with Snowstorm…

Sans shook his head, he could see there was no way of getting Snowstorm to let go.

"I-it's alright D-Dr. Gaster… I can do it while she is in your lap…" Alphys stammered.

Gaster nodded, and shifted Snowstorm carefully, letting her hold onto him and making it clear he was just changing how she was sitting; making it so she was facing Alphys.

Alphys carefully kept her body language as non-threatening as possible as she walked up to Snowstorm and Gaster.

Snowstorm's body tensed up the moment Alphys was within four feet of her, but she still refused to let that corner out of her sight.

Alphys took Snowstorm's temperature and heart rate again, now it was 60bmp… her body temperature stayed the same though, and that concerned Alphys.

"I'ma go get them some lunch from Grillby's." Sans stated casually as he walked off.

Gaster nodded, and brought his attention back to Snowstorm, who was tensed up, Gaster was getting a myriad of negative emotions from her.

"Everything seems alright, but I'm going to leave the IV in until after you have finished eating and have drank some water." Alphys stated as she stood back up from her kneeling position and moved back, Snowstorm calming down once Alphys was far enough away.

{See, that wasn't so bad, now was it?} Gaster asked playfully.

{I guess.. } Snowstorm muttered as she buried her face in Gaster's shirt.

Gaster ruffled her hair again and she protested through the bond as she attempted to flatten out her hair.

Alphys was watching from the other side of the room, puzzled at the interaction between the two she was watching.

It was so odd to her, she knew where ever Dr. Gaster had been, he had no means to raise a human, especially such a powerful one.

But, she couldn't help but get that… father/daughter.. vibe from them. Then she also knew something was wrong with Yuki, as the child seemed to be afraid of… well, everything.

There was also the fact that the two seemed to talk telepathically.. but that was impossible, wasn't it?

Gaster was laughing silently while Snowstorm swatted at him for ruffling her hair…

Snowstorm was curious about something, and childishly….

Stuck her tiny left hand through the hole in Gaster's right palm.

Childish shock ran through the bond before soft laughter filled it; Alphys sweat dropped at what Snowstorm had done, while Gaster let Snowstorm do it, even if he felt a tad bit uncomfortable with it.

Snowstorm opened her mouth in awe; revealing her fangs.

She looked up at Gaster, then at the hand, then Gaster... then the hand again.

{Discover something new, have we?} Gaster said in amusement as he felt her confusion through the bond.

Snowstorm removed her hand from Gaster's palm, and lifted his hand as she looked through it, unsure of the new discovery.

Creakkkk… the door to the room opened.

"I'm back!" Sans said cheerfully as he carried a plate in each hand.

Only to laugh at the scene he walked in on.

Struggling not to drop the plates, he brought them over to Gaster and Snowstorm; the latter of which finally got off of Gaster's lap after letting go of his hands, but she still stuck close to Gaster.

Snowstorm was practically drooling before she even saw what was on the plate; she could smell it.

Sans gave her the plate she was staring at; it had beef cooked rare and cut into little pieces. Along with a cup with orange liquid…

There was a fork on the plate, which confused her…. How did she use a fork? And what was this orange stuff?

The plate Sans gave Gaster the plate that had 3 fruit shish kabobs, some cut up steak, a glass of milk, and a fork.

Looking at the plate in front of her, she was a tad confused. {Gaster, how do I use a fork?} She asked is confusion, she had seen kids and the orphanage use them… but she never got to.

{You don't know how to use a fork?... well, let's fix that dilemma now.} Gaster chuckled.

Using his hands he guided her on how to hold it. {You hold a fork like this,} He started, {you use it to pick up food like this,} he explained, moving her hand with the fork in it so as to spear the food. {Then you just eat it off the fork and repeat.} Gaster finished.

Snowstorm nodded, and tried to do the steps on her own, which she succeeded in, if a bit clumsily.

Removing the fork from her mouth, she grinned and proceeded to wolf down the steak left on her plate.

Gaster, though, ate at much slower pace than the over excited and happy Snowstorm.

Snowstorm grabbed the cup with both hands and carefully brought it to her mouth, proceeding to take a sip from it.

Her eyes widened and she continued to drink it, but at a slow pace as she knew drinking anything fast would give her a stomach ache.

{It tastes good!} Snowstorm exclaimed while she drank the orange colored drink.

