I'M NOT DEAD! YAY! This chapter is finished! Sorry for the long wait again, I really am. The only excuse I have is that...I had a motivational/writing slump? I don't know...in any case, let's move on!

EB: *bows* Thank you!

reader99: Thank you and don't worry, I'm quite alright. Thanks for caring though!

As usual, I don't own Undertale.

The Judgement Hall Again

As it turned out, Mettaton changed his mind about leaving the monsters behind, much to the delight of Papyrus and Frisk. Even Undyne, who despite having groaned when Mettaton made this announcement, didn't sound too disappointed. As for me, I was just glad that Papyrus was happy again, so I guess Mettaton won't have that much of a bad time if I ever meet him. What happened after that announcement though, I didn't give myself a chance to find out since I had suddenly realized that Frisk was really close to confronting Asgore. And I couldn't let them do that without speaking to them first.

So with a brief goodbye to both Papyrus and Undyne, I quickly left the house and teleported straight to the Judgment Hall. When I got there however, I was immediately was reminded of the last time I was here, when all I cared about was killing Frisk. And I did that. Twice.

"How in the world could they have forgiven me so easily," I mumbled as I placed my skull into my hand, while images of a blood-covered Frisk lying on the gold-and-black tiled floor ran through my mind. Sure, I had to do what I did to stop Chara from killing Asgore but…but I still caused poor sweet Frisk to die horribly both times. And the second time I even killed them when they were now clearly truly sparing me! But yet, Frisk still forgave me, like they have with all the other monsters that have hurt them in some way. Well, except for possibly Flowey. I hope.

I continued to stand in the Judgment Hall, silently waiting for Frisk to arrive. As I waited, I thought over what I was going to say to them. Sure, I knew that I had to tell them that I definitely didn't hate them and that I was sorry for making them cry in the restaurant. But how I was going to phrase that without making another huge mistake? Yeah, that was the problem.

"Sans!" Well speak of the devil, Frisk is finally here. But unlike before, when Chara forced the kid to walk towards me with an expectant and insane smile, Frisk had a genuine on their face. And not only that, but they were also running towards me like they haven't seen me in forever, and not last night.

"So…what are you doing here? Do you have a job here?" they asked when stopped a few feet in front of me. I opened my mouth to give a light-hearted answer when I noticed the wary glint in their otherwise happy brown eyes and the way their fingers were twitching slightly. So while they were happy to see me, they were also nervous. After what happened in the restaurant and what happened the last time we met in this hall…I don't blame them.

"Actually no," I chuckled after a few silent moments. "But…having said that…there are some things that I need to tell you."

"Okay," Frisk accepted with a curt nod, a bit of their nervousness changing into determination. I then took in a deep breath and let it out. Well…here goes nothing.

"Well, first things first…you finally made it," I said, hoping that I was going to say the right thing. "The end of your journey is at hand. In a few moments, you will meet the King." An imagined image of Asgore raising his trident to cut down Frisk raced through my mind, making me shudder. But as I learned last night, Frisk was determined to face him. So instead of trying again to persuade them to stay, I continued.

"Together…you will determine the future of this world. That's then. Now…"

"You are going to judge me," Frisk interrupted me softly. "For everything I have ever done." Not caring at all that the kid interrupted me, my eye-sockets widened in surprise. Every bit of their nervous behavior was now gone, and instead their body was stiff like they were a brave criminal about to receive the death penalty. But what really got my attention was the acceptance and guilt in their eyes. Like they have truly regretted what they have done and were ready to accept any…

That's when realization took a hammer and hit me upside the skull with it. I now knew why Frisk was able to forgive everybody so easily. The answer was so simple and easy that I must be a frisking' idiot to not have seen it before, especially back at the restaurant and the night they spent at my home. Or perhaps I did but because I was knee-deep in my own issues that I just couldn't process it. In any case, I know what I need to say now.

"You know what EXP and LOVE mean right?" I asked, figuring that after going through the Underground two times, they probably knew what the acronyms mean.

