And here's the pre-last chapter of this arc! I hope you'll enjoy it. :P
It was dark outside, and the streets of the Monster Village were almost empty, even though it wasn't that late actually. The falling snowflakes could be seen in the areas illuminated by street lamps. A puppy boy was running across the streets, wearing a backpack. It was Pupamy. When he finally reached his destination, which was Gaster's house, he breathed out nervously. As Pupamy approached the door, he prepared himself to knock, but didn't dare. He wasn't brave enough to stand face to face with the scientist who had the power over the space-time fabric. The thought of his abilities was rather scary, and so Pupamy feared Gaster. After a moment of thinking, the boy just opened the backpack, took out notebooks, and laid it down on the threshold. "Okay, they'll find it here soon…" - he thoutht to himself, as he turned around to go away. But he barely made five steps as he heard the door behind him open.
"What's the hurry?"
Pupamy froze at his spot. He couldn't understand what Gaster just said, but it didn't matter. Just being caught made him nervous. He slowly turned around to face Gaster standing at the porch, giving him a what resembled a curious look (difficult to tell for sure with his lack of expressiveness). Since Pupamy wasn't saying anything, Gaster asked, his signing well visible now:
"You must be Pupamy, am I correct?"
"Err… y-yes, sir." - Pupamy replied with a frantic nod - "I... Don't mind me, I'm leaving. I just brought what we studied at schoold today, since Sam and Piper didn't show up…"
"So I can see…" - Gaster said as he picked up the books from the ground - "It was very thoughtful of you, but… why acting like a thief?"
"W-what..? No, I just didn't want to disturb." - Pupamy lied.
Gaster could see that the pup wasn't being totally honest with him. He noticed how Pupamy's tail was pulled up between his legs, which was an indicator of fear among dogs. Gaster decided against pressing further on the matter, so he said:
"I think you should give the notebooks to Sam and Piper yourself. I bet they'll be glad to see you."
"You're sure about that..? I just don't want to bother…" - Pupamy asked nervously, rubbing the back of his head.
"You won't. I think seeing a friend will do them some good right now."
Pupamy was still reluctant about the idea to enter Gaster's house, but he guessed that he couldn't argue anyway. So, he entered the house, after what Gaster led him to the twins' room. Gaster knocked before entering the room. The kids looked up at him with curious looks. The skeleton said:
"There's your friend who came pay you a visit."
Pupamy then shyly showed up from behind Gaster's back, and the twins' faces lit up in pleasant surprise.
"Pupamy!" - Piper smiled at him - "I'm glad to see you."
"Hi, Pup. Nice to see you." - Sam said on his turn.
"Hey guys…" - Pupamy replied shyly - "And Sam, don't call me 'Pup', please."
"Should I call you 'Amy' then?" - Sam teased his friend.
"No, that's even worse..! 'Cause I'm not a girl."
"Anyway, what are you doing here?" - Piper asked curiously.
"Well, you missed school today, so… I brought you here what we studied. So you can catch up." - Pupamy said, handing his notebooks.
"Aw, you're so nice." - Piper smiled at him as she took the books from his hands.
"He was about to just leave the notebooks on the threshold though." - Gaster remarked.
This made the pup-boy tense a bit. He looked at his friends with an apologetic look on his face. The twins immediately got the problem.
"Are you scared of our dad, Pupamy?" - Piper asked.
"Ye-.. N-no..! I mean I..." - Pupamy looked at Gaster awkwardly, growing uncomfortable - "Maybe a little."
"Why so? You should know I'm too smart to ever hurt one who nibbles what I'm made of." - Gaster replied, sounding all serious.
Sam and Piper quickly got that he wasn't actually serious and that it was his subtle humor. As Pupamy realized that too, his eyes roundened and he asked with an amazed expression:
"Wait... Did you actually just… joke?"
"I might have." - Gaster replied - "Just don't tell anyone."
"I... I won't, Dr Gaster." - Pupamy replied with a shy smile, some of his fear and tension leaving his body.
Gaster then decided to give some time to the kids while he would go downstairs and prepare everything for the process to come. After all, he was planning to create a new SOUL for Asriel from Noelle's material. As he left the room, Pupamy asked his friends:
"You don't really look sick, though. Why did you miss school?"
