AN: Hello again, it's an absolute pleasure to have you here again! A big thank you to my first story favorite. You know who you are and thank you! Same warnings as usual, some sad stuff going on here. I may be rewritring the first chapter to get it more in line since I'm still kinda adjusting to writing for Undertale again. If I do I'll let you know. And again, thank you for reading, and please leave a review and let me know what you do or don't like, or even just things you'd love to see, (I'm not opposed to write oneshots and side stories for ya'll). Also this is a shorter chapter, expect longer in the future as I adjust! Just wanted to get some pieces in place for later. Take care 3

Frisk floated aimlessly in the water. The soft sound of distant waves lapping at the far edges of the massive cavern. The water was pitch black below its blue, glowing surface but still pleasantly warm. Soon the water gently rippled, until a massive, yellow, head broke the surface. "Hey there...human...so...I see you're just….hanging out...in my little lake here…"

Frisk gave a wave. Onion-san blushed,

"Soo, You came all this way just to hang out with me...right? Well, of course, you did! You're here, aren't you?"

Frisk gave a double thumbs-up, "Of course"

The waves from Onion's joyful dance nearly sunk Frisk.

"Oh wow, my first fri-. M-My brand new cool friend! Oh wow, this is just great. So, does this mean you'll join my band? I've got a position open for you if you'd like. I need someone to play everything other than the drums on account of the fact I don't have fingers you see."

Frisk nodded, wiggling their fingers in the air. Onion smiled, "See! Just like that! You've got those things down to a science! Oh, man! This is gonna be great...so...first we need to find instruments...I guess that'll be your job. I'll start writing some music...oh...you'll need to get something for me to write with too...then...um...I'll just think of lyrics! Perfect. I'll think up all the words while you hunt down everything else, deal?"

"Deal."

Frisk woke up to a throbbing headache and a terse conversation.

"You kept them up with those shows again didn't you?" Toriel scolded.

"N-no! We've n-not watched any here r-recently! Undyne got m-mad that her favorite character d-died and swore it off" Alphys stammered. Toriel seemed to scan her quarrel for a moment, Frisk could hear claws anxiously tapping against the hardwood. "Well," Toriel said, softening her tone, "I doubt they will tell me what's troubling them...I do hope they aren't ill"

A paw was pressed to their forehead. "They're a little warm…" the same paw fixed some stray hairs gently, "Perhaps we sh- oh! you're awake"

Frisk squinted against the light in the room, looking up into the worrying smile of Toriel. Alphys was similarly worried-looking, squirming in place until Frisk looked her way where she gave a relieved wave. Sans was sat on the staircase, watching over things with a tired smile. Frisk hoped to find a more positive face amongst the crowd, finding it with Papyrus who had been apparently put in charge of preparing them something to eat. He was busy over garnishing a bowl of spaghetti with a small mountain of parsley.

Frisk gave a large smile, fighting the spreading migraine, "Sorry, I tripped on my feet...wasn't paying attention" Frisk lied...and an embarrassed laugh to seal the deal. The lie was now seeming to have only been for Papyrus, the others not losing their looks. "Human! It seems that I, The Great Papyrus! Will have to teach you how to walk more carefully!"

Frisk smiled back and nodded. With some effort, they sat up but quickly wavered as their skull threatened to crack under sudden pressure. Frisk whimpered in pain before being eased back down, "Please don't strain yourself my child" Alphys had apparently been prepared for this situation as she confidently replaced Toriel.

"O-ok, Frisk, can you open your mouth for me?"

Frisk did as they were told and were greeted by a thermometer. Frisk obediently closed their mouth with it under their tongue.

"hey, paps. I think you might wanna add a little more seasoning, make this one extra special for them"

"Sans! I think you may be right. Only the most flavorful dish for such an occasion!" Throwing the bottle of parsley behind him he hurries off into the kitchen. Alpyhs pulled the thermometer from Firsks mouth, tutting softly, "W-warm, very warm...but not a fever" She repeatedly referred to her phone and the article on "Human fevers" she had pulled up. Her tail swayed steadily, "They aren't suffering f-from any diseases or illness I know of. Or c-can look up...they seem f-fine by all accounts...unless it's something non-physical…or maybe an older injury flaring up?"

