When Frisk woke up the next morning she was still reeling from the previous evening's excitement. She wore a smile all throughout breakfast, and even while she was helping everyone clean up the kitchen.

While it's never a bad thing to see anyone smile, Asgore thought it odd that Frisk seemed to almost be in some sort of smiley trance that she couldn't snap out of. To test her will to smile, he read some obituaries from the newspaper to her as she sat on the couch. Nothing happened.

Later in the afternoon, Frisk decided to join Undyne in the gym. She definitely didn't work out as frequently or with an much intensity as Undyne, but a good workout every now and then kept her healthy and made her feel good.

When she got downstairs to the gym, she saw that Undyne was running on one of the three treadmills. Frisk threw her hair up into a messy pony-tail and hopped onto the one beside her and started off with a brisk walk.

Undyne barely noticed her arrival, due to the loud music blaring through her headphones. But when she did catch the movement out of the corner of her eye, she looked over at Frisk and nodded as a means of greeting her.

Frisk nodded back and cranked up the treadmill to a comfortable jogging speed. She knew she couldn't keep pace with Undyne, but she did her best to at least get herself moving.

After, according to the treadmill, 25 additional minutes, Undyne slowed to Frisk's jogging pace. Then after a few more minutes, reduced her speed to a power walk. She eventually turned the treadmill down to a normal walk, then turned it off entirely. Frisk did the same.

"Good job," Undyne said, grabbing two towels from a nearby shelf. She draped one around the back of her neck, then tossed the other to Frisk. She took her headphones out.

"Thanks," Frisk said, patting her face with the towel. "You too. You're a machine."

Undyne shrugged and picked up a bottle of water that she had set on the floor. She took a couple big gulps, then pointed to a mini fridge in one of the corners of the room. "Make sure to drink something," she advised.

Frisk walked over to the fridge and got out an unopened bottle of water. She took a swig, then looked around the room. "What's next?"

"Gotta give the legs a little break now," Undyne answered. "How about some chin-ups?" She suggested, pointing to some free standing bars. There were three of them, all at different heights.

Frisk looked at the bars and gulped. She wasn't exactly built for exercises requiring arm strength. So much so that Sans would sometimes refer to her as Noodle Arms.

"Sure," she replied hesitantly.

The two of them made their way over to the bars. Undyne wiped her hands off and shook her arms around a little bit. She jumped up and grabbed on to the tallest bar, and hesitated a little bit on her first try. But she soon got into a rhythm. Frisk struggled to do more than two chin-ups at a time.

"S-s-s-so," Frisk stammered, as she tried to pull herself up. She cringed, not expecting it to take so much effort to talk and do a chin-up at the same time. "I met… a boy last night."

"What?" Shocked, Undyne's grip on the bar faltered and she let go, falling to the ground. "Oof!"

"Oh my gosh!" Frisk gasped, hopping off of the bar herself. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," Undyne grunted, placing a hand on her lower back. She stood up and stretched. "Met a boy, huh?"

"I probably made that sound a lot worse than it is," Frisk blushed. "I didn't meet him at the club or anything. He's human. We had met before, too. I mean…" she sighed.

"Why don't you start over," Undyne said, doing some more stretches for her back.

"Okay," Frisk agreed. "We first ran into each other when I went to the city to mail the letter. He saw me struggling with the hatch of the mail barrel and opened it for me. Then last night he bumped into me when I was waiting outside for Sans and Papyrus to get our coffee. He apologized, then we talked for a while then… we exchanged phone numbers."

Undyne cracked a small smile. "Exchanged phone numbers, huh?"

"Yeah, then he said he would text me in a couple of days."

"A couple of days, huh?"

"Stop that!" Frisk laughed, pushing Undyne's arm. Undyne didn't budge. "But yeah," she confirmed.

Undyne chuckled. "Well good for you." She sat down on a weight lifting bench and patted the seat, inviting Frisk to sit down beside her. "Tell me all about him."

Frisk took the seat and tightened her pony-tail. "Let's see…" she began. "His name's Jasik, he's tall, has brown hair that's not short, but not long either, looks like he takes care of himself pretty well, seems very polite…"

"Polite. Good, maybe then I won't have to beat him up," Undyne joked. "What did Sans and Papyrus think of him?"

