As soon as she got out of the flower's sight and was sure that nobody saw her, she collapsed down on the ground and started crying bitter tears out of no apparent reason. All the pain Undyne inflicted on her was nothing compared to what she felt in her SOUL. It was bouncing wildly as the kid was heavily breathing, trying to keep everything in. Undyne was not the reason she was crying, even though they would have to battle till one of them collapses, when the day comes. But the tears kept flowing down her youthful face and there was no sign of them stopping. The rain was pouring down on her and she felt something heavy on her shoulders. She was afraid of her own thoughts that kept crashing into her mind, tainting the child's playful being. She felt lost and all alone. The only one who was always with her was the flower who kept talking her into Fighting enemies, and not Sparing them. The petrified human was shaking from fear, but from cold as well. The rain was restlessly pouring down on her and she felt like it wanted to drown her. She simply had to make sure nobody would ever know.

As sobbing was coming down the hallway, he stopped for a second to frown, but as soon as he realized whose voice it was, he sweetly smiled and decided to approach her, hands in his pockets, just like always.

"Splashing", she silently said and raised her head as she heard someone coming in the distance. Frisk stood up carefully, but fell at her knees as soon as she did. She fell right into a puddle. There was no energy left in her, so she just wiped her tears off and hoped the one who was coming wouldn't see her cry. Still, she hid her gaze from him and turned the other way around, hoping he'd just ignore her.

*hey there, pal*, he said and got to his knees as well to look at Frisk, who suddenly widened her big, wet eyes as she recognized the tired voice immediately. Still, she didn't respond. She only looked at him with peripheral sight to see his small figure right next to her, smiling widely as he was looking at her with his hollow eye sockets, his white pupils shining brightly. Another thing that she realized was that he didn't protect himself from the rain at all; it was pouring down on his clean, white skull.

*you thought i wouldn't check on you? frisk, your sobbing is echoing through the whole waterfall…

"I'm… not crying…" she silently said and he snickered.

*i know. there's just tears in your eyes.

Frisk remained silent and the skeleton suddenly put his hoodie over her shoulders again, just like he did a few days ago. Frisk stopped crying and looked at him, seeing his wide smile that he always had on his face around her. He then smiled even wider, realizing Frisk wasn't in a good mood at all.

*heh. figured you could use that more than i do... after all. you're the one who caught a cold last time, remember?

She didn't say anything, but continued gazing into his eye sockets. The skeleton looked away from her.

*you should know by now that you can't hide anything from good old sans here… i can see everything by your expression, kid. so. what's been weighing you down?* he asked and pulled his hoodie over the kid's head, thus ensuring she wouldn't get any wetter.

She just heavily sighed and he stood up and pulled her arm to get her to walk with him. After a few surprisingly fast steps for him, he looked back at the kid who was still just looking downward to face him. He cutely narrowed his eye sockets.

*follow me. i know a shortcut.

After a while, everything in front of the kid's eyes started to get blurry. She suddenly felt weary, but she didn't want to give in to the fatigue. She put her arm over her eyes to protect her shining eyes from the vivid, dancing lights around her. Although they seemed distant, they were actually wrapping around her long sleeves, just like they were truly alive. Gray and white in color, they were rapidly flashing in front of her face, playfully whirling as they passed by her, just like they were greeting her. She wondered if it was really just light, or if it was something that had life energy, as it was shining brightly every time she'd wipe a tear off her face. She removed her arm away from her face and stopped for a second to look at her surroundings, seeing only a huge, white platform with even an even brighter white background full of the sparkling, moving lights dancing in a synchronized way, just like the spiders back in the Ruins would dance. The lights' dance was more special, though. As she stopped, Sans turned around and looked up at her, seeing a sweet smile on her face.

*you… you can… control yourself?

Frisk looked at him as her smile disappeared.

*not that i'm surprised… but this shouldn't really be happening… normally, when i take someone through my shortcuts, they black out, and can't see a thing, or at least don't remember anything about this room.

"Where are we…?" she silently asked, wonder in her young voice. Her voice chimed through the whole area. Sans was just looking at her. As he didn't respond, she just started looking around again.

*we ain't got time for answers, kid… i'm a weird little skeleton which knows how to manipulate space and time, let's just stick to that*, as he said that, he expected her to get confused or to get surprised, but nothing came from the teenager. He then pulled her arm again and they started passing through the area yet again.

"What are those?" the kid silently asked and Sans smiled at her childish questions. She was full of wonder and he couldn't help but to turn around to smile at her.

*those are beings, just like you and me. no, wait, just like me.

She lowered her eyebrows and narrowed her eyes as he said that, so he widened his eye sockets.

*no, um… got that wrong. i mean, there are no humans here…

She stopped walking and hung her naturally red lips.

*except you. you see, those all are… never mind*, he cut the story short and pulled her arm again, his pace getting faster with time. He didn't say anything, but he was a little concerned that there weren't as many lights as there was usually.

*still, you gotta admit… this is really sansational.

