Planned to do this chapter for awhile but I also just need dis today.

Thankfully "today" passed long ago.

Enjoy.

ProtectorTale, Life Above Ch.25

"Good morning!" Frisk said cheerfully as she stood next to her "brother's" bed.

The teen's blankets rustled slightly before he responded with a long sigh.

The girl gave a sorry smile as she remembered that he'd lately not found mornings to be any sort of 'good'. She of course did her best to remedy that, and by that I mean she hugged him before trying to get him out of bed. "Come on, you can do this!" She said encouragingly as she pulled on his arm.

"Ugh…" He groaned before crawling out of bed.

After having breakfast and packing up all the magic food they'll need for the day, they all got in the car and Toriel began driving them towards the dojo once again.

"My jaw hurts and I haven't even had to talk yet…" The boy complained.

"Come on, AJ! You said this would make the world better, didn't you!? You can change the world if you just stay determined!" Frisk encouraged.

"She is right, my child. You will survive this." Toriel added.

"At the rate this is going though, there isn't going to be enough room for everyone today. I'm not sure what I'm gonna do about that." AJ said, worried.

"I'm sure you'll figure it out!" The younger human said with certainty.

When their vehicle stopped in the parking lot, they could already see a group was standing outside the small building and waiting for them. As the hours passed by they watched the place fill up to capacity before half the day had even passed. The amount of mages in the city of Onyx continued to grow.

Just as the teen was finishing up instructions for another group of new mages, Frisk came up to him with his phone and said that Alphys had texted him. He didn't like the interruption, but assumed it was important.

"Hey, so I just had this sudden idea while I was getting more calls from new mages. I'm pretty sure you can't handle any more right now, so I've decided to push all the new groups back two hours. Enjoy your relative break!"

His eyes widened at an idea. He looked over the new soul mages as he thought over the possibility of this working. He decided he wanted the damn break.

"Alright!" He said with a clap of his hands to get people's attention. "Well, I just got a notice that no new mages are going to be coming in for the next two hours, so I'm gonna use that chance to have an actual break for the first time in forever!" He announced. "Since I'm not going to be here though, I have to ask the mages who are on the last step or have already finished it to help out everyone else with the previous steps. You guys all just learned how to do it, so it honestly should be fine. Besides, I'd say this is a nice time for all of us mages to start helping each other!" He turned to Frisk and waved her over. "Well? Come on!"

Her eyes widened with excitement. "Okay!" She jumped up and quickly ran over to the door.

"Wait, so you're just leaving us!?" A guy from the group who was just now mastering their soul flames asked.

"Oh you'll be fine! I know you guys can do this." AJ responded as he opened the door. "Sorry this came up so suddenly!" He said before walking away. Once the door closed he let out a huge sigh of relief. "Alphys, you are a saint!" He exclaimed.

"So, wait, what are we gonna do?" The child asked, confused.

"All I really want is to go to Sarah's Cinnamon Buns. After that, I don't care." The older one answered.

Frisk could not help but be excited by the chance to eat another cinnamon bun. She quickly grabbed his hand and ran in the direction of the café. "Let's go then!"

"Alright alright!" He chuckled at her excitement and followed with a smile on his face.

The parking lot where the dojo is located is along the edge of the commercial district, so it didn't take very long for the humans to walk to their favorite monster owned café (Grillby's isn't a café so it's okay to say that). When the two walked in they noticed the ratio of humans to monsters was already getting closer to half and half, although the majority of visitors were still of the monster race.

"Hi, Sarah!" Frisk greeted as the two walked up to the front desk.

"Well hey there, little one!" The rabbit woman greeted.

"Heyo." AJ greeted with a wave.

Sarah's eyebrows went up at the sight of him. "Oh, AJ! Didn't expect to see you anytime soon!" She chuckled. "It seemed like you'd be locked in that whatever-you-call-it forever!"