"Oh, they didn't get to see him. By the time they came out of the coffee shop Jasik had already left."

"Too bad," Undyne said. "I would have loved to hear what they had to say about him."

Frisk gave a breath of laughter, then the two of them were quiet for a couple moments.

"So when are you and Papyrus going on your date?" she asked.

"I'm not so sure it's a…" She paused. "I'm not sure yet," Undyne answered. "I'll have to remember to talk to him about that today. When do you want to have our hiking day?"

"Good question," Frisk said. She thought for a second. "We should go on whatever day you and Papyrus go to the city. Then after we get home from hiking and get cleaned up, I can help you get ready!"

"Are you saying I'm going to need help getting ready?"

"I, uh, I, um, didn't mean it like…" Frisk stammered.

Undyne laughed. "It's okay, I know what you meant. I'm just messing with you." She took a swig of her water. "That sounds good," she smiled.

Frisk smiled in return. "Great," she said. "Just let me know what day, okay?"

"Sure thing, kiddo."

"I'm going back upstairs. I've gotten enough exercise for one day," Frisk said, rubbing her own throbbing arms. "Do you want me to bring you an ice pack for your back?"

"No, thanks, I'll be just fine," Undyne answered. "I'll be done here shortly. See you in a little bit."

Frisk showed herself to the door, and Undyne resumed her workout. Frisk headed to the top floor of the house to get cleaned up.

She walked out into the hallway after her shower. She was wearing jeans and a sweater, but her hair was still wrapped in a towel.

Alphys had been walking by as Frisk stepped into the hall, startling her so badly that she nearly backed into the wall.

"Frisk!" she said. "Sorry, that tower on your head scared me a little."

Frisk laughed. "Yeah, my hair takes forever to dry."

"Anyway, I'm pretty sure I fixed the toaster. It should operate as initially intended now. Give it a try, if you want," Alphys said.

"Oh, sweet. Thanks!"

Frisk made her way downstairs and into the kitchen. She put a piece of bread into the toaster, hesitantly set it to the highest setting, and pushed the knob down. She got a jar of peanut butter out of the pantry and a dull knife out if a nearby drawer.

A few minutes had gone by, and the bread was still in the toaster. The kitchen was starting to smell funny. Seconds later, Asgore walked in.

"Is something burning?" he asked, sniffing the air.

"Oh, probably," Frisk answered. "Alphys told me she fixed the toaster for real this time. And since I jogged for 25 minutes," she went on, with fake arrogance, "I think I deserve a piece of peanut butter toast."

Asgore chuckled. "I'd say you do, too."

"Do you want a piece?"

"No, thank you."

"How about a glass of milk?" Frisk asked him. She got two tall glasses out of a cupboard and set them on the counter.

"That would be nice," Asgore smiled. "Is Alphys sure the toaster is functional now? Something doesn't seem right," he added, noting that the toast had still not popped out.

Frisk retrieved one of the gallons of milk from the fridge and poured some in each of the glasses. "She says it's fine," she shrugged. "I'm sure she knew what she was doing. She's very smart." Frisk said, walking over and handing Asgore his glass.

"That she is," Asgore agreed, nodding and raising his glass. Frisk did the same, and they both took a big sip.

"Hey, Dad."

It had been almost a full year since Frisk had first referred to Asgore as her dad. Even so, it still seemed to catch him off guard. In a good way, of course. Being a father was something he had been very proud of, and he was honored that Frisk let him reprise his role as Dad.

"Yes?" he responded.

"Do you ever… wish things were different?"

"Different? Of course not," he answered. He paused. "Why? Do you?"

"No, no!" Frisk said. "Not at all. Everything is great just the way it is. I guess I was just… I don't know. I'm not really sure what I was trying to say," she said, forcing a small chuckle.

Asgore took another drink of milk and took a seat on a stool by the island. "You know something, Frisk," he began, "I think that in the lives of all people there is something that they wish they could change somehow. Everyone you see, everyone you pass by on the street or at school, they all long for something that could have been.

"But, at some point, after some time, they have to accept that life is the way it is. Because once you accept it, then you are free to start enjoying it to the fullest. So… no, I don't wish things were different. I accepted this life very quickly, and I enjoy every second of it.