"You're right, we're not sick." - Sam confirmed - "It's just that something really bad happened last night."
And so, the twins explained the best they could to their friend what happened. When they finished, Pupamy was both shocked and amazed. He was surprised that the Dreemurr prince was resurrected and that he'd been living in the body of a flower for all those years. But he was also sorry to hear that Noelle was in a dead-like state. He wouldn't like this happen to his own mother, or his father.
"I'm sorry about your mom. I hope Dr Gaster fixes her." - Pupamy said with a sad expression.
"Yeah, we hope too..." - Sam replied a bit distantly.
Meanwhile, Asriel was lying in his bed in New Home. Toriel advised him to go sleep earlier, because he'd have to go through what resembled surgery the next day. Thus he'd better have his mind well rested. But Asriel couldn't fall asleep and thought that since he'd be under general anesthesia during the procedure anyway, it didn't really matter if he slept a lot or a few the night. So, he was reading the book he borrowed from Gaster. Its title was "On Little Cat Feet". Asriel and Noelle were both taken by the story. It talked about a world where A.I. was very developed, the people and robots cohabiting. The book was a lot about the relationship one could have with a robot, exploring the question of whether a robot is just a machine, or if it should be seen as something more, as an equal. Asriel was surprised to see that the book was written by a monster, who seemed to be very young judging by the photo on the back cover. He seemed to be around twenty. The author also had blue hair and a feline-like face, his big golden eyes unmistakingly being ones of a cat.
"Something puzzles me though." - Noelle remarked, interrupting Asriel's reading on the middle of a page - "If the world's 'sun' is nothing but a lightbulb, it provides light but not warmth. Wouldn't everyone in that world be frozen to death by now?"
"Really, Noelle? You, a person born from a human and a skeleton, question the possibility of a lightbulb to be the sun?" - Asriel asked.
"...Ugh, you're right. I guess I was just trying to distract myself." - Noelle admitted.
"I know how you feel. I'm trying to not think about tomorrow too." - Asriel replied, before confessing - "I'm scared, Noelle."
"Me too, Asriel. Me too."
"But why you'd be scared? Whatever happens during the procedure, you'll get your body back anyway."
"It's you I'm scared for." - Noelle clarified.
"You really care..?" - Asriel asked, before saying - "I guess I shouldn't be surprised… But still, I'm the one who stole your life."
"Asriel, we said we would not talk about this anymore…"
"You're right. Sorry." - Asriel then put the book aside and turned the night lamp off - "Since thinking about tomorrow is unavoidable, sleeping is probably a good idea."
"Definitely." - Noelle agreed - "I guess it's pointless to say 'good night', since we'll probably meet again soon in our sleep."
Asriel couldn't help but chuckle in response before lying in a more comfortable position. The next day would definitely be very eventful, no matter what outcome fate had in store. Asriel had been turning in his bed for a while until he could finally fall asleep.
The next morning, as Gaster was preparing everything for the upcoming procedure, Sam and Piper hesitantly entered the room, but didn't move from the doorframe. Gaster was busy at checking the state of the "foetus SOUL" he spent almost the entire evening and a part of the night to make. But when he finally noticed his children stand there, he said:
"You can come closer, you know. Just as long as you don't touch anything."
Sam and Piper approached their father, looking curiously at what he was doing.
"So, um... what are you doing right now?" - Sam dared to ask.
"I am checking that the early-staged SOUL is in its right condition to be implanted inside Asriel." - Gaster replied - "Luckily, it looks like it's in an excellent state. Otherwise, it would be needed to take some more of Noelle's SOUL essence and start everything over."
"Glad you succeeded at your first try." - Piper commented.
"Well, I am a genious after all. Did you expect any less from me?" - Gaster asked, making his daughter smile.
"No, I knew you could do it." - the girl replied.
"But how did you actually make this SOUL?" - Sam asked - "I guess Noelle's SOUL doesn't resemble any monster SOUL."
