A/N: Hey, uh, quick warning, fellas. If you DON'T WANT SPOILERS, DON'T READ THE REVIEWS. The name of a certain someone hiding in a certain someplace doing the certain something to a certain flower has been mentioned there...And now that I've said it, you're gonna go look there, aren'tcha? Well, go ahead and spoil the surprise if you want, but it'll ruin the shock later on...
Okay. Now for the chapter you've all been waiting for...
Alright. Today's the day and now is the time. This is it. I'm gonna do it. No turning back now.
They'd just finished Papyrus' cooking lesson for the day, and Undyne had said beforehand that she wanted to head to Waterfall, to which the skeleton excitedly agreed, despite them having gone there earlier in the day to train. While he was putting away the leftovers, she took the opportunity to slip into the toolshed and quickly change her outfit first. Sure, he probably wouldn't mind either way, but she figured it wouldn't make a good impression to do something like this in her knock-around clothes.
"Nothin' too fancy, though," she murmured to herself. "Don't want him to catch on too early..."
Something simple would do just fine, so she slipped on her white turtleneck and threw on the red scarf she got for Gyftmas and she was satisfied...Almost, at least.
"...Hold on, should I change the eyepatch? I have a lighter blue one somewhere around here, don't I? Aw, hell, my breath probably wreaks, too, doesn't it?"
She checked to be sure.
"Hmm...Not bad, actually. Maybe grab a drink o' water before we move out, that oughta do it, and...Oh, why the heck am I even worried about that!? However it goes, I doubt I'm actually gonna end up smooch-"
"UNDYNE? WHERE DID YOU GO?"
Shit, I took too long!
She drew in a deep breath, then headed for the door to meet him.
"YOU DIDN'T LEAVE WITHOUT ME, DID YOU? OH, NO, WHAT AM I SAYING, YOU WOULD NEVER DO THAT...UH-OH. I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING. YOU'RE TRYING TO CATCH ME BY SURPRISE FOR A ROUND OF SNOW WRESTLING BEFORE WE LEAVE, AREN'T YOU? WELL, STAND YOUR GUARD! I HAVE MY MORION ON AND I'M NOT AFRAID TO USE IT!"
Wait, really?
That was when she opened the door from inside the shed and came out to face him. Sure enough, he had it on.
Wow...
Ever since she realized that she was in love with the big goofball, she'd started to see the way he looked a bit differently, too. Dang...Her old training helmet was a simple addition to his battle body, but it was definitely a perfect finishing touch. She barely kept herself from whistling a bit at the sight of it.
"OH! YOU WERE HIDING IN THE GARAGE ALL ALONG, YOU SLY DOG!"
"Oh, uh, yeah. And I wasn't planning on jumping you, by the way."
"SO YOU GOT ME...BY NOT GETTING ME. GENIUS!"
"Heh...It was somethin' to try."
This guy is such a dork...God, I love him so much.
"So, uh...We ready to head on over there?"
"YES, INDEED! OOH, NICE OUTFIT, BY THE WAY! ALTHOUGH I WOULDN'T DO ANYMORE TRAINING WEARING SOMETHING LIKE THAT, IT'S QUITE NICE..."
"Well, actually, I was thinkin' that we just, like...take it easy today. You know, maybe sit and chat somewhere and...talk about stuff?"
"OOH! THAT SOUNDS EQUALLY INTRUIGING! WELL, THEN, THIS HELMET WILL FUNCTION AS A COOL ACCESSORY INSTEAD OF A TRUSTY PIECE OF BATTLE ARMOR TODAY."
"Okay, uh...Sounds good, then...Should we go now?"
"LET'S!"
They headed east, side-by-side. Although there was a smile on her face, Papyrus sensed the apprehension in the air surrounding her. Like Undyne was anticipating something bad that was about to happen...But the skeleton didn't have that same feeling of dread, for some reason, and he wondered about it.
"...SOMETHING THE MATTER?"
"Uh, no. Nothing. Just thinking about some things, is all."
"...WHERE IN WATERFALL DID YOU WANT TO GO?"
"Oh, I was thinkin' the Wishing Room...Nice over there, ain't it?"
