Four knocks sounded on the wooden door. Toriel buried her face further into the pillows, covering both ears with pillows. They weren't quite enough to muffle the second set of knocks a few minutes later. She sighed. A tissue was pressed to the corners of her eyes. She stood up, slipped back into her shoes, and stiffly walked over to the door.

She opened it to see Asgore. He was standing there with his right hand half raised to knock again. He had that patient look again, the one she hated and loved in equal measure. It wasn't the happy look he wore in his gardens. It was too practiced for that. It was the look he wore when he was immersed in politics. A look that said he could sit through any explanation, any train ride, any speech. It made her proud, for she had taught it to him. But it made her angry because he also used it when she got upset over something stupid.

"Yes?" Toriel said, her voice as stiff as her spine.

Asgore reached up with one hand and scratched the back of his head.

"Um...we've finished the timeline downstairs. We're not sure if you had anything to add. Would you like to come down and see?"

Toriel stepped forward, brushing him aside. She saw his face flick to disappointment out of the corner of her eyes. She strode onwards, ignoring the twinge of guilt in her soul. She wasn't quite done being mad at him yet.

Toriel continued on down the two sets of stairs to the bottom floor. Undyne was standing there, waiting. She had her arms behind her back and was studiously not looking at Toriel. The Boss Monster ignored her as well, sweeping past and over to the hallway with its long strand of masking tape running down the middle of the floor. Piles of folios and ripped notebook pages stood in stacks at various intervals along the wall.

The first eight feet of the tape line held only one note, right at the front. It simply said, "Birthdays?". Toriel looked down and saw the simple mark on the tape: 0ARD. Her heart skipped a painful beat. The unanimous decision of monsterkind to use the death of her first two children to start a new calendar still hurt, all these years later. It always would.

Another pang shot through her heart as she saw the little hearts on the timeline. She could still remember their faces. She could still remember their names. Ama had fallen in 3 ARD. They'd been so happy to learn monsters respected those who didn't fall on the extremes of the gender spectrum. They'd stayed with Toriel for two years before they left to argue with Asgore. Their little yellow heart was marked in 5 ARD.

Patience had stayed with her from 52 ARD to 58 ARD. She'd been a cute little girl with excellent manners. Why her father had hated her so much for being born from another man...it made no sense to Toriel. Her light brown skin was just as adorable as the rest of her.

Sean had fallen in 79 ARD. He hadn't stayed long. He wanted to prove to her that, with enough bravery, he could survive Asgore and make it out the other side. His little soul mark proved not.

Pers' little heart was at 93 ARD. She wondered if he'd gotten to see all the underground like he'd wanted. Minori's heart was at 189 ARD. They'd gone off to get Toriel more snails. They'd promised they were coming back.

The first pile of paper, at the 200ARD mark, was the largest. It had all of the orange folios and most of the blue ones. It also had a notebook page on top. She picked up the paper and read it.

Summary of 200ARD-224ARD:

Gerson saw in 204 ARD

Arrived in Snowdin 205 ARD

Both brothers had yellow bones, malnourished, calcium-deficient

sans very prot. and def. about souls - healer & grillby couldn't see

Blue Folios - Sans:

multiple breaks in every bone in his body of var. ages

old, deep crack on his skull

missing facets and spinous processes on multi vert.

recent damage to right eye socket and skull

stats check - Sans at 1 HP

Orange Folios - Papyrus:

restraint marks on his wrists and legs

stress fractures in his hands from wringing (habit continues)

stats check - Papyrus at 60 HP

Sans relents - Healer brought in 208 ARD

very prot. and def. about souls - healer & grillby couldn't see

Brothers begin school 210 ARD

There was so much there that Toriel didn't know how to unpack it. Why would any child in the Underground be that mistreated? Surely their parents had cared about them. No one could be so clumsy as to break so many of their bones. The damage to Sans' skull might explain his apparent amnesia. But…what could have made them so wary of revealing their souls? It was common for healers to check color, texture, size, and examine any cracks. Why would Papyrus have been restrained so long that it left marks? He was so gentle, so loving, so kind...it made no sense.

She really didn't want to look in those files. Her heart couldn't stand it.

Toriel moved on to the next pile as she fought back her tears. It was hard to see until a familiar furry hand passed her a handkerchief. She wiped her eyes and read the summary.

225-249 ARD:

Sans graduates 230AD

Pap struggles w/ rules, socializing, and written words - fears punishment

Letter to Asgore - sans gets job building information network 230AD

Sans gets job as judge 248 ARD

Nothing there was particularly surprising. She wondered what this information network was. Wasn't that what the guard was for? But that could be learned later. She continued to the next pile.

250-274 ARD:

Blue Folio - Sans:

sans self-dest. bone breaks discovered 253 ARD

Papyrus graduates 270 ARD

Toriel clutches at her heart. She had a hard time understanding why any monster would hurt themselves, let alone someone close to her. She would have to read that folio later. Then she would know what signs to look for. She moved on to the next pile.

275 - 299 ARD:

Sans gets job as comedian in 277ARD

Papyrus can't decide on a career

That was a very short note. So was the next one. Fatima's green heart stood just before it, in 288 ARD.

Summary 300 - 324 ARD:

Undyne meets Papyrus 303 ARD

Sans sentry 319 ARD

There was no note in the next section, but Toriel held out her hand for the notebook. Undyne's blue hand passed it to her, along with a broken pencil stub, and she wrote:

Summary 325-349 ARD:

Sans knocks on door in 348 ARD

The next mark on the timeline was familiar. Just after 350 ARD was written, "Barrier Breaks 366ARD". And that was where they were, wasn't it? Nearly 367 years since the death of her children.