"That's correct, her SOUL is nothing like any other one - wheter it's of a human or of a monster. But it's actually all about the amount of magic and determination. Human SOULs are mostly made of determination. Monster SOULs, on the other hand, are mainly made of magic, with a very small quantity of determination. Noelle's SOUL has an equal quantity of both. So, I had to rebalance the quantities within the sample to make it resemble a monster SOUL." - Gaster explained - "Alphys provided me a semi-organic, semi-artificial tissue to make the 'pocket', so to speak. Or the thin 'wall' that surrounds the substance."
"You mean the part that has the heart shape?" - Piper asked.
"Yes, you got it." - Gaster replied with a nod.
The kids then stared at the very tiny white heart floating in some substance inside a glass tube. The thought that it was almost a living thing was incredible and fascinating.
"It's so tiny…" - Piper remarked.
"But Noelle will make it grow to the proper size." - Gaster replied.
"How long will that take?" - Sam asked.
"If my calculations are correct, a few hours. It could've been weeks, if I didn't get the idea to accelerate the process."
"But how will you do that?" - Piper asked on her turn.
"Since I had to separate the DT and magic particles, I have a tube full of pure DT here." - Gaster said, showing the tube full of red liquid to the kids - "I'll inject it back into Noelle's SOUL, to help her produce more magic to fill the fœtus SOUL."
"And then, Asriel should be able to live on his own, right?" - Sam finished.
"...If everything goes well, yes."
"Oh, it maybe won't work, is that it?" - Sam asked with a disappointed look - "And what shall you do if it doesn't work?"
"It has to work." - Gaster said seriously after a short pause.
"Well, I think it will work." - Piper said confident - "You were able to create two living skeletons, after all."
Gaster got a thoughtful expression. Not because he wanted to disagree, but rather because of what the words reminded him of. He knew that his illegal experiments were what shocked the twins and once created a distance between them. Gaster didn't want that his current scientific activity would put wrong ideas in the kids' minds.
"I understand if you don't like what I'm doing now. To create an unnatural SOUL can be a shocking idea. And I know that you disapprove my past actions. So, I also understand if you don't really trust me. But-"
"No, it's actually cool to see you do science." - Piper cut him off.
"Really..?"
"Yeah, it's interesting." - Sam added with a smile - "I'm watching you now and I'm literally just thinking: 'So, this is how he does it.'"
"Well, methods can vary. As well as the content." - Gaster replied, internally pleased that he interested his son - "The delicate thing is to find the limits, to ask yourself if what you do is ethically right."
"If it's... how right...?" - Piper frowned, not undrestanding the word.
"On the moral level." - Gaster replied.
"Well… Now you're trying to save both Asriel and Noelle, so you're doing the good science. And I like that." - Sam said with a smile.
Gaster briefly returned the smile to his son before focusing on his task again. Piper's attention got meantime directed to her unconscious mother. Noelle's body was lying on the same bed, in the same position. It was like she was nothing more but a life-sized doll now. Yet at the same time, it looked like Noelle was just asleep. She looked no different from the usual, except maybe her skin being paler, having lost its pink shade that was a sign of life and health. Piper sat at the edge of the bed and took Noelle's hand in hers.
"We'll see each other soon, Noelle... You'll see." - the girl said quietly.
Sam had approached too, but didn't dare to say anything. Sentimentality wasn't his strong point, especially in a situation like this. Besides, he couldn't really express in words what he was feeling. The doorbell then suddenly rang, which meant that Asriel arrived. Gaster instructed the kids to go to their room and wait there until everything was over, after what he went to open the door. Asriel came with Asgore and Toriel. Even though the parents knew they couldn't stay during the procedure (since Gaster needed to fucus throughout the delicate task), they wanted to keep Asriel company until then to reassure him. Gaster suggested them to wait in the living room while he would do the last preparations.
"Everything's going to be okay, Asriel." - Toriel said - "You'll come back home tonight and... and we'll finally live together like it was always meant to be…"
"And always stay determined." - Asgore said his usual advice - "It helped Frisk, so it should help you too."
"Frisk is much stronger than I am…" - Asriel lowered his head, but then added - "But I'll do my best. I'll try my hardest to return home tonight."
His both parents nodded in response. At that moment, Gaster returned and informed that everything was ready.
"Your Majesties... You know that you have to leave. Even though I hate to ask you that."