"AH, YES, IT CERTAINLY IS! I LIKE THAT IDEA! WE CAN SIT AND STONE-GAZE WHILE WE TALK!"
"Yeah..."
He sensed just a small bit of the tension fade. Papyrus didn't anticipate anything bad happening in the near future, but he felt that...something was bound to happen in Waterfall.
And while he didn't know what, exactly, he had a feeling that it was big.
...
"WELL, THIS IS THE PLACE!"
"Yep...That it is."
The Wishing Room was quiet, and nobody was there except for the two of them. The atmosphere was cool and calm, and the stones above continued to sparkle. Undyne let out a sigh; it was this place that she finally started to look up again, back what felt so long ago. And it was in part thanks to him.
"...SO WHAT NOW?"
"Uh...How about we, like...sit over in the far section across from the telescope? We can lean against the wall without gettin' in anyone's way if people come around."
"GREAT IDEA! AFTER YOU!"
He gestured for her to go first, and she flashed a somewhat crooked smile at him. It wasn't long until they were there, sitting beside each other, staring up at the stones covering the dirt ceiling of the corridor, mesmerized by them.
"...Beautiful, isn't it?"
"CERTAINLY SO. YOU KNOW, THERE'S SOMETHING SPECIAL ABOUT THIS PLACE AND THE PASTIME OF STONE-GAZING. I ENJOY DOING THIS VERY MUCH."
"Really? You...don't bring it up that often."
"WELL, THAT'S TO KEEP IT SPECIAL! IF WE DID IT TOO OFTEN, THEN IT WOULDN'T BE QUITE SO SPECIAL ANYMORE..."
"Huh...I guess you have a point there," she agreed. "It's special to me, too..."
"YOU AND I HAVE A LOT IN COMMON, DON'T WE? I SOMETIMES WONDER HOW WE EVER GOT ALONG WITHOUT EACH OTHER."
"...I dunno."
"WELL, ONE THING IS FOR SURE; I'M VERY GLAD THAT WE'RE FRIENDS."
He scooched in a bit closer, and Undyne tensed, turning away to conceal the puce blush that'd returned. She'd been doing that so much in recent days, she figured that she'd be damned if it didn't leave a permanent purple tint to the murky blue scales on her face.
"...Isn't it crazy?" she continued once she felt herself cool back down. "Sometimes, I wonder if...There's anything I could've done to deserve you. Because, yeah, it COULD be by chance, but don't you ever think there's a reason something is just...the way it is? Like how you and I came to know each other? Just think. Under different circumstances, we could have been HUMANS living on opposite ends of the surface world, and each of us never would have known the other existed. Think of the odds."
"YOU KNOW, UNDYNE, I...SOMETIMES WONDER THAT, TOO. IT'S A SMALL WORLD DOWN HERE IN THE UNDERGROUND, ISN'T IT? SEEMS AS THOUGH SOME PEOPLE ARE JUST...FATED TO MEET, AND BECOME FRIENDS, NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS...AND YOU KNOW SOMETHING?"
"What?"
"I'D...REALLY RATHER BE STUCK DOWN HERE FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE AND NEVER DREAM OF SEEING THE SUN IF IT MEANT THAT, FOR SOME REASON, I NEVER WOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO MEET YOU AND BE YOUR FRIEND. THAT'S HOW MUCH I CHERISH THOSE SLIM, SLIM ODDS OF ALL OF THIS HAPPENING."
He brought her in for another one-armed hug, and she found herself flinging both of her arms around him from the side, nearly on the verge of tears.
"...You're the greatest person I've ever met."
That was when Papyrus snorted, and suddenly burst out laughing.
"NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!"
"What is it?"
"NYEH HEH...EH...SORRY, IT'S JUST FUNNY...I WAS ABOUT TO SAY THE EXACT SAME THING, BUT YOU BEAT ME TO IT."
He patted her on the shoulder. This was too much, now. Undyne couldn't keep it in...But at the same time, she wasn't sure if she could get it out right.
No more beating around the bush, she decided. ...It's time to do what I came here to do.
She drew in another shaky breath, then let it out in a deep sigh before turning to face him.
"...Hey...Papyrus?"
"YES?"
"There's..."
