The Day of Freedom would long be argued, debated, and discussed by the monsters of the Underground. It wasn't that they didn't think it should have happened. Everyone agreed that they should have done it a long time ago. No, what was unclear was the order of events.

Eventually everyone decided that what started it all was the spiders. They hadn't even known there were that many spiders in the Underground. They came flooding out of everywhere ready to fight. They had armor and weapons. And… they handed them to people. Everyone was shocked. Why would anyone just give away armor like this? This was top of the line stuff, not the shabby kit given out to guards. This was good enough for royalty.

The next thing that happened was the broadcast. TVs turned on everywhere and static cleared to show Dr. Undyne, the former royal scientist and face of the resistance. Standing behind her were Muffet, the unofficial ruler of Snowdin, and Captain Alphys, the head of the Royal Guard.

Undyne coughed and spoke simply. "People of the Underground. The time has come for revolution. The Queen has broken one of the Ancient Laws. She has bound another monster by magic to her against his will. Worse, she has lied to us. There is one way to break the barrier. With seven human souls to match the seven mages who imprisoned us, the Barrier can be broken. Two souls have already been gathered. We will reach the Surface within our lifetimes."

Muffet stepped forward, her face grim. "My spiders have provided to each of you armor and weapons best suited to your needs. Should you choose to take them, you agree to fight to depose her. Should you die the urn of your ashes will be brought to the Surface and placed in a monument to the brave monsters who fought back. Should you live you will have brought us that much closer to freedom."

Finally Captain Alphys spoke with a snarl. "Any guards hearing this? Stand down. Turn your back to the world and stare at the wall. Any guard not doing this is hereby free game. Kill them. No Queen of Monsterkind deserves to be protected if she has broken the Ancient Laws and lied to her people. She is now public enemy number one. Protect her and you die."

Then the orders flowed, a genuine battle plan that had every monster in these Underground wondering how long this had been planned. They all nodded as they donned their armor. It was time to fight back.

Beyond that… well, no one could agree. Did the Froggits snatch the keys out of the guards offices before the Pyropes strangled them or after? What about the Knight Knights and their heroic barrage of the treasury? Or the way the Moldbyggs snuck through the sewers and infiltrated the kitchens so the Migosps could liberate the contents of the fridges? And you can't forget the way the dog pack sniffed and destroyed every land mine in the inner yard.

In all the confusion and fighting it wasn't surprising that one monster could be missed. Blue walked through it all like it was a dream. He couldn't help. He could only watch as monsters died in front of him. He wrote down their types and names in his notebook when he could so they could be properly recorded in the monument. It had been his idea. The memory of Sans' little shrine to his dogs would never leave him.

Papyrus was right in the thick of it, too, throwing bones and showing off the sheer power he had hidden every day of his life. Monsters were impressed and in awe. They wanted him to be on top of the list of heroes. He insisted that he take his place alphabetically, just like everyone else.

Muffet strode through the captured palace and monsters stopped to stare. Het magic went everywhere, tying everyone down and ending the fighting in an instant. She left behind awe struck (and love struck) monsters of every variety. She didn't care or notice. She had a job to do, and until it was done she would focus on it.

The palace was nearly empty when they reached the torture chamber. Captain Alphys and Dr. Undyne were fighting together in perfect sync against the Queen herself. Both were covered in wounds. So was Sans.

Blue immediately ran over and released Sans from his place on the hot coals, leaving the others to worry about the Queen. The other collapsed into the arms of his brother who looked devastated. The small skeleton looked like he'd taken a swim in a sea of barbed wire only to be attacked by the dullest toothed sharks in the ocean and regurgitated into a pool of liquid metal. The worst wound was the one on his chest. A large sigil that burned like magma was branded deep into his chest.

Blue couldn't take his eyes off of it. It felt like it would be forever scarred into his mind. He wanted to heal it. He wanted to destroy it. He wanted it never to have been drawn. But he didn't dare touch it until a proper healer had seen it.