"We understand perfectly, Gaster." - Asgore replied, before pulling his son into a tight hug - "Hold on, Asriel. Everything will be alright."
"I'll be praying… My heart is with you, my child." - Toriel said on her turn, squeezing Asriel's hand tightly and holding back her tears.
"Mom... Dad... I love you both so much..." - Asriel said as he could barely prevent his tears from falling - "And I'm sorry for ever making you suffer."
After a moment, the parents finally let go of their son, although reluctantly. When they left the house, they couldn't help but look back several times. Gaster felt a huge responsability weigh on him, knowing that he had to do his best to save the prince. As Asriel laid down on another bed, he listened Gaster to explain what he was about to do.
"I know, it would probably be less risky to let Noelle make your new SOUL grow naturally. But I'm afraid her family wants her back as soon as possible. I'm just trying to meet everyone's interests." - Gaster said with a serious and almost apologizing tone.
"It's alright... I understand. Waiting months for Noelle to return would be way too hard for them." - Asriel replied.
"I'm glad you understand. However, I want to say now that if it doesn't work… I'm sorry."
Asriel just nodded in response. Gaster injected the anesthesia into Asriel's body and before he could put the oxygen mask over his face, the goat monster stopped him. Gaster looked at him questioningly, and Asriel said:
"I have one final request for you. If it doesn't work and… if I'll turn back… into Flowey… can you please… just put an end to this?"
"Asriel... What are you saying..?" - Noelle said in his head, clearly shocked.
"You can't make me promise that." - Gaster shook his head - "You're literally asking me to... murder you."
"If I'll turn into Flowey, I'll... I'll be gone anyway. And I don't want to live just to hurt the others… What kind of existence it is..? Flowey doesn't belong in this world. No one else would dare to get rid of him. So please, Gaster… if that happens, just finish me. Please… Promise me you'll do it."
Gaster didn't know what he possibly could reply to this. He refused the idea that he'd have to kill the boy he saw growing up and who once called him "uncle". So, he just put the mask over Asriel's nose and mouth, before saying:
"We won't have to come to this, Asriel. You'll live. Now, count to ten."
Asriel was disappointed that Gaster refused to promise. But he started to count in his head and quickly enough, his mind was gone in the world of dreams. Gaster used blue magic on Noelle's SOUL to make it visible and make sure he didn't accidently inject the foetus SOUL inside hers. He then prepared the syringe with the fœtus SOUL inside before injecting it in Asriel's chest.
Asriel grabbed his chest, having sensed some change in his body. "Gaster must've started..." - he thought. He then looked around, looking for Noelle. She was nowhere in sight. So, Asriel started to walk in a random direction in hopes to find her.
"Noelle..? Noelle..! Where are you..?" - he started to call her - "Please, respond..!"
There was no response, which made Asriel panic. He really needed her right now, it was the most decisive moment of his life. Asriel needed her support, or just her company, to know that he was not alone in this. Without her, he'd have given up on all hope by now.
"Noelle, please answer me..!" - he called once again, his tone shaking a little.
Suddenly, he saw a pink light glow in the distance. Asriel rushed in the direction of that light and soon, he saw the familiar figure. Noelle was sitting, holding something shiny in her hands, while her own chest glowed in a pink light. She then looked up at him and said:
"I found this lone SOUL here... I guess it's the one Gaster injected and that I'm supposed to protect."
"Yeah, no doubts it is..." - Asriel reply with a sigh of relief - "I was worried when I didn't see you around. I feared you were gone."
"Gone where exactly?" - Noelle asked - "Anyway, I think I'll trust you that tiny heart. It's supposed to become yours soon."
Asriel reached to touch the tiny SOUL that suddenly flew straight into his chest. Asriel grabbed his chest once more, feeling some discomfort. Noelle stood up and looked into his eyes, as if asking if he was okay. The goat prince nodded in response.
"So... what do we do now..?"
"I don't know. We wait, I suppose." - Noelle shrugged - "We could just talk or walk around to search for some nice memories...?"
"Can we just talk? I prefer to not explore any memories at all." - Asriel replied as he sat down, Noelle following him.
"Okay... But Asriel… what you requested Gaster… I think you shouldn't have."
