A dim cave surrounded the short skeleton, few white crystals glowed weakly from the high ceiling and the long wall before him making shadows dance on dark wood his arms were resting against. For a split second, he looked up watching a couple of monsters pass by, their voices mixing with the whisper of an echo flower, changing it.

His gaze, once again, traveled back to an open book before him, he tried to concentrate on it, but his thoughts kept wondering, worrying. It's been two months since the last reset, since he had seen the kid pass by his sentry station. Each day he was growing more wary, more impatient.
He had no doubt the kid would return, once again he'd stand in emptiness before the world would start anew. A part of him wanted to see it happen, to get it over with, he was tired of waiting.
With each new world the pain he felt reduced until he was numb to it all, until he didn't, couldn't care about what happened around him. In time the monsters that turned to dust many times over stopped being worth a bother, they would return once it was all over, there was no point in trying anymore.
In the hall filled with golden light he would fight the human only driven by sense of justice and one taken life his Soul still responded to.

Sans closed the book he stopped reading a while ago and his tired eyes unconsciously traveled to his right. Beyond a never ending blizzard he could vaguely see Snowdin, his home. He half-expected to see his brother come running in excitement, telling he found a human, he half-expected Frisk to walk through the stone arc, dust covering the red scarf around his neck, but nobody came.

Sans stood up and, mindlessly, staffing his hands in large pockets of an old blue jacket exited the wooden post. He slowly walked towards the large exit watching the darkening magic that have long replaced their sky. With every step that sickening grey was getting larger before white of the snow finally covered his vision.
"I really should stop staring at it" – he grumbled under his breath – "it's the last thing I wanna see"
He shielded his face from the wind and cold with one arm while the other pressed the thick tome against his chest, yet he didn't bother to walk any faster.

In an attempt to focus his mind on something positive he found his thoughts turning back to her last visit. The warmth of her voice when she greeted them, the soft smile on her heart-shaped face when she saw Papyrus come rushing to her. He loved the visible happiness and faint embarrassment in her eyes when his brother complimented her painting. Somehow it made her even more beautiful, everything positive did, now that he thought about it.
His smile twitched up a bit when he remembered her throwing glances at him, obviously wanting to… talk, he assumed. Either way her attention kept flickering back to him, while mere days before, Papyrus was all she was willing to see. That small change made him smile, start every day in higher spirit, in such a short time she managed to made him happier.
The more he tried to rid himself from all those thoughts and emotions the clearer his feelings became with each passing day. He finally gave up fighting them, they were more than obvious to him now.

In the safety of their home at last, Sans grabbed a bottle of ketchup from a half-empty fridge and lay down on a fluffy green couch staring mindlessly at the ceiling.
"This is ridiculous" – a welcomed thought popped in his mind – "she's a human, for crying out loud… She'll never see me that way"
He lowered the bottle swallowing what little red substance there was in his mouth, the lights in his eyes growing dark. Where did that thought come from? He never intended to say that, in fact he was going for something completely different, something that left his mind as quickly as it came.

"I see you're already home, brother" – a young voice echoed in the silent room and Sans' focus returned to reality.
He looked up at his brother with a wide, fake smile – "hey bro" – he greeted with his usual calm voice – "just got here myself"
Papyrus crossed his arms, his seemingly empty gaze eyeing the half empty bottle in his brother's grip.
"And, of course, you didn't eat anything" – his tone was scolding, yet he couldn't sound harsh even when trying his best – "but that's fine, it's better actually. Now you'll have a master class dish made by the best chef" – for few seconds he held a proud pose, his head high – "I'll make some spaghetti"
As anticlimactic as his next actions were, Sans hardly noticed, being used to all that for a while now. Breaking his 'perfect hero pose' in the most ungraceful way he stomped into the kitchen like a drunk penguin. A series of clutter rang soon after, spreading through the house and probably, beyond.
"Ya don't have to worry, Pap. I spagot a burg from Grillby's earlier" – Sans casually waited for a rage from the blueish space across the room, but it never came. Instead a voice sounded calmer than before.
"That greasy food is no good and it obviously can't match with my home-made pasta. I tried really hard today, you know"
The tall skeleton stood in the wooden archway, faint orange hue barely visible above his smile. For a moment he looked like a kid again, showing off his, undeniably, horrible skills to his big brother.
"Ya always do" – Sans's warm voice sounded as he sat up, suddenly for both, a chuckle escaped his chest and he looked up from an old, dusty crack in a wooden board of the floor – "Pap, the water's boiling"

