Noelle was sleeping on the folding bed she put in her bedroom (since she lent her bed to the twins), but her sleep wasn't really peaceful. Something was bothering her through her sleep, and it certainly had to do with the recent events. Since Chara showed up, Noelle was scared for her family, but she also felt as though she maybe wasn't good enough to face her. Noelle frowned in her sleep. She was having a vision. Even though she was sleeping, Noelle could still someway make the difference between a dream and a vision. A vision provided only images; there were no sounds or sensations. But there was something else about visions that made Noelle feel different when having one, that couldn't be explained. Experiencing it was the only way to understand.

Noelle could see a familiar landscape. It was somewhere beneath the Mount Ebott, not too far from the village. The Sun was setting. A few steps away from her was standing Chara. She was holding her knife in hand with a tight grip. She was too far, so her expression couldn't be read. After a moment of just standing there, Chara raised her knife and rushed straight to Noelle…

Noelle gasped as her eyes opened at once. She let out a shaky breath, then put her face between her hands. Did she just see an upcoming battle between her and Chara? And why did it stop so abruptly? The last thing Noelle saw was the knife ready to strike her down. But what was coming next? Did Chara succeed to kill her? Did Noelle dodge the attack? Noelle had no idea. "But I guess there are only two possible outcomes of this battle… Either Chara kills me, or I kill her." - the woman pondered - "I don't want to kill anyone. But if I refuse to fight, she won't be mercyful. And thus, the only way to not die is to kill her. But I can't..!" Noelle's breathing became unsteady as those thoughts rushed in her head. What could she do in this situation? Could her pacifism actually get her killed? "What if I don't have what's required to stop Chara..?" - Noelle asked herself - "In that case, we're all doomed."
"Mom? Are you okay..?" - Sam suddenly asked.
Noelle looked up to see that her son was looking at her. Considering the look on his face, he probably just woke up. Piper was lying next to him, still sound asleep.
"...Yes. Don't worry about me, Sam." - Noelle replied.
Sam guessed that his mother was thinking about Chara and all the rest. As for her, Noelle just didn't want to burden Sam or Piper with her dark thoughts. The twins already suffered enough due to Gaster's amnesia. Listening about Noelle's fears wasn't what they currently needed.

Later that day in the hospital, Gaster was sitting on his hospital bed, staring at the blank page of a new notebook for a long moment. He was occasionally tapping with his pen on the page until he let out a sigh and started to write down what was on his mind.

Entry n°1

It's been a few days now since I woke up in the hospital, with an apparent amnesia. It looks like I'm stuck here for a while, so I better occupy myself by starting a new journal. I have nothing more productive to do here. Also, the doctors say that writing my thoughts down could help me remember. I just hope they won't try to steal the journal to study the depths of my psyche. I don't need their help. I'll have to find a stash for my journal.
Anyway, I'm still very puzzled. I just don't understand how amnesia could've happened to a mind as great and intelligent as mine. I'm a genius, not some soap opera character! Amnesia couldn't have just… hit me like that! Quite literally. Because it appears that my amnesia is a result from a hard knock on my skull. I guess I should be grateful it didn't take away any of my other mental abilities. I wouldn't be me, without my intellect. But still, losing memories is losing an essential part of my mind. I lost twenty-two years of my life, and quite eventful ones. When I think about it, I feel… frustrated. None of the things Toriel told me felt familiar. Even when I try to remember by myself, I just can't. Everything is blank. Sure something must trigger some memories, right? Speaking of that…
I'm even more confused by my foolish decisions during those lost twenty-two years. The kids. Just why the heck did I adopt children, who are nothing but humans? I must've gone through some kind of crisis during the De-Code to come to this. But what can possibly be worse than my current amnesia? Those questions make me want a cigarette. Unfortunately, I cannot smoke here… and according to Asgore, I quit smoking months ago. How could I? It must be those two humans' fault. Humans always take your joys away. So far, they didn't display any signs of aggressiveness. Since my warning with my blue magic, they didn't attempt to touch me again, to my relief. Yesterday, they came to visit me and stayed for around an hour or so. They even brought me homemade cookies. A primitive attempt to gain my affections. They act towards me in a "kind" way. But I'm not letting my guards down. The twins must be up to something.

