"Hey, it looks like he's wakin' up."
"REALLY?" Papyrus asked, looking down to see the young monster shift a bit in his hold. "GOOD TIMING. WE JUST MADE IT TO SNOWDIN...GUESS IT'S A GOOD THING WE DECIDED TO TAKE OUR TIME, HUH?"
"I'll say."
"Huh...What...?"
Kidd looked up to see his two heroes. Hadn't they been the last thing he remembered?
"You blacked out back there," Undyne explained. "So we decided to go ahead and bring you back home. The residential area's right here. Uh...Which one's yours?"
"Oh...Make a left on the third pathway. I'll tell you which one to stop at," he answered, still trying to shake the rest of the fogginess from his mind. "Ugh...I just had the craziest dream. I dreamt that...Uh...Actually, nevermind. I'll probably weird you two out."
"WELL, NOW I'M CURIOUS. DO TELL! WE WON'T LAUGH, OR ANYTHING! PROMISE!"
"You won't? Okay, well...The dream was I saw you two standin' in the middle of Waterfall kissin' each other. That's what I dreamed...Weird, huh?"
Not as weird as you might think, Kidd, Undyne said to herself.
"Heh...That's pretty neat."
"SO, DO YOU LOOK BACK ON IT AS A SWEET DREAM OR YOUR SOMETHING ALONG THE LINES OF YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE?"
"Well...Call me nuts, but I actually thought it was cool."
"OH, WONDERFUL! UH, I-I MEAN, EH...THAT'S GOOD THAT IT WAS A PLEASANT DREAM."
"Thanks...Hey, here's the place."
The two of them turned right and approached the house their young idolizer claimed was his home. Papyrus put him down, and he tried to bolt to the front door, only to trip on some unseen obstacle hidden beneath the snow and fall flat on his face, a slightly muffled "Oof" following the impact.
"OH, OH DEAR ME. A-ARE YOU ALRIGHT?"
He pushed himself right back up onto his feet as though nothing had even happened to begin with.
"Eh, it happens all the time," he assured them. "It doesn't keep me down!"
That was when the front door opened, and two monsters came out to meet the young lizard.
"Oh, there you are. Where have you been?"
"I've told ya a million times to be back before lunch!"
Papyrus and Undyne were immediately able to tell that they were Kidd's parents.
The first, his mother, was a graceful snake monster with bright yellow scales and gentle, dark brown eyes, a column of tan stripes running down her back. She seemed pretty mild; an interesting trait for what was essentially a talking python.
His father, on the other hand, was pretty gruff-looking; he had all four limbs, unlike the serpentine mother, and his scales were a duller, brassy yellow. Two sharp fangs jutted out of the sides of his short snout, and all the way from his head to his tail tip went down three rows of spikes, the two outermost ones being twice as long as the shorter ridge down the middle. His bright green eyes peered down at him, seeming rather annoyed.
"Ah, s-sorry, Dad. I, uh, had sort of a mishap over there."
"Your sister already cleaned her plate," he continued. "Yours has been sitting on the table for half an hour, now, so you're gonna hafta reheat it. Go on inside 'n' do that."
Kidd nodded, then flashed his two heroes a smile before heading in the house and shutting the door behind him with his foot. The brassy-scaled drake rolled his eyes in a mildly amused manner.
"He's all over the place from here to Waterfall these days...Guess I should thank you two for bringin' him back. Otherwise he might have been gone for another hour."
"We were starting to get a little worried," the snake monster chimed in. "He likes to get out and go places, which is good. Getting out and being adventurous is a good mentality to have in a place like this, but sometimes he stays out for too long. Sometimes I think I worry too much. I mean, it's pretty safe down here. Safer than it is up on the surface, at least I've concluded. What could happen?"
"Say, you're the old captain, and, eh...'The Great Papyrus,' I think it was, am I right?" the drake asked them.
"Yep. That's us."
"O-OH, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, YES! THAT'D BE ME!"
In all reality, besides himself, nobody but his own brother had ever called him that. Not even Undyne...Well, she hadn't YET, at least. But he was pretty flattered to have heard it from somebody like this.
"Um, he said something about a mishap, though?" Kidd's mother remembered. "He seems okay, but...Do you two know the details?"
"OH. UM...WELL, TO PUT IT PLAIN, UNDYNE AND I HAD JUST GOTTEN DONE TRAINING, AND HE'D APPARENTLY WATCHED US IN ACTION...A-APPARENTLY, HE WAS SO AMAZED BY ONE OF OUR MOVES THAT HE SMILED AND THEN FAINTED ON THE SPOT! I SAW HIM FALL BACKWARD!"
"His last words before that were 'If this is a dream, please don't wake me, sis,'" Undyne added in support of Papyrus' explanation. It was technically the truth; he had been pretty amazed by the, uh..."move" that she and the skeleton pulled off in front of him.
"You two," the father monster continued. "He talks about you two all the time. I swear, not a day goes by where he doesn't elaborate on your eh...'misadventures,' as he says. Tells us you two have sorta mock-battles in Waterfall. Eh...'training sessions.' Izzat right?"
"OH, WE'VE BEEN DOING THAT FOR A LONG TIME! ORIGINALLY, IT WAS FOR MY ROYAL GUARDSMAN TRAINING, AND WE ENJOYED IT SO MUCH THAT EVEN AFTER THE GUARD DISBANDED, WE KEPT IT UP! JUST IN CASE WE EVER SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY, IT'S ALWAYS GOOD TO BE PREPARED FOR THE SURFACE DANGERS!"
"Too true," the mother agreed. "...We never explained to him what happened to Mettaton with the human back when he watched the finale."
"NYES...I CAN UNDERSTAND WHY. I WAS A PRETTY BIG FAN OF HIM MYSELF."
"He actually figured it out himself," the drake added. "Smart fella, he is. He was pretty upset about it for a while, though...He's a people person. Likes to get out and make friends, socialize, go places...Takes after me from when I was his age."