"Yeah…" Frisk mumbled as they squirmed and their face looked pained. "EXP means execution points and LOVE means Level of Violence. I get execution points when I kill others and when I get enough of those, my Level of Violence goes up. And when my LOVE increases, the easier to gets to kill and not feel anything about it."

"Whoa," I said, as I imagined that if I had eyebrows, they would have been raised. Because while I assumed that they knew what EXP and LOVE were, I wasn't prepared for such a detailed answer. "You really know your stuff."

"Yeah well…someone made sure that I knew what they were," mumbled Frisk, pain lacing their voice as they suddenly became fixated with the floor. It didn't long for me to figure out who this someone was.

"Chara," I growled as I clenched my bony fists in my jacket pockets while feeling slightly sick and disgusted. "They really wanted you to know what they were making your body do huh?"

"Ye…well…" stumbled Frisk as they flinched like someone had struck them with a whip. Then they inhaled deeply. "It was still my fault."

If I wasn't sure before that Frisk hadn't forgiven themselves, welp, I sure was now. And really, it all made sense. The reason why the kid didn't hate any of the monsters that hurt them was because they figured it was pay back for all the pain they caused them. That they deserved to feel pain for something that was beyond their control. And if they felt any blame at all, it was towards themselves, not anyone else.

"No it's not," I quickly said, remembering the way Frisk readily accepted my threat in the MTT Restaurant, like they didn't deserve my love. "Chara was the one who gained all that LOVE in the last timeline. Not you. You never gained any LOVE."

"Wha…" Frisk said softly as their brown eyes widened with surprise and unbelief. "But…"

"Chara possessed you against your will Frisk," I interrupted. "And from what remember, didn't you say that you tried to take your body back over? That sounds a lot like you didn't agree with what that little evil spirit was doing to me."

"Of course I didn't agree with them!" Frisk finally exclaimed with unshed tears in their eyes as they looked at me. "But I wasn't strong enough to stop Chara in time! And even if I was…I still killed that froggit!"

"Which was an accident that you regretted if I also remember correctly," I said calmly and sincerely. "And besides, I never said that you were completely innocent or naïve. Just that you kept a certain tenderness in your heart. Because no matter the struggles or hardships you faced in this timeline…you strived to do the right thing. You always did, and especially in this timeline, you refused to hurt anyone."

"How…how can you be so sure?" Frisk asked after a few moments of silence, their eyes looking back at the ground.

"Because even after I…betrayed and k-killed you in the last timeline, you decided to reset and fix things," I answered as a strange mixture of guilt and gratitude filled my soul. "I know that you didn't kill that dummy, froggit, Toriel, or anyone else in the Ruins. And after that, I saw how you didn't raise your stick against anyone. And even when you ran away, you did it with a smile. You never gained Love, but you gained even more of the good kind of love."

For a short while, Frisk didn't talk as they studied the ground, their body slightly shaking and their teeth biting their lip. Then the sweet kid looked up, tears falling out of their beautiful brown eyes.

"You really believe that?" Frisk asked, their young voice quivering. "That I am actually a good kid?" I suddenly felt the impulse to hug them, and hug them tightly. And well…after thinking about it for a microsecond, I quickly closed the distance between us and before I knew it, I was holding them very close to my chest and ribcage area.

"Yes," I said truthfully as I soothed down their messy hair, honestly feeling a bit misty-eye-socketed myself. "And…and I'm sorry about what happened in the restaurant. I was angry at Chara, not you. Sure, I was wary of you at first and I had trouble differentiating you from that evil little spirit and honestly I still do somewhat but now…you're my bonefide friend."

"R-Really?" Frisk asked as they looked up at me with a hopeful expression, while their small arms started to tentatively enclose around me.

"Yep," I confirmed with a nod. "So, if I promise that I will do my best to move on with my life and be a really good friend to you, will you promise to start forgiving yourself?" For a second, Frisk didn't say or do anything. Then their arms finished enclosing around me, and they did it tightly.