He was so focused on it that he missed the entire conversation between Muffet and the healer about what needed to be done. He missed Papyrus' heated outburst. He missed Muffet's quiet, angry speech. He only became aware when he was pulled away from Sans and tied down. His shirt was pulled over his head, covering his sight so he couldn't see who was doing this to him.

"hey, uh, not really appreciating the manhandling. what's up?"

Muffet's voice was emotionless, coming from somewhere to his left. "The sigil cannot be undone. The only way to free him is to change who he is bound to and bind them to him. To do that, someone else must be bound. Out of all of us I think you would treat him best, so it has to be you."

Blue struggled in his bonds to no avail. "you can't be serious. you know what that means, right? i'd be soulmates with him. i can't, i- i- i don't know if i care for him like that. we've never been on a date! i don't-"

"blue. please. he needs you," Papyrus pleaded with him. Blue could hear the worry in his voice. The sincerity. The fear. How could he deny something like that?

But how could he do something like this? There was no way Sans could consent. What if he hated him? What if he hurt him? He could hide nothing from Sans if they were bound like this. He'd be completely bare and defenseless.

On the other hand, Sans would die if he was still bound to the queen when she was executed. Blue had read the sigils. He would die, and he would die a slow and intensely painful death. Blue didn't want that. And Blue had to admit that he was tempted. More than tempted, he wanted Sans. He wanted to see him smile every day. He wanted to sneak a kiss under a sprig of mistletoe. He wanted to sit under the stars with him and make up stories about their pasts. He wanted to-

Oh.

Oh.

He was in love. When did that happen?

"You have two minutes to answer or we're doing it anyway," Muffet said harshly.

"i'll do it. i'll be his soulmate. for better or for worse, right? go ahead," Blue said bravely.

"Good," Muffet laid a hand on his chest. Healing magic flowed into him. It did nothing but circulate. He made a noise of inquiry. "I'm afraid this is going to hurt a lot, but the magic I just gave you should keep you from dying."

Blue gulped and nodded. He'd been through pain before. He could do this. "okay. just get it over with."

The next thing he knew he was in crazy intense pain. It felt like the time he'd spilled boiling water all over his arm, only much, much worse. The burning, throbbing pain was all he could think of. It filled his whole world, pushing everything else out of his mind and moving in. It rummaged around the apartment of his mind making a huge, bloody mess. Oh, no. That was his chest. He knew what bleeding felt like and he was definitely bleeding. That meant more bandages. Yay.

The pain didn't so much abate as become normal. Blue sucked in a huge breath, which of course made his chest hurt even more. A battle between his need to breathe and the pain ensued. Eventually he found a rhythm that didn't feel agonizing. No wonder Sans could be so testy. This hurt.

Blue blinked when Papyrus pulled down his shirt. There was an apology in his eyes that Blue just managed to recognize. He wasn't quite sure why it was there. This had to be done, right? And he'd volunteered to do it. There was no way this was Papyrus' fault.

"we need you to do the last bit, blue. can you summon your magic for us?" Papyrus asked.

Blue nodded. He focused through the pain and let his magic swirl around him. It was brighter than it had been the last time he had summoned it, but it still had his signature yellow fringes to the dark blue flames. Someone gasped in a way he didn't recognize.

He looked up, and it was Sans gasping at him. His eye lights were finally focused, which was good. He was staring at Blue's chest and magic with a look of… fear?

Sans, despite his injuries, crawled past the stunned audience and stopped in front of Blue. His hands were shaking badly. Blue reached out to soothe them. Sans didn't pull them back, which Blue had been half expecting. Instead he let Blue place his hands on top of his.

"YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE COME AFTER ME. IT'S ONLY A LITTLE BIT OF PAIN. I WOULD HAVE BEEN FINE. I ALWAYS-"

Blue interrupted him. "-have been? you should have asked for help, sans. this is way more than you should have been dealing with alone. this much pain… it's ridiculous. why didn't you ever say something about it? you know your brother and muffet would have helped you."

