You dreamed of you and Sans mock fighting. You knew it was only training because you knew exactly what Sans was really capable of. Green magic clashed with blue and faded into a fine dusty glitter in the air, splashing the snow beneath the both of you with flashes of brilliant color. Sometimes the magic would go awry and Sans blinked over to stop it from doing any damage.

You decided to stop this dream and try to wake up to make breakfast for everyone, but when you woke up, Papyrus and Undyne were in the kitchen and Alphys was dreamily watching Sans and yourself. Her face immediately changed from her yellowy-orange to a deep red when you opened your eyes. She covered her face and went to sit at the table, practically glowing with embarrassment. In the middle of all of this, Sans adjusted and held onto you a bit tighter, nuzzling his face into yours. You couldn't help but blush. It was just plain adorable, you knew, but minutely irritating because you wanted to make sure the breakfast was actually edible. Undyne was nearly as bad as Papyrus when it came to cooking, you had found.

You welcomed the loud voice of Papyrus after a while. He noticed the predicament you found yourself in and woke Sans for you, shaking the both of you until Sans snorted awake. You just mouthed thank you to Papyrus, but he'd already turned to go back to the kitchen. That left you with Sans and Alphys looking on from the table. She had that dreamy look again. You weren't entirely sure what that was about now that you and Sans weren't intertwined anymore, so you shrugged and turned to Sans.

"Mornin', sleepy head."

"mmmmm."

"So, I hate to ask so early-"

"EARLY?! IT'S NEARLY NOON! I HOPE YOU DON'T TAKE AFTER MY LAZYBONES BROTHER MUCH MORE, NEW FRIEND!"

You just smiled to yourself and laughed softly as Sans rolled his eyes.

"As I was saying, Sans, would you be willing to help me train up my magic? I haven't used it in a really long time and I want to be prepared if a human comes along. I also don't want to be overwhelmed by your bro's attacks, you know?"

Sans went absolutely rigid with shock until he realized you were basically speaking in code.

"oh. yeah, sure, bucko. not sure how much use i'll be though."

You couldn't help but give him a huge, excited grin. You were going to learn how to access your magic! On command! You were practically bouncing with excitement when the food was put on the table, your grin still plastered on your face. Everyone needed something to distract themselves with still, but healing was on the horizon. You just knew it.

"Why don't Papyrus and Undyne train too? It would be good for everyone to get out of the house for a bit. Oh! And why doesn't Alphys join us too?!"

Alphys went stiff and flushed a deep red again.

"Oh! I, uh, n-need to get back t-to the lab anyway. I l-left something unfinished there."

You sighed dramatically, but you had fully expected her response. You wondered if she had any magic at all.

"Oh, alright. But what about you two training?"

You waved your fork at Undyne and Papyrus across the table after finishing your bite. Surprisingly, they actually made a decent breakfast. It was incredibly salty eggs and toast, but still. Nothing was burnt, so. . . .

"Ngaaaah, yeah, Pap! Let's get back to training!"

She was way too excited about that and she let it show by almost breaking the table in half with the blunt end of her fork.

"ALRIGHT. IF MY BROTHER CAN FIND IT IN HIMSELF TO TRAIN, THEN I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, SHALL DO THE SAME!"

"that's the spirit, bro."

"Good. Then it's settled."

You were positively beaming at this point and you couldn't wait to get to work.

Once again, everyone helped clean up and said their goodbyes before splitting off to do their stuff for the day. Sans took your hand and led you back to his sentry station. Alphys watched you as you left, a dumb grin on her face. What on earth had gotten into her?

"Okay, so what do we do now?"

"oh, shit. kid, you were serious?"

"Kind of? I just want to know how to reach for my magic, make bones and stuff, like you and Pap."

"oh, yeah. kinda forgot that you've only used magic once, and it was very well done, if i might say so."

"Sans! I killed people!"

"ok, ok, that was in bad taste. but still, that was a really powerful attack you did. you totally dusted them. humans don't just dust like monsters do."

He rubbed his chin a bit before grabbing your hands and looking down at them.

"everyone reaches their magic in slightly different ways, but the principle is essentially the same."

He turned your hands over so the palms were facing up and began to absentmindedly trace shapes into your palm.

"mostly people just do it instinctively, like you did. you had a powerful emotion, in that case, fear, and pushed it out in front of you. right?"

You nodded. That's all that was running through your head at the time. Fearful thoughts about what these insurgents would do to your troop, to your sister, had flooded you and burst out into the magic that completely annihilated your enemies. Peace was not an option at that time.

"your soul is linked not only to your actions, but also your emotions. in cases like mine, being calm is when i can reach my magic the easiest. i internally reach out for the power of my soul to help me in times of need. when i start to panic, that's when i'm at my weakest. understand?"

"Yeah."

"okay. so when you attacked, you found the point where your soul and your emotions met, creating a kind of bridge where the magic could flow freely. your need was great, so you instinctively pushed more magic out."

"Okay. But how does this help me now?"

"i'm getting there, kiddo. patience."

You huffed a little and crossed your arms, which only made Sans laugh.

"impatient little bugger, ain't you?"

You glared at him until he sighed and shrugged at you, letting go of your hands.

"fine, fine. i need you to try to center yourself, like you're meditating. find a point where you can't feel anything and then reach out only with your mind and soul."

You closed your eyes and did exactly as Sans instructed. You swore nothing was happening until you opened your eyes and the entirety of the enclosure was bathed in a green light. Sans looked on proudly, leaning against his station.

"great job, kiddo. now. imagine a bone. just a single, simple bone. imagine pulling it out of a box or wiping one off and follow that same motion with your hand."

It took you quite a while to make a bone appear which only frustrated both you and Sans. He kept trying to explain in different ways how to summon a bone, but nothing seemed to work until he said it was like pulling something from a void in the air. For some reason that explanation really did it for you and you summoned one bone after the other, changing shapes here and there to make sure you really, truly understood. By the end of training, you could summon up to twenty bones simultaneously with minimal effort, but it was still tiring. Sans seemed to be tired too. Happy, but tired.

You were filled with determination.