Gaster had to resist from laughing at the large amount of positive emotion coming from the bond, if he did he was going to spill his food.

Neither paid attention to the two observing them.

Sans and Alphys both noticed one thing that bothered them both.

Gaster had to show Snowstorm how to use a fork… but somehow knew she needed the help…

The fact she literally wolfed down the steak as if she never ate it before and it was the best thing in the world… 'Isn't steak a regular food the humans eat?' Alphys questioned in her mind, looking at the heart warming, yet broken scene before her.

Snowstorm set down the cup, and licked the leftover orange liquid from her lips; her fangs being momentarily revealed, she was becoming more and more careless about hiding what she once hid every moment she could.

{That tasted really good! a bit sour though.. Gaster, do you know what it was?} Snowstorm stated, adding the last part after a pause as if it were an afterthought.

{Orange juice, made from oranges.} Gaster replied simply as he finished off the last of his food; it was already becoming a habit for them to use the bond.

Sans got up from where he had sat down next to Alphys, and walked towards Snowstorm slowly.

"Mind if I take your plates?" he asked jokingly in Cybertronian.

Snowstorm grinned and signed to go ahead; she of course made use of his joking attitude there and flashed it right back at him.

Gaster did the same but added further to the teasing element.

He summoned a 'magic' hand and pat Sans on the head.

Sans blushed at being treated like a kid again, and walked out of the room with plates in hand, he knew that if he tried to separate Snowstorm from Gaster, something bad would probably happen.

"H-how about we see about removing that IV n-now?" Alphys asked meekly.

Gaster's attention momentarily shifted to Alphys. {Snowstorm, would you like her to remove that.. IV I think she called it, from your right hand?} Gaster relayed.

Snowstorm nodded, she wanted that thing out of her hand, it hurt a lot whenever she tried to use that hand.

Gaster looked at Alphys; then nodded.

Alphys slowly walked up, just as Sans had, and set down the bag she had in hand.

Rummaging through it she got a cotton ball and a bandage.

Snowstorm held onto Gaster's sleeve as Alphys held her hand, removing the Gauze wrap.

"This is going to hurt a little, okay?" Alphys said, attempting to warn Snowstorm in advance.

Before Snowstorm even asked, Gaster replied. {She's just warning you it will hurt a little. Probably because of the sticky surface of the bandage.}

Snowstorm nodded, tightening her grip on his sleeve as she felt the small sting of pain she was warned about when the Gauze was removed.

There, the needle, Tegaderm bandage, and Medical tape was visible.

Snowstorm was panicking a bit; it was a needle, inside of her.

Last time that happened…

'No! I must not think of that!' Snowstorm thought as she viciously shook her head in an attempt to ward of the memory.

Alphys removed the Tegaderm from Snowstorms skin slowly as to cause as little pain as possible.

She gently took hold of the needle, and removed the medical tape; then she grabbed the cotton ball, and pressed it gently on top as she removed the needle from Snowstorm's hand.

Putting more pressure on the cotton ball she grabbed the regular tan-brown bandage, and stuck it on top of the cotton ball.

She gave Gaster strict instructions not to remove it for at least an hour, she figured he probably didn't remember such a thing as she heard what Sans said and from her own observations, she could tell that there were holes in Gaster's memories.

Gaster nodded after Alphys had finished telling him the instructions, and rolled his eyes at hearing her tell both of them to get some rest.

He knew that wouldn't happen.

Not when Snowstorm seemed to be energized now.

Snowstorm was practically bouncing in place; all signs of whatever ailment she had earlier completely gone.

Sans entered the room, effectively breaking the silence.

"Sans, I would like some answers now." Alphys said as she grabbed Sans by the hood of his jacket and dragged Sans off.

Snowstorm giggled at the scene before her before opening the menu again and running through it to see what else she had.

{Snowstorm, I've been wondering… why do you wear a visor?} Gaster asked softly.

Snowstorm paused in her scrolling through the menu.

Snowstorm sighed as her menu closed and cybertronian text flew across her screen.

{I have what is known in the human world as Erythropoietic Protoporphyria, or EPP for short.} Snowstorm began, text changing directions here and there, seemingly removing and adding themselves.