"He's a good kid," the former captain told them.
"Yeah...If only he'd show up in time to eat his food while it's still hot, eh? Heh heh heh...Eh...Well, we best head back in. You wouldn't think a family o' reptiles would be able to live in a place like this, but ehh, we honestly prefer it over Hotland. We became accustomed to the cold over time...Anyways, nice seein' you two. Hey, I might give you guys a ring one o' these days and ask a favor. You two seem dependable."
"OOH, CERTAINLY! WELL, WE BEST BE OFF OURSELVES. THAT SPAGHETTI WON'T COOK ITSELF, AFTER ALL!"
"Aw, crud, you're right. Yeah, see you guys on the flipside!"
The two reptile monsters slithered and stomped back into the house and shut the door behind them, and the moment they were gone, Undyne grabbed Papyrus by the hand and pulled him along behind her as she dashed back to their own house.
"Man...Just the mention of that made me realize how hungry I was. Say, how 'bout we experiment with the pasta sauce this time, huh?"
"SOUNDS LIKE FUN! BUT DON'T THINK YOU'RE GETTING YOUR HANDS ON MY SECRET ALFREDO RECIPE..."
"What? Me? Do that? I would never try to do that..."
"YOUR OBVIOUS SARCASM IS ONLY GOING TO KEEP ME ON MY TOES EVEN MORE."
"Ah, darn...Fine, you win. Hey, let's pick up the pace, though. I could eat an entire fridge right about now. And I mean that literally."
"PLEASE DON'T."
"Heh heh...Okay. I'll hold back. But only because I love you so much."
"I'M VERY MUCH ENJOYING THIS."
"...Me too."
...
"WOWIE...THAT WAS AMAZING, UNDYNE! I DIDN'T SEE SOME OF THE THINGS YOU TOSSED IN THERE CLEARLY. DO YOU HAPPEN TO REMEMBER WHAT YOU PUT IN THERE?"
"I dunno. I just took a bunch of dried spice leaves I found up in the cabinet and let 'em sit in there for ten minutes while the sauce was slow-cookin'. A few bay leaves, some basil, a bit o' rosemary...I think some thyme, maybe? I don't remember...I fished 'em all out of there by the time it was done on the stove, though."
"PASTA SAUCE DIDN'T STRIKE ME AS SOMETHING ONE WOULD SLOW-COOK, BUT IT DEFINITELY CAME OUT WELL! HONESTLY, YOU MIGHT BE BETTER AT THE WHOLE COOKING THING THAN YOU MIGHT THINK, DESPITE WHAT YOU MAY SAY!"
"Nah, you're the chef here. I know I was the one givin' you lessons back then, but really, I didn't know squat. You've got that raw, natural talent for the culinary arts."
"WELL, YOU WERE THE ONE WHO UNEARTHED IT IN THE FIRST PLACE, SO YOU DESERVE AT LEAST SOME CREDIT."
She smiled a bit, turning mildly purple.
"...Yeah, guess you got a point there."
"SANS! WHAT DO YOU THINK OF OUR LATEST EDIBLE MASTERPIECE?"
"not bad," he answered, curiously swishing around the ice that was in his glass of water. "...could have used some 'ufellin,' though."
"ERM...WHAT'S 'UFELLIN'?"
"'ufellin' to that one pretty quickly."
The last bite of Undyne's spaghetti almost came flying clean out of her mouth, and she squealed a bit as she doubled over onto the table laughing.
"Not...not while I'm eating, Sans," she said to him, trying to maintain her composure. "You're gonna make someone choke..."
The last word came out in a wheeze, and she took a few deep breaths before swallowing.
"Hah...O-okay, man. I'm good. Sorry, I'm in a, uh...laughing mood today."
"hey. it's the best mood, so good on ya."
"HEH..."
Papyrus' gaze shifted from Undyne to his brother, then back to her, and then back to Sans again, over and over. Lunch was over, now, and there wasn't much left to be done at the moment except dust the furniture, vacuum the carpet and reorganize the shelves before dinnertime, so he figured he would have plenty of time to have a pep talk with his brother about...some of the things that'd been going on lately.
Undyne was able to see right into his head through his anticipating eye sockets. So she knew now was the time to play it cool.
"Well, fellas, I'm gonna go for a walk, I guess," she announced as she grabbed her jacket, gloves and scarf off the rack by the front door.
"in the freezing snow?"
"Hey, it might be cold, but darn if it's not refreshing. Besides, I got a scarf and stuff, remember?"
"JUST DON'T BE OUT LONG!" Papyrus reminded her, although he caught notice of the knowing look in her eye. "WE WOULDN'T WANT YOU TO CATCH ANYTHING AGAIN!"
"Got it. Later, dudes."
And just like that, she was gone.
"...maybe she went to get the rest of the laughs out of her system, eh?"
"PERHAPS SO," the taller of the two nodded.
"well, it's just you and me. anything you wanna do, bro?"
"WELL...ACTUALLY, SANS," he started, sweat already beginning to bead on the side of his skull. "THERE'S...SOMETHING IMPORTANT I WANTED TO DISCUSS WITH YOU."
"oh...that so, huh?" Sans asked, casually taking a sip from his glass of ice water. "is it bad?"
"NOT FROM MY STANDPOINT. BUT FROM YOURS..."
"ah...whatever it is, i'll prob'ly understand, papyrus," Sans assured, swirling the ice around in his cup again as they spoke. "we're bros. it's cool. lay it on me, and i'll go ahead and give you my two cents, then we work it out, m'kay?"
He brought the glass to his mouth and took another sip, and then Papyrus took a deep breath and let out his answer loudly and proudly.
"SANS...I'M DATING SOMEONE!"
The water came sputtering out of the shorter skeleton's teeth and onto the table and floor, and his eye sockets went dark.
...That wasn't a good sign.
"You...What?"