She faltered for a moment. Was she really doing this?
Yes, you're really doing this. No turning back. You're Undyne, remember? You're not scared of war, or danger, or even death...So you have no reason to be scared of this.
"...There's something I need to tell you. Something important."
She could already feel herself breaking out into a cold, nervous sweat, and she swallowed the lump forming in her throat.
"WHAT IS IT?"
She breathed in again. This was it.
"So...You know how...um...Well...Do you ever get this...I mean, have you ever, like...met someone who..."
Her mouth continued to move, but no more sound came out. She wasn't sure how to word it.
"ARE YOU ALRIGHT, UNDYNE? YOU SEEM A BIT ON EDGE..." Papyrus noticed, breaking the silence between them. "YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORRY. WHATEVER IT IS YOU NEED TO SAY, YOU CAN TELL ME."
"Well...It's about...the two of us. And I just wanted to know if...See, you're my best friend and all, so...You know, sometimes I think..."
Oh, no, it's not gonna work, what do I do?
She paused again, looking for something else to serve as a conversation topic to pull her out of this before she went in too deep.
"I think...Uh...Hey, how about Sans' telescope, huh? What even gave him the idea to get one, he didn't know what the stones looked like before-"
"UNDYNE, ARE YOU SURE YOU'RE OKAY? YOU APPEAR TO BE STALLING."
"Stalling!? What do you mean, stalling!? Who's stalling!? I'm not stalling, you're stalling! Don't talk to me about stalling!"
"BUT I'M NOT THE ONE GOING ON ABOUT STALLING AND TELESCOPES AFTER YOU SAID YOU HAD SOMETHING IMPORTANT TO TELL ME," he shrugged, looking pretty confused.
The fish monster stopped short at his response and came back to her senses. What was she even saying? This whole thing was messing her head up so much, she could barely think straight, and now she was accusing Papyrus of something absolutely ridiculous that he wasn't even the one doing.
"I...I-I'm sorry, I just...I didn't mean-"
"IT'S OKAY. YOU WERE PROBABLY JUST CONFUSED, IS ALL...I'M THE ONE WHO SHOULD BE APOLOGIZING, REALLY, I SHOULDN'T HAVE SAID WHAT I SAID IN RESPONSE."
"No, you didn't mean...This is my fault, okay? And..."
She sniffed, dabbing away the tear stuck in the corner of her eye on her sleeve.
"...This isn't going well, all of a sudden."
"IT'S ALRIGHT. LET'S JUST FORGET THAT EVEN HAPPENED, OKAY? IT DOESN'T AFFECT EITHER OF US, REALLY."
"Okay..."
"NOW...WHAT IS IT THAT YOU WANTED TO TELL ME?"
Well, now she knew that she'd passed the point of no return. It had to be done.
"I...Y-you're probably gonna be upset."
"WHATEVER IT IS, I PROMISE YOU, I WON'T LEAVE YOU. I NEVER WILL. BESIDES, HOW BAD COULD IT BE? AND EVEN IF I AM BOTHERED BY IT, I'M SURE THAT WE'LL FIND A WAY AROUND IT AND WORK THINGS OUT TOGETHER...I DO HAVE A COUPLE QUESTIONS, THOUGH. DOES SANS KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THIS THING I HAVE YET TO KNOW?"
"No."
"DOES HE NEED TO?"
"At s-some point, probably...No, definitely. He'll definitely have to know at some point. But not now. Please not now. I don't want to keep it from him for too long, but I'm not sure how to tell him, either..."
"I WON'T TELL A SOUL UNTIL YOU THINK THE TIME IS RIGHT."
She drew in yet another deep breath, loudly and sharply.
"...I...I think, after everything we've been through together, I think..."
"YES?"
Come on, spit it out! You've gone this far, so don't turn back now!
"I think I...I have f..."
Come on...
She knew what Gerson had told her the previous day about all of this, but she continued fighting to choose between leaving the bud alone forever or risking losing everything she'd ever come to love in him, not sure whether it was worth it or not.
Oh, God, I can't do this. she finally decided. I just can't, it's not worth it...
"...Never mind."
The fish woman got up an started to head back the way they both came through the Wishing Room.