"Glad I found you here." - a familiar female voice said.
Gaster closed his new journal and slit it under his blanket. He looked up to see that Patty was in his room, standing at a few steps of distance from his bed. The feline woman smiled at him and asked:
"Shall we have a new checkers play, Wing Dings Gaster?"
"If it doesn't bother you to lose, I'm for it." - Gaster replied as he stood from his bed, while Patty pulled out her tongue at him - "Oh and… there's no need in calling me by my full name."
"How should I call you then? Wing? Dings? Wing Dings? Gaster? Dings Gaster..?" - Patty asked - "There are too many possibilities."
"Just 'Gaster' is fine…" - the skeleton said with a sigh - "You love seeking issues where there's none, don't you..?"
"I don't. You should've just been more specific." - Patty replied with a shrug.
"Whatever."
The two headed the common living room, where they sat at the same table that the day before. As they proceeded to place the pawns on the checkers board, Patty said with a smile:
"By the way, I had no idea you had kids."
"...You couldn't know that. You first met me in this hospital." - Gaster replied.
"But why did you never tell me?" - Patty asked with curiousity.
"Well, first because we're basically strangers." - Gaster pointed out with a serious look, then averted his gaze - "And second, I wouldn't talk about someone I don't remember."
"What..? Oh, I get it..! You have amnesia!" - the cat's eyes rounded as she understood - "That's why you're here in the first place, correct?"
"Not that loud." - Gaster instructed.
"We're in the psych ward, Gaster. No point in saving your dignity, here."
"But still, I don't like shouting about my personal life from the rooftops."
"Nobody does that, it would be a weird idea. And dangerous too." - Patty said and, before Gaster could tell her it was merely an expression, she added - "This is why the expression makes no sense to me."
"Ugh... Shall we play or not?" - Gaster said with a short annoyed sigh.
"Sure! I'm first!" - Patty made her first move - "What were we talking about again..? Oh, right! Kids and amnesia. Does that mean that because of your amnesia, you forgot your own children?"
"...Yes."
"Oh, but that's tragic!" - Patty said with a shocked but full of sympathy expression - "But... you saw them yesterday! How are they like?"
"They're… humans." - Gaster replied with a shrug, before moving his pawn.
"Humans? Why? Wouldn't they be skeletons like you?" - Patty asked with a curious and interested look.
"They've been adopted. Apparently."
"That makes sense…" - Patty said thoughtfully - "You must feel sad, for not remembering them?"
"How can I feel sad? To me, it's like I never knew them."
Patty frowned before moving her pawn. She and Gaster played for a little while until the former scientist won again. Patty looked at the checkers board with disappointement.
"Nuuuuuuh...!" - she whined - "How is that possible? I was pretty sure I'd win!"
"I told you." - Gaster said, a pleased look on his face.
"No, I refuse my defeat!" - Patty yelled - "I wanna play again! I can win against you!"
"If you want so. But you'll only face another disappointement." - Gaster said, confidently setting the game again.
Patty rolled her eyes, but without actual annoyance. Gaster and Patty played again, and once more Patty lost. As the cat monster looked Gaster remove the last pawn from the board, she whined:
"No, nooo! It's not faaaiiir… Why do I always lose..? It just can't be..!"
Gaster just made a move with his hands, as if wordlessly reminding her of his previous warning. It annoyed Patty even more, who hit the table with her palms and yelled:
"Argh! No, there must be a way for me to win! I can't constantly lose, that's impossible!"
The skeleton was looking at her with an unimpressed yet curious gaze as she was whining. Then, he asked her:
"Stop whining like a child. Just how old are you?"
"I don't know..?" - Patty answered after short thinking, then shrugged - "And I don't care, honestly."
Gaster scoffed at this first, but as he saw the look on her face, he realized that she was actually being serious.
"Wait… are you serious? You don't know how old you are?" - he asked with a bewildred look.
"Yeah." - Patty shrugged again - "My age doesn't matter to me. I think it shouldn't matter to anyone."
"But of course age is important..! It's-"
"It's just another restriction put upon us by society." - the cat monster interrupted him - "Think about it. The only reason why people care about age is just to adopt a certain behaviour. But I don't get why a child can play with toys while a grown up can't. Just why couldn't I play with plushies or dolls simply because I feel like it?"
"Well… it's true that technically…"
Gaster then stopped, unsure if he should agree or disagree with Patty's statement. On one hand, it was commonly agreed that one stops playing with toys after reaching a certain age. And yet… he had to admit that there was some truth in Patty's words. Why couldn't one feel free to do whatever they loved just because people say that "it's not what you do"? Patty seemed to have noticed Gaster's thoughtful look and her face immediately lit up.
"You agree with me! I can see it, you do!"
"I don't agree. I just thought that you're maybe not entirely wrong."
"Thus you agree. Admit it!" - Patty smiled with a cat-shaped smile.
"Think whatever you like, I just don't want to argue." - Gaster replied, without meeting her gaze.
As he briefly looked at her face, he could tell she was very satisfied. It was a bit annoying, so he decided to compose himself.
"But you still have some work to do to convince me of your point of view regarding our minds." - Gaster said - "I keep winning against you in checkers. Which implies a genius and a madman are different things. Thus, you and I aren't the same."
"Oh yes, we are." - Patty grinned widely, revealing a bit of her canines - "Just wait 'til I win. And you'll have no choice but admit I'm right."
"There's no harm in dreaming, I guess." - Gaster replied, yet without sounding nasty.