"YES. YOU HEARD THAT CORRECTLY. I HAVE FOUND THAT VERY SPECIAL SOMEONE IN MY LIFE."
The white pupils returned to his eyes, but he still maintained a bit of a glare.
"and...you haven't told me until now for what reason, may i ask?"
"WELL, WE'VE ONLY SOLIDIFIED EVERYTHING VERY RECENTLY. OVER THE PAST DAY, I WAS DECIDING ON HOW I SHOULD BREAK IT TO YOU. AFTER THE EPISODE BACK AT THE RESORT HOTEL, I DIDN'T WANT TO KEEP ANYTHING FROM YOU FOR LONG. BUT NOW YOU KNOW. AND I'M GLAD TO HAVE THAT OFF MY CHEST."
"...does undyne know anything about this?"
HE DOESN'T SUSPECT A THING, the taller skeleton realized, holding back a cheeky smirk.
"YES. SHE DOES."
"and...what does she think about it?"
Sans knew that the former Royal Guard captain was nearly as protective of Papyrus as he was. Not quite as much, but still, he trusted her to keep an eye out for him. And if she okayed it, Sans figured the situation might not be...that bad.
"OH, UNDYNE IS VERY MUCH ALRIGHT WITH IT," he answered, almost on the verge of laughing. "IN FACT, SHE'S QUITE GLAD OF IT."
if that's the case, then i either have nothing to worry about or should have every concern in the world for him right now. and that's gonna cause some confusion.
Yes, Undyne was loyal and protective of her best friend, and would keep an eye out for him. But she could also get a little...over-hyped over things. And she didn't ALWAYS have the best ideas, although she meant well. So she might have been a bit happier for Papyrus than she should've been when she got the news...Then again, he wouldn't know until he got HER side of the story.
With that in mind, he decided to take matters of learning more about the ordeal into his own hands.
"so...your, uh, 'very special someone,'" Sans began, raising a bony brow. "can ya describe 'em for me?"
"OH, CERTAINLY. CONFIDENT, KIND, LOYAL, CARING, GREAT SENSE OF HUMOR...I COULD MAKE A WHOLE LIST!"
"anything you don't like about them?"
"ERM...HMMM..."
UNDYNE? FLAWS? I DON'T THINK I'D HAVE EVER EVEN USED THOSE TWO WORDS TOGETHER IN A SENTENCE...BUT NOW THAT I REALLY THINK ABOUT IT...
"WELL...WE'VE KNOWN EACH OTHER FOR A WHILE, NOW, AND LIKE I SAID, WE ONLY MADE THINGS OFFICIAL BETWEEN THE TWO OF US JUST YESTERDAY. SO YES, I HAVE SEEN THINGS I'M NOT PARTICULARLY PLEASED BY. A BIT...ROUGH AROUND THE EDGES, I MIGHT SAY FOR NOW. I'D RATHER NOT GO INTO DETAIL."
"why not?"
"BECAUSE DESPITE HER FLAWS, SHE REALLY IS WONDERFUL. BESIDES, IF WE ONLY LOOKED AT PEOPLE FOR THEIR FLAWS, HOW WOULD WE EVER MAKE ANY FRIENDS? LET ALONE FORM A BOND AS TIGHT AS THE ONE WE SHARE NOW...SHE REALLY IS WONDERFUL, SANS."
"'she,' huh? that's a relief..." he mumbled, seeming relieved.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?"
"eh, nothing. nothing...didn't say anything important. uh...so, you're happy with what's goin' on between you two?"
"I CAN'T RECALL A TIME IN MY LIFE THAT I'VE BEEN HAPPIER...EXCEPT FOR MAYBE THAT TIME UNDYNE BEGAN TO LET ME TRAIN FOR THE ROYAL GUARD, BUT I THINK THIS ACTUALLY SURPASSES THAT BY QUITE A LOT."
"well, don't tell her that. might piss her off. heh..."
OH, I DOUBT THAT...
"you sure you're ready for datin', bro?"
"SANS, YOU KNOW AS WELL AS I DO THAT I AM A CAPABLE ADULT. S-SURE, I MIGHT BE A BIT...NAIVE, AS ONE MAY SAY. BUT I THINK I'VE WIZENED UP A LOT OVER THE PAST FOUR MONTHS. I MEAN, LOOK. THERE MIGHT BE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR ME TO REALLY GET INTO THE SERIOUS CULINARY BUSINESS HERE SOON OVER AT THE MTT HOTEL RESTAURANT. DOESN'T THAT TELL YOU I'M ABLE TO HANDLE THINGS WELL ENOUGH?"
"...guess you have a point," his brother agreed, taking another drink from his glass. The ice in there had almost completely melted at that point.
"AND I JUST KNOW A LOT MORE THINGS NOW. I EVEN KNOW WHERE BABIES COME FROM!"
Again, Sans spat his drink out in utter shock, eye sockets going dark again.
"YOU KNOW YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO CLEAN THAT ALL UP..."
"You what!?" he nearly shouted. "Whah, eh...Who told you something like that!?"
"I TOLD ME. I SIMPLY GOT CURIOUS AND READ UP ON IT MYSELF. AND SURPRISE, SURPRISE, I KNEW WHAT THE PROCESS OF BABY-MAKING WAS BEFORE I FOUND OUT THAT IT WAS ACTUALLY WHERE BABIES CAME FROM. SEE, I WASN'T BORN YESTERDAY."
The shorter of the two brothers brought a hand up to his face and shook his head.
"...i guess i should be relieved by that."
"YOU SHOULD BE RELIEVED OF A LOT OF THINGS, REALLY," Papyrus continued. "LOOK, YOU MAY BE A BIT OF A LAZYBONES, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN YOU HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING TO HELP ME. QUITE THE CONTRARY. YOU'VE GIVEN ME ALL THE LOVE AND ENCOURAGEMENT I COULD HAVE EVER ASKED FOR FROM YOU. AND...EVEN THOUGH SOMETIMES YOU DRIVE ME TO MY WIT'S END, I REALIZE THAT I MAY HAVE DONE THE SAME MANY A TIME AND AM ONLY SEEING THAT NOW. YOU DON'T NEED TO WORRY ABOUT ME AS MUCH ANYMORE. I'LL BE PERFECTLY FINE...MORE THAN FINE, REALLY. I PROMISE YOU THAT."