"WAIT. UNDYNE? W-WHERE ARE YOU GOING?"
He scrambled to his feet to catch up to her, and once he did...
"...PLEASE DON'T LEAVE."
Gently, but just firmly enough to stop her, he took her by the hand. That alone was enough to make her freeze again. And after a long, almost eerie silence between them, Papyrus spoke.
"...IT'S ALRIGHT. I PROMISE IT WILL BE. REMEMBER WHAT I TOLD YOU BACK IN AUTUMN? NO MATTER WHAT YOU MIGHT BE GOING THROUGH, NOT MATTER HOW SILLY OR MUNDANE YOU MIGHT THINK IT IS, YOU CAN ALWAYS COME TO ME. AND THE SAME GOES FOR ANYTHING SERIOUS AND IMPORTANT, LIKE YOU SAID THIS WAS. I'LL ALWAYS DO MY BEST TO HELP YOU THROUGH ANYTHING, NO MATTER WHAT."
He got no answer, but he could sense...something rising within her, even while she was turned away. Was it anger? Fear? The urge to cry?
...All three, maybe?
"UNDYNE...PLEASE. TELL ME WHAT'S WRONG. I'LL HELP YOU IN ANY WAY I CAN...YOU AND I ARE A TEAM, REMEMBER. WE DON'T NEED TO HIDE ANYTHING FROM EACH OTHER. WHATEVER IT IS YOU NEED TO SAY, I'LL-"
"Oh, I can't TAKE IT ANYMORE!"
The former Royal Guard Captain whizzed around to face him as she said it, then in one swift motion, she grabbed him by both sides of the head, pulled him in and pressed her puckered lips right up against his teeth, her eye squeezed shut as tightly as she could.
...She wasn't sure how long the moment actually lasted, but it felt like the world around her had slowed to a crawl, and they were going faster. An eternity seemed to pass before Undyne finally let go of him and stepped back to look him face to face.
Papyrus was as still as a statue. His eye sockets weren't exactly bulging out of his head like she'd expected, but surprised, no doubt, and he'd turned pretty red to boot.
Finally, the tear she'd been holding back rolled down her face, and she hung her head in defeat. There was no way this was going to end well.
"...There. Now you know," she croaked, her voice breaking. "And...I'm sorry, I-I understand if you're upset, but...I've felt this way for weeks, now, a-and I couldn't keep it a secret from you anymore. Not after what we went through the other day...Even though I knew it could change everything between us, and even r-ruin the friendship we have..."
"IT..." he began, raising a hand up against the side of his face, still looking slightly dazed. "...THIS DOES CHANGE A LOT."
"I'm sorry...I-I like you, okay?" she finally spat out. "And I'm sorry that-"
"HOLD ON, UNDYNE," he interrupted gently. "...M-MAY I SPEAK?"
She stopped, looking him right in the eye and analyzing his expression. To her surprise, he didn't seem upset.
And an even greater shock was when he reached down and took her hands in his own, an understanding smile on his face.
"...YOU DON'T NEED TO BE SORRY. I UNDERSTAND WHY YOU MIGHT HAVE BEEN SO AFRAID TO DO THIS, AND HOW MUCH IT MUST HAVE TAKEN YOU TO COME OUT AND SAY IT. BUT THERE IS NOTHING TO BE AFRAID OF. THERE NEVER WAS, REALLY. UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, I WOULD HAVE HELPED YOU TO WORK THOUGH THIS. I PROMISED YOU I WOULD, NO MATTER WHAT IT WAS, DIDN'T I? AND I MEANT IT WHOLEHEARTEDLY."
Another tear slipped from her eye, and Papyrus brushed it away with his thumb.
"AND ANOTHER THING, UNDYNE. I'M NOT UPSET ABOUT THIS."
"You..." she sniffed. "...you're not?"
"NO. NOT AT ALL. NOT AT YOU, OR MYSELF, OR ANYTHING. QUITE THE CONTRARY. AS A MATTER OF FACT, I THINK..."
The pinkish hue returned to his face, and he cast a sheepish glance off to the side for a moment.
"WELL...I THINK THAT I MIGHT HAVE BEEN...HARBORING THE SAME FEELINGS MYSELF."