"I COULDN'T. IT'S IN THE SPELL. I COULDN'T TALK ABOUT IT WITH ANYONE WHO DIDN'T ALREADY KNOW. BESIDES. SHE HAD BACKUP SPELLS TO USE AGAINST THEM IF THEY EVER CAME AFTER ME. YOU KNOW NOW, DON'T YOU? YOU'VE GOT ONE BURNED INTO YOUR CHEST THE SAME AS ME."

Blue shook his head. "she didn't draw this on me, sans. i asked for this. you need someone else to be bonded to, and i- i- i wanted it to be me. okay? i know it's selfish, but-"

Sans laughed in an unhinged way. "SELFISH IS NOT THE RIGHT WORD FOR WILLINGLY TAKING ON THIS MUCH PAIN JUST TO HELP ME. STUPID, MAYBE. THOUGHTLESS. BUT NOT SELFISH. IF YOU HAD ASKED ME-"

"You were comatose, Sans," Muffet interrupted him this time. "We thought you would be out for days. And we aren't done yet. We still need to bind you to Blue."

Sans looked around for the first time. Blue saw his face grow more and more confused as he took in the scene. Papyrus was crouching near where Sans had been. He was watching them intently. Muffet was standing over Toriel, her magic wrapping her up in a struggling bundle of spiderwebs. Alphys and Dr. Undyne stood awkwardly next to one another, refusing to look each other in the eye. Blue chuckled at Sans' confusion, because he knew it came from disbelief. How would Sans react when he found out that he had inspired the entire Underground to rebel? That would be a sight to see. He couldn't wait.

"AND WHAT IF I DON'T WANT TO BE BOUND TO BLUE? WHAT IF I WANT TO BE BOUND TO SOMEONE ELSE INSTEAD?" Sans said perversely.

Alphys snorted. He glared at her, but she didn't back down. "You stood down the fucking Queen, full knowing what she would do to you, just because you didn't want to tell her about him. She told us. You're in love with him, idiot. Just admit it so we can go home. My show is on in a bit."

Sans scowled at her. "THE MAGNIFICENT AND TERRIBLE SANS ONLY FALLS IN LOVE WITH THE BRAVEST OF MONSTERS! WHAT MAKES YOU THINK HE QUALIFIES?"

Papyrus chuckled this time. Sans skewered him with a glance. Papyrus acted like he didn't notice. "you should have heard him helping us plan the attack, bro. he kept wanting to actually help. not to mention the way he volunteered to let us bind him to you. he's brave. stupid, like you said, but brave."

Blue jumped in before Sans could jump down his brother's throat. "i'm not arguing there. with the stupid part, that is. i've done a lot of stupid things lately. but i'd like to finish this one before we move on to the next."

Sans let out a bark of unexpected laughter. Blue couldn't help the grin that split his face. Sans' laughter sounded nice. He definitely wanted to hear more of that.

"VERY WELL THEN, BLUE. BROTHER? MAKE IT SO."

When Papyrus reached out for Blue's magic to replace the magic in Sans' sigil Blue already had a ball of it ready for him to use. Sans' eyes fixed on it as Papyrus knelt down to trace his chest. "this is still going to hurt, bro, but hopefully not as much."

Sans, oddly enough, smiled. "SOMEHOW I DOUBT THAT. SHE USED SALT TO FINISH OFF THE SPELL WHEN SHE PUT IT ON. AND THAT TELLS YOU ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW."

Blue winced in sympathy. At least he didn't have to deal with that level of pain ever again. At least not if Blue had any say in the matter.

The rush of emotion that Blue felt when Papyrus finished off the last rune was overwhelming. Sans felt like so many things at once. Pride, sorrow, curiosity, amusement, love, fear, excitement… wait, love? Blue looked up at his new soulmate and saw the same surprise echoed in his eyes and face that Blue was feeling. Heh. Guess he wasn't the only one who had a crush on his partner. From the way it felt, Sans had been in love for a while. Blue wondered if he felt the same.

Sans' soft smile made Blue feel giddy with happiness. He smiled back. He had no idea how long they were staring at each other like that before Alphys' cough drew their attention. She had the most amused expression on her face. "So! Can we go home now? I'm going to miss my show if we don't hurry."