{It can be very painful… it arises from a deficiency in the enzyme Ferrochelatase, leading to abnormally high levels of Protoporphyrin in the tissue. The severity varies from person to person, and a common symptom is very painful photosensitivity; manifesting itself as a burning or itching sensation on the surface of the skin, often within a minute of exposure. At times the itching sensations are almost unbearable, rubbing the cold ice I can create on the burns helps sooth the pain for a while… } Snowstorm paused, sending a memory of her arms, legs, stomach, face, neck, and feet covered in burns.

{The usual anti-itch remedies, which include cortisone anti-histamine topical preparations and calamine lotion provide no relief. There is no cure for this disorder; however, symptoms can usually be managed by limiting exposure to daytime and fluorescent lights. Protective clothing is helpful since the photosensitivity results from light of the visible spectrum. Oto-san created the visor for me; it helps keep the sun out of my eyes, and has a shield built in that keeps the light from reaching my skin.} Snowstorm murmured as the text vanished from her visor screen.

Gaster frowned; she felt pain from just being in the light? Then what about earlier when she took of her visor?...

{But earlier you took off your visor without any burns, remember? Sunlight down here is different.} Gaster explained, ruffling her hair again.

Snowstorm blinked, {I..did?... oh right! I had taken it off so I could charge it… but then… why didn't it hurt…} Snowstorm muttered in confusion.

{So that's what that blue liquid was…some kind of energy source?} Gaster inquired.

{Energon, it is something all cybertronian people and items need to function.} Snowstorm answered distractedly.

She decided to test it; after all… her Kaa-san and Oto-san had added a feature she could use if in a dark enough environment.

Once again, she slipped her right hand under her visor and took it off.

There was no pain.

Going a step further, she opened her eyes.

Everything was bright, making her eyes ache a little.

Snowstorm looked wide eyed at the world around her as her eyes adjusted.

Colors… colors... colors everywhere!

She forgot what it was like to see colors after having the visor on for so long!

{Color…} Snowstorm said in awe as she reached out to nothing in particular.

Gaster smiled, he was glad he was right… it seemed she was rather happy to see things without the visor on for once.

Snowstorm smiled, and picked up her visor, she ran her hand across the cover on the right side of the visor and the head band.

Gaster was confused for a moment, but then the visor began to shift, it flattened itself out and the glass like visor piece seemingly folded into itself and disappearing…

It continued to shift, pieces folding in on themselves until a final product was left.

A thin ring of black and light blue metal now sat in Snowstorm's hands.

Snowstorm carefully pulled it around her neck, and a click was heard as the two ends met behind her neck.

A holographic version of her visor screen appeared about a foot from Snowstorm's left eye, text showed up, and then the screen disappeared.

{I never really got to use it this way… but.. the world is so colorful…} Snowstorm said through the bond, awe overflowing from her side of the bond.

{If you ever feel uncomfortable, don't resist putting it back on, okay?} Gaster murmured.

Snowstorm turned to look at Gaster, her wide, heterochromic eyes, staring at Gaster…

She hugged him tightly; Gaster froze for a moment, surprise coming from his side of the bond as he hugged her back, laughter filling the bond as his chest rumbled.

{It's been so long since I have seen actual color….I forgot what it was like…everything is so bright} Snowstorm mumbled through the bond as she began to doze off, hugging Gaster.

Gaster sighed, he knew this was going to happen often… but, he felt kind of happy at doing this, it reminded him of happy times before the accident…

"No!" Came a shout from downstairs.

Snowstorm jumped slightly.

{Seems the soundproof barrier in the walls of this room have deteriorated a bit…} Gaster frowned.

Snowstorm questioningly looked up at Gaster, confusion and a small bit of fear evident in her eyes.

{How about we go check it out?} Gaster suggested.

Snowstorm nodded, and stood on the ground; only for her legs to buckle beneath her.

Gaster quickly grabbed her, preventing her from getting more wounds than she already had.

Gaster kneeled down and picked up Snowstorm, and carried her against his chest.

{I'm fine…} Snowstorm protested as she wrapped her arms around Gaster's neck, which was covered by his turtlenecks collar.

{Obviously not 'fine' enough to walk, there is nothing to be ashamed about by being carried. After all; you are still just a child.} Gaster sighed.

Snowstorm was annoyed by how weak her body was, she couldn't even walk on her own; and that felt so... debilitating.

She considered Gaster's words, and decided… it was best to tell him.

{I…} Snowstorm started.