"I should. Because I have enough of being Flowey. I have enough of the pain he… no, I bring. I want this to be over, I don't want my parents, or Frisk, or you, or anybody else to suffer from my hands... or vines. So, I want to either live as Asriel, or not live at all. Death is better than a life as Flowey. I made up my mind."
Noelle felt a single tear fall down her cheek. Normally she'd argue that any life was better than death, but what did she know about Asriel's situation? She had no idea what it was like, so she guessed that he was the only one who could decide what end would be the best for him.
And so it was the start of a long procedure. After the injection of the foetus SOUL, Gaster had to wait until the vitals were stabilized before he could inject DT within Noelle's SOUL. The vitals did get all agitated for a short while after that too, but eventually Gaster could observe how the injected SOUL started to grow at a relatively quick rate. Everything seemed to go well so far. But Gaster knew that the most tricky part would be when he'd have to extract Noelle's SOUL. From there, he'd have no control over Asriel's fate. It would be all up for the chance. Asriel would either reject the new SOUL, or make it its own. So, Gaster spent hours to obvserve the growth of the white SOUL and regulate any small anomalies in the vitals he'd observe from time to time. He even barely ate. Not that he could leave the uncoscious Asriel for too long. Gaster would just drink water from time to time, with the exception of one cup of coffee at some point. His children never showed up, which was good. They knew it would be the worst moment to distract Gaster. After hours of observation, the SOUL finally reached the end of its formation. It reached the size required for a monster of Asriel's height and weight. "It's time." - Gaster thought as he magically summoned Noelle's SOUL out of Asriel's body - "It's the moment of truth." The scientist prepared scissors to cut the magical link between Noelle's SOUL and the newly formed one.
"Ugh..!" - Noelle gasped as she suddenly felt weird.
"Noelle, are you okay..?" - Asriel asked with concern.
"I... I think I'm being ripped out..."
It was true. Noelle's form was becoming transparent, progressively fading away. Alarmed, Asriel tried to hold into her but his arms went through her, touching only empty space.
"No..! Noelle, don't go..! I'm not ready..!" - Asriel yelled with a panicked tone, tears forming in his eyes - "I'm scared... I need you now more than ever..!"
"I'm sorry, Asriel... But we can't stay linked forever, you know that." - Noelle replied with a sorry tone - "You have to let go..."
Soon after those words, Noelle faded away. This time, definitely. Asriel fell on his knees and started to cry.
"Noelle...! I feel so lonely now… What will happen to me now..? I wasn't ready for this…"
Noelle slowly opened her eyes and saw that she was in an unknown room. She wanted to sit down, but she felt very weak so it was a difficult task. Gaster walked up to her and said:
"Be careful..! You were reinserted in your body merely minutes ago. It might take some time for your coordination to-"
"Dr Gaster..." - Noelle interrupted him - "Please tell me it's not a dream..."
"It's not a dream, Noelle." - Gaster shook his head - "You really got your body back."
Noelle felt tears in her eyes. She could barely believe it - she was fully alive again! Even though she was weak, she was finally in control of her body. She would live her own life again. Moved, Noelle then suddenly hugged Gaster very tightly, making him gasp in surprise. Noelle couldn't see it, but Gaster's eyesockets widened and his cheeks were tainted by a faint blush. Gaster was stunned, unsure of how to respond to the hug. He then heard light sniffing and so he guessed that Noelle started to cry.
"Thank you... thank you so much, Gaster... thank you..." - she was saying, her words muffled by his labcoat.
"You... you're welcome… Noelle." - Gaster replied.
He then gently laid his hands over Noelle's shoulders and after a moment, he gently pulled her away. Noelle looked down, feeling a little embarrassed, and started to wipe away her tears with her palms. Gaster then handed her a glass of water and said:
"You must be dehydrated after your experience. I advise you to drink a lot for the next few hours."
"Thank you..." - Noelle replied before emptying her glass, then looked down with a remorseful look - "I just realized... I never got a chance to apologize for... you know, our argument about the kids."
"You don't need to apologize. Your words held some truth. I don't deserve Sam and Piper's love like you do."
"No..." - Noelle shook her head - "Love isn't about deserving. Because you don't choose who you love, you just do. And so, the twins love you, just like that. That's why I was wrong, Gaster. I behaved like an idiot."
