Frisk woke up on a bed of golden flowers.
Staring into the bright daylight above, she tried to sort out her thoughts. She had just jumped down a deep hole on the top of Mount Ebott to end her stupid life.
No. She had just reset in her home town after a classmate told her she should have stayed dead.
No. She had just… She had just regained her determination after she saw Papyrus on his death bed.
The child sat up slowly. She had set everything back. It was all gone. Papyrus's illness, Sans's recovery, Toriel's care, Undyne's guilt. She had erased it all and nobody would remember a thing. She felt like crying but rubbing her eyes she told herself: she had done the right thing. It was her responsibility as the most determined person in the Underground to make the future right. She had broken her promise to Sans. Even if the skeleton would never know, the blame was hers to carry.
The human pushed herself to her feet. She had to see Papyrus and make sure that he was alright. She knew that it was too early in the timeline and he hadn't even begun learning green magic yet, but her heart wouldn't rest until then.
She bent down to pick up a wooden stick from the ground. Force of habit. She wanted to keep it around. Be it to ease the load on her knees or deterring…
"Howdy~" a cheerful voice greeted her. Frisk grimaced.
"Flowey," she grunted, turning to face the flower. "Long time no see."
"Oh?" Flowey cocked his head to the side. "Have we met before? I don't think so. Or have we?" His sweet expression melted into a deathly grin. "We have! My my, so rude of me to forget."
"Ah. So I'm not the only one whose memories get jumbled by a reset."
The flower gave her a surprised look, then burst out laughing. "Jumbled," he repeated. "Everyone else has forgotten you! Your beloved mum will look at you and ask who you are."
Frisk stared at him coldly. "Yeah. I know."
"Getting angry now, aren't we? Feel that determination coursing through your veins? Remember beating Papyrus half to death-"
"That's enough," the human barked, raising her stick. "Do I have to shut you up?"
Excited, Flowey grinned wide. "Please do! If you can," he added, summoning a ring of bullets all around her.
As Frisk expected, it was then that Toriel made her appearance, saving the human and showing her around the Ruins once again. Frisk kept catching doubtful, scrutinising glances from the goat mum until, at last, she decided to try her luck.
"Mum," she asked, tugging at the monster's sleeve, "guess what my favourite food is!"
Toriel didn't even pause to think, smiling wide. "Is it pie?"
"It is!" Frisk beamed at her, now certain. Her mum hadn't forgotten her completely. She promised to herself that later, when she had made sure Papyrus was alright, she would find a way to contact her again and make up for the lost time to her. Right now, however, the priority was to make it out of the Ruins.
When they were finally standing before the Door, Frisk swore to herself that this time she wouldn't lose her temper. Even if Toriel killed her again. She wouldn't hurt her mum like the first time.
The battle was about to begin when suddenly someone banged on the door from the other side. "Knock knock," they called out. Frisk gaped in surprise. Sans?
Toriel paused as well, half turning toward the sound. She looked back at Frisk. Then at the door.
"Who's there?" she answered.
"Michael."
"Michael who?"
"Michael-ove, not war."
The goat mum giggled despite herself, and the tension bled out of her. Was it just the human, or was Toriel actually loathe to fight her child? "My friend, it's not even our usual day. Why did you come here?"
"Sentry duties," the skeleton said dismissively. "I was checking for humans. You know me, workaholic to the marrow of my bones." Toriel burst into snickering. Sans waited until she composed herself. "If I heard the two of you right, the human wants to leave the Ruins. Don't worry about letting them pass, lady. I'll take care of them."
"I…" Toriel hesitated, taken aback, "I don't think that is…" She blinked several times. She looked around herself, then at the human. Then back at the Door. "I feel like I've done this before…" she murmured.
She was remembering letting Frisk go in the previous run. The human wasn't going to let this opportunity slide. "Mum," she said, tugging at Toriel's hand, "I think it's alright. That person sounds really fun. Can I go with him, please? He'll take good care of me."
Toriel looked at her child with gentle, aching fondness. Slowly, she nodded.
"Nice stunt you pulled there, kid," Sans commended the human later as they trod down the forest path.
Frisk grinned. "Mum always tells me that I can talk my way out of nearly anything."
"Your mum sounds cool," Sans smiled. "My brother is cooler, though."
"You mean to say, your brother is a cooler, right?" the human winked at him.
"You beat me to that one, kid," he laughed. "Now." He stopped walking. "There's just one tiny thing I need to make sure of."
Frisk turned to face him, giving him a warm smile.
"Do you remember promising me that you wouldn't reset?"
The human's knees felt weak. Leaning against her stick she took a step back. She stared at the skeleton in fear.
"You're probably thinking something along the lines of, how can he know? And how come there wasn't a pun in the sentence?" Sans rubbed his face with his palm. "Yeah, I do know. For some reason I remember everything that happened after I touched that bone of yours." He looked her in the eye. "So they are real memories? Not another lifelike nightmare?"