"well..."
He tried to think of something else he could bring up as a counter...But the more he thought about it, the more he realized that Papyrus actually had a few good points.
"...i dunno what to say, man. like...i appreciate all of that, and i love ya, bro. but...i don't know. it just...really caught me off guard...i guess i should be happy for ya. to be completely honest, i never expected anything like that to happen. guess i was wrong."
"ARE YOU SAYING YOU THOUGHT I WAS TOO INEPT TO EVER WIN ANYBODY OVER?"
"well...i did. but now you've proven that you have...heh...not gonna lie, i'm actually kinda proud. looks like you did good. i just...i want you to be happy, man, but i also want you to be safe. that's my second-biggest concern."
"OH, I'LL BE MORE THAN SAFE! THAT CAN BE ASSURED! SHE WAS IN THE ROYAL GUARD, AFTER ALL!"
He immediately threw his hands over his mouth when he realized what he said.
"royal guard, huh? so, i guess undyne knew her beforehand?"
"ERM...Y-YES, YOU...COULD SAY THAT."
I MEAN, SHE DOES KNOW HERSELF BETTER THAN ANYONE ELSE.
"SHE'S QUITE STRONG. SAYS THAT ANYTHING THAT TRIES TO HURT US WILL FACE A FLURRY OF HER MAGIC S...EH, MAGIC ATTACKS."
PHEW. ALMOST SAID SPEARS, THERE...
"SO...YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT MY SAFETY! BESIDES, EVEN THOUGH I SAID SHE WAS A TAD ROUGH AROUND THE EDGES, I'M SURE I CAN SMOOTH THEM OUT! THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS AMAZING AT SMOOTHING OUT ROUGH EGDES! BOTH ON WOOD AND ON FELLOW MONSTERS! I WOULD VEEN GO AS FAR TO SAY THAT I'VE DONE SO TO AN EXTENT ALREADY. WE COMPLEMENT EACH OTHER QUITE A LOT, SO WE MAKE AN EXCELLENT TEAM!"
"that so, huh? well...that's good, too. and i know you wouldn't lie to me. you've got a perfect record, pretty much.
"YES. I HAVE BEEN VERY CAREFUL NOT TO OUT-AND-OUT LIE TO YOU ABOUT ANYTHING, SANS. A-ALTHOUGH, I WILL ADMIT, I DID KEEP SOME THINGS...PURPOSEFULLY VAGUE. O-OUR RELATIONSHIP...IT'S PERSONAL, YOU KNOW? I'LL TELL YOU MORE AS TIME GOES ON, HOW DOES THAT SOUND?"
"eh...fair enough," Sans nodded, closing his eyes in acceptance. "...so, what's she look like?"
"LOOK LIKE? AS IN...APPEARANCE-WISE?"
"yeah. scales? fur? feathers? slime, maybe?"
YOUR FIRST GUESS WAS RIGHT, BUT I'M NOT SAYING SO YET.
"ERM...WELL...IT'S KIND OF HARD TO EXPLAIN, BUT...OOH! WAIT! I HAVE AN IDEA! WHY DON'T I ARRANGE FOR YOU TWO TO MEET?"
"can i have the details for that?"
"BUT OF COURSE! YOU SEE, I JUST REALIZED THAT SHE AND I HAVEN'T BEEN ON A PROPER DATE YET, AND I'M GOING TO CHANGE THAT. WHAT'S THE SNOWDIN WEATHER FORECAST FOR TOMORROW? HEAVY SNOW OR NOT MUCH?"
"hang on, lemme see..."
Sans pulled his phone out and checked the local report.
"...it's gonna snow tomorrow. not a whole lot of stuff piling up on the ground, but the kicker is that it's gonna be super cold and windy," he answered. "...the day after's not gonna be as bad, though. light breeze and warmer temperatures...what bugs me is why they can't just keep the weather the same everyday. i mean, they control it. it's not surface weather that covers miles and miles beyond what the undergrounds itself even reaches."
"I THINK IT'S TO PLEASE THE LOCALS. SOME LIKE IT COLD, BUT SOME LIKE IT A BIG COLDER THAN OTHERS...BESIDES, I ALSO THINK THE VARYING WEATHER IS MEANT TO EMULATE THE SURFACE CONDITIONS, SO IT FEELS MORE NATURAL. THAT'S MY THEORY, AT LEAST...BUT I DIGRESS. I DON'T THINK SHE HAS ANY MAJOR PLANS, SO I'LL ASK IF WE CAN SET SOMETHING UP FOR THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW!"
"what'd you have in mind?"
"WELL, I...EH...YOU KNOW SOMETHING, SANS, I'M NOT SURE. I'M SKEPTICAL ABOUT GOING TO GRILLBY'S FOR A BITE...I MAY PACK US A LUNCH AHEAD OF TIME AND WE CAN HAVE OURSELVES A ROMANTIC PICNIC OUT IN WATERFALL. AND THEN...THEN WHAT? ANY IDEAS, SANS?"
"wait, you're askin' me?"
"THAT BRINGS UP A QUICK QUESTION. HAVE YOU EVER HAD A SPECIAL SOMEONE IN YOUR LIFE?"
"uh..."
"...TOO PERSONAL? I UNDERSTAND IF IT IS. I WAS JUST CURIOUS, IS ALL, I'M SORRY."
"no, no, it's fine. ah...well...i did used to know someone i...thought might've been a decent match for me. we liked a lot of the same things, and really got along...but i was too lazy to take the chance to ask her out. and knowing that, i didn't want someone like her to get stuck with a lazy bum like me..."