Meanwhile, Noelle was training her magic in the garden. Or rather, she was trying to. Because since he incident with the Dreemurrs the previous day, her magic was all wonky. For some reason, Noelle had no proper control of it. And she was trying to understand why. When she was making some breakfast, she had accidently turned Papyrus' SOUL blue. She quickly apologized, but the incident worried her, to say the least. Her bones weren't steady either, Noelle could barely maintain it physical long enough before the magic dissipated.
"I don't get it... Why is it doing that now?" - Noelle was talking to herself as her frustration grew - "Now, when I need my magic the most?! Come on, work already..!"
As Noelle was desperately trying to make her magic work properly, she was completely oblivious that she was observed by Frisk (who was actually no other but Chara in disguise) through the window. Chara smiled wickedly at herself, enjoying Noelle's loss of control over her magic. "Her mind's unstable… She's certainly scared. That's just perfect." - she thought, feeling victorious. She then gasped as she felt two hands rest on her shoulders. She looked around to see that it was Papyrus.
"Papyrus, you... you startled me."
"SORRY, I DIDN'T MEAN TO." - Papyrus replied as he wrapped his arms around his wife's upper body.
Chara tensed in Papyrus' embrace. But she gave him a weak smile, to show as though she liked that.
"WHAT'S WRONG, FRISK? YOU WERE A LITTLE… DISTANT TODAY."
As soon as Papyrus said it, Chara turned around and hugged him back. She couldn't allow him to question her behaviour towards him, or he'd get suspicious. "He's a guy who loves physical contact…" - Chara thought to herself - "If I want him to believe I'm Frisk, I better give him lots of those. …I guess I must suffer a bit to relish my revenge." Chara then looked up at Papyrus with the sweetest look she could manage and smiled widely.
"What are you talking about, Papyrus? I'm not distant." - she said innocently - "I suppose I was just a bit distracted."
Chara then burried her face in Papyrus' shirt, pressing her cheek against the ribcage she could feel through the fabric. Papyrus' hold around her tightened a little, as he said:
"I'M RELIEVED YOU'RE OKAY. JUST DON'T HESITATE TO TELL ME IF ANYTHING'S BOTHERING YOU."
"Don't worry, I'd never hide anything from you." - Chara said sweetly, gently stroking Papyrus' arm.

The next day was another day for Gaster to write a new journal entry.

Entry n°2

I found where to hide this journal from the medical staff. Not very original, considering the restricted possibilities. Under the mattress seems to be the best hideout. Nothing much happened in the last twenty-four hours. I won two games of checkers yesterday against my neighbour. She's very strange. And I have a feeling it's just the top of the iceberg. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. After all, I'm in a psychiatry ward, what else to expect from the people there? Yet, she's been surprisingly nice to me. I called her insane more than once, and she doesn't mind. Selfawareness is a quality.
I'll get the visit of a therapist later this afternoon. I don't want to talk about my amnesia with anyone. But they don't care of my opinion here. I suppose meetings with the therapist are unavoidable.