"Dojo, and the swarm of mages isn't ending as far as I can tell." The boy said as he stopped next to Frisk. "Alphys just managed to get me a break. I'm gonna have to head back there in awhile."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Well, how about we get you something so you can enjoy that break while you can?" The monster suggested.

"Yeah, I can't help but notice that menu back there." AJ said, pointing to the large chalkboard on the back wall.

Sarah glanced back at it for a moment. "You like it? People were confused about what we served, so finally got around to putting it all out there for them."

The younger human gasped. "Wait you have cinna-buns that are bigger than normal!?" She asked with stars in her eyes.

Sarah chuckled. "Yes. I'm guessing you want one?"

"Yes please." Frisk said with a strong nod.

"Heh. I'll have a large one too." The teen said.

"Alright! They'll be ready in a few." The rabbit monster said before heading into the back to update her sister on the orders.

The boy checked his phone as they found an empty table to sit at. "Well, we made it here within half an hour just walking, so we can spend an hour doing whatever and if we're a bit late we can always jog or sprint." He sighed and relaxed against the back of the seat. "It's so nice to not sit on the floor…"

Frisk mimicked his actions, even the sigh. "Yeah…" She agreed. They both were silent for a few as they enjoyed the moment to have proper seating and not have to do anything.

"You know, you really don't have to come suffer with me every day while I do this… magic tutoring." AJ pointed out to her.

She shook her head. "I can't take care of you if I'm not with you." She countered.

"You still go to school though." He pointed out.

"But I have to go to school." She responded, crossing her arms in annoyance at that fact.

"Frisk-"

"I'd feel bad!" She interrupted. "I'd feel really bad if I left you there all by yourself for the whole day. There's no point in you doing this all alone."

"Yeah, and I feel bad having you sit there bored all day." The older one said.

To his surprise, she giggled in response. "You really were right when you said we'd have to deal with stuff like this!"

The boy sighed. "Unfortunately…"

"Well, you can't just not help mages, and I can't just leave you there, so why don't you just let me go with you?" She suggested.

He frowned for a moment before rolling his eyes and sighing. "Fine."

"Yay! Thank you!" Frisk said cheerfully.

AJ looked up in thought. "Honestly though, the dojo is at its limit… It might be time to start making some like, instructional videos people can just find on the internet any time, and just use the dojo for people who can't get quiet time."

"That's a good idea!" The girl commented. "Why didn't you just do that first?"

"Because I wouldn't have had the confidence to make a good video back then…" He hesitantly admitted. "Also the first mages were scared, they needed a person to go to. We're passed that though, and I've had to explain it a hundred times over, so I might actually be able to do it now."

"So we might get to play at home again?" Frisk asked hopefully.

"Hopefully." He responded. "I'm sure Toriel would be happy."

"And our sheep will be happy, too!" The girl exclaimed.

"Our sheep?" He asked, confused, before squinting at her. "Oh, you mean that useless sheep farm you have…"

"It's not useless! I have a plan, you'll see." The younger one said confidently.

"Even if you do make something with it, colored wool is always ugly." He pointed out.

"We'll see about that." She responded with a smile.

"Yeah, we're gonna see you were just wasting time and resources with them." He said with certainty.

"They'd be food though." She pointed out.

"They would be but you won't kill them." He pointed out.

"Because every time I try to they look at me and go "Bah" and then I feel bad and I can't do it!" She explained, appearing torn up at just the thought of killing them.

Eventually their food was served to them and they devoured the large cinnamon buns while talking about plans for their video game worlds that they hoped to get back to. Though considering they had finished their food awhile ago, they figured it was rude to take up space in the café just talking. They left and decided to explore the nearby shops while they still had just over a half hour before they needed to start heading back.

The child held his hand and smiled happily as they looked through the windows of the stores they walked by. Then as they passed another small shop, Frisk decided to glance through the window again, and she saw something that caught her eye. She gasped before tugging the teen's arm back towards the door to the shop.

"What is it?" He asked curiously.

"Look!" She said, pointing at what interested her.