"O-Okay," they agreed as they dug their teary face into my jacket. "Okay." I let out a relieved sigh as I stopped soothing down their hair and rubbed their back instead. We stayed like that for a few minutes, hugging each other while Frisk quietly let out relieved sobs that were muffled by my jacket.

"Well…" Frisk finally said as they pulled away from me, wiping away any stray tears as they did so. "I better go face my greatest challenge yet."

"Do you have to?" I asked as I fought the impulse to pull the kid back into my arms and not let go. "Because the only way Asgore won't take your soul and destroy humanity is if you fight him."

"But if I don't face him, you guys will be trapped down here forever," answered Frisk seriously. "Don't worry though, I'll figure out something." As I looked at their brave young face and their determined eyes, I had to admit that I would never be able to change their mind.

"Well…you didn't get this far by giving up, did you?" I asked, figuring that just like back at the restaurant, supporting them morally was the least I can do.

"Nope!" Frisk exclaimed as they raised their fist high in the air.

"That's right," I chuckled. "You have something called determination. So as long as you hold on…as long as you do what's in your heart…I believe that you can do the right thing."

"You and the others can count on me!" Frisk promised with a firm nod and warm smile. Even though the mere thought of little Frisk facing an opponent even tougher than Undyne made my soul anxious, I couldn't help but smile back.

"Alright, I guess I should say good luck then," I said as I ruffled their straight brown hair slightly. "Just…don't die okay? Sure, I know that you can just reload but…but still. It's…not really nice to know that your friend is just dying over and over."

"I promise," Frisk promised in a soft and sincere voice as they firmly nodded. And even though my request was something that no mortal can truly fulfill, I began to feel a bit better. Because if nothing else, then at least Frisk will try their best to stay alive. And that was good enough for me. For now anyway.

"Well, I better go now. Bye Sans!" they cried as they ran past me and towards the other end of the Judgement Hall. Then, just when I had turned around to see them leave with my own two eye-sockets, the kid stopped and turned to face me.

"Thank you Sans," Frisk thanked me with slightly red cheeks and a sincere voice. "I will treasure your words forever."

Then like they were too embarrassed to see my reaction, Frisk turned back around and raced out of the Hall. This was fine by me because as soon as they said those words, I felt my cheekbones grow very hot as well as my heart. As a result, I just stood there speechless for a few moments.

"You're welcome," I whispered, even though there was no way that Frisk would be able to hear my response. But no matter, I can just say those two simple words to Frisk when I see them again. And I will see them again. I have too.

UT

After that, I realized that I hadn't eaten breakfast yet so I quickly teleported to Grillby's and ordered some scrambled eggs and bacon with ketchup. Halfway through, however, I found it hard to put any more food in my mouth because of all the snakes and butterflies in the place where my stomach would be if I had one. Despite my anxiety for Frisk's safety, I somehow managed to finish the rest of my meal, if only so that I won't hurt Grillby's feelings or more likely, make him worry for me.

After breakfast, I left Grillby's and headed home to see if Papyrus was still there. As I walked there, I realized that it has been a while since Frisk had left to face Asgore. Perhaps, since time hasn't been reloaded yet…Frisk's battle with Asgore is over now. Maybe…they actually managed to convince Asgore to not kill them by now.

"BROTHER! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!" I heard my brother cry just as I thinking these hopeful and relieving thoughts. As usual with my brother, I smiled as I saw him walk briskly towards me, having just left our humble abode. I opened my mouth to reply when suddenly, everything went black.

uh oh. That can't be good. And just when things were looking slightly up...well...what do you think? Was this chapter up to your expectations? Were the characters in characters? Did you feel anything while reading this? Well, please tell me in a review and I will update as soon as I can! Which will hopefully be within a week...can't make any promises though. Thank you for all your support so far and have a good day/night!

P.S. For those who hate Flowey...you might like the next chapter a good bit at least. Just saying.