That was what caught Undyne off guard.
"Wait...What?"
She didn't think she heard him right at first. But what he said next was sure proof that she did.
"YES, I BELIEVE SO. I DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO EXPLAIN IT AT FIRST, BUT...FOR A WHILE, NOW, I'VE HAD THIS...STRANGE FEELING IN MY CHEST WHENEVER I'M AROUND YOU. RIGHT WHERE I THINK MY HEART WOULD BE IF I HAD ONE."
He put his hands behind his back and bashfully scuffed his boot against the ground as he spoke.
"IT'S LIKE THIS...LIGHT, SORT OF TINGLY WARMTH SPREADING OUT FROM THERE, AND IT JUST MAKES ME FEEL ALL NICE AND FUZZY INSIDE. I WANT TO BE WITH YOU, BY YOUR SIDE, WHENEVER I CAN, FOR AS LONG AS TIME GOES ON...IS THAT HOW YOU'VE BEEN FEELING?"
"...Yeah," she nodded lightly, her voice still creaking a bit.
"I GUESS THAT CONFIRMS IT, THEN. AND...I'LL ADMIT IT MYSELF: I HAD THE SAME CONCERNS YOU DID, REALLY, WITH NOT WANTING TO RUIN WHAT WE ALREADY HAD BETWEEN EACH OTHER. I JUST THOUGHT THAT...WELL, I DIDN'T THINK IT WOULD EVER BE MUTUAL, BUT NONETHELESS, IT...MADE ME HAPPY, KNOWING I WAS SOMEONE WHO FELT THIS WAY ABOUT YOU...IT STILL DOES. NOW MORE THAN EVER, KNOWING WHAT I DO NOW...I THINK THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN US WAS THAT WHILE I WAS ALRIGHT WITH KEEPING IT TO MYSELF, AND DIDN'T THINK IT'D AFFECT ANYTHING MUCH...YOU FEARED THAT THE WORST MIGHT COME TO BE IF ANYBODY FOUND OUT, AND I CAN UNDERSTAND THAT...BUT NOW THAT BOTH OF US KNOW, I CAN ASSURE YOU; THE THINGS YOU'RE AFRAID OF WON'T HAPPEN. IT WOULDN'T HAVE EVEN IF I HADN'T FELT THE SAME WAY."
Undyne shook her head in denial. None of this was actually happening, was it?
"This...You actually..."
"YES, I...I THINK I LIKE YOU, TOO, UNDYNE. IT'S ALRIGHT. AND...YOU KNOW SOMETHING?"
"What...?"
"...YOU DID IT. YOU MUSTERED THE COURAGE TO TELL ME HOW YOU FELT, AND NOW WE'RE..."
He wiped away a tear of his own, which was threatening to escape the outer corner of his eye socket.
"...YOU AND I ARE GOING TO KEEP GOING FORWARD WITH THIS TOGETHER, AND...IT'S GOING TO BE WONDERFUL, I KNOW IT IS."
Papyrus squeezed her hands just a tad tighter, and, slowly but surely, a smile began to spread across Undyne's face. Once it got as big as it was going to, she choked back another sob, and pulled the skeleton into a tight embrace. He hugged her right back, softly and comfortingly.
"DRY AWAY THE TEARS. EVERYTHING'S OKAY, NOW, I'M..."
He wept as he said it, in spite of himself, and he held her a bit more snugly.
"...OH, UNDYNE, I LOVE YOU SO MUCH. MORE THAN YOU'LL EVER KNOW."
"I love you, too..."
She sniveled a bit, lightly pulling away to look him in the eye again as she wiped her face dry on her sleeve.
"S-so...what now?"
"WELL, I SUPPOSE NOW THAT WE'VE BOTH CONFESSED TO ONE ANOTHER, I GUESS THAT...MAKES US A COUPLE, NOW?"
"Ha..."
The fish monster put her arms around and behind his shoulders and pulled him back into her grasp. This was incredible.
"NYEH...I WOULD KISS YOU RIGHT ABOUT NOW, BUT...WELL, I DON'T HAVE LIPS."
"I think I can cover both of us, if you want," she chuckled.