Papyrus panicked for few long second, his beaming smile vanished into a short confusion as he glanced around aimlessly. After, in Papyrus' opinion, uncool chaos that unfolded in front of Sans' eyes the tall skeleton, once again disappeared from view.
"How did you know?" – a voice yelled, as if it wasn't loud to begin with.
Sans clearly heard disbelief in his tone. His eyes, once again, traveled to the floor, staring at a small spider that crawled from between old boards.
"Dove… Casey said ya can hear almost anything if ya listen close enough" – he yelled back, trying his best to be louder than clattering of all the pots and dishes that refilled the air.

Getting up he slowly made his way to the kitchen. Despite the disastrous sounding noise from earlier everything was clean and neatly organized. By the stove stood Papyrus, aggressively stirring the sauce. Luckily it wasn't the spaghetti this time, it might even turn out edible if this went on long enough.
"I see you grew quiet fond of her" – the younger of two voices rang waking Sans from his daze full of overcomplicated ideas and plans to make the food better without actually doing anything.
His expression didn't change much, while his Soul grew restless. Was it really that obvious? He thought he hid his feelings somewhere out of his brother's reach, he thought that the few words that managed to slip wouldn't be enough, yet Papyrus saw everything so easily.

"She's a great friend, even compared to most monsters I know" – he said, shifting his weight from one leg to the other.
He hated that general, plain answer he gave, she was so much more than words could ever express. He had a hard time finding any for himself and when he finally did, he never had the courage to say them aloud. Just like now.
"Nyeh-heh-heh, I knew you'd get along" – Papyrus said in pure glee, then grew quieter – "I miss her… do you?"
"A lot" – the words were out faster than his mind registered their meaning. Only after hearing them, did he realized it was really him talking.
He cursed to himself with another silent warning to be more careful. Luckily his brother was never nitpicky when it came to words, always saw the best in them. Papyrus looked back at the shorter skeleton with a sympathetic smile. It really looked like he understood, in his own way he probably did better than anyone could.

"It's ok" – Papyrus' voice was calm and caring for a moment before turning loud and enthusiastic again – "she'll be back soon, it's less than a week now"
"Yeah, after two" – Sans spat, not really understanding his sudden outburst of anger. His own tone sounded wrong to him.
"She couldn't help it, Sans. She went to visit her dad, it's very important, you should know that"
"I know and I'm happy for her…" – he took a seat, steaming plate of freshly cooked pasta in front of him. A silver fork in his hand he, for a while, played with his food, not having the courage to eat - "It was just unexpected, ya know?"

His Soul became uneasy again, a barely noticeable sting grew in it, there to stay for a very long time. There wasn't much he could do about it, his best bet was a distraction, any kind of it as long as it let him forget.
"How did your training with Undyne go?" – He asked the first thing he could think of mindlessly putting the fork in his mouth.
He jerked a bit at his own action, his eyes wide when he realized what he had done, but to his surprise the spaghetti wasn't half bad, compared to the usual stuff that is. Great, it turned out edible, without him doing anything, just as planned. This time the taste was too strong with various spices and, unfortunately, the faint after-taste of burnt plastic was present like most of the time. But the consistency didn't remind him of broken glass or wet sand and that alone was the biggest improvement in his book.

