A/N Everything Undertale belongs to Toby Fox; Ginny, as well as anything unfamiliar, is of my creation.

It was another two days later when the search finally came to a conclusion. Sans and Papyrus definitely had the biggest breakthrough in the search, though it was also the most heartbreaking. It was understandable why Ginny would keep her homelessness a secret. And it also made sense as to why she was so secretive about her home, and why her clothes and general appearance wasn't always the best.

But it also made the search for her harder, since she could be living anywhere in town. Maybe even outside of town. But the monsters were determined not to give up. Frisk wanted to go out and look for her themselves, but Toriel only allowed them to if they were with her or someone else. "I don't want to lose you too," she had said.

On the day the search was ended, Asgore and Alphys were visiting Muffet, who was still getting her tea parlor set up. Among the usual prejudice against monsters problem, another problem she had been dealing with was the fact that most humans were afraid of, or outright disliked spiders. But she was confident that her parlor would, one day, see the light.

Asgore had been doing all he could to ensure that monsters, including Muffet, were able to get their businesses up and running again. Grillby had easier success, though him being a fire elemental still gave him trouble. But once he showed that he could control it, and his diner was proven to gave off a warm and fuzzy feeling overall, it didn't take long for him to be up and going.

"You're sure you're all right?" Asgore asked Muffet. "From what I heard, after all, you took a pretty hard hit." While her parlor was being stocked with pots, pans, and utensils, one of the humans had been startled by Muffet popping in, and had swung out the frying pan they were holding. She still had some bandages wrapped around her head, with one of her pigtails sticking out.

"Of course, dearie," she smiled. "The poor human is still beside themselves, apologizing for the accident at every opportunity. But, as I tell them as well, I'm fine now. There's barely a bump, in fact."

"Well, if you're completely sure."

"You are too sweet, Asgore. I already have that human worrying themselves to death, don't you do that too. Which reminds me, if I, or one of my spiders, see or hear anything of this human you are looking for, you'll be the first to know."

"Thank you, Muffet."

Alphys waved back at the spider monster and followed Asgore out onto the sidewalk. Since he took up nearly the whole path, she was forced to walk a little in front of him, though she still stayed close to one side. "S-still nothing about Ginny?"

"No," he sighed. "I will admit, she is quite the elusive one. Whether she's doing it on purpose, or if she doesn't realize it. I wish we had something more to go off of; any sort of clue."

"Well... P-Papyrus did say he found her on a bridge. He accidentally s-startled her, and had to c-catch her when she fell. K-kinda ironic, since sh-she got injured falling off of a b-bridge as well."

Asgore hummed in thought as they continued on. His ears perked up when he spotted a bridge some distance away. "Alphys... was the bridge Ginny was injured at the same bridge Papyrus found her on?"

"... Yes, it was. Wh-why do you ask?"

As she asked that, he began walking faster towards the bridge, accidentally bumping Alphys to the side. She pushed her glasses up her nose and ran to catch up to him. "A-Asgore?"

"Don't you think it's more of a coincidence, than irony, that she was at the same bridge when she was first found, and when she was injured?" he asked. "Or is there something more to it? What if the bridge is the clue we've been looking for? The piece to the puzzle, as it were?"

"I-it certainly wouldn't hurt to look," Alphys admitted. "B-but I don't see her on th-the bridge."

They stopped on the hill before the ground dipped into the concrete canal below the bridge. "Maybe we shouldn't be looking on the bridge... but rather below it," Asgore pointed out.

"In that c-case, you go on d-down there. I'll s-stay up here, in case she is d-down there, so she's not s-scared off."

"Do you think that could happen?"

"G-Ginny reminds me of m-myself. I know I've only kn-known her for a day, b-but she really does. We're b-both reserved in personality, a-and tend to k-keep things hidden." She was twiddling her fingers as she spoke, remembering the secrets she herself had kept.

"If you think that would be best, I'll go on alone. I'll try not to take too lo-"

"-no, t-take your time. Trust me."

Nodding, Asgore carefully scaled down the hill and walked to the bridge. Despite there being no river of any kind, there was a drain in the middle of the concrete; on either side were large tunnels leading under and parallel to the bridge, barely big enough for him to stand inside of. He looked in the right-side tunnel, but saw nothing, save for moss and rocks.

But when he looked in the left-side tunnel, he saw someone sitting inside, hugging their knees to their chest and bowing their head down. Around them were several objects and pieces of trash, mostly food wrappings and empty bottles.

When the human lifted their head, their narrow dark-brown eyes were sad. Their dirty skin had clean streaks as if tears had run down their cheeks, and their auburn hair was tangled in thick chunks of varying sizes. Their eyes widened with surprise, but they said nothing.

"... Ginny?" Asgore asked as gently and quietly as he could. He crouched down in front of the opening of the tunnel, but didn't block it completely; he didn't want her to feel trapped and scared.

"... How did you know where I'd be?" she asked in a quiet voice.

"I'll admit, it was a hunch I thought of only minutes ago," he said. "But... what happened? Why did you run away? And so soon after you woke up?"

She shrugged. "I didn't think anyone would notice."

"We did." He tried to be soft with his answer, not wanting to sound accusatory or scolding. "We were worried about you. We looked for you all over town."

Upon hearing this, more tears began to grow in the corners of her eyes. Her cheeks and nose began to redden, and she sniffled as she hugged her knees tighter.