Gaster closed his notebook and hid it under the mattress. And so started another day in the hospital. The first half of the day hadn't been very eventful. In the late afternoon however, the therapist came to Gaster's bedroom to chat for an hour. Gaster was of course not very cooperative. He wasn't the kind of man to talk about his problems, let alone with strangers. But his behaviour wasn't unusual for the therapist. That's why he didn't need to hear that much from Gaster to come to a conclusion.
"From what I understand, you still hold a big grudge against humanity for the pain they caused to monsterkind." - the therapist remarked - "And it also appears that this hatred towards them has been a fundament for your developement as a person."
"I guess so… You're telling me what I already know well myself."
"But I think that the fact you take your dislike for humanity as defining of who you are is what blocks your memories of your children."
"What do you mean?" - Gaster asked with an impassive expression.
"What I mean is... After you woke up with amnesia and you've been told that you have human children, your dislike for humans, that you hold into, was challenged with a new reality. Knowing that you raised and loved human kids as your own questioned everything you knew about humans and, most importantly, about yourself." - the therapist explained - "Your mind just wasn't ready to this."
"...It's true that, when I heard the King and Queen telling me about being a father to the human twins, it sounded as though it was about some other man. A man that isn't me." - Gaster admitted, looking down.
"A cognitive disharmony." - the therapist said with a nod - "Such thing is difficult to handle, especially when it comes to your own persona. Your psyche blocks all memories related to the children, because you feel more comfortable with your old self."
"So, are you telling me that I must just accept that 'upgraded' version of me? Just like this?" - Gaster asked with an unimpressed look.
"Well, you'll eventually have to. But such a process takes time. For now, all I request you is to… simply ponder on the matter. Take your time to ask yourself what you're comfortable with or not in your both lives."
Soon after giving his advice, the therapist left Gaster alone. The skeleton wasn't sure how to digest the said during the dialogue. As he tried to think about the cognitive disharmony his mind was dealing with, his head started to ache. He brought his hand to his forehead and let out a small groan. Gaster hated to think about the issue too much, the following headaches being one of the reasons. He kept sitting on his bed for a while until he decided to go look for a nurse and ask if they had painkillers. He stood up from his bed and walked out of his room. In the corridor, he passed next to Patty's room. Her door was open and something quickly caught Gaster's attention. He stopped and looked inside. Patty was sitting on her bed with an empty pot in her hands. She didn't notice him, she had her eyes closed. She seemed to be concentrating on something. Yet, her face was relaxed. Patty then put her index in the empty pot and made one swift circular move inside, before bringing it back to her face and… she sucked on it. Patty let out a moan, the kind you have when you eat something very tasty. Her eyes still closed, Patty got a wide happy smile. Gaster had a look of confusion and bewilderment. After Patty repeated her previous action, Gaster asked:
"Are you really... pretending to eat?"
Patty's eyes quickly opened wide and let out a gasp, startled by Gaster's voice. When she saw him standing at the doorframe, Patty said:
"What... what did you just say?"
"I was asking you if you really were pretending to eat." - Gaster repeated himself, signing with his magic hands.
"Oh. Well yeah, I do that sometimes." - Patty answered - "I mean… it's not really 'pretending'. It feels pretty much real to me."
"How can it feel any real?" - Gaster asked raising his eyebrow - "You're basically eating empty air."
"You see empty air, I see duo chocolate spread." - Patty stated - "And it tastes so freaking good!"
Gaster entered the room and after an hesitation, sat down on the bed, facing Patty. Then, he asked:
"But can you just tell me... what's the point?"
"I'm not complaining about the food in here, but… there are so many things I miss eating!" - the cat explained - "And once again, my imaginative mind comes to my rescue. If you imagine there's spread in the pot, so there will be. My mind can reproduce any flavor."
"I see…" - was all that Gaster answered.
"What? You're not convinced?" - Patty asked - "Imagining something is what makes it real. For example, you read a nice book and the next thing you know is you're in the story! You can see the landscapes, the characters, you can feel the weather… Same thing here. I imagine I'm eating chocolate spread and the moment after, I can taste it in my mouth and feel it go down my throat. It's amazing what your mind alone can do. And you really should use it the same way."
"I'm not that much a food fanatic for that." - Gaster replied.
"I wasn't talking about food, but about your children."
"Uh... I'm not sure to follow..." - Gaster grew confused.
"I mean, if you imagine that the children are yours, so they just will be!" - Patty explained what she saw as obvious - "If you can't remember them, it's just because you're firmly telling yourself they cannot be your kids. But try to think the other way round. Close your eyes and think that they are yours."
Gaster didn't reply. He thought that Patty's words were basically another phrasing of what the therapist told him earlier. For a brief moment, Gaster asked himself if maybe Patty was right. But he quickly chased the thought away. He would not let her define what he should do or be! And so, Gaster stood up from the bed and walked to the door, to Patty's disappointement.
"Aw, you're going away already?"
"It's almost dinner time anyway." - Gaster replied as he got a quick glance at the clock in the corridor.
"Why must it be now? Ugh, I'm really not hungry..." - Patty muttered to herself - "I ate too much chocolate spread."
Gaster frowned at her words, before shaking his head. "This woman is really bizarre." - he thought before going back to his room.