Munching on as much food as his nonexistent stomach could handle, he listened to his brother ramble about his day, as usual, getting sidetracked few times in the process. It wasn't much later when he realized that it helped. Even when, most of the time, he had no idea what Papyrus was talking about his voice alone was enough for him to feel more at peace, his thoughts sorting themselves out. A small smile tugged on his lips teeth. That tall, overly positive skeleton really was the only one that could ease his troubles, he was too good for the world.


With his bare feet dangling from the side of his bed Sans put a chocolate brown shirt on, its sleeves covering his thumbs. He grabbed the worn blue jacket and got up.
In the next instance he was standing in front of a pastry stand, red sand and hot air filling the space. A young girl stared back from behind the stand with an overly sweet smile, a monster with six arms and eyes too many to count.
Without saying a single word she held a paper bag, which was previously resting by her side, in front of her waiting for the young male to take. Sans nodded both as a greeting and a sign of appreciation before another shortcut moved him away.

Yawning, still not quite awake, Sans flicked the light switch in a small room on making his way to a wooden desk near the middle. Books, old blueprints and maps as well as few drafts covered its surface, hiding several dried ink stains from view. A light blue desk lamp was turned off, a brown rope tied tightly around it.
A long low creak echoed as he set down in a large chair, resting against its tall back. Putting the paper bag on a small clearing near the edge of the desk he looked around, his eyes scanning every part of the room. The light teal and lime colors that covered the walls and peeked from behind a light beige bookshelf made that small space look a tiny bit like surface. It was uplifting and, in a way, calming.
Blinking he returned his gaze to the small item he received few minutes ago as he read the few words scribbled on it, like many times before, always the same ones.

"Thank you for giving so many spiders shelter"

He took a chocolate donut out and, taking a bite, closed his eyes. He never imagined anything could've come out of ignoring few of those monsters in their house. And free pastry for him and Papyrus once or twice a week was a result he was more than happy with.

His mind emptied at one point and only after, about, twenty minutes of spacing out Sans occupied himself with work. Reading and writing, trying to find or create a connection between humans' physical form and determination. The only one he knew was that they could contain it, yet it seemed like they could also shape it within themselves with a little to no struggle and even force it to aid them.
He thought her blood would help, hoped it would give at least smallest of hints, but all it did was add other questions. While a monster's dust held fractions of their magic and determination, her blood lacked it. Instead it was full of something more ancient, far stronger, yet fragile.
With all the new information surfacing one after another Sans knew he wouldn't be able to wrap his head around everything, not as fast as he'd want to, not before Frisk returned. With nowhere else to go, no one else to trust he told Alphys everything he knew: about the circles on the surface, his research and her. He knew others might try to harm her, some definitely will, he couldn't trust them, not yet, not with his dove.

Two more books finished, devoid of anything useful. Sighing he closed them both, putting on the floor by his chair. The desk seemed to have become lighter giving an impression that there was less to do. Feeling lazy tired already he let his gaze roam through the room before it rested on a large paper pinned to a wall. Delicate strokes covered the white beneath, creating arcs and symbols she drew.
His Soul jumped in joy when he remembered how soon they'll meet, only one day left. As a smile creeped on his face he found fresh energy and motivation to work.
"I need to make this work, I need to see her out there"

Few hours had passed and he was back home, in his bed after a nice meal at Grillby's. A stupid grin was covering his face, he couldn't get rid of. While for others it, probably, didn't seem much different, this one was genuine, happier than most. The efforts that day didn't go unrewarded, he found a clue, the first one since she found those ancient constructions.
It wasn't much, just one symbol and his tired mind couldn't grasp what it meant despite him checking books one after another. But he had seen it many times over, in almost all circles he could find in old journals and manuscripts and the ones his dove had seen. Always larger than all others, always different than any other writing, but always hidden.

Things were going really well that day: a tiny breakthrough and a promise. Next day at night he'll see her, on the night when stars fall. And even though both Papyrus and Alphys would be there with them he kept chanting one word to himself. A date.
That's what it was for him, that's what he wanted to see it as: a date with a girl he missed dearly.
Sans closed his eyes with a clear image of them together printed in his mind. He drifted to sleep hoping he'd see her sooner, even if only in a dream.