He stared at the display she was pointing at and saw lots of different items, though a few items in the window kept him from seeing everything. "I repeat, what is it?" He asked, confused.

"Just come look!" She said before pulling him inside.

"Alright, alright!" He followed her over to the displays and she pointed at the items of interest.

She was pointing at a batch of heart-shaped lockets. What he couldn't help but notice was that these lockets all were one of seven colors. The child grabbed a red and a green one and held them up to him. "These are perfect for us! Can we buy them!? Please!?"

He placed a hand on her head. "You don't need to beg." He said with a smile.

They heard someone chuckle off to the side, and they turned to see a man in his forties with greying hair and a cheap brown jacket behind the counter, smiling at them. "Well, never thought I'd see you two in here."

AJ blinked twice. "Hey, I recognize you." He noticed.

"I was in that dojo a couple days ago. Pretty sure it was the first day you started teaching, actually." The man answered before holding up his hand, which soon ignited with green flames. "At first I couldn't believe I actually had magic, but then I got inspired by it. Decided to make a batch of lockets for all the new mages that we'd be seeing soon. Made sure I got all the colors."

The boy held up the locket and brought out his soul. "You even got the size right." He noticed.

"I did? Good!" The man exclaimed. "Just so you know, those things are empty. You want some pictures in them or just leave them as is?"

Frisk gasped. "You can put pictures in them!?"

"Yeah. Got the printer in the back if you wanna do that?" The shop owner said, pointing over his shoulder at the wooden door behind him.

The child's eyes lit up as she looked down at the red locket in her hands. "I know what I'm gonna do then!" She then looked up at AJ with a smirk. "I'm gonna put your picture in here!"

The boy let out a breath through his nose. "As long as I don't have to see my picture…" His eyes widened at a thought and he grabbed Frisk's shoulder as she went to walk ahead of him. "Actually, um… who's gonna wear which one?"

"Well I wear red and you wear green, right?" The younger one answered.

"Well, yeah, that would seem obvious, but if we're gonna use these to remember each other or whatever… what if you took green, and I took red?" He suggested.

"Hmm…" Frisk actually looked deep in thought, clearly considering the idea as she stared at the two lockets. She took the green one from his hand and handed him the red as she continued to stare at the small heart shaped items and debate in her head. "I don't know… I feel like we should just keep our colors… but I really like the idea of keeping a part of each other!" She said with a smile as she clutched the locket close to her for a moment. "I really don't know anymore… Why'd you have to make this so hard to choose!?" She mock whined. She shut her eyes tight as she seemed to have a strong internal struggle for a moment. "Let's do it that way!" She exclaimed.

"Do it my way? Not yours? No take backs?" AJ asked, so he'd know she was sure.

"Yes! We'll do it your way!" She answered quickly so she couldn't give herself a chance to change her mind.

"Alright then, it's settled. I get red, and you get green." The teen said, and she nodded.

"Come on back and you can choose which pictures you want to use." The man said, and the three went back into the large back room to choose pictures from their phones and have them printed out and cut to size in order to fit the small lockets.

They both had two pictures put in their lockets. Frisk's had the picture of her and AJ wearing flower crowns and doing their "Squish!" picture in the left side, and a picture of the boy standing alone and giving a small smile as he begrudgingly stood for the camera when they first moved into their new home, on the right.

AJ's had the less silly picture of him and Frisk wearing flower crowns on the right, and a close up picture of the adorable child smiling up at the camera with her eyes closed, on the left.

The two humans thanked the man and left the shop with small chains around their necks. The boy wasn't used to wearing any kind of necklace, and he kept the locket under his shirt. Frisk had never worn one either, but at the moment she preferred having it bounce around with each step she took as she left the locket out for all to see.

With less than a half hour left and them being further away from the dojo now than they were at the café, they alternated between jogging and short bursts of sprinting until they reached the familiar parking lot. Upon entering they saw a familiar teen with a striped shirt standing in front of the group of seated mages.