{You what?} Gaster murmured as he began to descend the stairs to the living room.

{I don't know how old I am… I have never known...} Snowstorm muttered as she hid her face in the crook of Gaster's neck.

{Snowstorm,} Gaster began as he paused for a split second, mid step to the next stair.

{It is alright if you do now know your own age, I myself do not know how old I am, for all I know, I could be a young adult, or hundreds of years old.} Gaster confided, uncertainty tainting his voice.

{Really?... } Snowstorm asked meekly.

{Really.} Gaster replied as he sat her down on the couch.

Gaster turned around and headed towards the kitchen, where the yelling was coming from.

Snowstorm did her best to ignore the yelling, but it was hurting her ears…

"Oh! Dr. Gaster! What are you doing up? You and Yuki should still be resting- wait, where is Yuki?" came Alphys stuttering voice.

"So this is where the ketchup went…" came Sans'…lazy sounding voice.

"Ketchup and Ramen noodles do not belong in Spaghetti!" came Papyrus's loud voice.

"And what about the snails?!" Came Asriel's voice.

Gaster sighed, {Why must they argue about something like this? Especially something as simple as Spaghetti!} He asked himself, accidentally using the bond.

{Gaster, what is Spaghetti?} Snowstorm asked in curiosity, running through some text documents on a holographic screen that looked much like her menu.

{A rather good dish made of tomato sauce, noodles, and meat, maybe I can see if Grillby can make you some sometime.} Gaster replied distractedly as clattering pots were heard.

{That sounds nice…} Snowstorm replied, unsure of the noises coming from the kitchen.

One of Gaster's 'magic' hands came into view at the edge of the kitchen, dragging Alphys out of the kitchen by her lab coat.

Soon, three more followed, each one dragging someone from the kitchen.

Gaster stood at the edge of the kitchen.

Making sure he had their attention, he signed [You four stay out of the kitchen, I will make the meal since you four obviously do nothing but argue.]

Simultaneous groans and complaints were heard from quartet.

[I don't want to hear your complains when you are the ones causing trouble!] Gaster signed, a dark look upon his face.

Snowstorm couldn't help but laugh, it reminded her so much of the time Ravage was scolded by Lazerbeak! It was so funny!

{I-I think I can keep them busy… do they like music?} Snowstorm said, her voice quiet as she pondered something.

Gaster's eyes widened, {Yes, they indeed like music.} Gaster replied, a dark grin spreading across his face as he got a 'memory' of what she had in mind, even if it put the attention on her.

{Do as you wish, Snowstorm} he replied as he recalled his 'magic' hands and walked into the kitchen; creating a barricade of magic.

Snowstorm tensed at having Gaster out of sight, but soothed herself knowing she had the bond if need be.

Raising her hand she put on the performance of scrolling through the settings area with her hands, the holographic screen a few feet from her body.

Clicking a button she had not used in a long time… a new holograph appeared around her.

Sitting on the floor, as she still did not trust her legs, the round holograph became more detailed, eventually becoming a holographic circular piano.

Starting off slowly, she began to pick up the speed as soon as she saw she had the others attention.

But the speed barely picked up, a sad yet hopeful feeling to it, she was using both the lower case of the piano, and the upper case side, creating the oddest, almost echoing effect.

{Hmmm, that is a pleasant song, what is it called?} Gaster hummed through the bond.

{Waterfall; it didn't have a name before.. but it reminds me of the waterfall area down here.}

{Fitting name.} Gaster hummed in reply.

At this point Sans, Asriel, Papyrus, and Alphys were staring at Snowstorm in shock; seemingly mesmerized by the sound of the music and the sight of Snowstorms angelic face, her eyes closed, making her look peaceful yet sad as she played the holographic piano.

{Think you can keep them busy for about five more minutes?} Gaster requested.

{I can try,} She replied, opening her eyes just a sliver, she let her hands glide across the holographic, yet strangely solid piano, she began to add a few notes here and there, giving it a more upbeat feeling as she began to use the upper case keys more.

She saw Gaster's 'magic' hands begin to quietly move the table from the edge of the living room to the center of the living room, and soon, other 'magic' hands followed with plates of food.

{Finished} Gaster said simply as the barrier in the kitchen doorway fell.

And with that, Snowstorm began to slow the song; bringing it to an end.

The holographic piano began to fade until it was nonexistent.