He hid his grey-looking eye sockets behind his hands.
"...now i'll never know how it might've worked out."
"WHY NOT? YOU CAN'T MEET UP WITH HER AGAIN AND SEE IF YOU CAN EXPLAIN EVERYTHING TO HER?"
"no...it's too late for that now."
"DID SHE FIND SOMEONE ELSE?"
"yes and no. she was going to try and get up with someone else, but..."
He sighed deeply, smile getting even smaller.
"she...she fell down. she's gone."
"OH...HOW LONG AGO WAS THIS? I NEVER HEARD ANYTHING ABOUT IT."
yeah, you did, actually... Sans said to himself. ...you just don't realize it.
"a while ago...for the most part, i've gotten over it, though. i might not be completely hopeless, yet."
"YOU MAY CONSIDER HELPING A BIT MORE AROUND THE HOUSE IF YOU WANT TO INCREASE THOSE ODDS, THOUGH. I KNOW I'VE SAID IT MANY A TIME ALREADY, BUT THIS TIME IT ISN'T JUST FOR THE CLEANLINESS OF THE HOUSE! IT'S FOR YOUR PERSONAL GAIN!"
"eh...i'll think about it. but anyways. your situation...you two could go out and explore waterfall some."
"OH, WE'RE OVER THERE ALL THE TIME. IT SHOULD PROBABLY BE SOMETHING A BIT MORE SPECIAL THAN THAT...HOW ABOUT WE WALK THROUGH SNOWDIN FOREST INSTEAD? ADMIRE THE TREES, THE PEACEFUL QUIET, THE SOUND OF THE WIND RUSTLING THROUGH THE PINE BRANCHES...IT SOUNDS LIKE A SPLENDID IDEA. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THAT, SANS? YES OR HAVE YOU A BETTER IDEA?"
"nope. i think you've got everything worked out. she stops by here to meet us, then you two head out."
"EXCELLENT!"
"i will give you one piece of advice you might wanna take, though."
"WHAT'S THAT?"
"you're gonna need something a bit more snazzy than your 'cool dude' outfit if you wanna impress."
"OH...YOU'RE QUITE CERTAIN I SHOULD FOREGO MY CURRENT FORMAL ATTIRE FOR SOMETHING DIFFERENT?"
"positive. no offense, but...not everyone's gonna think it look appropriate for the occasion."
"NO?"
"sorry to say."
"I SEE...WELL, THEN, I MAY EXPERIMENT! I'LL SEE IF THE SHOP IN SNOWDIN HAS ANYTHING OF THE SORT LATER ON THIS EVENING!"
"how 'bout i tag along? a few pointers couldn't hurt, right?"
"WAIT. YOU...ACTUALLY WANT TO HELP ME WITH THIS?"
"i mean, i'd like to see things go over well myself. besides, two cooks in the kitchen made the food twice as fast, am i right?"
"SANS...Y-YOU DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH IT MEANS TO ME THAT YOU'RE WILLING TO..."
Papyrus trailed off, and then got up from where he was sitting, lifted his brother clean out of his chair and squeezed him into an embrace.
"...YOU'RE THE BEST BROTHER I COULD'VE EVER ASKED FOR."
"...heh."
Sans was quick to return the gesture, smile growing.
"...you too, paps."
It was then that the front door opened, and Undyne came back inside, looking only slightly chilly as opposed to freezing.
"Man...That scarf really does its job well, you know?" she stated as she hung her things back up on the rack, not seeming a bit surprised by the scene between the two brothers that she'd walked in on, for some reason.
"THAT'S GOOD TO HEAR!"
"Yeah. You know somethin', I know the Snow Wars were back in December, but one of these days we should have another snowball fight. Sound fun?"
"VERY MUCH SO! SANS, ARE YOU IN ON THAT WITH US?"
"sure, i don't see why not. gives us some more practice for next time, don't it? as long as you don't turn your back on me again."
"OH. YES...I LEARNED MY LESSON FROM THAT...YOU KNOW, WHY CAN'T WE ALL JUST BE ON THE SAME TEAM INSTEAD OF BEING PITTED AGAINST ONE ANOTHER? WE COULD PROBABLY FIND OTHER OPPONENTS TO FACE OFF AGAINST!"
"yeah, maybe so..." Sans agreed. "...imma stop by grillby's for a bit. undyne. you want anything?"
"Cheese fries, maybe?"
"you cod it, bass. see you two in a bit."
"WOULD YOU MIND AT LEAST CLEANING UP THE MESS YOU MADE BEFORE YOU LEAVE, BROTHER?"
"oh. right. that...a'ight."
He headed into the kitchen to grab a few paper towels and started sopping it up.
"Something happen while I was gone?" the fish monster asked.
"no. just spilled my water, is all."
"Oh."
"...THROUGH HIS MOUTH," Papyrus rasped into her earfin, a look of insinuation in his eye sockets. She nodded in understanding.
"okay, that's done with. be back in a jiff."
He headed out the front door, leaving the two taller monsters by themselves.
"...YOU RETURNED RIGHT WHEN WE FINISHED TALKING," Papyrus told her, seeming pretty impressed. "HOW'D YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHEN TO COME BACK?"
"Oh, I never actually went that far to begin with. I just circled around the house a few times and went back and forth through the town waiting out any potential 'storms' between you two, if you get my lingo. I just came in now because it looked like you two were done."
"HOW MUCH DID YOU HEAR?"
"Honestly, I wasn't able to hear much from outside except for pitch...I don't think I've ever seen Sans get close to yelling like-"
She stopped short when the front door opened again, and Sans came in, looking pretty confused.
"um...undyne? what's with the bootprints in the snow circling all the way around the house? was that just you, or do i need to fire up my special attack for some troublemaker trying to break and enter?"