"IT DOES SEEM THAT WAY...OF ALL THE WAYS FOR YOU TO HAVE TOLD ME YOU LOVED ME, I THINK THAT ONE WAS THE BEST."
"That sorta came out of nowhere, to be honest. I'm...not really the best with words, so it was kind of a last resort, I figured."
"IT WAS WELL WORTH THE RISK, I'D SAY."
"I guess it was, huh...?"
The two of them leaned in and touched their foreheads together, still locked in an embrace and their eyes contently closed.
"...IS THIS WHY YOU GOT ALL GUSSIED UP BEFORE WE LEFT?" he teased lightly.
"Yeah, heh...Didn't want to make a bad impression."
"OH, YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO DO THAT FOR ME. YOU NEVER MAKE A BAD IMPRESSION ON ME ANYWAY...I DO VERY MUCH APPRECIATE THE THOUGHT, HOWEVER. NYEH...YOU EVEN HAVE THE MATCHING SCARF ON THAT YOU GOT FOR GYFTMAS."
"Couldn't think of a better time than this to have it on."
"I AGREE...LET'S JUST BE CAREFUL THEY DON'T GET TANGLED WITH ONE ANOTHER, OR WE MIGHT BE STUCK LIKE THIS FOR LONGER THAN WE PLANNED."
"Hey. Gives us another excuse."
Papyrus let out a light chuckle.
"...ALTHOUGH I DOUBT SANS WOULD KNOW WHAT TO THINK IF HE SAW THIS."
"Yeah...We can't keep something like this a secret from him for too long. If we don't tell him, he's bound to find out one way or another."
"TRUE. AND I'D RATHER THE FORMER HAPPEN OVER THE LATTER, WOULDN'T YOU? IT'D PROBABLY UPSET HIM TO KNOW WE'D BEEN KEEPING THIS FROM HIM. AND IF ONE THING IS CERTAIN, I DO NOT WANT ANOTHER BLOW-OUT LIKE WE HAD OVER THE AMALGAMATES."
"Yeah, no joke...How do you think he'll take the news?"
"I CAN'T SAY FOR SURE...IF I MAY MAKE A SUGGESTION, I SAY I BREAK IT TO HIM BIT BY BIT, STARTING...TOMORROW, PERHAPS? I WON'T TELL HIM EVERYTHING AT ONCE. IT MIGHT BE TOO MUCH FOR HIM TO PROCESS AT ONE TIME. NYEH HEH..."
"Actually, that's not a bad idea," Undyne approved. "You go 'head and do that...Speaking if which, should we be getting back to the house now?"
"WE STILL HAVE SOME TIME. WE HAVEN'T BEEN OUT HERE FOR VERY LONG. AND SANS PROBABLY THINKS WE'RE TRAINING AT YOUR OLD HOUSE...WE CAN STAY HERE A WHILE LONGER. MAYBE TAKE A PEEK THROUGH THE TELESCOPE AGAIN LIKE YOU SUGGESTED EARLIER."
"Oh, yeah. That...Sorry I acted so weird."
"LOVE DOES STRANGE THINGS TO PEOPLE, DOESN'T IT?"
"Sure does...Um...I don't think I wanna do that, though."
"OH. WHAT DID YOU HAVE IN MIND, THEN?"
"I dunno, I guess we could...sit back where we were and just...enjoy each others' company for a while, if you're into it? That's...kinda what I was tryin' to go for when we first got here, anyways."
"THAT SOUNDS EVEN BETTER."
Hand in hand, the two of them headed back to sit down against the wall.
"...Hey. Remember the first time we came down here together in October?"
"HOW COULD I FORGET?"
"Well...I thought that, with the way we looked, people were gonna get the idea that we were...well, what we are now. At the time, I thought something like that was just flat out ridiculous; like it'd never happen. In hindsight, I doubt either of us were really expecting this, huh?"
"NO, WE CERTAINLY WEREN'T."
Undyne snuggled closer to him, squeezing Papyrus into yet another one-armed hug from the side. He did the same, and they each rested their heads against one another.