"Do not get me wrong, Frisk, I miss my son very much. To have him here with us would add an incredible dynamic to this family. He would complete the family. But on the other hand, I would never want what we have right now to be altered. We have a good thing going here. Wouldn't you agree?"

Frisk nodded. "Yes, definitely," she said. "And… I understand. I really do. That was pretty well said, Dad."

Before either of them could say anything else, the toast finally popped up. It was as black and burnt as could be, but this time, smoke didn't fill the room.

Frisk walked over and very carefully transferred the toast from the toaster to a napkin. She gathered some peanut butter on the knife, but as soon as she pressed the knife against the toast, it completely crumbled.

She narrowed her eyes, then put the napkin of crumbs on her hand. She turned around to show Asgore what had happened.

At first, he only chuckled. But when he saw Frisk's unamused facial expression, he boomed with laughter.

"I'm sorry, Frisk," he said once he had stopped laughing. He sighed and wiped a small tear out of his eye. "But that was funny."

"It was pretty funny," she agreed, allowing herself to smile. She threw the napkin and crumbs away, ate the peanut butter off of the knife, then threw the knife in the sink. She finished off her milk, then put the glass in the sink as well.

"I'm going to go take my hair out of this towel now," she said. "You're really great, Dad. I hope you know that."

Asgore smiled and shrugged. "Well, thank you for saying that."

On her way back up the stairs, Frisk realized that she now needed to bring Asriel back more than ever.

After dinner that evening, Frisk resisted the urge to laze around in the living room with everyone else, and elected to instead go to her office and resume work on her radio station project.

She opened one of the desk drawers and got out the composition book that she had designated for this project. She opened the book and her shoulders slumped at the sight of the minimal amount of progress that she had made.

"Let's just pick a starting point, and go. Let's just go," she said to herself. "First and foremost, finances."

To be frank, the Dreemurrs were loaded. After all, they were royalty. When they officially moved to the surface, they brought along most everything they owned, including their material possessions, finer things, jewels, and Underground currency. They traded what they could for American dollars, and even after custom building their house, paying the atrocious bills every month, and funding every day life, they still had enough to be comfortable for a very long time.

In addition, Frisk generated some income for being the Ambassador. Not as much as most public officials, though, seeing as how she didn't technically work for anyone in particular. But even so, she divided up what she did make, and would do three things with it.

What she didn't pocket as her actual income, she would use to fund future projects, and she would also give back to the monster community. It was important to her that she did everything she could to support the monsters.

"Funding… should be taken care of, to an extent," she said to herself, quickly crunching some numbers in her head.

There was a knock at the door. Frisk stood up and stretched, then went to answer it.

She flung the door open. "Oh hey, Mom. Come on in." She stepped to the side and motioned for Toriel to have a seat.

"I won't be more than a minute," she said. "I just have something that I want to give you."

"What is it?"

Toriel reached into the pocket of her robe and retrieved a small necklace. She held it in her hand and reached out to show it to Frisk.

"Is that…"

"Asriel's heart locket. I would like for you to have it."

"But Mom, I… are you sure?

"I am positive." She carefully handed the locket over to Frisk.

Frisk took a few moments to examine the necklace. It was secured on a thin, sturdy, gold chain, and the locket itself was also gold, and in the shape of a little heart. It appeared as if it could in fact open, but only something very small would be able to fit inside. She flipped it over, and a capital A was engraved on the back.

"We had these matching lockets made for both Asriel and Chara," Toriel explained. "Whatever became of Chara's, I have no clue. But I've held onto this one… I've held onto it for as long as I could. I really think you should have it now."

"Mom… thank you," Frisk said. "Would you put it on for me?"

"Of course, my child," Toriel smiled.

Frisk gathered her hair together and held it up so Toriel could secure the locket around her neck. After Toriel had done so, Frisk turned around and showed her.

"It looks wonderful," Toriel said.

"Thank you," Frisk smiled. "It really means a lot that you would give this to me. I'll never take it off." She reached out and gave Toriel a hug.

"Are you busy? Or would you like to join us downstairs? Sans has picked out tonight's movie."

Frisk looked at her desk, then back to Toriel. "Yeah, I'll go! If Sans picked the movie, it has to be good."