Meanwhile, Noelle sat down in her car and started the motor. Sam and Piper asked her where she was going and if they could go with her. But Noelle shook her head and said:
"I'm just going for a ride in the city. I'll just go there, then back here. I just want to empty my mind for a moment."
"Oh, okay... Well, have a good ride then." - Sam said.
"Please, don't make it too long." - Piper requested - "We'll be waiting for you."
"It won't take long, I promise." - Noelle smiled at them before closing the window.
When the car drove away, the twins went back inside and up the stairs. They needed to come up with another gift idea for Gaster. He did like the cookies they brought him two days ago, or at least he didn't dislike them. So the kids had to bring him something that he'd really love. But what? It was with those questions that they disappeared in Noelle's bedroom. Papyrus' gaze had followed them, as he was sitting on the couch with "Frisk". He then turned to her and said:
"I WONDER IF NOELLE'S OKAY, THOUGH. SHE WAS DOWN THOSE PAST FEW DAYS. HER MOOD'S REASONABLE, CONSIDERING THE RECENT EVENTS BUT… I WISH SHE TALKED TO ME MORE OFTEN ABOUT HER WORRIES."
"She'll come around, you'll see." - Chara said, then her tone turned subtly darker - "She'll have no choice, eventually."
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN..?"
"Oh, I just meant that... you're her father. Noelle needs you, of course she'll turn to you if her emotions will be too much!" - Chara hurried to turn her dark thoughts into something more positive.
"BUT I DON'T WANT HER TO BOTTLE EVERYTHING UP UNTIL SHE JUST CRACKS. IF SHE WANTS TO TALK, SHE SHOULD DO IT NOW."
Chara straightened up so her face was at Papyrus' level. She smiled and said:
"Then she will. I'm sure she retained the lesson since that time with Flowey."
"I GUESS IT'S TRUE... SINCE THE INCIDENT, SHE OPENED UP TO US MORE AND MORE EVERYDAY."
"Hmhm. And she knows her great father's there for her." - Chara then pressed a long kiss on Papyrus' cheekbone, before slowly (almost teasingly) pulling her lips from him and whispering - "So don't worry too much about it."
"Y-YOU... YOU'RE RIGHT."
Papyrus was blushing a bit after the kiss, and yet for some reason it didn't feel quite right. Maybe it was because Frisk kissed him a bit… differently? Frisk's kisses were usually chaste. This time however, the kiss had a more seductive vibe. But then, Papyrus chased the thought away, guessing that he was probably overthinking. So, he just hugged "his wife" closer to him.