"Ginny, talk to me, please. What happened?"

"... Did you hear about what I did? Before I got injured? What I said?"

"I did. But that doesn't mean we don't want you safe. We do. I know we barely know you, but... you have monsters who care about you."

"... Can I... can I explain why I said what I said?"

"I'm not the one to be explained to."

"I know. But... I still want to get my thoughts out now. And I just want anyone to talk to who won't hurt or belittle me. Only listen."

"... All right. Go on."

She wiped at her eyes and cleared her throat, finally letting her legs relax. "As you probably know, I've been spending the last four years working to adopt Frisk. I lived with them at the orphanage until I turned eighteen; I was... expelled, they called it. But because I didn't have a job, a home, or very much money in general, I couldn't take them with me. All the time I've been working, I've been extra scared of losing Frisk, because when I was at the orphanage with them, and they would try to adopt us out, or at least get us into foster homes. They didn't care about keeping us together. Frisk would be taken by one family, or I would be taken by one, or we would go and be separated at the same time. Each time, we put up a fuss until we were returned."

"Toriel said you had said most of that before. Maybe with not that much detail, but to that effect."

"I know. But... I figured it'd be a good idea to get it out calmly, rather than screaming. Besides, that was pretty much why I blew up... that, and I was jealous."

"Jealous? Of what?"

"Two things. I was jealous that Toriel was able to even talk to the orphanage about adopting Frisk, and that she was given a chance. I know circumstances are really hard for monsters, and that it's good that they're being considered for being adopters. But... it still really hurt that me, as their sister, was never given a chance. I know I didn't have the resources, and still really don't, but still. And it... it makes me feel like I failed Frisk, as a sister. As family; as someone who's supposed to take care of them, since Mom and Dad are gone." She covered her face with her hands as she began to cry.

Asgore opened his mouth to say something, but before he could get it out, she let out a hard sniff and continued, "But I was also jealous of Frisk! B-because they—I've seen how the monsters are with them. Even when they thought of humans as their enemy, and had to harvest their souls to get freed, they still treated them so kindly! Kinder than any human they or I ever met. Frisk told me everything they experienced down in the underground; everyone they met. And they... they were like a big family. I want that too! I want a family again. But... I don't deserve that. Not after everything I said. And after I lied. I'm just a big jerk, and a big liar!"

Asgore smiled kindly. "I disagree."

She lifted her head from her hands. "Huh?"

He took her hands in his huge paws and stood up, slowly standing her up as well. "Ginny, you do deserve a family. Yes, you lied. But you know it was wrong, and you're obviously sorry. They'll forgive you. My dear, we've all been worried about you. We've been looking for you, and we haven't given up on you. If you come home with us, and explain to them what you explained to me, they'll understand. And Toriel will be more than happy to take you in."

"Even after all I said?" she asked, rubbing her face against her shoulder. "How I was such a jerk?"

"Of course! After all, that was the plan from the beginning."

"... What?"

"It's not my place to say, but I think circumstances warrant it. That's why Papyrus was so excited that he had found you. Once we were freed from the underground, Frisk told us they had an older sister; a sister who was kind, caring, and loved them. They wanted us to take you into the family as well. Toriel said she would be more than happy to as well."

Ginny looked up at him, stunned. It seemed like this had never occurred to her, that the monsters were looking for her even before she met Papyrus. And that they wanted her in the family as well. And still did, even after everything she said, and had lied about. It was almost too much to bear.

She looked down at the ground. Then, sniffling, she let her head fall forward against Asgore's stomach. He blinked in surprise, but then smiled warmly. Staying quiet, he laid a big paw over her back. She began to cry again, and huddled closer. He held her close with both arms, and felt her wrap hers around him as well.

After a few minutes, he asked, "Do you want to go back now? Or do you want to wait a few minutes?"

"... Can you help me pack my stuff?" she asked quietly, muffled by his shirt.

"Of course."

Once he let her go, she turned around to face the tunnel. She grabbed a red and cream patchwork quilt, which looked like it had some burns on it. He helped her spread it flat on the ground, and she began piling stuff in the middle of it: a dark-teal hooded sweatshirt, a picture frame with slightly-cracked glass—he recognized a younger Ginny and baby Frisk in the picture—several pairs of mismatched and holey socks, a round water canteen, a few dogeared books, and a large, old purse that jingled and crinkled with coins and paper money.

He folded the corners of the blanket over the objects, and tied them up tight. He grabbed the 'bag' up by the knots with one paw, and stood up. He held out his other paw, which Ginny took, and helped her to her feet again.

Once they walked out into the sunshine, he saw that Alphys was sitting up the hill and on the grass, playing with her phone. She spotted them approaching over the device, nearly dropping it. "You found her!" she exclaimed, jumping to her feet.

"Yes. I do apologize for the wait, but we were talking."

"Oh, n-no! No need for a-apologies!" She backed away as Asgore lifted Ginny up onto the hill, and then climbed up himself. "So... wh-where to now?"

"Toriel's house," he answered, still holding the tied up quilt. "It'll be there that Ginny will explain everything."

She nodded as she held onto a fold in the quilt, almost seeming worried about it disappearing. When she looked to her right, she saw Alphys holding out her own hand, smiling kindly. She returned it, and took her hand as they began to walk.