Frisk excellently hid the sudden rush of fear, swallowing thickly, "Not hurt"

Alphys raised an eyebrow, "N-no? Are you sure? Y-you fell pretty b-bad outside, I think maybe y-you should let Toriel look you o-over for bruises…" Frisk was suddenly feeling far too hot under the blanket, starting to faintly sweat, "I'm fine"

"I do you hope you are my child but there is no reason for us not to check to be-"

Sans interrupted, "come on, kids wore out. they need some of paps cooking and bedrest, not poking and prodding"

Alphys huffed, "That was n-not poking and p-prodding! Those were r-real, human, non-magic t-techniques!"

"and might I say, exceptionally done. kids not got a fever, so they're tired cause they're tired."

Alyphs raised an eyebrow at Sans' sudden defensive attitude but didn't question it, "Y-you're not wrong, but still we-"

Papyrus returned with several spice bottles to add to his dish, "I have brought all that I can carry!" Undyne followed after, tucking some sandwiches into a paper bag discreetly. Papyrus set quickly to dumping the newfound and not complimenting flavors onto the ruined spaghetti. Sans took his chance, "so, kid. Ya ready to head up to bed?"

Frisk nodded softly.

"See, come on Frisk let's go, can you get up?"

Frisk was starting to shift until Toriel had quickly placed a hand on their chest, "Absolutely not my child, I shall carry you"

Frisk blushed as Toriel scooped them up, faint pain throbbing in their head. Undyne dropped the bag on their chest, "Here's some of Paps spare spaghetti" She winked with a smile, Frisk smiled back cheerily. Toriel took them carefully up the stairs, at the top Frisk waved back to the others. The living room crowd all waved back, except for Papyrus, who was now adding the rest of the cinnamon.

Toriel gently laid them down in their bed. Frisk adjusted a little before settling in. Toriel sat down beside them, sighing softly, "My child, you do not have to keep up the act with me. You put on a very brave face, but this face is one I can see straight through. Start easy with me. How bad is your head hurting you?"

Frisk gave a sudden hiccuping sound before tearing up, "A l-lot" they whimpered into their sleeves. Toriel gently stroked over their head, the gentle warm haze of healing magic washed over Frisk's mind. The pain only vaguely faded however, Frisk sniffed.

"You must stop hiding away these feelings. You must only tell me. Should you not want to speak then you must only write a note. If not me then anyone else in the house. Anyone, anytime, anywhere, we are here for you."

Frisk kept their face hidden under their sleeves. Toriel hummed softly for awhile, a lullaby that had been sang at two other besides. Frisk pretended to fall asleep, not yet ready to face the nightmares that might come had they actually slipped. A long timed passed before the door gently shut, leaving them alone. A nightlight cast a gently moving starry night sky across the ceiling. Their eyes slowly lost focus as they relaxed into the reaxing beauty.

Sometimes large changes could happen in an instant. Choices can cause a staggering change. A lapse in judgement can end a life. So can proper judgement. And sometimes, great change could happen without you even having a second to see it coming.

Frisk stared at the ceiling for a moment before they were gone.

Chara smiled, "Perfect"

Sitting up Chara yelped and gripped their head, swaying.

"What the hell did ya do to yourself? God, this body is garbage! Everything hurts...and when was the last time we ate?"

Chara stood but quickly crumpled to the ground, "D-damnit Frisk! This hurts"

"You shouldn't have cut my arm"

Chara growled, "This is a lot more than just that...Jesus Frisk, I want you to reset not suffer"

With a grand amount of effort Chara struggled to their feet, "Ok...ok, I've got this...We have somewhere to be you know?"

"Are you going to take us to Ebott?"

Chara chuckled dryly, opening the door to their bedroom and stepping out, "Yeah, I've got a plan"

"What is it this time?"

Chara peered over the railing down into the living room. Undyne and Alphys had left a short time ago. Sans was dead asleep on the couch and Toriel was helping Papyrus destroy the spaghetti.

"Easy. We share a soul" Chara slunk down the stairs and pulled on their shoes. Dumping their schoolbag out on the ground while Papyrus cried loudly as the food proceser chew away at his slid it onto their shoulders. "Half and half, sun and moon taking turns, whatever poetic metaphor you wanna add to it. This is our body to share, same as with our soul."

Slipping out the door they closed it carefully behind them, setting off briskly down the road. "So, what I was thinking...Asriel is lacking a soul. With a soul, his magic would form a body to host it, and he'd be back to normal. So, if we gave up our soul to him, he'd be back and we could all share a soul, like me and you do now. And if you'll stop being spoiled and reset we could do it before mom comes to care for our physical form, before anyone does, and live in the ruins like we used to"

"Chara...you know better. Flowey has taken our soul before"

Chara bristled a little but calmed as the spike in anger made them dizzy, "Yes, I know, but we always res- You always reset, and we never tried to coinhabit. But what if we did try Frisk! And what if we could have him back, both of us!"