Frisk nodded her head. A part of her that wasn't frightened as a small child was wondering how in the world a bone dildo could let monsters keep their memories through a reset.
"Wow," the skeleton exclaimed. "Just wow. The weirdest part isn't even having memories that technically aren't mine. The weirdest part is – that guy… he cared so much about everything! I remember being so emotional about you, about the stuff you were doing… It's unreal." He shook his head in disbelief.
"Aren't you mad at me?" Frisk piped up.
"Mad? Naw. I mean, look at me – I'm not the guy he was. I don't really give a damn about whatever promises you made."
Pausing, the human did look at him. In terms of age, this Sans was twelve years younger than the one she had come to know. And yet, somehow he looked older. Half of it were the dark circles under his eye sockets. The other half was… this quiet lethargy that stank of old age. It reminded Frisk that this was the Sans who, under the crushing realisation that his universe was at the mercy of a time traveller's whims, had given up on everything.
"I am not going to reset again," the human declared, stomping her foot. Her determination swelled high. Slightly embarrassed, she realised that she had just saved.
Sans gave her a smile. "It's okay kid, you don't have to make that sort of proclamations…"
"It's not a proclamation, it's… it's…!"
"No kid," Sans smiled wider, and it seemed empty. "I mean, I don't care about your proclamations. I know that you're gonna do whatever you like anyway. It's better that you don't lie to yourself."
"Bah! You are horrible! I liked the other Sans much better," Frisk frowned.
"Sure, sure," the skeleton grinned, motioning for her to follow him. "Come on, this serious talk is wearing me out. You must be eager to see my brother."
Eyes lighting up, the human frisked after him. She was going to meet Papyrus again!
"There he goes. Quick, hide behind this conveniently shaped lamp," the skeleton pointed. Frisk looked him in the eye and shook her head. "Well okay, if that's how you want it…"
"Brother!" Papyrus called out, striding in with long steps. "I cannot believe you! It's been eight days and you still haven't recalibrated your puzzles! What have you even been doing all day?"
"I've been working myself down to the bone, bro. Look, I even found a human."
Papyrus graced Frisk with a single glance before he turned back Sans. "That is not a human, that is a child! Humans are tall and very handsome, like me! This child is even wearing a striped sweater. Seriously, Sans, where do you boondoggle?"
He was adorable. And he remembered Frisk, just like Toriel did. Even if the memories caused him not to recognise her. Again.
"Mr Skeleton," the human stepped forward, extending her hand, "I'd like to become your friend! You seem very cool. And stuff."
Papyrus broke into the widest smile she had ever seen on him. "Oh, random strange child, you're very cool, too!" He bent down to shake her little hand enthusiastically. "I'd love to be your friend! My name is Papyrus, and this is my lazy brother Sans! What is your name?"
The human blurted out: "It's Frisk! It's great to meet you." Belatedly she realised that the last and only time a monster had asked for her name, it was no sooner than after twelve years spent together. Papyrus asked about her name because he thought she was a monster. Frisk could understand the reason. She was the human. The only, last human in the Underground, and as such she would be killed soon. There was no need for a name. And yet…
"Great to meet you, too!" Papyrus turned to his brother, pointing at the girl ecstatically. "Sans, look, look! I made a friend! She's called Frisk!"
"Good for you bro," the short skeleton gave him thumbs-up. "I'm happy for you."
"As you should be!" Papyrus nodded his head in large arcs. "Since I, the great Papyrus, am now one step closer to becoming immensely popular! Nyeh heh heh! Now," he doubled over to sweep the human up. Frisk yelped in surprise when he put her on his shoulder, securing her in place by locking an arm around her, "me and my cool friend are going to hang out! Bye bye~ Nyeh heh heh~" And he ran off, leaving Sans grinning there.
Some time later, when they were ardently building Frisk's snow persona next to Papyrus's and Sans's, the child asked: "Papyrus, where do you think determination comes from?"
Without a second of hesitation Papyrus answered: "From love, obviously!"
Hands full of cold, sparkling snow, the human contemplated this.
She had always thought that her determination stemmed from anger. Anger with how things were, and desiring to change them. That made sense. But what made her angry in the first place?
She grinned.
Wasn't that love? Be it for herself or for Papyrus, hadn't she always been angry that someone she loved got hurt, and it was unfair and ill deserved? When she was dying after jumping into the Underground, when she made it out to find she hadn't been missed, when she realised her stagnation had cost Papyrus everything, hadn't it always been just that?
With a surprised snicker the human repeated after Papyrus: "Obviously."
She didn't know what she would do with this run yet. But, looking at the merry skeleton making final adjustments to her statue, she knew one thing: It would be something great.
She was full of determination.