She smiled before she felt dizzy again, as they were getting closer to a dark exit. She squeezed his hand and he smugly smiled and ran towards the black void in shape of a door. As they were getting closer to it, Frisk was feeling worse and worse, thus unable to ask him if she was dreaming or not, as the lazy skeleton actually decided to run for once. And he ran pretty fast. With them getting closer to the passage, the lights scattered in all directions, graying the room in a swift manner. All the white soon faded away and the black void was reaching towards them. Frisk heard her loud, fast heartbeat again and suddenly got afraid, so she ran closer to the short, big-boned skeleton to make sure she wouldn't collapse, and if she would, he'd be there. Feeling the cold void getting towards her and pulling her into the blackness filled her with determination, but also with great fear.

He suddenly looked back at her and sweetly smiled, tilting his head.

*you ready to get outta here, kid?

She was unable to talk, so she nodded and the skeleton snapped his fingers.

She woke up and found herself on a pile of golden flowers which were keeping her from touching cold water located underneath the highly resistant plant species. The girl shook her head and looked right in front of herself, seeing her skeleton friend's face right in front of hers, so that they were only an inch away from each other.

*'sup.

She squealed and fell backwards into the golden flowers, rising petals into the air. He chuckled and sat down as well, sweetly smiling and closing his tired eye sockets.

*you got dunked on again, kid.

As he said that, he opened his right eye socket to secretly look at her before closing it again.

*man, you should have seen your face. i can't believe you actually fell for it… heh.

He reopened his eye sockets, but they remained narrow from his huge, wide smile. Frisk opened her eyes to see a few petals floating above her.

*i purposely didn't teleport-

He widened his eye sockets as his smile disappeared.

*um… forget i said anything…

Frisk sat up and shook her head to get the yellow petals out of her messy hair which was completely soaked. Then she looked at Sans.

"I… didn't know you could… you know. Run", she stated and he chuckled.

*brought you here to get you away from the rain, kiddo. you know. 'cause i'm a nice guy and stuff*, he said, narrowed his eye sockets again and looked into the distance.

*by the way. you didn't happen to see some monsters on the way here, did you?* he asked and Frisk looked into his hollow eye sockets and she remained silent for a moment. Then she lowered her head.

"No. Not a single one, actually."

Sans' smile disappeared for a moment, but soon returned to his calm, carefree state and pulled a petal out of her hair, accidentally pulling it. Frisk clenched her teeth and pulled her hair away from the skeleton's fingers. The comedian dumbly smiled.

"Ouch! Hey…"

*um… sorry.

She started combing her hair with her fingers and he just stared at her for a moment, confused why she was behaving like that.

*so… we'll just have to look for them, huh? i was kinda hoping you'd seen one, tibia honest… but whatever. kid. i trust ya, pal.

She shook her head and got him all wet, after which she took his blue, wet hoodie off and handed it back to him. He chuckled, but frowned.

*um… thanks*, he sweetly smiled, awkwardly took the hoodie out of her small hands and put it at the golden flowerbed. They were silent for a moment. Sans was waiting for her to ask or say something, but she seemed pleased by just playing with the flowers beneath her. She soon started plucking them and braiding them into some kind of flowery bracelets. He was watching her do that before he decided to stand up and leave, but the kid suddenly called his name, so he looked back down at her.

*um… what?

"Could… could you stay here for a little while…? Just a bit longer?

He blinked twice before he smiled again and sat down next to her, looking at the tiny flowers in her hands again.

*what are you doing?* he asked in a tired voice and Frisk looked at him and friendly smiled, showing her small, white teeth.

"You'll see soon enough", she happily said and continued braiding the golden flowers.

*so… would you mind telling me why you were crying before…?

She remained silent and he smiled again.

*come on, kid… there's nothing to be ashamed of. i mean, my bro cries all the time. i think it's pretty brave of him to cry that loudly… one day, i got into his room to check on him. little did i know he was in an emotional state. heh. i wondered why a figurine of a sexy robot was getting bigger and bigger… but then it hit me.

Frisk slightly smiled and looked at him for a second. Seeing that he was funny to her, he got closer to her and plucked a golden flower as well, inspecting its petals from all sides. Soon, he started pulling them one by one, till nothing was left. Then, he just discarded it and smiled again.

*anyways. i was lucky it hit my clothes. otherwise, i'd be dead where i stood.

"And why that?" she asked and looked happily at him.

*i'm not really a fighter. 1 attack, 1 defense, 1 hp. those are my stats.

Frisk stared at him for a second before she widely smiled again.

"Then… would you get dunked on if I did this…?" as she asked that, she crawled toward him and meekly punched his ribs. He suddenly bent forward and frowned, looking at her in dread. His eye sockets suddenly widened and Frisk got scared as well.

*wh-what's… wrong w…* he said and keeled over. The traumatized kid started calling out his name and shaking him, afraid he really said the truth.

"Sans… no, no, no… It can't… come on, pal, you can't just…" Frisk silently said, but stopped shaking him as she realized nothing was working to wake him up. She leaned at his cold body and started shaking from sadness again.