…

…

…

"Frisk, I know you're in there"

"You'll just get angry. You know what I'll say"

"I do. But...like, so what if it fails? We reset and it's all good. Then we could have easy repeat tries."

"And when it doesn't work"

Chara frowned, "If it really doesn't work then we'll stop trying to...to do it...th-that way…" Their feet suddenly lost their pace and stumbled as they tripped and fell hard onto the sidewalk, "Unghf...ow! Frisk! I can't use this body! This is worse than greasing up the controller before you pass it back!" Chara pushed themselves back up, "I feel exhausted...here, we're gonna eat some of those sandwiches" Pulling off their backpack they dug out a sandwich, getting as comfortable as possible on the sidewalk. Not many monsters could drive cars, even fewer took late evening walks. Chara started taking bites out of a bacon and...no...yeah, it's just bacon. Chara grimaced, "I see why you're half-starved. I know smiley can't cook and neither can his brother, can't say I'm surprised that the fish would be a failure at it too. But mom" Chara started to drool slightly, "She could keep you loaded down with so many sweets if you were careful, remembered where she hid the cooking chocolate. You could at least pig out there instead of starving. Why aren't you eating anyways?"

"I just don't wanna eat"

'Frisk. I'm literally in your body, and it wants very much to eat right, enough that I'm eating this gross sandwich. Man, if I was thinking though we could have snuck some chocolate on the way, I know mom's usual hiding places. Chocolate would have given us the energy we need to make this trip a whole lot easier"

Chara forced the rest of the sandwich down before standing unsteadily and starting off once again, "Ya know. One of these days we need to ask smiley how he does that whole shortcut schtick. We could really save a lot of time getting around…" Chara thought for a long moment, "Frisk...I get that we see this world differently. It's something that I can only see as a toy. Without Azzy there's nothing other than you to care about. We've been through enough together, Frisk. I know I hurt you and I know I can't see things your way. But, that's who I am I guess. I've destroyed every connection to anyone I've ever had. Even Azzy in the end. But even still, He loved me unconditionally, when I didn't deserve it he still gave me his everything. And I miss that. I promise I'll behave if I can just have him back."

Hot tears were quickly wiped by a sweater sleeve. Frisk didn't add their thoughts, now was not the time. The journey was quiet for a long while until they had started up the mountain trail when the phone rang. Chara pulled it from their pocket, the call was from Toriel. "Oh shit, you're gonna be in so much trouble when you get back"

"We need to tell her where we are, otherwise she's gonna call the police"

"Yeah but I don't sound like you. If I say something she'll freak out even more." Holding the button they turned the phone off, returning it to their pocket. The evening sun was a red and orange smear behind the tufts of clouds. Looking over the treetops they could see far towards the horizon. But now was not the time for a sandwich picnic as the sunset, now was the time for returning to the place they spent so many times trying to escape from. Even piloting the worn body, Chara still walked with the same military strictness they always had, a march to a silent drumbeat, a march to death.

Chara had dropped in the throne room, recovering from their journey. The sandwich had come back up during their descent through the barrier room, leaving them feeling a little hollow once again. The yellow flowers waves in the faint breeze coming in from the barrier. The distant sounds of monsters had vanished, the only sounds being the distant hum of the core. Chara leaned against the throne, resting for the moment, Frisk also took their chance to rest.

It didn't take long before a small flowery head popped up from the dirt, giving them a harsh look, "Back to make fun Fri- you're not Frisk"

Chara smiled wide, "No, it's me Azzy"

There was a short moment, before a look of adoration spread across Flowey's face, "...C-chara?"

Their smile was bright enough to give light in the dim space, "It's me"

Flowey shied away from the reaching hand for a moment before letting Chara touch them. Apprehension quickly bled away as he leaned into the affection, humming gently. He felt soft and warm, like a short-haired teddy fresh out of a dryer. The moment went on, Flowey's leaves twitching occasionally like a dog's ears. Eventually, Chara pulled back, Flowey smiled expectantly, "Why'd you come back down here?". A faint bitterness took over, "Were you just wanting to poke fun?"

Chara smiled gently, Frisk silently enjoyed the softer side of their enemies.