"We all do, at times." - Gaster replied with a soft tone.
Noelle breathed out in relief, glad that there was no hard feelings between them. Then, the computers started to beep, indicating that Asriel's vitals were very unstable. Gaster rushed to Asriel and Noelle joined him at her rate. She looked at the scientist, with an unspoken question. What could be done. But Gaster's look replied that this was out of his power. This made Noelle's eyes widen in fear. Asriel couldn't just die now, could he? "Not after everything he had to go through…"
Asriel was sweating and groaning in pain. His chest hurt to the point it was almost unbearable. Then, he heard a too familiar voice echoing through the dark.
"You're in pain because you still can't accept your true self. But once you do, it'll go away, I promise."
"Flowey..." - Asriel breathed out - "You... you're not real... you're just in my head..!"
"I surely am in your head. But I'm no less real!"
"No... You don't really exist... you don't... You're just the darkest part of me, born out of my inner grudge… That's all what you are…"
"Is that so..?" - the voice singsonged.
Flowey then popped out from the invisible ground and winked characteristically at Asriel. It was the first time the two were seeing each other like they were seeing another person. It was as if two sides of one personnality were face to face for a confrontation.
"Just look at what you became, Azzy." - Flowey commented - "Too fluffly, too sweet… too powerless."
"I have the looks of a prince." - Asriel tried to sound confident - "And what about you? Just a flower, a weed among thousands others."
"Shut up! Can all weeds do this?!"
Flowey used his multiple vines to trap and hold Asriel in place. Asriel tried to struggle but to no avail. Flowey laughed at his powerlessness and kept taunting him:
"You're so pathetic, Asriel. Don't you see? That's why you turned to dust in the first place! That's why you became me."
Asriel stopped struggling and looked into his evil counterpart's eyes. Flowey added with his signature maniacal grin:
"Because you were nothing but a crybaby, a little boy shadowed by his human sister. That's all what you were. But with me, you became stronger. With me, you could survive. Without me, you're nothing. Admit the truth, Azzy. You need me."
"No... No." - Asriel said with a firm tone - "I don't need you, Flowey. And I never did."
Then, Asriel did something that he's never done before. He magically created a fireball and threw it straight at Flowey. The flower started to burn and shout in pain. The vines immediately released the prince, who stood proudly, never turning his gaze away from his enemy. As Flowey dissolved into nothingness, Asriel brought his hand to his chest, where his new SOUL was shining brightly.
Asriel opened his eyes and took a deep breath. The first thing he saw were the faces of Gaster and Noelle above him. The two were both shocked and relieved. Asriel brought his hand to touch his chest and smiled in relief. He could feel it... he had a SOUL inside him again. And he no longer was a flower! He would return home! For real and definitely..! And Noelle was alive and well too!
"Asriel..? How do you feel..?" - Noelle asked in concern.
"I... I feel great! I'm so happy... I'm happy! And I can feel it by myself!" - Asriel felt tears slide down his cheeks as he carefully sat down.
"I'm so glad you made it, Asriel." - Noelle said with a smile.
"Now that you're awake, the worst is behind you." - Gaster reassured the goat prince - "You'll need to regularily come here for the checkups though. Just to make sure your organism adapts well. But considering the current data, there shouldn't be problems."
"Thank you... Uncle Gaster." - Asriel said, whiping away his tears.
"You're welcome. But the most important part of the job was done by you." - Gaster replied.
At that moment, the twins entered the room. Their eyes shone in amazement and had bright happy smiles. Noelle smiled at them and wordlessly hugged them. The twins returned the hug and after a moment, Noelle said:
"Didn't I say that I'd always come back to you?"
They stood there for a long moment before they finally pulled away. So the kids had the chance to praise Gaster for his accomplishement, who playfully boasted in return. Asriel got the opportunity to actually apologize for his nasty move, this time properly forgiven. And Noelle… she could finally return to her parents.
Some time later, Noelle knocked the door of her house. Papyrus was the one to open the door. His eyes lit up the very moment he saw Noelle being there.