"Oh...Uh, yeah. That was me. When I came back, I didn't think I'd walked enough, so I just did a few laps around the house. If anyone were to try to break 'n' enter, I'd give 'em a crapton of breaks, but no entry. Y'know what I'm sayin'?"
"well...okay, then."
And he left once again, seeming a bit more at ease.
"...DO YOU THINK HE SUSPECTS?" Papyrus rasped, keeping his tone down just in case his brother decided to come back in again for some reason.
"I don't know...What'd you tell him?"
"WELL, I DIDN'T TELL HIM IT WAS YOU...NOT YET. HE DOES, HOWEVER, KNOW THAT THE 'MYSTERIOUS DATE' THAT'S SUPPOSED TO SHOW UP AT THE HOUSE THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW WAS A MEMBER OF THE NOW DISBANDED ROYAL GUARD. I'M SORRY, I LET THAT SLIP OUT BY ACCIDENT...BUT HE HASN'T A CLUE THAT IT'S YOU. I TOLD HIM THAT YOU TWO KNEW EACH OTHER...WHICH ISN'T A LIE, BECAUSE YOU MUST KNOW YOURSELF PRETTY WELL."
"True..." she nodded. "Wait...What'd you say about you're...'date' showing up the day after tomorrow? Will that be a problem for us?"
"I DON'T KNOW. I HAVEN'T ASKED HER OUT YET...BUT THAT'S GOING TO CHANGE RIGHT NOW."
He drew in a deep breath, cleared his throat and then bowed courteously before her, taking her by the hand.
"UNDYNE...WOULD YOU DO ME THE HONORS OF GOING OUT ON A DATE WITH ME? THE EVENING AFTER TOMORROW?"
"Ha..."
Her cheeks turned bright plum.
"...How could I say no? Sounds awesome."
"OH, GOOD," Papyrus huffed, standing up straight again and putting a relieved hand to his head. "I WAS REALLY NERVOUS THAT I WOULD MESS THAT UP FOR A MINUTE THERE."
"Are you kidding me? That was flawless. See, I knew there was somethin' special about you."
"N'AW, GHEE..."
Now it was his turn to go pink.
"YOU'RE SUCH A FLATTERER, UNDYNE."
"Well, where do you think I get it from?"
"NYEH...GOOD POINT."
...
"That ought to do the trick."
The Golden Flowers had begun to look a bit wilted as of late; she hadn't been able to find the time to water them any more than once a day, and only once was taking a bit of a toll on them. Maintaining the garden was the least she could do for her late king; he would've appreciated it, for sure...
I wonder if I could hire someone to take care of the flowers? she thought. Then not only would the flowers be healthier, but I would have more time to deal with what is happening in the kingdom. Of course, I would have to make sure that I find someone who can-
Her thoughts were cut off by a strange noise coming from the ground, just before her feet. The queen stepped back a bit, and watched as a spot on the ground shifted and came apart as something pushed its way up through to the surface from below. Then, after only a few more moments, it poked its tired head up out of the grassy ground.
...It was a flower with a face.
"Phew..." it huffed. "The roots are kinda tough to get through..."
Toriel had seen this flower once before, several months ago, and she remembered what she'd witnessed it try to do. And the flower himself rembered that time just as well, so it was no surprise to him that she was not happy to see him.
Although, he hadn't expected her to conjure a fireball in her paw again, seeing that he hadn't done anything to warrant it yet, and he shrank down at the sight of it.
"You," she addressed, glowering at him. "I remember you. You tried to harm an innocent human child out of sheer, sick malice and thought you could get away with it."
"...Yes," he nodded shamefully, lowering his head to hide the features of his face, which she hadn't paid any mind to yet over her anger. "...That's true."
"Why have you come here? If I find that you are still looking for trouble, you have got something else coming to you."
"No, no, I don't, I swear, I promise, p-please don't hurt me..." he squeaked. Toriel still couldn't see his face very well from how he was bent over, but she did see a few tears drip from his face onto the grassy ground, so she figured it was truly remorseful.
As long as it is not a ruse, she reminded herself, just to stay on her toes.
"...Then why are you here?" she asked him again. "To...seek forgiveness, perhaps?"
He nodded again.
"I'm sorry...I'm sorry for what I did..." he whimpered.
The Boss Monster's gaze softened a bit, and the fireball hovering over her paw dissipated. She actually found herself feeling a bit bad for the mysterious visitor...And it was the strangest thing, but she swore its voice sounded so familiar.
"You are truly sorry about what happened that day?"
"That and other things...Y-you don't know what else I did, and...I-I don't deserve to be here again."
His words gave way to a weak sob, and he hung his head even lower on its stem, the tiny flow of tears streaming from its eyes a bit faster.
"It...It is alright," Toriel said to him. "You'll be alright, I promise. Here, look up..."
As gently as she could, she raised the flowers head up by the chin to look him in the eye; his eyes were hazel, and full of genuine sadness and fearful remorse.
"I do forgive you," she said to it, looking over his face just a bit more. "And it is good that...that you..."
That was when she saw what she was really looking at.
White fur coated the flower's entire face, all the way to the end of his blunt snout and overtop the two little canine teeth. There was even a small tuft on top of his...head...
"...Mom, I...I..."
No.
It couldn't be.
There was no way.
"I w-woke up in the garden in the s-same place I fell a-and scattered...DETERMINATION. That and m-my dust on the flower was what b-brought me back...I called for someone to help me, b-because I didn't know what was going on, a-and I realized I...I had no SOUL. I-I couldn't f-feel love, or comp-passion, o-or anything, and...and then I f-found out I could go back and start over again. The Saves. The Resets. The blood, the screams, the dust...S-so m-much dust a-at my own hands. I c-could bring everyone back and start all over again as much as I wanted, and...And then Frisk came. Sh-she took my powers, b-but only used them f-for good, and th-then I tried to take them back by st-stealing the six SOULs Dad got, and...I killed him. I had no SOUL, and I killed him just because I could, and I didn't care, I was a monster, and..."