"Sans…" she silently cried out as she leaned her forehead at his shoulder.

*you cold, kid?* he suddenly asked and she sat up straight again.

"Wh-What? You're alive! Wait", she frowned as he started snickering again.

*you should… heh… just…* he suddenly burst into laughter and rolled a bit to get to lie on his back. As he couldn't stop laughing, he put his left hand over his eye sockets, trying to stop laughing. Frisk was frowning at him, but couldn't hide a small smile from her face as his laugh was highly contagious.

*you should… pffft* he snickered and the kid bit her lower lip to stop smiling at his uncontrollable laugh which was getting louder and louder, echoing through the dumps. He couldn't even finish his sentence and the kid evilly grinned.

*you…. hahahaha* he burst into laughter again after a failed trial of getting serious again. The skeleton grabbed his hoodie and held it close to his face to stop his laughter, but nothing seemed to work. He didn't even know anymore why he was laughing so much, but he just didn't want to stop. Frisk then suddenly pushed him from the flowerbed and he yelped before he fell face first into the dark, dirty water. The skeleton stood up and looked at his clothes which were spewing out water before he looked back at the kid, who upon seeing him lose his smile burst into laughter as well. As he heard her laugh, he grinned, got back at the golden flower bed and knelt back on the yellow.

*ha-ha. very funny, kid*, he stated and straightened, getting his wet hoodie above her head. He then swiftly squeezed the clothing so that all the water poured down on her face. She sat up straight and flailed her arms into random directions before she finally released a silent voice and looked back at the smiling skeleton, which burst into laughter because of her odd reaction. She looked furious, but decided not to be angry with him. Instead, she just started laughing as well, so that the whole area was full of joyful laughter.

*you… you should totally stand in the… corner… frisky…* he finally managed to squeeze through his teeth and she covered her eyes with her small hands, trying to focus on the thing she was working on.

*'cause… 'cause of your shivering…

Frisk stopped laughing and continued braiding the flowers.

*they are… heheh… usually around ninety… degrees…* he squalled and started laughing again, so Frisk took the hoodie into her right hand and threw it towards the skeleton, but managed to fail yet another time as the hoodie landed right next to him. He watched the hoodie for a second before he burst into laughter again, and the poor little Frisk covered her face with her tiny hands again from embarrassment. Upon seeing that, he stopped laughing and picked the hoodie up, hitting it into his own face, ignoring the pollen on it. He then stood up and waddled closer to her, acting a little in the process as water was dripping from his face. He seemed to have forgotten why he didn't want to be close to the kid already.

*ouch… you got me there, kid*, he said, turned around and let himself fall down on his back, rising the golden petals up into the air. He then pulled the dripping wet clothing from his face and threw it away from them, revealing a bright, happy smile at his face. She sweetly smiled back at him and continued braiding.

*oh, kid… if only you weren't that…* he thought, but the kid suddenly shoved something into his face. He stood up and accepted the braided flowers, letting her put it into his boney hands. He then looked at her and scratched the back of his head.

*what… what's that…?* he asked as he was a bit confused. The flowers were perfectly aligned and were all facing the same way, *whatever it is,* he smiled so she smiled back, *it looks like you're really talented.*

Frisk blushed a little.

"Those are friendship bracelets… I made the same for myself, see?" she raised her hand and showed it to the puzzled skeleton, "it's… it's a gift. Because I think you are really nice and…"

*oh, come on, kid. you're making me blush. well, not really. but still.

She then proceeded to put the perfectly crafted bracelet on his hand, and he just watched her do that, feeling guilt in his SOUL. Still, he sweetly smiled and looked back at her.

"See? Now we're forever friends."

Sans blinked as his smile disappeared.

*…friends…?

"Sure," she happily stated and stood up, ready to leave him, "and we'll always stay like that, right?"

Sans was just looking into her eyes for a few seconds before he sweetly smiled and looked away, *sure.

Frisk then happily spun and jumped into the water, ready to continue her journey. Before she left, though, she looked back at him and lowered her eyebrows as she asked: "Even… Even if I get out of the underground… you'll still be there for me, right…?"

*that was the deal, anyways*, he said and Frisk happily nodded her head. She then waved at him and greeted the skeleton, who slowly waved his hand back at her. As she left, his smile vanished and he looked at the friendship bracelet he received.

*it's a curse, knowing what'll happen…* he thought and closed his eye sockets, *i'd love to stay forever by your side, kid… your laugh is simply amazing. your humor great. we get along so perfectly and… everything about you… you're so innocent looking and… and yet… judging by the look you gave me before… judging by the amount of monsters there is in this small place and… and judging by the amount of damage you took and are still standing… not SAVING even once…*

He sadly opened his eye sockets and looked into her direction, seeing the kid he had to protect with his own life. There were no pupils in the hollowness his eye sockets were.

*you're not level one anymore, are you?* he asked and clenched his right hand, the hand where the flowery bracelet was on.

*but heh. who am i to judge?* he asked, sweetly smiled and shrugged his shoulders, *play your game the way you want to play it, kiddo.