"NOELLE..! IS THAT REALLY YOU? MY EYES AREN'T PLAYING ME A TRICK?" - he asked asked as he felt happiness flow through his bones.
"Don't worry, it's really me!"
As soon as she said that, Papyrus pulled her in a tight hug and took her by surprise as he lifted her a bit.
"I'M SO GLAD! I KNEW YOU'D BE ALRIGHT! I NEVER STOPPED BELIEVING!" - Papyrus shouted happily - "YOU PROMISE YOU WON'T EVER SCARE US LIKE THAT? PLEASE DON'T!"
"I'll try my best..."
Noelle burried her face into his red scarf that unsurprisingly smelled like spaghetti. This reminded her that she was very hungry. But she ignored it, since her hunger could wait. She hugged Papyrus very tightly, as though her life depended on it. When Noelle looked up at Papyrus, she saw that he was glowing green. She couldn't help but point that out, to which Papyrus replied with a smile:
"WELL, IT'S BECAUSE I'M VERY HAPPY NOW! AND YOU'RE GLOWING GREEN TOO!"
He was right, Noelle's eyes were glowing brightly in an emerald color. Noelle was surprised to hear that her eyes glowed, so she checked by looking at the mirror hanging near the door. She smiled to herself.
"Heh, I guess I'm just as happy now..."
"Noelle..?"
Papyrus and Noelle looked up to see Frisk upstairs. She had a shocked expression, but it wasn't the bad kind of shock. Next thing Noelle knew, Frisk was down the stairs and hugged her on her turn. If before Noelle felt somewhat awkward or uncomfortable being hugged by her parents, she definitely wasn't now. Because the time she spent in Asriel's body made her realize how much she needed and cared for them. And she realized that she should be warmer to them.
"You... You're not crying, are you..?" - she asked after a moment.
"Wh-what? No, I... Alright, just a little, haha..." - Frisk wiped away her tear with a smile - "I just didn't expect you'd be back that soon."
"Well, I am back, and I don't intend to leave. I'll stay here until you two kick me out of the house."
"NEVER HAPPENING!" - Papyrus said - "SO YOU'RE STUCK HERE FOR A LONG WHILE, NYEHEHEH!"
"By the way, what about Asriel..?" - Frisk asked - "Is he...?"
"Don't worry about him. He's alive and he'll be alright." - Noelle reassured her.
Then, Noelle's stomach growled, reminding her once more that she really needed to eat something soon. Gaster told her that she would feel very hungry after her experience. Her body and SOUL needed to get its strenght back, after all. Noelle would thus for the next couple of days have to not only rest, but also eat a lot and drink lots of water.
"Okay, so can you tell what's for dinner? Because I'm as hungry as a wolf now." - Noelle asked awkwardly.
"YOU REMINDED ME ABOUT MY SPAGHETTI..!" - Papyrus exclaimed with an alarmed expression.
The skeleton turned around and was about to rush to the kitchen, but Noelle stopped him by pulling at his scarf. Papyrus looked at her questioningly, and so did Frisk.
"Before you go, I really must tell you something important... When I was trapped inside Asriel, I realized how much you two mean to me. You've been so kind and loving, while I wasn't always very grateful."
"IT'S ALRIGHT, NOELLE. I THINK YOU WERE GOOD."
"And you needed time to adapt. So, your distance is understandable." - Frisk added reassuringly.
"Anyway, I wanted to say that I plan to change that, because I..." - Noelle grew very shy - "I love you a lot... Mom... Dad..."
Papyrus and Frisk's eyes widened in surprise, while Noelle looked down, looking timid. It was the first time she called them 'Mom' and 'Dad'. Moved, her parents hugged her once again, making Noelle blush harder, yet easing her nervousness. It took her a while to call her parents like she should, and she'd still have to get used to this, but it was definitely worth it. It was for moments like these that Noelle would stay determined to the end.
A/N: Yes, it was the "OneShot" story Asriel and Noelle were reading! And yes, Niko is thus a monster who lives in their world. :D (Like, the young author wrote a book based on a "dream" he once had as a child.) What? Zarla does include monsters from other video games in her story! So why couldn't I do the same?
So, the next chapter shall conclude this arc and be a preview of the third one. Stay tuned, because it's coming later today! :)