"Come on, Azzy! This way!" a familiar voice giggles as, playfully encouraging me to head deeper inside the caves of Waterfall.

I wonder. Chara? Is that you? I rush over to the source of the noise. When I finally catch up, I can't help but I rub my eyes in disbelief. It.. It really IS you. It's been so long, Chara. I-I thought I had lost you forever.

My entire body can not stop itself from shaking as I nervously approach the small ferry boat you proudly stand upon. As I step onto the boat, my eyes begin to feel funny. This is a sensation I haven't felt in a very long time. Not since…

Tears? No! I can't let Chara see me like this. I-I'm a big kid now. And big kids don't cry. Desperate, but unable to stop my tears, I instead rush towards my sibling, hoping to embrace Chara and turn my face away before my shameful sign of weakness can be noticed… It actually seems to be working?

Upon calming myself down, I finally realize we aren't docked at land anymore. This is… actually quite nice. No birds singing. No flowers blooming. On days like this, kids like us should be enjoying the river. The gentle rocking motion back and forth sets the perfect backdrop to wash away the constant chaos and restlessness inside of me, if only for a few moments. But it seems this brief moment of contentment was only temporary. As my sibling's voice breaks the silence, a cold chill takes hold of me.

"Brother, we need to talk." As I finally pull my head up to look them in the eye, I catch a glimpse of a creepy smile.

We need to talk? I… do not like where this is going. Even without the face, the chances those words would be followed by good news was already nearly zero percent.

"Father gave me up to train the fish lady. And Mother? She's even worse. She replaced me with some random kid she didn't even care about! She just LET them die and replaced THEM with the next kid that fell! A-are you going to replace me too, brother?"

No! I-I'd never do that! I… I visited the room next to your grave every day as a flower. But I never could bring myself to actually visit you. Not until I could became worthy of your praise. I know I may talk a big game. But, trust me. I am fully aware of just how pathetic I was… And how pathetic I still am.

"Do not LIE to me, Azzy. I saw you getting chummy with the new kid. Brother, you wound me. I thought we had something special. But, I guess I was mistaken. I'm just another worthless toy to you, aren't I? A useless plaything, destined to be forgotten and discarded."

That's not true! D-don't talk like that! I let go of them, taking a few steps backwards before instinctively motioning with my hands. My… Hands …? My eyes catch a glimpse of the river. The reflection of stupid little Asriel's face mocks me with a smile. Even with the uncomfortable insinuations, I should have known this was too good to be true. This isn't really my Chara. This dream is just a sick imitation of what died long ago.

"Really? As soon as they used OUR name, you cowered. And you barely put up any resistance to Mother taking you both in. As much as you deny it, you actually ENJOY humoring the new kid, do you not?"

Even though I keep telling myself this is not real, I still can not stop myself from cowering in the face of such accusations. I-I would NEVER betray you, Chara. NEVER. W-why won't you believe me?

I-it's not like that! It's all just self-preservation. I swear! My head begins to hurt. But it doesn't make any sense. I'm not injured, nor am I trying to reset yet.

"Everything is your fault. But you cannot accept it. You think you are above consequences. I DIED so you could grow strong, Azzy. And THIS is how you repay me? With weakness?"

No. No no no no! I am brought back to reality by the sight of my stubby little leaves pointing at a wounded child as their blood slowly drips down from their face and their arms onto a blue and purple shirt. Are they… dead?

No. It seems they are still breathing. As pathetic as they are, I know that no monster in these Ruins could possibly pose that kind of a threat. Except maybe for Toriel. But she would never intentionally harm a child, especially not like this. There's only one option left. And, in my current potted state, it's going to get me killed once she finds out. I… did this to them, didn't I?

"Flowey. What happened? You looked so peaceful. And then BAM! Pellets everywhere." They seem to be in a good mood, considering they almost died right there.

None of your business. I am too agitated to even bother correcting them about the bullets right now.

"C'mon. Don't be like that." I suppose they can't be hurt TOO badly if they can still muster enough energy to tease me like this. If they keep this up for much longer, though I don't think I'll be able to control myself.

It was just a bad dream. Nothing more. Just drop it already! At this point I'm snarling at them. I've been TRYING so hard to hold off on hurting them. They are new, so they are still fun to play with and tease. And, besides. So long as Toriel lives, staying on the brat's good side is sort of essential to my continued well-being.

Their phone rings. But it's still in my pot. This has to be Toriel, nobody else has this number yet. I sigh, knowing full well she's going to want to talk to them. I don't even bother answering.

It's for you. Scowling, I hand over the phone. All they do respond with is a small smirk and a few seconds of silence, followed by a single word before they hang up.

"Butterscotch."

They hand the phone back to me. Confused at their lack of tattling, my eyes meet theirs for a moment.

"You deserve to be happy too."

No, I don't! Stop lying! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!

What happened next was a blur. All I remember is seeing countless bunches of little white pellets and the sound of my own labored breathing. I didn't even get to hear them scream. What a pity. Their corpse laid upon the cold, hard floor and I couldn't even recall how it all happened. What a waste of a perfectly good kill.

See, Chara? I never betrayed you! It was all a trick, see? Still, it seems as if I have some sort of unfinished business to take care of. But what? I can't put my petals on it, but I can tell. We are missing something, sibling. Something IMPORTANT.

Author's Notes

Flowey seems distracted temporarily. Countless years of guilt, doubt, and idolization concerning his sibling seems to have gotten to him. Is Chara really with him this time, or is he just projecting again? By the way, the next chapter will release this Friday.

And if that pun in the title wasn't bad enough, I'm sure Flowey really wouldn't take well to what I just said about Chara. So, uh, I'll just show myself out before I get hurt.