A/N: Sort of spoilers for the Pacifist ending, so read at your discretion. I fall in love with many things, and Undertale has become one of them. Just a little drabble that came into my head as I finished the game today, so enjoy!
Toriel wonders why she had not noticed them before. On reflection, her inattentiveness was probably due to trying to adapt and settle down on the Surface, but that felt more like a feeble excuse than a reason.
"My child," she begins tenderly, as she gently rubs shampoo through Frisk's hair. They stop their gleeful playing with the bubble bath suds to look up at her curiously. Toriel tries desperately to smother her pained expression as she takes in the myriad of scars that had escaped her attention for so long. Ultimately, she fails and lowers her paws. Her gaze lifts as she feels two small hands rest upon them.
Even the child's fingers have not escaped unmarred, littered with still healing scratches and bruises just starting to fade. Toriel wonders if some of these were her fault, and her eyes begin to water as the guilt consumes her. How could she have done this to such a fragile being? The tiny hands clench her paws firmly.
"It was worth it," Frisk states, attempting a smile. Had that cut always been on their chin? And was that a burn on their cheek? Their eyelids looked a bit baggy.. as if they were suffering from lack of sleep, maybe nightmares from facing-
"Mom."
Toriel finally manages to look into their eyes. There is so much kindness, so much love, so much DETERMINATION.
"It was worth it," they repeat, grinning wide and face lit like the sun that she had come to love more and more as the days passed.
"Why?"
"Because I called for help," Frisk answers, eyes brimming with tears as they remember that joy. "And you came. All of you came to save me."