And his wish was granted.

His dove lay motionless under bright rays, red covering the gold around her. Her chest rose up ever so gently again and again before it froze.
Silence filled the room as her Soul vanished, its orange shades dancing in the light for a split second.
Beside her body stood another human, shorter and smaller in size than her, stains of red soiled the purple and blue stripes on the knitted fabric turning it almost pitch black. Glimmer of an old dusty knife in his hand was dyed in light pink as a drop of her taken life dripped from it.
The human boy's face was unfazed as he looked down at the body. His seemingly closed eyes traveled up meeting Sans' and he tilted his head to the side like a curious child. He took few steps forward, still staring.
Sans chuckled, his deep voice sounding alien, then raised his arm and a battle began once again.

A blurry image of his messy room slowly cleared as he blinked few timed, his eyes adjusting to the light. Groaning he pushed himself up and leaned against a wall.
He tried to remember the nightmare, the details of this one, it felt important a bit more than most of them. The only thing he knew was that Casey was in danger, that he lost her, that he was too late. The first time he dreamed of her and it was a nightmare, but was she in the Judgement Hall? She wouldn't do it, would she? She wouldn't abandon the surface. Worry found its way into his Soul, for once he was scared for the future.
Finding it harder to breath he opened the window by his bed and cold air filled his senses. Outside, only few yards away, fir trees were rocking gently in the afternoon breeze. They calmed him down, allowed him to think clearly.

In only two hours his nightmare faded almost entirely, leaving him at peace. He kept telling himself those were only his fears and he strongly believed it, despite him knowing or seeing other timelines he couldn't know the future. There was no way of knowing when the events would repeat, if ever.

Most of his time that day he spent selling hot dogs at his sentry post, mostly napping, it distracted him.
"Just a bit longer. I need to wait till dark" – he kept telling himself. Eagerness growing by hour.

It was almost midnight, Sans took frequent glances out of the wide window of a dark room, tapping his foot impatiently. Each time he would move the dark green curtain slightly, peering through narrow slit, as if the neighbors could learn about or find his dove by his simple actions.
"She'll be here soon" – Papyrus' voice came from the couch and Sans threw him a glance.
"I know" – he grinned returning his carefree attitude, he so carelessly let slip, back to his features – "Just a bit worried someone'll see 'er, especially Undyne. She might try to follow 'er"
"That's not too bad. We should take Undyne too. I'm sure she'll be good friends with human Casey"
"I told ya, bro. I can't show my shortcuts to anyone. Alphys is the only one that already knows"
"How do you know her anyway?"

Papyrus sounded genuinely curious, but Sans couldn't help but feel like he was being suspected, his mind began to race, coming up with an explanation after another.
"Ya know" – he shrugged after a short pause, his expression unfazed – "seen her a few times when in my station in Hotland"
That seemed to be a reasonable response, not too complicated or fake sounding, he decided to go with it.
"How did she know about your shortcuts?" – The tall skeleton didn't give up, narrowing his eyes he stared at his brother. It wasn't easy to understand his thoughts this time.
"She's the Royal scientist, 'course she figured it out" – he said in a manner as if it was obvious to everyone and it worked. Sans honestly didn't know if he should be impressed or disappointed.

The younger brother nodded sitting straight again, his questions answered. He didn't say much, though was visibly excited. Sans didn't need to guess to know what about, he didn't tell him much about the 'event' they were going to, didn't really know much himself. The only guide they had was the information they read from a book she gave him a while ago and few things she said. It wasn't much, but at least it gave them a general idea of what to expect. That would have to do for now.