Gaster came out of the kitchen, smiling softly at Snowstorm in thanks for the wonderful music as he quietly clapped.

Snowstorm blushed a bright shade of crimson as everyone else began to clap, she never thought herself as good at the piano.

Snowstorm, in a fit of shyness and need of feeling protected, she reached out towards Gaster as a young child would when begging to be picked up.

Gaster chuckled, and walked towards Snowstorm and scooped her up, effectively breaking all the attention that was on her.

Snowstorm immediately locked her arms around Gaster's neck.

[Turn around] Gaster signed simply with a pair of 'magic' hands as he grinned sinisterly.

Everyone who saw the grin paled, and turned around….

Only to see a table covered in plates full of food.

More specifically…

Ramen.

Snowstorm knew that one, as every human seemed to eat it when she was in japan… even in the middle of the forest.

Just broth, noodles, and a soft boiled egg in each bowl; excluding spices that is.

It was rather simple really, and by the look on the others faces; they had no clue it was ramen.

Alphys thought for a moment, before sitting at the table and began eating with a pair of chop sticks that was laid out at only one of the bowls, the others having forks.

A surprised noise was heard "This tastes good!" Alphys exclaimed in shock.

Papyrus, Sans, and Asriel joined one, both exclaiming the same thing.

When papyrus had finally asked what it was, Gaster told him it was ramen….

Papyrus fainted, Alphys cheered; saying it was better than the cup ramen, and Sans just snoozed away with his head on his arms upon the table; Sans will be Sans.

Snowstorm yawned, her thoughts becoming hazy as she began to be pulled into the depths of sleep no matter how hard she fought it.

'Must have really...overdone…it..' her thoughts becoming fragmenting as she began to lose the fight.

{Shhh, just sleep…} Gaster hushed as he felt the drowsiness emanating from the other side of the bond.

And with that, Snowstorm relinquished her hold to the darkness of sleep; her grip around Gaster's neck going slack.

Gaster sighed, he figured this would happen quite often after she had used her Magic to such an extent, after all, over using ones abilities would exhaust them.

He knew that from experience, so this was only to be expected from someone of Snowstorms presumable age.

Walking over to the couch, he proceeded to set Snowstorm on the couch; unwrapping Snowstorm's arms from around his neck.

Sans lifted his head a fraction and peered at Gaster from the corner of his eye.

"So, Gaster…" Sans began, "Why did Snowstorm attach herself to you so quickly when she fears practically everything…" he said nonchalantly.

Gaster froze mid-way to standing back up.

All activity in the room halted as Sans mentioned that single thing.

Gaster turned around, his pinprick glowing heterochromatic eyes over flowing with emotion.

He didn't even need to say anything as he collapsed to the floor, tears running down his face.

His eyes and face said it all for him.

They both had experienced something painful…they both lost something dear to them…

Both of them were broken.

Gaster had suffered the pain of his own experiments, the loss of his family, the loss of his freedom, and the pain of isolation.

Snowstorm, though her past unknown to them, had seen more tragedy than Gaster; even if she could not remember it.

But among the things that they had both seen and felt….

Death stood out the most.

Both had seen countless deaths, some by others, some caused by themselves.

Too many things had scarred the two over the years; both mentally and psychically.

"Dad?" Sans asked worriedly as he lifted his head completely.

Gaster made no move; he sat there like a broken, weeping doll.

Sans got up and inched towards Gaster, and hugged him tightly.

Gaster's eyes widened and it appeared as if he was snapped back to reality, as if he had been trapped in a memory.

Slowly and shakily, Gaster lifted his arms and wrapped them around Sans before gripping tightly.

Gaster buried his face in Sans' jacket and wept; the dam finally breaking.

Papyrus and Asriel looked at each other in confusion; they didn't know what could have brought this on…

But Alphys… she was beating herself up over not noticing such a thing.

"It's okay dad…" Sans murmured, his heart breaking at seeing his dad in such a state.

Gaster continued to weep, eventually exhausting himself; his body grew heavy with the weight of sleep.

And soon… sleep claimed him while he was still in his sons arms.

Sans collapsed to the ground under Gaster's dead weight, Gaster soon falling on top of Sans.

Alphys jumped into action; rushing over to Sans and Gaster.