"YOU KNOW SOMETHING...EVEN THOUGH THIS WHOLE THING DOES CHANGE A LOT BETWEEN US, THERE ARE STILL MANY THINGS BOUND TO REMAIN THE SAME. I DOUBT YOU PLAN TO STOP DOING A LOT OF THE THINGS WE NORMALLY DO TOGETHER, LIKE TRAINING AND WHIPPING UP STUFF IN THE KITCHEN, AND...WELL, WHATEVER ELSE WE WOULD NORMALLY DO. WE STILL COUNT AS FRIENDS, AFTER ALL. THAT, AND THEN SOME."
"Yeah, you got a point...I mean, if they aren't friends, how can two people stand to be together long enough to make anything else out of it? They gotta like bein' around each other for it to actually work, am I right?"
"I COULDN'T HAVE SAID IT BETTER MYSELF!"
The two of them huddled into each other a bit more.
"...Gerson said that love was like a flower," the fish monster said quietly. "It only sprouts under the right circumstances, and even if it does, it starts off so small and frail, you don't even know if it'll ever be a flower...But with a lot of care, and patience, and stuff like that, it...keeps getting bigger, until one day it...finally blossoms out."
"OOH, THAT'S A VERY GOOD ANALOGY!"
"...But the work doesn't stop there. Once the flower's formed, you still gotta take care of it...And if you don't, or if you do something wrong, then...it starts to wilt. And depending on how much the flower went down the tubes, you can either fix it up pretty quick and easily, or end up workin' day and night, trying to keep it alive...And sometimes, under the worst circumstances, the blossom just...falls off and dies. And it can't ever be brought back."
"OH...IT'S STILL A GOOD ANALOGY! ALBEIT A BIT MORE SERIOUS-SOUNDING NOW."
"But if you keep that flower goin', it's worth it...I'm not going to let that happen. Not so easily...And especially now that I know we're both on board."
"I'LL WORK ON THAT FLOWER JUST AS HARD AS YOU WILL, UNDYNE."
Her toothy smile got a bit wider for a moment, only to fall again with the next thought that entered her mind.
"...One more thing, though. Just in case, for some reason, things...don't end up working out between us, then...W-we can at least still be friends, right?"
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I COULDN'T BARE THE THOUGHT OF A LIFE WITHOUT YOU, NO MATTER WHICH PATH THIS TAKES US. WE'LL ALWAYS BE THE BEST OF FRIENDS, UNDYNE. IF...IF NOT JUST A BIT MORE THAN THAT."
She turned to face him. Even if it didn't matter whether she ever did anything to deserve him or not, just what a wonderful person he was, out of all the people she could've known, had the power to melt her big, burly heart and make her...
"NY'OH, I KEEP MAKING YOU CRY BY ACCIDENT. I KNEW MY WORDS WERE KIND, BUT I HADN'T ANY IDEA THEY WOULD BE ABLE TO STIR THE SOUL TO THIS EXTENT. ESPECIALLY THOSE WITH A CONSTITUTION AS STRONG AS YOURS. AND...AND THAT'S WHY I HATE SEEING YOU CRY, UNDYNE, BECAUSE I KNOW YOU DON'T LIKE IT WHEN YOU FALL APART, ESPECIALLY IN FRONT OF ANYONE, AND TO SEE YOU SO UPSET IS HEARTBREAKING ENOUGH, AND I JUST WANT TO-"
"Papyrus."
"...YES?"
"It's okay...I'll be fine," she assured him, wiping the tear away on her scarf. "...They're happy tears, okay? I'm just so glad this all worked out..."
She leaned in and lightly planted a peck on his cheekbone, and his entire face turned from white to red in a split second.
"I love you."
His eyes widened for a moment, and sat there, unmoving, for several moments. But it wasn't long afterward that his expression softened again, and he pulled his new sweetheart into both of his arms and held her there like there was no tomorrow, their foreheads rested against each other again.
"...I LOVE YOU, TOO."
And the two of them stayed like that for what felt like forever, the sparkling stones above them seeming to shine just a bit more brightly than usual, and their hidden colors finally becoming visible to the naked eye. They weren't sure if it was just the tears still glistening in the corners of their eyes or if, somehow, the stones knew what had just happened and were giving their applause, but either way, it made the already unforgettable moment just that much more amazing.
.
12:
SUCCESS