The movie was not good. It was about a preppy city guy who, by some twist of fate, ended up being a camp counselor at a backwoods summer camp in West Virginia. Even Sans regretted making the commitment to watch it.

Most everyone checked out before the movie even ended. Papyrus was the only one still fully invested in the film, and Undyne stayed up with him to continue watching.

Frisk quickly fell asleep. She had been having an odd dream about what it would be like if her and Alphys were a crimefighting duo, but it was interrupted by a now familiar scene.

"Hey, Asriel. What's up?" she called casually. She went from laying down to sitting indian-style.

"Oh, not much," he said before he materialized. When he did appear, he was sitting down beside her. "Just thought I would check in."

"Aw, crap," Frisk muttered, putting a hand on her forehead. "This is terrible, but, I keep forgetting about the attack. I haven't come up with any ideas."

"That's okay," Asriel reassured her. "We still have some time." He paused. "All I know is… we can't fight them. We shouldn't, I mean. Frisk, you've prided yourself on your pacifism. We need to keep that going."

"I agree," she said. "We need to figure out a way to talk them off of the ledge. Convince them to change their minds."

"And… your joint research efforts with Dr. Alphys?" Asriel asked hesitantly.

Frisk sighed and ran her hands through her hair. "Dead end so far. Alphys said that she can't create an artificial soul." She scoffed. "I don't know why I even asked her that. That was dumb."

"Oh, no it wasn't," Asriel said. "An artificial soul… it was a nice thought. Thank you for trying."

"I'm not going to give up, you know," she said. "I'm not giving up on this. I just have to switch my focus, that's all. Instead of finding you a generic soul, we'll just have to find your own."

Asriel shook his head. "I commend your determination, I really do. Determination may be all I have, but it's still not as strong as yours. I wish… that I had what you have."

Frisk reached over and tried to place a hand on his arm. Her hand phased right through him. Embarrassed, she fidgeted around a bit.

She cleared her throat and continued. "You will. One day, you will. I promise you that."

He looked at her and smiled, but then he furrowed his brow. "What's that you have on?

"My sweater?" she guessed. "I almost always have this on."

"No, that necklace." He squinted. "That's… my locket."

Frisk blushed. "Oh, yeah, uh, Mom gave it to me. Just today, actually," she said. "She told me that she had held onto it for a long time, but she thought that it was time that I have it. Is… that okay?"

Asriel didn't say anything. Instead, he leaned in closer. Cautiously, he reached out and touched the locket.

Frisk jerked awake, sitting herself up, breathing extremely heavily. She put her hands on her forehead.

"Oh, gosh," she mumbled.

She stumbled out of bed and headed across the room to retrieve a bottle of water she had placed on a small table earlier. But on the way, she began feeling exceedingly lightheaded. Before she knew it, she had passed out, right there in the middle of the room.

In the morning, she woke up as usual, although alarmed by the events that had just occurred. Slowly, she stood to her feet, steadying herself on the nearest solid object.

"Okay. I'm okay," she muttered to herself. "Something… something happened when Asriel touched the locket."

She felt around to make sure that the locket was still there. It was, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

'Wait a minute,' she thought. 'If this locket is Asriel's…'

Frisk rushed over to the small table where she had set her water. She totally disregarded the bottle, and instead opened a small jewelry box. She dug around until she found a locket almost identical to Asriel's.

'This one that I found in the castle must be Chara's…'

Generally disturbed by the thought, she dropped the locket as if it had burned her hands. She put her hands up and took a few steps backwards. She started at the necklace for a moment, then nudged it with her foot. She took a tissue from the box on her bedside table and used it to pick up the locket without touching it.

She tossed it back into the jewelry box and shut it tightly. Shivers ran up and down her spine.

"Okay, Frisk, play it cool. Just… go about your day. Everything is fine," she reassured herself. "Everything is fine."

After lunch, the whole gang went for a walk. Even Sans, who is usually pretty reluctant to move. They walked to the base of the mountains, up a small incline, then back down to the other side. This, of course, was the easiest way to get to the other side of the mountain

Despite a small hill here and there, the other side of the mountain was mostly flat. A dirt road was visible, although it was a good distance away. It appeared to be very seldom travelled, although the faint outline of tire tracks could be seen.

The wind began to pick up, tossing some loose dirt around. Alphys shivered and wrapped her lab coat around herself even tighter.