Sans quickly and quietly made his way to the front door as soon as he noticed a movement of yellow and white outside. Soon a lizard-like monster slightly shorter than himself stood before him. She timidly bowed her head muttering an apology for taking too long.
"It's ok" – Papyrus did his best not to yell – "we're not in a hurry"
"Yap, it's kind of a 'whole night' thing anyway" – Sans backed his brother up, even though couldn't wait to get there for a while now.
But it was his personal desire, it would be wrong to hold Alphys responsible. That's what he told himself, he knew it was true.

With no more left so say or do they were ready to head out. Standing in the middle Sans took two hands in his own and in a moment the dark silence filled with calming sound of rustling leaves, soft wind and distant chirping.
A beautiful silvery white light filled the field outside, reflecting from tall trees, grass and soil, dyeing everything it touched in color he rarely saw in the Underground. Few rays shone inside the cave, Sans reached out staring at his hand that barely changed in color, yet he could see the difference.

Averting his gaze he, once again, looked out. There, on the ground, under wide, cloudless sky he saw her. She was lying on her back, her head so close to the opening, her legs bent and delicate hands resting on her stomach. She didn't hear them come as her eyes stayed locked at the sky. He looked up too.

It was black, countless shining dots were scattered in that vastness, some bigger than the others, some brighter and among all that there was a much larger half circle hanging in the air far above. He didn't need to ask to know what it was.
The longer he stared the bigger and deeper the sky felt and the moon… somehow he could tell how huge it really was, how far from them and it scared him. The more he thought about it the further away the stars seemed.
With only one book, few stories and a cavern ceiling covered with glowing gems it really was hard to imagine what awaited them beyond that stone window. It was overwhelming, yet he couldn't look away. The night was beyond beautiful and breathtaking and so scary…
He smiled remembering her words: it was scary how small it made him feel.

He looked back down at the girl and, for a moment, forgot about the world around them, at that moment only the two of them existed.
A mischievous smile found its way to his face as he took silent steps forward. Leaning as close as he possibly could he, thoughtlessly, brushed away few strands of hair that hanged from the edge into the cave. He put his mouth as close to her ear as the barrier would allow and whispered in most menacing voice he could master.
"Sup"
An adorable yelp escaped her lips and she shot up flashing her gaze at him. Upon seeing his form her widened eyes calmed and her tense body relaxed the moment she rested a palm on her chest.
"Jesus" – she whispered to herself – "you scared me"
"That was the plan" – Sans chuckled, proud of his childish prank.
"Well, congratulations" – she smiled back, like she always did, but her voice was lased with sarcasm.
That's a first.

Casey opened her mouth briefly, but before a sound could come out, shut it again. Her eyes bore through the space behind him in confusion for a couple of seconds. He followed her gaze to see Alphys awkwardly throwing glances at his dove, obviously not knowing what to do it that situation, she still wasn't confident enough to speak with strangers. Casey's gaze traveled between her and Sans a couple of times, as if asking if what she saw was real. The moment he nodded with a quiet chuckle she turned back to the royal scientist giving her a warm, reassuring smile, one that could relax even the most anxious of people.

"Hi there" – she greeted and the short woman bowed her head a little stuttering a greeting of her own.
"This is Alphys" – Sans introduced gesturing towards the yellow monster – "my friend"
He, unwillingly, put emphasis on the last word, but she didn't seem to notice. He saw her eyes sparkle with realization.
"The scientist?" – She asked.
It was a bit surprising how she remembered after hearing her name only once, but he chose not to think much of it. His head turned to said individual before introducing the human, as if that was necessary after talking about her few days in a row.
"I figured" – Alphys replied semi-sarcastically before he could finish – "you said we'd be meeting her"
Then stepping closer to him added in a barely audible whisper – "you didn't mention she was so pretty"

In an instance the reality, he tried to ignore for a while, came crushing on him and he fought his own magic making its way to his face. He always found her gorgeous, but being told it so bluntly made him realize just how right he was.
"Anyway" – he quickly turned around trying to distract himself – "how long till it starts?"
Casey gave him a questioning look and he pointed up. She briefly looked at the sky before letting out a laugh.
Apparently missing someone makes everything they do adorable, who would've though.
"It begun about a week ago. Today's simply the peak"
"The what?" – A loud voice echoed indicating that Papyrus was out of his daze.
"We'll see more meteors than during other days" – Sans said before anyone else could, like a kid who did his homework for the first time in the end of the year. But that didn't stop Papyrus' quiz.