"I'm here for you Azzy"

Flowey's face took some time to work out the proper emotion, soon a glowing smile absorbed his small face, "Y-you came for me? Did you wanna stay down here with me…? We could head back home and play with all our old toys and-"

Chara silenced him with a gentle stroke across his petals, "No, Asriel, It's something else"

His face fell, "Oh, no of course. I don't know what I was-" Chara cut them off again, "Let me finish! I have a plan okay? I won't complicate things so just listen. You know that Frisk and I are sharing a soul. Though it's been more of Frisk hoggin their turn here lately...The idea. I would give you this shared soul, we'd be able to share a-"

Flowey's face had contorted into a look of anger and hurt, "N O, we're not doing it" His words were almost palpably venomous. Chara bristled, "Who says? The soulless flower or my brother!? We could be together again! Are you not paying attention? If all it takes is one small sacrifice on my part what does it matter?"

"Am I not paying attention? Or are you not remembering what happened last time you tried to pawn your soul off to me?" Flowey spat. Frisk faltered at the sudden feelings pouring from Chara. "It will be different this time, we aren't going to hurt anyone, We'll go back to mom and dad. Live like we used to" There was a silence for a moment, the tension bleeding off. Flowey looked down at the ground, "No, we aren't. That's not what's meant for me anymore. Even if it was, I wouldn't take it at the risk of you Chara...anyone...anyone else...I would say yes in an instant. But not when it puts you at risk"

"Azzy that's the thing! If it fails we'll just reset and try again"

"And go through everything again? I'm no threat to Frisk, there's nothing I can do that they won't RESET, LOAD, or FIGHT. There isn't a point to resetting, I'm h….I'm happy here Chara...So go and enjoy your happy ending...please. So take your crowded soul and leave"

"Asriel. Your 'Get away from me you filthy animal' bit won't work on me. I'll keep at this till my brother is safe. Sorry pal"

"Chara…I don't think anything is working out for us here. Why don't we bring him home, let this work itself out a little more slowly? Before things just go downhill"

Chara almost shot back at Frisk for interrupting before chewing on the thought.

"I think we need more time to think about this, here"

And with little warning, Chara pulled Flowey out of the ground by his stem and stuck him into a pot. Flowey looked up and down a few times, stunned. "Did you just put me in a pot?" Flowey asked simply. Chara nodded, "And...a-and we're gonna...oh boy" Chara staggered a bit before half collapsing onto the soft flowers. Flowey perked in surprise, "Ch-chara! Are you okay?"

They nodded, "Frisk is trying one of those fad diets where you don't eat...I think I'm close to passing out, I've not been in a human body in a while, I'm not sure how to tell exactly."

Before Flowey spoke again there was a sudden sound, the familiar sound of air being suddenly displaced. Chara sighed in annoyance. Sans sighed in relief, "there ya are kiddo. tori is close to a conniption"

Chara stood shakily, and turned, "Oh hey, look, it's smiley. How'd you even find me?"

Sans' eyes went hollow, "oh, it's you. and it was a lucky guess. where's Frisk?"

"They're in here, just quiet for now. And you'll have them back soon. We just came to pick up the flower" Sans peered down at a nervous-looking Flowey then back to Chara.

"well the body ride is over kid, give em; back."

Chara chuckled, "I will I will, but first…"

"Don't...you...dare"

"First off. If you assholes would care for once and pay attention. Frisk isn't sleeping well at night. Bad dreams...a lot of them, nightmares of you tearing them apart and seeing how many slams against stone it takes to crack their skull open." Sans expression darkened.

"They don't eat because of guilt. That one I don't really get but it's how they feel. Also, we puked up the only good we've had the past two days, their arm is cut up, and I think I'm gonna pass out either from the pain in my head or exhaustion. Many other things, really, put convince Frisk to tell you the rest" There was a resounding silence, Flowey leaned closer to Chara's chest at Sans' expression.

"Don't give me the look, I'll give them back. And I know Frisk won't let anything happen. But if anything happens to the flower.

I will break your brother's bones over a pile of his best friend's dust."

Sans gave an empty smile. Chara gently set Flowey down and closed their eyes. Frisk opened them next, looking severely tired. Sans' pupils returned, "Frisk?"

Frisk nodded. Sans sent a quick text before walking over to Frisk, checking over them. Frisk shied away from his touch but staggered, Sans, catching them, "enough kid. we are heading home to get you some help. no more late-night flower rescue"

Flowey ignored the insult, still working through the slew of new emotions still sloshing in his mind. Frisk reached for Flowey weakly. Picking up his pot they held them close as Sans gave a silent look of disapproval. But with a snap-like sound, the throne room was empty.