Toriel absolutely could not believe what she was beholding before her. And the more she processed what the flower...no...What her SON said, the wider her eyes became, and soon, they, too, had rivers of tears flowing from them.
"...But I can feel again, now. I have a SOUL, and...I-I understand everything now. Wh-why I was s-spared, a-and given a chance t-to help make things right...But I still understand if you can't forgive me. I caused so much suffering, f-for you and Dad and Chara...It was her idea, but if I'd just gone along with it, maybe we'd have been free. I held back and got us both killed. Then Dad declared war and you two split apart, and...And now he's gone and it's my fault. I'm sorry, Mom. I feel so horrible for everything and I'm so sorry..."
"H...how is this..."
She fell to her knees before him, just barely cupping her pawed hands around his flowery face, and it slowly dawned on her that this was indeed real.
"Asriel..." she rasped, a smile finally inching its way across her muzzle. "Asriel, dear...!"
She let out a sob and fell forward, seeming as though to shield him. It was the closest she could manage to a hug without somehow damaging the flower he had somehow become.
"I-I'm right here, Mom. Things are gonna be okay, alright?" he sniffed.
"But..." she continued, pushing herself back up. "H...how did this happen? What were you saying about...Y-your dust and DETERMINATION, what...What does it all mean?"
He explained everything to her again, and while she was able to make more sense of it, she was still a bit confused, as well as mortified by some of the things that the soulless husk Flowey had done before her son completely returned. Asriel kept saying over and over again that all of the pain that he and his family had endured was his fault, and that all of the Saves and Resets he had done, killing everyone and anyone over and over again was his burden to bare. But Toriel thought otherwise.
"No," she assured him, wiping one of the small tears flowing down his face with the back of her padded finger. "No, Asriel, son, the things Flowey did were not your fault. It wasn't really you. It was something different. Someone different. And..."
Her expression suddenly hardened.
"...DETERMINATION...I read the entries in the Hotland Lab, and I did not think...Dr. Alphys. She...She is the one who did that to you, that...That blasted, good for nothing-!"
"Mom, no, wait. Don't say stuff like that about her, please don't."
"Whah...What do you mean no? She did a terrible thing to you, and-"
"If she hadn't done what she did, I wouldn't be here now!"
She stopped short.
"She's...Dr. Alphys wasn't good for nothing, Mom. If it hadn't been for her, I wouldn't have had a second chance...A-and I have a SOUL now. I...I'm really here, now. D-don't be mad at her...please? She didn't know. Nobody did. J-just like with the amalgamates. It was an accident. A-and yeah, some mistakes are bigger than others, but...She meant well. She really did."
The queen sighed.
"...I suppose you do make a good point," she acknowledged. "...But even still. And...How exactly did you regain a SOUL?"
"It's...a long story, and I'd rather not tell it right now, okay?"
"...Alright," she agreed. "And...I am glad that you are here, Asriel. It is more than I could have ever wanted. It really, truly is, and of course I forgive you, and of course I still love you. That will not ever change...It has not ever changed."
"I love you, too, Mom...Ha..."
He smiled.
"It...it really feels good to say that again. It feels good to feel good again."
"I can only imagine..."
The smile on her face began to falter.
"...If only Asgore was here to see this," she whispered to herself, although she knew Asriel could hear her. "He would be overjoyed, I'm sure of it."
"Mom...Do...do you miss him?"
"It is not your fault he is gone, Asriel. It was Flowey's fault, and now he is no more. You are here, and..."
She drew in a deep breath and let it out in a solemn sigh.
"...I do, Asriel. I do miss your father...And I wished we had both done things differently the day we lost you and your sister. Yes, it was Asgore's fault for calling for war against the humans, but I did nothing to stop it before it could start...And then the six humans died. Children. All of them. Why did it have to be children...?" she lamented. "...But he did not know any better than I would have. And he really was trying to do the right thing."
She sighed again.
"...I have asked this to myself before, and I will again. Why...Why is it that the noblest intentions can result in the most horrible disasters?"
"Well...Maybe because we...have our eyes set so much on the goal that we don't think about the steps we take to get there as much."
"Ah...That is...a good way to explain it."
"That brings up another question I had."
"What is it, Asriel?"
"Um...Do you know where Dad was...scattered?"
She hung her head sorrowfully. Asriel and his father had been so close. Neither of them had deserved to lose each other. It was heartbreaking.
"...Most of it was spread all across the garden. Some of it landed in the spot where...the same happened to you," she answered. "...But I took just a small amount and stored it away inside the memorial statue that was built for him. I thought that in a way, it might...make up for him not really being here."
He leaned to the side to get a better glimpse of the statue behind her. The very image of his late father was carved out perfectly in stone, an intricately carved-out bird sitting on his outstretched paw...Something Asgore certainly would have done.
"...Where in there did you put it?"
"Inside the platform it's stood upon. See the small door there with the writing engraved on it?"
"Oh..."
There was no handle, and the hinges were well-hidden. The only way one could tell it was an opening was the key slot on the bottom right corner of the plaque.
"Uh...C-can I..."
The way he was looking at the lock made it plain to Toriel what he was about to ask her.
Oh, dear me...
"...Are you sure, son?"
"I-I'm sure. I just...I gotta."
"It will not...hurt you, to see him like that?"
"It might...but I still have to see it."
She sighed deeply once again, then nodded. Asriel burrowed through the ground to pop up in front of the cold, unmoving sculpture as his mother conjured magic in her paws.
To his surprise, she formed the shape of a key with her own fire magic, then used the orange-glowing entity to unlock the door, letting it loosen and creak open a bit.
There was a very small, gold urn inside of the space, and the flower summoned a vine from the ground to gently extract it and open the lid...
All he beheld was a bit of white powder, not unlike any baking flower that his mother used to make the braided crust of her famous butterscotch-cinnamon pies. But that dust had once taken the form of the Underground's beloved king, and knowing that, Asriel'e eyes shut tightly at the sight of what Asgore had become.