The only reason she did not approach sooner, was the amount of Magic saturating the air around them, she knew even the slightest wrong movement would have triggered the Magic to attack…

Quickly, she lifted Gaster off of Sans, allowing him to get out from underneath the tall royal scientist.

Meanwhile…

Snowstorm sat in the middle of her black mindscape, a verbal memory playing around her; it was of a recording her Kaa-san always played when she had issues sleeping or something was troubling her too much.

"I fly towards the light,
that shines in the far away sky, but

The cold rain wets my wings,
and I'm alone again today

I'm waving like these ripples
the far memories in my heart

Right now, I just want to sleep
inside this transparent wind and accept these wings.

I look for the whereabouts of the destiny I was left in charge of
a single falling feather

Someday, surely, I'll reach
the place where my heart will heal

The eyes that look upwards reflect,
the pieces of sadness that we pick up

Forever is sad and endless
and I might long for it

Dreams are the mirage, even now;
they are secretly, fleetingly, blooming somewhere…"

She didn't understand why, but this song always calmed her.

But then, she felt a large amount of sadness and other negative emotions flood through from Gaster's side of the bond.

'Gaster?...'she murmured in confusion.

Snowstorm stood up and began floating through the darkness of her mindscape.

'Gaster!' she called into the darkness.

Suddenly, arms wrapped around her as a sobbing Gaster appeared in front of her.

After getting over her shock, she hugged him back, attempting to calm him down using the bond.

It felt like it was forever before Gaster calmed down, the on-slot of emotion finally slowing to a halt.

Snowstorm said nothing, just continued to send positive emotions through the bond.

Moving a tad bit away from Gaster, she tugged on his sleeve; she wanted to show him something that might cheer him up.

If not that, it would probably shock him out of the sorrowful mood.

Soon, in a flash of light, a new scene appeared out of the black void like mind scape.

They appeared on a very high up countertop in the Autobots base.

And down below, on the floor, was Ravage and Lazerbeak.

The feline Cybertronian, Ravage, and the bird like Cybertronian, Lazerbeak, were arguing over who got to play with Snowstorm next.

{Nu-uh! You got a turn last time Lazerbeak!} Ravage hissed.

{No! you got to do it last time!} Lazerbeak screeched.

{No I didn't!}

{Yes you did!}

{Why don't you both play with her?} A monotone voice suggested; Soundwave.

{Why didn't we think of that?!} Ravage and Lazerbeak yelled in sync.

{Because you both are too busy arguing} came a deeper, more gruff voice; Shockwave.

She could feel Gaster become amused, the last remnants of the negative emotions vacating the bond.

'The two down there arguing are Ravage and Lazerbeak, this-' Snowstorm paused as she turned around to point at the much taller Cybertronian, 'is Kaa-san… Soundwave.' Snowstorm adding her adoptive mothers true name reluctantly.

'And that-'turning to point at the shorter, and much more heavily built Cybertronian, 'is Oto-san…Shockwave.'

Gaster nodded.

"Did this happen often?" he asked, amusement clear in his voice.

'So many times I lost count!' Snowstorm exclaimed happily.

Snowstorm paused, before mumbling 'I think there are still more times that… that Ratchet…'

The memory faded away and was taken by another.

Another Cybertronian appeared, holding a wrench, and threw it at Shockwave.

"No experimenting with explosive items in the base!" Ratchet groused.

Snowstorm winced as the wrench hit Shockwave's head.

'Wrenches…' Snowstorm muttered as she forced the memory to change back to the black void it was before.

"Who was that?" Gaster asked in interest, his deep sorrow buried for the moment.

'Ratchet, the Autobot medic.' Snowstorm replied, attempting to not remember the first time she met him… she was rather scared at the time because she had only just found her Kaa-san again.

Snowstorm went rigid, a memory flooding back.

The darkness bled away into the scene of the orphanage she grew up in for the early part of her life.

The room was tiny, barely any room for Gaster to move around in, a better description of the room would be its more like a closet.

The floor was thickly coated in dust, what little paint that was on the walls was peeling off.

The window was so dirty that barely any light came through, and a small, dirty and broken desk sat in front of it, no clutter upon it, just grime.

A broken and make shift dresser with a mirror to the left of the window and next to the desk, right in front of the dresser was a door that was only able to be opened from the outside, the size of the door giving further to the impression that the room was the size of a closet.