"Josh? What are you doing in my spot?" AJ asked, confused. He and Frisk walked around the group to the front of the room.

"Alphys told me to watch over things till you got back." Josh answered with a light grin at the sight of his friends. "I thought I was gonna have to teach some of these people myself, but by the time I got here they were all helping each other out and uh, they didn't really need me!" He said with a chuckle.

The older teen turned around with a surprised and impressed look. "You guys actually did what I said?"

A girl about his age spoke up. "Yeah, it wasn't actually that bad."

"Pretty easy actually." Another guy said.

"Quite enjoyable, actually. Everyone got along well." An older gentleman responded.

"Oh! Well, good then! That's what I was hoping for!" AJ exclaimed before turning to the teal soul. "Well thanks for watching over and all, but I'm ready to take my spot back."

"You could just go home, you know." Josh suggested. "I don't mind taking over for the rest of the day."

"No, no, this is probably going to be the last major day. I might as well see it through." The kind mage responded.

Josh shrugged. "Whatever you say, man." He walked past them and waved as he went. "Have a good one."

"You too." AJ said.

"Bye, Josh!" Frisk said and waved to him as well. She saw him turn and give a quick nod to her before walking away from the building.

The two humans were the first to walk through the door when they got back home that night. Both of them were tired and happy to finally be back in their house, one more than the other. Frisk held the door open for Toriel while AJ went and flopped onto the couch.

"Why thank you, my child!" Goat Mom said as she brought in the empty lunch bags.

"You're welcome!" Frisk responded before walking into the living room. She stared at the older human as he lay on the couch, enjoying being able to totally relax once again. After a few moments she looked down at her locket and opened it. She looked at the pictures for a moment, then back up at him, then the locket again, and she gained a big smile as she closed the locket and walked up to him.

The boy whose face was buried in a pillow turned his head slightly and noticed the girl staring at him. He tiredly smiled back at her, despite being confused. "What?" He asked curiously. The kid decided to answer him by letting out a happy cheer as she jumped on him. "Whoa! H-Hi!" He said with a surprised laugh.

"Haha!" Frisk giggled happily as she crawled onto him and hugged him tightly.

"Ah, I see." He said as he sat up on the couch, propping himself up with one arm while the other was wrapped around her. "You're in a mood, aren't you?" Her answer was to simply squeeze him tighter and bury her face in his chest as she let out another giggle. "Heh. Alright, cuddlebug." He shifted position so his feet were on the floor and he was free to wrap his arms around Frisk and rest his head on top of hers.

By the time Toriel finally got around to checking on them, they had settled into their position and were not too keen on leaving it. "Children, it is late. You both have beds waiting for you." The monster woman pointed out.

""Nooooo…"" They both whined, not moving an inch.

"Do you intend to sleep on the couch then?" Toriel asked.

"Maybe." AJ mumbled.

"Yes." Frisk said at the same time.

Toriel let out an amused chuckle. "I will bring the heated blanket down so you do not freeze then." She said before going up the stairs and coming back with a grey blanket. She plugged it into the wall and wrapped it around the two, creating a large bundle of comfy.

"Thank you…" The boy said tiredly.

"You are very welcome." Goat Mom said with a smile. "Goodnight, my child." She said before planting a kiss on his forehead, shocking him and leaving him blushing. "Goodnight, my child." She said after kissing the top of Frisk's head as well.

"G-Goodnight." The teen called back as their 'mom' walked off to her own room.

AJ relaxed as he fully took in the warmth that surrounded him, both from Frisk and from the blanket that covered them both. He was still amazed sometimes at just how happy and at peace he could be thanks to this new life of his. His feelings got the best of him as he squeezed the kid tightly. "I love you so muuuch!" He whispered happily.

I just need to write fluff and happiness every once in awhile…

In order to live.

I'm kidding.

Probably.

So, unless my plans change, should be one more super small chapter, and then the bigger one to wrap it up. Then, the future is undecided.

I hope you all have a very good day!