His dove explained everything there was, answering a question after another. Even the messiest of questions she answered so simply and clearly. Things like: what a meteor shower was or if it had any relation to regular showers, how she found out and many other things that popped in his head.
To a question "who told you" she gave a simple answer she, probably, didn't think much of, but it quickly became like an objective to Sans' little brother.
"The people who watch the sky"
Those few innocent words that came with the beauty's soft voice made Papyrus dream again. They placed wide smiles on both skeletons' faces.

They were all staring up, magic of the first meteor still lingering in them, it passed so quickly, leaving them eager for the next one. Just like she told him long ago, it was something out of this world, too hard to describe, too beautiful and mysterious. He never thought he'd use 'magic' for something, seemingly, so trivial and, well, non-magical, yet here he was at loss of any other fitting words and he loved it.

She was back on the ground humming a slow song when something caught her attention. Bolting up she screamed one word making the monsters jump a little – "Look!"
Her stretched out arm was pointing at the sky far to their right, barely higher than the horizon. He had an idea what he'd see, after counting about dozen of blue streaks already. But what awaited them was much more different that he originally anticipated.

A bright orange dot, brighter than any other star behind it, moved in a large arc. Even from there he could tell it was blazing, its light dancing in its motion. A long, dimly glowing stripe of a slightly darker color was painted behind it as a sign of its passed path. It was there for only few seconds before disappearing into the black, but even that was way longer than the rest.
For a while, they were all silent, still staring into the sky, waiting for the scene to repeat. Casey was as astonished as the others, corners of her slightly open mouth were tugged up, her eyes shining like the stars she couldn't look away from.
"Wow" – she finally breathed out plopping back down – "I've never seen anything like that before"
"W-why was it so d-different?" – Alphys' small voice made his dove tilt her head back to look at them as the scientist began scribbling notes down.
"I can only guess" – she shrugged, or rather attempted to, but the earth underneath made it look like a weird spasm – "it was either bigger than the rest, or maybe came closer?"

The two talked for a while longer, but Sans didn't register what they were saying. After a bit his love was laughing, her tone playful, they probably moved on to a lot lighter topics. Papyrus joined the conversation too, his voice beaming here and there every now and then.

When they grew silent the world around slowly became clearer. He heard sounds from the woods he couldn't have ever imagined were real. Casey said those were the sounds of the forest, said they were harmless. She didn't go into details, visibly tired, he didn't push.
It was enough to know that she was safe.

Rarely anyone talked through the night after that, only few words, few gasps and sighs when another star fell, as she called it.

Gathering his courage for a couple of hours, Sans asked to hold her hand, saying that after so long the magic in her was almost completely gone. It's wasn't a lie, but wasn't the real reason either. Luckily she didn't question anything, she nodded seconds before her warm palm rested against his own. After a while they both forgot about it, by chance or choice he didn't know, it never mattered. Their fingers intertwined for hours to come, her shuffling and moving couldn't break that link. It was something he wanted since long ago, now it was comfortable, calming.

When the endless black ark turned purple then blue and the shining silver drops began to vanish they had to part. She didn't seem to want to, her gaze returning to him every so often while she told her goodbyes. For some reason it placed a stupidly wide grin on his face, his Soul growing impatient with a desire to break free of their prison.
He asked her to be careful on her way back, she seemed to know what he meant.
Dropping Alphys at her lab he was back home, exhausted, hungry, but happier than ever. He knew that nightmares won't disturb him this time.

What was waiting for him was a serene dream, a type of which he didn't remember seeing forever.
The sky, the stars shining and falling and her by his side.