No, he ordered himself. No tears. You can't...not yet...Not when you still have hope.
He sighed himself.
"...Mom...C-can Dad and I be alone together? Just for a couple minutes? I don't mean to be rude, o-or anything, I just..."
"No, no, I understand. Of course I do. I will come back in just a bit and see how you are doing, alright?"
"Okay...Thanks, Mom."
"You are welcome...I am just so happy to know you are back."
Very lightly, she planted a motherly peck on the top of his tiny head, then left the Throne Room.
"...Nice seeing you again, Dad," he said to the dust. "And I'm sorry about what I did...But now I'm gonna try to fix it."
He let another vine push through the roots and emerge from the ground. It was holding something he'd been keeping hidden ever since he left.
A small, flat, clear sample container.
He peered over to the Throne Room door just to make sure his mother wasn't there, feeling slightly guilty. He had never enjoyed doing things behind his parents' backs...Which, looking back, was probably another reason he was so reluctant to go along with Chara's plan back then. She'd specifically told him not to tell them. And he knew that since she said that, they would be upset if they found out.
And boy, were they upset when they saw the horrible results of their failed plan literally fall apart and dust before their eyes.
But now he had a chance to undo some of the damage he'd caused.
His eyes still trained on the doorway, switching back to what he was doing every second or so, he took the sample container and scooped up a bit of the dust in the urn into it before screwing the cap back on the former and putting the decorative lid back on the latter and putting it back beneath the statue of the monster it used to be where it belonged.
"I'm not the only one who might get a second chance, Dad," he told the dust as though it could hear him. "If I was good enough to deserve one, then...so were you."
He hid the dust sample back underground, then stared up at the statue again.
"...Just in case this doesn't work," he said to it. "Just know that Mom and I are safe and happy, and...I forgive you, okay? The things you've done...haven't amounted to anything compared to what...what Flowey did in all the time loops. I know I say Flowey, and I know we weren't really the same, but...I still remember. It was still these leaves that did all they did...that did what they did to you. I'm sorry, Dad...I love you."
He sat there in silence for a few more minutes, looking up at the statue and analyzing every little detail from the folds in his cloak to the segments of his curved horns. He was only interrupted by the sound of soft footsteps passing through the garden, and looked behind him to see that Toriel had come back.
"Are you quite alright?"
He nodded in response, but still seemed a bit apprehensive.
"...Something else on your mind?"
"I...I'm just speaking hypothetically here," he said to her as she bent down to match his level. "If...if for some reason, you were to come in her one day, and...Dad was standing there on the other end of the Throne Room waiting for you...What would you do?"
Her eyes widened a bit at the oddly specific question. Although admittedly, she was equally amazed that he knew how to use the word 'hypothetically.' But knowing he'd been through so many Resets, she figured he must have learned a lot during that time.
"...I would probably be ecstatic," she answered him, a not-particularly-happy smile on her face. "I mean, look at how I reacted when I realized it was you...I knew Asgore for a thousand years, and all that time, he was the greatest thing that ever happened to me...and then came the day we took each other for granted. If I saw him standing there, I am sure after all of the...hugs and tears were over with, we would have a long discussion about what happened in the past decade."
"Would you forgive him?"
She exhaled through her nostrils a bit harder than usual at an attempt to scoff.
"Asriel...I have already forgiven your father for what he has done," she told him. "Even if it is too late for me to say it to his face...Although I must admit, it is much easier to forgive than to forget. And no matter how hard I try, I cannot help but have the memories of those six poor children forever burned into my head, even though I barely knew any of them for any longer than a month, a tiny spec of time compared to a millennia..."
She let out a shaky sigh, holding back another stream of tears.
"...What is wrong with me, Asriel?" she asked him. "Why did I just let it all happen the way it did?"
"I dunno, Mom...We all made mistakes here, though. Y-you're not completely to blame."
"...I suppose all four of us lent a hand in this mess," she decided. "You two were only children, though. You didn't know any better."
"I did," he admitted. "And I didn't try to stop it..."
He shook his head.
"...But I can't keep dwelling on those mistakes forever. We have to keep moving forward..."
He looked up at his mother.
"Mom, I...I have to go somewhere."
"What, but...Where are you going?"
"Somewhere important. D-don't worry, I'll be back. I'll definitely come back, I promise. I just...have to do some things, okay?"
"What kinds of things?"
"...You could say that...even though you say what Flowey did isn't my fault, I just...want to make it up to everyone. And I think I know how I can do that...I will come back here. Maybe tomorrow, even, and if not then, I'll try the day after...But I gotta go now, Mom...I love you."
Another, single tear escaped her eye, and landed right before the flowery prince.
"...I love you, too, Asriel," she said to him, gently putting her paws around his face again, the gold petals brushing against them. "...Be safe."
"And...one more thing?"
"What is it?"
"Could you...keep this a secret, please? I don't want anyone to know about this just yet...Besides, n-no offense but some people might think you're...kinda crazy? I-I'm sorry, it's just that I've seen that kind of thing before in a Reset, and-"
"No, I understand. And you are right. If I go around saying that my son has returned from the dead in the form of a flower, they will likely raise a few eyebrows...I will not tell a SOUL unless you ask me to."
"Okay. Thank you...Bye, Mom."
With a final smile, he disappeared back into the ground. Unbeknownst to her, a small portion of the late king had left along with him.
A/N: So, here's a thing: my mother and I have been binge-watching the late George Carlin's stand-up routines lately, and now I'm imagining Kidd's drake-dad in this chapter with his voice, of all people. Yeah...It's hard to believe that's the same guy who narrated freaking Thomas the Tank Engine when it first started out. My Glaux. XD
Wonder who Sans might've been eyeing up way back when...? Eh, prob'ly wasn't anybody important. Oh, well. :P
Next up: Preparation montage~! :D