"That certainly came out of nowhere," Toriel said.

Asgore looked to the sky. "Those look like snow clouds," he commented.

"Snow!" Papyrus and Alphys exclaimed at the same time. Only Papyrus sounded genuinely enthused.

"You don't sound too thrilled, there, Alphys," Frisk laughed.

"I hate the snow," she said. "I hate the cold. Why do you think the lab was in Hotland?"

"Because that's where it's always been?" Sans guessed.

"We should get back to the house," Undyne said, rubbing her own arms to keep warm. Papyrus walked over to her and placed his scarf around her neck.

Frisk scoffed. "I can't believe you two don't like the cold and snow. Personally, I find it invigorating and refreshing."

"It doesn't bother me any," Asgore said. "But, I am pretty well insulated," he laughed. He held out his arm, and Toriel linked her arm with his. "Let's go, everyone."

Just as everyone returned to the side of the mountain where the house was located, it started spitting snow. It was by no means a blizzard, although Alphys' reaction would lead one to believe so, but simply a nice, gentle snowfall. It set a very tranquil, peaceful scene.

"Who all wants hot cocoa?" Frisk asked once they had reached the patio. She breathed some warm air into her hands and opened the screen door.

"Me! Piping hot, please," Alphys said, rushing inside. She immediately started scouring the living room for a blanket.

"I wouldn't mind a mug," Sans shrugged.

"How about you two?" Frisk asked as Undyne and Papyrus walked through the door.

"Absolutely!" Undyne answered.

"Count me in," Papyrus added.

Frisk nodded. "Mom? Dad?"

"Yes, my child, thank you," Toriel answered. "Keep it nice and warm for us, though, please. I think we'll stay out here for a short while longer."

"Sure thing," Frisk replied.

Frisk was the last inside, and she shut the screen door behind her. She made her way to the kitchen and got a huge pot out of one of the cupboards and placed it on the stove. She filled it with milk, then turned the heat on. While the milk was heating up, she grabbed several mugs from another cupboard and a few handfuls of packets of cocoa from a jar on the counter.

She mixed up a mug of cocoa for everyone, then for herself. She walked into the living room holding her own drink, then let everyone know that all of their respective drinks were ready.

They all made their way to the kitchen to claim their cocoa, and Frisk strolled over to the screen door and glanced outside. It was still snowing lightly, and Toriel and Asgore were leaning up against the railing looking out towards the mountains, still arm in arm.

Toriel rested her head on Asgore's shoulder, and he kissed her on the top of her head before leaning his head up against hers.

Frisk smiled warmly and took a sip of her cocoa.

Later in the evening, normal activity among the housemates resumed. Sans sprawled out on one of the couches, but he still took up only about two-thirds of it. Undyne sat uncomfortably in the remaining space.

Alphys had set up a card table in a corner of the room, and her, Toriel, Asgore and Papyrus sat there putting a large puzzle together. Frisk took this opportunity to sit in Asgore's recliner. After some time, however, she got up and headed for the kitchen. When Frisk got up, Undyne followed suit.

"Hey, want some orange juice?" Frisk asked once they had both entered the kitchen.

"Sure, why not."

Frisk poured them each a glass.

'Thanks," Undyne said. "So anyway, earlier today I asked Papyrus about our, uh, date."

"Oh yeah? And?"

"He asked of tomorrow night would be alright, and I said sure," she said, her smile showing only a portion of her excitement. "So do you want to do our girl's day tomorrow? Hike the mountain and all that?"

"Yeah, sounds good!" Just then, Frisk's phone buzzed and made a series of cute chirping noises. She furrowed her brow and got the phone out of her pocket to check. It was a text from Jasik. A smile spread across her face.

"Who's that?" Undyne smirked.

Frisk blushed. "Oh, uh, you know."

"Jasik, right? That's his name?"

"Yeah," she said.

"What did he say?" Undyne asked, wiggling her eyebrows up and down.

"Just 'hello'," she said. "This is the first I've heard from him."

"Alright, well don't stay up too late flirting, okay? If we want to get a good start tomorrow, we're going to have to be up before the sun."

"Wait, what now?"

"Dark and early," Undyne said with a wink.

Frisk sighed. "Dark and early."