The bed was horrifying; it was a slab of wood attached to the wall with thin as can be mattress no more than two inches thick that was stained a sickening combination of red and yelled, the same could be said for the ratty sheet that laid upon it.

A slightly smaller Snowstorm lied, curled up, underneath the ratty blanket, she was bruised black and blue with many cuts and slashes adorning her body.

Snowstorm whimpered and attempted to shakily back away from the memory scene before her; she did not want to remember such a place, or the experiences she had there.

Gaster hugged Snowstorm from behind, and began to murmur things in an attempt to pull her out of the memory; he himself was horrified, and he truly knew then and there… she had experienced a truly horrifying early life.

But then, static seemed to fill the room.

Snowstorm stopped shaking that moment, and looked at the room with wide eyes.

'One of the memories… that were locked…away…' a terrified Snowstorm stammered in a small voice.

Gaster thought nothing of it, as he was guilty of doing that as well.

"You…poor…child…" A distorted and shaky male voice murmured.

Snowstorm backed further into Gaster, she was shaking like a leaf in his arms.

"You…have suffered…worse than I…" it continued in a shaky voice, no figure in sight.

But then, goo began coming from the wall not far from the foot of the bed.

It began to shift and mold itself, changing colors here and there.

The form it took, was of a Lanky skeleton frighteningly looking like Gaster, everything below its neck shifting and falling into itself like goo, the majority of it was a black-purple color, but the head and neck, and what little was visible from there, was a sickly grey white.

It had a crack on the right side of its face, the eye more than half closed and useless as the crack ran into it. There was another crack, running from the right eye to the mouth; the pinprick in his black right eye glowing an eerie purple.

Its mouth looked more like a jagged crack than a mouth.

It moved forward, giving the impression its legs were completely melted together as it moved like slime.

Gaster stared at the eldritch look alike; fear shining in his glowing pinprick heterochromatic eyes.

Memory Snowstorm opened her eyes, a dull fog like sheen to them as if she had given up hope.

"Someone… as young… as you... should not lose Hope…" The eldritch Gaster look alike murmured its distorted voice echoing about the tiny room as he gently brushed his melted skeletal hand against Snowstorms pale, cold face.

"I may…not be from…this timeline… but…you deserve this…"

Slowly, eldritch Gaster moved his arm, the goo forming his body shifted, making his body thinner than it already was, and it filled the gap between his arm and body.

It shifted in sickening ways, the colors shifting within it to an array of colors; a galaxy.

"Please…Child… make a wish… unlike ours… these won't last…forever… and you... deserve it more…than you think…."

Memory Snowstorm looked at the Eldritch Gaster look alike is awe, a small spark lighting in her dim eyes as she weakly reached out with shaky right arm.

Slowly, as if unsure, she reached out over the edge of the bed, and touched a tiny and lonely looking star.

"Family…care…" Memory snowstorm murmured weekly, fumbling over the foreign words to her, as she did not know speak much back then due to isolation.

Frost and ice spread around the room as she spoke.

The star glowed a warm, soft white before vanishing from the goo.

"Things will…get better… for you… I…promise…" Eldritch Gaster murmured, gently brushing his melted hand against memory Snowstorm's face again, before he seemed to evaporate into thin air.

"I promise…" his whisper echoed throughout the room.

The static in the room disappeared, and the memory began to fade away.

The darkness of the Snowstorm's void like mindscape returned, and Snowstorm flipped herself around and buried her face in Gaster's shirt.

"Not from this timeline?" Gaster muttered to himself as he rubbed circles on her back, attempting to calm her down as he had a self-monologue about what had just happened.

"Snowstorm," Gaster began softly.

Snowstorm looked up a bit, just enough for Gaster to see her eyes.

"You will never go back to that horrible place; I will make sure of that, okay?"

'Thank…you…' Snowstorm sobbed as she gripped Gaster's shirt tightly.

"Shhh… It's okay…" Gaster hushed as he hugged her tightly; continuing to rub circles on her back.

BANG!

A crash was heard…


White: yes, i know, Cliff hangers are evil. but hey, it gets chapters out, ne? ^^

oh, and Anime-chan, do you understand now what I mean't? :]

before i forget!

the lyrics in the story are from the song "tsubasa wo daite" from Mermaid melody... i dont know who actually made the song..

and the piano music?... i think you guys should already know what it was...

a piano version of the music in waterfall.