It didn't take too long before Noelle found the Dog's shrine. As she parked her car, she hurried to enter the shrine. She did as a few last persons were leaving. Noelle was relieved that she'd have some privacy in the shrine. She sat down on a bench, stared at the golden dog statute and started to pray:
"Dog... Wherever you are... please hear me. I need you now more than ever. There's quite a crisis my family's dealing with and my magic started to disobey me. I'm not sure what's the reason of that, but it has to be fixed. I must regain control over my magic before it's too late. There's already so much going on in my head. And yes, I will tell my family about it. I just want to solve my magic problem first. So… can you help me with it? Please?"
Noelle waited for a long moment and nothing happened. She then let out a sigh, looking down at her feet. She frowned as she saw a folded paper lying on the floor. Noelle was pretty sure it wasn't there before. She picked up the paper, unfolded it and sawvthat it was a note.

"There's no need to go that far from home to find me! Let's rather talk in a more open place, like beneath the mountain. Fresh air is good for the body and the mind. Meet me there tomorrow at midday. Don't be late! I'm a busy dog, you know. I have a shawl to knit.
- Dog"

Noelle smiled after reading the note. Not only because she had a small hope now, but also because she was amused by the statement about knitting. "How does he knit with paws? Bah, it doesn't matter. I'll meet him tomorrow and maybe he can help me. Maybe he can advise me what to do against Chara…" - Noelle thought as she stood up and walked out of the sacred building.

Meantime in the other destroyed timeline, Frisk was lying alone in the darkness. She didn't know how long she's been there. Her heartache was killing her. The thought that Chara was currently in her shoes, with her family… with Papyrus… terrified and saddened her. Would they notice that the real her is gone? Or will they keep living happily with that evil replacement of her? No… they had to eventually notice, right? "They know me well… Chara doesn't… She can't copy me perfectly. My family will notice the differences… He will…" - Frisk was thinking - "Papyrus loves me… so he must see that she's not me. He can make the difference between me and Chara... And if he didn't notice yet, he surely will very soon." And as Frisk was hoping, she started to feel a little bit better. Not only on an emotional level, but at the physical too. The few bruises Frisk had from her struggling against Chara during the kidnapping, magically healed. Frisk barely noticed, because her physical pain was insignificant compared to her emotional pain. "Papyrus does love me… truly… he told me so… he's shown me…" - she kept thinking. Frisk then remembered the day Papyrus confessed her about his feelings for her. She could remember that day as clearly as if it was the previous day. Not only visually, but also the sound of Papyrus' voice, the feeling of his arms wrapped around her and of his teeth pressed against her lips… It was just magical. Frisk smiled to herself as she was mentally living the moment again; as she was daydreaming. Suddenly, Frisk felt something warm in the pocket of her jeans. She curiously slid her hand there and pulled out a shiny gem-like object. It was star-shaped and was glowing many different colors at once. It was a dream. Like, the kind of dreams she could actually consume during her battle against Asriel. Frisk was pleasantly surprised by this. Wihout wasting any time, she ate the dream. She smiled at the unique taste it had. But it was probably the most tasty dream she ever ate. It was surely due to the beauty of the moment she was dreaming of. She could feel any physical pain totally gone, the bump on her head healing completely. "So here, if I dream, I'll generate consuptible dreams..?" - Frisk asked herself. She then got a determined look on her face and said to herself:
"Chara thought she'd break me by bringing me here. She wishes! I won't let her. I'll keep hoping. I'll keep dreaming. I will daydream of every beautiful moment I shared with Papyrus, Noelle and everyone. I'll dream of a nice future with them all. And I'll consume every dream I can generate. I'll hold into my dreams. They're making me stronger. I will get out of here. I don't know how, but I will."

A/N: Not much progress in this chapter and yet... those elements are important. ^^
Before you say that Frisk shouldn't be able to generate dreams like that out of nowhere outside the Asriel Dreemurr battle... I'll tell you the famous OUAT quote again. "Love is the most powerful magic of all." Frisk's love for Papyrus makes miracles! :D (Besides, it's not totally illogical. She's in a void-like space, just like she was kinda outside of space and time during her battle Asriel.)

And you can expect more of Gaster's journal entries, as well as Patty's oddities, in the next chapters. :) The parts about them were actually the most fun for me to write. ^^
Oh, and the moment when Patty pretends to eat spread is actually an inspiration from a moment in "Lost", when Charlie and Claire pretend to eat peanut butter.